For Larry and I, the elegant casual is more to our liking. I think it helps to minimize packing and luggage over weights. I feel that most Regent cruisers look very nice at dinner, no matter what the "code". Certainly some dress-up more than others. That's o.k. too, in my opinion!

TUT is 14 night port intensive cruise. Formal nights are on days of port visits including Alexandria Egypt. The one sea day is Elegant Casual. I could live with informal every night and I don't mind formal. I just mind it for a port intensive cruise like a Med cruise.

I still think this is a step backwards. :(

Formal night Ken wears his solid black suit, white shirt and tie. Extra formal nights only mean extra ties.

He now wears the same black suit jacket with beige slacks on informal nights, with a solid color silk tee.

He wears the same black suit pants with a casual shirt on casual nights

The black suit, one or two pair of beige pants, (no other jacket) white shirt, two or three ties, casual shirts is all we bring now, and exactly what we will bring for the new dress code. Only difference no need for the silk tee.

Frequent cruisers where the men do not like formal nights - buy your guys a simple solid black suit you can mix and match outfits the way ladies mix and match their chicos outfits.

No one has ever complained about Ken's wardrobe maybe they just dont say anything but has any one really noticed or really cares?

I personally like formal nights because I am a girly-girl. My husband hates them--so he does the one mix and match suit thing. And I bring dresses and shoes. Fortunately my feet are small, so the shoes don't take much room.

Only that he looks nice and has a great smile.

Well, we're in the "I like Formal night" group. For longer trips, which is mostly all we do these days, Jerry brings not only his Tux with four or five different cumberbunds, ties or vests, but a dinner jacket as well, plus a suit-- and a sport coat which he wears on the plane. As for shoes, he just wears his boots with all of the above (you can do that when you're from Texas ;) ). Even with all of that, we've NEVER been overweight, so I'm wondering what we don't pack that everyone else does
My "formal" clothes are lighter than my regular clothes, so that's definitely not a problem for me. I wear black slacks with different sparkly tops on formal nights and the same black slacks with less "formal" tops the other nights.
And last, but not least, I think Ken always looks great no matter what the dress code!

Well we too love formal nights, as we simply don't get a chance to dress up anymore, and for whatever reason Frank loves his tux. For the other nights he just brings pants that will mix with different shirts and maybe one jacket, which he too wears on the plane.

But I have noticed how creative many of you frequent cruisers are and am impressed and in fact have been trying to mix and match more to bring a little less. I even have three reversable skirts that are very lightweight and just bring a mixture of tops that can be dressed up with some jewelery or a jacket, or just wear them as is for a more casual look.

I too think Ken always looks great, in fact I don't think I've seen anyone in an LCT group that wasn't dressed appropriately and looking great whatever the dress code is. :)

Here's another vote for formal nights.

One of the reasons I like to cruise is it gives me a chance to dress up - something I don't ordinarily do at home.

Formal clothes are not that heavy for women. I usually bring along a little black dress that is light and packs easily.

Susan

So be it "elegantly casual" all the time just like on the PG, this is not your father's cruise ship anymore! I think Regent needs to focus on other areas of the market if it wants to continue and grow as a company.

Because we usually add on an additional land portion to most cruises, luggage and formal clothes that are not needed become a hassel. Plus we could use that tux space for our shopping purchases. I'm for elgantly casual. Even coats and ties for some nights. I guess it time to get hubby a good black suit to sub for tux and a nice formal tie following Ken's example. With all the traveling they do, they have it down to a science.

I'm with you, Pam. We have actually planned our pre- and post-cruise trips around all that extra luggage--dumping our 'cruisewear' suitcase in a hotel for a few days while we pop off to the Greek Islands, or dumping it at Heathrow for a week to go to Portugal. I think that even with "elegant casual" (EC!) all the time, we would still have a lot more clothing with us than we would ever pack on a land trip (which would run to jeans and t-shirts.)

It can be a hassle. We are going straight from the ship to fly to cambodia for 4 nights which is certainly t-shirt and safari pants type of place. Hopefully we can get off the ship with a suitcase the day before and check it in at the hotel we are staying at when we get back in Singapore. The weight limit is tight on Silk Air.

Donna, Alan, etal.
Thanks for the support. I knew I was in the minority, but it is nice to find out that some others like to dress up and "look pretty". Not implying that you can't be pretty without dressing up.
Lynn

Wendy, glad you have a place to stash your luggage. Packing for a cruise always more complicated than the t-shirt/jeans dress code of a land trip. Can't say I mind it on a cruise, but it sure is nice to go on a land trip with little luggage and only having to deal the the trips to the grocery store and lugging all those bags back to the condo/villa/whatever. Well, maybe not.

