Formal night on a cruise

[spindle92]

For those that have done this before, how "formal" have you dressed?

I am going on my first cruise in January with my BFF. She is going all out, like I am talking full sequin dress, sequin shoes.......
That just seems like overkill to me (besides having to pack all that crap).

What can I get away with?

[Deleted]

It depends on where you are going and what cruiseline. Caribbean cruises are much less formal than Alaska or European. I think Carnival is not very formal. I see men wearing khakis and women in sundresses. Celebrity was pretty dressy imo but I just wore a cocktail dress.

[gtkim]

She will most likely be on the dressier side of the scale. I just usually wear a nice cocktail dress.

[spindle92]

Nov 27, 2012 14:06:47 GMT -5 @missy1 said:

It depends on where you are going and what cruiseline. Caribbean cruises are much less formal than Alaska or European. I think Carnival is not very formal. I see men wearing khakis and women in sundresses. Celebrity was pretty dressy imo but I just wore a cocktail dress.

We are doing a western caribbean cruise on Royal Carribean Allure of the Sea.

I am on vacation, I like things easy. I think she is going to spend her entire day primping for this damn formal night.

[Deleted]

I would just do a cocktail dress and heels.

[littlemisssunshine]

I've been on the Allure, and formal nights are not that dressy. Older women usually wear pantsuits of some kind, men are in suits (I saw maybe one tux) and the women wear cocktail dresses. Some women go all out with floor length gowns, but it's the exception.

I wore knee length cocktail dresses and fit right in. On the other nights I usually work a casual dress or jeans and a fancy top.

[Deleted]

I usually do cocktail dresses and heels but I have seen people in full length ball gowns and people in cut off and flip flops.

[spindle92]

Nov 27, 2012 18:29:00 GMT -5 littlemisssunshine said:

I've been on the Allure, and formal nights are not that dressy. Older women usually wear pantsuits of some kind, men are in suits (I saw maybe one tux) and the women wear cocktail dresses. Some women go all out with floor length gowns, but it's the exception.

I wore knee length cocktail dresses and fit right in. On the other nights I usually work a casual dress or jeans and a fancy top.

THANK YOU - this helps tremendously!

[basilosaurus]

I've never even gone as fancy as a cocktail dress, and this includes a fairly stuffy cruise in Christmas. If it's caribbean, I wear a sundress. That's formal enough for my taste.

[basilosaurus]

Nov 27, 2012 18:48:28 GMT -5 @kjewell said:

I usually do cocktail dresses and heels but I have seen people in full length ball gowns and people in cut off and flip flops.

On most ships these days, the formal dress code is only if you eat in the main dining rooms. So, people dressed that casually are probably eating elsewhere, not that they're getting away with that as formal wear.

[Deleted]

Cruises are much more casual now, even formal nights. We've been on three in the last six years (one Carnival and two NCL (Caribbean and Mediterranean) and it was mostly sundresses and dress pants/shirt for the guys. I wore a long jersey dress one night and was in the minority.

My family used to go on cruises when I was younger, and people got much more dressed up. We have pictures of everyone in long gowns and tuxes, but this was 15+ years ago and on the older lines like Cunard and Holland America.

[balbacm]

we've been on 7 or 8 cruises and I've never worn anything dressier than a cute party / cocktail / sundress on formal night. I don't even bring heels on the boat - just dressy flat sandals. my husband never wears a tie - just a nice button down. we also don't want to back all that crap so we just don't. no one really cares what you wear besides you. we're on vacation and we've never been kicked out of the dining room

but just like the PPs said - you'll see it all.

[spindle92]

Thanks again everyone. I was getting all bent out of shape that I had to get all fancied up like my friend.

And truthfully I could pass on the whole formal night thing all together...she is dead set on it. Maybe I will "accidentally" get too drunk that day at the pool. LOL!

[GilliC]

I use cruises as one of the rare chances to wear one of my evening gowns, so I'm always on the upper end of the scale by choice. I even wore a ball gown when we were sailing Cunard!

As the others have said, sailng RCCL in the Caribbean you'll be fine in any kind of dress or dressy outfit. There are usually one or two people in true formal attire, but the norm is usually church clothes to cocktail dresses for women.

I agree that European cruises tend to be a bit dressier on average, but it's still mostly cocktail dresses. There are just more long dresses and fewer casual dresses. Longer cruises also tend to have dressier passengers.

The dressiest cruise I've been on was East Asia on Princess. My XH was actually in the minority of men not wearing a tuxedo or a black suit and bow tie! On that sailing, most of the women were in long gowns, but there were still a fair amount of cocktail dresses.

So if you're worried about fitting in, go with a simple cocktail dress, and you'll probably blend in easily.