Zero Enforcement of Dress Code @ Palo

[Flcruising]

We have formal wear and have taken it on cruises from time to time. But for our next cruise we will be in Italy for week before the cruise.
I have no intention of dragging formal wear through airports and around Italy and back.
The fashion police will just have to chill.

Seriously we don't need anymore pictures of ourselves dressed up. We have opportunities at home to dress formal if we want. So If its not a written dress code why should we carry extra luggage on our trip?

 

[holula]

Not to mention actual “high end” places in trendy cities like NYC have gone away from strict dress codes for decades. I’ve had a several hundred dollar per person dinner in jeans and a tshirt. Suits are for funerals and office stiffs, not for dragging your tie through a bowl of French onion soup- in my opinion, others are entitled to their own of course.

I’m not even talking about a strict dress code, but genuinely some of the people in October looked like they’d just come from the pool deck. Button up shirt, jeans and sneakers is fine. I’m not asking for a return to the suit era of dressing up!

But why go to a nice meal looking like you’re at the pool? I don’t get it.

 

[Karin1984]

If you like formal wear, do a Cunard cruise.

 

[Clarkson U]

Even though we may not dress up to the nines any longer on a cruise - we usually go at least business casual or better - however, we love seeing all those that put in the effort to dress up whether it be formal night or costume night during HOTHS.

So please those of you that dress up please keep at it- folks like us love to see you in really nice clothes!

 

[disruptor32]

As someone who wears a suit or similar business-casual clothes to work (in the office, grumble grumble) every day of the week, the absolute last thing I want to do on vacation is wear work clothes. Vacation, for me, does not include dressing like I am going to work. If you are a medical professional and wear scrubs 5 days a week, would you really want to wear scrubs on vacation too?

A nice polo shirt and a pair of black jeans is my default Palo outfit, but also, I do not care what anyone else wears. My enjoyment of Palo is in no way affected by how other people dress.

 

[DCLMP]

This is a very good point - it becomes less practical to bring these big things...

I am shocked at the amount of luggage people bring. We did a 4 day cruise out of San Diego last month and each brought a small carryon. I saw people boarding with massive suitcases and more than one. I can't imagine why unless they were planning on doing a lot of shopping.

 

[dez1978]

Couldn’t care less what others wear. I wear nice dresses just to walk around the ship with my matching minnie ears and have cute photos and enjoy the dressing up. Maybe people look at me and think I’m crazy for never wearing t shirts and shorts but I hate wearing t shirts and shorts. Though I absolutely don’t care in the least if everyone else around me is in t shirts and shorts. I did once wear pajamas around the ship when it was nighttime and my son couldn’t sleep and I went to go get him a stuffie from the gift shop. Probably got weird looks then too but again, who cares? You do you. You’ll never see anyone on the ship again so it doesn’t matter at all what they see you wear or what you see them wear. And I don’t subscribe to the notion that what others wear in a restaurant affects the ambiance—people are people, not decorations.

All of this. If you enjoy dressing up, do it. if you don't, don't. But why care what anyone else wears? I get caring what people at work think of you. But complete strangers? Absolutely not.

I’m not even talking about a strict dress code, but genuinely some of the people in October looked like they’d just come from the pool deck. Button up shirt, jeans and sneakers is fine. I’m not asking for a return to the suit era of dressing up!

But why go to a nice meal looking like you’re at the pool? I don’t get it.

Because I spend my vacation time relaxing and doing as I please. And maybe I did just come from the pool, because I wanted to soak up every second of beautiful sun, and not waste time dressing to please someone else. What I wear does not affect if my meal is nice or not. I don't get why what some one else is wearing bothers you this much.

 

[Flossbolna]

The thing that annoys me is that there is a dress code and I try to follow it and then they randomly don’t enforce it. It makes me feel stupid for actually following the rules. I wouldn’t mind no dress code, in Germany where I am from I never heard of dress codes for restaurants before. But if you make rules and make me pack for them, then it should be the same for everyone.

 

[Flcruising]

I am shocked at the amount of luggage people bring. We did a 4 day cruise out of San Diego last month and each brought a small carryon. I saw people boarding with massive suitcases and more than one. I can't imagine why unless they were planning on doing a lot of shopping.

They could be on a much longer vacation than just the cruise. They could have gear, clothes that are appropriate for a totally different type of holiday they just came from. They could be delivering clothes or items to someone on board or back home. I can think of a number of reasons. Or they just way over packed.

 

[sadiecatie]

I am shocked at the amount of luggage people bring. We did a 4 day cruise out of San Diego last month and each brought a small carryon. I saw people boarding with massive suitcases and more than one. I can't imagine why unless they were planning on doing a lot of shopping.

Some people are just "maximalist" vacationers - they want alllll the options and like changing outfits during the day (pool outfit, casual outfit, dinner outfit, etc.). This is not me, but I just kind of shrug - it would stress me out to pack, haul, and repack all that stuff, but to each their own (I'm somewhere in the middle - I no longer care to try to cram everything in a small carry-on, but I'm not going to pack everything I own either).

 

[scoobysgirl]

We went to Palo brunch and dinner on our last cruise. We all wore nice slacks and blouses to the brunch, and evening dresses to the dinner. It felt nice to dress up and the hostess commented on how nice we all looked. When we go back in October, we will again dress up when we go to this particular restaurant. I'm not really concerned with what others wear.

 

[71 Truck]

Several years ago we were on the Fantasy and on one of the days we had Palo for Brunch. I had forgotten my dress shoes. All I had with me were a brand new pair of brown Merrell hiking shoes.
One of the guidelines said for men no sneakers. The hiking shoes are not considered sneakers so I had to check with the restaurant, also I am now concerned they were not going to let us in for Brunch.

