Iona cutting down on formal nights

[zap99]

On 11/4/2019 at 9:21 PM, Harry Peterson said:

If that happens I shall not be there to see it. I don't like being obliged to wear a DJ or a dark suit, but equally well I abhor beach clothing in inappropriate places. 

I doubt that shorts and flip flops will be appropriate on our Iona cruise to Norway at the end of August. I would guess that there will be formal nights when Gary Barlow is in the Theatre. Probably smart casual if he does the Limelight club. I will probably make the effort and wear my M&S dinner suit and leave the C&A one at home.

Edited May 3, 2020 by zap99
Spellcheck

[Vampiress88]

13 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

Probably.  Ignore it - just a load of nonsense based around the change from sail to steam.  

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutty_Sark

im not sure we would have all enjoyed a cruise on a boat like that around the Mediterranean. 

Definitely no formal nights on her. 
 

looks like a lovely piece of history though. 

[Son of Anarchy]

21 minutes ago, Vampiress88 said:

im not sure we would have all enjoyed a cruise on a boat like that around the Mediterranean. 

Definitely no formal nights on her. 
 

looks like a lovely piece of history though. 

 

The Cutty Sark is indeed a wonderful piece of history.

 

If you're ever in London and have the time, the visit is well worth the effort.  Can also be combined with Greenwich Observatory and the Maritime museum.  And a great day out in Greenwich Park as well.

[Wedgeh]

On 10/30/2019 at 9:07 PM, Vampiress88 said:

I would assume p&o need to try and cater to a younger age base now. I don’t mind getting dressed up but most people don’t have formal dress in their wardrobe like they used to.

 

As a millennial - just - I'm always sad to see the cruise lines reducing the number of formal nights. My wife loves the chance to wear some of her fanciest outfits, and there's not much call for my tux during the rest of the year.

[funinhounslow]

9 hours ago, Son of Anarchy said:

 

The Cutty Sark is indeed a wonderful piece of history.

 

If you're ever in London and have the time, the visit is well worth the effort.  Can also be combined with Greenwich Observatory and the Maritime museum.  And a great day out in Greenwich Park as well.

Don’t forget the Painted Hall and a boat trip to Thames Barrier or Tower Bridge!

[ollienbertsmum]

52 minutes ago, Wedgeh said:

 

As a millennial - just - I'm always sad to see the cruise lines reducing the number of formal nights. My wife loves the chance to wear some of her fanciest outfits, and there's not much call for my tux during the rest of the year.

 

Oh how nice to be talking about the clothes we wear on our vacations.  

 

As has been said,  you are free to wear your finery on other nights of the cruise.  I would not bat an eye, I would just assume that you had a special occasion.  

 

I have a good few sparkly dresses but they are light and I can match them with just one pair of shiny heels.  However good my DH looks in a smart suit, it is not worth me arguing with him and paying extra for luggage allowance.  He could still wear the clothes he wore to our wedding over 30 years ago - but it was trousers and sports jacket so that would not fit the P and O formal uniform.  My cruise is cancelled but I was prepared to miss the MDR experience this time.  

 

Talking about vacation - I have had that Rita Ora song Anywhere going round in my head for days.  

 

Here, let me pass it on.  

 

[Vampiress88]

Didn’t think there is many of us millennials on here. 
 

my hubby likes dressing up on a cruise. 
I don’t like having to wear a dress. 
 

but I wouldn’t turn up to dinner on a ship in scruffs. 
 

My dresses are literally for cruises and unfortunately with none now this year it’s a waste. 

[Harry Peterson]

3 minutes ago, Vampiress88 said:

Didn’t think there is many of us millennials on here. 
 

my hubby likes dressing up on a cruise. 
I don’t like having to wear a dress. 
 

but I wouldn’t turn up to dinner on a ship in scruffs. 
 

My dresses are literally for cruises and unfortunately with none now this year it’s a waste. 

I doubt there are. Forums like this are old fashioned. Even FB is largely for oldies.

 

Keep your dresses - I’m sure they’ll be just fine for next year.  😀

[Vampiress88]

6 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

I doubt there are. Forums like this are old fashioned. Even FB is largely for oldies.

 

Keep your dresses - I’m sure they’ll be just fine for next year.  😀

I would be hoping they won’t fit. I’d like them to be too big by next year but with the lockdown we are having too many movie nights and baking with the kids so I doubt that will happen. 
 

