Arvia - confused on Celebration nights 13th Oct.

[Stu UK]

Interesting how itinerary “formal” nights are not the same dates as Chefs Table in holiday planner. Which should I believe?

[david63]

1 hour ago, Stu UK said:

Which should I believe?

Whatever is in the daily information when onboard.

[Stu UK]

1 hour ago, david63 said:

Whatever is in the daily information when onboard.

Unfortunately that does not help when we are having to pre-book so many things. It would be such a simple thing for P&O to get their info consistent on the two web pages 🤦🏻

[david63]

The point is that formal/celebration nights can, and do, change once onboard so the only correct information will be that given out onboard, and even that can change at the last minute.

[FangedRose]

32 minutes ago, david63 said:

The point is that formal/celebration nights can, and do, change once onboard so the only correct information will be that given out onboard, and even that can change at the last minute.

This.

 

Celebration/formal nights are usually scheduled for sea days if possible. If the itinerary changes due to "operational reasons" and what was a sea day is now a port day, or if the sea is going to be exceptionally "lumpy" they will move the celebration night.

[FangedRose]

48 minutes ago, Stu UK said:

Unfortunately that does not help when we are having to pre-book so many things. It would be such a simple thing for P&O to get their info consistent on the two web pages 🤦🏻

Only if they can predict the weather for one day, or the vagaries of port authorities, months in advance.

[Stu UK]

7 minutes ago, FangedRose said:

Only if they can predict the weather for one day, or the vagaries of port authorities, months in advance.

That has nothing to do with two pages of a web site giving different information. 

[FangedRose]

Just now, Stu UK said:

That has nothing to do with two pages of a web site giving different information. 

That has got nothing to do with the fact that even if they gave same information it could change at a couple of hours notice once on board.

[solentsam]

My advice would be to book the chefs table it will be on the formal night so if that changes so will the chefs table booking.

[Stu UK]

1 hour ago, solentsam said:

My advice would be to book the chefs table it will be on the formal night so if that changes so will the chefs table booking.

Thank you. I will for at least one. Just wanted to ensure we booked Epicurean for a formal night too. Guess I will book 2 nights and cancel one when things become clearer. 

[Selbourne]

8 hours ago, Stu UK said:

Unfortunately that does not help when we are having to pre-book so many things. It would be such a simple thing for P&O to get their info consistent on the two web pages 🤦🏻

I agree. It’s all over the place and there is no excuse. On our recent Britannia cruise the formal nights were shown as being on port days and most sea days were shown as casual. That was never going to happen and was clearly an error. The week before the cruise it changed (there was no itinerary change). This caught a number of people out with speciality restaurant bookings. 
 

The method that I use to guesstimate when the formal nights will be on a 14 night ex-U.K. cruise is as follows - 1) never the first or last night. 2) Usually the second night. 3) The remainder on sea days, usually fairly evenly spaced. It’s not foolproof, but I get 9 out of 10 right using that method 😂 However, am I correct in thinking that Arvia only has 2 formal nights on a 14 night cruise? If so, that’s more difficult to work out!

Edited September 30, 2023 by Selbourne

[CarlaMarie]

Yes you are right @Selbourne. Both Iona and Arvia have two formal on a 14 night cruise.