Wow, already told off my first day of posting here.
well, dress people up, and some sure get snooty. Oh la te dah, if HAL doesn't fit your lifestyle then change cruiselines ...
(And since I am new, can I assume pax means passengers?)
HAL has a mixed message on the dress code, and tries to play it both ways to keep everyone as happy as possible.
As you pointed out, to keep those wishing to enjoy the formal evenings happy, they say to stay in formal dress all evening. That policy they have had for a long time, and been cutting and pasting it into all the current documents and web pages you mentioned.
But, their recent actions speak louder than words.
They also have "alternative dining" for those who do not chose to dress formally. And, in the absense of a teleporter to go directly from my room to the "alternative dining" area, they must assume that those people will need to walk from their stateroom to the dining room. When selecting this option, if someone goes out of their way to avoid walking past the main dining area and atrium, they are indeed showing respect for those chosing to dress formally, even if they have chosen not too. There is a difference between respect and compliance or conformity.
Also, given the fact that some people will change right after dinner, wouldn't you prefer them to stay as inobtrusive as possible?
As far as passing judgement on other's lifestyles and choice of cruise lines, just dressing up on formal night does not qualify you to do that. Just because I do not enjoy staying in formal attire for an entire evening 2 or 3 times out of an entire cruise is no big deal. Taken as a whole, I have loved all 5 HAL cruises I have taken. (As I think all the other folks who posted that changed after dinner.) Tell me where else I will find that quality food, service and value with no formal nights to put up with. Celebrity might be close on food, service and value, but they have formal nights too.
Peaches: next time you get all dressed up for formal night, take a little tolerance with you too.
Everyone else:
As you can see from others in this thread, some people do change out of the formal attire shortly after dinner.