Hi All, Now that HAL has changed their dress code, I'm helping my hubby decide wether or to wear a tux on formal nights. Please let me know what you all would do.
My feelings are this, keep the formal nights special, wear a Tux. How often do we now adays get the opportunity to dress up and fell like James Bond! At least that is what I tell my husband! I understand the Cruise Lines wanting to maintain the "special nights" we have fun with it.
As far as I know, HAL did not change its policy with regard to formal night. The only change is that they eliminated what they called "informal night" and renamed the casual nights as "smart casual."
So... I'd continue to wear what you would have in the past. Tuxedo or suit/tie for the men, cocktail dress or gown for the ladies.
I posted the info about the new HAL Dress Code and the last poster is correct, there are still Formal nights which require men to wear a tux or suit. I'm thinking of possibly renting the tux so that I don't have to pack a suit. We have only been on a short cruise before, but I have heard a lot of different opinions about dress. So it sounds like you can use your best judgement and what you feel most comfortable with but follow the rules.
Was on the January 22nd sailing of the Volendam. Hardly any men are wearing tuxes anymore. Most had dark suits on and a few even just had sport coats. It was a 10 day cruise and we had three formal nights. We were only supposed to have two but somehow it got changed. They took away one semi formal night. Everyone was dressed to the nines on the first night but for the other two the ladies didn't seem to be as dressed up as well as the men.
By the way, my husband and I did a Disney cruise on our own in 2005 and think we give HAL a pass in future and go with Disney again. We are in our fifties and it felt like an old age home on board. They had such laughable seminars like "how to succeed in life", "how to maintain a relationship" and "how to flatten your stomach" when the average age was 75!!
I love to wear a tux one night and a white dinner jacket the next. My wife and I have cruised on HAL four times with this easter being the 5th. I bought my own tux and dinner jacket after our first cruise and have added different vests, cumberbuns & ties over the years. Dress up and enjoy your self. No matter what anyone else does you will look and feel like a million bucks.
I have completed over 50 days on HAL and always wear a tuxedo. It's wonderful opportunity to dress up specially for these occasions and maintain the great traditions of cruising. Let's all help to keep HAL's reputation as one of the great cruiselines with a long history of excellence - even if the Carnival takeover does threaten to dilute some services!
I agree, when sailing HAL, I always enjoy dressing up. On our very first HAL cruise, we stayed in an inside cabin and I did not have a TUX. I felt like I was missing out on something so I purchased a TUX before our next cruise We have now moved up to the SA suites and I am on my second TUX that will be doing two HAL cruises with us this year. I leave the TUX at home on Carnival and NCL cruises.
Posts: 3 | Location: Utah | Registered: February 24, 2007
I LOVE to get all dressed up in a gown and have my husband wear a tux - that's one of the best parts of a cruise! There are very few places where you can do that any more.
