For many guests, the primary motivator for formal dress seems to be getting family photos. If you’re having a family reunion or if you’ve never had real professional formal portraits done, the cruise is a decent opportunity to do this. You’re welcome to go back for photos as often as you like and all the shots can be included on one CD for a fixed price.
Other guests simply enjoy formal dress. I’ve heard several comments along the lines of, “I wear jeans all the time at home, the cruise is my one opportunity to dress up. I love every minute of it.”
If you want to dress in full formal attire, but don’t own the right clothing, try consulting Cruiseline Formalwear for a rental.
What are some good reasons not to wear fancy attire on formal night?
There are several good reasons not to dress up on formal night based on money. Some of these are: you don’t want to spend money to buy/rent formalwear; you own formalwear but don’t want to spend money to alter or clean it; you own formalwear but don’t want to spend money to check the bag required to transport it to the ship; you have a vacation budget allocated and you’d rather spend it on excursions or a nicer stateroom than on fussy clothing.
However, the very best reason not to dress up on formal night is that you don’t want to. Maybe you’re not a tux kind of guy. Maybe you wear suits all day for work and you look forward to the one time of year when you don’t have to dress up. Maybe you just think the entire thing is silly and pretentious.
Again, the dress in the main dining rooms is a suggestion, not a requirement.