Ventura - Freedom Dining

[simpsian]

We are on Ventura in the NY on a Caribbean 14 day cruise. First timers, so don't know what to expect especially in regard to Freedom dining and 'Formal Nights'. I was going to take a DJ - is this over the top?

 

Any experience or tips?:confused:

[BrianI]

There is no difference between Freedom dining and Club dining other than the fact you can dine at any time between 6pm and 10pm. The menus and dress code are the same for either. There are four formal nights on Ventura so yes definitely take a DJ.

Brian

[Johnthed0g]

Yep, agree, I would say on most P&O ships men wear a DJ as opposed to a suit & tie on formal nights...95% ?? this may differ on Ventura from what I have heard. I would prefer to be slightly overdressed than the odd one out!!

[MattyBarlow]

Yep, agree, I would say on most P&O ships men wear a DJ as opposed to a suit & tie on formal nights...95% ?? this may differ on Ventura from what I have heard. I would prefer to be slightly overdressed than the odd one out!!

 

 

Certainly on the first formal night you will feel out of place unless in some form of formal dress.

[jocap]

It was pretty much the same as other P&Os on the Ventura, though we did notice some young men in VERY trendy suits....top fashion range, we guessed.

The formality in the buffet tailed off over the fortnight. The 1st time we ate there on a formal night, about half were in DJs. On the last formal night, very few.- jocap.

[Johnthed0g]

I am torn on dress sometimes...on one hand I feel that on formal nights the dress code should be shipwide.....BUT on the other hand I can't see me in DJ etc in the Buffet!!

[Suebiker]

We are on Ventura in the NY on a Caribbean 14 day cruise. First timers, so don't know what to expect especially in regard to Freedom dining and 'Formal Nights'. I was going to take a DJ - is this over the top?

 

Any experience or tips?:confused:

 

We sailed on Ventura last year and had a great time - DH took his DJ and wore it for all the formal nights.

 

With regards to freedom dining. Basically you just turn up when you are ready. You will usually be seated on a table with other passengers unless you ask for a table of your own. Usually it is possible to be seated very quickly - if not you will be given a pager so they can call you when a table becomes available.

 

My only other tip is make sure you book for the speciality restaurants - they are really good and worth the cover charge - look out for special deals. Sometimes they discount the cover charge if you eat early.

 

Enjoy!

 

Sue

[simpsian]

Thanks all for useful advice - I've now made my mind up and will DJ through....! :)

[geecee1]

Certainly on the first formal night you will feel out of place unless in some form of formal dress.

 

 

Just been quoted a great price for 1st Jan on Ventura(Balcony), but in view of the comments on this thread re: DJ being virtually compulsory on Formal Nights, we shall not be taking up the offer.

 

My views on penguins are well known to readers of this and the OV forum. I think that it is a shame that my normal evening attire of shirt(by Thos. Pink or similar, silk and linen blend slacks and Pikolinos shoes) are is not welcome on P&O ships.

So, no more cruising for me until a suitable replacement for Ocean Village is launched.

[ccrystal]

Just been quoted a great price for 1st Jan on Ventura(Balcony), but in view of the comments on this thread re: DJ being virtually compulsory on Formal Nights, we shall not be taking up the offer.

 

My views on penguins are well known to readers of this and the OV forum. I think that it is a shame that my normal evening attire of shirt(by Thos. Pink or similar, silk and linen blend slacks and Pikolinos shoes) are is not welcome on P&O ships.

So, no more cruising for me until a suitable replacement for Ocean Village is launched.

 

 

When booking with p and o you know how many formal, semi formal and smart casual nights there are. So if you are not prepared to adhere by the rules then it's best to stick with the non formal cruise lines.

 

The weight of a dinner suit and ordinary suit doesn't differ though.

 

We're just back from Ventura and saw the majority of people dressed up, and many even dressed up on the smart casual nights too.

[geecee1]

When booking with p and o you know how many formal, semi formal and smart casual nights there are. So if you are not prepared to adhere by the rules then it's best to stick with the non formal cruise lines.

 

The weight of a dinner suit and ordinary suit doesn't differ though.

 

We're just back from Ventura and saw the majority of people dressed up, and many even dressed up on the smart casual nights too.

 

I clearly stated that we were only considering the Ventura trip but would not be taking it up because of the dress rules. I have wardrobe full of good quality suits, jackets, blazers slacks etc. but would never wear them on HOLIDAY!Especially in the Caribbean !!!!

Hopefully, someone in the Carnival/P&O marketing department(do they have one?) will realise that there is a vast untapped market in the UK for informal cruising.

 

Their German arm are building new ships to meet the demand there for informal cruising, so I suppose we live in hope!

