Costco Membership Crackdown or All Things Costco 😀

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

no dress codes,

I think you need to do some more research.

We're doing a Seabourn cruise in a few weeks and by all accounts Regent is considered the stuffiest of the three major lines with Silver Sea just below them and Seabourn being the least more "country club" style.

Regent Seven Seas does in fact have a dress code similar to Seabourn (and likely Silver Sea).



I sure hope you were aware of this before you booked them if your impression was no dress code attracted you to them.

 

[gmi3804]

I think you need to do some more research.

We're doing a Seabourn cruise in a few weeks and by all accounts Regent is considered the stuffiest of the three major lines with Silver Sea just below them and Seabourn being the least more "country club" style.

Regent Seven Seas does in fact have a dress code similar to Seabourn (and likely Silver Sea).

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I sure hope you were aware of this before you booked them if your impression was no dress code attracted you to them.

We always dress "resort casual," i.e., slacks, collard shirts, nice shoes. What I meant was no "formal nights" where jackets are required and people show up with old formalwear from the '80s that smells like moth balls.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

We bought two $500 Southwest e-gift cards from Costco when they were selling them for $430 each. We just used up one of them to go to Vegas and it's the first time we've opted to pay cash for the flights for leisure travel as opposed to points (which we still have plenty of).

 

[gmi3804]

Yes, that's true, there is a danger to a GTY. But you can get a good upgrade from an inside cabin to a balcony for a fraction of what you would pay to book it from the start. Many people prefer to pay as little as possible and roll the dice with a GTY. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. For some, it's worth the gamble to pay for a cheap upgrade. I usually book exactly where I want to be but I like to have the option to upgrade.

I wouldn't sail on a ship that has inside cabins. [/snob]

Seriously, though, if I'm going to go far enough to drop five figures on a cruise I'm going to want to know exactly where my cabin is. As stated before, being in a cabin near noisy elements can absolutely ruin my enjoyment. Others might not care, but I do.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

We always dress "resort casual," i.e., slacks, collard shirts, nice shoes. What I meant was no "formal nights" where jackets are required and people show up with old formalwear from the '80s that smells like moth balls.

Sorry saying no dress codes is completely inaccurate no matter what way you try and explain what you mean. If you meant formal nights that's what you'd say. Furthermore by so many accounts many people dress to the nines and many expect it. After being on FB pages for Seabourn for 10 months I've heard it all as it's common for the clientele to stick with ultra-luxury cruise lines and bounce back between them. Your location of Caribbean like the other lines will skew less glitz and glamour but overall you are still expected to dress a certain way. It's not resort casual after 6pm, it's elegant casual which is above that. Formal nights for Regent are a smidge different than Seabourn only in the frequency. Seabourn has 1 for a 7 day cruise although the only requirement is it's required for dining in The Restaurant but everywhere else on the ship or dining venue it's not. From what I've learned people still tend to dress up no matter what. For Regent they start their formal nights at cruises with 16 or more days.

Seabourn just changed this year to allow "elegant jeans" for after 6pm and you would have thought there was a riot. Most people interpret it to mean dark, none faded, style jeans.

In any case people get riled up as those not dressing in accordance with the dress code on all these higher up lines at least from all of the stories I've seen and the tongues getting wagging the most should someone not adhere to them. People aren't wearing old formal wear from the '80s...they are buying new things that are updated lol. IME formal nights while tuxes are less and less common it's still generally expected to dress up. I hope you have a lovely time regardless! I know we're excited for our cruise, most say it's hard to go down too many levels after going up high.

 

[gmi3804]

Sorry saying no dress codes is completely inaccurate no matter what way you try and explain what you mean. If you meant formal nights that's what you'd say. Furthermore by so many accounts many people dress to the nines and many expect it. After being on FB pages for Seabourn for 10 months I've heard it all as it's common for the clientele to stick with ultra-luxury cruise lines and bounce back between them. Your location of Caribbean like the other lines will skew less glitz and glamour but overall you are still expected to dress a certain way. It's not resort casual after 6pm, it's elegant casual which is above that. Formal nights for Regent are a smidge different than Seabourn only in the frequency. Seabourn has 1 for a 7 day cruise although the only requirement is it's required for dining in The Restaurant but everywhere else on the ship or dining venue it's not. From what I've learned people still tend to dress up no matter what. For Regent they start their formal nights at cruises with 16 or more days.

Seabourn just changed this year to allow "elegant jeans" for after 6pm and you would have thought there was a riot. Most people interpret it to mean dark, none faded, style jeans.

In any case people get riled up as those not dressing in accordance with the dress code on all these higher up lines at least from all of the stories I've seen and the tongues getting wagging the most should someone not adhere to them. People aren't wearing old formal wear from the '80s...they are buying new things that are updated lol. IME formal nights while tuxes are less and less common it's still generally expected to dress up. I hope you have a lovely time regardless! I know we're excited for our cruise, most say it's hard to go down too many levels after going up high.

