Elegant night

[kcep02]

We are cruising in about 20 days and I am starting to stress. I cant find anything I like for elegant night without paying a lot. Any recommendations on where to look for a reasonable priced dress. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[MandaNShannon]

I'm not sure about in your country, but I buy from eBay, I'm in Australia and it takes about a month for items to arrive from over seas.

Could you try eBay in your area?

 

 

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[5326jan]

I wear black dress pants with a dressy top. I don't see the need to spend money on something that I will rarely wear in my "beach life". I have enough tops from wedding and Christmas events that I've only worn once that it's a no-brainer for me to use those. :)

[Ehpride]

I have good luck with gowns and cocktail dresses at department stores. Dillard's typically has a lot for decent prices in the clearance section.

[cb at sea]

You will find that only a fraction of the passengers will get all "dolled up"....you might try looking for a cocktail dress....try Ross, TJMaxx, Marshalls, etc.....the discount places! You don't have to spend a bunch at all! Or, check the sale racks at the local dept. stores...I know Nashville has lots of shopping!

[OCruisers]

Noticed you are going on a Carnival cruise. On Carnival you really do not need to dress up much at all for their Elegant Nights ... unless you just want to.

LuLu

~~~

[AmandaBlue]

Try Amazon. The brand Ever Pretty makes very pretty, reasonably priced dresses. I bought this one in purple. It's actually floor length on my 5'2" frame.

http://www.amazon.com/HE08021BK16-Pretty-Dresses-Special-occasion/dp/B006WJ0YWM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1398542208&sr=8-1&keywords=ever+pretty+grecian

[4petmom]

I just bought a dress at Savers for $10. Saw the same dress last week at JCP for $110. I don't mind gently used clothing though.

[Anyislandwilldo]

Try Dress Barn. I found a great outfit there. I also shop at thrift stores and find some really nice dress type clothes for under $10.

[Kellie Poodle]

We are cruising in about 20 days and I am starting to stress. I cant find anything I like for elegant night without paying a lot. Any recommendations on where to look for a reasonable priced dress. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

Ross Dress For Less. I have several gowns that I bought there for under $35 each. They are jersey knits, very elegant and very lightweight and packable. The jersey knit does not wrinkle.

[Lois R]

We are cruising in about 20 days and I am starting to stress. I cant find anything I like for elegant night without paying a lot. Any recommendations on where to look for a reasonable priced dress. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

Hi,:) I see you live in Nashville. I am sure there are some major

dept stores in the area and most of them have "dressy dresses".

Dillard's, Belk, Macy's,.....and what other stores? Ross Dress for Less

and Dress Barn also have dressy items.

Edited April 27, 2014 by Lois R

[Ehpride]

Do you have a Burlington Coat Factory?

 

 

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[mousey]

I'm a fan of TJ Maxx, Marshalls, etc. for reasonably priced dresses. It's been said already but just to reiterate...you don't need to dress up formally on a Carnival cruise unless you want to. I usually wear a maxi skirt or dress pants with a dressy top.

 

Happy hunting...I hope you enjoy your cruise!:D

[kcep02]

Thanks ladies, I like to dress up since I don't dress up that much at home. Kohls has a couple evening dresses on clearance online less that $30.00. I did find 2 dresses one at Belks and the other at Dillards.

[Drew's Wife]

Well, I just wanted to say "Hi" Nashville is my hometown..All my family is there! Can hardly wait to visit Nashville in June!

[Mytime2014]

We are cruising in about 20 days and I am starting to stress. I cant find anything I like for elegant night without paying a lot. Any recommendations on where to look for a reasonable priced dress. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

My friend got a nice black dress with a little jeweled bodice art at Belk for $25 [probably started out around 180'ish] - its cocktail more than formal, but I think it will do great for our Alaska cruise. Mostly upset she saw it first!!!

I got a nice jacket to go with a dressy black skirt or dress at Belk - same type of markdown.

 

I have seen some gorgeous smaller size formal dresses at GoodWill in the Junior League section. I keep going back to check for my size.

[LittleJeanne]

Carnival doesn't require formal, and as some here have said you will see a little bit of everything. However, in recent years I have found that the time of year and who is on the ship seem to greatly affect how dressy everyone is as well.

 

