Bells65

Hubby and I were on board Oceana for Christmas 2012 visiting Bruge, Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Gothenberg and have to say we had a mixed experience.

Father Christmas arrived on board about 5.30 Christmas Eve. Not sure if he came down the funnel or not but he appeared on the top deck by the main pool and it was a bit of an anti-climax. To be honest we've seen better dressed Father Christmas in the local shopping centre!

We were on Freedom Dining and had to book our table for Christmas Dinner. We only had to queue for about 1/2 hour at most - but then we did get there for booking opening as we wanted to book a table for 2. We do usually share but just this once wanted a table to ourselves. We thoroughly enjoyed dinner and being a formal night made it that extra bit special - and yes the staff were even more jolly and friendly than usual.

Christmas Day daytime was a bit of a let down for us. It felt like we were hanging around waiting for dinner and thought there could have been more entertainment. There was a Carol Service and a party in the afternoon for children. Being in a colder climate almost everyone was inside so we struggled to find a seat anywhere.

However, there was Christmas music playing and the gingerbread village and decorations did make it feel very festive. Also the Christmas cakes looked amazing.

Overall we did enjoy the cruise but felt we would have enjoyed it better if we'd had children or been part of a bigger group. This was our first Christmas cruise and our first "cold" cruise. We would do a Christmas cruise again but it would need to be somewhere warm so that we could spend more time on deck.

Sorry if I've rambled!! :)

Bells

Hi Weylady

On the cruises we've been on the time has generally been that of the area you are in. When ships clocks are going to be changed there will be announcements both over the ship's in-cabin information service on the tv and in the Horizon magazine (much the same as our daily newspapers remind us when we change the clocks).

Hope this helps

Bells

You bet your life we would complain too!!

We like to have a balcony cabin so that we can sit outside and have a cup of tea and biscuits in the morning or afternoon and a nightcap in the evening. Sometimes it's just nice to be able to get away from everything else and sit on the balcony and just watch and listen to the sea going by.

Anyhow my point is that we are non-smokers and on our last cruise (before the balcony smoking ban) we were sandwiched between 2 cabins of smokers who obviously smoked on their cabin. We're not so trivial as to say it spoiled our holiday, but the passive smoking did take the edge off the enjoyment of our balcony!

Having said all that we do appreciate that smokers are entitled to their enjoyment too so we thought the ideal plan would have been to have designated cabins where smoking was allowed on the balconies - maybe a specific deck or cabins towards the rear of the ship.

Bells

Hi Campergirl. So pleased you enjoyed your 1st cruise. If I remember rightly you posted a question about dress code a while ago?

Our first one was for hubby's 40th and as we were "only going to do it once" we splashed out on a balcony cabin and 5 cruises later .... we're booked on Britannia for Feb 2016 in the Caribbean! :-) Our 1st cruise was on Oceana too and we love the ship.

I believe most if not all of Britannia's outside cabins have a balcony.

Coincidentally - we were on a visit to Oceana yesterday, so you would have just been getting off as we were arriving.

Bells

We were on a Caribbean cruise last March. All the information beforehand stated check in was 4 hours. However, when it came to printing the tickets, they stated 3 hours. We kept to 3 hours and it was fine.

We're booked on Britannia in Feb 2016 with flight from Birmingham. Hoping they've got the Dreamliner by then!

I`m due to fly Birmingham to Barbados return Thomson Airways in February 2016 - Would be great to on a Thomson Boeing 787 Dreamliner !!

 

Anybody else on Britannia B605 - 26th February 2016 ?

Hubby and I are on B605A - flying from Birmingham on Saturday 27th Feb. :D

Hells

I think Thomson might be flying dreamliners on the Caribbean route from Birmingham come the end of the year..that knocks half an hour off again...

Ooh I hope so - although we're not flying until Feb 2016. We flew from Birmingham to Barbados in March and I think we must have been on the oldest plane in the fleet! We read that Thomsons were due more Dreamliners and wondered if they would use them in and out of Birmingham.

