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Iona cutting down on formal nights

SarahHben

By SarahHben,
in P&O Cruises ( UK )

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Harry Peterson

Harry Peterson

Posted
Posted
12 minutes ago, davecttr said:

Well according to my impressions of the number of newspapers they sold on return to Southampton it is very much Mail and Express with the Telegraph outnumbering the Times, the rest much less so. This could just have been these 2 cruises though!

Exactly as you say.  I rest my case.

 

O tempora o mores!

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Windsurfboy Great Review Rare

Windsurfboy

Posted
Posted

I personally am of the opinion that one formal night isn't worth packing a DJ for.  I very happily take one for 4 or 5 formal nights in a cruise.

 

However I wouldn't want to eat in the buffet, I am on holiday and want waiter service. So under current policies would be forced to take a DJ.

 

So I agree with the sentiment that the other restaurants Sindhu, Ocean Grill Epicurean should be outside of formal dress code . As someone said think of the formal nights going to dinner dance,  so only the MDR , the bar nearest to MDR and the ballroom  need to be be formal , the rest should be smart casual.

 

Actually if you think about it formal dress discriminates against men. A woman can wear a nice dress that would do for smart attire and no-one would say any thing. A man must bring separate set of clothes. I  wouldn't go on a cruise with one formal night a week. However if they change the cruises I've booked on, which all have plenty of sea days and my expectation is 5 formal nights I will not be happy.

 

 Iona is a different ship in many wsyd ,But I expect it is the way of the future. Especially for all the family friendly ships. Hopefully  Arcadia and Aurora will retain more formal nights. 

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Fishgirl01

Fishgirl01

Posted
Posted

I love dressing up, makes a lovely change from walking the dog clothes and gardening.  I would be very upset if someone thought it appropriate to laugh at my husband and myself for wearing formal clothes, which is our choice.  There are so many cruise lines which have various degrees of dress codes so please leave codes alone for those of us who try to choose lines that still have formal nights.  Each to there own, and I would never I hope be disrespectful to those who’s choices are not mine.

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crompton21

crompton21

Posted
Posted

I am sure a lot of people on here took part in a number of questionnaires from P & O over the last few years.  There was a period when they seemed to be quite endless.  Whilst filling them in, I noticed the repeated questions about overnights in port and dress code

 

Overnights in port have now appeared on a host of schedules as has a change in the dress code.  I assume that the feedback was that people wanted those things to happen.

 

When the mid dress code (smart casual?) was removed some were upset.  A few years on it is but a memory.  That is assuming my memory of formal/smart casual/casual isn’t playing tricks on me....

 

For newer cruisers, the change removed the need for a jacket and allowed the wearing of smart jeans on all nights except formal nights.  It caused quite a stir!

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newbie cruissy

newbie cruissy

Posted
Posted (edited)
20 minutes ago, crompton21 said:

the wearing of smart jeans on all nights except formal nights.  It caused quite a stir!

As a newcomer, what's the difference between jeans and smart jeans? Surely a pair of jeans is a pair of jeans? 

Edited by newbie cruissy
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crompton21

crompton21

Posted
Posted (edited)
10 minutes ago, newbie cruissy said:

As a newcomer, what's the different e between jeans and smart jeans? Surely a pair of jeans is a pair of jeans? 


jeans (of any sort) were not permitted except on casual nights.  Casual nights were the first and last night plus perhaps one other night.  As to the difference, perhaps smart jeans excludes ripped etc.(an opinion and not a fact!)

Edited by crompton21
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BillieJeanKaraokeKing

BillieJeanKaraokeKing

Posted
Posted (edited)

I've always said they should ask people on the pre-cruise registration and questionnaires whether they are likely to participate in formal nights (maybe scaled). Then arrange them onto the different floors as best fit.

 

Me personally, I have zero interest in ever wearing a dinner jacket - a completely hideous thought for me. However, each to their own, and appreciate some people love it.

Edited by BillieJeanKaraokeKing
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dgs1956

dgs1956

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, jeanlyon said:

Must say we've just done Freedom Dining for the first time and I won't be going back to Club.  It was so much better.  We met some great people, some not so great, but didn't have to eat with them again.  Also, the flexibility of being able to go to the 9.30 show in Carmens (Aurora) was great when we didn't want the theatre.