I am jeans etc person at home - and never have I taken gowns etc for a cruise but I love to dress UP - and that can be done so easily on Regent - as someone said, all Regent passengers look great 24/7...I think the men should wear jacket/tie when required - if they hate it they should go on land trips

I love cruises because I only have to unpack once. We do land trips (need some balance in our lives, right?), but living out of a suitcase drives me crazy, even when it is a small suitcase.

Joanna, I totally agree with your comment. And, I don't take gowns either, although I sometimes see women on the ship wearing them and have a brief moment of envy. Chico's. The answer to women and formal wear on a cruise is Chico's. Also, live by this motto, "don't take an item unless you can mix/match it in at least two different ways." Same rule applies to men.

What direction is Regent headed? What is the effect/message for future the of the company? I do not see Gen X types (early-to-mid 1960s to late 1970s)on Regent any time soon? Regent needs to focus on more than baby boomer's but with this type policy not sure Regent really cares right now?

DID SOME MORE CHECKING TO DAY SO CHANGING THIS POST UP A LITTLE.

I was looking at my escorted cruises dress codes last night. My shortest cruise is TUT at 14 days the longest being LLAMA at 30 days.

My 14 night TUT and my 30 night LLAMA both have 3 formal nights and all the rest are casual.

So obviously the Welcome Aboard, Society Night, Farewell nights are FORMAL now and every other night is CASUAL. At least this is a consistent situation where you know what you can count on with each cruise. The Welcome Aboard is the second night out unless the itinerary makes that impossible, the Society night is in the middle of the cruise, and the Farewell is the second to last night.

It appears that the 7 night cruises are all casual and the 10 and 12 night cruises only have 2 Formals, with the society night being casual.

I want MORE casual LESS formal and to me this new dress code is doing JUST that. The informal was silly - just another night you had to wear a jacket.

It helps with packing. One suit or tux if you like and no other jacket required.

Those that like FORMAL night you get to dress up THREE nights - the same SPECIAL nights on each cruise 14 nights or more and TWO nights on 10 and 12 night cruises.

For all those casual night lovers you can count on all the other nights being your way - CASUAL.

Personally I still think it is heading in the MORE CASUAL mode rather than in a more FORMAL mode.

But if you do take a tux, which I will when there are FORMAL nights, I think I will still always take at least one other jacket to wear in Signatures (and maybe Prime 7).

Your comment on the 7-day Baltics cruise has me totally confused. For our cruise in August, there is one Informal night the second day, which I assume will be the Captains Welcome Aboard. All the rest are Country Club casual. Again, personally, I may take a second jacket for Prime 7 and Signatures. But I just checked the 7-day Baltics cruises for next year, and I think they are totally Elegant Casual, so I wasn't sure to what you were referring when you said something about 3 out of 7 nights are Formal??

------------

Eugene

Eugene, I was still checking when you posted and was about to amend my post. I will do that as well as post here. You are always so speedy.

If you chose to take a tux then you take a jacket for Signatures but if you wear a black suit you can wear that jacket for Signatures - each person's personal decision.

My invoice for TUT reads 14 nights, is it getting shorter ;) Not sure about formal, informal or CCC for this cruise but we'll try and glam it up whatever

Here's a scary thought: maybe Regent can hire the guy that does all that wonderful body painting for the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue (mind you, I've never seen it but I've heard this is true) and they could offer free body painting of tuxedos and long gowns for those with Platinum and Titanium SS status! That would make packing easier. :p

*raises hand* DH and I are from the exact time frame you describe. We're planning for our third Regent cruise. Granted, we don't cruise as often as baby boomers can (those pesky jobs and limited vacation time are so annoying!) but we do enjoy the more casual dress. This cruise next year will be our first with a formal night (we did PG and Alaska - no formal).

Obviously we'll dress appropriately, but we'll be more comfortable on the "elegant casual" nights than the formal ones.

:)
Liz

(I admit us gen-Xers are more rare on Regent, so they shouldn't cater exclusively to us - yet!)

Well can you tell I am too busy. Do not even know how long the TUT cruise is, sorry everyone 14 nights for TUT. Been working on another group that has a 10 night cruise and it must have been focused in my brain. I will fix that above.

I am so glad I made this board the type you can go back and edit.

Grant, I hear you about GenX'ers not enjoying a cruise with formal nights. But, why wouldn't Regent continue to concentrate on boomers? The oldest baby boomers are about to turn 65 (1946) while the youngest boomers are 45 (1964). They are the largest segment of population, plus they have the time and money (or used to before our current economic woes) to travel. That's a huge market that fits right into the demographics for a luxury travel operation.

I hope that Regent can come up with a dress policy that makes everyone happy. Perhaps LaVeranda could be designated as a causal restaurant on formal nights. That way, those who don't want to dress up wouldn't have to be confined to their cabins to eat. There's got to be a way to satisfy all the customers.

I'm looking forward to meeting you on DRAGON, with or without a tux :D . You need to meet Alan. He's a huge sports car fan. Used to visit the dragstrip at Riverside, back in the day.

Donna, LaVeranda is aready casual restaurant on formal nights, but formal dress code is applicable in all other public areas, as I understand it.

There are many younger people who like to dress up - this is not reserved for the older crowd. I certainly do not like dressing up but my daughter loves formal nights.

I am not sure there is a way to "please all the people all the time".

Donna, I used to visit the dragstrip in my day ;)I wasn't Ashley Force but I have a few trophy's moldering in the attic. Absense of fear was a requirement and love of cars and speed. Sorry, didn't mean to hijack

Olivia, see what I know. If La Veranda is available as a casual dining space, then why do people complain about having to eat in their cabin on formal nights?

Ngaire, you are right, no way to please everyone. I hope to cruise with your daughter one day. Would love to see her all dressed up on formal night. Would she be wearing that black velvet dress that was once yours?

Suzie, glamorous you racing at the dragstrip? Hope you'll show me a picture one of these days.

No glamour at the drag strip, sweat, grease, gas fumes and noise. The car crazy tomboy in me loved it :D

Unlike most of you, I live in Europe. I now prefer not to take cruises I cannot either drive to or take the train to. But here is the problem: If we drive, then weight of suitcases is not a problem. If we take the train it really is since we have to carry them on and off the trains, make connections etc etc.
While I personally love formal occasions, I really think formal nights should be restricted to sea days and not required at all in a very port-intensive cruise. My husband wears a dinner jacket to the formal nights. I don't really want to take this on trains and neither one of us likes spending the time to get all dressed up when we have just come back on board from an all-day excursion!!
So I would vote for "Elegant casual" on all nights on Mediterranean and Baltic cruises, and Formal nights on the Trans-Atlantic crossings and longer cruises with sea days.

Penny & I like formal nights, especially on longer cruises. The one disadvantage is that our formal clothes seem to shrink after the last cruise.

Cheers! Ray & Penny

I'm also in the category of not liking formal nights. I just wish they would not make it the dress code for the entire ship so you are not banished to your cabins. Seems to me making La Verandah casual would be an easy compromise for everyone.

dixiechick: This from the Regent website:

La Veranda
La Veranda is the venue for elaborate breakfast and lunch buffets in a more casual atmosphere - al fresco, if you choose. At dinnertime, the setting is light-hearted and festive with an enticing mix of regional specialties served. The dress code in La Veranda is always casual, even on formal nights.

Thanks jhp, that is great news!

I think La Veranda has always been "always casual". The problem is, you can't go to a lounge, just to the dining room. This happened to us once, David went back and put on a jacket.

Yes Wendy, you're right, rest of the ship has the dress code of the evening, otherwise it wouldn't be a "code", and La Veranda would likely be overwhelmed with guests. Just wanted to dispel the notion that on formal night, one is totally "banished" during the dinner hour. I'm glad there are choices on those nights at least for dinner.

Following up on the point about La Veranda being casual on formal nights, where else can you properly go on a formal night besides your suite and La Veranda if you're dressed casually? How about the gym, the spa, the pool and jacuzzi, the pool bar or the casino? Any thoughts?

Dave - Perhaps the engine room, ship's laundry, or that weird place below the galley where they flatten out the cardboard boxes for recycling?? I think that casual dress would be accepted at any of those "venues", although the views from those venues might be a bit dreary.

As for the pool and jacuzzi, I don't recall ever seeing anyone in either of those wearing formal dress (except for that one rather dipso lady who tried to demonstrate that she could walk along the edge of the pool in her very, very high Prada heels).

All things considered, my vote absolutely goes to T-shirts and cargo shorts 24/7, just as I wear at home. However, I recognize that such a sentiment is not likely to ever be adopted by the dress-code nazis at Regent; so I would vote for full-time "elegant casual". We have loads of comfy tropical silk shirts (worn untucked, of course) which are not only elegant and casual, but also fit just as well on day 1 of the cruise as day 15.

Go Casual!!!!

Cheers, Fred

Dave, no one is ever up on the pool deck after dinner except when they are showing a movie so I would say that would be ok! I always go up there with tea late at night in my sweats and I am usually the only person there.