Another dress code question

[Bazrat]

2 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

Maybe because this is a discussion forum?  😉

True it is a discussion but people should not try to make out there statements as being the truth when they cannot back them up with the evidence.

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, Harry Peterson said:

Nicely put.  And the point you make about Cunard's a good one.  Like you, I'm sure P&O's formal days are seriously numbered because of the number of potential customers it puts off. As you say, if you want formal you can always go Cunard, and Carnival doesn't really need two companies doing that, although to be fair Cunard hasn't gone down the Butlins route.

 

Not a view that's going to go down well with some of the die-hards here, though even that's changing! 

Princess, also a Carnival brand, still do formal nights and Royal Caribbean also, so clearly it's a long way from being dead. As for this putting off new customers, if and when P&O see this happening I am sure they will consider changing their policy, but I see no sign of this anytime in the next few decades, and any change is extremely unlikely to be so significant as to put off the many thousands of current customers who enjoy it.

Incidentally on our last cruise we skipped the last formal night for the buffet, which was Indian night and thoroughly enjoyed it.

[AndyMichelle]

4 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Princess, also a Carnival brand, still do formal nights and Royal Caribbean also, so clearly it's a long way from being dead. As for this putting off new customers, if and when P&O see this happening I am sure they will consider changing their policy, but I see no sign of this anytime in the next few decades, and any change is extremely unlikely to be so significant as to put off the many thousands of current customers who enjoy it.

Incidentally on our last cruise we skipped the last formal night for the buffet, which was Indian night and thoroughly enjoyed it.

That's the spirit John.

We are big fans of the occasional formal night but don't feel obliged to attend them all, we will find an alternative, which currently foc is the buffet or pay a couple of quid for the Beach House or room service.

'Banished to the buffet' is often quoted, but many choose this as their preferred dining option anyway.

I do get Doccos point that a non formal area with table service could be introduced, but it is not available, so we make the choice based on what our current options are.

Andy

[Harry Peterson]

3 minutes ago, Balaena said:

It just didn't work. Folk enjoy cruising but most enjoy the aspect of dressing up on a few occasions during their cruise. OV didn't provide these formal occasions with consequence that it didn't attract enough of those that prefer casual attire therefore it basically went bust and the ship deployed into another arena. I was surprised as the fares were really cheap but even then there was not enough uptake from the chosen audience.

Maybe the target audience just doesn’t want to cruise. Must admit, most of our friends look down on it as mainly for geriatrics and can’t understand why anyone would do it!

[wowzz]

1 hour ago, Bazrat said:

True it is a discussion but people should not try to make out there statements as being the truth when they cannot back them up with the evidence.

 Exactly, otherwise I could just as easily say that if formal dress was abandoned, P&O would lose more customers than it would gain. This is a discussion about opinions - no one has any actual hard facts to back up either side of the argument. 

[Harry Peterson]

1 hour ago, Bazrat said:

True it is a discussion but people should not try to make out there statements as being the truth when they cannot back them up with the evidence.

Nobody has. It’s been made crystal clear throughout that we’re talking opinions, not facts. Even P&O don’t have facts, because you can never know for certain how many customers haven’t booked with you, or why they didn’t.

 

You need to grasp the difference between facts and opinions, and the role played by evidence.

[Balaena]

Well, off on my cruise now, taxi shortly to take us down to Ocean Terminal, priority boarding so should be on by 12.15. And, wait for it .. drum roll ....... 4 formal nights, how Terrific.

 

[P-L-B]

48 minutes ago, Balaena said:

Well, off on my cruise now, taxi shortly to take us down to Ocean Terminal, priority boarding so should be on by 12.15. And, wait for it .. drum roll ....... 4 formal nights, how Terrific.

 

Have a fantastic cruise and enjoy your formal nights.😀

Edited June 2, 2019 by P-L-B

[Cathygh]

9 hours ago, peteukmcr said:

However, when things change, and they will, I would like to suggest that those who say if people don’t like the dress code on P&O that they should sail on another line, that you may have to consider another line to satisfy your desire for formal attire evenings. Perhaps another one of the Carnival brands that P&O is part of, so Cunard?

