Ladies, what is your choice for formal night?

[stormyc]

She sparkles, too! :p

[HeatherInFlorida]

[font=Book Antiqua][size=3]Ahhhhhh, Linda ... I agree with Stormy ... Emily sparkles even more:D. I'd probably choose one of her over the bag;)[/size][/font]

[sandij]

I love to dress up, I usually try to find at least one new dress (gown) every year, you know so the pictures look different. I also find that I'm more comfortable in something a little flowing for the second formal night after eating for a week or more. But those formal nights are a lot of fun and everyone looks so nice.

[trubey]

O.K., now that I know that the Pinnacle grill is between Formal and Informal, can someone tell me:

If there is more than one formal night (there were three on my last cruise and I had only 2 outfits) is one night formal night more formal than another?

susan (thinking how much easier it would be just to put on a tux)

[HeatherInFlorida]

Susan, someone may have a better answer for you but I always consider the Captain's Gala night (or whatever it's called) the most formal. For me it makes no difference ... I'm equally formal on any formal night and no one would really notice if I repeat. Black is black;)

[Cuttle]

On longer cruises, I feel the Black and White Dinner/Ball is the most formal.

[Onessa]

[color=black]I choose room service and relax in my PJs![/color]

[color=black] [/color]

[color=black]I grew up surrounded by women's formalwear (raised by my grandmother and great-aunt who did women's formal couture). So it is just not fun. True formal is not really adhered to anywhere anymore but there are a lot of really fun looks. If you enjoy it, dress to the nines, if not, don’t torture yourself – go alternative![/color]

[cruznon]

I love formal nights. We've all become so casual in our dress...formal night on a cruise ship is a GREAT opportunity for many of us to really sparkle!:D "Alternative" is not for me. I love long, beautiful gowns and men in their tuxes! It's worth the extra effort to shine!

[KAJOKG]

My choice for formal nights is the Lido!!!! Actually, we go to one formal night and dine in or at the Lido the others. I hate to have to dress up. Had to fuss with heels and hose and dresses during my career days. I am relaxed now...very. But most enjoy it. I would never want to see formal nights done away with, but I am most grateful that HAL is offering a pleasant alternative in the Lido.

[Slinkiecat]

Having been on one of HAL's long cruises, I have to admit that formal nights were the most fun for the ladies but that the men preferred the casual nights.

I had a variety of skirts and dressy flyaway pants (aka "carwash pants") to mix and match with different tops and to me the fun of wearing those clothes was getting to wear my good jewelry. Some of the jeweled pendants show up only on bare skin so a low neckline was necessary.

A lot of the ladies wore sequined jackets over either dress pants or long skirts. On the most formal nights - those followed by a ball in the Queen's Lounge - some wore real ball gowns, strapless, sexy and elegant.

Regardless of how formal anyone was dressed, everybody looked as good as they wanted to, and I don't think anyone was dressed inappropriately, even if a few were dressed in more business attire than those who chose the more glamorous clothes. It is all such a personal choice, much the same on casual nights. Some will still dress up a lot and others will be more casual than the average. Nobody else really worries about whether you have on a short skirt or a long one. The main thing is to wear your best smile. You never know when the roving photographers will turn the camera on you. If you are photographed dancing with the captain you want to look like you belong in that picture.

Slinkie

[CCCM]

Started bringing out the dresses for packing. I have five cocktail dresses, all black. I was thinking about making packing easier and was going to bring all five. Easier with the shoes also, as I will only need to bring two pair of black shoes. Would I be out of place on a casual night in a cocktail dress? I was planning on wearing the nicer ones (Talbots Outlet for about $10 each) on formal night. Any and all feedback appreciated. :)


I love the pictures above of the handbags. Too bad DH would notice if I bought one this weekend.

[stormyc]

[quote name='CCCM']...Would I be out of place on a casual night in a cocktail dress? I was planning on wearing the nicer ones (Talbots Outlet for about $10 each) on formal night... :) [/QUOTE]

I think you will be just fine wearing a cocktail dress on casual night - maybe one of the less dressy ones...

Good plan to limit the amount of shoes you'll need!

Have a wonderful cruise!! :)

[RuthC]

[quote name='CCCM']Would I be out of place on a casual night in a cocktail dress? [/QUOTE]
[font=Comic Sans MS][size=3][color=royalblue]Absolutely not. I, too, like to dress up even on a casual night. What's the point of having nice clothes if you don't wear them! ;) [/color][/size][/font]

[Aussie Gal]

When we were on the Prinsendam last year in October doing the Black Sea cruise most ladies wore lovely clothes on every night including casual and the men also looked elegant. I am going to dress accordingly on our 17 night cruise in July. We sit down to a lovely meal in great surroundings, why not wear something really nice to add to the ambience.

Jennie

[stormyc]

I agree - you will feel totally comfortable in something a little dressier than casual (should you so choose) in that beautiful atmosphere! :)

[Sweetdreams]

Revisited this thread...really suffering from cruise withdrawal or do they call it "seasickness" (like homesickness)...love all the discusssion of formal nights. I just loved dressing up for dinner and I dressed up for casual nights and informal nights. Most people around us at dinner (which seemed the only time I took notice to what everyone else was wearing) seemed to dress up very nicely for all evenings in the dining room. The only exception was the last night which suprisingly I saw a lot of people with nice classy casual wear but with sneakers. My guess was that they probably were finished packing & planned to wear their sneaker home. I never felt over dressed if I chose to dress up more on the informal or casual nights. DH still talks about how nice it was to dress up & I was concerned that all the "changing of clothing" would disturb him-turned out he loved it too.

Loved the posters who added the pictures of the beautiful evening bags! Thanks for posting them.

[SantaAna,CA]

Well I wasn't happy with my first outfit for formal night so I'm waiting on a wine red satin gown I bought on ebay. I've got the long black opera gloves. Any bets on whether it will fit me or not? It's sort of 50/50 on these things! Anyway, if it does, I will be the one really, really overdressed on the Amsterdam to Alaska leaving 8/7 from Seattle. I also jettisoned the fur stole idea and have a cute black fake fur capelet, complete with black satin ribbon that ties it closed in the front...it's great. Hope it all works!

Jane :)