 

With the continuing reduction on luggage allowance(23kgs on some flights), I would not have room for any suit in my case.

 

The last two trips have seen my wardrobe reduced to a bare minimum(16 shirts of all types, 3 slacks,6 pairs swimming shorts. 4 pairs walking shorts,3 pairs of shoes. Add to that all other basic necessities and there would be no room for any formal wear even if I was inclined to wear such garments.

 

Back to land- based Hotels until , they cater for the smart casual cruiser.

[Beckyfaye-2008]

I clearly stated that we were only considering the Ventura trip but would not be taking it up because of the dress rules. I have wardrobe full of good quality suits, jackets, blazers slacks etc. but would never wear them on HOLIDAY!Especially in the Caribbean !!!!

Hopefully, someone in the Carnival/P&O marketing department(do they have one?) will realise that there is a vast untapped market in the UK for informal cruising.

 

Their German arm are building new ships to meet the demand there for informal cruising, so I suppose we live in hope!

 

With the continuing reduction on luggage allowance(23kgs on some flights), I would not have room for any suit in my case.

 

The last two trips have seen my wardrobe reduced to a bare minimum(16 shirts of all types, 3 slacks,6 pairs swimming shorts. 4 pairs walking shorts,3 pairs of shoes. Add to that all other basic necessities and there would be no room for any formal wear even if I was inclined to wear such garments.

 

Back to land- based Hotels until , they cater for the smart casual cruiser.

 

It would appear that P&O marketing department are not listening to you, as P&O have just announced a new adults only ship, which I am sure will adhere to the formal side of cruising.

By the way on a Caribbean two week cruise, you would only have two formal nights per week, the rest being smart casual. So there is nothing stopping you, being one of the 2/3%, who don't adhere to the dress code on formal nights.:eek:

As for luggage allowance it would appear that most people manage, and some of the women take a different dress for each night and by the some posts Ive read, a different pair of shoe's for each night of the year.:D

[geecee1]

It would appear that P&O marketing department are not listening to you, as P&O have just announced a new adults only ship, which I am sure will adhere to the formal side of cruising.

By the way on a Caribbean two week cruise, you would only have two formal nights per week, the rest being smart casual. So there is nothing stopping you, being one of the 2/3%, who don't adhere to the dress code on formal nights.:eek:

As for luggage allowance it would appear that most people manage, and some of the women take a different dress for each night and by the some posts Ive read, a different pair of shoe's for each night of the year.:D

 

Cheers Delboy.

Re: Luggage you must have met my wife, hence my limits on what I can take.

Unfortunately, P&O must have stopped listening to all the pleas from those of us that have been cast aside with demise of the Ocean Village ships.

As a former marketing man(now retired), I am staggered at their decision to exit this expanding sector of the market.

One has to consider that there is a hint of class snobbery in their decision to go for all adult ships. The OV ships catered for 7 to 70years( I am 67) and therin lies their appeal.

 

Since joining these forums, I cannot but conclude that there is a massive difference between a Cruise ( a la P&O ) and a holiday. It is patently obvious that many posters on this particular forum certainly do not want the "holiday crowd" to enter their twee little world.

We are lost to cruising and are about to book a 5 star resort in Mexico,which will cost more than the cruises we have been on with OV.But at least we will be on holiday with other holidaymakers who do not dictate to us what we need to wear!

[Beckyfaye-2008]

Cheers Delboy.

Re: Luggage you must have met my wife, hence my limits on what I can take.

Unfortunately, P&O must have stopped listening to all the pleas from those of us that have been cast aside with demise of the Ocean Village ships.

As a former marketing man(now retired), I am staggered at their decision to exit this expanding sector of the market.

One has to consider that there is a hint of class snobbery in their decision to go for all adult ships. The OV ships catered for 7 to 70years( I am 67) and therin lies their appeal.

 

Since joining these forums, I cannot but conclude that there is a massive difference between a Cruise ( a la P&O ) and a holiday. It is patently obvious that many posters on this particular forum certainly do not want the "holiday crowd" to enter their twee little world.

We are lost to cruising and are about to book a 5 star resort in Mexico,which will cost more than the cruises we have been on with OV.But at least we will be on holiday with other holidaymakers who do not dictate to us what we need to wear!

 

Well we are off on a less formal cruise next March, a fly cruise with Thomson Cruises, they only have one formal night per week, it only applies to the main dining room, on that night there is an alternative dining venue available.:D

Having said that I have thoroughly enjoyed my two P&O cruises, but they were not fly cruises, they sailed from Southampton.;)

[Suebiker]

Cheers Delboy.

Re: Luggage you must have met my wife, hence my limits on what I can take.

Unfortunately, P&O must have stopped listening to all the pleas from those of us that have been cast aside with demise of the Ocean Village ships.

