Many cruise line passengers remember the days when dinner was a formal affair every night. Even when it wasn't a formal or elegant night, people would dress for dinner.
It was a tradition that built to formal nights, where men donned tuxedos and women wore gowns. People relished the opportunity to dress up, take pictures, and wear clothes that they rarely got to put on when they were on land.
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Many ships had tuxedo rental shops because many passengers did not own formalwear. Women would literally buy outfits just for their cruises and deal with the extra luggage required to carry all this finery.
That tradition slowly died as more and more people decided that they did not want to go through the hassle of dressing for a wedding on their cruise. They loosened up and the cruise lines had to go along.
Technically, both Carnival Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean have dress codes for the main dining room and offer a variation of a formal night, but the reality is that they have bent to the will of their passengers.
Or at least most of them. Not everyone is happy about it.
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Image source: Carnival Corp.
Carnival still has formal nights
On Carnival Brand Ambassador John Heald's Facebook page, he regularly fields questions about how the cruise line enforces its dress code. Robert Dornner brought the issue up again on Nov. 12.
"Why is the attire for elegant night not more strictly enforced? If you're not dressed for it you should be redirected to the Lido Marketplace," he suggested.
The Lido Marketplace is Carnival's buffet. In the buffet, the cruise line does not allow bathing suits without a coverup and requires that passengers wear shoes (flip-flops and sandals are fine).
Heald answered politely but did not tell Dornner what he wanted to hear.
"Thank you, they are dress code suggestions and I would truly hope that what someone else is not wearing or someone else is wearing will not affect the enjoyment and fun that you have on board," he wrote.
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Heald made clear that enforcing a strict dress code would not be practical.
"It’s a very, very difficult thing to do. To have somebody stand on the door and check every single person before they come in would cause horrendous, long lines, and that would be the only way to do it, physically have somebody standing on the door," he added.
Carnival does not really have dress codes
Carnival does offer Elegant Nights on its cruises, but they're more "dress up if you want to nights" than "you have to meet a certain standard for admission to the main dining room.
The cruise line even offers tips as to what passengers should wear on Elegant Night:
- Men: Dress slacks, dress shirts, and we also suggest a sport coat; men may also wish to wear a suit and tie or tuxedo
- Women: Cocktail dresses, pantsuits, elegant skirts and blouses; ladies may also wish to wear an evening gown
Those are just suggestions, however, and the reality comes in where the cruise line draws the line on what's not allowed in the main dining room.
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"Not permitted in the dining room: cut-off jeans, men’s sleeveless shirts, shorts, t-shirts, sportswear, baseball hats, thongs (flip-flops) and bathing suit attire," the cruise line explained.
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Heald has a very specific opinion on dress codes.
"I don’t believe that we should have dress codes. It would be so much easier not to have them. This is just my opinion not necessarily the cruise lines opinion," he said.
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