Britannia Formal Dress

[Fionboard]

20 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

Sounds very sensible.  One of the main gripes with P&O is that if you don't want to dress up you're consigned to the buffet, and that's just ludicrous.  Smart casual rarely offends and I'd be very happy with that.

Not true. Formal only for MDR and a couple of bars. No problem!

[Harry Peterson]

7 minutes ago, Fionboard said:

Not true. Formal only for MDR and a couple of bars. No problem!

 

That's excellent news - where else is now included, then, aside from the buffet and chargeable options?  

[Ardennais]

3 hours ago, Fionboard said:

Not true. Formal only for MDR and a couple of bars. No problem!

I think he meant that you can only eat in the buffet on formal nights unless dressed formally. We don’t mind doing that, it’s a pleasant change and we quite like the buffet anyway! 

[davecttr]

Iona arrangements are formal dress in the 4 MDR's, Sindhu, Chefs table and Epicurian restaurants and Crows Nest and probably Sindhu bars. Evening casual for everywhere else with free food only in the buffet and Quays but some charged items in the Olive Grove. Keel & Cow and The Glass House charge. I wondered why with 4 main dining rooms they did not have the option of the MDR waiter service with evening casual dress. I see the new Arvia will have the 2 smaller MDR's repurposed to the Olive Grove and a 'Board Walk Diner'?

[Fionboard]

On Ventura, Beach House and Glass House are not formal, but of course they do charge extra there. Same on Britannia I think.

[davecttr]

1 minute ago, Fionboard said:

On Ventura, Beach House and Glass House are not formal, but of course they do charge extra there. Same on Britannia I think.

And to confuse matters the Glass House on Azura and Ventura has been listed for years on the web site as formal. On board it is evening casual 🙄

[Denarius]

20 hours ago, Harry Peterson said:

Sounds very sensible.  One of the main gripes with P&O is that if you don't want to dress up you're consigned to the buffet, and that's just ludicrous.  Smart casual rarely offends and I'd be very happy with that.

Just for clarification. Whilst the grill offers a buffet at breakfast and lunch it is a proper restaurant not a cafeteria. It has a formal reception desk where you check in and are allocated and escorted to a table. Apart from the food everything at breakfast and lunch is waiter served.

[Fionboard]

What is the grill? Do you mean The Beach House which  is part of the buffet during the day and  a restaurant in the evening?

[dunnster1965]

1 hour ago, Fionboard said:

What is the grill? Do you mean The Beach House which  is part of the buffet during the day and  a restaurant in the evening?

See post #24

[Harry Peterson]

I don’t care what they call it, but there should be a decent, free of charge, table service restaurant available for all passengers who prefer just to wear smart casual and are therefore excluded from the MDR.  That doesn’t sound unreasonable to me, and it wouldn’t inconvenience anyone.

[Fionboard]

3 hours ago, dunnster1965 said:

See post #24

Sorry thought this was P&O forum!

[Fionboard]

2 hours ago, Harry Peterson said:

I don’t care what they call it, but there should be a decent, free of charge, table service restaurant available for all passengers who prefer just to wear smart casual and are therefore excluded from the MDR.  That doesn’t sound unreasonable to me, and it wouldn’t inconvenience anyone.

Agree. There are three MDRs so one could maybe not formal.

[david63]

If anyone thinks that "formal" is on the way out then I have some bad news for you - forget it. Tonight was the first formal of this cruise and the standard of dress was probably one of the best I have seen on any cruise in the last few years. Both old, young and children were immaculate - at least they were in the areas of the ship that I was in.

 

Young families are brining their offspring up to appreciate this type of occaision - and long may it continue.

 

The standard of formal dress tonight was far better than it was on the cruise last week on Britannia.

[Ardennais]

1 hour ago, david63 said:

If anyone thinks that "formal" is on the way out then I have some bad news for you - forget it. Tonight was the first formal of this cruise and the standard of dress was probably one of the best I have seen on any cruise in the last few years. Both old, young and children were immaculate - at least they were in the areas of the ship that I was in.

 

Young families are brining their offspring up to appreciate this type of occaision - and long may it continue.

 

The standard of formal dress tonight was far better than it was on the cruise last week on Britannia.

It really doesn’t bother me one way or another. All I’ll add is that you don’t have to wear formal attire to be immaculate. I’ve seen plenty of crusty DJs well past their sell by date! 

[Harry Peterson]

9 hours ago, Ardennais said:

It really doesn’t bother me one way or another. All I’ll add is that you don’t have to wear formal attire to be immaculate. I’ve seen plenty of crusty DJs well past their sell by date! 