 

Mmm, don't hold your breath about Cunard. On our forthcoming 10 nighter there are 2 formal nights, one is traditional, the other is 1920s theme, so I don't think I'll need 2 long dresses. Also on the website there are pictures of what to wear on the other "smart attire" nights which to me look like smart day wear, not for evenings. I could be very overdressed if I take what I planned to pack.

[Bazrat]

59 minutes ago, Balaena said:

Well, off on my cruise now, taxi shortly to take us down to Ocean Terminal, priority boarding so should be on by 12.15. And, wait for it .. drum roll ....... 4 formal nights, how Terrific.

 

Leave some beer behind the bar for me and have a fantastic time.

[AndyMichelle]

1 hour ago, Balaena said:

Well, off on my cruise now, taxi shortly to take us down to Ocean Terminal, priority boarding so should be on by 12.15. And, wait for it .. drum roll ....... 4 formal nights, how Terrific.

 

Have a fantastic time Bal.

Bit cloudy but it should stay dry for the sail away party, if that hasn't been outlawed as well....

Happy cruising,

Andy

[AndyMichelle]

2 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

Have a fantastic time Bal.

Bit cloudy but it should stay dry for the sail away party, if that hasn't been outlawed as well....

Happy cruising,

Andy

Just as I posted this, the rain started falling in Southampton... 

Only a few drops so far...

Hope it clears before you sail.

Andy

[majortom10]

5 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

Princess, also a Carnival brand, still do formal nights and Royal Caribbean also, so clearly it's a long way from being dead. As for this putting off new customers, if and when P&O see this happening I am sure they will consider changing their policy, but I see no sign of this anytime in the next few decades, and any change is extremely unlikely to be so significant as to put off the many thousands of current customers who enjoy it.

Incidentally on our last cruise we skipped the last formal night for the buffet, which was Indian night and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Princess advertise formal nights and give the impression of being formal when it clearly is not and having done many cruises with them many, especially Americans, think formal means shirt and trousers and even t-shirts and jeans are seen and many wear baseball caps. There is no control by restaurant managers and will allow you to enter MDR on Formal nights wearing virtually anything as long as its not shorts.

[daiB]

4 hours ago, Balaena said:

Well, off on my cruise now, taxi shortly to take us down to Ocean Terminal, priority boarding so should be on by 12.15. And, wait for it .. drum roll ....... 4 formal nights, how Terrific.

 

Hi Bal, have a great cruise give our regards to S.

 

We have 4 Weeks and 6 days to wait.

 

Dai & Linda

[Well boy 91]

6 hours ago, Balaena said:

Interesting that a number of years ago P&O created a separate brand called Ocean Village with two ships to cater for 'casual dressers' with no formal evenings.  After around two years the the concept collapsed and the ships were diverted elsewhere in fleet. I don't think they will want to get their finger burned again.

Formal is here to stay, if you don't want to join the vast majority, stop moaning and find another party.

Bal

Hi   I think you will find that OV did not collapse. The brand was in fact very successful. The ships always sailed with high passenger loadings. The accountants did not like the financial drift away from the premium brand (as they saw it ) P and O .  The move was done to protect the P and O brand.

[Denarius]

6 hours ago, Balaena said:

It just didn't work. Folk enjoy cruising but most enjoy the aspect of dressing up on a few occasions during their cruise. OV didn't provide these formal occasions with consequence that it didn't attract enough of those that prefer casual attire therefore it basically went bust and the ship deployed into another arena. I was surprised as the fares were really cheap but even then there was not enough uptake from the chosen audience.

I believe that there is another angle to the demise of Ocean Village.

When the Ocean Village concept was introduced P&O and most other mid market cruise lines operated three dress codes; formal, informal (jacket and tie) and casual. Informal was the standard code and applied to all evenings apart from first and last nights and late sailings/overnight stays (casual) and days at sea (formal). Having only casual was a radical departure and may have been attractive to those who did not wish to wear jackets and ties. But then the more mainstream lines, including eventually P&O, partly followed suit and discontinead the infornal dress code in favour of casual every evening apart from a small number of formal nights. This also coincided with the introduction of multiple dining options including the buffet being open in the evenings; previously the mdr was the only available option in the evening. This made it possible for those who wished to avoid formal dressing to sail on those lines, and the main selling point of Ocean Village was diminished. Add to this the fact that the OV ships were older hand me downs which lacked the facilities of the newer ships it is easy to see why its star faded. Not because the public did not like its product, but because the opposition emulated it.

