Formal nights

[Vampiress88]

Have called p&o and they have said that it will be black and white one night then tropical another. 

 

I have no dresses so currently looking. I look awful in most clothes but trying to find something appropriate. 

 

Will i look odd with a navy blue dress? I’m looking for a black one but no look. I might have one that’s black but it has red flowers on so still not in theme. 

 

And this is going to sound awful but could I get away with only having one dress? 

 

This is is a cheapy cruise as we are going USA for 3 weeks in June so don’t really wanna be spending loads on dresses I won’t wear again for another year. 

[fue-fue]

Yes you will be fine in a navy blue dress, no problem at all.  If you want to take just one dress, that will be fine too.  Enjoy your cruise

[Harry Peterson]

I feel for you.  This whole formal thing is fine for some people, who love it, but others loathe the idea of paying good money for a cruise and being told what to wear by an outfit like P&O!

 

Here's the 'dress code':

 

https://ask.pocruises.com/help/PO/life-on-board/dress_code

 

Try to find something that complies with it, but don't bother about the 'black and white' and 'tropical' add-ons if you don't want to.  I just wear a dark suit to comply with their outdated rules (they'll disappear altogether in the next few years) and that's perfectly fine.  Women have a lot more scope.

 

Just dress as suitably as you can, remember that you're the one paying, and be comfortable.  Some of the smartest, most expensively dressed people you'll see on formal nights let themselves down as soon as they start speaking!

 

 

[Harry Peterson]

11 minutes ago, fue-fue said:

Yes you will be fine in a navy blue dress, no problem at all.  If you want to take just one dress, that will be fine too.  Enjoy your cruise

Wholeheartedly agree with that!

[AndyMichelle]

We enjoy the formal nights, but accept not everybody wants or has the means to splash out on different outfits.

You will not feel out of place in a blue dress on a black and white night, or the same dress on different nights, plenty of others will be doing the same.

It is your holiday, we like the guidance, but also the freedom to be yourself.

Nobody will bat an eyelid.

Enjoy your cruise your way...

Andy

[jeanlyon]

I enjoy the formal nights, but don't bother with the themes.  On Black & White night, I wear black, as i don't have anything Black and White.  Some formal nights I wear long, some I wear short.  Don't let it bother you.  Wear what you like.

[silversurf1]

I never wear dresses. I have a pair of velvet trousers for formal nights and wear with a posh tops.

[Tacu]

I too had no dresses.  I managed to pick up a fairly posh frock in the sales and took that as my only dress - it was fine.  But as others have said, the evening 'themes' a re a guide rather than a rule.  It's nice if people make the effort to dress up but nobody's going to look down on you if you've dressed nicely and yet don't fit in with the night's theme 🙂

[swaddy]

Tropical night is not usually formal, women wear sundresses and men fancy shirts - if they want to. Anything colourful . There will also be at least one lady, on black and white night,  in head to toe sparkly red sequins working on the principle that if she's got it, she will flaunt it - and nobody bats an eye. One formal outfit, long, short, midi or maxi, skirt/trousers with top it's up to you. 

[vwgolf]

The problem I have with formal nights is that the dress codes aren't always adhered to. I don't like dress codes but if there is one, I stick to it and always take my suit with me. It therefore annoys me to see people in the MDR dressed casually. If P&O aren't going to enforce the dress code they should scrap it.

[Harry Peterson]

4 minutes ago, vwgolf said:

The problem I have with formal nights is that the dress codes aren't always adhered to. I don't like dress codes but if there is one, I stick to it and always take my suit with me. It therefore annoys me to see people in the MDR dressed casually. If P&O aren't going to enforce the dress code they should scrap it.

It’s entirely possible that they’ve reached the conclusion that it’s to all intents and purposes unenforceable.

[vwgolf]

7 minutes ago, docco said:

It’s entirely possible that they’ve reached the conclusion that it’s to all intents and purposes unenforceable.

You may well be right there. In which case, scrap the formal nights altogether. It's reasonable to insist on (say) long trousers and a collared shirt in the MDR but suits and ties are just a relic of by-gone days.

[Harry Peterson]

2 minutes ago, vwgolf said:

You may well be right there. In which case, scrap the formal nights altogether. It's reasonable to insist on (say) long trousers and a collared shirt in the MDR but suits and ties are just a relic of by-gone days.

Couldn’t agree more. An entirely sensible and practical solution. Not one which will appeal, though, to some of the current P&O customers.

 

It will come, though, sure as eggs, after they’ve ceased cruising. I’ll give it a maximum of 5 years. Probably a lot sooner.

[Eglesbrech]

21 minutes ago, docco said:

Couldn’t agree more. An entirely sensible and practical solution. Not one which will appeal, though, to some of the current P&O customers.

 

It will come, though, sure as eggs, after they’ve ceased cruising. I’ll give it a maximum of 5 years. Probably a lot sooner.

 

Personally I like formal nights, as do many, many regular cruisers, some of them fairly young so not likely to disappear in under 5 years (no matter how much you wish they would😀)

 

I think it will polarise and the modern family ships may dumb down the dress code and the adults only retain it but who knows for sure. That sort of compromise would at least give the for and against groups a choice.

