New to P&O - Freedom Dining - VENTURA

[bellablot]

Booked up for the Spain, Portugal & France 24th Oct Cruise. Now I have read on here that if one chooses the Freedom Dining then it's a buffet style restaurant, can someone clear this up as I was included to think it would still be waiter style.

[BrianI]

Freedom dining is in a waiter served restaurant. The menu and dress code for Freedom dining is exactly the same as for Club dining. The only difference is that you have flexibility when to dine within the set opening hours - 1800 to 2130 I think.

Brian

[oakworth96]

Hi freedom dining is in the main restaurants but you can turn up anytime between 18:00 and 21:00 but if the restaurants are full then they give you a pager.

[bellablot]

Thanks for the quick replies, as I was about to get other half to call up and change it to the 20:30 sitting! :D

 

Attire wise, are we able to turn up with dark jeans and a shirt/t-shirt?

[BrianI]

Attire wise, are we able to turn up with dark jeans and a shirt/t-shirt?

The dress code of the day applies to the Freedom dining restaurant as well as the other waiter served restaurants.

Brian

[whoops]

Thanks for the quick replies, as I was about to get other half to call up and change it to the 20:30 sitting! :D

 

Attire wise, are we able to turn up with dark jeans and a shirt/t-shirt?

 

Turn up in your jeans and you will have the fuddy duddies choking on their soup.

[bellablot]

Turn up in your jeans and you will have the fuddy duddies choking on their soup.

 

 

Seriously? [emoji23] The website says dark jeans are permissible. I might just buy a pair of decent pants, so not to rock the boat, as it were.

[tokyo]

But how do you define dark :p

 

We leave on a P and O cruise soon and I was thinking about wearing jeans and a Princess cruises:eek: T shirt on the first night. Do you think it could start a bun fight :rolleyes:

[GLYNAGP]

We are booked on our First P and O cruise in August 2016 on Ventura and I am already paranoid about the dress code. I do have a Dinner Suit but when packing to travel prefer to take my Lounge Suit which is a light grey . Everything I read say a dark lounge suit is acceptable and I don't have one and as I only wear a lounge suit about 3 or 4 a year I really don't want to go out and buy a new one just to please P and O. I've also read that if you choose not to dress formal and go to the Buffet to dine there are some areas of the ship that you can't go to on formal nights if you are not dressed correctly. Is that correct?

 

Glyn

[whoops]

I don't bother to take a suit of any kind as my bad back requires me to travel light. You are not barred from going to any of the nightclubs or the theatre if you choose not to wear a suit. I rough it in the buffet on formal nights.

[the english lady]

We are booked on our First P and O cruise in August 2016 on Ventura and I am already paranoid about the dress code. I do have a Dinner Suit but when packing to travel prefer to take my Lounge Suit which is a light grey . Everything I read say a dark lounge suit is acceptable and I don't have one and as I only wear a lounge suit about 3 or 4 a year I really don't want to go out and buy a new one just to please P and O. I've also read that if you choose not to dress formal and go to the Buffet to dine there are some areas of the ship that you can't go to on formal nights if you are not dressed correctly. Is that correct?

 

Glyn

Dress wise a large majority on the ship will be following the dress code.

If you chose not to follow the dress code, on formal nights, you will be in the minority.Also there will be some bars you are not allowed in. On Ventura I do not know which bars that would be.

On non formal nights your grey suit will be fine.

Your comment about not buying a dark suit to please p an o, it is not to please p and o.

The line is known for having a dress code. Why book the holiday and then complain.

There are other lines which have a less strict dress code.

As has been posted if you do not wish to dress up on formal nights you can eat in the buffet, or possibly select dining (at a cost). We do where to the dress code so I am not 100% sure on the select dining.

Is your wife coming with you ,I am sure when she sees all the other ladies dressed up, with their dressed up men, she will wish you had made the effort.

It is always men who complain about the dress code, never ladies.

[bellablot]

Dress wise a large majority on the ship will be following the dress code.

 

If you chose not to follow the dress code, on formal nights, you will be in the minority.Also there will be some bars you are not allowed in. On Ventura I do not know which bars that would be.

 

On non formal nights your grey suit will be fine.

 

Your comment about not buying a dark suit to please p an o, it is not to please p and o.

 

The line is known for having a dress code. Why book the holiday and then complain.

 

There are other lines which have a less strict dress code.

 

As has been posted if you do not wish to dress up on formal nights you can eat in the buffet, or possibly select dining (at a cost). We do where to the dress code so I am not 100% sure on the select dining.

