Formal Dresses on Non Formal Nights

[sjmbruce]

First, I need to say how happy I am to have found this section of Cruise Critic!

 

I have picked out dresses to wear on my 10 day cruise (my first cruise). There are two formal nights on my cruise, but I have more than two formal dresses.

 

Would it be okay to wear a formal dress on a night that is not formal? Will I stick out too much?

 

Thanks!

 

(I love having the "problem" of too many dresses!)

[cb at sea]

On casual nights, you will, most likely, be the only one in a "gown", if that's what you plan on bringing....shorter dresses...you may be "fancier" than others, but so what! Go for it, if you wish.

 

You know, it's really going to depend on the actual dress! Are you married or traveling with a guy? What will he be wearing?

[sherilyn70]

A lot of it depends on what cruise line. On carnvial, yes you would stand out, even on their standard "elegant" nights a formal dress really stands out.

[CELTICGIRLCRUISER]

Which line?

 

I love formal and do floor length gowns on those nights.

Unless it is one of the higher end cruise lines you will stand out like a sore thumb, for want of a better phrase, if you go formal on a 'normal" night but it is your cruise and you can wear what you want, but be aware your table mate might have shorts on like our latest one!

[jkudzu]

I've worn formal clothes on casual nights. It was for our anniversary and we went to the speciality restaurants. We both rec'd a lot of compliments and didn't feel out of place at all. Have fun and enjoy your cruise!

[arhillbilly]

First, I need to say how happy I am to have found this section of Cruise Critic!

 

I have picked out dresses to wear on my 10 day cruise (my first cruise). There are two formal nights on my cruise, but I have more than two formal dresses.

 

Would it be okay to wear a formal dress on a night that is not formal? Will I stick out too much?

 

Thanks!

 

(I love having the "problem" of too many dresses!)

 

Welcome to "our" group

 

Which line?

 

I love formal and do floor length gowns on those nights.

Unless it is one of the higher end cruise lines you will stand out like a sore thumb, for want of a better phrase, if you go formal on a 'normal" night but it is your cruise and you can wear what you want, but be aware your table mate might have shorts on like our latest one!

 

I also LOVE formal or not nights. I will wear a dressy dress every night but will also do the long glitter/sequin gowns for formal night....but as stated above, it's YOUR cruise....wear what you want.....BUT only if you are not sensitive to what other people might say about you. I tend to wear a lot of low cut gowns and I KNOW that there has been people talking about me, but since I carry myself well and with confidence, I get a lot of compliments on what I wear....and besides, I HIGHLY doubt that I will ever see most, if not all of the people again

[Barlee126]

I like to wear dresses every night! I usually wear more causal dresses in fun colors or really cute short dresses. On formal nights I go all out, regardless of anyone else. :p I say if you want to dress up, dress up! It's your cruise, have fun.

[sail7seas]

Certainly wear what you want but if you have some knee /cocktail length dresses as well as long gowns, you might opt to wear the least dressy on the 'other than formal' nights. I'm not sure I would wear a long gown if it wasn't formal night but that is only my personal choice for me.

 

[sjmbruce]

Thanks everyone!

 

Some more information I should have included: I am going on a 10 day Panama Canal cruise with Princess.

 

The dresses I plan to wear on non formal nights are shorter cocktail dresses and a few little black dresses - no gowns or floor length dresses.

 

Thank you for all of your help - I think I will be wearing all of my dresses!

[CELTICGIRLCRUISER]

Formal traditionally is to the floor hence the replies so cocktail length dresses will be perfect for the non formal nights.

 

Don't forget to take some pictures, it is always nice to see someone dressed up:D

[sail7seas]

Your dresses sound perfect.

 

Cocktail dress any night of a cruise is lovely.......

Enjoy. :)/B]

[Laurie S.]

