New to P&O - should we try?

[themanwithahat]

 

Why oh why do P&O think that the whole British public is obsessed with Come Dancing, soccer, soaps and now baking?

I absolutely hate all three. Talk about stereo typing. :mad:

 

Quite frankly they are starting to make me thik that perhaps my next cruise will be with another company. Incidentally in the past we have met a very nice family from the U.S. and another from Canada on P&O ships but other than the odd individual from other countries the vast majority of passengers were from the U.K.

 

?? Ballroom dancing has been on cruises since the dawn of time (the Strictly Cruises are specifically marked). Some football matches are on in a bar, nobody watches Soaps at all. I think Britannia has a cookery school (?not sure) but it's hardly obssessed with baking.

[dbsb3233]

This is all interesting reading. We are considering a P&O cruise only because of the itinerary. We're looking at a Baltic cruise, but we want to include London, Oslo, and St Petersburg in the itinerary. P&O seems to be the only (affordable) cruise line that has such an itinerary.

 

But we don't like "formal". We're not slobs, but when we're on a trip for 2-3 weeks, we don't want to pack any more clothes than absolutely necessary (like dress shoes and jacket that only get used a few hours out of the whole trip). 50 lbs fills up a suitcase fast when packing all the other stuff we want to bring (and to leave room to bring souvenirs back home). And we really don't have interest in renting clothes onboard. We're more jeans or long canvas pants + polo shirt or t-shirt people.

 

On a 14-night cruise, now many "jacket required" nights are there in the main dining room? We don't mind doing 1 or 2 dinners in the buffet if we have to but we sure don't want to miss out on half of the MDR dinners.

 

I get the feeling that dress shirt and tie (like we usually get by with on format nights on RCCL, Princess, Celebrity, NCL) may not be sufficient on P&O.

[newbieafloat]

This is all interesting reading. We are considering a P&O cruise only because of the itinerary. We're looking at a Baltic cruise, but we want to include London, Oslo, and St Petersburg in the itinerary. P&O seems to be the only (affordable) cruise line that has such an itinerary.

 

But we don't like "formal". We're not slobs, but when we're on a trip for 2-3 weeks, we don't want to pack any more clothes than absolutely necessary (like dress shoes and jacket that only get used a few hours out of the whole trip). 50 lbs fills up a suitcase fast when packing all the other stuff we want to bring (and to leave room to bring souvenirs back home). And we really don't have interest in renting clothes onboard. We're more jeans or long canvas pants + polo shirt or t-shirt people.

 

On a 14-night cruise, now many "jacket required" nights are there in the main dining room? We don't mind doing 1 or 2 dinners in the buffet if we have to but we sure don't want to miss out on half of the MDR dinners.

 

I get the feeling that dress shirt and tie (like we usually get by with on format nights on RCCL, Princess, Celebrity, NCL) may not be sufficient on P&O.

 

I'm soon to be embarking on my first cruise, which happens to be a 14 night Mediterranean itinerary. There's four formal nights where dinner jacket/suit are required. I have the luxury of not flying so wouldn't have your restrictions on luggage. I believe that there are more areas than just the buffets that don't require you to be in your finest, and it might be worth checking what casual dining options are open to you depending on which ship you would be taking.

 

It's also probably worth mentioning that on casual nights, DARK jeans are permitted, as is an open collared shirt or polo shirt. You might have issues turning up in blue jeans and tee shirt even on the relaxed evening. Lunchtimes etc shouldn't be a problem. I hope you can find a solution that works for you.

 

Personally, I think it might be worth formal wear considering it's four evenings out of fourteen, rather than just a few hours, so you will get some mileage out of the extra packing rather than it just being dead weight. I actually bought myself a suit for the occasion as I didn't really have anything suitable already, but I think I'll get my money's worth out of it. I do agree on the shoes though, unless you can find some shoes that would be suitable for every night (I don't think trainers are appreciated in the main dining areas either). It's something I'm having to consider as my smart shoes are comfortable enough for one night, but not 14 nights on the trot

[dbsb3233]

I'm soon to be embarking on my first cruise, which happens to be a 14 night Mediterranean itinerary. There's four formal nights where dinner jacket/suit are required. I have the luxury of not flying so wouldn't have your restrictions on luggage. I believe that there are more areas than just the buffets that don't require you to be in your finest, and it might be worth checking what casual dining options are open to you depending on which ship you would be taking.

 

It's also probably worth mentioning that on casual nights, DARK jeans are permitted, as is an open collared shirt or polo shirt. You might have issues turning up in blue jeans and tee shirt even on the relaxed evening. Lunchtimes etc shouldn't be a problem. I hope you can find a solution that works for you.

