help me shop for a cruise

I've been thinking of things I want to post about a lot, so I didn't realise it'd been over a month since I last blogged... I'm sad that I'm out of the habit of it. I did think maybe I should wait until I had something more substantial to post about, but if I did that, I'd never start back up, so instead you can help me shop!

The cruise was one of the things I was going to blog about at one point. My best friend at home got engaged a couple of months ago and decided she wanted to have her wedding on a cruise to avoid the enormous family function it would have to be at home. She started out saying it would probably be March or April next year and she would give everyone plenty of notice so they could take time off. Then she found a cheap deal on a 12 night cruise at the end of November.

I was all excited at first and agreed to go, but I'm feeling less enthused now. Twelve days is a pretty long time. Plus all our joint friends are either overseas or too poor to go, so it will be just me and her fiance's friends and their families. I'm sharing a room with her fiance's grandmother. I'm trying not to think about the many opportunities there'll be for social awkwardness.

This week, I asked for some advice about what to pack and learned that there will be two formal nights on board. Aside from the fact that I'm not sure I'll want to participate in all the enforced socialising, I haven't worn anything remotely formal since moving to the US five years ago, at least. I did think to look for a dress to wear to the actual wedding a couple of weeks ago, which was too late for any normal stores to still have Summer clothes, but perfect timing for the big discounts at the fancy consignment store. I got two dresses for $30 (although I'll have to do some minor modifications to the straps to get them to fit properly). Neither is really formal, but I'm hoping one will do and the other will work for the wedding. I went shopping again last night and bought a sparkly, purple dress, but now I'm having doubts about keeping it. It's pretty, but I can't imagine I'll ever wear it again. If only I were flying home before the cruise, instead of straight to the city the ship is leaving from, I could've picked up my semi-formal and formal dresses from high school. Hmm... I wonder if my friend will have any room in her suitcase.

Anyway, I was also informed that it would be good to have two pairs of togs (swimsuits). I have one pair that are maybe 8 years old. I still like them, but I now have to tie the straps into a halter neck, since they've detached from the back. I also left my lap-swimming togs out on the balcony for weeks, so they are now stretched and baggy. Clearly, I need new ones, but now is not the most convenient time to buy swimwear.

It's hard to guess at what will fit or look any good, when I can't try things on, so I was just going to go for plain, lap-swimming togs, but these fish are kind of cute:


And I'm also wondering if I should risk this set being terribly unflattering, because it could be cuter:


I did briefly consider this top, but, while I'm a lot happier with my body than I was, I'm still way too self-conscious for a bikini, I think.
I know I could just order them both and return whatever looks bad, but I'd appreciate any advice. It doesn't help that each of my measurements suggests a different size.

I am also going to need fancy shoes, but at least they still sell non-sensible shoes in Autumn so I can try them on. Unfortunately, again, I have a perfectly good (and comfortable) pair at home.

I'm not sure why I owned more dressy clothes at home and none here. I think I gave up on doing things I didn't really enjoy to try to fit in when I moved here. I also haven't had any events like weddings or graduations to go to, and I've worn jeans to things that my mum would've made me dress up for, too. I just found some make up recently that I'd brought with me when I first moved here, but haven't touched since. I think I threw it out since it was so old. Can I go to formal events without make up or am I going to have to buy that, too?