No formal night???

[MeeskaMooskaMickey]

Have spoken over phone to DCL and the staff member confirmed that there were no nights for formal and semi formal attire on my forthcoming Med cruise. Is this now a thing or will they be announced later? I thought their website stated that all 7+ night cruises had formal and semi formal or am I mistaken?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Have spoken over phone to DCL and the staff member confirmed that there were no nights for formal and semi formal attire on my forthcoming Med cruise. Is this now a thing or will they be announced later? I thought their website stated that all 7+ night cruises had formal and semi formal or am I mistaken?

Just be aware that the CMs answering the phone are quite likely to not know the correct answer. If you call again, you may get a different answer.

Yes, typically, a 7 night cruise has a formal night and a semi-formal night.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Have spoken over phone to DCL and the staff member confirmed that there were no nights for formal and semi formal attire on my forthcoming Med cruise. Is this now a thing or will they be announced later? I thought their website stated that all 7+ night cruises had formal and semi formal or am I mistaken?

The CMs are correct, all the information is on thier system, now a port intensive Med cruise will not have a formal night.

Few people travelling there take formal clothes, due to heat and flight restrictions on weight.

The CMs are trained and know what they are talking about. It's a pity some do not think that's the case as they are very hardworking.

Cruises of 10/11/12 in the Med with sea days do have formal nights, but not the port intensive 7 night version.

 

[cruizincathi]

I, too, have heard they've done away with the formal nights. Hope that eases your packing

I'm sure everyone tries their best to give the correct info, but there are MANY examples out there of CM giving dated or incorrect info. Let's try to keep responses on subject and resist the urge to put down other posters. It doesn't help anyone.

 

[MeeskaMooskaMickey]

Thanks guys- so I guess it is most likely true! Yes it will definitely give me more room in my luggage and I'll save money on buying a new dress! Was looking forward to it though, it seems a strange decision to drop it from some itineraries but not others.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Thanks guys- so I guess it is most likely true! Yes it will definitely give me more room in my luggage and I'll save money on buying a new dress! Was looking forward to it though, it seems a strange decision to drop it from some itineraries but not others.

Even without an actual "formal" night, there's absolutely no reason why you can't dress up any night you wish. We were seated at a table once that one of the couples "dressed for dinner" every night.

As the "dress code" for the main dining rooms is a suggested attire, you can go with what they suggest, or do something else.

 

[AquaDame]

I received an email about the switch up with character breakfasts on the 7 nights (only with two or more sea days) as well today - it seems like there is a lot of tweaking going on right now! I was surprised it said that the ones from US ports will now only have Disney Jr characters and from foreign ports it will be the classic ones... I do love breakfast with Mickey!

Luggage limitations are always present for those who fly, regardless of where the cruise sails, so I am not sure that weight restrictions are the story here. The caribbean sea and gulf of mexico also has its share of warm weather, even more so when you are doing a southern, and they haven't suspended it before for heat there. I do wonder if as with the breakfasts its the lack of sea days more than anything (which gives people more time and energy to expend on dolling up), but as none of us are cast members and certainly not management or executives that make the decisions we will likely never know the full reasoning.

I will say that I've found more fashion conscious people in Europe on a normal day than I see where I live on the west coast..! If you're inclined to dress a little nicer because its fun you should, you won't stand out! It's your vacation!

 

[AquaDame]

As the "dress code" for the main dining rooms is a suggested attire, you can go with what they suggest, or do something else.

You might have a better time if you go up rather than down on the dress code though, or someone here may try to make you walk the plank!

 

[RACHEL_GB]

I received an email about the switch up with character breakfasts on the 7 nights (only with two or more sea days) as well today - it seems like there is a lot of tweaking going on right now! I was surprised it said that the ones from US ports will now only have Disney Jr characters and from foreign ports it will be the classic ones... I do love breakfast with Mickey!

Luggage limitations are always present for those who fly, regardless of where the cruise sails, so I am not sure that weight restrictions are the story here. The caribbean sea and gulf of mexico also has its share of warm weather, even more so when you are doing a southern, and they haven't suspended it before for heat there. I do wonder if as with the breakfasts its the lack of sea days more than anything (which gives people more time and energy to expend on dolling up), but as none of us are cast members and certainly not management or executives that make the decisions we will likely never know the full reasoning.

I will say that I've found more fashion conscious people in Europe on a normal day than I see where I live on the west coast..! If you're inclined to dress a little nicer because its fun you should, you won't stand out! It's your vacation!

I've bought a cocktail dress and I am wearing it hell or high water!