If you are traveling during spring break season there doesn't seem to be as much dressing up. Also on the shorter cruises of 3-5 days not as many people dress up. Often during summer months when larger family groups are traveling you won't see as many people dressed as formally.

 

We have found that when we cruise over and/or near the Christmas holidays that there are more people dressed up. I always assume that 1) they feel more festive and therefore more dressy at this time of year. And that 2) a lot of people have recently bought cocktail and formal outfits for work related holiday parties and are getting a second wearing from those outfits. This same principle seems to extend into January.

 

It also depends on what port you are sailing out of. In our experience the Galveston port had some of the most casual cruisers.

 

Whether a particular port draws in more people that drive or fly has an impact. I'm sure if you've been around for a while you have seen several on the CC boards make the statement that they aren't paying to fly all that stuff. The people that drive will often be the ones that bring a lot more "just in case", supplies and won't have qualms about how much space their dressy stuff takes up in their suitcases.

 

Two other factors are linked. The longer cruises and the older cruisers seem to affect the whole dressy feel on Elegant nights. Often its the older cruisers who can afford the longer cruises and that either have earned the extended vacation time needed for these cruises or are retired and don't have to worry about taking the time away from work. Many of the older cruisers started cruising when dinner truly was a dressy affair and still dress that way. For some on the longer cruises its a once in a lifetime event that they want to make more special.

 

We just finished a 16 night Hawaiian cruise. I talked to the lady at the candy store. They handle tux rentals. She said they get a lot more tux rentals for the Hawaiian and Alaskan cruises than when the ship runs the 7 day cruises. She said they can go weeks without a tux rental when it is running the 7 day cruises out of Long Beach. I know I saw a lot more guys in tuxedos on this ship than I have on other recent cruises.

 

If you want to wear a dressy or more formal dress on Carnival you won't be out of place. Often I see people asking about dressing nicely for a Carnival cruise and the more casual people seem to be more vocal about telling them that they don't need to dress up. No, you don't need to be in true formal wear but if you are asking about where to buy a dress you are probably feeling like finding something special to help make your vacation and yourself feel more special. Go for it!

 

Now that I've rambled on I'll answer your question just to say that I have found dresses in all kinds of places. Now that its just hubby and I at home we choose cruising as our main form of vacation time. I keep an eye out at all times for dresses that I might like to take along on cruises with me. I have worn my MOB and MOG dresses. I have special ordered a custom made dress from eBay. Last year I found a local lady on Craigslist who'd had a large weight loss and was a cruiser. She was selling off all her larger clothes most for only $5. Lots of people have great luck at Ross. I never had any luck there until right before our most recent cruise. My girlfriend wanted to go to Ross and I took her. I wasn't even looking for a new dress and found a great one for only $35. Dillard and Macy's usually have some more formal dresses year round. But right after Christmas and at the tail end of prom time you can find some great deals.

 

 

Good luck in your dress shopping.

[PJNJcruise5]

Try Ross or Marshalls. My daughter just purchased a long purple gown for $12 and I found a black long dress with a swirled sequined design for $29. I found a short little black dress for $14. We purchased our dresses from Ross.

[mousey]

We are cruising in about 20 days and I am starting to stress. I cant find anything I like for elegant night without paying a lot. Any recommendations on where to look for a reasonable priced dress. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

TJ Maxx, Marshalls, Ross 4 Less. These are my go-to places to shop for inexpensive clothing, shoes, accessories, jewelry, handbags, and home goods. I can go to TJ Maxx and get a variety of top notch goods from upscale designers and brands such as...Kate Spade, Michael Kors, Cynthia Rowley, etc. You can put a whole designer outfit together from head-to-toe just in one visit to TJ Maxx alone. I've done it for years and years! These designer items are not seconds but are overstock items. I've never been disappointed by anything I've bought there. My whole closet contains tons of designer items from these stores. Yes, you have to take time to look around and try things on, but in MHO, it is so worth it.

 

I wish you luck in finding something you like and I hope you have an awesome vacation!:D