Semi formal nights to be dropped on Ventura and Oceana!

[MattyBarlow]

The brand 'Ocean Village' is disappearing isn't it Matty?

 

Yes thats correct. I has been said by the MD that it may re-appear in the future if the market dictates.

[Northbankboy]

as we have booked for our first cruise on the ventura Norwegian fjords 7 day cruise in june i would just like to ask for some clarification on what the change in dress code will mean . I am aware of the tuxedo dress code for the formal nights but now the informal code has been done away with ( rightly or wrongly ) what exactly constitutes smart casual ? jeans and polo shirts or trousers and shirts ? does that mean on a 7 night cruise you will only have 1 formal night ? are there any theme nights on the fjords cruise and what are they ?

[britsbest]

I'm sure I read that smart jeans and polos are acceptable as smart casual-not that I have ANY jeans I'm too old for them ! (56)

[britsbest]

Smart Casual

 

Stylish resort or leisurewear is ideal, for example casual separates, dresses or smart jeans for ladies and open-neck shirts, polo shirts and trousers or smart jeans (not shorts) for men. Men are not required to wear jackets on Smart Casual nights

 

 

Found it !

[daiB]

as we have booked for our first cruise on the ventura Norwegian fjords 7 day cruise in june i would just like to ask for some clarification on what the change in dress code will mean . I am aware of the tuxedo dress code for the formal nights but now the informal code has been done away with ( rightly or wrongly ) what exactly constitutes smart casual ? jeans and polo shirts or trousers and shirts ? does that mean on a 7 night cruise you will only have 1 formal night ? are there any theme nights on the fjords cruise and what are they ?

 

 

No there will be 2 formal nights per week.

 

:):)Happy Cruising:):)

 

 

 

:cool:

 

 

Dai

[Northbankboy]

Thank you both for the replies , seeing as we have 6 months to go it gives plenty of time to shop for the correct wardrobe ! am only intending to wear smart jeans during the day and wear trousers and shirts and jacket in the evening apart from the two formal evenings , gald to hear there will be two as i will be able to wear the DJ and my suit :cool:

[LibraLass41]

dark jeans only, not denim I read somewhere for smart casual.

The number of formal nights is staying the same = 2, my hubby wears trousers and a shirt on smart-casual , but I'm still unhappy with 5 smart casuals and no semi formals, not what I booked last April......:(

[capasamari]

There is absolutely nothing to STOP your husband wearing a suit/jacket and/or tie if he/you so wish on "smart casual" nights, our friend often does just because he feels like it.

 

We like to see dinner jackets (or at least a suit and bow tie) on formal nights as it gives a sense of occasion to a gala night.

 

On our recent Thomson Transatlantic the dress code was extremely well adhered to on the two formal nights and on the rest, although nominally smart casual, most people were very smartly turned out. When the staff are dressed nicely and you are enjoying a fabulous meal, why would you want/feel a need to dress down anyway? Some people were missing from the dining room on formal and other nights, we presumed they were dining at the Lido self-service so there is always this option on Thomson and other cruise lines if people prefer a more low-key evening.

[britsbest]

dark jeans only, not denim I read somewhere for smart casual.

The number of formal nights is staying the same = 2, my hubby wears trousers and a shirt on smart-casual , but I'm still unhappy with 5 smart casuals and no semi formals, not what I booked last April......:(

 

 

May I refer to my previous post.

[tom_uk]

I honestly don't know how much money OV was making (or not). I do think, however, that it's significant that it disappeared very shortly after Island Cruises announced their disappearance. In their case they are being taken over by TUI, which is merging them into their Thomson Cruises brand. Even there, however, Royal Caribbean (owners of Island) were careful to keep the better of the Island Cruises ships - Island Star, formerly Celebrity Cruises' Horizon - and are re-deploying that ship elsewhere within the RCI empire (probably to Pullmantur).

 

I just think that if the informal, budget, UK cruise sector was profitable, it's strange that two of the three participants are vanishing.

 

I would also have thought that an awful lot of the OV market is going to head towards Thomson rather than P&O.

[MattyBarlow]

I

I would also have thought that an awful lot of the OV market is going to head towards Thomson rather than P&O.

 

 

Im not so sure. Personally Thomson cruises holds no interest to me at all. Much rather use P&O.

[cruisebore]

 

I would also have thought that an awful lot of the OV market is going to head towards Thomson rather than P&O.

