clothes on a cruise

I think there are cruises which are much more casual- anyone got any info or experience? Please.

Apparently river cruises are not formal.

Always thought I fancied a cruise, now definitely not so keen. I don't enjoy formal events, least of all if also have to worry about dress codes and not sticking out like a sore thumb .......

All I know is that on Saga cruises they send you a booklet near the date with a breakdown as to how many formal nights and what the dress code is. That being said one woman's 'formal is another woman's over the top nightmare of sequins. On the other hand on the formal nights NO ONE could have been described as over dressed....I actually felt a little under sequined but that's just me.
I'd say the rule is more easily defined by what the gentleman wear...if its formal he must wear a suit and tie and many wore DJs. Informal was a jacket and shirt or a shirt and tie, whilst the casual was pretty much anything that covered you decently.

If you enjoy dressing up....go for it but keep the full glitz for the official formal nights....and enjoy!

Thank you all- you've definitely proven to me that cruises are just not for me. Hated those formal occasions when they were 'compulsory' for me- and never want to go to another again!

As Brenda says, go to a charity shop. I volunteer in one and ladies come in looking for evening clothes for cruises.

Thanks everyone. I shall get some formal stuff as I love dressing up! DH does have a Dinner jacket so that is OK. I don't have black though as it doesn't suit me.

Will consult the travel agent.

Go to the charity shops they have little worn evening and cocktail wear.

On the last cruise I was on in November they insisted on formal wear in public rooms on formal nights. I did what BrendaW said ,taking a long black chiffon pleated skirt, black velvet trousers, and a variety of jackets . What did surprise me was the dressing up on the smart cocktail nights. Just as much bling on the ladies as on the formal nights IMO . In fact I'm trawling the sales for casual bling at the moment. Quite enjoying it to be honest.

As already said it depends if it's free style cruising or cruising with formal nights. If there are formal nights you should have information about them. However you don't have to attend formal nights and can eat in the self service restaurant. Some cruise lines don't allow informal wear in their public rooms on formal nights. So ask the travel agent or cruise line for the information.
For gentleman a dark suit is usually acceptable if you don't own a dinner suit. Charity shops often have them hardly worn. My DH who said that he would wear one over his dead body now owns two one black and one white.
I have a number of formal dresses but you can save money, and room. by having a plain long skirt and various evening type blouses or tops. I do long cruises and may have up to 19 formal nights but only take three dresses and evening skirt and evening trousers plus various tops.
An evening bag is useful to as it can hold your key card and tissues.
Have a great time.

One word of warning, although we knew how many formal evenings to expect. No where had we been warned about the 'black and white' night. DH was fine of course but surprisingly I didn't have a black evening dress with me.
DH had just the one evening suit but a few white evening shirts and different coloured 'dickies'

Went in September for 12 days..there were two 'formal' nights and even those were optional! As sunseeker says it was all clear in the pre-cruise documentation re number of formal 'do's'. DH just took a dark suit not a DJ/tux!

You should be able to find out how many "formal" nights there are from the brochure or travel agent. When I went I think there were 2 formal nights each week (I took 2 evening dresses).