[Tommart]

1 hour ago, Well boy 91 said:

Hi   I think you will find that OV did not collapse. The brand was in fact very successful. The ships always sailed with high passenger loadings. The accountants did not like the financial drift away from the premium brand (as they saw it ) P and O .  The move was done to protect the P and O brand.

Love the idea of P&O as a premium brand - those were the days! Another vote here for ditching compulsory formal and replacing it with something akin to smart casual.

 

If some people choose to dress up, that's fine - I'm a tolerant sort of guy. But given that I'm prepared to be tolerant about people dressing up as penguins, I can't see why they can't be equally tolerant and allow others to dress smartly, but not as penguins or in dark suits. Jacket and tie - just fine.

 

It's coming, inevitably - just learn to live with it and try to stop clinging to the past. Those days disappeared when P&O stopped targetting the Guardian/Times/Telegraph readers and aimed at the Express and Mail!

[petenlynn]

I really enjoy a formal night but I do want it to feel like a ‘special event’ however doing something 4 times in a 14 night cruise doesn’t feel ‘special’ to me. For example, if we ate at the Epicurean 4 times on a cruise it wouldn’t feel special by the time we got to the 4th time! We usually cruise three times a year so, while we continue to book with P & O because we do like much that they offer, we also book with RC and Celebrity to get the overall balance that we want, as they offer formal if you want it but more choices on a night you don’t.

 

We’d probably book more with P & O if they could tweak the offer to allow a bit more choice if you didn’t want do all the formal nights.

Edited June 2, 2019 by petenlynn

[dazlight]

So can you wear shoes , dark jeans, shirt and jacket on casual nights. That’s the way I dress most times I go out.

I have a tux for the black tie nights but don’t want to take another suit if I don’t need too. 

[P-L-B]

3 hours ago, dazlight said:

So can you wear shoes , dark jeans, shirt and jacket on casual nights. That’s the way I dress most times I go out.

I have a tux for the black tie nights but don’t want to take another suit if I don’t need too. 

The dress code for the evening is printed on the front of your daily ships Horizon paper.

I have copied the text below from a couple of recent copies of the Horizon.

 

Evening Casual.

Open necked shirt and tailored trousers or smart jeans for gentlemen.

 

Formal (Black Tie)

Dinner Jacket, Tuxedo or dark suit and tie for gentlemen.

 

Hope that helps.

Enjoy your cruise and enjoy sampling the various ales.

Edited June 3, 2019 by P-L-B

[dgs1956]

On ‎6‎/‎2‎/‎2019 at 10:46 PM, dazlight said:

So can you wear shoes , dark jeans, shirt and jacket on casual nights. That’s the way I dress most times I go out.

I have a tux for the black tie nights but don’t want to take another suit if I don’t need too. 

Yes, except that you don't need a jacket for evening casual nights.

[wowzz]

Without being rude,  I can't see the rationale in  replying to a post that is almost  a month old.

  Just replying to old posts is like picking at a scab - there is no point to it.

[AndyMichelle]

51 minutes ago, Tommart said:

 

Nothing, obviously, but it's a very clear manifestation of the way that P&O has gone steadily downmarket over recent years, and interlinked with the general decline in standards that so many people moan about.

I will be happily dressed as a penguin tomorrow night on Aurora (did I mention I am going on a cruise)...

When the rules change, I will happily sit next to the guy in jeans or be in jeans myself, but at the moment, them is the rules...

Andy

Edited June 14, 2019 by AndyMichelle
Spelling mistake

[Bennybluehat]

16 hours ago, wowzz said:

Without being rude,  I can't see the rationale in  replying to a post that is almost  a month old.

  Just replying to old posts is like picking at a scab - there is no point to it.

Sorry i didn’t know there was a time limit on replying to posts??

[Welshtyke]

Its our first ever cruise in July for our Ruby Wedding Anniversary.  I am looking forward to formal nights and dressing up generally, but I do not do black ever since my mother back in 2015 I stopped because I find heavy and it really doesn't my mood.  That being said I do want to wear my bow ties, suit and waist coat that all feature a bit of colour.