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On Formal Night(s), Do You Get Formal


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We have no desire to go all out with formal nights anymore. Our primary purpose for cruising is relaxation, secondary purpose is ports of call. We do dressy casual as a general rule for any night in the MDR. If we don't feel like doing that, we'll head to the Windjammer or order room service. We don't need more pictures with the captain or in fancy clothes with a backdrop of the Titanic staircase. Lol. Comfort is the goal for us.

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1 hour ago, smokeybandit said:

Some people get all glammed up in the MDR. Some people don't. Yet we all still enjoy dinner and no brawls break out. The synergy of the cruise ship wins again

Unless you are on Brand X cruise line and a menage a trois gets a little rocky and a brawl breaks out over it.  Imagine that!

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If we'll be having 2 formal nights I'll go a dress(nothing over the top), and hubby goes dress slacks and a button down shirt with tie.  For the second formal night we usually have to skip the dining room since it's usually lobster and seafood night and I'm allergic to shellfish.  That second night we tend to see alot more of the people with food allergies in the Wind Jammer.  We do enjoy watching the families all dressed up for pictures, the kids are always so cute.  Our thing is Tropical Shirt night.  We look forward to that one and we rock some bright shirts. 

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When I was working (and wore a suit and tie every day), I would wear a suit and tie on formal nights. Now that I am retired, I will probably just wear a sports coat and collared shirt and nice slacks.  Non formal nights I will wear Dockers and a golf polo.  Next cruise is in late October to NE/Canada.  It won't be shorts weather on any day.

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It depends on how full my suitcase is.  Like someone said earlier, the shoes are the killers.  We kind of avoided the mdr most of last trip due to my time being awful and the europe itinerary long days, but we do dress casual/semi-nice even at specialties.  Usually I’m in a nice dress, but not gown or full out, and my husband usually does a sport coat because he doesn’t love how he looks in just a dress shirt.  He’s likely to have more polo nights and more casual this time I think, but we will see!  

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I wear a tux on the first formal night, if it is not a tropical locale and not hot and humid, tux for both. I own a tux, have owned one since I was 19 and like others have said about who they dress for, I wear one for my wife not for me.  I'm 54 and on my third tux in my lifetime, they are not super expensive to buy and if you get a classic black one, they never go out of style (the closet does shrink them every 10-15 years or at least that is what I tell myself). For cruises I just pack the jacket and a bow tie, regular black slacks, regular dress shirt, regular dress shoes, cummerbund optional. 1960 James Bond, 2020 James Bond, same tux, men are lucky in this regard and a few hundred bucks and you get 10+ years, the cost of two rentals. Started with fraternity/sorority formals, then weddings (mine , countless friends and two daughters so far, with one to go, cruises and charity black tie events), I've gotten my money's worth, plus my wife loves how I look in them and I get extra kisses when she sees me in it. I'm more casual than the next guy, flip flops and a nat nast are business casual here in So Cal, but I suggest you buy a tux. My wife spends hours getting ready for formal night, it seems a small task to break out my tux that takes no extra effort or cost than a suit or a sport  coat.

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We always dress up.  It has become a tradition that we love, we call it our date night.  We always book a balcony or above.  We stop at WJ to pick up some food to pick on, like bread, cheese, meats, etc.  Than get a drink from the closest bar and take it back to our cabin.  

He gets ready while I hang out. When he is done he will go on the balcony.  I close the curtains so when I open it again I am ready.  

To us its part off what makes it feel like a formal night.

I take 2 different dresses, but same shoes. 1 is the dress I wore to my daughters wedding...a high low....cut at the knee in the front down to the ankle in back.  The other is my go to for every wedding.   My hubby takes 1 dark suit and 2 shirts with 2 different ties.

Luggage to me is no biggie.  If I am driving it doesn't matter if I have 1 or 2 suitcases.  If I am flying the fact is we have spent so much money on the vacation we are not going to quibble about paying 25 to 50 bucks for checking luggage.

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For my recent 7 night on the Oasis it was just button shirt and tie matched with khakis on the 2 formal nights.  Non formal nights were polo shirts instead of the shirt & tie.  I want no part of suits/sport coats while on a boat in the tropical regions.   

Honestly, just do "you" and you will see the whole range of outfits (saw a guy with the classic "tux t-shirt" and shorts on formal night, LOL).  The only "hard rules" they have are no swimwear/tanks in restaurants.  

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We tend to lean towards 2. Semi Formal. Husband usually has suitcoat and tie and I will wear a nicer dress. I would refer to it as "wedding wear" if there was a thing!! Then, if there is time, we always get what we refer to as "our prom pictures" taken. We are both in our late 50s so it has become our inside joke. 

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We do full formal. Full glam, I take hours. The rest of our vacations are always road trips with kids and I end up dressing the whole family each day so they don't mess up my travel bags and my hair goes into a hat. Cruises, I unpack and take my time getting ready. Husband goes to the casino while he waits. As soon as the world goes back to normal, I am going to finally get back on a ship and it will be such a luxury!

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I have historically worn the suit and tie (as well as my teenage son) and my wife and teenage daughter would wear a nice dress (think cocktail) and heels.  I have only worn a tux on 1 cruise (NY Eve Cruise).  I find I get very hot so this past cruise we went without the ties (after the pictures) and I took the jacket off in the MDR.  The girls remained with the nice dress and heels.

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5 hours ago, Eddie Ireland said:

I love to get dressed up. Any excuse to put on a suit. How do I know how many formal nights are on the cruise and when? I can't seem to find any info about it on the cruise planner. 

Check cruise compass for a sailing similar to yours.  On a 7-night cruise, they are typically night 2 and 6 - never the first night or last night.  However, they can move around depending upon itinerary.  When you are close to your cruise, you may see something on your Royal App.  However, we found that menus changed when we got to the ship, and lobster night wasn't a formal/dress your best night.

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