Black and White night

Just to clarify, Black and white nights on board, does this just mean black tie style outfits. Could I wear a purple ball gown?!!

You can wear whatever you like! The 'black & white' night is not compulsory, although on our recent cruise onboard Ventura it was pretty well observed by the ladies. There were, however, several ladies wearing other colours.

The vast majority of ladies wear black and white and the men of course wear DJ. You don't have to bt as wobbly says the take up is high.

I've got a couple of black and white dresses now but at first I just used to wear a black dress with a white wrap or corsage or black and white jewellery. You could also wear black evening trousers with a silver / white top then take your purple gown for another evening.

You may feel the odd one out in purple as B/W nights are very well observed on P&O. Most of my evening wear is black anyway so I wear that and may add a white accessory. You can easily wear the ball gown on another formal night.

I read on the old P+O forum. That a first timer lady, attended the Black n White night dressed as a Friesian cow !

Sometimes I wear B&W and sometimes I don't, it depends on what I fit into [emoji15] I certainly wouldn't go and buy anything new if you have a purple dress that you like. I'm quite confident and non-conformance doesn't bother me when it comes to colours. I once went completely opposite and wore something multi coloured and very bright because it was convenient for that day/cruise. If I have B&W that fit I will wear it. I'm on Britannia soon and am wearing a black top but it has embroidery that has lots of colours in it. Don't know if that helps [emoji106]🏼

I'm taking my first cruise with p&o in September although I've cruised many times with other lines. Can you tell me if there's always a black/white night onboard? My cruise personaliser just tells me there will be 2 formal nights.

Thanks for your help,

Jenny

If you are having 2 formal evenings then the likelihood is that one of them will be black and white. I have only 1 formal evening on our forthcoming cruise and I will be putting in my black and white stuff just in case.

My personal view for the ladies is that if you want to conform (no compulsion at all) then you wear black, white, or black and white! I have one all white outfit which I love wearing (doesnt look bridal at all) and sometimes I will add a black wrap - and sometimes I don't! And I have several types of black evening attire, some of which I might accessorise with white - and some I don't!

It does look rather lovely though that evening as most people do stick to the theme as it is relatively easy.

Our pre boarding info and P&O site said no themes.

Then we board to find 2nd formal is B&W.

So we go with what we brought as there was not time to nip back home and repack.

Or...P&O could have given us the correct information in advance.

My wife was ready for the B&W night on our last cruise by taking a pretty dress that she had bought for our 25th wedding anniversary a few years previously. Unbeknown to her, the dress had shrunk in these intervening years (so she tells me, and who am I to argue!) and the zip split whilst she was trying to squeeze into it.

She had to wear a blue dress instead. She didn't look out of place though as there were a considerable number who wore different colours.

If you go by how some of the ladies were dressed on our recent Britannia cruise then I wouldn't worry at all about the B&W Night. I'm not against smart trouser suits or whatever but some ladies made very little effort.

Our pre boarding info and P&O site said no themes.

Then we board to find 2nd formal is B&W.

 

So we go with what we brought as there was not time to nip back home and repack.

Or...P&O could have given us the correct information in advance.

The formal nights are never classed as a theme nights. One of the formal nights normally is a black and white night.

Theme nights are something different entirely.

I read on the old P+O forum. That a first timer lady, attended the Black n White night dressed as a Friesian cow !

Good idea, I'll root out my cow outfit ;)

I don't have a black dress that I would consider formal enough for black tie, oh well, we'll just have to go look for one!

Good idea, I'll root out my cow outfit ;)

 

I don't have a black dress that I would consider formal enough for black tie, oh well, we'll just have to go look for one!

I would certainly not be concerned about the B&W night because we have been on Britannia and Azura this year and on both of these cruises the B&W theme was observed a lot less than on previous cruises that we have done with less than 50% bothering with the theme. We have another cruise booked on Ventura later this year and I have already decided that I will not take a black and white outfit for the B&W night because I don't particularly like black.

On Adonia last December it was observed by about 80% of the ladies so perhaps it is a case of the bigger ships becoming more easygoing than the small ships.