 

Personally, I think it might be worth formal wear considering it's four evenings out of fourteen, rather than just a few hours, so you will get some mileage out of the extra packing rather than it just being dead weight. I actually bought myself a suit for the occasion as I didn't really have anything suitable already, but I think I'll get my money's worth out of it. I do agree on the shoes though, unless you can find some shoes that would be suitable for every night (I don't think trainers are appreciated in the main dining areas either). It's something I'm having to consider as my smart shoes are comfortable enough for one night, but not 14 nights on the trot

Thanks for the insights. We've done 13 cruises and the "formal wear" issue is often a tricky one. For a week-long cruise it's no big deal (we have enough luggage space), but when it's 10+ days it becomes more of an issue. We did our longest trip yet last year (13-night Asia cruise + 3 land nights on the ends). We limit ourselves to one large spinner suitcase and one carry-on duffel (we like to stay mobile). Shoes and a jacket add 3-4 pounds, which may not seem like much but it all adds up.

 

I know for many people, the tradition of dressing up and participating in fancy events is a big part of cruising. And that's great for them. For our tastes, the cruise itself is really just a means to and end. For us it's all about the destinations, and the convenience. Cruising allows us to sample many destinations and many countries (8 hours at a time), without messing with checking in and out of hotels every night, shlepping our bags on/off buses, finding places to eat every meal, etc. The formal nights are just more of an inconvenience to us than a plus. But I respect those that do enjoy it as a positive.

 

I did some checking on P&O's website and it sounds like they strongly encourage a jacket even on "Smart" dress evenings (depending on the ship). So it looks like it's prudent just to factor that requirement in if we decide to take that cruise. Or hope that another line comes up with an itinerary that's just as good.

 

Enjoy your Mediterranian cruise. That's one of the best we've done, so I'm sure you'll love it!

Edited March 16, 2015 by dbsb3233

[themanwithahat]

First three cruises I just wore my normal dark jacket and everyday shoes - though I did have a proper shirt and a bow tie. Full dress isn't mandatory as long as you are smart.

 

Aside from the buffet, you could also try the speciality restaurant(s) on some or all of the formal days.

 

These have the same dress code as the normal MDR (I think). If you want to wear t-shirt and jeans , the buffet is your only option (or room service ?)

[davecttr]

Dining and which restaurant to use etc etc are inconsistent across the P&O fleet so you need to know which ship you are cruising on to nail it down. Basically P&O have two groups of ships. Adonia, Aurora, Arcadia and Oriana are more formal with Formal, Jacket required and Evening casual codes. Azura, Ventura, Oceana and Britannia don't have the jacket required evenings.

[indiana123]

I agree with the Hat Man. I am sure a lot of the 'dinner suits' were dark suits but dressed up with dress shirt and bow tie. I wouldn't have noticed. My other half's was and he look stunning.

 

Re buffets... best to check as on Adonia it wasn't open every night.

[Sea Green]

This is all interesting reading. We are considering a P&O cruise only because of the itinerary. We're looking at a Baltic cruise, but we want to include London, Oslo, and St Petersburg in the itinerary. P&O seems to be the only (affordable) cruise line that has such an itinerary.

 

But we don't like "formal". We're not slobs, but when we're on a trip for 2-3 weeks, we don't want to pack any more clothes than absolutely necessary (like dress shoes and jacket that only get used a few hours out of the whole trip). 50 lbs fills up a suitcase fast when packing all the other stuff we want to bring (and to leave room to bring souvenirs back home). And we really don't have interest in renting clothes onboard. We're more jeans or long canvas pants + polo shirt or t-shirt people.

 

On a 14-night cruise, now many "jacket required" nights are there in the main dining room? We don't mind doing 1 or 2 dinners in the buffet if we have to but we sure don't want to miss out on half of the MDR dinners.

 

I get the feeling that dress shirt and tie (like we usually get by with on format nights on RCCL, Princess, Celebrity, NCL) may not be sufficient on P&O.

 

You can probably expect a lot of jacket required nights on a Baltics cruise - it can vary, but roughly 4 Black Tie, 4 Smart / Jacket required and 6 Evening Casual; however;

 

1) On the Smart evenings ties are not required and you can take the jacket off as soon as you sit down which should make you feel less restricted.

 

2) On the Black Tie evenings a tuxedo is not compulsory, a dark lounge suit and tie is fine.

 

https://ask.pocruises.com/help/PO/life-on-board/dress_code

 

So technically one suit with a mix of casual / formal shirts could see you through, especially if you want to try the buffet on some nights.

 

I was interested though to see you put London as one of your ports. To my knowledge P&O do not sail from or call at London - if you mean their home port of "Southampton-London" this is about 2 hours outside the capital. So unless you have a pre cruise stay, you wont get to see it.