 

[CM Dad]

Have spoken over phone to DCL and the staff member confirmed that there were no nights for formal and semi formal attire on my forthcoming Med cruise. Is this now a thing or will they be announced later? I thought their website stated that all 7+ night cruises had formal and semi formal or am I mistaken?

Which Med cruise are you doing? My wife and I will be on the 12-night departing 8/1 and I had assumed that there would be a formal night. The DCL packing tips (https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/guest-services/cruise-packing-list/) seems to indicate that there would be formal night on European cruises of 7 nights or more,

• Themed Nights – On 7-night sailings and longer cruises, the ship offers themed nights—including a formal night—and you're encouraged to dress up and participate in the evening's festivities.
  
  The old web site used to have an open to print/email a document with all your itinerary for your cruise. It included all the standard events like Pirate night as well as included any excursions or adult dining you had booked. Is this still available anymore? Doing an Explore Activities, it does show Pirate night, but someone else had said that they were told that there was also some Frozen event as well. I don't see that mentioned anywhere.

 

[disneyholic family]

I received an email about the switch up with character breakfasts on the 7 nights (only with two or more sea days) as well today - it seems like there is a lot of tweaking going on right now! I was surprised it said that the ones from US ports will now only have Disney Jr characters and from foreign ports it will be the classic ones... I do love breakfast with Mickey!

Luggage limitations are always present for those who fly, regardless of where the cruise sails, so I am not sure that weight restrictions are the story here. The caribbean sea and gulf of mexico also has its share of warm weather, even more so when you are doing a southern, and they haven't suspended it before for heat there. I do wonder if as with the breakfasts its the lack of sea days more than anything (which gives people more time and energy to expend on dolling up), but as none of us are cast members and certainly not management or executives that make the decisions we will likely never know the full reasoning.

I will say that I've found more fashion conscious people in Europe on a normal day than I see where I live on the west coast..! If you're inclined to dress a little nicer because its fun you should, you won't stand out! It's your vacation!

are you sure about the character breakfasts? that would be great....it makes sense to have classic characters in europe considering not many of us watch the disney channel and so are completely unfamiliar with the disney junior characters....i just happened to watch a character breakfast video on youtube yesterday and had no clue who any of them were (other than the big cheese who also makes an appearance)..
so i hope you're correct that our med cruise breakfast will have regular characters rather than those from disney junior....

 

[aprincessatlast]

are you sure about the character breakfasts? that would be great....it makes sense to have classic characters in europe considering not many of us watch the disney channel and so are completely unfamiliar with the disney junior characters....i just happened to watch a character breakfast video on youtube yesterday and had no clue who any of them were (other than the big cheese who also makes an appearance)..
so i hope you're correct that our med cruise breakfast will have regular characters rather than those from disney junior....

I say have classic characters all around. My kids nor I have no clue what disney junior characters are out there and we reside stateside. Not everyone has or wants cable. lol The classics remain though!

 

[AquaDame]

are you sure about the character breakfasts? that would be great....it makes sense to have classic characters in europe considering not many of us watch the disney channel and so are completely unfamiliar with the disney junior characters....i just happened to watch a character breakfast video on youtube yesterday and had no clue who any of them were (other than the big cheese who also makes an appearance)..
so i hope you're correct that our med cruise breakfast will have regular characters rather than those from disney junior....

Here is the email from my TA (she works for Dreams Unlimited and I hope she doesn't mind me sharing it - the formatting looks like she copy/pasted too!)

"Here is some new news from Disney Cruise Line:

1. • This was the character breakfast offering.

Character Breakfasts:
On select sailings Guests can start their day by joining some of their favorite Disney Characters for breakfast.
Select 7-night or longer sailings with at least 2 days at sea feature a Character Breakfast on one morning of the cruise. This breakfast is a ticketed event
The Disney Junior Character Breakfast is presented on 7-night or longer sailings with at least 2 days at sea departing from U.S. domestic ports. While appearances may vary by sailing, typically Jack, Sophia and Doc McStuffins are part of the Disney Junior Character Breakfast.
VIP Characters appear on 7-night or longer sailings with at least 2 days at sea departing from non-domestic ports (including Alaskan itineraries). On most sailings VIP Characters will include Mickey Mouse and his pals Minnie Mouse, Goofy and Pluto.
14-night transatlantic and Panama Canal sailings feature a Character Breakfast with VIP Characters (Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Pluto).
A character breakfast is not currently offered onboard any 2-, 3-, 4-, 5- or 6-night sailings.
And also:
Pre-Book Character Greeting Opportunities Aboard Disney Cruise Line
Beginning on Tuesday, June 7, 2016, your Clients will have the ability to pre-book two Meet & Greet opportunities with Disney Characters through the My Disney Cruise section of DisneyCruise.com. Guests sailings on cruises of 7-nights or longer that feature at least two sea days will also have the opportunity to pre-book a special Character Breakfast online.
Similar to Port Adventures, if your Clients do not pre-book these experiences prior to sailing, they may check availability once onboard.
If your Clients are interested in pre-reserving tickets for the Princess Gathering, Frozen Meet & Greet or a Disney Character Breakfast (if applicable) during their cruise, encourage them to visit the My Disney Cruise section of disneycruise.com on or after Tuesday, June 7, 2016 to pre-book these experiences.
Concierge Guests will not need to pre-book these experiences. Character Meet & Greet opportunities and Character Breakfasts will be pre-booked ahead of time by the Concierge Team."


