Newbie questions

We are scheduled to go on the Adonia Dec. 11 for a month-long cruise. We working on scheduling our flights from the U.S. and find we don't know what time the ship will leave port or what the latest embarkation time is. We plan to arrive a couple of days early but would like to get a general idea.

Also, the material online indicates several black-tie nights. Are those formal nights really that formal? I have dressy clothes and my husband has a suit, and these have worked on other cruises such as HAL. Will hubby need to get a tux and will I need to get true formal clothes? Any advice is appreciated.

We are scheduled to go on the Adonia Dec. 11 for a month-long cruise. We working on scheduling our flights from the U.S. and find we don't know what time the ship will leave port or what the latest embarkation time is. We plan to arrive a couple of days early but would like to get a general idea.

Also, the material online indicates several black-tie nights. Are those formal nights really that formal? I have dressy clothes and my husband has a suit, and these have worked on other cruises such as HAL. Will hubby need to get a tux and will I need to get true formal clothes? Any advice is appreciated.

P&O usually leave late afternoon but you could try to check on the port schedule for the port that you are leaving from to get the scheduled time.

You can find most information about P&O cruises in the help and advice section on the P&O web site - https://ask.pocruises.com/help/PO/life-on-board.

Evening dress codes information from this area is :

Evening Casual

Stylish resort or leisurewear is ideal for Evening Casual nights, for example casual separates or dresses for ladies and open-neck polo shirts and casual trousers (not shorts) for men. A jacket and smart trousers can be worn but are not compulsory. Smart dark denim is also fine, but not trainers, football shirts or tracksuits.

For a typical two week cruise there are normally ten Evening Casual nights.

Black Tie

Black Tie nights foster a rather special atmosphere on board, adding a touch of glamour and a real sense of occasion to evenings at sea. Seeing an entire ship full of people transformed into their finery is quite something to behold. Ladies wear glamorous evening wear including cocktail dresses, ball gowns or even smart trouser suits. For men, dinner jackets or tuxedos are the norm, but a dark lounge or business suit and tie can be worn as an alternative. You can also wear formal national dress and army uniform.

For a typical two week cruise there are normally four Black Tie evenings on board (Black tie nights tend to be on sea days. For cruises over 7 nights there will be a black and white themed ball and when it is very hot, the number may be reduced).

Enjoy your cruise.

I haven't been on Adonia but it is known as the most traditional ship in the P&O fleet so formal nights will be adhered to by most people onboard. My husband doesn't feel out of place in a "normal" suit with dress shirt and bow tie.

The ships normally leave Southampton 4-5pm ish.

your dressy clothes and husbands suit will be fine. a lot of people will be in tux but there will be suits worn too.

you might find the ship a bit 'british' though! I've found RCI,HAL.NCL tend to cater for the large mixture of guests that they get on board but P and O have mainly british guests so hope its not too boring for you;)

Try this site:

cruisett.com

If you select your ship and appropriate month from the drop-down menu, it should show you the complete month's schedule including the berthing times at each port. In addition you will be able to see which other ships are in port which gives you an idea of the pressure on taxis/hoho etc.

Unfortunately sometimes ships don't appear. I couldn't find our Azura timings in the Caribbean in Feb but found Aurora on there for our trip later this year. It certainly helps with planning especially for DiY if you have precise timings. I do think P&O should be more upfront with that info.

Good luck with your planning - hope your Adonia schedules are there.

:confused:

It's not showing up anything for Adonia after October 2015 on the cruisett site. So I looked on the P&O site for Dec 15 and 16 and it's I can't find any sailing for Adonia in Dec on there either. Am I missing something or is the ship/date wrong? .

:confused:

It's not showing up anything for Adonia after October 2015 on the cruisett site. So I looked on the P&O site for Dec 15 and 16 and I can't find any sailing for Adonia in Dec on there either. Am I missing something or is the ship/date wrong? .

Just looked again at cruisett - very odd. Aurora schedules through to Jan16, Arcadia to Nov 15, Adonia to Oct 15 - found Britannia through the Caribbean 15/16!

Still the inconsistencies with the appearance (or not) of the ships on this site still doesn't explain why I can't find Adonia on the P&O site at all for Dec. I'm sure someone will have the answer!

The P&O website does show the cruise but as it is fully booked it will not show if you search to book.

http://www.pocruises.com/d525?Search=true

As most passengers will be arriving by air from the UK, the ship will not sail until the evening, probably around 7-8pm, later if flights are late arriving.

Check in times should be advised in your cruise documentation but you should be able to check in from noon onwards.

Brian

If a ship is fully booked you have to put in the cruise reference in order to get it on the screen - eg. D.... We have been on Adonia and you will find that by far the majority of men will be in Dinner Jacket (Tux) with a few in lounge suit. The women tend to be dressed formally, some in long dresses or long skirts and glitzy tops, or floaty trousers and a top. I wore a long black velvet skirt, camisole top and an evening jacket which seemed to fit in fine. Adonia is quite a small ship but we liked her very much and are going on her again in July and then also next March.

You won't find accurate port departure times, only a guide e.g. afternoon, late afternoon, early evening. Things can also change so they are never specific.

Allowing a couple of days to recover is eminently sensible ; you could have a day just chilling and a day to get from London to Southampton.

Never been on Adonia but on other P&O cruises myself and my 18 year old son just wore a jacket and trousers, I wore a bow tie and fluffy shirt, he just wore a shirt and normal tie, no-one has ever batted an eyelid. (I have bought a DJ now ....)

I think as long as you look smart (which you obviously will do) nobody really minds.

If a ship is fully booked you have to put in the cruise reference in order to get it on the screen - eg. D.... We have been on Adonia and you will find that by far the majority of men will be in Dinner Jacket (Tux) with a few in lounge suit. The women tend to be dressed formally, some in long dresses or long skirts and glitzy tops, or floaty trousers and a top. I wore a long black velvet skirt, camisole top and an evening jacket which seemed to fit in fine. Adonia is quite a small ship but we liked her very much and are going on her again in July and then also next March.

 

You won't find accurate port departure times, only a guide e.g. afternoon, late afternoon, early evening. Things can also change so they are never specific.

Thanks for the tip on entering the cruise reference. I'll know how to access that in future.

This link gives arrival and departure times for Adonia's sailings in September - I've picked up ours for Aurora too although P&O choose not to share that information with their customers.

http://ships.cruisett.com/schedule/PO_Cruises/Adonia/September_2015/

I take your point that things can change but in my experience apart from the unexpected, these are the times which you would expect to be in port and did in fact correspond to the exact port timings during our cruise. They do after all have to book the berth so have to give the port authority their arrival and departure times.

The odd thing is why some ships are included on the site, others not and why Adonia figures up to the end of October and no further.

Thank you all. This is very helpful. I had read the dress code. Other lines' codes are pretty much the same, but then when you go to formal night, things end up less formal. We've seen few tuxes and few evening gowns. So I'm glad to get your input, all of you.

The info on port times is very much appreciated. The ship leaves from Barbados and there are only two flights a day from Miami, so we want to make sure there are enough backup flights should something go awry with the first one.