Originally Posted by
747FC
Which cruise line? Well that depends on your budget. Care to share your budget with us, and perhaps the best line for you will be more obvious.
As others have said, cruiselines are not as formal as in the past. And those with a "formal night," require much less of the passenger than before.
For example, Seabourn just requires a jacket (no tie) on formal nights. And that is only for the main restaurant. There are three other venues to choose from that have no burdensome requirement.
We would be in the mid-price range. We've cruised on Princess and Carnival previously although it's been a few years.
There will be 6 perhaps 8 of us in a group including two younger relatives who've not cruised previously who want the full experience such as it is. We will be in the main dining room and the expectation is that I will be there.
Any requirement to wear a jacket is a deal breaker. I'll wear my rain jacket onto the flight and will be carry-on only. I'd rather by dry on shore excursions than fashionable in the evening.
Originally Posted by
bicker
It is important to differentiate between requirements and suggestions. Holland America enforces the dress code that should be enforced, the explicit requirements such as, "collared shirt and slacks," while inviting those who want to dress in more rarefied attire to do so. When they talk about what people "usually wear" they're not posting a requirement. Furthermore, they're describing the average over all their cruises, but attire is generally more casual on their Alaska itineraries (and more formal on their longer cruises, greater than 15 days).
Part of the problem is the lines appear to want to have it both ways appealing to the fancy dress crowd that want to relive their high school prom and those of us who can't be bothered. If a pressed, collared shirt and khaki trousers will make the grade that works for me.
There are still a lot of very crotchety people who have been cruising on Holland America for decades who cannot handle the fact that their personal preferences regarding attire no longer prevail in society, and so you get thousands of posts on Cruise Critic about how someone's meal was "ruined" because the man at the next table was in a polo shirt. Just ignore it. The requirements are clearly communicated, and are what most of the mainstream cruise marketplace wants in terms of requirements, regardless of what those bitter about change have to say about it.
LOL. There seems to be a heavy weighting of crotchety people on Cruise Critic. You get more reliable and practical information on this site.