Just to clarify, Black and white nights on board, does this just mean black tie style outfits. Could I wear a purple ball gown?!!

I think it would depend on the ship you are going on. We have cruised Aurora and Arcadia. Both of these the B and W theme was adhered to by min 90% + of the ship.

As has already been stated the large ,less traditional ships do not seem to have so many people dressing as suggested.

On our last Arcadia cruise on bw night we saw someone in a bright red dress heading back to their cabin to change.

We love black and white nights. I wear my white tux with black formal shirt and white bow tie :cool:.

This year my good lady will wear a new black gown and decorate it with a diamond broach which she tells me are actually called white diamonds !! :D

Peter and Jenny

I would certainly not be concerned about the B&W night because we have been on Britannia and Azura this year and on both of these cruises the B&W theme was observed a lot less than on previous cruises that we have done with less than 50% bothering with the theme. We have another cruise booked on Ventura later this year and I have already decided that I will not take a black and white outfit for the B&W night because I don't particularly like black.

 

On Adonia last December it was observed by about 80% of the ladies so perhaps it is a case of the bigger ships becoming more easygoing than the small ships.

I was on Azura at the beginning of June and I thought B&W night was very well observed - I'd say at least 80%, it looked lovely round the ship. Perhaps it depends how much cruisers know - on my first cruise I was just lucky I took a black dress and wore my red one to the first formal as I had no idea!

Had the same problem myself on both my recent P and O cruises, should have learnt from the first one!

The first cruise mentioned a 60s theme, which I decided against dressing up for, but no mention of black and white night. The second cruise only listed 2 formal nights and no theme nights.

I wore my smarter (black) outfit for the first formal night, which included the Captains cocktail party and photos etc. then discovered in the daily info paper that the next formal night was black and white, and ' the smartest occasion' on the cruise! My second formal outfit was chocolate brown!

The second cruise, not having learnt from my mistakes, I again wore my black outfit for the first night, and lo and behold, second formal night was described as black and white night, less than 24 hours notice! Luckily my second outfit was navy blue lace and I didn't feel out of place. Saw quite a few women in coloured dresses and would have worn one myself if needed.

I was a bit annoyed though that P and O did not list it on the cruise personaliser or similar.

The dress code/themes are on the in cabin interactive TV, though you have to be onboard to see that!

I was on Azura at the beginning of June and I thought B&W night was very well observed - I'd say at least 80%, it looked lovely round the ship. Perhaps it depends how much cruisers know - on my first cruise I was just lucky I took a black dress and wore my red one to the first formal as I had no idea!

I guess it might be very dependant on the the type of cruiser a particular cruise attracts. I was on Azura in the middle of June (Fjords) and the number of people dressing in black & white was very low. However, on my first cruise a few years ago to the med I'd say it was in excess of 90%.

If you are having 2 formal evenings then the likelihood is that one of them will be black and white. I have only 1 formal evening on our forthcoming cruise and I will be putting in my black and white stuff just in case.

There is a section on the P&O website which advises by exact cruise what the total numbers of formal nights are and exactly what themes will be in the programme including the non-formal types too.

Unfortunately I have no idea how to do links.

Regards John

https://ask.pocruises.com/help/PO/life-on-board/dress_code_all

This is the link to the dress code info. Scroll down and select your ship.

I wouldn't go too much on what the P&O site says. On our last cruise it said that we would have two theme nights - Tropical and 60s/70s and there would be 3 formal nights. No mention of a Black and White evening and it was only by chance I put in the outfit that I wear for Black and White - and yes there was a Black and White evening. The only theme evening I've found quite a few people dress up for (apart from Black and White) is Tropical when quite a lot of men wore the very gaudy Caribbean shirts and women wore bright outfits. Haven't seen anyone dressed for 60s/70s recently.

I would say that the percentage of women who dress for the Black and White evening is between 80%-90% depending on the ship. More on Aurora and Oriana fewer on Ventura but still the vast majority.

60s/70s :eek: I have enough problems finding space to pack clothes for the 2015's :rolleyes: