Is It All Changing?

I sometimes wonder what it would have been like to take a cruise many years ago when it was only the rich and famous who could afford to travel in style on liners, such as the Prinzessen Victoria Luise of Germany, the first ship built solely for the luxury cruise industry in 1900. In those days cruising would have been seen as very glamorous with ladies in ballgowns and gentlemen in dinner suits every evening.

How things have changed over the years, not only with the many thousands of passengers who now cruise regularly but also with dress codes on board.

Norwegian Cruise Lines were the first major operator to introduce ” Freestyle” dining giving clients the freedom to choose whether they dine in the main restaurant or in one of the many others offered on board. With this also came a change in how people dress for dinner. Gone was the enforced formality and in came a much more relaxed, informal dress code.

The six star cruises lines soon also adopted a no fixed seating dining policy and also started to introduce speciality dining venues where guest can try gourmet food, some, like Oceania ,all included in the cost of the cruise. With that came the “Resort Casual ” dress code, or in the case of Azamara ” lots of linen ” .

Cunard really are the most formal cruise line of them all, especially on Transatlantic sailings. I sailed Southampton to New York a couple of years ago and it was one of the best cruises I have ever done. Queen Mary is a lovely ship and formal dining was really good, the vast majority of passengers loved the formality and dressed for dinner with men in dinner suits and ladies in , well whatever as I  always think we can get away with anything! The Ascot Ball in the Queens room, was the highlight for many passengers, with the ladies even wearing hats suitable for a day at the races!

So it was with dismay, I suppose, that I noticed this the other day as it looks like formality may just be disappearing

Voyage M822
17 June – Southampton Embark – Dress: Informal (Jacket Required)
18 June – Sea Day – Dress: Gala Evening (Black & White Ball)
19 June – Bergen – Dress: Smart Attire
20 June – Alesund – Dress: Smart Attire
21 June – Flaam – Dress: Smart Attire
22 June – Stavanger – Dress: Gala Evening (Masquerade Ball)
23 June – Sea Day – Dress: Smart Attire
24 June – Southampton Disembark

No mention of formal evenings at all. Cunard was a cruise line that really meant you could get dressed up in the evenings, not what  everyone wants from a cruise  of course,  but lots of traditional cruisers will be saddened if the dress code gradually disappears and the liners become just like all the others.