Are formal nights your favorite nights of a cruise? Celebrity Cruises will be replacing formal nights with a more relaxed “evening chic” nights beginning next month.
Passengers sailing on Celebrity Cruises on or after December 4, 2015 will have two evening chic nights (replacing formal nights) on all cruises seven nights and longer (with an exception for Celebrity Xpedition) . This change comes as cruisers slowly move to a more casual cruise experience.
The dress code for evening chic nights will be dressier than the “smart casual” dress code that is recommended for most evenings onboard. The biggest change is that jackets and ties will no longer be required. However, shorts, t-shirts, and ripped jeans will not be allowed in the main dining rooms on evening chic nights. (designer jeans are ok)
Lobster isn’t going anywhere though, it will still be on the menu for all evening chic nights. Love or hate this change? Cruise Fever would love to hear your opinion in the comments section below regarding the elimination of formal nights on Celebrity Cruises.
I for one will really miss the formal nights. Yes i agree that folks who dress up everyday for their jobs etc the change will be nice. I do not dress up every day its very Rare that i do there are lots of folks like me who enjoy dressing up and the experience of a luxury cruise liner makes it all that much more of an experience. i unfortunately booked on a celebrity cruise without realising the change in formal nights , If I had Known I would not have booked on the cruise when you saved and paid good money on a 5* cruise you expect everything to be 5* and dressing down for dinner is not part of it.
I love the formal nights on a cruise, when do you get the chance to get all dressed up in normal everyday life? It’s all part of the cruise holiday, I have just booked reflection for June but doubt I will be sailing with celebrity again as I did not realise until today that this cruise tradition had been stopped. People that don’t want to dress up should cruise on the more casual ships this is supposed to be 5 star cruising they are definatly lowering their standards but hey!! We will cruise with P and O where everyone loves formal nights and enjoys standards of dress codes. Celebrity also no longer do their wonderful brunch day at sea, they are really cutting back on luxury.
It’s an improvement. We don’t like to check bags when we travel and embarkation and disembarkation is so much easier when you can just grab your carryon and go. I can add a little silk cocktail dress easily enough, but jackets, slacks and dress shoes take up half the space in my husband’s bag. That was the main reason he had to use a suitcase when we went on our last Celebrity cruise. Then we noticed most people ditching their formal duds before heading up to the lounge to go dancing because the formal wear was just too silly for vacation in the Caribbean. Gambling in Monte Carlo, fine — not appropriate in less formal itineraries IMO.
Semi formal would be good. Please enforce the no baseball (or indeed any) caps in the dining rooms.
I am so sorry to hear of the change in formal nights to dressy chic. We love dressing up and there just are not many venues to be formal. The formal evenings were elegant and lovely . I could always find room in my luggage for my evening gowns and my husbands tuxedo. Celebrity you have always exceeded my expectations until now. We are very very disappointed.
Mixed feelings. We like to dress occasionally, and it adds some class and glamor to a cruise. On the other hand, three formal nights every cruise is a bit much, and packing will be much easier. In the bigger picture, though, this is another step in Celebrity’s new CEO’s strategy to move toward more millenials and fewer senior citizens on their ships. Will lead to many more empty cabins on off-season cruises.
Great news. I do like formal nights really unattributed see the lovely dresses, but as I am not a dress person, this suits me down to the ground. Having said the I always dress accordingly.
We are finished with Celebrity.
I am all in favor of this. My wife and I are frequent cruisers on Celebrity (and if fact will miss this change by five days). We’ve seen less and less dressing up on formal nights in recent years anyway. There are people who like to dress for dinner, and of course they are free to continue doing that. But for a lot of people, they have to “dress up” every day for work, and will welcome a relaxing cruise with no need for formal wear. Bravo, Celebrity!
I’ll stick to P&O then. I love the glamour of dressing up for formal nights, part of what makes cruising special and different.
I am happy to hear this news. Passengers were already telling the cruise lines that they did not want formal nights. With the weight restrictions on airlines, it was too hard to pack formal wear. Those who still want to dress formally still can. Those who don’t want to pack a suit, don’t have to do so. I am surprised that it was Celebrity who made this announcement early on. Oh, Celebrity thanks for not taking lobster off the menu as some cruise lines have done. I look forward to lobster when I cruise.
All I can say is WOW!! Yet another stupid idea on the cruise lines part.. Seriously? Are sales down because of “formal” nights?
Good change. Always can wear formal. Good option
Great idea and about time…….people can be gracious even in a tshirt never judge a book by its cover..the idea is to have fun….nor be subject to a system that is class orientated and outdated as royality
I’m devastated to see the end of formal nights, there are so few occasions now when people actually dress up. Although not having to pack a suit for my husband will make packing a little less stressful (and leave more shopping space!)
It is ok to elemenat formal dress but how about simi formal it is nice to see neatly dressed people, let them chose how dressed up they want to be
It saddens me to see this happen. Cruise formal evenings are (were) the last bastion of elegance in our society. Another commenter referred to the “dumbing down” of society, however I would call this the “dressing down” of society. Increasingly we see that people are too lazy to observe the nuances of polite society. Manners are falling by the wayside and it is not possible to underdress, even for events like the symphony or the opera. Sad.
Gone miss THE formal nights.
Being old school, I like the elegance of formal nights.
That’s sad. Such a signature cruise thing that you don’t find anywhere else anymore, will now be lost. For those people who love dressing up once in a while and found the perfect occasion on this night, the fun will be taken away with fear of being over dressed. Glamour should never be lost. Just sad.
If you want to dress up, feel free. Many people wear “formal wear” every day for their jobs, and want a relaxing week or two on a cruise. I think it’s a great move by Celebrity.
As long as the lobster is still served, I’m good with it. It does make it easier to pack and cheaper to sit in the dining rooms.
I enjoy formal night. I always buy a new evening gown for each cruise. if people don’t want to dress up that is fine. I enjoy seeing all the ladies in their evening gowns.
I love formal night. I too buy a formal dress for each sailing. I enjoy it so much
Suits me.
I think this will work, as long as they strictly enforce the no t-shirts, shorts, ripped jeans requirement. We’ve been appalled on some cruises to see men in the dining room in muscle shirts (and they had no muscles, only hair everywhere), shorts, etc. Most unappetizing
They are not enforcing dress codes on Summit. Bathing suits w/o cover up in oceanview cafe and baggy worn jeans and sandals in Blu. This was the April 2 so Caribbean sailing. I won’t miss formal nites but this was a bit much.
I like it. Just got off the Ifinity and very few people dressed up on formal nights. Not even ties. New rules make packing much easier
Well that’s me not going on those cruises then dumbing down cones to mind