Dress Code

[Cool seas]

I apologise if this has been mentioned before. I know this topic has got a bit heated on the Princess forum page. Is there a P&O ship that I can go on that is less formal? We have been on Ocean Village twice and just come back from Grand Princess. We enjoy cruising, but don't enjoy the formal side of things.

 

We enjoy "dressing" for dinner but not too fomally. I notice that Oceana has a buffet restaurant, could we use this on formal nights and not be too dressed up. This is what we did on Grand Princess and it worked well.

 

 

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[tom_uk]

I'm afraid you might well find P&O even dressier and more formal than Princess!

 

If you liked the informality of Ocean Village but want something more up-to-date, why not have a look at NCL? Their dress code is more relaxed than P&O's, their dinner policy is 'Freestyle' dining only, and best of all their most recent ships (Norwegian Jewel, Gem, Pearl & Jade) are a) very new and b) specifically designed for Freestyle.

[daiB]

I apologise if this has been mentioned before. I know this topic has got a bit heated on the Princess forum page. Is there a P&O ship that I can go on that is less formal? We have been on Ocean Village twice and just come back from Grand Princess. We enjoy cruising, but don't enjoy the formal side of things.

 

We enjoy "dressing" for dinner but not too fomally. I notice that Oceana has a buffet restaurant, could we use this on formal nights and not be too dressed up. This is what we did on Grand Princess and it worked well.

 

 

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

Simple answer is no.

 

The dress code on P&O is for all parts of the ship all evening. It is well observed, especially on a formal night. 95%+of gents will wear a DJ and the rest a dark suit.

 

P&O is certainly more formal than Princess from what I understand.

 

The general view is that the dressing up is a major part of the cruise experience. Judging by the number of people in the main dining room the buffet on any night must be quite quiet.

 

The specialist restaurants eg Arcdian Rhodes will also demand the correct dress code for the evening.

 

You may be better with NCL for example.

 

 

:):)Happy Cruising:):)

 

 

 

Gan Canny

 

 

:cool:

 

Dai

[Pontius Navigator]

Even on Celebrity where it was unseasonally hot, particularly in the theatre, most people seemed to abide by the dress of the day.

 

PS, I should have added that most passengers seemed to be British or European.

[Fresh Haddock]

I apologise if this has been mentioned before. I know this topic has got a bit heated on the Princess forum page. Is there a P&O ship that I can go on that is less formal? We have been on Ocean Village twice and just come back from Grand Princess. We enjoy cruising, but don't enjoy the formal side of things.

 

We enjoy "dressing" for dinner but not too fomally. I notice that Oceana has a buffet restaurant, could we use this on formal nights and not be too dressed up. This is what we did on Grand Princess and it worked well.

 

 

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

Yes you can use the buffet restaurant on the P&O ships any night and the dress is informal. We cruised with P&O earlier this year and there was a notice in the buffet restaurant stating that dress was "casual" every evening and I understand this applies to all ships. What you may not be able to do is gain entry to one of two of the bars which may say "dress code of the evening applies". On the evenings when the dress code is casual you won't have any problems eating in any of the restaurants and drinking in any of the bars too!

 

Hope this helps.