Booked P&O

[Len Baker]

Ooh, that's the one we're going on.

 

Is the dress code extremely strict?

 

It obviously exists and bars specify what the dress code is. To be honest Len had less trouble interpreting it than Mrs Len. Don't be thrown by what you may read in "Your holiday information" booklet sent by P&O with your luggage labels in. Ours quoted that the dress code was for the entire ship after 6 p.m. This was not the case as others have said you can dine informally in the Conservatory & enter some venues. The folks on the P&O forum were most helpful.

 

A few people were asked to leave & bring a jacket. I worked out beforehand what I would wear or our 6 casual, 4 formal & 4 semi-formal nights. Loving a spreadsheet I decided what shirts to take (saddo). Basically I used my DJ for formal, £25 Tesco black suit for semi formal & a brand new $12 pair of black jeans from Matalan for informal plus other clothes to effect full body coverage. (If I had no DJ I'd use black suit for formal, sports jacket & slacks for semi & jeans for casual).

 

Mrs Len scoured charity shops in Salop but was unable to find ball gowns! She took some tidy looking dresses & a trouser suit (it helps i one is black). It does not specify ladies can wear jeans which is ridiculous as she wanted to treat herself to a £100 pair (phew saved some cash there).

 

Having got a bit concerned about the dress code, & if a fellow passenger confronted Mrs Len, we actually had a laugh about it by looking at fellow cruisers interpretation. Some ladies wore garments suitable for the time of The British Raj, not bad as many of the staff were Indian. One chap snuck into the theatre with a DJ but it was a reefer jacket. I thought I had 500 I Spy Donkey Jacket points. Some ball gowns (not many on show) were too posh for charity shops. It was the men who created the most interest. Some managed to smuggle flares on board. Tweed jackets were in abundance. A cracking quote on the P&O forum was that not so many Tweed jackets were seen since a Tramps Convention. You can tell the age of men's DJs by looking at the trouser side stripe (if you see what I mean). One lad sported a side stripe of about 1 inch thick, right from Wheel Tappers and Shunters. Red Chinos are the in thing for the ageing young lads but one or two were left wishing they'd gone for cotton rather than thermal lined moleskin.

 

My advice would be to have a idea of what to take & what to buy if needed. We bought a couple of items but did not spend a fortune. We had no problems from fellow passengers as everyone seemed to want to enjoy their holiday. Loved The Oriana, P&O's oldest ship. Medium sized & in traditional style.

 

Hope this helps

Mr & Mrs Len:):):)

[kruzseeka]

I would agree completely with Len's very comprehensive rundown on the dress code. I was a bit bothered before our first trip with them too.

 

DH took his DJ for formals (nice and easy no difficult decisions there!) but took a linen jacket with shirt/ties for semiformal and short sleeved button through shirts and chino style trousers for smart casual.

 

(Funny story - Oddly on Cunard for semi formal if gents arrived at the MDR with a nice shirt and tie the head waiter brought a jacket to hang on the back of their chairs to 'conform' with the dress code - jacket to be handed back to him at the end of the meal!. How stupid was that? Even more odd was that you didn't have to wear a tie! So a jacket and open neck shirt was deemed smarter than long sleeve shirt and tie! Daft!)

 

I digress..... also it may differ from cruise to cruise - our last one to the Caribbean was four formal and all the rest smart casual. They'd dropped the intermediate semi formal. Think that was to do with the itinerary or fly/cruise luggage allowance aspect but it may reflect changing attitudes.

 

As for the ladies, yes there were a few who looked a bit prom dressish/ball gown style but a very, very small minority. Most had long dresses, skirts, shorter dressy dresses, smart trousers with pretty tops, maxi dresses - even Caribbean style long almost beach style dresses. Anything appeared to be acceptable as long as it was a nod to having dressed up a bit. I take a couple of long dresses, a long skirt with sparkly top and some smart black trousers I can team with 2/3 different tops then smart crops and pretty tops. In fact exactly what I take on Thomson!

 

So really no need to stress - although I know I did before I'd seen how it all worked out.