The day before our brunch we stopped by the check in desk to inquire if this would be a problem because even though the shoes were not sneakers they were also not dress shoes. I was told since they were not sneaker it should not be an issue however if it had been an issue they had loaner shoes if needed.

The next day we show up and again we are told the shoes I was wearing were okay for Brunch.

The funny thing, I saw people who did not conform to the dress policy in all different kinds of ways and thought to my self why even bother with a dress policy if you are not goin to enforce it.

When we asked about it we were told that the Brunch is more relaxed however dinner it is enforced.

I can understand a dress policy. I could see something like this happening if they relax the dress code to much.
Imagine you are sitting down for Brunch, the person in the table next to to you had been at the pool all morning and decided to just come down for brunch without getting changed and cleaned up.
Could you imagine sitting next to someone who has been in the sun all morning sweating with sun tan lotion on and that is all you smell while you are trying to enjoy your brunch.

Some people are going to say they would never do this and that may be true however when people are on vacation they sometimes do things they should not do.

 

[MomOTwins]

They could be on a much longer vacation than just the cruise. They could have gear, clothes that are appropriate for a totally different type of holiday they just came from. They could be delivering clothes or items to someone on board or back home. I can think of a number of reasons. Or they just way over packed.

I think it is mostly the longer vacation element. If we do a cruise that is 4 days, we typically add on the same amount as a land trip before and after the cruise to make the vacation feel longer.

Though another factor: when our kids were babies, there was soooo much extra stuff we had to pack. We'd fill up a suitcase with the twins’ diapers, bottles, bottle warmer, bottle sanitizer, liquid formula (my babies needed sterile water so liquid formula was better than powder), bedtime stories, baby blankets, their nighttime noise machine, collapsable baby bathtub etc.

 

[BStieers]

I am shocked at the amount of luggage people bring. We did a 4 day cruise out of San Diego last month and each brought a small carryon. I saw people boarding with massive suitcases and more than one. I can't imagine why unless they were planning on doing a lot of shopping.

For a lot of us that don't live on that coast the cruise was just part of the vacation. If we are coming from a snow covered state some of that is the gear we had to wear to safely get to the airport. If we like to dress up, and go to the gym, now we are at 3 outfits a day. It happens fast.

 

[dez1978]

Could you imagine sitting next to someone who has been in the sun all morning sweating with sun tan lotion on and that is all you smell while you are trying to enjoy your brunch.

Ok, I can see your point here. But honestly, the same could be said for many colognes and perfumes. I used to work with someone who wore patchouli something every day. It gave me migraines. I'd much rather smell sweaty sunscreen than anything like that. As you pointed out, people always say they would never go out smelling in a way that would be considered nasty, whether it's body odor, sweat, sun screen, cologne, etc, but people unintentionally do it every day because to them, it smells fine.

 

[MomOTwins]

Ok, I can see your point here. But honestly, the same could be said for many colognes and perfumes. I used to work with someone who wore patchouli something every day. It gave me migraines. I'd much rather smell sweaty sunscreen than anything like that. As you pointed out, people always say they would never go out smelling in a way that would be considered nasty, whether it's body odor, sweat, sun screen, cologne, etc, but people unintentionally do it every day because to them, it smells fine.

Agree and also, a dress code doesn’t exactly fix that either. Changing clothes doesn’t require showering.

More to the point though, feels a tad far fetched. Tables at palo are not close enough for me to smell the food at the table next to me, much less the people.

 

[RedHead0186]

I am shocked at the amount of luggage people bring. We did a 4 day cruise out of San Diego last month and each brought a small carryon. I saw people boarding with massive suitcases and more than one. I can't imagine why unless they were planning on doing a lot of shopping.

In addition to what PPs have said, they also may be in a FE group or other exchange. I've heard people say they bring one suitcase just for the gifts they're going to hand out (and then use the empty suitcase to bring home everything they received).

 

[RedHead0186]

I guess I may be in the minority here in that I am a little bummed that the dress code at Palo has been soo relaxed. I don't expect people to wear suits/ties/gowns/tuxes/etc. To me, how people are dressed is a little part of the ambiance. I know others have said they don't care what others wear; I guess I do a little bit. If people are well dressed then I don't really care what they're wearing, but to me holey jeans and graphic tees don't really fit the vibe. I also get that brunch is a little more casual than dinner, and I'm fine with that.

Again, I know I'm probably in the minority but I don't think it's unreasonable to expect some level of dressiness for specialty/upcharge dining (even if the dressy bar is pretty low).

 

[RedHead0186]

My husband was told to go back to the room to get his sneakers for brunch, because men need to wear closed toe shoes (which if they had spelled it out specifically in the dress code, he wouldn't have been irritated, it was more that it wasn't specified)

I think that used to be in the dress code (before they relaxed it). I distinctly recall it saying something about open-toed shoes, because I was worried I wouldn't be able to wear my strappy heels, until I read it was referring to men wearing open-toed shoes.

 

[71 Truck]

Ok, I can see your point here. But honestly, the same could be said for many colognes and perfumes. I used to work with someone who wore patchouli something every day. It gave me migraines. I'd much rather smell sweaty sunscreen than anything like that. As you pointed out, people always say they would never go out smelling in a way that would be considered nasty, whether it's body odor, sweat, sun screen, cologne, etc, but people unintentionally do it every day because to them, it smells fine.

I 100% agree with that on the perfumes and colognes. I myself do not like colognes and do not wear any, also I have been to places where people have put on so much perfume it smells like they used the whole bottle. It usually give me bad headaches and I have to leave the area.

I can't tell you how many time over the years my wife and I have gone to Disney restaurants and we could tell when people next to us had just come from being at the park all day.

You are also right that some people think they might smell fine to them self. It may be because the get used to it during the day and think nothing of it when they go out to eat.