 

The senior staff do (quite rightly) try to apply the dress code on formal nights and people are turned away if they have not made at least a bit of an effort. Some do slip through the net and of course there will always be acceptable exceptions eg people who have lost baggage.

 

[Harry Peterson]

14 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

The senior staff do (quite rightly) try to apply the dress code on formal nights and people are turned away if they have not made at least a bit of an effort. Some do slip through the net and of course there will always be acceptable exceptions eg people who have lost baggage.

 

I do very much agree with you, having once had a similar misfortune.  The staff were excellent (as they always are) and turned a blind eye to a slight compliance failure on my behalf.  I don't think I offended anyone (and apologised profusely to fellow guests) and certainly didn't look too casual, but I did appreciate the sensible exercise of discretion.

[vwgolf]

In the days of "jacket required" evenings I was once in a bar on the Azura when I felt a bit on the warm side and removed my jacket. Within seconds a waiter appeared to ask me to put my jacket back on! To be fair, the dress code was stated at the bar's entrance but I felt this was a little over the top. Thankfully, there are now only casual nights and formal nights on P&O.

[NSWP]

14 hours ago, vwgolf said:

In the days of "jacket required" evenings I was once in a bar on the Azura when I felt a bit on the warm side and removed my jacket. Within seconds a waiter appeared to ask me to put my jacket back on! To be fair, the dress code was stated at the bar's entrance but I felt this was a little over the top. Thankfully, there are now only casual nights and formal nights on P&O.

Indeed, more sensible, formal and casual, no more jacket nights.   Although I noted on casual nights, some gents still wore a suit and tie. Old habits die hard I suppose.

[NSWP]

15 hours ago, vwgolf said:

You may well be right there. In which case, scrap the formal nights altogether. It's reasonable to insist on (say) long trousers and a collared shirt in the MDR but suits and ties are just a relic of by-gone days.

Exactly what Holland America have done.  Formal nights now called Gala nights and no jacket and tie required, just long trousers and a collared shirt.  I am on Noordam Sunday, no jacket and tie in the case.

[Bazrat]

I was under the assumption that you chose your holiday own holiday picked the cruise line and read the terms and conditions,if your like me I would reject the ones not matching my plans as far as I know formal nights are part and parcel of cruising on certain cruise lines.

The bottom line is do away with the formal nights than go with just casual nights what than will make them special it will just be a another meal out.

 

[AndyMichelle]

Is 2 formal nights on a 7 night cruise too much?

We enjoy the balance.

Perhaps they are outdated, but we enjoy making an effort and would be very disappointed if they were scrapped.

On the other hand, we would not book a cruise where it was compulsory every night.

These ships have enough options for people who don't want to partake for a couple of nights.

This is the joy of modern day cruising, there is something for everyone.

Andy

[Bazrat]

55 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

Is 2 formal nights on a 7 night cruise too much?

We enjoy the balance.

Perhaps they are outdated, but we enjoy making an effort and would be very disappointed if they were scrapped.

On the other hand, we would not book a cruise where it was compulsory every night.

These ships have enough options for people who don't want to partake for a couple of nights.

This is the joy of modern day cruising, there is something for everyone.

Andy

You have summed it perfectly 

[Les_ldh]

1 hour ago, AndyMichelle said:

Is 2 formal nights on a 7 night cruise too much?

We enjoy the balance.

Perhaps they are outdated, but we enjoy making an effort and would be very disappointed if they were scrapped.

On the other hand, we would not book a cruise where it was compulsory every night.

These ships have enough options for people who don't want to partake for a couple of nights.

This is the joy of modern day cruising, there is something for everyone.

Andy

 

9 minutes ago, Bazrat said:

You have summed it perfectly 

 

I totally agree. As someone who never, ever dresses formally in the “normal” world I thoroughly enjoyed the formal nights on my first cruise last year, and I would miss them if the were discontinued. Now that’s something I never imagined myself saying! 😂

Les.

[Tommart]

Back to the original question - one navy blue dress will be absolutely fine.  Save your money for clothes that you'll wear all the time, rather than just on a cruise.

[daiB]

Because we cruise so often we now have all the gear so formal nights are no problem to us. We certainly would not like them to stop.

 

However if someone is trying out cruising the one formal outfit would be fine. Linked to a suit for the gent. If you get the bug I generally find that people then want to go the whole hog. It’s always nice to see younger cruisers getting into the spirit. They certainly look a lot better than some of us BOF’s.

Edited April 19, 2019 by daiB

[terrierjohn]

We quite like the formal nights but I have to admit that we skipped a few of the 8 that we had on our January Caribbean no fly cruise. We had none in the 10 Caribbean ports and trying to squeeze 8 into the 17 transatlantic sea days did feel like overkill.  I would be happy with a reduction to 3 on 14 night cruises, and maybe 4 for cruises of 15-21 nights.

But that's just my view and everyone will have their own ideas.