Not my idea of Smart Casual

[Sanjam cruisers]

Hi dgs 1956

I am quite sure there are many like us and it is about time that we were starting to make our feelings known, P&O seem to suffer a lot of negativity which in my opinion is undeserved they are by no means perfect but they provide a service and product that I am prepared to pay for and that includes there dress code and their Great British Sailaway which also seems to be a bone of contention on this forum.

[dgs1956]

Sanjam Cruisers

Again I agree.

I suppose its easy to be negative. All too common nowadays.

As you say, P&O isn't perfect but it suits us. I for one love the Formal Nights and I really can't understand why anyone wouldn't.

[Sanjam cruisers]

Hi again dgs1956

You sound the type of fellow passenger I would like to buy a beer or whatever your tipple, I'm on Ventura 27/02/15 when are you cruising. Happy enjoyable cruising to you.

[dgs1956]

Sanjam Cruisers

Kindred spirits. We haven't booked another cruis until Britannia on 23 Oct 2015 unfortunately although we will be booking one around the same time as you. Maybe we'll meet up one day.

Best Wishes

David & Barbara

[Sanjam cruisers]

David and Barbera

Do enjoy your Britannia cruise,we hope to do a cruise on her but for some reason P&O seem to be restricting their flights from Glasgow to the Caribbean where we normally cruise but I'm sure we will get something to suit.All the best to you both, you never know we may well meet up.

 

Jim and Sandra.

[HELEN HENRY]

Sanjam Cruisers

Kindred spirits. We haven't booked another cruis until Britannia on 23 Oct 2015 unfortunately although we will be booking one around the same time as you. Maybe we'll meet up one day.

Best Wishes

David & Barbara

 

Good evening dgs1956,

My husband and I are also booked for Britannia A428A/A429A 23rd October 2015 for 29 Days. We also have met Jim and Sandra( Sanjam cruisers ) on a previous-cruise, and they are a lovely couple whom you would enjoy sharing a beer with. If you like perhaps you and your wife would like to join our company one evening and we can share a beer or whatever your tipple is. Please do drop into our forum and say hello. Sanjam, we still have not booked for Feb/March Caribbean yet so we might end up meeting up again soon.

Dgs 1956 . We also enjoy the formal nights and dressing up, in fact I enjoy getting dressed up every night.

Pat

[dgs1956]

Pat

We have joined the B524 and B525 Forums already. Obviously its quiet on these just now as the cruise is so far away. We can easily meet up.

Jim & Sandra

I'm originallly from Ayrshire but living in Nottighamshire at the minute with far too many stops in between those. I keep telling my wife we have one more move left and that's it. I'll let you know if we book your cruise.

David & Barbara

[AchileLauro]

I don't really understand why standards of dress should be at all contentious.

I relate a cruise ship to a hotel. Hotels have different standards that can vary enormously. If you choose to stay in a smart hotel guests would be expected to adhere to some sort of standard of dress especially in the bars and dinning rooms. If you stay in a guest house or B&B then the standard expected might be slightly less.

Why don't people do their research before they book much the same as you would when looking at the star rating of a hotel?

 

If you don't want to dress smartly for dinner then stay at a hotel/ship with a more relaxed attitude to dress but don't moan about being asked to conform if you do decide to stay at the Ritz, and don't spoil it for everyone else who does appreciate a smart appearance. :)

[dgs1956]

AchileLauro

Well said!! My sentiment exactly. As you say, you surely wouldn't go to a top restaurant dressed in shorts or similar and you wouldn'g go to McDonalds with a dinner suit on.

David & Barbara

[HELEN HENRY]

Pat

We have joined the B524 and B525 Forums already. Obviously its quiet on these just now as the cruise is so far away. We can easily meet up.

Jim & Sandra

I'm originallly from Ayrshire but living in Nottighamshire at the minute with far too many stops in between those. I keep telling my wife we have one more move left and that's it. I'll let you know if we book your cruise.

David & Barbara

 

Oh sorry David and Barbara,:o of course you have joined the B524 and B525 Forum already. I got over excited thinking that we might have another couple joining us. :D:D

Oh David Scott's parents and family all originate from Ayrshire so you will have something to talk about.:)

Pat

[davecttr]

Why are people trying to make this an issue? The large P&O ships have plenty of space to have both formal and casual codes running on the same evenings and this is what actually happens. If you wear evening casual clothes in the evening and don't attempt to enter any of the public venues wearing shorts etc there is no problem - simple really!