My next cruise is iona in July next year. It’s fjords so my legs will be freezing 🥶 

 

gotta say I do like this forum. Only thing I would like is more trip reports/blogs etc. 
I love reading about what everyone’s doing for the day while on board and seeing what food they got. I’m sad I know. 
I did get very dodgy looks while I photographed my food in the mdr last year 

[greyhound1950]

13 hours ago, Eddie99 said:

A dress code thread?

Where did that come from?  Seriously?

 

 

 

don't wish to rude there are no fast rules regarding threads as long as we treat others we disagree with respect

if any of the posts,we don't agree with we can enter into debate or just ignore

yours respectfully  

[Harry Peterson]

46 minutes ago, Vampiress88 said:

I would be hoping they won’t fit. I’d like them to be too big by next year but with the lockdown we are having too many movie nights and baking with the kids so I doubt that will happen. 
 

My next cruise is iona in July next year. It’s fjords so my legs will be freezing 🥶 

 

gotta say I do like this forum. Only thing I would like is more trip reports/blogs etc. 
I love reading about what everyone’s doing for the day while on board and seeing what food they got. I’m sad I know. 
I did get very dodgy looks while I photographed my food in the mdr last year 

You’ve seen the reviews here, haven’t you:  https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/reviews/

 

Your kids will benefit from all the extra attention - I know you take being an excellent mother very seriously.  And the home ed.

 

I know what you mean about photographing the food. We’ve been assessing restaurants for a mystery dining company for some years now, and they now tend to want photos of the food.  You feel an absolute idiot doing it!

[Vampiress88]

16 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

You’ve seen the reviews here, haven’t you:  https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/reviews/

 

Your kids will benefit from all the extra attention - I know you take being an excellent mother very seriously.  And the home ed.

 

I know what you mean about photographing the food. We’ve been assessing restaurants for a mystery dining company for some years now, and they now tend to want photos of the food.  You feel an absolute idiot doing it!

I like the daily blog type ones. Think it’s was DamianG who did one? 
I get confused with names sometimes. 
 

sometimes I find the reviews that people do are short and sweet. Either it’s awesome or it’s terrible. 
 

on daily blogs one day could be awful and the other amazing. 
 

suppose I just like to live vicariously through other people’s holidays and then I can also steal itinerary ideas 

[Adawn47]

13 hours ago, Vampiress88 said:

am I too young to understand what your on about?

Yep, definitely. I'm 73 and can only just remember the baked bean tins and string, but the Cutty Sark? No way. Neither does Harry though, or am I flattering him? 😂

Avril 

 

[Harry Peterson]

10 minutes ago, Adawn47 said:

Yep, definitely. I'm 73 and can only just remember the baked bean tins and string, but the Cutty Sark? No way. Neither does Harry though, or am I flattering him? 😂

Avril 

 

Sailing on it, no, Avril. But visiting it occasionally since the 1950s, certainly.  It’s in very fine shape now since the restoration after the fire and incredible to walk round and through.  A very fine ship indeed.  Balconies at a bit of a premium though.

[Adawn47]

2 hours ago, Vampiress88 said:

Didn’t think there is many of us millennials on here. 
 

my hubby likes dressing up on a cruise. 
I don’t like having to wear a dress. 
 

but I wouldn’t turn up to dinner on a ship in scruffs. 
 

My dresses are literally for cruises and unfortunately with none now this year it’s a waste. 

You don't have to wear a dress on formal nights. I only have one. I have 3 pairs of evening trousers that I  pair with lovely tops and finish the whole thing off with some nice jewellery. Not bling. I'm more comfortable in trousers.

Avril 

[Adawn47]

3 hours ago, ollienbertsmum said:

 

Oh how nice to be talking about the clothes we wear on our vacations.  

 

As has been said,  you are free to wear your finery on other nights of the cruise.  I would not bat an eye, I would just assume that you had a special occasion.  

 

I have a good few sparkly dresses but they are light and I can match them with just one pair of shiny heels.  However good my DH looks in a smart suit, it is not worth me arguing with him and paying extra for luggage allowance.  He could still wear the clothes he wore to our wedding over 30 years ago - but it was trousers and sports jacket so that would not fit the P and O formal uniform.  My cruise is cancelled but I was prepared to miss the MDR experience this time.  

 

Talking about vacation - I have had that Rita Ora song Anywhere going round in my head for days.  

 

Here, let me pass it on.  

 

Thank you.  You've got me doing it now 😁. At least our cruises haven't been permanently cancelled there only on hold.

Avril 

[Britboys]

18 hours ago, greyhound1950 said:

HI folks regarding black tie nights,is very controversial subject.the ladies like to dress in evening dresses and express their individual personalities.if they were all asked to wear the same dresses they would understandably be upset.

so begs the question why do dress codes require the men to all look the same.

my solution to this dilemma is for cruise lines to relax the dress codes for men.suits or jackets with open neck shirts'

very few celebrities,on special nights out wear the penguin look.