 

 

If only because the entertainment offered is of a higher standard

Cb

[jestella321]

Very upset at the changes to ventura but we will still be dressing as we did on semi formal as i am sure so will many others i think this is what cruising is all about, getting dressed up for dinner makes it for us so we will not be changing.

[Single Cruiser]

I honestly don't know how much money OV was making (or not). I do think, however, that it's significant that it disappeared very shortly after Island Cruises announced their disappearance. In their case they are being taken over by TUI, which is merging them into their Thomson Cruises brand. Even there, however, Royal Caribbean (owners of Island) were careful to keep the better of the Island Cruises ships - Island Star, formerly Celebrity Cruises' Horizon - and are re-deploying that ship elsewhere within the RCI empire (probably to Pullmantur).

 

I just think that if the informal, budget, UK cruise sector was profitable, it's strange that two of the three participants are vanishing.

 

I would also have thought that an awful lot of the OV market is going to head towards Thomson rather than P&O.

 

The problem with the freestyle cruises for the UK market is that all the ships used are hand-me down from other lines, OV1 being prime example as the previous Arcadia! Also they don't have the features of modern ships. Island cruises is another example - the Escape was a converted Car Ferry!

 

the freestyle cruise does work, just look at NCL, Aida etc. all who successfully employ it.

 

For me the Thomson ones don't appeal! At one stage they were going to move Grand Princess (one of the oldest in Princess) to be rebranded as the new OV but Princess wanted to keep hold of it. With no new builds (or capital to outlay for a new build when they already building Azura/QE etc..) Carnival Uk didn't have much choice, especially with all the new berths to fill on the new ships.

 

Thats why the Carnival MD has said if another brand wants to give up a ship they wouldn't rule out bringing OV back!

[LibraLass41]

This is the email I received from Pando today:

 

Dear Mrs Veale,

 

Thank you for your recent e-mail addressed to our Managing Director. At

present, Mr Esdale is unable to respond to all correspondence received, but

he has discussed the issue surrounding dress codes on board Ventura and

Oceana with me and asked that I respond to concerns raised by passengers on

his behalf.

 

It is true that the dress code for Ventura and Oceana is to change when

they return from the Caribbean in April in that there will no longer be any

semi formal evenings. It is important to note, however, that we are aware

fully of how important formal evenings are on our ships and we have no

intention of reducing the number of such or removing them completely. By

limiting the changes to just two ships, we believe that we now offer

passengers even more choice when it comes to making a booking.

Furthermore, we have acted on feedback received from passengers both

verbally and in writing, and indeed we have take action following extensive

communication with staff on board these two ships.

 

Mrs Veale, it perhaps goes without saying that we are sorry you are unhappy

with our decision to make these changes, but I sincerely hope that this

will not deter you from booking with us in future. I am aware that many

passengers have expressed their intention to dress in the same attire for

smart casual evenings as they would have done for semi formal, which is of

course an option open to passengers. This really serves to prove that our

passengers really do have more choice.

 

As mentioned Mrs Veale, I hope you still continue to sail with us in the

future and we look forward to welcoming you on board Oceana in August.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Trevor Slade

Senior Passenger Relations Executive

P&O Cruises

Carnival UK

[MattyBarlow]

A well balanced reply.

[Flat booby]

We are just back from Ventura Cruising the Carabbean and had a fantastic time after reading all the bad reviews we were worried but then found we were worrying over nothing . Ventura is a fantastic ship beautiful public rooms and our balcony stateroom C104 was lovely and was NOT overlooked by any balcony above us after a great night out we would go back to our cabin and enjoy a glass or two of whisky with the stars above us and the moon shining on the sea. For 2 weeks we had lovely weather only on the last day did it rain. The food and service in the Bay Tree was VG. We had dinner in the White Room food was delicious but service was slow. We preferred the Bay Tree service and atmosphere to the White Room. The only complaint we had was the sun beds being too close together although we always found somewhere to lie. C Deck has larger balconies than A B or D deck. We were looking down on D deck which we felt sorry for. The Entertainment some we enjoyed some we didnt but that would happen on any ship. Ventura is a very big ship and if you prefer the smaller ships then Ventura is not for you. the size did not bother us one bit we loved it and would definitely go back again. We bought the Whisky at Duty Free and did not even try to hide it and no-one stopped us bringing it on the ship even though it showed going through the Xray. There were not many kids on board and the ones that were, were well behaved. :D

[stopgo]

When did you go flat booby over Xmas ?