What next ?? Sequence Dancing possibly!

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Jennizor

Jennizor

Posted
Posted

Once again Harry Peterson, I don’t understand why you keep cruising with P& O if you think they are a tacky budget line. Personally I love the formal nights. At Christmas we go to a hotel in the Lake District that encourages formal wear. At new year we go to a local hotel that does the same. If it is such an issue with you, don’t go on P& O. Simples.

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beachmad123

beachmad123

Posted
Posted

This is one of those endless topics that will go round and round without agreement. 

Personally I am happy to follow this dress code . You know the rules when you book.  However my personal choice would be scrap it but equally for others they  like the formal nights  and from what I've seen are well supported .

Sadly we live in a world where people hate rules and it seems the minority dictates.  

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Britboys

Britboys

Posted
Posted

I'm not at all surprised to see this with Iona and I think it won't be many years before they go altogether - at least on the larger ships.  I enjoy traditional cruising with formal nights personally but Iona will be different in many ways - less formal, no fixed dining and as many (if not more) extra-charge dining options than included ones.  I do understand that P&O have to change to ensure their future and have sadly accepted that I will be sailing less with them in future as the choices for my taste are being severely curtailed.

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Denarius

Denarius

Posted
Posted
On 10/27/2019 at 5:47 PM, crompton21 said:


jeans (of any sort) were not permitted except on casual nights.  Casual nights were the first and last night plus perhaps one other night.  As to the difference, perhaps smart jeans excludes ripped etc.(an opinion and not a fact!)

For the benefit of those fairly new to cruising, the dress code for the evening was determined by the movements of the ship that day. First and last nights were casual. Subject to this, any evenings in port or when the ship sailed after dinner were casual: Days at sea were formal: All other evenings were informal, which meant a jacket and tie for men. This meant that the balance of dress codes could vary considerably from cruise to cruise.

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emam

emam

Posted
Posted
9 hours ago, Monorail Orange said:

I'd not given a thought to the ratio, but if its anything like Britannia then I'll be giving Iona a miss.

 

 

After Arcadia, Britannia has the same space ratio as Aurora (33), with the rest of the ships slightly lower. Iona's is the least at 29. That is according to a deck plan site. We found Britannia to have plenty room and I don't like to be crowded.

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peteukmcr

peteukmcr

Posted
Posted

Interesting, but having seen a presentation regarding Iona last Saturday by P&O reps I'm not surprised in the reduction of formal nights on Iona with the vast array of alternative dining venues, especially in the Sky Dome area. All appear to be less formal than the main dining rooms. It will be interesting to see what venues are out of bounds on formal evening if you're not dressed accordingly.

 

With Iona's sister ship due in 2022 (expected to be designed more for warmer climes - according to P&O) you can only expect a reduction in formal dress codes. 

 

RCI are the latest to abandon formal night on some ships (no doubt to be fleet wide eventually), now known as 'Wear your Best'. As with 'Evening Chic' on Celebrity and 'Norwegian Night Out' on NCL, this does not prevent you from wearing formal wear, and people still do, it's just not mandatory. Of course none of those lines ever restricted you from using venues you've paid for if you weren't dressed formally which is my bugbear with P&O even though I intend to adhere to the dress code on our upcoming Britannia TA (just bought another tux yesterday).

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Britboys

Britboys

Posted
Posted
11 hours ago, emam said:

 

After Arcadia, Britannia has the same space ratio as Aurora (33), with the rest of the ships slightly lower. Iona's is the least at 29. That is according to a deck plan site. We found Britannia to have plenty room and I don't like to be crowded.

I can't comment on Britannia as I have not sailed on her but Passenger Space Ratio doesn't tell the whole story - the way the space is used is also a factor.  As an example, Aurora has only 2 stand-alone extra-charge restaurants. Britannia has 5 and Iona will have 7  Thus, as a percentage of the space available for people to just sit and relax, there is likely to be more on Aurora.

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terrierjohn

terrierjohn

Posted
Posted
17 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

Indeed so. And the Guardian. But neither are tacky, unlike the Mail, Express, Sun, Star etc.

Harry, just because you hold differing views to these papers does not make them tacky. All papers, in fact all media, will put their political bias on the way they report stories, you may disagree with them but it does not mean they are tacky.

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