Thread: Tux question

I had a discussion with a friend regarding renting or owning a tux. We both cruise frequently. He owns a tux and packs it for each cruise. I rent a tux that is delivered to my cabin. He claims it is a waste of money, I say the convenience is worth it. What do other tux wearers do?

Originally Posted by cruise4me

I had a discussion with a friend regarding renting or owning a tux. We both cruise frequently. He owns a tux and packs it for each cruise. I rent a tux that is delivered to my cabin. He claims it is a waste of money, I say the convenience is worth it. What do other tux wearers do?

All other things being equal, a rented tux is never altered/fit as well as a purchased one, and has been through a hundred dry cleanings. Convenience is definitely a big factor, but even a great, reliable of company (of which I shall name none!) will ultimately rent you a mis-measured tux, a wrong-sized shirt, etc., and what's the convenience left in looking like a B- in the photographs of your A+ vacation?

My dh has a black tux, and also a white dinner jacket...packs and brings them...

I'll answer this for hubby. He owns a tux and brings it on all of our cruises. When you weigh the cost of rental against the cost of buying (if you cruise twice or more times a year) it is MUCH less expensive to buy. On two 7 night cruises you will have 4 formal nights. Do the math!

As Josh mentioned above, fit is never really right on a rental and if it doesn't fit right he won't feel comfortable in it. Maybe that is why some men don't like the idea of a tux---they never wore one that was properly fitted.

Doesn't he look nice?

If you cruise often and enjoy wearing a tux, buy it!! If the fit is right, there is nothing sexier than a man in a tux!!

Originally Posted by sue miller

If you cruise often and enjoy wearing a tux, buy it!! If the fit is right, there is nothing sexier than a man in a tux!!

She's still looking at my picture and it was a rental.

Seriously though, if I were to cruise more than once every two years or so, I'd buy a tux, or take a suit. But there's nothing I do at home that requires one, so why bother? I'm also looking to cut down on weight in the luggage, which is limited to a ridiculous 50 lb each, and we're going to be carrying snorkel gear from now on.

On our first cruise (our honeymoon) I arranged to bring the tux that I wore at the wedding. I then just suits for years. I think I bought my first tux in about 1995. A couple years ago I bought a new one. I do not pack a suit anymore, just the tux.

DH has always owned tuxedos and does take them on cruises. In fact, when we took it to be cleaned after our last cruise, the cleaners told him that in some places the material is getting thin from so much cleaning.

So in the next couple of weeks we will be getting him a new tuxedo.

We rented for the first time this past cruise. Loved the convenience of not having to bring a suit/tux with us. We rented for both me and our 14 year old son. There were two formal nights, and the service provided two shirts for each of us. The fit was perfect, and again...the convenience. We'll be renting again.

We had contemplated buying suits...I've lost a lot of weight of late and needed new, and DS has grown like a weed. We were hesitant to buy a suit for our son, as he's not done growing and it likely would have been a waste of money. The tux rental was a great option for him...and I wasn't going to have him looking better than me.

My DH owns a tux - actually one full tux for formal occassions, but we also own a mobile disc jockey company (we play music at weddings, etc.) and we both wear a tux (minus the jacket) for weddings that we work, so there is reason for him to have it other than cruising. He is also a member of the Masonic Lodge and they do a lot of formal events that he needs his tux for - so I agree, if you can buy one it will always look nicer as it will fit nicer. But it is a plus if you have other reasons to wear it.