Cunard loosening ties to tradition

Fewer and fewer men of any age want to wear neckties anymore, especially on vacation.

The very word sounds constraining.
So it comes as no surprise that Cunard Line this year will reduce the number of evenings that ties are part of the suggested attire.
Several lines that ostensibly compete with Cunard, such as Oceania and Azamara Club Cruises, make ties completely optional. They use informality as a selling point, in fact.
Cunard is special on two counts. It openly plays on the nostalgia of its long history and liner heritage. And it has a passenger base that draws from both the U.S. and England, where tradition reigns.
So getting the right balance between formal and informal is important for Cunard. It will still have several formal nights on each cruise in which ties are recommended.
But the previous dress code that mandated ties for formal and semiformal evenings (there was also an elegant casual category) has been relaxed to simply formal and informal.
Clearly if there’s anyone who still craves formality at sea, it is the Cunard passenger.
“The glamour of dressing to the nines is a hallmark of traveling with Cunard and distinguishes us from the mass of cruise operators where dressing up has become a thing of the past,” said Cunard President Peter Shanks in announcing the new policy.
Ties are symbols of potency, restraint and class, and their demise should not be taken too lightly.
But Americans, never big on class or formality to begin with, have come to regard ties as appropriate for church, funerals, a limited number of business functions and little else.
Sport jackets, on the other hand, seem firmly in place as a marker of formality. Many of the same people who wouldn’t mind ditching the tie would draw the line at shirtsleeves in the evening.
Dress nights are more of a selling point than a liability for cruises in general. Even unpretentious Carnival has its “cruise elegant” evenings. Cunard’s relaxation of its dress code will produce some squawks but eventually will be accepted by just about everyone.