Men's Sport Coat Required?

I posted this a week ago, but not in a very good place. Claudia Sails & British both found my original post (they can find pretty much anything in these forums) - and thank you ladies for your responses. But I thought I'd try again to see if any recent Rhine cruisers (particularly to any that attended the dinner at Burg Satzvey) can let me know how they found men's attire for that occasion.

ORIGINAL POST:


I going to ask the question, even though I've been on bunches of trips where a man's sport coat is "suggested." and only about 2 guys out of 30-40 show up in a sport coat. The rest, as I do, wear their "resort casual" attire - including for the welcome and farewell dinners.

I'd like recent Rhine-Moselle cruisers to let us know how many men actually wore a sport coat to anything. I ask this question because Tauck's latest guidance in their cruise specific booklet I recently received seems to be a bit stronger than usual. Here's what Tauck has to say in their booklet: "Your journey also includes one or two evenings highlighted by a special dinner or other unique event: "For these evenings,a sport coat and tie for gentlemen... are suggested and appreciated." Now, I've gotten to the point in my life that ties are pretty much wedding and funeral attire.

And - I find in the booklet only one dinner not on the boat - at Burg Satzvey. I looked online for Burg Satzvey and did find one castle banquet-looking occasion where a few men wore a jacket and tie.

How did the folks on recent cruises find this?

Thanks.

Comments

  • We are on the Blue Danube Cruise now and have at least two dinners in palaces, the welcome dinner at Lobkowitz Palace in Prague another dinner in the Palaise Pallavicini in Vienna, and the farewell dinner at the grand Academia Club in Budapest. I would say at least 30 - 50 % (maybe higher) wore suit jackets or blazers, me being one. I don’t know if it was because our group seems/is older than our previous trips. Frankly, to each his own, but I think these places rated men in jackets or sports coats.
  • Wallaroo wrote:
    I posted this a week ago, but not in a very good place. Claudia Sails & British both found my original post (they can find pretty much anything in these forums) - and thank you ladies for your responses. But I thought I'd try again to see if any recent Rhine cruisers (particularly to any that attended the dinner at Burg Satzvey) can let me know how they found men's attire for that occasion.

    ORIGINAL POST:


    I going to ask the question, even though I've been on bunches of trips where a man's sport coat is "suggested." and only about 2 guys out of 30-40 show up in a sport coat. The rest, as I do, wear their "resort casual" attire - including for the welcome and farewell dinners.

    I'd like recent Rhine-Moselle cruisers to let us know how many men actually wore a sport coat to anything. I ask this question because Tauck's latest guidance in their cruise specific booklet I recently received seems to be a bit stronger than usual. Here's what Tauck has to say in their booklet: "Your journey also includes one or two evenings highlighted by a special dinner or other unique event: "For these evenings,a sport coat and tie for gentlemen... are suggested and appreciated." Now, I've gotten to the point in my life that ties are pretty much wedding and funeral attire.

    And - I find in the booklet only one dinner not on the boat - at Burg Satzvey. I looked online for Burg Satzvey and did find one castle banquet-looking occasion where a few men wore a jacket and tie.

    How did the folks on recent cruises find this?

    Thanks.

    Interesting. We're departing on the May 13 Southbound Rhine & Moselle trip. Our green booklet has the same wording that yours does, but right below that in the packing list it says "Sport coat for men (suggested but not required)," with nothing about a tie. So you can probably do whatever you want. My recollection from our Blue Danube cruise is that about a third to half of the men wore sport coats but there were VERY few ties. Our itinerary shows one cocktail/dinner off the boat, in Cologne at Schloss Ehreshoven, but there will probably be another special dinner one night on board (they did that on our Blue Danube cruise). When is your trip? If it's after ours, I'll be sure to let you know.
  • edited April 2018
    Our trip is northbound - Jun 15 to 27. I see only one dinner off the boat - Burg Satzvey. The only other occasions that perhaps Tauck suggests coat and tie is for he Welcome and Farewell dinners - not sure it it's worth it for that.

    We've been on a lot a trips where a sport coat for men is "suggested' - only to find almost no one wears one - certainly not anywhere the 1/3 to 1/2 you've seen. I recently read an article on how to pack light - one of the many out there. The article said if you're planning on wearing an item only once - don't bring it. I'm leaning toward not bringing one. But if I find from feedback here from recent cruisers that men did, in fact, show up in sport coats for an occasion or two. I'll probably suffer the pains of stuffing one in my suitcase.

    I await your feedback from your cruise - thanks for offering.

  • I have a similar question. We are on the Rhine & Moselle South trip May 13. Other than a couple of special dinners on the ship there is a dinner at Schloss Ehreshoven. But we depart for this event after some free time In Cologne. This seems to imply that dress is not very formal. We had a similar castle dinner outside on another Tauck tour; it was just nice casual clothes. I'm at a loss on what type of dress will be appropriate for this event. I don't want to pack clothes I won't need. Any information will be appreciated.
  • edited April 2018
    SandraD wrote:
    I have a similar question. We are on the Rhine & Moselle South trip May 13. Other than a couple of special dinners on the ship there is a dinner at Schloss Ehreshoven. But we depart for this event after some free time In Cologne. This seems to imply that dress is not very formal. We had a similar castle dinner outside on another Tauck tour; it was just nice casual clothes. I'm at a loss on what type of dress will be appropriate for this event. I don't want to pack clothes I won't need. Any information will be appreciated.

