How do you dress for formal night(s)?

I know many folks don't like to get dressed up at all, but for those of you who still enjoy it,

In 2015, what will you wear on formal night?

Does anyone wear actual evening gowns? Does anyone still wear a tux? Do you stay "dressed" all night?

I'm curious to how formal nights on Carnival 7 day or longer cruises may have changed over the years....

The Elegant Nights are pretty much up to you and how you wish to dress within reason. ;)

The Elegant Nights are pretty much up to you and how you wish to dress within reason. ;)

Yes, I know - I'm just curious as to what folks are doing these days - not asking advice.

A nice top, nice pants, nice sandals - think beach resort wear. I'm over dresses and the like.

I plan on taking a couple of dressy blouses (too dressy for church, more for wedding or something special) with either a maxi skirt or palazzo pants. I stay dressed up for the night usually. I enjoy dressing up! I don't get to do it much!

I am going on a 7 day in Nov....I have heard 2 elegant nights. I am planning on wearing nicer dresses to both of them, mostly because I skipped out on elegant nights during my last cruise and happen to have two dresses from recent weddings :) Might as well wear them twice!

On the 1st elegant night my DH always wears a suit and tie and I wear a nice dress. Not exactly a gown, but a little fancier then what I wear to church. We don't wear it all night because I'm not wearing heels that long! Lol

On the 2nd night my DH will wear slacks and button up shirt, but not always the tie or jacket and I wear a dress again, but maybe a sun dress or long maxi dress that I can wear dressy sandals with instead of heels.

I wear nice black slacks with a dressy (sequined or satin/shiny) top. Or I'll wear a black skirt with a dressy top. For after dinner/late night, I'll usually wear the same dressy top I wore to dinner, but change into dressy black shorts/or black capris.

The first half dozen cruises or so, I wore a suit. The last half dozen or so, I've relaxed and now wear dress pants, or khakis, a dress shirt, and tie. My wife wears a nice dress, or dressy pants and blouse. Packing is so much easier this way. BTW, on cruises where there are more than one "elegant" dinner, I do wear the same outfit each time , but with a different tie. Again, just so much easier packing that way.

I wear cocktail dresses

Tux on 7 days or longer nice pants and collared shirt on shorter ones.

I haven't been on Carnival yet, but plan on dressing up. On both of my last princess cruises I wore gowns. Cruising is one of the only times I can get my family or DH to dress up, so we do. Also, as long as we are able to fly by Southwest and we get baggage free, I am dressing myself and my DH to the nines. We might be the only ones, people might stare, but it is our purgative :p Isn't that what cruising is suppose to be, a time to get dressed up and eat a nice meal and be waited on and feel like a princess? We also enjoy buying a picture or two each trip to remember the cruise. The kids will need a decent picture some day when I die to put up at the funeral :eek: After dinner and pictures are over, we change back into comfortable clothing and out of the monkey suits for the night.

Just off the Magic, first time cruiser, and we dressed to the nines.....think sequins and long flowing gowns. Well daughter wore long flowing prom type gown. My mom and I both wore sequins and blingy knee length gowns. We did this just because we all wanted to and thought we would get a great pic we could cherish forever. (We did!)

After I had read so many posts on here before we left on our cruise, about how so many folks hated dressing up, I figured we would be in the minority, as we were going all out.

I was very surprised to find the exact opposite. I saw so much bling everywhere!! (At least on the ladies). Everyone seemed really dressed up and seemed to stay that way all evening. I changed out of my dress after dinner and getting our picture but felt underdressed the rest of the night at the shows as most everyone was still wearing their finery. This was first elegant night. Second elegant night was less formal. More like churchy.

I wondered about the discrepancy over what I had been reading here (many posts from people who didn't like dressing up) and what I saw onboard. It seemed on elegant night I run into many people in the elevators dressed in shorts, swimsuits, you know, regular everyday cruise attire and many of them had trays in their hands of food. I think there must be 2 camps of people on board, the ones who eschew dressing up and just eat at the buffets on elegant night and those who like to get all dressed up, so don't stress out or worry about what to do, just be yourself and do what is comfy for you!

So sorry, but I treat formal nights like a funeral. I dress up, a suit, a sign of respect for the deceased. I know many people show up in shorts and a wife beater t-shirt, but not me.

On Carnival, many dress in shorts for formal night, but I believe you should show respect and dress. So a tux is my attire for the evening, and that means all evening.

Does it bother me when someone shows up for a funeral dressed as above, Yes! Does it affect my reverence at the funeral? YES. For others it may not, but when the shorts on the pall bearers hang to show a plumbers crack, I think think it is disrespectful.

On a cruise I know people dress as they like, and I know so many people think a dress code should not matter. But I guarantee you, when you take your children (under 14, boys especially) and a buxom woman sits next to you in a string bikini, they will all complain.