As a former marketing man(now retired), I am staggered at their decision to exit this expanding sector of the market.

One has to consider that there is a hint of class snobbery in their decision to go for all adult ships. The OV ships catered for 7 to 70years( I am 67) and therin lies their appeal.

 

Since joining these forums, I cannot but conclude that there is a massive difference between a Cruise ( a la P&O ) and a holiday. It is patently obvious that many posters on this particular forum certainly do not want the "holiday crowd" to enter their twee little world.

We are lost to cruising and are about to book a 5 star resort in Mexico,which will cost more than the cruises we have been on with OV.But at least we will be on holiday with other holidaymakers who do not dictate to us what we need to wear!

 

Hi - i'm sorry that you have decided to stop cruising and can understand that you are upset as there appears to be no replacement for OV. But you have to ask yourself why? The only conclusion I can come to is perhaps they were struggling to fill these cruise or they were not as profitable as maybe some of their other ships - who knows - they must have had their reasons.

 

With regard to the other P and O ships I find it interesting that you think they are snobbish!!!!! Only 2 of the fleet are adult only - all the others ( I think there are 5) are all family friendly and we enjoy cruising with our 3 year old daughter. We do not find the ships snobbish at all . With regards to the Formal wear - we actually enjoy dressing up as we rarely get opportunity to do so . On Ventura and Oceana there are only 2 formal nights a week anyway.

 

Unfortunately P and O can't really win because when they axed semi-formal wear on Ventura and Oceana - everyone was complaining and really unhappy. So some like yourselves would like it to be much less formal others want it to be much more formal!!!!!

 

I guess P and O must have done some sort of research and they are trying to please as many people as they can as much as they can.

 

Have you actually written to complain to P and O about the lack of a replacement for OV.If enough people write maybe then maybe they will look into it.

 

Sue

[geecee1]

Hi - i'm sorry that you have decided to stop cruising and can understand that you are upset as there appears to be no replacement for OV. But you have to ask yourself why? The only conclusion I can come to is perhaps they were struggling to fill these cruise or they were not as profitable as maybe some of their other ships - who knows - they must have had their reasons.

 

With regard to the other P and O ships I find it interesting that you think they are snobbish!!!!! Only 2 of the fleet are adult only - all the others ( I think there are 5) are all family friendly and we enjoy cruising with our 3 year old daughter. We do not find the ships snobbish at all . With regards to the Formal wear - we actually enjoy dressing up as we rarely get opportunity to do so . On Ventura and Oceana there are only 2 formal nights a week anyway.

 

Unfortunately P and O can't really win because when they axed semi-formal wear on Ventura and Oceana - everyone was complaining and really unhappy. So some like yourselves would like it to be much less formal others want it to be much more formal!!!!!

 

I guess P and O must have done some sort of research and they are trying to please as many people as they can as much as they can.

 

Have you actually written to complain to P and O about the lack of a replacement for OV.If enough people write maybe then maybe they will look into it.

 

Sue

Sue

Apreciate your comments and perhaps those us who have enjoyed OV are over reacting a little.However, during 3 cruises with OV, I have met dozens, if not, hundreds of people who have fled P&O, simply because of the Formal Attire rule that is enforced virtually throughout the ship on such nights.I , too, like wearing fine suits/jackets/slacks but NOT ON HOLIDAY(sorry for the capitals but i cannot stress this point enough).

Some of our number have been in touch wit P&O regarding replacements, only to be told wait and see.

The reasons given for replacing the ships are many and varied i.e

1) having to sell too many cabins at a discount(Not sustainable if you compare the current pricing on Ventura and OV to the Caribbean;Ventura is much cheaper)

2) cost of long -hall flights. I think this is a red herring.

I think the true reason is that OV passengers are an independent breed and do not go on the expensive trips. Also,the on-board spend per capita is, I would suggest lower on OV, with casual dining affecting wine sales.(One aquaintance of ours regularly spends £2000 on board during a 2 week cruise on P&O,whereas I would venture that OV passengers spend half that amount.)

Having said that, I was told by one OV bar manager that beer sales on OV ship far outstrips other ships in the fleet.

If P&O, claim that there is no profit in casual cruising, why are Carnival building two ships to aimed at a similar market in Germany?

Most of us would pay a slight premium(see current prices for OV versus Ventura) to keep our hoidays afloat. But it would seem that P&O have made the classic mistake in "not giving the punters what they want", which I think is a quote from Alan Sugar.

[MattyBarlow]

So, no more cruising for me until a suitable replacement for Ocean Village is launched.

 

 

Ventura is a suitable replacement. If the deal is good for january then i certianly wouldnt let the formal nights put you off. The whole P&O/OV experience is very similar apart from 4 nights.