[Jakanne1]

I really like formal nights and the excuse to dress up. :). DH does not. :(. On our last cruise and stay with Thomson he argued that to take his DJ suit and all the accessories was a waste of suitcase space as he would not need his DJ in the hotel. I relented and he was allowed to wear dark trousers, dress shirt and bow tie. I didn't notice until he was dressed for formal night that he had brown summer shoes on but that is another story!

 

This summer he chose our annual cruise....Fred Olsen to the Baltics. Days after booking he found that there are 3 formal nights. He was not happy. He no longer had the excuse that he would only need a DJ for one night out of fourteen. :D. And being ex-uk he cannot use the weight excuse either.

 

However, what does one do about shirts? Buy another 2 dress shirts or have his one and only (quite nice one) laundered? Oh, and I do like those quirky coloured bow ties. Are they acceptable? Black is very boring. Should probably ask this on the Fred site. :rolleyes:

[gillhalfpint]

My Ray wears a green bow tie with a normal white shirt. He took one long sleeved one and one short sleeved one for the 2 Thomson's formal nights and passed muster. I don't think he would fancy 3 formal nights. No suit and no suitable jacket and says he won't buy one for the little he would wear it.

 

We are looking at a P and O for May to Norway, and feeling a little worried if we are doing the right thing despite the excellent price. Saga have a Fred Olsen but it is nearly £400 more for the same length trip. Decisions getting hard.

[Julessmiles]

I really like formal nights and the excuse to dress up. :). DH does not. :(. On our last cruise and stay with Thomson he argued that to take his DJ suit and all the accessories was a waste of suitcase space as he would not need his DJ in the hotel. I relented and he was allowed to wear dark trousers, dress shirt and bow tie. I didn't notice until he was dressed for formal night that he had brown summer shoes on but that is another story!

 

This summer he chose our annual cruise....Fred Olsen to the Baltics. Days after booking he found that there are 3 formal nights. He was not happy. He no longer had the excuse that he would only need a DJ for one night out of fourteen. :D. And being ex-uk he cannot use the weight excuse either.

 

However, what does one do about shirts? Buy another 2 dress shirts or have his one and only (quite nice one) laundered? Oh, and I do like those quirky coloured bow ties. Are they acceptable? Black is very boring. Should probably ask this on the Fred site. :rolleyes:

 

We get the dress shirts laundered & have an assortment of bow tie colours & patterns for my 'boys'. By the way, you can eat in the buffet on FO if you don't want to do formal. There was no formal night on our mini Christmas cruise but I reckon at least 50% wore formal on the 2nd night if not more & everyone looked lovely :)

[stevedeccaman]

I would agree completely with Len's very comprehensive rundown on the dress code. I was a bit bothered before our first trip with them too.

 

DH took his DJ for formals (nice and easy no difficult decisions there!) but took a linen jacket with shirt/ties for semiformal and short sleeved button through shirts and chino style trousers for smart casual.

 

(Funny story - Oddly on Cunard for semi formal if gents arrived at the MDR with a nice shirt and tie the head waiter brought a jacket to hang on the back of their chairs to 'conform' with the dress code - jacket to be handed back to him at the end of the meal!. How stupid was that? Even more odd was that you didn't have to wear a tie! So a jacket and open neck shirt was deemed smarter than long sleeve shirt and tie! Daft!)

 

I digress..... also it may differ from cruise to cruise - our last one to the Caribbean was four formal and all the rest smart casual. They'd dropped the intermediate semi formal. Think that was to do with the itinerary or fly/cruise luggage allowance aspect but it may reflect changing attitudes.

 

As for the ladies, yes there were a few who looked a bit prom dressish/ball gown style but a very, very small minority. Most had long dresses, skirts, shorter dressy dresses, smart trousers with pretty tops, maxi dresses - even Caribbean style long almost beach style dresses. Anything appeared to be acceptable as long as it was a nod to having dressed up a bit. I take a couple of long dresses, a long skirt with sparkly top and some smart black trousers I can team with 2/3 different tops then smart crops and pretty tops. In fact exactly what I take on Thomson!

 

So really no need to stress - although I know I did before I'd seen how it all worked out.

