Ok, there is one "formal" dinner on our cruise this month, and I'm not sure if I need a full length, ball-type gown, or a simply cocktail dress will suffice. These are the two cocktail dresses I have. The one on the right is lighter, and bunches at one hip, so it hangs asymetrical. The one on the left is heavier, and has a cutout back, I actually wore it to a summer funeral, but properly accessorized it could be dressier. Both are just below the knee. Are either of these acceptable, or do I need to go shopping?? TIA

By Karen~admin on Friday, August 11, 2006 - 04:44 pm:

What cruise line are you sailing on? Some lines the attire tends to be more formal - example, Celebrity is more formal than Carnival, though not as formal as Crystal.....

By Karen~admin on Friday, August 11, 2006 - 04:47 pm:

Also, the cruise lines can't *require* you to dress a certain way, it's normally put to you as *suggested attire*. But on formal nights, you are generally expected to at *least* be dressed up. I always wear long gowns on our formal nights. I shopped end of season clearance sales for a couple of years and have a number of things to choose from now. If you decide to get a long gown, I bet you could find one at a really good price right now. I had great luck at Macy's and Dillards - I actually paid $9.99 for a black gown I wore on our first cruise.

By Yjja123 on Friday, August 11, 2006 - 05:09 pm:

Both are acceptable. I am wearing both a long gown and a cocktail dress on our upcoming cruise (more than 1 formal night).

By Jackie on Friday, August 11, 2006 - 05:13 pm:

Ahhh such a good question, since we are going on a cruise Aug 20th. Honestly we are not dress up people. I do not dress up, I have no fancy clothes except for a few nice skirts,and nice shirts. I do not work, and do not go to anything fancy. So in turn, never felt the need to buy anything more. We were on Royal Carribean 3 yrs ago. On formal nights, you will see a big differnce on formal wear. SOme ladies had prom like dresses/gowns, some had fancy pant suits, some wear just casual skirts etc.. We are going on Carnival. I have 2 skirts I am bringing for formal night, and a couple of pretty blouses/shirts to go with them. I say go with whatever you feel comfortable in. I know I am not the norm.I hate dressing up. Im more comfortable in shorts and a tshirt then anything else. If people do not like the way I choose to dress on the cruise, I wont be too worried about it.

By Kaye on Friday, August 11, 2006 - 05:52 pm:

I prefer the one on the right. Wear some of those cute strappy black heals that I know you have and some diamonds and it will be stunning.

By Crystal915 on Friday, August 11, 2006 - 07:22 pm:

We're going on the Carnival Ecstasy. Their description of "formal" was kind of vague. Jackie, we leave Galveston on the 21st. Kaye, I do have a perfect pair of heels, and a pair of diamond solitaires and a matching necklace. I actually wore that dress to go out for my 21st birthday, and haven't worn it since. I'm comfortable in either a cocktail dress or a gown, because I'm used to military balls. Still, I don't want to buy a ball gown for summer wear, since I'll be buying one to escort a single friend of mine to his battalion's ball in December, obviously not the same weather that DH and I will be encountering on this trip. I'll keep my eye out for any good sales, but if I don't find something before then I'm not going to stress it. DH will just be wearing a shirt and tie, since the only "suit" he has is his dress uniform. LOL.

By Marg on Friday, August 11, 2006 - 08:01 pm:

What size do you wear Crystal?

I have a beautiful JC Penneys gown size 10, I bought a couple years ago on sale for 19.99. It was like 90.00. I'm short, 5'4" It goes to my feet. If you want it your welcome to have it. It's hanging in my closet going to waste

It's red with thick straps not spaghetti straps. Almost like a built in bust line and there's a slit up the left leg. I'd post a pic but have no scanner.

However, our cruise fell through due to dh's stepdad and stepmom ended up not going. And I know we won't be going on a Cruise any time soon.