Hells

Couldn't agree more. We are going on Azura for the first time in June and looking forward to it even though we know it will be a different experience to what we have been used to, as generally we prefer more adult focused ships. But, we will be going with our glass half full - and I am sure it will be filled up a few times! If I believed everything written on this forum I wouldn't go on a cruise on any ship,with any line, at all!

Straying off topic abit - but we were on Azura in the Caribbean in March. Whilst she's advertised as family friendly there weren't that many children on board and I suspect that in June that may be the case for you too. She's a lovely ship and I'm sure you'll enjoy her as much as we did.

Back to topic - we'd always look at what P&O have to offer before looking at any other cruise line. We've been on 5 cruises - all with P&O and loved every one. :)

Hells

Do you have a link to anything more substantial than the basic guidelines or is this based on advice from a restaurant manager or similar member of staff?

 

One thing which doesn't get brought up is that most people who worry about the dress code aren't trying to 'bend any rules/get one over on the man'. Instead they simply wish to wear the clothes which they own and feel comfortable/confident in. It's all well and good saying 'chinos and a short sleeve cotton shirt' but these items aren't likely to found in the wardrobe of younger people.

 

Conforming to the dress code verbatim should guarantee entry rather than not conforming on technicalities instantly resulting in being denied entry. Whatever happened to common sense? I understand that the desire is for people to be relatively smartly dressed in the evening; but as others have said this doesn't necessarily result.

 

I think i am capable of dressing myself smartly and don't want to worry about such trivial things as whether my footwear conforms to the regulations on a holiday. Of course i could choose another cruise line and would do so in a heartbeat, but the reality is that i have to think about the person i'll be travelling with and P&O is he only real option for an older British person wanting a minimum hassle Caribbean fly cruise.

The OP was saying that she didn't quite know what to expect from casual nights. All I was doing was giving examples - oh and you seem to make the assumption that my husband and I are old!!!

We too have had issues with wine waiters and waiting with empty glasses for them to reappear. I don't have a problem with ordering drinks at the same time as ordering food. Maybe they could employ some of the wine waiters to help the "ordinary" waiters and help ease the workload.

Bells

campergirl - you may have realised that any mention of the term "dress code" seems to start off all manner of debate!! ;) LOL

To help with your initial question - hubby takes chino type trousers, smart dark jeans, black trousers, smart polo shirts, short sleeve cotton shirts with collars and black shoes. I take a mixture of cotton skirts, capri pants, linen trousers, "dressy" t-shirts, blouses, strappy tops, halter neck tops, dresses etc. On our only "cold" cruise I took black jeans for smart casual nights too. They were new so were really black and looked almost like trousers. Shoe wise I normally take sandals, mules, full shoes with block heel (for the "cold" cruise).

Try not to get too hung up on it - I'm sure you'll be fine. Most of all, enjoy your cruise!! :)

Bells

Hi. I had a similar issue. Try clicking on create new account and enter your existing username and password. I did this and it bought up all my existing details etc and I've no problems logging in since.

Bells

If any of her previous cruises were with Princess, Sitmar or Ocean Village, they will also generate points - but at 5 points per day instead of 10.

Is that still the case following the changes to P&O's Peninsular Club a couple of years ago? My sister & her husband are looking at P&O cruises and have points from previous cruises with Princess so we'd be interested to know if their points are of any use with P&O.

Bells

Hi Rick,

 

We were on a Thomas Cook flight to Barbados in February and there were no free alcohlic drinks, only tea or coffee with your meals.

 

I know P&O also use Thompsons but I am not sure whether they have stopped the free drinks also.

 

Molly

We were on a Thomson's flight to/from Barbados in March and we had the same situation with the drinks - no free drinks only complimentary tea and coffee with meals.

Bells

I might be wrong - but on P&O I thought that even in the buffet area on smart casual nights shorts were a no-no.

I appreciate my opinion probably isn't very popular but I think that if the cruise line (or hotel come to that) operates a dress code then it should be adhered to - even in the buffet areas. You don't have to be dressed up to the nines on smart casual nights. If you don't like the dress code then don't book! The other thing I would say is that on fly-cruises I think there should be only 2 dress codes - formal and smart casual. With the reduction in luggage allowance by the airlines I don't think it fair that men should have to pack another jacket for "smart" evenings.

Bells