[geecee1]

Ventura is a suitable replacement. If the deal is good for january then i certianly wouldnt let the formal nights put you off. The whole P&O/OV experience is very similar apart from 4 nights.

 

Thanks Matty,

 

Still hoping to persuade my better half to book OV in Jan /Feb, but we are still not sure about VENTURA.

We are waiting to talk to some friends who have just returned from their cruise on her.

I will not under any circumstances be taking any formal wear, so how will I fare on Formal nights. I have heard that you are restricted to certain parts of the ship.

 

We will also go for buffet dining but are concerned about your comments re:buffet areas need a rethink. Are there queues?

[MattyBarlow]

Thanks Matty,

 

I have heard that you are restricted to certain parts of the ship.

 

I didnt see any evidence of this whatsoever. On formal nights the buffet was made up mostly of people dressed in smart casual. The Bistro , where you are waited upon, was also the same.

 

 

We will also go for buffet dining but are concerned about your comments re:buffet areas need a rethink. Are there queues?

 

I just felt that the bufffets didnt flow as well as they could. There were queues at peak times but so there were on OV.

[Johnthed0g]

Seems quite a simple solution, if people object to agreeing to what is basically wearing a suit & tie twice a week to join in with the mood of the ship, where everyone enjoys dressing up.....then fair enough, go somewhere else.

[geecee1]

Seems quite a simple solution, if people object to agreeing to what is basically wearing a suit & tie twice a week to join in with the mood of the ship, where everyone enjoys dressing up.....then fair enough, go somewhere else.

 

John,

You are right. What I object to is that"somewhere else " will not be cruising, despite the fact that we would love to continue to do so.

But as I have stated on many occasions on this and other forums, I have no intention of taking a penguin suit/DJ on holiday!

I have worn a suit for 45 years during my working life and do not under any circumstances consider the wearing of such attire as"dressing up".

Dressing up to me is an expensive shirt, nice cufflinks, linen/silk slacks, tasseled loafers, attire that is welcome on OV ships but not on any other P&O vessel.

[Johnthed0g]

John,

You are right. What I object to is that"somewhere else " will not be cruising, despite the fact that we would love to continue to do so.

But as I have stated on many occasions on this and other forums, I have no intention of taking a penguin suit/DJ on holiday!

I have worn a suit for 45 years during my working life and do not under any circumstances consider the wearing of such attire as"dressing up".

Dressing up to me is an expensive shirt, nice cufflinks, linen/silk slacks, tasseled loafers, attire that is welcome on OV ships but not on any other P&O vessel.

 

So we are coming down to basically wearing a jacket with a tie twice a week ....is this really such a hardship? I am "fairly" sure that nobody will say a word if you want to dine in the self serve when dressed informally. There are other cruise lines that do not ask people to dress formally

[jocap]

geecee- I understand your problem, as DH had to wear uniform throughout his career, and doesn't appreciate dressing up, which is rather like playacting to him. That is why we changed to NCL, which was the only informal line to cruise from Soton. They're not doing it anymore, sadly.

But we did find a good atmosphere on Ventura, after a none too pleasant one on Aurora. DH did dress up at 1st, then we moved to eating in the buffet- an excellent venue BTW, and found that fewer and fewer dressed formally as the fortnight progressed. She is the ship we would use again from Soton.-jocap.

[Johnthed0g]

Just depends on your viewpoint..it ain't meant as a punishment. Twice a week everyone gets dressed up & looks elegant. I love to see my wife looking really nice, she looks forward to it, posh dress and all ..no hardship for me to put on a suit to join in. I can't understand why people are SO against dressing up a couple of times that they would rather eat in the buffet (officially still under the dress code) & miss a silver service gala dinner, or forgo cruising altogether.

[Beckyfaye-2008]

"Dressing up to me is an expensive shirt, nice cufflinks, linen/silk slacks, tasseled loafers, attire that is welcome on OV ships but not on any other P&O vessel"

 

It is welcome on P&O ships, for at least 10 of the 14 nights, and if you choose to wear it on the remaining 4 there is nothing stopping you.

I also had to wear a suit all my working life and I worked until I was 67 and a half, I also had to wear a tie, very often a company tie, and on special functions a dinner suit.

What attracts me to P&O ships, is twice a week they have a special dinner, two of which are the Captains Gala night and a Black and White Ball. They are great occassions, only last for 6 hours each, and in my view add to making a cruise a little bit special. If you do not want to attend these functions, they also provide dinner in the buffet area, where you will not feel out of place in your casual wear.

However, each to there own, but if there was an itinery I liked, I would not let the wearing of suit, for a total of 24 hours out of 336 hours put me off.:D