I hope you have a wonderful time

By Reds9298 on Friday, August 11, 2006 - 09:01 pm:

Crystal - I have no idea what to wear but I love both dresses and the solitaire jewelry will be beautiful and so just like me!

I hope you have a great time!

By Eve on Friday, August 11, 2006 - 09:35 pm:

Crystal--don't wear the gown! The two black dresses you have shown are perfect. I ended up changing the night I wore a more formal dress! (I put on capri's and a tank top to go out.)The night I wore a black simple dress, I felt very comfortable. Trust me, you'll be so glad you opted for the short black dress! My sister warned me, but I still brought a gown and wish I saved the space in my suitcase. My sister has been on 4 different cruises and she was right! Just let me know, I have some photos if you are interested. Just drop me an email.

By Eve on Friday, August 11, 2006 - 09:37 pm:

Ok, this is not a flattering photo, but it gives you an idea.


Here's my sister and my DH too. She wore a simple outfit and just wore more jewelry. We felt very comfortable. HTH!!

By Dawnk777 on Saturday, August 12, 2006 - 12:20 am:

Wow, you have to get that dressed up, for this dinner, on a cruise? I'm with the t-shirt gal. I would think those black dresses would be fine. It must be like dressing up for a wedding, though.

By Karen~admin on Saturday, August 12, 2006 - 07:51 am:

Dawn, generally it is a formal *night*, not just dinner. We have been cruising on Celebrity, and their formal nights are actually formal. On our first cruise on Carnival, I wore the long black gown, and there were some people a lot more *formal*, and a lot that were a lot less formal. I think Carnival and RCI are more casual.

On Celebrity's long cruises that we have been on, there are 3 formal nights - we are booked on an 11 night one in November, and there are 3 on this cruise too.

We are very casual dressers too, but this is the ONLY time we ever get dressed up, and we love it.

Crystal, for Carnival, either of those will work. Have fun!!!!!!

By Dawnk777 on Saturday, August 12, 2006 - 08:33 am:

You had THREE formal nights? Yikes! When we went to Niagara Falls and South Dakota, we didn't bring ANY dressy clothes! LOL! Can you tell I have never been on a cruise?

By Eve on Saturday, August 12, 2006 - 08:45 am:

LOL, Dawn. I'm a t-shirt girl myself! (& flip flops!!)

Carnival is very casual and laid back. If you look at the photo of the three of us, you can see someone in a tux behind me. THere is a wide mix. Karen is right, my grandparents used to cruise the Crystal cruises ($5,000 per person! OMG!!!) and they were very formal. I swear, you will see some men not really dressed up and women wearing dresses like they are going to church. I just think for going out afterwards, you'll be very comfortable walking around the ship in a short dress that you can dance in or sit at a bar easily. KWIM?

Also, Karen is completely correct--you will see every type of dress! Wear what you feel good in and just enjoy it! You've gotten some great advice.

By Karen~admin on Saturday, August 12, 2006 - 09:06 am:

LOL Dawn! Our first cruise was 7 nights on Carnival for our honeymoon. There was one formal night and one *informal* night. The formal night I wore the $9.99 black gown (which wasn't *real* dressy) I got on clearance at Macys. The *informal* night I wore a red dress I had bought 5 years earlier for a dressy Christmas party for work. Cheap! I think my shoes that I wore cost more than the dress.

The thing is, the definition of *formal night* varies widely by cruise line. Some cruise lines are much more casual overall - like Carnival and Norwegian. Celebrity is more *formal* - on their formal nights, you are pretty much expected to wear formal attire - meaning long gowns - on those nights for women, and men are expected to wear a tux or full suit with tie. But long gowns can be long and *nice*, or dressy, or really formal. On some of the higher end cruise lines, like Princess and Crystal, their formal nights are *really* formal.

But, as was said above, the things people wear on any given cruise vary anyway.

