The era of FORMAL NIGHTS is fading rapidly...

Thumper wrote:

On Sun, 07 Oct 2007 06:52:32 -0400, Charles
wrote:

In article , Thumper
wrote:

A dark suit is not "formal."

On a cruise a dark suit is formal since the cruise lines who set the
formal evenings request a dark suit or a tux.

A dark suit is NOT formal regardless of what the cruise line requests.
The reason they set those parameters is because people stopped wearing
tuxes. Many people stopped wearing suits altogether and that's why
the dress code is not enforced. Thing change.
Thumper

Just to throw some fuel on the fire - a tux is really INformal. True
formal attire for men would be white tie and tails. Black tie is
informal.

Personally I think it does no good to quibble over the terminology.
The cruise line sets the parameters, and we either dress that way or
we don't. I want to sit down in the dining room to eat, and not have
to go to the buffet at dinner. If what we wear is OK with the cruise
line, then what everyone else thinks is irrelevant.

But my husband has never worn a tux and probably will not do so. He
doesn't want to spend the money to rent one, and certainly won't buy
one. For the first 20 years of our marriage, formal would have meant
a formal dress uniform. And he also had a dark suit. But he's
expanded horizontally out of those (although he has lost weight and
been working out so maybe he can get into them again). What he does
for formal nights now is wear a dark blazer with a shirt and tie and
slacks (not jeans or dockers but tailored pants).

FWIW in 46 cruises, I don't think they have EVER had a formal night on the
LAST night of the cruise. Most people are almost packed fopr disembarkation
by dinnertime on the last night, so they have the last formal night on the
second last night of the cruise.

Tobieon an Island in the Pacific

"Jeff Gersten" wrote in message
...
(number6) wrote:

There is no one more anti formal night than I
am ... but do give the cruiselines credit ... they
tend to make them on sea days where
possible ... so as to minimize those problems
...

On our Baltic cruise this past summer, the first formal night was the
second night, a sea day. I think everyone expected that the second
formal night would be the last day, another sea day. Instead it was the
day before that, a day in which Stockholm was our port. Some passengers
decided that it was probably not done the last night because Princess
wanted more of an opportunity to sell formal portraits. Some passengers
also thought we could have spent more time in Stockholm if it were not a
formal night.

In article BM7Oi.675$1y4.519@pd7urf2no,
"Tobie Gerbrandt" wrote:

FWIW in 46 cruises, I don't think they have EVER had a formal night on the
LAST night of the cruise. Most people are almost packed fopr disembarkation
by dinnertime on the last night, so they have the last formal night on the
second last night of the cruise.


Me neither. I would think there would probably be a mutiny if the FN
was last night. Probably like there would be one if they tried it on the
first night.

On Oct 7, 11:53 am, Charles wrote:
Take that up with the cruise lines. Since we are discussing cruises and
what is worn on cruises it is their definition that matters.

Isn't the exact wording...."Tonights Suggested Dress Is"....
It is only a suggestion.

As far as what people are wearing I don't agree that many have stopped
wearing suits. A few have stopped.
Yes A few have and good for them. I'm one of them.

The norm is still a suit or tux. I
don't disagree that things change. But they have not yet changed.

You yourself just said "A few have stopped." So things have
already begun to change. I've already noticed less and less tuxes and
suits over the last couple of cruises.

When
they do change then I will change. But until then I won't. Since I go
on three or four cruises every year I am pretty current on how people
are dressing on cruises.

Charles, You talk out of both sides of your mouth. You'll not
change your formal dress until you see a change. Yet you already said
you've seen a few stop. A tux on a Caribbean is just not necessary.

--
Charles

On Oct 7, 8:19 am, "George Leppla" wrote:
The fact is that even at wakes nowadays people are dressing informally
and many are dressed in work clothes.

George, I just had my Aunts Funeral in early August. During the
calling hours I was amazed at what some people wore. Informal? Try
one guy (over 40 and old enought to know better) showing up in a
bathing suit and tee shirt.

