Formal night dress - pictures?

[Roselet]

Hi folks, I'm planning my first ever cruise for next (northern) summer. We'll be in Northern Europe, so it will be freezing for me - about the same temps as I'm used to for mid-winter. So working out what clothes to take is a struggle just ofr every day clothes. I'm trying to work out what is appropriate for formal nights - and being a 14 day cruise we'll have three.
Do I have to wear a different outfit each formal night? How formal is formal? I have a ball gown I love wearing, but it's long, with a little train - maybe TOO dressy? I'd love to see some photos from people's actual formal nights on board, so I don't look any mroe out of place than I have to. (I'm not really a cruise-y type - this is a family vacation and the in laws specified the holiday. Hubby and I are backpackers at heart so a cruise is going to be a schock to the system. Bit scared I might love it!) I'm not fussed if they are of posters, I just want a general idea of what people wear.
TIA

[ShipMaven]

Welcome to Cruise @ddicts!

A question if I may. What is your itinerary? Many don't realize that the [warm water] Gulf Stream crosses the Atlantic and flows past several countries in northwestern Europe, moderating the coastal temperatures there. No, you won't find hot Caribbean temperatures but you might not feel as cold as you fear - again, depends on your itinerary. Although I live in Arizona, the only places I've felt really cold have been North Cape (Norway) and Spitsbergen.

As for formal nights, you could easily wear a nice pair of dressier black slacks and bring three dressy tops. As for your husband, a dark suit and tie will be fine if he doesn't wish to wear or rent a tuxedo. European cruises, generally, are dressier than, say, Caribbean cruises. If you were cruising on Cunard, you ball gown might fit in nicely, but if you're sailing on Celebrity, you'll find fellow guests to be nicely dressed, but not THAT formal.

[Roselet]

Itinerary - I'll probably get the order wrong, but the ports we're stopping at include Brugges (Belgium), Warnemunde / Berlin (Germany), Tallinn (Estonia), St Petersburg (Russia), Helsinki (Finland), Stockholm (Sweden) and Copenhagen (Denmark).
Looking at the average temps, several of the ports seem to have min around 10 degrees C and max around 20. Our midwinter temps (in June) are average 9 - 18. So only a couple of degrees difference and I'm currently wearing long coats and hats when I go out! Still at least it won't be in our summer and going from high 30s to 40 down to negative temps. I've done that before and it's not comfortable.

So you think the full on ballgown is too much? How disappointing, I get to wear it so rarely and love dressing up. but it's good to know - I don't want to look out of place.

[ShipMaven]

While you probably will be in a minority, it you wish to wear your ball gown, by all means, wear it. Do what pleases you, but consider the weight of the gown and what your airline allowances are. Depending on the cruise line on which I'm sailing, I've toned down my degree of formality, but still DO dress formally. While I prefer posting photos of my little dog and not me, here's one of me on Holland America's Volendam. It will give you an idea of the type of gown I wear...




Since you are posting temperatures in Celsius, I am guessing you do not live in the United States. For your itinerary, I would recommend layering your daytime wardrobe.

[Jeanie]

Check our the photo gallery, you will find lots of photos there

[Mbandy]

While you probably will be in a minority, it you wish to wear your ball gown, by all means, wear it. Do what pleases you

I agree 100%. We enjoy formal nights on cruises and while a lot of lines kind of ignore them now of days we always dress for formal nights. A couple of years ago on Disney, Susan and I were the only two dressed up on the second night out.

Hope it didn't make everybody else uncomfortable

Enjoy