Casual Wear

[lexie1968]

We have recently come back from our first cruise, with Thomsons and thoroughly enjoyed it. We are looking at next year in ths caribbean and like the look of P and O s itinerary on the Azura. However the thing putting us off is the "formal" nights. Are they compulsory? My other half doesnt do suits, and feels more comfortable in a pair of chinos and a smart short sleeved shirt. Can we use the buffet restaurants all week? Sorry if this has been asked before! :)

[sagaris]

Formal wear is only in the MDR, speciality restaurants and I think certain bars. There is nothing to stop you using the buffet on formal nights:)

 

Molly

[annieuk]

It is absolutely right that you can use the buffet every evening if you don't wish to adopt formal or Smart (jacket required) dress on those evenings. One thing I would say is that on the Formal evenings there is an enhanced menu in the Main Dining Rooms (Freedom and Club) and it would be a pity to miss that - things like Beef Wellington and Lobster. However, it is entirely your choice to dine where you wish. You will find that the vast majority of people will be wearing formal dress - on our last P&O cruise over 90% of the men were in Dinner Jackets. If you don't wish to join in that's fine, it's your choice. Just thought I'd tell you as the ambiance on a P&O ship in the evening is different from the more casual atmosphere on some other ships.

[macren]

We have done both companies for cruising and the dress is no different either ds or suit for men ,on P&O just 4 nights instead of 2 on Thomson's and from next year in the Caribbean on P&O just 4 formal and 10 casual ,so on P&O yes can eat in buffet every night if you wish or just on the 4 formal nights if you don't want to get dressed up. Unlike Thomson's though some of the bars can only go in on formal nights in suit's but not all the bars and there are plenty of them so no hardship there really it is Your holiday so everything is provided to do what You want ,bye the way the level of dress is no different on either company enjoy which ever you choose .:)

[the english lady]

We have recently come back from our first cruise, with Thomsons and thoroughly enjoyed it. We are looking at next year in ths caribbean and like the look of P and O s itinerary on the Azura. However the thing putting us off is the "formal" nights. Are they compulsory? My other half doesnt do suits, and feels more comfortable in a pair of chinos and a smart short sleeved shirt. Can we use the buffet restaurants all week? Sorry if this has been asked before! :)

 

Our first cruise was with Thomsons...yes with them there was 1 dress smarter night. Or you could wear the same tshirt and shorts as one of our fellow cruisers did for the whole cruise!!!!

 

P and O like to have a dress code. As has been said , it is only in the MDR and certain bars that it is required.

As long as you don't want to eat in the MDR on those nights, or drink in the certain bars ,then you do not have to dress up.

 

Personally I have so little chance of wearing pretty pretty gladrags, I like the chance to dress up.

Could you get him to take 1 jacket ,so you could eat in the MDR on the jacket reqd nights.

Having eaten in the buffett of an evening , where there is no atmosphere etc, it would be a shame to stick yourselves with just that option.

[lake5298]

If your other half throws a smart jacket on top of chinos and shirt, he will do fine. A dark blazer type jacket will suffice on most occasions.

 

Azura attracts a less "traditional" cruiser than Oriana and Aurora, and the Caribbean also attracts the less formally inclined passenger.

 

Alternatively, why not try Princess cruises - their large ships are almost identical to Azura and their predominantly American passengers are far more relaxed with regard to dress codes

[magpieman]

We went on our first cruise in 2012 and like your husband I "don't do suits" but I thought I would give it a try and bought a cheap tuxedo from Asda and went to the formal nights and I am so glad I did, the food is fantastic and I really enjoyed it, so much so that we have saved up like mad and are booked for our second cruise in September.

 

Tell your hubby to give it a go, he might be surprised, it's shame to pay all that money and miss out on the really good food in the MDR.

[vixxygal]

I'm probably the scruffiest person on the planet.

 

A few years ago the wife nagged me into taking our first cruise and forced me to buy a dinner jacket etc. I was dreading it.

 

I loved every minute of it especially getting dressed up with all the others on board.

 

You never know.

[wilson2579]

My husband was the same when we changed from Thomson to P and O. Persuaded him to but a dinner suit from M and S and he now loves the dressing up.:cool:

[ParCan]

I'm more at home in Bike Leathers day to day.

