Last December, I was on a Mexican Riviera cruise on 'Discovery Princess' and I wore tuxedo on both "formal" nights. On the first of those evenings, I wore white jacket and, when I stepped into an elevator, a man who was already in there (wearing some kind of untucked plaid shirt and basketball shorts, I think) asked me, "what do you do on the ship"? I replied, jokingly, "what do I do? Well, I eat, drink, and sleep." His facial expression indicated he was rather displeased with my retort, which made it really dawn on me that he thought I was crew and being impertinent to a passenger! I mean, it's a funny story; to me, anyway; I imagine him going to the purser's desk to complain and the staff having no idea what he's talking about! But, it also highlighted just how unfamiliar people are with formalwear.
So, this leads me to my question: I'm now booked on a week-long cruse in the Persian Gulf on 'Norwegian Dawn', between 27 December 2023 and 3 January 2024. That mean's I'd be spending New Year's Eve onboard. Now, I know Norwegian does the whole "freestyle cruising" thing and it's basically, with only a few minor exceptions, wear whatever you want whenever you want. I've also noted there's typically a "Dress-Up or Not Night" and/or "Norwegian Night Out", when people can opt to dress "formally", if they wish. My guess is, for this upcoming cruise, that will be on 31 December and that's the night I would, on any other line, wear tuxedo (probably white jacket). However, from what I've been reading, what's commonly considered "formal" for men onboard a NCL vessel is something like a Hawaiian shirt with beige chinos or a polo shirt tucked iinto dark jeans (which isn't even remotely close to formalwear!). Will I therefore look like a right tool if I wear a tux on an NCL cruise?
I don't mind standing out in a crowd. But, to be the only man in a tux, out of +/- 1,150 guys, is something entirely different and I don't want every other person asking me when the buffet closes or which way it is to the lido deck.
