formal nights
 

On our cruise we will have 2 formal nights.

I always read about the main dining room, when people talk about the dress code.

On the Princess website I find: When formal nights are held, please observe the dress code in the Traditional Dining and Anytime Dining venues for the enjoyment of all our guests.

Does this mean formal dress is only needed in the main Dining Rooms?

How about the Specialty Restaurants (Sabatini's, Crown Grill).
Do they also have the dress code on formal nights or can we go there in 'normal' dress?

The "dress code" for formal nights as presented in the pre-cruise literature is merely a suggestion. You will see everything from tuxedoes and long gowns to khakis and open collar shirts for the men and pants and fancy tops for the ladies. The fastest way to start a fight here is to advocate one or the other. The only dress code I've ever seen enforced was "no shorts or t-shirts." The same goes for the alternative restaurants.

Formal night is getting too relax as far as we are concern. Mattox is correct, this is a very hot tropic. My wife and I love dressing up for these nights as do 99% of the people, but you alway have the ones who do not care or refuse to dress up. We have no problem with not dressing up, just eat in the buffet, but please do not try to get the cruise lines to relax the dress code for these special nights. We also dress very nice for the normal dinner nights, my wife wears a dress every night which she loves to do. Thanks.

I have seen passengers turned away on formal nights for jeans in the main dining room on Princess ships. The dress code for the evening does include the specialty restaurants. The only places the dress code is not observed, to my knowledge, on the Princess ships I've been on were the casino and the buffet. On formal nights, the casino goes to non-smoking, too. So far, I've not seen them allow shorts in the main dining rooms on non-formal evenings, either.

On the 10 cruises I've been with Princess, I can say that 99% of the passengers do adhere to the dress code for the evening.

I guess I'm on the casual side of the fence with the dress suggestions. I haven't dressed formally in over ten years & have never had much problems with the results. I always wear a long sleeve dress shirt with dress pants without any jacket or tie in the main dining room and they never refuse to seat me. It's very comfortable, easy packing & takes nothing away form anyone who wishes to dress as formally as they want.
When they begin to serve the same dishes at the buffet on formal nights as in the dining room I'll stop being attracted to eat there but as it stands now all the items I like most are served on formal nights in the DR.
Although st people still dress in the DR's, Princess has defitnely become more casual over the years as the luggage costs have gone up. Dress nicely & you'll have no problems.
btw- The Specialty restaurants are always casual even on formal evenings.

We still want the cruise lines to keep the rules for formal nights. What is the big fuss about wearing a suit jacket or tie?? I have to wear these to my work everyday, so it's no big deal. We hate people walking into the dinning room with no tie or suit jackets on.

Generally, the suggested dress for the evening is the same in the specialty restaurants as it is in the main dining room. One exception is if the specialty restaurant requires a jacket, but I do not know if this is the case on Princess.

Princess does not require tie or jacket in any of the dining rooms--even on formal night. Tux or dark suit is a recommendation but not a requirement.

Thank you, Rick. It's been a while since I sailed Princess. (Too long.)

There are a few head waiters on different ships who from time to time would like to see their restaurants be more formal than the other ships but when confronted with Princess's printed documentation about the Specialty restaurants always being casual don't press the issue. We never go there on formal evenings since the food in the dining room is usually good & we like those selections, dressed somewhat more than casual but still nowhere near formal. The days of suit & tie are long behind me now & all we care about is having a good meal & being comfortable doing it. The people who like to dress up can do so without standing out of place.