 

If you prefer to dress formally no problem. In certain areas of the ship on certain evenings all those about you will be dressed likewise, in the other areas of the ship you will see a mix of formal and evening casual, again no problem.

 

Any differences of opinion on this issue come from the opposite extremes. The few people who want to dress like slobs all the time or the few people who want everyone to dress formally everywhere. Neither point of view is valid for the simple reason that they would not be able to fill the ships. Hence the mixed codes they have adopted.

[dgs1956]

Davecctr

You're right but I think the pro-Formal Dress are fed up with the anti's pushing their view all the time. The more of us keep saying they are happy the way things are the better in my opinion and that includes the buffet dress code for those that don't want to dress formally.

 

Pat & Scott

I hope it doesn't turn out we were at the same school. :)

 

David & Barbara

[AchileLauro]

I agree with you Dave about there being plenty of space for those that decide to opt out, and most of us have done it at some time perhaps because we have been feeling under the weather. However I do find it slightly irritating that the "slobs" as you refer to them should try to worm their way into those venues where the majority are enjoying smart company. Either in or out as far as I am concerned.

I am saying this as someone who has had my dress strictly regulated for all of my working life and most definitely prefers casual to formal attire. I would actually feel ill at ease if I were to dress as slovenly as some that I have seen.

[Sanjam cruisers]

Hi davecttr and Achile Lauro

I agree with you both and like you Achile my working dress was laid down throughout my career and included collar and tie every day and my normal dress about the house are a t shirt and comfortable joggers .In my opinion for what's its worth is there is a group who would like P&O to adopt a full casual dress code such as NCL etc and believe if they keep nipping away then they may get their way. That is what annoys me that particular group have a large range of ships and prices available to them at present, the lines who have and enforce their dress code are now in the minority thereby lessening my choice of ships.

Edited April 22, 2014 by Sanjam cruisers
Misspelling

[Denarius]

There are in this forum many shades of opinion. All should feel free to express their own views and should respect those of others, even if they disagree with them.

As regards the particular subject of this discussion, I am one of those who would prefer not to dress formally. That is not to say I would not dress smartly, only that in my own mind formality and smartness are not necessarily the same thing. Others may of course disagree, and I respect their views and their right to express them.

Where there is a dress code, I will comply with it fully in the areas in which it is mandatory, out of courtesy to my fellow passengers. That does not mean however, that I should refrain from expressing my views on it in this forum because some people would rather not read them, because they regard them as threatening the status quo. It is a common tactic of those who are losing the argument to try to silence the opposition!

Edited April 22, 2014 by Denarius

[dgs1956]

....... and its a common tactic of those that don't like something to keep repeating their view over and over and over again.

We are all entitled to our view and mine is as valid as yours.

We who prefer the status quo are entitled to express our view.

David and Barbara

Edited April 22, 2014 by dgs1956

[Sanjam cruisers]

Hi David and Barbara

I fully agree with your comments, I suppose it is the dripping tap syndrome.Why pick a cruise on a ship with formal nights if you do not like or wish to dress formally on occasion.

[davecttr]

Hi David and Barbara

I fully agree with your comments, I suppose it is the dripping tap syndrome.Why pick a cruise on a ship with formal nights if you do not like or wish to dress formally on occasion.

Why? because the formal nights are not the reason for going on the cruise. Plus of course although there are formal nights you don't have to take part if you don't want to. The ship can cater for all tastes.

 

ps - I have attended many formal nights and they no longer hold any attraction for me so I don't attend them any more. Why this should exclude me from cruising with P&O?

[Sanjam cruisers]

Hi davecttr

Nobody is trying to stop you cruising with P&O, my remarks are aimed at the group of people who do not wish to have a dress code on P&O ships for various reasons it does not suit them(no pun intended), I pick P&O for a number of reasons including the fact they do have a dress code.I could put it another way, I book a cruise on NCL for example knowing they have a casual dress code and then start complaining that they did not have formal nights where I could wear the glad rags. I am not saying that you can only use P&O if you want to dress up.

[ep1987]

My idea for a larger ship aimed at a slightly younger crowd like the Ventura:

 

Casual: No flip-flops, shorts, vests or sportswear; smart denim allowed.

 

Smart Casual: Trousers, shoes and a shirt, smart polo shirt or smart jumper for men, trousers/skirt with a smart blouse etc. for women or a dress.

 

Formal: Tuxedo, suit with tie/bow tie or smart waistcoat with tie/bowtie for men, long dress for women.