Since I have not seen it directly from DCL yet (my next cruise with them is about a year away) I'm not going to update the FAQs until someone confirms it in action or they release something, but she is not the sort to give out incorrect info willy willy either so I don't mind sharing it.

 

[Quellman]

I received an email about the switch up with character breakfasts on the 7 nights (only with two or more sea days) as well today - it seems like there is a lot of tweaking going on right now! I was surprised it said that the ones from US ports will now only have Disney Jr characters and from foreign ports it will be the classic ones... I do love breakfast with Mickey!

Chances are the Disney Jr Characters aren't well known in Europe. It also throws folks a bone who have school age children (particularly) who watch the shows and will not have an opportunity to see them. Littles cannot always patiently wait 10 minutes before Mickey's scheduled time in line, and then the extra 10 minutes for being further back. Coupling a meal with characters would at least allow them to be fed and happy while characters come by to say Hi. To keep demand for it down, they removed the popular characters that you can see any old time.

All of that said, I loved character breakfast without kids on the Magic a few years ago. Mickey and the gang came by, just like they would at Disney. We will be doing Disney Jr characters on our next cruise.

 

[AquaDame]

All of that said, I loved character breakfast without kids on the Magic a few years ago. Mickey and the gang came by, just like they would at Disney.

We don't have kids so its always just us but the characters are always very good on the ships. They "play" with us too, Minnie even joined in our game of chess last cruise for a few moves. Without kids though we don't really know who Jake and Sophia are and definitely don't need a picture with them or anything.... Well played Disney, well played.

 

[RedSox68]

The CMs are correct, all the information is on thier system, now a port intensive Med cruise will not have a formal night.

Few people travelling there take formal clothes, due to heat and flight restrictions on weight.

The CMs are trained and know what they are talking about. It's a pity some do not think that's the case as they are very hardworking.

Cruises of 10/11/12 in the Med with sea days do have formal nights, but not the port intensive 7 night version.

Sorry -- not always. I have had more than one instance where I get a different answer to the same question when asked again. Most of the time my travel agent knows more than they do about their own product. Once is a fluke, but several times means they are not all well informed.

 

[Ware Bears]

I've just looked through the past 7 night Med navigators that have been posted on the DCL Blog. There are some for 2013, 2014 and 2015. All have the first sea day, Day 2, as formal night but only August 2015 has a semi-formal night on Day 5. This is the only navigator posted for 2015, the ones for 2013 and 2014 show cruise casual for every night bar the formal one on Day 2.

We're doing b2b 7 nights this summer, I'll be disappointed if there's no formal night but DH will still take a suit and we'll dress up anyway. We don't get much opportunity to dress up at home and therefore enjoy doing it on the cruise.

 

[tink1970]

I always get the nights mixed up anyway (I know, they are printed right there on the front of the Navigator ). That said, when I'm in Europe I try to dress a little (or lot depending on my activity!) nicer than here on the Redneck Riviera. So while no sparkly cocktail dresses for me, I'll probably end up looking semi formal most nights by virtue of my dress style, if that makes sense.

I wonder if the lack of designation is due to passengers complaining that they didn't have time to get beautiful after a day in port? Speculation for sure but with the "port intensive" notation I wonder if that played some part.

As for the character breakfasts, DD is about 10-12 years past Disney Junior so I'm at a loss regarding who the characters featured are. Great, now I'm an old fart

 

[Ware Bears]

I've just phoned DCL and the lady pulled up both my bookings (Aug 13 and Aug 20)and this is the schedule for my two weeks so guessing all the 7 night Meds will be the same:
Saturday - Casual
Sunday - Frozen
Monday - Casual
Tuesday - Casual
Wednesday - Casual
Thursday - Pirate
Friday - Casual

a bit disappointed there's not a formal night but I reckon the majority of cruisers won't realise and we'll still dress up anyway.

 

[MsJiminyCricket]

Will they continue a formal night - last time they were calling it 'dress up' - on the Fantasy?