I need some input from all you RSSC pros out there. We just received our docs for the Pacific Coast Mariner cruise in May -- I guess I thought that since this was the start of the "Alaska" season that CC Casual would be the case for the entire cruise.

Much to my surprise (any my husband's), we got our docs yesterday and there is one formal night!!

Since we live in Hawaii my husband doesn't even own a suit and refuses to buy one for one night, so here's my question:

1. What are our dining options that evening?

2. Is La Veranda still open to us or do we have to have dinner in our suite?

3. Is Signatures an option since that's always Informal (at least the way I understand it).

4. Can we go to the Casino and the Show that night if we aren't doing the "formal" thing?

5. Will they lock us in our room?

Any ideas or input from all you wonderful posters would be welcome and certainly appreciated.

Mahalo nui loa and have a great day !!

Wecome to your first post, Aloha! Poipu is a lovely part of the world. I can't answer any of your questions but I'm sure many of the fine posters in this forum will come to your rescue!

Cheers!

R

1. What are our dining options that evening?

You can order the Compass Rose menu and dine in your room. And La Veranda will still be casual so that's an option - however I would strongly recommend ordering from the Compass Rose menu because the formal nights have "special" menus.

2. Is La Veranda still open to us or do we have to have dinner in our suite?

See above.

3. Is Signatures an option since that's always Informal (at least the way I understand it).

I'm actually not sure about this. My guess is that informal is fine, especially since many people opt to dine in Compass Rose on formal night because of the special menu.

4. Can we go to the Casino and the Show that night if we aren't doing the "formal" thing?

I think you can go to both. I thought that the dresscode was more for the dining rooms.

5. Will they lock us in our room?

Nope. Although I think they would sometimes like to throw me in the brig, especially after karaoke or when I'm stubbornly non-responsive to Mr. Kenny Smiles.

We just sailed on the Mariner Panama and we had 3 formal nights. there were men that had on dark jackets & dark pants that were not suits and didn't even have on a tie which it says is required on formal nights we were eating at Signature the night that I noticed the man with no tie. Also there were alot of women that wore pants with plain tops. Many people had on tuxedos & suits but not all! We did have room service one night from Compass Rose and it was excellent.
Hope this helped.
Penny

Formal attire extends to all dining venues except La Verandah, this includes Signatures.

You will not be locked in your room nor will you be ridiculed or made to feel out of place. On one formal night, we, in formal attire, went to La Verandah for dessert. There were a couple of groups up there in casual dress. I didn't see them later around the ship but I don't think there would be too many problems.

BTW, my father will be on your cruise and all he is taking is a dark suit.

The dress of the day(in this case formal) extends thru the completion of the show(@2245). I think it's pretty tacky of a gentleman not to wear a tie on formal night, unless it's for dinner in La Verandah. A dark suit does just fine in lieu of a tux. You'll miss a lot not attending the formal night, but if you don't want to dress, I'd recommend in suite dining, so you can get the Compass Rose menu.

Thanks so much for the advice!!!

I really appreciate each of you taking the time to respond.

You've been really helpful.

I'm curious when dougburns says we'll "miss a lot not attending formal night" -- what exactly goes on???

Mahalo.

Yes, I'm curious too as to what doug meant by that. Is it just the ambience of the dining room on formal night or is there something else "special" going on?

And welcome, Aloha Cruiser, as another from the Aloha State. :D Your Kauai beach cottage looks very pretty!

Masaki

Aloha Cruiser,

We are on the same cruise, Mariner Pacific Coast, and, like you, we had expected that it would be cc casual. We were surprised that it was not. I guess we could all get together and mutiny on the formal dress. :) LOL :)

Betty

What I mean by missing a lot is that you'd miss the opportunity to talk with many of the ship's officers in a social environment, because there's usually a Capt's reception, and you'd miss the overall ambience of the cruise experience from the reception, to dining, to dancing, etc. To us that's one of the nice things about cruising. You get to see folks dressed nicely and enjoying a social interaction in the old style. Guess we're just old fashioned.

Thanks again for your comments everyone!! And thanks to dougburns for clarifying what's special about formal night.

It's not that we don't like to dress up, it's just that living in Hawaii we don't tend to have much occasion to go "formal."

Thanks for your comments Masaki, as a fellow Islander please let me know if you ever want to visit Kauai and we'll be happy to give you a Kama'aina rate on our Cottage.

Thanks again everyone, it's nice to be on this message board, I think it is a much more friendly place than the Cruise Critic Boards!!

Mahalo to you all and have a great day !!

:cool: :cool: :cool:

Welcome Aloha Cruiser! Just had to add that I think it's pretty awesome that your lifestyle is such that you don't own...or ever need a suit!! <img border="0" alt="[jam]" title="" src="graemlins/jammin.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[jam]" title="" src="graemlins/jammin.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[jam]" title="" src="graemlins/jammin.gif" />

Aloha Cruiser - we may take you up on that one of these days. :)

bonnie - most Hawaii people don't own suits. Our dressed up is getting into aloha attire. People that are really dressy own sport coats. :D

Masaki