 

On a 14 night cruise have 11 nights where dining is casual in all venues except for East, White Room and the club dining restaurant. On the 3 formal nights smart casual can be worn instead in one of the two freedom dining restaurants and on the waiter service half of Beachside, casual only permitted in buffet areas.

 

With regards to formal attire here seems as good a place as any to ask whether a smart waistcoat and tie/bowtie would be acceptable and would it be ok to undo the top button of my shirt once seated (the two times i wore a tuxedo i was close to passing out through heat exhaustion; i'm in good shape but for whatever reason overheat very quickly in a fully buttoned up shirt with a jacket)?

[davecttr]

My idea for a larger ship aimed at a slightly younger crowd like the Ventura:

 

Casual: No flip-flops, shorts, vests or sportswear; smart denim allowed.

 

Smart Casual: Trousers, shoes and a shirt, smart polo shirt or smart jumper for men, trousers/skirt with a smart blouse etc. for women or a dress.

 

Formal: Tuxedo, suit with tie/bow tie or smart waistcoat with tie/bowtie for men, long dress for women.

 

On a 14 night cruise have 11 nights where dining is casual in all venues except for East, White Room and the club dining restaurant. On the 3 formal nights smart casual can be worn instead in one of the two freedom dining restaurants and on the waiter service half of Beachside, casual only permitted in buffet areas.

 

With regards to formal attire here seems as good a place as any to ask whether a smart waistcoat and tie/bowtie would be acceptable and would it be ok to undo the top button of my shirt once seated (the two times i wore a tuxedo i was close to passing out through heat exhaustion; i'm in good shape but for whatever reason overheat very quickly in a fully buttoned up shirt with a jacket)?

 

P&O evening casual is the same as your casual so no change needed there.

 

Formal (black tie) is dinner jacket or dark suit. Waistcoat and tie would not be sufficient and IMO would dilute the formal idea too much.

 

I often undo the top button of my shirt when wearing a tie. The ships code does not extend to details like that ;)

 

i think one of the cover charge restaurants, probably East, should not adopt the formal code to give more variety on those evenings.

 

evening casual applies to the Beach House, and the Glasshouse, on formal evenings.

 

3 formal nights per 14 days is what other cruise lines are adopting. Give it a year or 3 and P&O will probably follow.

 

The smart-jacket required code on P&O is the pointless one. Note that from next year half the fleet including the new Britannia won't have it.

[Denarius]

:eek:

....... and its a common tactic of those that don't like something to keep repeating their view over and over and over again.

We are all entitled to our view and mine is as valid as yours.

We who prefer the status quo are entitled to express our view.

David and Barbara

 

That is exactly what I said. Everyone should be free to express their views even if some others do not like them. So you will get people constantly commenting how standards have (in their view) fallen, even to the extent of allowing jeans in the restaurant at dinner (!) and others constantly wishing that they would "fall" further. I agree entirely that your views are as valid as mine and that you entitled to express them - that is exactly what I was saying, if you would care to re read my post. What I object to are those who believe that only views which coincide with their own should be expressed and that those who disagree with them should remain silent.

[Denarius]

Hi davecttr

Nobody is trying to stop you cruising with P&O, my remarks are aimed at the group of people who do not wish to have a dress code on P&O ships for various reasons it does not suit them(no pun intended), I pick P&O for a number of reasons including the fact they do have a dress code.I could put it another way, I book a cruise on NCL for example knowing they have a casual dress code and then start complaining that they did not have formal nights where I could wear the glad rags. I am not saying that you can only use P&O if you want to dress up.

 

There is a difference between complaining and suggesting improvements. You would not be justified complaining about NCLs dress code if you were aware of it when you booked. You accepted it as a price to be paid for the other aspects of the cruise which caused you to book it. You would however be quite at liberty to suggest to NCL that (in your view) their cruise product would be improved by making the dress code more formal. That is not complaining (or moaning as some on this forum like to term it). It is making a constructive suggestion. Similarly, someone taking a P&O cruise would not be justified complaining that they hold formal evenings. They were aware of it when they booked and accepted it as a price to be paid for the other aspects of the cruise. They should accept it and comply in the locations to which it applies. That does not however, preclude them from suggesting that (in their view) the P&O product would be improved by a further relaxation of the dress code. That is not complaining, it is making a constructive suggestion. There is a clear distinction between the two.

Edited April 23, 2014 by Denarius
spelling

[Bells65]

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

[Somerset Cruiser]

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

 

I have said much the same in the past, however we flew to Azura in February and only used 20 of our 23 kg each. Just had to cut the OH down to 8 pairs of shoes ;)