P2l

From my recent experience, the White Night is the one that most people make the special effort for. I chose to wear a tux for elegant night, but I think I was the only non crew on the entire ship that did! So long as you have something other than board shorts & flip-flops for main dining rooms of an evening, dress how you feel comfortable.

Worst we had was blustery, but never unusable. The assistant butler ensured the furniture was securely tied in the evening, as did we if we used it again after we got in at the end of the night (not uncommon, as the balcony is great for looking at the sky).

How was your cruise? Did you get to the Speakeasy?

We had lunch up there. We sat at a table and pretty soon someone came with a menu. Not sure if breakfast would be served up there, but I don't see why not. The gazebos might not be up, depending on timing.

I guess it varies from cruise to cruise - we were a family of four and had no issues with the busyness in the Grill. NB They did have a seating area on the sundeck as well where they also served food from the Grill and had gazebos to provide shade. This might be in response to feedback? Whilst others in the family would have liked a buffet, personally I'm with morpheusofthesea on this; not only for hygienic reason, but also because when one has paid for a premium for service it seems churlish to spurn it by serving oneself!

Correct, no under 18s. Our two under 18s were happy to stay in the cabin. Quite right too, since we had a duplex whirlpool (16003), needed to get our money’s worth!

We met a couple in there who’d got them from a bartender in the Gin Project, who they’d engaged in conversation. The chap didn’t normally like gin, but the bartender took it as a challenge to find one he did like. As we didn’t go to many bars we might have cheated a little and asked our butler, Kevin, for a hint. NB it’s worth doing but be aware it’s not covered by the drinks package, so quickly gets expensive.

Oh if you make it to the Speakeasy, please check if Her Majesty is still where we hid her!

Alas today we disembarked. Though I considered stowing away in a lifeboat. There’s lots of bars that look very nice, and we hardly had chance to sample a fraction. Good to do on White Night, as the rest of the ship makes a big effort for that. We asked the concierge which days were which dress code, as it made dining planning easier.

Well, we’re back in Blighty and I have to say, we missed our butler as soon as we got to the airport. Should’ve taken a leaf out of that other documentary, the one where the penguins took over the ship, and sailed ourselves home. Our flight made the steerage buffet seem positively civilised. Very sad to say our “Poseidon Adventure” is over. PS @morpheusofthesea @scamper, I did ask the captain re the best strategy in the Poseidon scenario. He seemed a bit bemused, as if (worryingly) he didn’t know, or possibly he thought it a stupid question!

Yes it’s a menu. If you really feel the urge to go to a buffet, you can always go to the steerage buffet. Or, alternatively, hurl yourself overboard. Out of the two options, I’d recommend the latter! Actually, it is worth walking through the steerage buffet once, just to remind oneself why one travels in Yacht Club.

There is but alas I didn’t photograph it.

You can’t really see it in the photo, but they have all the dishes on display, so whilst you can’t serve yourself, you can browse.

The tables are all small, but I’m sure the staff would happily put 4 tables together. One thing we didn’t realise is the breakfast start time varies quite significantly depending on the port arrival time.

RS looks to have the best privacy of the large suites. Note there are 2 RS layouts depending which deck, as pointed out in another recent thread.