Jeans Trainers and T's for work. Jumper if it's chilly...

 

I think I had a suite once, it was used for weddings, funerals and the odd job interview. Now way to small as I have 'filled out'

 

The thought of 'Dressing up' filled me with dread, as did Formal Dining of any kind.

 

A (Family enforced) Carnival Cruise showed us a new and totally fabulous way to Holiday. A Shirt and Tie was required on the formal nights. Shirt bought. I even had to get my Collar measured so I got the right size shirt !

Tie - um er - Practiced in the mirror with the help of YouTube !

 

After a really great holiday we were Hooked. Booked 2 weeks on Azura and headed for the Caribbean.

You can imagine my horror when I found out a Tux was required.....

 

Tux, Bowtie, Cufflinks and shoes bought c/o Moss Bross.

 

I'll never forget that first formal evening.

I'd had my hair platted in the Salon / Spar place.

I got all the Clobber on, Daren't look in the mirror, then did and I have to say I felt and looked like a right plonker !

 

Eventually we left the Cabin and everyone looks like a right plonker !

We felt right at home !

 

Before the meal we had some Fab Pictures taken.

 

The rebel in me will never leave, I have Clip on bowties for the meal.

That comes off after we have eaten.

I then have a selection of rather loud Self Tie Bowties that I wear untied for the rest of the evening.

Nowhere does it say that your Bowtie must be tied !

 

Take the Plunge, Matalan sell a Tux at a very low price. There are also plenty of other places who sell them. I think someone said Asda have them.

 

Have a Great Cruise and remember, Everyone looks and feels just the same as you do !

 

We are booked on A502 on Azura and really looking forwards to it.

Alex.

Edited February 2, 2014 by ParCan

[crafty sue]

My husband looked like a penguin in a tux - he is only 5 foot 2 and a peanut - so we went to Asda and bought one of their £25 black jackets - they a really light and don't crease at all - had the sleeves taken up by 4 inches - yes he has short arms as well - he wears Asda black trousers with it - it looks like a suit - and wears a dickie with it and one of his fav flash waistcoats - and he fits right in he also has a bow on elastic and swaps it for one of the untied self tie bows ala rat pack ! - we love it and - the jacket doubles up for smart night jacket required with a coloured shirt

 

Just enjoy the experience - we do and now can't wait for our next cruise !

[lexie1968]

Thankyou for all the lovely replies. Ive shown them to my other half and hes now thinking that maybe he could be persuaded! Result!

[vixxygal]

If you do manage to get him to try on a diner jacket etc when he comes out of the changing rooms make sure your face lights up and you tell him he looks just like 007.

 

No man has any defence against such a compliment.

[jeanlyon]

Have to say my husband looks wonderful in his white DJ.

[lake5298]

If you do manage to get him to try on a diner jacket etc when he comes out of the changing rooms make sure your face lights up and you tell him he looks just like 007.

 

No man has any defence against such a compliment.

 

Tell him to be very careful - Vodka Martini's can be strong!

[Cappers]

I love to see my husband in his DJ, he looks so smart and handsome. I think all men look nice in their evening wear though on formal nights. It's me that has trouble finding something half decent to wear.

[Denarius]

It is reported elsewhere that Azura will dispense with "jacket required" evenings for next winters Caribbean season and just have black tie and casual like Ventura - or indeed like virtually every other ship sailing there. Also, the number of black tie nights may be reduced to three as they were on my recent cruise on Ventura - again the norm in the industry. So that would reduce the number of jacket avoidance nights to 3.

[alvin moondust]

It is personal choice but I think you may feel far more out of place by not wearing a Tux. I rarely dress up in a suit theses days unless its a wedding or funeral and I love the formal nights on board, It really feels like a special occasion. There are of course some people who prefer to wear a suit or smart jacket and thats fine too, although I would say probably 95% of the chaps will be in Black tie and lots of them probably feel self conscious about it too.

 

I shopped everywhere for a decent fitting suit including some expensive designer names, but I eventually found a perfect fit in Matalan!! It was very reasonably priced but looks good and has served me well for two cruises and a few charity dinners, New years eve etc.