I wear long dresses to dinner every night on a cruise. Some are more of a sundress in appearance, but not all. I don't care what others think, if I like it, that's all that matters. I do save the fanciest ones for formal/elegant nights, but several of the others do have sequins on them, too, just not as many. ;)

[toxicfairy]

I was just going to say it depends on your idea of "formal" for me I see a cocktail dress as semi formal and a full length as formal. Now with that said,(and I am by no means a snob! I just go by old school definition of formal) I wear dresses every night on a cruise I wear either cocktail dress or something similar, not cotton sundress , and a full length gown for both formal nights. I LOVE getting dressed up and it makes me feel good and :D my DH seems to like it too. I never feel over dressed or out of place! We have only done Caribbean cruises.

 

I do wear cotton sundresses :) just not at night . I like to feel like the evenings are special when I am on a cruise.

[CELTICGIRLCRUISER]

I was just going to say it depends on your idea of "formal" for me I see a cocktail dress as semi formal and a full length as formal. Now with that said,(and I am by no means a snob! I just go by old school definition of formal) I wear dresses every night on a cruise I wear either cocktail dress or something similar, not cotton sundress , and a full length gown for both formal nights. I LOVE getting dressed up and it makes me feel good and :D my DH seems to like it too. I never feel over dressed or out of place! We have only done Caribbean cruises.

 

I do wear cotton sundresses :) just not at night . I like to feel like the evenings are special when I am on a cruise.

 

This is exactly my thoughts and what I do.

 

I am old school for sure when it comes to this. I had 20 years of having to wear formal at least once a month and now it is choice what I wear, I still choose to do it. Some folks do stare when you are dressed up to the nines but I just smile sweetly and look down my nose at them....joking joking!!:p

[GORDONCHICK]

Formal in other venues is floor-length, but not when it comes to cruising. Formal defined and with guidelines published by the cruise lines does include cocktail dresses, and even dressy pant suits for women. No where in a formal venue other than a cruise would a regular business suit suffice.

 

The thing about women being really dressed up that stands out in a bad way is when her husband or SO is not.

[tarheelmjfan]

Thanks everyone!

 

Some more information I should have included: I am going on a 10 day Panama Canal cruise with Princess.

 

The dresses I plan to wear on non formal nights are shorter cocktail dresses and a few little black dresses - no gowns or floor length dresses.

 

Thank you for all of your help - I think I will be wearing all of my dresses!

 

We have the same cruise coming up in a couple weeks. I will be wearing a dress every night. They're mostly from Express & are similar to this one http://www.express.com/metallic-ruched-dress-47459-22/control/page/20/show/3/sort/Price-Descending/index.pro, which I'll be taking. For the 2 formal nights, I have long gowns. It's hard to say, w/o knowing what your dresses actually look like, but I think cocktail & short dresses are fine. On a 10 night Celebrity cruise, I have worn long, dressy dresses on non-formal nights. I don't know yet, if Princess is as dressy as Celebrity though.

[CELTICGIRLCRUISER]

Formal in other venues is floor-length, but not when it comes to cruising. Formal defined and with guidelines published by the cruise lines does include cocktail dresses, and even dressy pant suits for women. No where in a formal venue other than a cruise would a regular business suit suffice.

 

The thing about women being really dressed up that stands out in a bad way is when her husband or SO is not.

 

Yes, some of the low to mid end cruise ships are a bit laissiez faire about dress and don't enforce anything and have their own ideas about what is formal, so shorts or ball gown on formal night take your pick, but go up the levels of the crusie lines and they start insisting on the correct dress and what we traditionally know as formal on those evenings.

[Ehpride]

I have a tendency to dress up more than necessary even on casual nights but my mom's birthday is on our next cruise and we're definitely dressing up that night.

[GORDONCHICK]

Yes, some of the low to mid end cruise ships are a bit laissiez faire about dress and don't enforce anything and have their own ideas about what is formal, so shorts or ball gown on formal night take your pick, but go up the levels of the crusie lines and they start insisting on the correct dress and what we traditionally know as formal on those evenings.

