what do you wear on formal nights

[Sam Baker]

Hiya all

My names Sam and I have just joined Cruise Critic. I have always wanted to go cruising and haven't as yet as my mum is afraid of water. My nan and grandad have stepped in and they are taking me and my younger brother Calum on a cruise around the Med in August aboard the P&O ship the Aurora. It's a 16 day cruise and I think there are possibly 3/4 formal nights. What do you wear on formal nights? Neither of my grand parents have cruised before so they don't know. I am 19 if that assists you in giving your advise.

 

Thanks everyone

Sam:)

[humpy]

hi sam and welcome to the world of cruising.when they say its formal night on the ship it is customary to ware a black dinner suit with a black bow tie.semi formal is a suit and tie and smart casual is an open neck shirt with smart trousers.hope this helps,and have a great cruise..happy sailing..humpy

[LibraLass41]

Yes Aurora is quite a formal ship, on a Formal night 95% of the men will be wearing a black dinner suit (tux) the 5% remaining wear a suit and tie...women in long dresses , cocktail dresses or smart black evening trousers with a posh top ....

 

You can buy a tux now for around £50-100 even Asda sell them...hope that helps

 

Sue

[Sam Baker]

Hi Sue

Sam is short for Samantha. Thanks for the advise though

 

Sam

[Sam Baker]

Hi Humpy

Sam is short for Samantha. Thanks for the advise though.

 

Sam

[AbbyCruise]

Hi Sam,

 

No need for ballgowns but I would say that most women tend to go for a long dress for formal nights and short for informal nights.

 

One my first cruise (a few years ago) I was seated with a lovely 20-something who had bought all of her evening clothes from Coast. She looked fabulous and not at all out of place.

 

Personally, I don't have the budget for that so have picked up a few bargains from Debenhams evening wear selection over the years. I am old enough now to have got over my fear of shopping in department stores (I used to think they were too matronly). They have a good selection of mix and match evening wear seperates in addition to evening dresses whihc can often work out more economical than buying a new dress for each evening.

 

That said, don't be afraid of wearing the same thing twice in a cruise - you are probably the only one that will notice you have worn something before.

 

happy shopping!

[capasamari]

What a treat, good old grandparents!

 

My husband has gone the whole hog with formal wear, he has a black dinner suit and also a cream dinner jacket with black dress trousers. He has both wing-up and collar down dress shirts, and cuff links and bow-ties in different colours to co-ordinate with my dresses(!!) My brother-in-law however wears an ordinary black suit with a dress shirt and a bow-tie as he does not want to buy a dinner jacket, and he looks perfectly fine. Matalan are a good shop for economical DJs, dress shirts and bow-ties. How old is your brother? Even quite young boys wear formal wear and look great.

 

My posh frocks are all full-length (which I prefer, though my friend wears mid-calf length) in a shimmery fabric and have all come from TKMaxx, with a new one for this Christmas for black and white night from Grattan catalogue. You don't need to spend a fortune, my dearest one was £45. I wear them with sparkly shoes, glittery jewellery, beaded evening bag and a shawl or pashmina.

 

It would be hard to be over-dressed on a formal night, so I hope you all enjoy dressing up! Everyone does and there is a real buzz to the atmosphere, with some fabulous photos taken by the ship's photographers on view the next day.

 

I hope this helps and has not put you off, it may be called formal night but in no way is it a stuffy atmosphere, quite the opposite in my opinion.

 

Carol x

[balf]

Hi Humpy

Sam is short for Samantha. Thanks for the advise though.

 

Sam

 

Ah........... However, a tux on a girl, particularly if she is tall looks fabulous IMO. And boy doesn't the cruise world need the youngsters to mix in with the "more mature"

 

Sam you will have a wonderful cruise, and nan and grandad. Enjoy.

 

David.

[Sam Baker]

Hiya all

My names Sam and I have just joined Cruise Critic. I have always wanted to go cruising and haven't as yet as my mum is afraid of water. My nan and grandad have stepped in and they are taking me and my younger brother Calum on a cruise around the Med in August aboard the P&O ship the Aurora. It's a 16 day cruise and I think there are possibly 3/4 formal nights. What do you wear on formal nights? Neither of my grand parents have cruised before so they don't know. I am 19 if that assists you in giving your advise.

 

Thanks everyone

Sam:)

 

Anyone else willing to advise on what's best to wear on formal nights. My grandparents, brother and I all want to fit in well

 

Thanks

Sam

[supered]

Anyone else willing to advise on what's best to wear on formal nights. My grandparents, brother and I all want to fit in well

 

Thanks

Sam

Hi Sam

 

I would echo what has alreday been said. Tuxes/Dinner Jackets for the guys. For girls floor length elegant dresses (not ball gowns as such - puffy sleeves are over the top) like the ones you get in places like Moonson are fabulous, although shorter dresses are fine. Cocktail dresses are ideal for semi-formal nights with suit, shirt and tie being the norm for the guys. However a tie is not required for semi-formal nights.

 

Most people dress to imporess but don't get hung up too much on it. If you think you look and feel great you will be just fine.

 

I hope that helps. Have a great cruise!

 

Eddie

[LibraLass41]

You will have at least 4 if not 5 formal nights on a 16n cruise, definitly more than 3....

 

Dresses for you can be found in Wallis,Monsoon, Next, Debenhams... although the best time to buy formalwear is after christmas when all the dresses, bags, sparkly shoes are in the sales... too late for you now sadly..

 

What about ports? Where are you going Sam? Is it the Venice 16n cruise?

[rubyandstella]

My daughters are teenagers and they have both worn Lipsy dresses for formal nights. No need to wear a full ballgown... my daughters are avid readers of all the celeb mags and anything Coleen would wear would be fine :p Daughter number 1 has a copy of a black Marchessa dress Coleen wore once (sorry can't find the picture for that, but its has a sparkly top and is long and floaty) Karen Millen has some lovely dresses in at the moment... we have just got her a lovely champagne one with roses on the bottom which paired up with killer heels and lots of diamonte looks stunning on. http://www.karenmillen.com/fcp/product/-/Dresses/Cocktail-dress/903000052592?page=prod903000052592

 

Daughter number 2 has a copy of an Oscar de la Renta long floaty white grecian type dress that Serena of Gossip Girl wore in Series 2. http://teamsugar.com/group/1816741/blog/1898027

 

Anything you'd wear for prom would be fine.

 

And for me... well, I always find something in Monsoon!

 

Happy shopping :D