Lighten up, Francis.

 

[Living42Day]

How did the topic of Costco store policies evolve into a heated discussion about dress codes on cruises?

 

[Living42Day]

Anyway, I'm in agreement with the Costco crackdown on membership sharing. I guess my mind isn't devious to have thought of sharing a membership, as both myself and my cousin have memberships. It reminds me a lot of the Annual Pass sharing that was going on before Disney cracked down on it.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Lighten up, Francis.

I was trying to give you more information since you explicitly said you didn't know if you were cruise people and you specifically booked that particular cruise line because it didn't have a dress code. It would be a $15K mistake on your part. It is your money after all but most suggest if you want true freedom without any concerns about rules, expectations or policies to instead charter a yacht on your own. Otherwise there is an expectation that one packs according to each line's information. But as I said it's your money, just trying to give you what I've learned from extremely well traveled passengers who have done a lot of cruising on the upper tier lines

 

[Christine]

How did the topic of Costco store policies evolve into a heated discussion about dress codes on cruises?

Costco travel and booking cruises through them.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

How did the topic of Costco store policies evolve into a heated discussion about dress codes on cruises?

That's easy look back to page 9 post #170

*not heated IMO at least, the poster is free to disregard anything I've written but it is available on Regent's website, one I would hope they have looked at even booking through Costco.

 

[Living42Day]

Costco travel and booking cruises through them.

Right, that makes sense. But I'm not sure the fixation on dress codes for specific cruises? Maybe I just don't get it.

 

[Smugpugmug]

Right, that makes sense. But I'm not sure the fixation on dress codes for specific cruises? Maybe I just don't get it.

Dress codes in cruise ship dining rooms is serious business

 

[nw6675]

Right, that makes sense. But I'm not sure the fixation on dress codes for specific cruises? Maybe I just don't get it.

Another infamous DIS derailed thread

And if I know GMI....a meme may follow

 

[Living42Day]

Dress codes in cruise ship dining rooms is serious business

Apparently! For some reason this thread off-topic discussion stood out to me lol

Someone starts a thread on basket weaving. Another poster mentions using their baskets for their plants. Eventually someone comes along and talks about how their dad was a farmer his entire life and had the juiciest tomatoes at the county fair, but he also grew corn and isn't high fructose corn syrup just the worst. While people just joining the thread are like....what? lol

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Apparently! For some reason this thread off-topic discussion stood out to me lol

Someone starts a thread on basket weaving. Another poster mentions using their baskets for their plants. Eventually someone comes along and talks about how their dad was a farmer his entire life and had the juiciest tomatoes at the county fair, but he also grew corn and isn't high fructose corn syrup just the worst. While people just joining the thread are like....what? lol

You missed that the thread was already changed from just being about the crackdown

 

[nw6675]

You missed that the thread was already changed from just being about the crackdown

#truth. It morphed so quickly I had to change it to "all things Costco". Now cruise dress code might be a reach, but this is the DIS and #expected.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

#truth. It morphed so quickly I had to change it to "all things Costco". Now cruise dress code might be a reach, but this is the DIS and #expected.

I'm generally of the opinion that the DIS operates like a normal conversation does. It all eventually gets back to the beginning just give it time . In this thread you even had Netflix password stuff being correlated to the crackdown, if people can be legally detained to show receipts with Walmart being mentioned to NJ laws about pumping gas to 3rd party booking sites to changing addresses on one's DL and aw heck IDK what else. I'd say it jumped the shark long before the last page

 

[MsChristy12]

We wanted to do a Mediterranean, but no one sails there in late-January. We are also not sure if we're "cruise people," and thought Regent (with its luxe 750-passenger ships, no dress codes, no conga lines, etc.) would be a good match and cruising gateway drug for us. If we like this Western Caribbean (Yucatan, Belize, Cayman) 10-night, we'll be OK with trying for next fall in the Mediterranean.

Back to Costco, they're not a "third party" cruise agency. My calls to them have been answered immediately, and they've been able to change our cabin while I was on the phone. Their service is nonpareil, and I have no complaints.

Ummm...no dress code? You sure about that? Regent is one of the top ultra luxury cruise lines and these type of cruising always have a dress code - Day vs Night. You might wanna check their website.

Costco agents are pretty awesome! Some have even given me suggestions because they have gone to those destinations or stayed at the resorts I wanna book, they are very helpful.

 

[MsChristy12]

There are some reasons not to book cruises with Costco for other, less inclusive lines. For instance, NCL cruises through Costco are not eligible for their upgrade program. So, if you book a lower class cabin in the hopes of upgrading for a cheap price later, you're out of luck. I have also seen regular travel agents out perform Costco when it comes to OBC and other perks. I use a different TA who gives me more extras when sailing NCL and Princess.

Good to know about that! Although, I'm not the type to hope for a cheaper upgrade to a better cabin. If I want a nice cabin, I will just pick that specific one and pay for it.