 

 

 

 

 

The 'Black Tie' dress code has already moved on a little to allow men to have different looks.  You can wear a black dinner jacket or white tuxedo.  Bow ties and cummerbunds can be worn in a variety of colours.  There are also some nice dress waist-coats with matching bow ties.  I wear a number of different bow ties and cummerbunds - some plain colours and others with a subtle pattern in.  I also have a couple of the waist-coat sets but need to lose some weight before wearing them again...

[Britboys]

2 hours ago, Vampiress88 said:

...My next cruise is iona in July next year. It’s fjords so my legs will be freezing 🥶 ...

 

Not necessarily.  I did a Fjords cruise several years ago in early September.  Most days the weather was lovely and could easily have worn shorts in the daytime.

[besberry]

8 hours ago, Wedgeh said:

 

As a millennial - just - I'm always sad to see the cruise lines reducing the number of formal nights. My wife loves the chance to wear some of her fanciest outfits, and there's not much call for my tux during the rest of the year.

Same as me.  I've worn my DJ once on land, all the other times have been onboard.  I taught myself to tie a bow (thank you YouTube!).  They look rubbish most of the time, but I don't care!  I have various ties that I use, including a rainbow one, when I want to nail my colours to the mast!  If I'm travelling with one of my lady friends, I try to match my tie to their dress colour.  Doesn't always work, but then I can always wear the black one.

Edited May 4, 2020 by besberry

[Pine Man]

Only just come across this thread.

 

When I first heard about Iona I was really looking forward to trying it out. I am not concerned about the size of ships BUT if Formal Nights are on the way out and Club Dining doesn't even exist anymore you can count me out!

[jeanlyon]

Ha ha, having always done Club Dining, we swapped to Freedom and now I wouldn't swap back.  nice meeting different folk each night.

[Britboys]

1 hour ago, Pine Man said:

Only just come across this thread.

 

When I first heard about Iona I was really looking forward to trying it out. I am not concerned about the size of ships BUT if Formal Nights are on the way out and Club Dining doesn't even exist anymore you can count me out!

Whilst I very much want Formal Nights to continue, I could just about put up with not having them on a P&O cruise.  Should they ever decide to roll out Freedom Dining as the only option across the fleet, I would be highly unlikely to sail with P&O again.  Most of my P&O cruises I sail solo and hate the idea of eating with a different set of people each night on my own.  Should they expand their solo-traveller programme to include a table (or several) set aside for solo pax in the mdr each night, that would be different.  That was about the only thing I enjoyed on my cruise aboard Marella Discovery 2.

[molecrochip]

2 hours ago, Britboys said:

Whilst I very much want Formal Nights to continue, I could just about put up with not having them on a P&O cruise.  Should they ever decide to roll out Freedom Dining as the only option across the fleet, I would be highly unlikely to sail with P&O again.  Most of my P&O cruises I sail solo and hate the idea of eating with a different set of people each night on my own.  Should they expand their solo-traveller programme to include a table (or several) set aside for solo pax in the mdr each night, that would be different.  That was about the only thing I enjoyed on my cruise aboard Marella Discovery 2.

On the larger ships in the fleet, I would expect that freedom dining will now be the norm once cruising restarts. Its easier to manage people that way as you wont be sitting strangers with one another.

 

Its also possible to turn a table three times in 3 hrs at 6pm, 7.30pm and 9pm.

[Broadside]

On 5/3/2020 at 9:26 PM, Harry Peterson said:

"Thank you for your email. 
We merely suggest smart/casual for dinner – we don’t really have any rules.   In general, the rule would be whatever you are comfortable in and if that means your Hawaiian shirt then that’s fine!
Hope this helps."

 

I'm not in any sense advocating Hawaiian shirts on P&O, but smart casual is bound to take over from formal as the older passengers are replaced by younger ones. 

 

Hawaiian shirts would be applicable for  the tropical theme nights 

[wowzz]

2 hours ago, molecrochip said:

On the larger ships in the fleet, I would expect that freedom dining will now be the norm once cruising restarts. Its easier to manage people that way as you wont be sitting strangers with one another.

 

Its also possible to turn a table three times in 3 hrs at 6pm, 7.30pm and 9pm.

Sorry, I don't eat dinner that quickly, especially with convivial company and a glass or two of wine. 2 hours minimum, and up to 3 hours, depending on the quality of the company and the wine.