There are also regional variances. Here in the south, blue jeans are worn
everywhere... even to church. Not only blue jeans, but shorts. Yes, I wear
shorts to church and so do about half the men (the ones not wearing jeans).
You would be hard pressed to find anyone wearing a suit and tie to work.

God doesn't care what you wear when you visit his house. Just so
long as you visit.

Next week I'll be on the Freedom of the Seas and I will pack my suit. The
last time I wore it was the last week in April... on the Carnival Pride.

If it weren't for cruises, my "formal" clothes might rot on the hanger.

Mine are starting to already. I wear the suit....just not the
jacket and I'm sooo much more comfortable. I'm still respectuful to
those around me and I'm keeping with the "suggested dress" code of the
evening.

--
George Leppla http://www.CruiseMaster.com

January 20, 2008 - GGC2008 -http://cruisemaster.com/adventure.htm
October 26, 2008 Sleazy 5 http://www.cruisemaster.com/sleazy5.htm

Bill wrote:

True, they probably make a bundle on the photos. I wonder if
people are more likely to drink more when they're all dressed up
as well?


Bill, I can only speak for myself, but my Tux pants don't have a hip
pocket to hold my pint bottle. Likewise, the jacket's inside pocket is
too narrow for the bottle.
The sad result is that I tend to drink less when formal than when
wearing speedos, which accommodate the flask easily.

Nonny

--
---Nonnymus---
No matter how large your boat,
the person you are talking with will
have a close friend with a larger one.
---Observation by my son

(Tobie*Gerbrandt) wrote:

FWIW in 46 cruises, I don't think they have
EVER had a formal night on the LAST night of
the cruise. Most people are almost packed
fopr disembarkation by dinnertime on the last
night, so they have the last formal night on the
second last night of the cruise.

OK, that makes sense,

In article . com, Rick
wrote:

Isn't the exact wording...."Tonights Suggested Dress Is"....
It is only a suggestion.

The cruise line is being polite. That does not mean you should be rude
and wear what you please.

Charles, You talk out of both sides of your mouth. You'll not
change your formal dress until you see a change. Yet you already said
you've seen a few stop. A tux on a Caribbean is just not necessary.

You are being rude, and also lack reading comprehension. Certainly I am
not going to change my formal dress because a few people have stopped.
If a lot of people change their dress then I will reconsider. Until
then, I will not change.

--
Charles

On Oct 7, 2:59 pm, Charles wrote:
In article . com, Rick

wrote:
Isn't the exact wording...."Tonights Suggested Dress Is"....

It is only a suggestion.

It is my choice to decide if I want to follow that "suggestion".
I am able to make my own decissions. I am not a follower.

The cruise line is being polite. That does not mean you should be rude
and wear what you please.

Tell that to the Tropical shirt and flip flop bergade who invade
every Formal Night. What responsibility does the cruise line take in
allowing them into the dining room. Now thats rude.


Until
then, I will not change.

Nobody has asked you to. Your insisting on your right to wear a
tux. Do it.
The topic of this tread is The Era Of Formal Nights Is Fading. I've
seen that trend for the last few years. Not in any great numbers but
it is fading. You made the comment that Suits & ties are still the
normal attire in the NE. I live in NY and don't know of 1 single
person who dresses in a suit and tie to go to work. By the way I work
at IBM. Thats alot of people not wearing a suit & tie. Several
thousand to be exact. I think your living in the past and a day gone
by era if you still think most people dress in a suit and tie to go to
work every day. Same thought for wearing a tux to dinner on a
Caribbean Cruise. Its time has come and is going out.

On Oct 7, 2:59 pm, Charles wrote:
In article . com, Rick

wrote:
Isn't the exact wording...."Tonights Suggested Dress Is"....
It is only a suggestion.

The cruise line is being polite. That does not mean you should be rude
and wear what you please.


Charles, Let me ask you a question? On formal nights when
everyone is all decked out in their finest of formal wear, they return
to their cabins after dinner to change. They have time before the
Bingo game and the shows start. Then they return to the common areas
for the evening in more casual relaxed clothes. Maybe even shorts.
Is that ok? Why?