 

If you do have time and really want to save on flight baggage you can pick up a suit very cheaply at a British high street store such as Matalan

[wen_c82]

Weve sailed P&O 5 times and Celebrity 3 times. If prices and itiniaries were equal we would choose Celebrity every time. Obviously its subjective but we think the food is better, the service is way better and we like the mix of nationalities and age groups.

 

Our experience on P&O is that the age group is higher and as has been said its pretty much wholly British in terms of clientelle, food and entertainment.

 

However we like big ships and are on Britannia in a couple of weeks as we are taking our 80 year old Mums and know the 'Britishness' will suit them. Beware the reviews from the maiden season. We went on P&O Azura on its maiden season and we couldnt believe some reviewers had been on the same ship with their moans. The main criticism at that time was ' its too big' and yet it had been advertised as one on P&Os biggest ships! It takes a while for a ship to find its market and many will be trying her out in her first year that ultimately wouldnt normally choose such a big ship.

 

The only other nationality Ive met on P&O is Aussie. As an American you will be in a very very small minority if not the only ones onboard.

 

Im not sure if you know but Britannia is structurally identical to Royal Princess and differs in terms of decor and interior design.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

I would like to hear your impressions of Britannia upon return. We have not been on Royal nor Regal Princess yet but have read many reviews. If we book Britannia it would also be the largest ship for us.

 

themanwithahat - thanks for the link, will have a look activities on board.

[dbsb3233]

You can probably expect a lot of jacket required nights on a Baltics cruise - it can vary, but roughly 4 Black Tie, 4 Smart / Jacket required and 6 Evening Casual; however;

 

1) On the Smart evenings ties are not required and you can take the jacket off as soon as you sit down which should make you feel less restricted.

 

2) On the Black Tie evenings a tuxedo is not compulsory, a dark lounge suit and tie is fine.

 

https://ask.pocruises.com/help/PO/life-on-board/dress_code

 

So technically one suit with a mix of casual / formal shirts could see you through, especially if you want to try the buffet on some nights.

 

I was interested though to see you put London as one of your ports. To my knowledge P&O do not sail from or call at London - if you mean their home port of "Southampton-London" this is about 2 hours outside the capital. So unless you have a pre cruise stay, you wont get to see it.

 

If you do have time and really want to save on flight baggage you can pick up a suit very cheaply at a British high street store such as Matalan

Southampton is the start/end point of the cruise I was looking at, so yes, it would have been a pre-cruise thing. We'd have flown in 2-3 days early and seen some of London on our own before the cruise.

 

After doing some more searching, I found a Celebrity cruise in 2016 that will probably be a better fit for us. It departs out of Amsterdam instead, which blows our London plans. But we really want to see more of the UK than just London anyway (plus Normandy). So I think we'll just look to make that a separate trip sometime in the future.

 

Thanks for all the info!

[Shogun]

Hi When looking at UK cruises try and get one that does Orkney and Guernsey

[dbsb3233]

Hi When looking at UK cruises try and get one that does Orkney and Guernsey

Thanks, I'll check it out. I think for a UK trip we may just be looking to do a land tour rather than a cruise, although we haven't fully explored those options yet.

[Shogun]

Hi

 

If you visit or cruise in August make sure you visit the Edinburgh Tattoo

 

you will find loads of reviews from folks saying highlight of their trip.

 

yours Shogun

[Denarius]

+1. You thoughts seem to be very similar to mine Shogun.

 

Why oh why do P&O think that the whole British public is obsessed with Come Dancing, soccer, soaps and now baking?

I absolutely hate all three. Talk about stereo typing. :mad:

 

Quite frankly they are starting to make me thik that perhaps my next cruise will be with another company. Incidentally in the past we have met a very nice family from the U.S. and another from Canada on P&O ships but other than the odd individual from other countries the vast majority of passengers were from the U.K.

 

I agree entirely. Although I cad enjoy ballet, I would rather watch paint dry than watch people doing ballroom dancing. And "food heroes", whatever they are, leave me cold.

[newbieafloat]

Southampton is the start/end point of the cruise I was looking at, so yes, it would have been a pre-cruise thing. We'd have flown in 2-3 days early and seen some of London on our own before the cruise.

 

After doing some more searching, I found a Celebrity cruise in 2016 that will probably be a better fit for us. It departs out of Amsterdam instead, which blows our London plans. But we really want to see more of the UK than just London anyway (plus Normandy). So I think we'll just look to make that a separate trip sometime in the future.

 

Thanks for all the info!

 

Glad to hear you found something that works for you :) As a Brit I specifically wanted a UK start/finish port to make luggage easier, so I can understand your concerns