KaththeTaff

That will be absolutely fine. It's almost identical to what I prefer to wear in the evening.

I think about what I'm going to take for months, and I gather things together weeks in advance, but the actual act of packing normally takes places in a mad rush a night or two before we leave the house!

DH has cruised with P&O, but that was some years ago. We've cruised on Celebrity and Princess, and enjoyed the Celebrity experience much more than Princess. On the latter we found that the cocktails were poor, the beer selection very poor, and the Cruise Director terrible. It wasn't all bad though, there were some good aspects of Princess like the food.

We don't like the way Celebrity has been heading recently, though and so we've decided to give P&O a try. DH is interested to see what's changed since his previous Arcadia cruise a decade ago, and I'm keen on sampling a much more British experience after five American style trips.

I don't mind being with mostly British passengers. At least we'll meet people form all over the country, and hopefully there won't be too much of a language barrier with our Welsh accents!

There's been a wide range of views in this thread, but at the end of the day it's entirely down to the individual as to what they do.

As much as I'd prefer the cost to be included in the base fare, I don't want to deprive a hard working crew of cash either. I'll compromise by reducing the gratuity level to what it was at the time I booked. I think that's fair. I was expecting it to be £3.95 per day, so that's what I'll pay.

I'll continue to reward any exceptional service with cash tips, just like I would if the gratuities were included.

I'm not particularly bothered by what other people do. I won't be influenced by people handing over envelopes in the dining room, any more than I'll be influenced by people here saying that they won't tip. I'll make up my own mind and do what I feel is fair and right. What others decide is their own business.

I'm tempted to go and reduce the daily charge to what it was when we booked the cruise.

We're on a similar cruise later in the year and we're looking forward to a relaxing trip down to Southampton the day before. We love the anticipation of the pre cruise night, a nice meal out and a couple of drinks is the best way to start a cruise holiday to my mind!

We have gone down the same day but there's always a worry of something going wrong on the way.

I wouldn't like such an early flight myself. Are you able to change it to a later one?

I think P&O were in a lose lose situation. They did not make the decision to offload, it would have been a medical decision. If the doctor had let the ill patient remain on board and something had happened as a result, P&O would still be in the firing line.

We take formal wear with us but we don't necessarily dress up for every formal night. We may be happy to go to the buffet or even to stay in and watch a film.

What other people do or don't do, or what other people wear is of no concern to us, as long as the rules are observed. I really don't understand the way some people get so emotional about dress codes. There's no need to accuse those who enjoy dressing for dinner of being snobs or old fashioned and there's no need to insult those who don't want to dress up on a formal night either.

Cruise lines need to appeal to a wide range of people to survive. It seems to me that as long as there are parts of the ship reserved for particular dress codes, and parts where more casual wear is welcomed, then that's fine.

Enforcement of rules is down to the line, and its staff, not to other passengers!

Surely this is a matter of opinion. In some peoples opinion this not a major problem and in yours, it is. The company are not wrong, in your opinion they are wrong which is fine it is an opinion it is not necessarily a fact.

 

As I have said on board it is not a complaint I have any one making.

I agree with you DaiB. It doesn't bother us, though we did notice the lack of precise times before we booked.

I can see why it would be an issue for some, especially those who like to plan things well in advance.

I've wondered why there is no mention of the White room any more, only the Epicurean.

I've basically just assumed it's a name change.

I haven't noticed anything different. DH suggests you adjust your ad blocker (it doesn't mean much to me, but that's what he said!)

In our experience, the majority of tables are close to others, but we didn't find this a big problem. We usually exchange a few words with out immediate neighbours, but that's it. It seems to be an unwritten rule that you don;t get involved in anyone's private conversation without an invite!

DH describes it as cosy, but not quite intimate!

DH likes ice cream nearly as much as he loves trains :D

Orvieto sounds quite interesting.

There's nothing wrong with choice. No one is being forced to spend £28pp for their dinner if they don't want to. We wouldn't, but it's our decision to make and we wouldn't criticise anyone who did.

We're also sick of visiting Rome from Civ, as we've done it four times now. Next time we will take a walk through the town, and maybe take a little trip on the train to one of the lovely looking beaches a couple of stops down the line.

DH will probably also have a look to see if there's anything to visit in the other direction (he loves trains!).

Short ribs....yeah!

Also DH loves the bread (all varieties!) and the steak. Mmmm.

Seriously, we have found all of the MDR food great!

To be frank, we've never enjoyed any of the free tea much at all. We now take our own from home and pay for lovely tea in Al Bacio.

I don't think so. We've never done it, but we enjoy walking around the ship and we've seen lots of stuff on stateroom doors from Cruise Critic logo's to Happy Birthday!

If no one approaches you, just ask. either go to the venue itself or ask at the stand near the buffet. Even if discounts are not being mentioned by being pro active you may be lucky!

As my father was an officer in the merchant navy I've never felt the need to be impressed by ship's officers, I know they are just human beings like you and me.

I don't think that having them attend an event would make it more or less likely that I would attend. But if people enjoy meeting and talking to the officers, then i wouldn't want to put a stop to it!

My DH agrees with Mr Sloop, he just adores the bread on Celebrity!

We also like the specialty teas in Al Bacio, and Sunset Martini is our favourite drink in the Martini Bar. We love almost everything in the Molecular Bar, and another favourite is the blue cocktail we get in the Passport Bar, but I can't remember what it's called. i think it's the Murano signature cocktail!

Food wise, DH loves the aged prime rib of beef, and I'm a bit of a fan of the steaks and the soups!

Overall, there is a lot of very good food and drink to enjoy!

I'm not against perks for those in suites, but in my experience Michael's Club was very well use don our Silhouette and Eclipse cruises. On the former the sports bar/craft beer format seemed to work very well, and on the latter it was more of an entertainment venue.

It wasn't easy to get a seat in there on either cruise, but I'm pleased to say we manged to see West Side Strings there on the Eclipse!

In that case, can I suggest you avoid using embedded links?

If it helps, relatives of mine were on a Celebrity Baltic cruise and decided that Berlin warranted more than a day trip. They stayed locally in Warnemunde and Rostock, and thoroughly enjoyed.

They decided that it wasn't worth the hassle of a long drive there and back, even though they have never been to Berlin and would like to visit.