Alaska and "formal" nights
 

My wife and in-laws are discussing a 7-night cruise to Alaska out of Vancouver. Of the lines that do this route which one has the most flexible requirements for "formal" night? My intention would be to do carry-on luggage for the flight and bringing a suit would require I check a bag. Which line is most tolerant? Is there a line we should avoid?

Just travel in black tie and you will be just fine !

Actually, Holland America doesn't have a coat/tie requirement any longer. Even with them, a pair of slacks and a collared shirt would be sufficient. On Cruise Critic (CC), I've seen posts stating some folks have even been able to attend Gala night in a nice pair of jeans. And as mentioned above, Alaska cruises tend to lean toward less formal than cruses in other locations.

Note I have a HAL cruise in Alaska coming up in 3 weeks. So I've been searching CC for this same type of information. :)

Interesting, I think Holland may have some discrepancies in what they are telling folks. A cut/paste of their 2018 "What you need to know" pdf (downloadable from their website):

CLOTHING Most evenings smart casual attire is appropriate. Shorts, pool/ beachwear, distressed jeans and men’s tank tops are best left to the daytime and are not permitted in fine dining restaurants.

Gala Nights evoke the grand traditions of cruising as guests dress to impress for special events on board, including a five-course gourmet dinner in the Dining Room. For gentlemen, collared shirt and slacks are required in all fine dining restaurants . For ladies, dressy attire is appropriate, dresses skirts and slacks are all acceptable

Why would a suit require checked luggage? Put it in a garment cover, place it in the overhead compartment of the plane on top of your bag, and you would be good to go.

BTW, here is a current discussion (started yesterday) on Cruise Critic on "acceptable" clothing for Holland Gala nights in Alaska: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/show....php?t=2634431

To the OP, personally, I'd pick out which cruise line I prefer and then search on the Cruise Critic boards for formal night attire for Alaska. You should be able to find quite a bit of discussion around that topic. :)

OP:

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.

My personal approach to formal nights is to just dine elsewhere. Plenty of good calories and reasonable nutrition in the buffets and other places outside the main dining room.

I do respect those who choose to get gussied up. Just not for me. Bears, salmon, whales, glaciers, incredible scenery and Alaska Brewing Company were why I chose the Alaska cruise. Haven't see a bear yet, so will probably have to go back again. Still without formal wear though. (Just carry-on via a small backpack which also lets me skip the whole cruise ship luggage process.)

Incidentally, the buffets were unusually crowded on formal nights. Must be others like me that opt out.

I suggest you look at Celebrity for a mid-range priced cruise. The dress requirements are never exceeded beyond "country club casual" which imparts a collared shirt and khaki slacks. Their Aqua class dedicated restaurant, BLU, is always casual although blue jeans are not approriate but often ignored. A pricier line, Azamara, is also casual and is doing some Alaska sails this year.
If you are sailing in 2018 you are a little late for the best rates and cabins unless you can get a post final payment deal.
Also, if you are looking at a one way and are not planning on staying landside after the cruise look at Seward or Whittier departures. Anchorage is about 1,500 miles from Vancouver making your trip home much shorter....just a thought.

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).

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.

We, too, have an Alaska cruise with HAL in about a month time so been keeping an eye out for posts about these cruises (never been on a cruise before, but made an exception to an Alaska cruise - taking along plenty of sea sickness tablets and ginger candy!) We have downloaded all the docs for the cruise and checked in. The docs said we will have 2 gala nights, and hubby said he would not go to any of them and will order room service :( However, I will pack a nice dress for me, and sport jacket with a colourful bow tie for him. I will drag to him to the gala nights - so I can sample the food (he is not a foodie). Hubby always wear collared shirts and trousers (very conservative).

Forgot to say that we intend to have carry-on bags only (no checked bag). We will do one way cruise from Vancouver to Seward, and own land itinerary in Alaska for another 7 days.

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.

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.

LOL. There seems to be a heavy weighting of crotchety people on Cruise Critic. You get more reliable and practical information on this site.