 

Take a risk, you may be surprised how much you enjoy it LOL

[davecttr]

If I do formal I wear a a navy blue suit with coloured shirts. It looks a lot better than all those penguin suits!

 

ps I have a tux as well

[1160451]

Unusual for a dress code post not to start a heated debate on the subject...:-)

Some really sensible posts and with good advice.

We have just come off the Azura and on Formal nights I hardly saw anybody not adhering to the code.

We did dine in the MDR and also stayed in the bars and lounges that required formal dress, but walking around the ship it was unusual to see anybody casual.

When we cruise have cruised with Thomson I always wear my Tux on the formal night and do not feel out of place.

Sorry if it's true that Azure next year are going to only two codes, casual and formal.

Looks like only Fred Olsen are sticking with three codes.

Happy cruising.

[macren]

It is reported elsewhere that Azura will dispense with "jacket required" evenings for next winters Caribbean season and just have black tie and casual like Ventura - or indeed like virtually every other ship sailing there. Also, the number of black tie nights may be reduced to three as they were on my recent cruise on Ventura - again the norm in the industry. So that would reduce the number of jacket avoidance nights to 3.

 

The formal nights are 4 next year .

[daiB]

Unusual for a dress code post not to start a heated debate on the subject...:-)

 

Some really sensible posts and with good advice.

 

We have just come off the Azura and on Formal nights I hardly saw anybody not adhering to the code.

 

We did dine in the MDR and also stayed in the bars and lounges that required formal dress, but walking around the ship it was unusual to see anybody casual.

 

When we cruise have cruised with Thomson I always wear my Tux on the formal night and do not feel out of place.

 

Sorry if it's true that Azure next year are going to only two codes, casual and formal.

 

Looks like only Fred Olsen are sticking with three codes.

 

Happy cruising.

 

 

That's not true at all. Azura is loosing the jacket on Caribbean fly cruise, and that is it. Some people, no names, want desperately for P&O to go more casual. It is not going to happen.

 

At the moment Ventura and Oceana, for some of the time have only 2 codes. It could change in the future, for example what is Ventura going to do in the winter of 2015. She will not be in the Caribbean, they will not have 3 ships there. If she goes ex Southampton in the winter I can see the third dress code coming back.

 

 

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[Denarius]

The formal nights are 4 next year .

 

That is what it said for my recent cruise N402, both in my embarkation documents and on cruise personaliser. But in the event we had 3, one on each of our sea days apart from the final one, which was also our last night. All the port days were casual - as they should be!

[Denarius]

Unusual for a dress code post not to start a heated debate on the subject...:-)

Some really sensible posts and with good advice.

We have just come off the Azura and on Formal nights I hardly saw anybody not adhering to the code.

We did dine in the MDR and also stayed in the bars and lounges that required formal dress, but walking around the ship it was unusual to see anybody casual.

When we cruise have cruised with Thomson I always wear my Tux on the formal night and do not feel out of place.

Sorry if it's true that Azure next year are going to only two codes, casual and formal.

Looks like only Fred Olsen are sticking with three codes.

Happy cruising.

 

I think Saga do as well, unless they have changed recently. But every other line seems to have 2 max including such former bastions of formality like Cunard and Holland America. Having said that, some lines version of casual is more formal than others - I believe that Cunards approximates to P&Os jacket required!

[Denarius]

That's not true at all. Azura is loosing the jacket on Caribbean fly cruise, and that is it. Some people, no names, want desperately for P&O to go more casual. It is not going to happen.

 

At the moment Ventura and Oceana, for some of the time have only 2 codes. It could change in the future, for example what is Ventura going to do in the winter of 2015. She will not be in the Caribbean, they will not have 3 ships there. If she goes ex Southampton in the winter I can see the third dress code coming back.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

 

Time will tell, but whilst P&O are never in the vanguard of change and tend to follow the pack at a safe distance, change they usually do - eventually. The telling thing will be which dress codes they apply on Britannia, an aspect on which P&O have so far been silent. If they apply 3 codes, I would concede that P&O are comfortable with staying out of the mainstream on this issue for now. If however, she has only 2 dress codes the writing is on the wall for jacket required.

PS Britannia's livery may provide a clue here, having a great resemblance to Aida and NCL and (dare I say it) Ocean Village.