We came home yesterday from our Caribbean cruise on Britannia, and we had a great time. We booked Premium seats and thought them well worth it especially when some passengers were taking almost 2 hours to check in. All in all, the cruise was much as expected with very good food, theatre was good etc etc.
I've argued in favour of formal Nights many times but having just got back from our Caribbean cruise on Britanna yesterday I have to admit to a complete change of mind.
The majority did appear to be adhering to the dress code but apart from the MDRs only the Crows Nest insisted on Formal Dress and even that was a bit lax. Whilst men were turned away from the Oriental if not wearing Black Tie, the women were a completely different kettle of fish with flip flops, shorts etc. We Ballroom Dance and love the Crystal Room but on Formal Nights the dancing finished at 9.15 to make way for a quiz and Karaoke. Without knocking either activity I really felt overdressed sitting there amongst people wearing shorts and t-shirts and I really question if these are suitable activities for a Formal Night. We thought the food was very good but no different on a Formal Night apart from the addition of an amuse-bouche. For me, it's time Formal Nights are ditched completely.
I sound like a bit of a snob but the dress code for some people on Smart Casual Nights was not great and some looked like they'd come straight off the beach. Shorts (Tailored or not) and T-Shirts were allowed in the MDR and also in any bar. Why do P&O have a dress code if they don't adhere to it? I'm not against tailored shorts btw.
I've read several comments on this Forum that P&O are aiming for a different market and to be honest I have been annoyed by these comments but again I have to admit to being wrong. P&O are definitely aiming at a different market and there is a substantial change now from even a few years ago. I'm not sure about "Butlins at Sea" but maybe more a "Party Ship".
One thing that really did bug me was the sunbed stramash. Look for a sunbed after 8am and you had little chance. The Serenity Pool was all booked up by 7 am. The use of "Blue" towels was out of control with many people using two each and some 3 or 4. A lot of people just left them on the sunbeds and some even left them on the beach when finished with.
It is difficult for me to be so negative as I'm a very loyal P&O customer and I've no doubt there will be plenty of people disagree with me and I do appreciate that the majority will have had a great time as we did to, but it is time that P&O stopped portraying these cruises as being upmarket.
At the end of the day, would I go on another cruise with P&O? Yes, I definitely would but hopefully by then the Formal Nights will be no more.