1st time cruiser - help please

[deekmcc]

Hi

Can someone please tell me when ship (Oceana 10th July) departs Southampton as we don't know if we need to go down night before or get early train from Scotland & also when does it return to Southampton as we are unsure about return travel times.

 

We have 4 formal nights onboard Oceana and we have heard different views as to what we have/need to wear on these nights.

 

Is it compulsory to get dressed up ie: suit/dress etc or is this just for dinning or for everywhere onboard for these nights , we are freedom dinning if that helps.

 

Thanks for your help.

[tenpin]

Hi

Can someone please tell me when ship (Oceana 10th July) departs Southampton as we don't know if we need to go down night before or get early train from Scotland & also when does it return to Southampton as we are unsure about return travel times.

 

We have 4 formal nights onboard Oceana and we have heard different views as to what we have/need to wear on these nights.

 

Is it compulsory to get dressed up ie: suit/dress etc or is this just for dinning or for everywhere onboard for these nights , we are freedom dinning if that helps.

 

Thanks for your help.

 

The normal departure time is beween 4.30 and 6pm your time of boarding will be on the documents sent about eight weeks before sailing. Arrival time after cruise is from 6am average, off loading depends on flight times and distance to travel.

 

Although the formal nights are nice you do not have to comform, providing you are smart most things are now accepted, (ie, no shorts, cut off jeans & the like) you also will have other options during formal nights. In Freedom it is a little more relaxed with about 30% in formal gear, but this really depends on your fellow passengers on that cruise. Just think of it as going to a fairly nice restaurant in your local town.

 

Have a great cruise and don't worry I don't think many people will notice what you are wearing.

[LibraLass41]

Sorry don't agree, if you are not wearing formal on a formal night people will notice. Nearly all men will be in black tux and most of the others in a suit.

[LibraLass41]

The normal departure time is beween 4.30 and 6pm your time of boarding will be on the documents sent about eight weeks before sailing. Arrival time after cruise is from 6am average, off loading depends on flight times and distance to travel.

 

Although the formal nights are nice you do not have to comform, providing you are smart most things are now accepted, (ie, no shorts, cut off jeans & the like) you also will have other options during formal nights. In Freedom it is a little more relaxed with about 30% in formal gear, but this really depends on your fellow passengers on that cruise. Just think of it as going to a fairly nice restaurant in your local town.

 

Have a great cruise and don't worry I don't think many people will notice what you are wearing.

 

 

This is INCORRECT INFORMATION, Freedom dining is not different on a formal night than normal club dining, if you are dining in the main restaurant to say 30% will be formal gear is totally incorrect. More like 100%. Have you actually sailed on a P&O ship ?

[mike x ftc]

Hi,

I agree with LibraLass, virtually everyone dresses up and really enjoy it. It may seem daunting but go with it, once you emerge from your cabin and see everyone else all dressed up having photo's taken etc you will wonder what you ever worried about.

You can go to the self service restaurant where you can dress up if you want to, but you wont be at all out of place if you dont.

[cclarke12]

The dress code covers the whole ship from 6pm. We were on Ventura last month and the odd person that did not have a suit on for formal evenings stuck out like a sore thumb. The dress code was very well adhered to even in the buffet restaurant, and the dress code was no different in the freedom dining room to the others. Although jeans were allowed on the casual evenings we actually saw very few. My husband is happy to have a tux as it is just easy and he doesn't have to worry about loads of outfits, the rest of the time he just wears chinos and a shirt/polo shirt for dinner. I tend to wear a dress on formal evening and trousers with a top the rest of the time (most of my cruising wardrobe is Monsoon via ebay!).

 

There was a slightly more relaxed dress code when we went on Royal Caribbean where the dress code applied to eating in the main dining room, and if you wanted to eat in the buffet or speciality restaurants the dress code was not as formal.

 

Do you have a booking summary - if you go on the P&O website you can put in your reservation number on the voyage personaliser and it will give you your time for boarding so you can plan (this should be available already). You will be given a card on penultimate night with your disembarkation time and if you want to get off earlier/later just go to reception and they will try to change for you. If you disembark and carry your own luggage you can get off from 7am ish I think. We had luggage and were in the first group to disembark at 8.45am (on Ventura).

 

Have fun :)

[deekmcc]

Many thanks for the replies guys with regards to embark/disembark times & i will take a suit with me but do you need to wear a tie or is a suit without a tie acceptable.;)

 

What about kids as my son is 14 and no way will he walk about in a jacket/suit.:eek:

[cclarke12]

For the formal night you'd probably feel out of place without a tie (but that's only 4 nights on 14 night cruise). For your son, I think a shirt and trousers would be fine on formal night. However, if he goes to the club I don't think it really matters what he wears, as he won't be in the bars/restaurants so noone will really be bothered.

 

Have a great cruise

[BrianI]

Departures now are at 4:30pm so you need to check in at 4pm absolute latest. Check in opens at 12:00.

On return the ship docks around 7am and disembarkation commences around 8:30am once all luggage has been offloaded. You are allocated a coloured card signifying your timeslot and everyone will be off by 10am.

You can self disembark at around 7:30 if you wish but for this you have to carry ALL your luggage off with you.

The dress code for freedom dining is no different that club dining. 95% of men will be wearing a dinner jacket but a suit and tie will suffice. The dress code applies to the restaurants and most bars.

Brian

[deekmcc]

Many thanks everyone for the replies , at least i know what to wear and also can now book trains etc.

[lexilexi07]

I completely understand and respect the “formal dress code” however one formal evening while sailing on QM2 my husband and I were very tired and sunburned so we decided not to dine formally so we stayed in our cabin out of the way to abide by “the rules” but by about 11pm we decided we fancied a snack, because of the preconception (given by fellow cruise critic members) that if god forbid we happened to be seen out of or cabin in non formal wear we would be hunted down and made to walk the plank(yes I joke!), we put on casual trouser (no jeans or shorts) and a sensible sweeter and set off to race through the ship and to the buffet like a pair of escaped prisoners so we could quickly grab a snack to scurry off back to our room and yes we got a couple of looks! Now I really resent that we paid our hard earned money to feel like this. So I ask with the kindest intentions that before anyone decides to look disapprovingly or take a mental note of the total numbers/percentages/ratios etc of those who are not dressed formally to think for a minute that this person may have a personnel reason why they have not dressed formally (maybe illness or sheer tiredness for walking 5 hours in the roasting heat!) as it is very judgemental and I know I felt really terrible by the one or two looks we were given especially as we made a very good effort on the other formal evenings. I think if you are dressed sensibly and you want to grab a quick snack at the buffet or get fresh air on the deck then that should be acceptable for people who may just need that one exception.

For all those who decide to dare escape their cabins on formal evening who are not in a dress or a suit please do not be like me and get upset by the looks it will put a damper on your holiday! J

P.S I do totally agree with adhering to the formal wear dress code in the main dining areas on formal evening.