So it is all about where do you draw the line? You cannot realistically say there should be NO DRESS CODE, you just have to reach that happy medium where most will agree, which is actually impossible.

Read these boards and you will see many people concerned with having nude cruises. NOBODY wants a nude couple at AT ANY TIME on their cruise, so please agree, some standard is necessary.

We've been on 9 Carnival cruises, and going again in November. My husband always wears a suit (no tux) on elegant/formal night and I always wear a long evening dress/gown. On casual nights, I usually wear nice sun dresses or dressy pants with nice blouse; husband wears khakis and polo or nice button down shirt (no jacket.)

You will see a real mix of attire; it's really split....those that like to dress up a little and even those that look as if they just left the gym.

We dress up. I usually wear a cocktail dress and my husband wears slacks, a button down shirt and a bow tie/suspenders. Yes, we color coordinate. We are THOSE people :)

So sorry, but I treat formal nights like a funeral. I dress up, a suit, a sign of respect for the deceased. I know many people show up in shorts and a wife beater t-shirt, but not me.

 

On Carnival, many dress in shorts for formal night, but I believe you should show respect and dress. So a tux is my attire for the evening, and that means all evening.

 

Does it bother me when someone shows up for a funeral dressed as above, Yes! Does it affect my reverence at the funeral? YES. For others it may not, but when the shorts on the pall bearers hang to show a plumbers crack, I think think it is disrespectful.

 

On a cruise I know people dress as they like, and I know so many people think a dress code should not matter. But I guarantee you, when you take your children (under 14, boys especially) and a buxom woman sits next to you in a string bikini, they will all complain.

 

So it is all about where do you draw the line? You cannot realistically say there should be NO DRESS CODE, you just have to reach that happy medium where most will agree, which is actually impossible.

 

Read these boards and you will see many people concerned with having nude cruises. NOBODY wants a nude couple at AT ANY TIME on their cruise, so please agree, some standard is necessary.

I agree with you about people that show up in shorts or gym wear on formal night. I have seen this, and although it probably shouldn't bother me...it does! I find it to be disrespectful and classless. Maybe I'm old fashioned..or maybe I was just raised differently. To me, there is appropriate attire/behavior for every environment. This is just my opinion, and we all have one...I'm sure. 😊

My husband wears slacks and nice shirts and a belt and I always wear a sundress with a flower in my hair to dress it up. My husband doesn't have a suit so I don't dress formal but I always dress it up! I love looking dressier than the norm!

Just ignore the post equating elegant night with a funeral :rolleyes:

As most of the normal posters on this thread, we have dialed it down from true formal (tux and gown) in 2002 to dress shirt / tie and cocktail dress now. Not worried at all about what anyone else wears or thinks :D

Slacks and dress shirt/tie and cocktail dress. If they called it formal night again we would go suits and gown but this way we are all comfortable. Kids won't stay dressed but adults do.

We still like dressing up. For our last cruise (April2015), I wore a green swing dress, my husband wore a grey suit and my 18 month old son wore dress pants & a vest.

It's not as dressy now as it was when we first began cruising in the early 1990's but it's still magical!!

1st elegant night: my husband wears a sharp black suit and I wear dressy black pants with a sequined top/jacket with lots of jewelry sparkle. This is our picture night!

2nd elegant night: Husband wears a nice shirt (a tie with dinner) and I wear the same black pants but with a 'classy (non-sequenced)' blouse with little jewelry. We do not take pictures this time around but do enjoy watching all the others do it!

Hi Ladylyn :)

After more than a few decades of cruising my wife & I continue to treat elegant / formal evenings and specialty restaurants on cruise ships as if we are going to a wedding.

A night out on the town, so to speak, with dinner, dancing, a show, comedy club, piano bar, etc, etc...

My wife wears gowns, I wear a suit. We stay in our clothing all evening.

Since I am merely her fashion accessory (hahaha!:)) I always match my shirt or tie to her gown.

I rarely take notice what attire others are wearing. I'm too focused on my holiday and my wife.

Your vacation is what you make of it, and never about what others are making of theirs.

Have a terrific day!

:)

DW has two new cocktail dresses for our cruise. I have two suits. They're a bit stuffy, one of them I wore to my last job interview (yes, I got hired), but they will do. As for post-dinner activities, I think hitting the casino all dressed up is a must. Does Carnival have baccarat tables? 😀

I know many folks don't like to get dressed up at all, but for those of you who still enjoy it,

In 2015, what will you wear on formal night?

Does anyone wear actual evening gowns? Does anyone still wear a tux? Do you stay "dressed" all night?

 

I'm curious to how formal nights on Carnival 7 day or longer cruises may have changed over the years....

My spouse and I dress for each other, so we decide beforehand how we feel that we want to show ourselves off to others as the crowds part to let us through.

Sometimes we are in the mood for tuxes and a gown, and other times it's a jacket and tie and a cocktail dress. We let our moods dictate either.