Gown vs. Coctail dress on Formal Nights

[Dmarie305]

I was hoping someone can shed some light on what to wear. I am sailing on the Elation 7/9 with my family and we already had gathered our gowns for the two formal nights. I just read in another post that the dress code was not enforced, as passengers were casually dressed and even some wearing sneakers. My mother had told me that usually the first night is more formal and the second night less formal. Any insight???:confused:

 

If me and my family are in gowns and dark suits, will we be over dressed?

[baybreezin78]

Both nights are the same level of formality, as far as I'm aware. If you want to wear your gown, go for it! You will see people in tuxes and gowns and then you'll see people in polo shirts and sun dresses (which is a pet peeve of mine) . DH and I always dress up and we enjoy it. You will not be out of place in your gown...if anything it's the people dressed casual that should feel out of place!

[nybumpkin]

We dress up as well - DH and the boys wear tuxes (boys' tuxes are of ebay vintage:) ) and I wear an ankle-length cocktail dress. We're probably more dressed than most others, but we're certainly not the only ones. Our first cruise DH wore a suit and I wore a "Sunday" dress and we were just fine. Yes, there will be some folks who do not follow the guidelines, but don't pay any attention to them - they're the ones who will be out of place. (Our second formal night was less dressy, but it's not a good barometer - that formal night was delayed a day due to a change of schedule, and some folks didn't see the message about the change.)

[Fancy_Goods]

Wear which ever makes you feel the prettiest! That's what it's all about! Looking fabulous! ;-)

[Aero247]

Either will be fine. I agree with the previous poster, wear whichever one you feel best in. Remember you will probably have some portraits made on those nights.

[krazy4kruisin]

Remember, It's all about YOU! This is your cruise. Wear whatever you want. I always dress up as we don't do it at home. Enjoy, Make some Magic!

 

 

[caribbean dreams]

My family always dresses for formal, my husband in a suit and my 3 daughters and i in formal dresses.

Its so nice to feel elegent for the evening.

[texas greeneyes]

I wore a glittery knee length strapless cocktail dress the first night, and a full length lace on silk layered gown the second night.

As my Momma says, "When in doubt, it is better to be overdressed than underdressed".

Your gowns and dark suits will be just fine! :)

[Stircrzy]

 

As my Momma says, "When in doubt, it is better to be overdressed than underdressed".

 

 

Amen!

[Truluv]

We just returned from our 6/13 cruise on the Legend, and noted a big drop in formality from our last Carnival cruise a few years ago. There were a few gowns and tuxes, but not very many (including my daughter, who looked great!). Lots of dark suits. We also saw some very casually dressed people, more than I ever remember seeing on any prior cruise. We were very surprised that the maitre de did NOT enforce the dress code as strictly as I would have expected. We saw, for example, t-shirts and some shorts in the dining room, mini-skirts and camisoles, etc. It seemed sort of Hit & Miss -- some nights he enforced it, and other nights didn't seem to bother. On formal night, we saw some collar shirts/khakis and sundresses, which were clearly not formal at all. I'd say that at least 80% of the ship were dressed up. As others have pointed out, you'll want great pictures and it's an excuse to be glamorous.

 

On the other hand, the supper club was very strict with the dress code. To save suitcase room, our sons brought only dress shoes for their suits, sneakers and sandals. The supper club would not admit them with sneakers despite the fact that they were wearing dress khakis and collar shirts.

[Moondance]

I ran into the same question while packing. My solution was to wear a long fancy formal the first night and a short black beaded cocktail dress for the second. Both are formal but you know how it is there's formal and there's FORMAL. My friends who cruise often tell my they are both perfect and if anything I'll be overdressed.:)

[bluebreeze]

Carnival is the least stringent of all the cruise lines. Actually about the only rules they enforce to some extent is no t-shirts, shorts or flip flops to dinner. I would say most of the people dress up for formal night.....on our first cruise we asked the maitre 'd if what we had brought was acceptable and his response was...."wear whatever your wardrobe allows"....because we did not want to feel out of place. You will see a wide variety of dress on formal night.....just be comfortable and enjoy yourself....its your vacation!!

[1timecruiser]

A really nice black wrap dress as I don't think that it's necessary to wear a floor-length gown (i'm only 5'1). With accessories and very pretty sequined sandals, I am sure I'll be okay. On my past cruise, I noticed that the atmosphere for the evening was mostly nice cocktail/summery type dresses (strapless, t-strap dresses, etc.,) that IMO were just fine for dinner. Formal night should be a little more dressier than the other nights in the dining room, but I am not going to commit to wearing extremely FORMAL wear as I want to be as comfortable as possible.

 

I doubt I'll be wearing capris, tank tops, shorts or anything of that nature in the dining room unless it's breakfast or lunch. I do think that dinner on the ship should be regarded as any landbased upscale restaurant would. Wear what you think the event you're attending requires, but don't feel pressured to go out and splurge if your finances can't afford it. Dress as if you were going on a really nice first date to a really nice establishment and you'll be fine!

[ddbaab53]

On all of our cruises with Carnival the majority of the ladies dressed up. We always do the formal nights after all how often as an adult do you get to play dress up?? I would feel very out of place myself if we didn't dress up. Some of the men do wear tuxes but most where a suit and tie instead.

 

Hope this helps out.