Tux or No Tux

[Steven]

OK, let me start by saying that I am in no way trying to start the, "What should you wear on formal night?" Nor am I trying to resurrect any aging threads about what is 'should' be. I want to know what it is. I would like to get an idea from those of you enjoy sailing frequently on RCI, how formal are formal nights.

I really enjoy wearing a tux, however, I don't want to be the sole person wearing one. My cruising experience is a sailing on Celebrity and several on HAL, so I don't have a good reference point for RCI.

Please let me know from your observations, what percentage of men in the dining room are wearing tuxes, what percentage are wearing dark suits or dinner jackets, and what percentage are not following the dress code for formal?

I'm sailing July 4th on Mariner of the Seas along the Mexican Riviera.

Thanks!

[Fieldmouse]

We've never been on the Mariner of the Sea's...our first time will be December 2010, but we've been on several other RCCL ships and our experience has been that formal night is formal.

Our last cruise on the Radiance for example. The male passengers wore either a Tux or a dark suit. Many of the women wore beautiful formal dresses. Everyone we saw was dressed up...except those who ate dinner in the Windjammer Cafe. We were pleasantly surprised because we had expected a little less formality on RCCL. (We've sailed Celebrity and HAL and passengers on both cruise lines dress up for formal night, especially HAL)

On our next cruise my husband is renting a Tux so he doesn't have to bring one. (it's the luggage thing) My formal wear is a lot easier to pack.

You don't have to bring a Tux but I'd certainly bring a nice dark suit.

[Steven]

Wow, thanks for quick reply.

Packing the tux is no problem. It's only a couple of ounces heavier than a suit. The only challenge is the shoes. I have a really slick wardrobe bag in which my wife and I can easily pack all of our hanging clothes and a couple of pairs of my shoes. Although it's soft side luggage, it has an internal frame that works really well. My wife and I travel with one wardrobe bag and one large pullman of which each roll. We each have a personal bag (backpack) and a small carry-on. This works splendidly. Valuables stay in the backpacks with us. We check the carry-on and the larger bags at the pier and we enjoy the ship until our luggage arrives at our cabin without fear of loosing anything valuable or having to tote bags around. we've even learned to pack a bathing suit in the backpack. (The only bummer is checking the wardrobe and pullman at the airport). but hey but this time were driving.

So it seems like I won't stand out too much if I wear my tux - but you should see my bow tie and cumberbun!

[AF1]

Hi, I would say that on formal nights you will see about half the men in tux's and half in suit or sports coat with ties. Last summer on Voyager we sailed thru Europe. I rented a tux from the ship. It was great, the price was reasonable; I wore it three times; and i didn't have to worry about packing formal attire, and I also rented shoes. A great deal.
Cheers

ps. with my rental they provided different shirts and vests for each formal nite