One of the things I was most excited for when I confirmed my press trip with Royal Caribbean was choosing outfits for formal nights on board.
Of course, I was looking forward to all the tropical destinations we’d be stopping in during the seven night cruise (Labadee in Haiti, Falmouth in Jamaica and Cozumel in Mexico, in case you were wondering), and I knew I’d have loads of fun onboard Harmony of the Seas – but I loved having a reason to shop for a gorgeous new dress for the formal nights!
I know a lot of people worry about how to dress on formal nights during their cruise, particularly if it’s their first one. When I did a Christmas Markets Cruise with my mum two years ago, it was our first time as cruisers and we didn’t have a clue!
Tips for planning formal night outfits on a cruise
The cruise line matters
This was my second cruise and I’ve learned that each cruise line enforces formal night attire a little differently. Nowadays, most of them don’t actually enforce it at all – you can totally wear shorts and a t-shirt to dinner if you want to! It’s always best to check what your particular cruise line’s rules are before you start packing.
Royal Caribbean isn’t one of those stuffy cruise companies, so they’re pretty relaxed about formal evenings. In fact, they prefer to call them ‘Dress your best nights’, which takes the pressure off and leaves it open to interpretation.
Duration of your cruise matters
One important tip when deciding what to pack for formal nights is to find out how many nights are likely to be formal during your cruise. Mine was a seven night cruise, so there were two formal nights. I packed more than two formal dresses though, just so I had options! Plus, cruising inevitably means weight gain so I wanted to make sure I had a back-up if my favourite dress didn’t fit.
The location matters
The first cruise I did was around Europe, just before Christmas. It was FREEZING. That meant formal nights on that cruise were all about faux fur coats and thick tights, just in case someone opened a door to the outside deck and the night’s chill swept through the corridor.
Thankfully, the tropical weather in the Caribbean on my latest cruise meant I could wear my fanciest dresses and rock bare legs without feeling nippy. So I went for it!
Your personal style matters
The most important thing to remember when you’re choosing what to wear on your cruise’s formal nights is that it’s really up to you. Choose an outfit you’ll be comfortable in. You don’t have to wear a dress if dresses aren’t your thing; there are plenty of elegant jumpsuits or trouser suits you can wear on formal nights. And of course, you don’t have to dress up! You do you. It’s your holiday, after all.
What I wore on formal nights
I know there are lots of formal night cruising attire guides out there for more mature women, but I thought a guide to what to wear on formal nights for younger women might be helpful.
I’m in my late twenties so I might have different tastes to anyone reading this who is slightly older, but I hope you get some good ideas anyway! My blog’s name might be While I’m Young, but I always say that young is a state of mind…
My favourite formal night dress was this gorgeous all over lace midi dress from Jarlo London, who kindly gifted me the dress for my cruise.
I chose a midi because I’m short and I was worried I wouldn’t have time to get it taken up to accommodate my short legs. I got lots of compliments on it and felt so sophisticated. It was a perfect fit, felt comfortable despite looking quite structured, and the material was thick so it flattered my figure.
The Jarlo London site has loads of gorgeous dresses that are perfect for formal night on a cruise; or if you need a dress for a special occasion like a wedding.
The dress I wore on the second formal night was recycled from my cousin’s wedding last year. I was thrilled to have the chance to wear it again!
This one was only about £20 on Missguided so it was a real bargain. You don’t have to pay a lot for cruise dresses, especially if you’ll only wear it once or twice.
More dresses that would be perfect for a formal night at sea
To save on luggage space, I only packed one pair of heels for this cruise. That was fine for seven nights but if I was going on a longer cruise, I’d probably want to pack a more casual pair to wear in the evenings on the non-formal nights.
Which of my two formal night outfits do you like best? I’d love to know your tips for dressing for formal evenings! If you’re a seasoned cruiser, leave me a comment below.
If you want to see all of my updates from my Caribbean cruise, follow me @danniellelily and check out my ‘Royal Caribbean Cruise’ highlight. I also wrote a full review of Harmony of the Seas, in case you’re thinking of sailing on her or her sister ship, Allure!
As mentioned at the beginning of this post, I was a guest of Royal Caribbean UK. Views are my own.