Strictly Cruise

Since we booked on Ventura cruise N914 starting on 2nd. June 2019 P&O have changed it from an ordinary cruise to a Strictly Come Dancing themed one. As non dancers we are wondering how much of a difference this will make. Should we stay on this cruise or change to another, and if the latter will P&O charge us, particularly as it is them that have changed the nature of the trip? Have any of you been on a Strictly cruise, and if so what was it like and how was it different?

My last cruise was a Strictly themed cruise however I am a former dancer and a big fan of the show so I thoroughly enjoyed it. As for differences I wouldn't think it would ruin the cruise for you. The atrium of the ship had the costumes scattered around for everyone to look at, there were a couple of audiences with the stars of Strictly in the main theatre and one of the shows was dedicated to a showcase with two of the couples. As for the rest of the entertainment it was much the same; regular comedians, a few headliners shows and a couple of tribute bands etc. I don't think the Strictly theme was rammed down anyone's throat and obviously you wouldn't have to attend the shows/audiences/talks if you didn't want to--there was plenty to do otherwise.

Hope this helps!

I did a Strictly cruise on Azura last year and loved the Strictly element of it as I am a fan

However if I was not a fan I don’t think I would gave enjoyed it so much. As far as I can remember the theatre had 6 evenings out of the 14 used for strictly events - so if you didn’t like that you might feel peeved at missing out on the theatre

I have done 4 strictly cruises just because they were on the ship I wanted at the time I could sail not because of the dancing although I like it and the Strictly TV show. However I did feel it altered the cruise quite a lot. Costumes were dotted about to look at but that had minimal impact. What did have impact however was that on all of these it was apparent that a large number of cruisers were sailing because of the dancing. They were often on board to take part in the passenger competition and lots of conversations were about the dancing first, cruising etc second. There was a great deal of emphasis on the dancing in many ways and it took over the large venues for lessons and shows. If you go with that in mind and are OK with it then you will be fine but I certainly feels it does change the cruise a lot.

We been on 3 Strictly cruises, the last one was in April this year on Azura. As others have said there were costumes dotted around the Atrium which had little or no impact on the cruise. We thoroughly enjoyed everything on the first 2 cruises but felt let down on the last one by the non-Strictly entertainment. On the last cruise the main theatre was used on 4 nights for shows by the Strictly dancers and 1 other night for a talk show with Craig Revel Horwood. The entertainment in other venues in these nights was poor for the 3 nights when the Strictly shows were repeated and when Craig Revel Horwood did his show.

Even if you are not a dancer or Strictly fan you would probably find the Strictly shows worth seeing because they are very good. On the repeat nights you will be fine if you like quizzes and you may be lucky and have better entertainment in the other venues than we had.

In answer to my own OP, I have been informed by P&O that if I want to change my cruise, even though they have made it a Strictly themed one after I booked, then I'll have to pay the £100 fee to do so. So, P&O can, anytime after you book, change the nature of the cruise. This on top of altering things like alcohol policy and increasing charges like daily gratuities after booking. I really don't see how they can get away with it.