[seattlelover]

I'm actually not opposed to the idea of dropping the semi formal nights. Why can't P&O haven't a couple more casual ships amongst the fleet?

 

The only thing which is wrong in my opnion, is the fact it hasn't been introduced at the launch of a new brochure.

 

Bev

[tom_uk]

I've always thought that one of the things makes an identity (e.g.a cruise line) is the collection of policies: how they 'do things'. Given this, if different parts of the organisation start doing things differently then they run the risk of losing their identity. For example, my understanding is that this was behind the decision to spin-off Azamara as a separate line from Celebrity. When they actually started getting to know the two ships they acquired they realised that not only had they been designed (by Renaissance Cruises) as informal, 'country club casual' ships, they didn't in fact work any other way. And they then decided that trying to sell a non-formal approach under the same brand name as their typical formal cruises wouldn't work, so they created a new line, Azamara. (At a very late stage, I believe - when the first Azamara ship was named/introduced, it was only the side nearest the dock that had been painted with the new Azamara logo & name; the other side still said 'Celebrity...'!)

 

I can see problems if radically different policies are in place in different ships in the same line. For example, someone comes to dinner on a formal night on, say, Aurora dressed casually and says to the Maitre'D "This is how I dressed on [another P&O ship]!", the Maitre'D has a limited range of answers available. At least at the moment when the same passenger says "This is how I dressed on [another line's ship]" he can say "Sir, I'm afraid this is P&O, not [another cruise line], and our policy is to expect passengers to dress formally on formal nights". If the policies vary across the fleet that argument is gone.

 

Oh dear - I fear I'm coming across like a reactionary old whatsit... Let me make it clear - I have no view on which policy is "better". My personal *preference* is for formality, but that's just me. What I am sure about is that having different policies on different ships in the same fleet makes implementing them more difficult.

[Single Cruiser]

I'm actually not opposed to the idea of dropping the semi formal nights. Why can't P&O haven't a couple more casual ships amongst the fleet?

 

 

Bev

 

Based on 3,000 OV pax each fortnight there is probably 78,000 people who would agree with that!! :confused:

[octagonmike]

I honestly don't know how much money OV was making (or not). I do think, however, that it's significant that it disappeared very shortly after Island Cruises announced their disappearance. In their case they are being taken over by TUI, which is merging them into their Thomson Cruises brand. Even there, however, Royal Caribbean (owners of Island) were careful to keep the better of the Island Cruises ships - Island Star, formerly Celebrity Cruises' Horizon - and are re-deploying that ship elsewhere within the RCI empire (probably to Pullmantur).

 

I just think that if the informal, budget, UK cruise sector was profitable, it's strange that two of the three participants are vanishing.

 

I would also have thought that an awful lot of the OV market is going to head towards Thomson rather than P&O.

 

 

 

Apparently, OV1 and OV2 are the two most profitable ships of their size in the whole of the Carnival Fleet.

[lostinvegas]

Its been a few years since we travelled on P&O but we did not find much difference between what people wore on the semi-formal and smart casual nights. Most men wore a jacket on both nights. Ties seemed optional on either night. This was on Oceana. Everyone looked smart enough on either evening. We did not see anyone inapropriately dressed (shorts, jeans etc..) the whole holiday.

 

The key to the letter recieved from P&O for me is the fact they are not going to reduce the formal nights, this is something I enjoy and I would bet is one of the main reasons pax book P&O instead of OV.

 

The other key thing for P&O is enforcement. If they let smart casual turn into "anything goes" then they will be in trouble. As long as pax look smart and are dressed appropriatly on the smart casual nights and are dress up for the formal nights they should keep their customers.

 

Chris

[daiB]

Tom,

 

Reactionary old whatsit's rule OK:D:D:D

 

 

 

 

:)Happy Cruising:)

 

 

:cool:

 

 

Dai

[daiB]

Apparently, OV1 and OV2 are the two most profitable ships of their size in the whole of the Carnival Fleet.

 

 

Thats Cos the are the only 2 of their size, in the whole of the Carnival Fleet.:D

 

 

 

:):)Happy Cruising:):)

 

 

 

:cool:

 

 

Dai