I apologise. Nice to meet you, though. 😉

[Camberley]

12 hours ago, david63 said:

Young families are brining their offspring up to appreciate this type of occaision - and long may it continue.

Or parents making their kids dress up rather than the kids being willing - which I get! And a short while into the night most of said offspring wriggle uncomfortably in their attire and take them off at the earliest opportunity.

 

I do like formal nights once in a while on P&O: I feel it’s more of an “occasion” when it is less frequently. But even just smart shoes, shirt, jacket, tie etc is really good enough if the person feels comfortable: really no need for it to be the full DJ and the like unless the person wants to. I remember a crusty old fart on our last cruise tried to tear a strip into one of the friends we made for being in a normal (but clean, tidy) suit. But you can usually sense those types and avoid….sadly we didn’t that time: too much cheap Prosecco!
 

But I think on a more upmarket cruise line it would be great to dress up more.

Edited May 31, 2022 by Camberley

[Fionboard]

If you do not like dressing up for dinner there are loads of lines you can go on!

 

[terrierjohn]

2 minutes ago, Fionboard said:

If you do not like dressing up for dinner there are loads of lines you can go on!

 

That's a bit of a hackneyed phrase. P&O could do far more to enable both formal and casual dress to coexist. Certainly on all the larger ships there are normally 2 freedom dining MDRs which could be split to enable casual diners to enjoy eating in the MDR without upsetting the sensibilities of the more traditional cruises.

[Ardennais]

34 minutes ago, Fionboard said:

If you do not like dressing up for dinner there are loads of lines you can go on!

 

Including P&O.

[Snow Hill]

2 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

That's a bit of a hackneyed phrase. P&O could do far more to enable both formal and casual dress to coexist. Certainly on all the larger ships there are normally 2 freedom dining MDRs which could be split to enable casual diners to enjoy eating in the MDR without upsetting the sensibilities of the more traditional cruises.

That would be the sensible way forward, but can we expect P&O to be sensible? 

[Orianababes]

14 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

That's a bit of a hackneyed phrase. P&O could do far more to enable both formal and casual dress to coexist. Certainly on all the larger ships there are normally 2 freedom dining MDRs which could be split to enable casual diners to enjoy eating in the MDR without upsetting the sensibilities of the more traditional cruises.

Hello

unless exactly half want formal and half wanting casual it would impossible to put in place

 

Current Britannia cruise was well supported on formal night old and young alike. When we take our grandchildren on board they all enjoy the chance to dress up.  Ages range 11 to 18.

[Pine Man]

 

24 minutes ago, Orianababes said:

P&O could do far more to enable both formal and casual dress to coexist.

Why would they need to do that?

 

Given that most of the 'Formal Dress' cruises are virtually fully booked, why should they worry about the concerns of a few 'non-conformists' and just continue as they are 'without upsetting the sensibilities of the more traditional cruisers'.

 

We all make are choices of cruise based on our preferences and what is being offered. For that very reason my wife and I will never use Iona, for example, as only Freedom Dining is offered. We certainly won't just go on it and then complain later on this forum about the lack of club dining!

[wowzz]

On 5/29/2022 at 11:04 AM, terrierjohn said:

But its not only P&O that continue with this, anachronism or not, Princess, Celebrity, RCI and many other cruise lines continue with this feature,

I think you'll find that Celebrity have done away with formal nights as such. And, judging by some of the sights on Regal Princess at the moment, the dress code has disappeared all together. Shorts in all the dining rooms, even on formal nights.

[wowzz]

On 5/29/2022 at 11:04 AM, terrierjohn said:

But its not only P&O that continue with this, anachronism or not, Princess, Celebrity, RCI and many other cruise lines continue with this feature,

Duplicate post.

Edited June 1, 2022 by wowzz

[Bazrat]

1 hour ago, Pine Man said:

 

Why would they need to do that?

 

Given that most of the 'Formal Dress' cruises are virtually fully booked, why should they worry about the concerns of a few 'non-conformists' and just continue as they are 'without upsetting the sensibilities of the more traditional cruisers'.

 

We all make are choices of cruise based on our preferences and what is being offered. For that very reason my wife and I will never use Iona, for example, as only Freedom Dining is offered. We certainly won't just go on it and then complain later on this forum about the lack of club dining!

Totally correct up to the point about Iona we are going on her sister ship next year, We will try it out before we make any decisions about our likes or dislikes