 

On Celebrity & HAL, they do include (and have since I've been cruising) cocktail dresses & pant suits as well as business suits for men. When you go to Cunard and 6* all inclusives they would be more rigid. There was a time when every night was formal, but thankfully that was before my cruising time.

[CELTICGIRLCRUISER]

On Celebrity & HAL, they do include (and have since I've been cruising) cocktail dresses & pant suits as well as business suits for men. When you go to Cunard and 6* all inclusives they would be more rigid. There was a time when every night was formal, but thankfully that was before my cruising time.

 

I actually prefer the experience in the "posher" ships to the "fun" ships but my DH doesn't like to dress up to the nines every night, as we have had to do it for years and he says he wants to relax a bit on vacation now and not dress up too much for dinner.

 

Even on the cheaper cruises where lots are in shorts at dinner, he would wear dress trousers and dress shirt as I always wear cocktail length dress on non formal. That was a good point before about when ladies dress up and guys don't!

 

Our first family cruises were on P&0 as my Mum worked for them for years and is still a shareholder (pre carnival owned days) and it was more traditional back then compared to the all inclusive floating resort type of atmosphere nowadays across the board.

[royalcruz]

I only go on Caribbean cruises so bear that in mind...I always wear cocktail dresses when I go to specialty restaurants. In the dining room on non-formal nights I wear smart-casual dresses or black pants with pretty tops, like I would wear to a trendy restaurant. I think LBDs are perfect for dinner on casual nights as long as you don't overdress on the accessories. The first and last nights are most casual.

 

Just be practical about packing. One pair of black pants and 4 little tops takes up less room than 4 dresses. Don't pack anything that is going to get wrinkled or out of shape. Oh, and have fun on your first cruise!:)

[tarheelmjfan]

On Celebrity & HAL, they do include (and have since I've been cruising) cocktail dresses & pant suits as well as business suits for men. When you go to Cunard and 6* all inclusives they would be more rigid. There was a time when every night was formal, but thankfully that was before my cruising time.

 

I would have loved a cruise like that. Our first cruise was in 1992, & they had set formal nights like they do now. I'd be all for a cruise with formal night every night, but I know that's never going to happen. Cruising is going in the opposite direction. I just hope they don't eventually do away with formal nights altogether. That's one of the things we like about cruising. We don't have anyplace to dress formally on land. My DH does wear suits, but he likes the opportunity to upgrade to a tux on cruises.

[Sinppu]

If you do stick out, it will be in a good way ;)

We would all very much appreciate if you also took photos of ALL your dresses and post them in the dress thread once you get back! :)

[sjmbruce]

Thanks to everyone for the advice and insight into what people are wearing on cruises!

 

 

If you do stick out, it will be in a good way ;)

We would all very much appreciate if you also took photos of ALL your dresses and post them in the dress thread once you get back! :)

 

Good point! And I will try my best, I love that thread.

[Drew's Wife]

Just saw this thread and thought I would jump in....By all means wear your more formal things if you wish.....certainly no one could fault you for dressing up in the evening.:)

 

 

My husband and I dress for dinner each evening of our cruises. He will ear his tux a couple of nights and I will wear a long evening gown...Other nights he will ear his Dress Blues or a regular suit, and I will wear a cocktail dress on those nights. It's part of the fun of cruising.:)

 

I remember one Valentine cruise, the first night we boarded was Valentine's and my husband wore his tux and I had on a long red evening gown....turns out....we were the only two that dressed formal....but hey it was Valentine's!;)

 

On our last cruise we dressed each evening, and I remember one older lady tellling us that she noticed that we always dressed up and asked if we were celebrating anything special.....I told her no special occasion other than celebrating each other. So go ahead and wear the beautiful dresses that you have picked....like another posted said, you will only stand out or be noticed in a good way. Have a wonderful cruise, and be sure to post some pictures. We ladies on here love to see pictures!

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