cruise formal evening

[tammienorrie]

I am not a cruise holiday person, have never been on cruise before. I will be working on a couple of cruises next year, various cruise lines as an instructor/staff. I will be dining with the guests, making myself available to socialise, going with them on trips etc. I have plenty of smart/office style clothes and "ordinary" dresses, but absolutely no idea of what is expected on a formal night. Full on floor length dresses? Or trousers and a sequin/sparkly top?

It very much depends on the cruise line - some of them are much more formal than others. Do you know which line you’ll be going on?

Fred Olsen. To add - I'm in my 50s and a size 14.

Long and sparkly were popular on the cruise I recently went on. Staff wore the most sparkly. My first cruise and I took long dresses but was outshone by some of the other passengers.

On Fred Olsen you would need a full length dress I think. Alternatively many women wear black palazzo style trousers and a sparkly top.
To be honest I find full length dresses much easier to wear than cocktail length, as you don’t need to worry about tights or the state of your legs. I’ve only got one relatively plain black floor length dress, but I change it up with accessories. No one really notices. It’s nice to dress up. Cruise lines (some) are the last places where it’s done.

I'm really not a dressing up person, but needs must!

@tammienorrie did you manage to get a dress? I'm cruising with FO soon and need a formal one or two.

I'm not going until next year, I think I will keep an eye out towards Christmas. There is a lot of stuff on Vinted, not all to my taste, but a lot to choose from!

I've just bought a dress off Vinted. I offered less and got accepted. I'm in my 50s though so probably have different style to you.

I'm in my 50s too! I think the difficulty is that I am going to be there as sort of staff rather than just a passenger, so it needs to be appropriate and professional...

I’ve found some amazing dresses in charity shops. Now selling them on eBay. They don’t sell for much so I think you’ll find something easily.

Phase Eight dresses are lovely and very flattering.

You definitely don’t need full length on FO - I’ve been with my elderly parents on their cruises and bought a midi dress from Scarlett & Jo which was ideal. I’m mid 50s

That's good that cocktail dresses are ok.

Dh has a DJ and bow tie. Don't think I'll get him to wear a jazzy one.

I love charity shops and will be scouring them too before we go. I've been on cruises before just not FO.

Hope you find some appropriate dresses @tammienorrie .

I have some cruise dresses ( picked up some bargains from M&S post Christmas and on eBay)
Sequins are in !

I bought a really lovely Phase 8 jumpsuit but needed to wear with heels ( not much fun as I'm not used to them and the ship was in choppy waters ) and the toilets are quite small when you need to peel yourself out of a jumpsuit
I have sequined skirt / top that I can wear together or separate, Monsoon long devore dress ( washable) , velvet dress (shift) and some sequinned shirts .

Trousers and a sparkly top are probably fine, especially if combined with a reasonably polished look (not everyone wears make up and jewellery, but I think it all helps, and I actually think tidy hair is important), dresses also nice. I think you will be on your feet more than your guests so footwear that works is probably important. I personally think plain black trainers or flat shoes, deck shoes or white plimsolls (which look nice with a summer dress) are perfectly fine with a longer dress. Longer dresses are sometimes easier actually, because you don't have to think about your feet or legs too much. I haven't cruised with FO before, but I have cruised with most of the others, and I haven't really got a view on what the hard working people that liaise with me on the cruise should wear, but I would probably expect them to be "reasonably turned out" - so no problem with less dressy things, or even normal practical work gear (esp for in the day), but would probably have more of an eyebrow raised at something very revealing or short (tarty) or just "too out there" iykwim. I would go to vinted, not only good items, but good cheap costume jewellery also. Sounds like a great job and I hope you enjoy it x
PS, check if they have "white nights" or similar, the same advice applies, and you don't have to stick to it rigidly, but if you have a wardrobe consisting of little black dresses, you may find you have missed the brief !