 

Good grief :eek: Kruzee has used a different font on this post, :Dwhat will become of us, all this mean we are all having now to go onto ...facebook

help me I am drowning in social media sites, except this is the best forum

Stevie

[Jakanne1]

We get the dress shirts laundered & have an assortment of bow tie colours & patterns for my 'boys'. By the way, you can eat in the buffet on FO if you don't want to do formal. There was no formal night on our mini Christmas cruise but I reckon at least 50% wore formal on the 2nd night if not more & everyone looked lovely :)

 

DH much prefers MDR ....has never liked buffet on Thomson Majesty or Dream. Will get the dress shirt laundered and look out for funky bow ties. :D

[CRUISIN LINDA]

DH much prefers MDR ....has never liked buffet on Thomson Majesty or Dream. Will get the dress shirt laundered and look out for funky bow ties. :D

Have said this before (many times :(:D) The buffet on Fred is much nicer. Laid out with tablecloths and flowers and they show you to your table and will carry your soup and coffee for you :)

[happy v]

Thank you Len and Kruzseeka. I am more relaxed now.

I was worrying all the ladies would be too dressed up and all wearing long dresses.

However it seems fine, and I have now ordered six new 'posher' frocks. I won't keep them all but any excuse for new clothes. ;):D:D

Edited February 11, 2015 by happy v

[kruzseeka]

Good grief :eek: Kruzee has used a different font on this post, :Dwhat will become of us, all this mean we are all having now to go onto ...facebook

help me I am drowning in social media sites, except this is the best forum

Stevie

 

 

Fear not Stevie - no underlying hidden message associated with the font. It was sent from the Nexus - which has a mind of it's own!!! Changed the keyboard of it's own volition (or did I do something to it??? :confused:). Didn't look anything like it appears here when I posted! :eek:

[CRUISIN LINDA]

Fear not Stevie - no underlying hidden message associated with the font. It was sent from the Nexus - which has a mind of it's own!!! Changed the keyboard of it's own volition (or did I do something to it??? :confused:). Didn't look anything like it appears here when I posted! :eek:

I have a Nexus Kruzseeka. Some time last year it told me to 'update' it which I did. Now the key that you swipe to unlock it is really small, can hardly see it :rolleyes:

[Jakanne1]

Have said this before (many times :(:D) The buffet on Fred is much nicer. Laid out with tablecloths and flowers and they show you to your table and will carry your soup and coffee for you :)

 

Will have to try it out, then Linda. :)

[happy v]

Jak just noticed that you have booked your girlie holiday, great!:D:D:D

[CRUISIN LINDA]

Jak just noticed that you have booked your girlie holiday, great!:D:D:D

and I have just noticed that Jackie has updated her countdown clocks :)

[Jakanne1]

Jak just noticed that you have booked your girlie holiday, great!:D:D:D

 

Yes, thanks Vera. Had to book a deluxe cabin for the 3 of us but we are going from Newcastle airport. Maybe try a Southampton one next year. :)

[Jakanne1]

and I have just noticed that Jackie has updated her countdown clocks :)

 

Lol. I found the instructions you gave me. Bet it was Jacko who noticed it first. :D

[happy v]

Yes, thanks Vera. Had to book a deluxe cabin for the 3 of us but we are going from Newcastle airport. Maybe try a Southampton one next year. :)

 

It's definitely all to do with itinerary. ;)

 

I usually drip feed the negatives to husband over a few weeks, but on this one nothing is a problem. He sees a positive in everything..........so odd.;):D:D

Edited February 12, 2015 by happy v

[Jakanne1]

It's definitely all to do with itinerary. ;)

 

I usually drip feed the negatives to husband over a few weeks, but on this one nothing is a problem. He sees a positive in everything..........so odd.;):D:D

 

And I will be looking forward to hearing all about it. Actually, I don't even drip feed the negatives, I just wait until he finds out himself. :rolleyes::D

[Little Nell]

It's definitely all to do with itinerary. ;)

 

I usually drip feed the negatives to husband over a few weeks, but on this one nothing is a problem. He sees a positive in everything..........so odd.;):D:D

 

Haha. I do too, happy.

 

Then things are never as bad as he expects. Forewarned is forearmed ;)