    Sandra, we're on the same departure! See my comment above. I'll be the one in black slacks and top with a rotation of scarves for all those dinners. Because the riverboat docks are right there next to Old Town Cologne, my interpretation of the itinerary for that day is that, although we'll have free time after lunch, we would most likely go back to our cabin to rest/change before departing for dinner. It would be very un-Tauck-like to rush people off to dinner directly from an afternoon of sightseeing.

    Katharine
  • Wallaroo, we're on the cruise now and just had our castle dinner last night. I'd say at least two-thirds of the men wore a sport coat, maybe three-fourths. Only about half of those wore a tie.
  • edited May 2018
    Aaagghh! I guess I'm wearing a sport coat. Were the percentages the same for the welcome reception?

    And how was Burg Satzvey? Not too schmalzy I hope.

    Thanks for the update. Would love to see to a trip report at the end of your journey.

    So.. eine gute Reise noch
  • Sometimes it is easier to ‘wear’ the sport coat instead of packing it. On the other hand, if it is white or a light color it could get dirty on the airplane.
  • We have yet to take our first river cruise, one booked next year. My husband has never taken a sports coat on the Tauck tours, there is not enough room in the suitcase and he has never ever been any where near the only who does not have a jacket, as I prefer to call it. He often looks the smartest man at the table, he wears a dress shirt. Even the same tour can vary depending on the group of travelers you find yourself with. And also depending on the time of year. August in a coat, no! Wherelse is A/C as fierce or as wasteful as the US that you have to keep a coat on inside?
  • Whatever he is comfortable with I’m sure will be fine. I just reviewed my Danube pictures and videos again just out of curiosity. At the dinner and musical dance performance in Vienna I could see exactly one man wearing a short sleeved ‘dress’ shirt, and one man wearing a jacket with no tie. Every other man there was wearing a jacket and tie. (There are several dining events similar to this.) I routinely dine at a restaurant (the Buckeye Roadhouse) where you will see people in jeans and T-shirts dining next to people in formal wear. We had a table adjacent to Joe Montana a little while back and he and his wife were nicely dressed. So it is not what everyone else is wearing that is important, it is what makes you comfortable. Just be aware that aboard Tauck’s river boats, and aboard Ponant, people dress rather smartly.
    If you are uncomfortable feeling ‘under dressed’ you might consider bringing the jacket. (;-)
  • Wallaroo wrote:
    Aaagghh! I guess I'm wearing a sport coat. Were the percentages the same for the welcome reception?

    And how was Burg Satzvey? Not too schmalzy I hope.

    Thanks for the update. Would love to see to a trip report at the end of your journey.

    So.. eine gute Reise noch

    The welcome reception was very informal. Our castle dinner was at Schloss Ehreshoven, so I can't comment on Burg Satzvey, sorry. I will do a report at the end. We've had absolutely delightful, sunny, warm weather so far.
  • We took this river cruise last year (2017) and my husband did not take a sport coat. Burg Satzvey was wonderful; great food, interesting tour and wonderful entertainment. H wore a polo shirt with a nice cashmere sweater and dressier pants (no cargoes!) and was perfectly comfortable. A few men wore jackets but as long as you are in "resort casual" wear you will be fine. by the way it was one of our favorite Tauck trips.
    Jeanne
  • I have one more thought for you.

    We took this trip in 2016. Most of the men were a bit more senior than me, and probably more than 50% had suits or jackets. However, it was much warmer than normal for our trip, and on the occasions we all wore our jackets pretty much everyone had peeled them off within 15 minutes or so into the events. Was ultimately a waste......

    So, check the weather right before you depart and consider whether or not a jacket is even practical for your trip. Otherwise, you will end up just carrying more weight and bulk in your luggage than you really need.

    And no one will treat you differently or make you feel uncomfortable if you take the more casual approach.
  • Well, having dutifully schlepped my sport coat 4,000 miles to be properly attired for our castle dinner, the night before our Burg Satzvey dinner, one of our tour directors announces "For tomorrow's castle dinner there's no need to wear fancy attire. Wear something comfortable. Resort casual works just fine." Aggghhh!

    But... She did say that fancy dinner attire would be appropriate for tomorrow's onboard Farewell Dinner (on the night before our last night onboard). Most men did wear coat for that dinner and a few (a very few) added a tie, so all was not lost.

    Would be nice if Tauck's tour planners and tour directors sang off the same sheet of music. But it was a great tour. No rain at all, beautiful temperatures (generally in the 60s to low 70s).
  • Thanks for the follow-up report, Wallaroo, and I'm glad you had such nice weather. Sounds like it was a bit cooler than our trip in May! Go figure.

Leave a Comment

BoldItalicStrikethroughOrdered listUnordered list
Emoji
Image
Align leftAlign centerAlign rightToggle HTML viewToggle full pageToggle lights
Drop image/file