And like I said above, I shopped the end of summer sales and the sales just after the first of the year, and have several formal gowns that I paid next to nothing for, so I can alternate. DH bought a tux (yes, the majority of men (probably 70%) on Celebrity cruises wear tuxes on formal night) for $99 at one of those men's warehouse places a few years ago. It was cheaper than a suit! So we do wear *formal* clothes on formal nights. And we actually enjoy it, we live in jeans, Tshirts, capris, sandals, etc. We never dress up for anything. We LIKE our casual life style. But we do enjoy these opportunities to get dressed up. It's actually really fun, makes you feel special, and it's romantic, IMO.

But, as I said, Carnival is a more casual cruise line. So is Royal Caribbean. There are others that are casual too. We have put a deposit on a cruise to the Galapagos Islands in 2007. It is through Celebrity, but it's a totally casual cruise. No formal or even dressy nights. Every day is casual - good thing, because you are limited to ONE, 30 lb. piece of luggage PER PERSON for this cruise, plus your carry-on. And the reason is, it's a small ship - 92 or 94 (?) passengers, and the ship anchors offshore of the islands and all transport to and from is by Zodiac boats, so the luggage is physically handed off from person to person rather than on a conveyor, as is normally done on the large ships.

I think you either love or hate cruising. We love it. We are actually trying to plan a cruise with Jules and Madison and probably Jen too. The boys aren't interested. But we'll go on a more casual cruise with them.

CRYSTAL - Sorry, didn't mean to hijack your thread. IMO, you can't go wrong with the basic black dress. And just to mention, on all of our cruises, we saw QUITE a few military men in their dress uniforms on formal night. That was perfectly acceptable, and they were noticed and acknowledged because of it. Wear whichever of the black dresses YOU feel most comfortable in, and your accessories sound perfect for it. You'll have a great time!

By Dawnk777 on Saturday, August 12, 2006 - 09:43 am:

Galapagos Island? Lucky you! Have fun! If I ever get the opportunity to cruise, I would want to do the Caribbean, or the Inside Passage, in Alaska!

By Karen~admin on Saturday, August 12, 2006 - 11:45 am:

Dawn, we are getting ready to do our 4th Caribbean cruise. We have been to the western twice, eastern, and now we are doing southern. I LOVE the Caribbean.

The Galapagos Islands cruise is very different. There are naturalists onboard who MUST be with you when you are actually on any of the islands because they are a protected national park. You go to 2 islands a day most days. There are 2 or 3 shore excursions each day in varying intensities and you can go on as many as you want. There are snorkeling trips most days too. This cruise with the activities is all inclusive, including bar items and tips. On other cruises, you have to pay extra for all of those things. The only thing I am not looking for to is the pre and post-cruise days in Quito, due to the altitude. I am worried about breathing. LOL It should be the trip of a lifetime, and the photo ops are unlimited. We put a deposit for Dec. 2007. Can't wait!

By Dawnk777 on Saturday, August 12, 2006 - 12:59 pm:

That sounds so exciting! I want to see pictures of finches, iguanas, tortoises, and blue-footed boobies! LOL! There are great pictures on Flickr, of Galapagos critters!

By Crystal915 on Saturday, August 12, 2006 - 02:35 pm:

Thanks everyone!! Eve, you look great in that dress! I just didn't want to get there and feel underdressed. I told DH what you said about dress uniforms, Karen, he said if he does wear his Class A's he'll wear the white shirt and bow tie with it. Definitely something to think about. I appreciate all of the responses, you guys are the best!

By Melanie on Saturday, August 12, 2006 - 05:53 pm:

Oh Karen, the Galapagos Islands! I am soooooooooo envious! I've always wanted to go there.

Crystal, I've never been on a cruise, but I am sure you will be stunning in both dresses!

By Karen~admin on Saturday, August 12, 2006 - 08:42 pm:

Well Melanie, Celebrity sails there. LOL You fly into Quito, spend 2 nights there, then fly to Baltra and cruise for 7 nights, fly back to Quito, one more night there, and then home.