 

Is your wife coming with you ,I am sure when she sees all the other ladies dressed up, with their dressed up men, she will wish you had made the effort.

 

It is always men who complain about the dress code, never ladies.

 

 

No one is complaining, so please don't make this out to be something it isn't. Only here to ask for advice. :)

[whoops]

An earlier poster mentioned the majority comply with the dress code on formal nights. That is true but plenty don't. There are 4 formal nights on a 14 day cruise so it's no hardship to opt out if you so wish. As for the rest of the time smart casual is the dress code so you won't need a light grey suit for the evenings or indeed at any time.

 

I gave all my suits away when I retired and there is no way I would buy one just to dress up uncomfortably on my holiday. Fortunately my wife feels the same way.

[GLYNAGP]

Dress wise a large majority on the ship will be following the dress code.

If you chose not to follow the dress code, on formal nights, you will be in the minority.Also there will be some bars you are not allowed in. On Ventura I do not know which bars that would be.

On non formal nights your grey suit will be fine.

Your comment about not buying a dark suit to please p an o, it is not to please p and o.

The line is known for having a dress code. Why book the holiday and then complain.

There are other lines which have a less strict dress code.

As has been posted if you do not wish to dress up on formal nights you can eat in the buffet, or possibly select dining (at a cost). We do where to the dress code so I am not 100% sure on the select dining.

Is your wife coming with you ,I am sure when she sees all the other ladies dressed up, with their dressed up men, she will wish you had made the effort.

It is always men who complain about the dress code, never ladies.

Thanks for your response that clears it up for me. There was no intent to complain just to try and get it right. We have been on over 20 cruises with a variety of cruise lines, NCL, Royal Caribbean, Costa,Thomsons,Celebrity etc all with different levels of dress codes all of which we've complied with when necessary. This will be our first experience with P and O, we've actually booked 2 cruises with P and O in 2016 so thanks again for clearing that one up for me

Glyn

[Florry]

Hello to bellablot and glynandkath, a warm welcome to P&O! I think the freedom dining question has been cleared up. With regard to the dress code I would firstly say that the attire varies considerably on a cruise and one persons formal is another persons semi-formal this especially applies to women. On formal nights the majority do wear dinner suits, however I have seen light lounge suits lots of times. On casual nights I usually wear smart jeans i.e. not faded or ripped and generally dark or a colour (I have red ones), the tops I wear vary depending on where I'm eating, I might glam it up for a speciality restaurant or dumb it down for the buffet. It seems to me some of the hard core replies I see on here in response to similar questions aren't necessarily reflected by what actually happens on board. My husband goes smart blue jeans and open neck shirt on casual. On Britannia there was a chap in the theatre in flip flops, a bright shirt and shorts on a formal night. I would also say don't write the evening buffet off as a second class option, the evenings are themed and I have cancelled select restaurant bookings many times once I realise they clash with curry night! On formal nights I wear some sort of long dress and my husband does wear a dinner suit. The important thing is that you enjoy your holiday.

[GLYNAGP]

Hello to bellablot and glynandkath, a warm welcome to P&O! I think the freedom dining question has been cleared up. With regard to the dress code I would firstly say that the attire varies considerably on a cruise and one persons formal is another persons semi-formal this especially applies to women. On formal nights the majority do wear dinner suits, however I have seen light lounge suits lots of times. On casual nights I usually wear smart jeans i.e. not faded or ripped and generally dark or a colour (I have red ones), the tops I wear vary depending on where I'm eating, I might glam it up for a speciality restaurant or dumb it down for the buffet. It seems to me some of the hard core replies I see on here in response to similar questions aren't necessarily reflected by what actually happens on board. My husband goes smart blue jeans and open neck shirt on casual. On Britannia there was a chap in the theatre in flip flops, a bright shirt and shorts on a formal night. I would also say don't write the evening buffet off as a second class option, the evenings are themed and I have cancelled select restaurant bookings many times once I realise they clash with curry night! On formal nights I wear some sort of long dress and my husband does wear a dinner suit. The important thing is that you enjoy your holiday.

Thanks for that I appreciate your response. On the first of our two P and O cruises next August we are taking our 8 year old Grandson on Ventura as it seems to be advertised as a family ship which will hopefully suit . Then we have a mini cruise on Azura later in the same month just for us. We love our cruising in all parts of the world and we fit in with most lines, we like the variety of experience. NCL very casual, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity more international and Thomsons very British . I'm sure we will enjoy P and O and so will our young grandson

Thanks again

Glyn

[Florry]

I enjoyed this response on another thread by scotstravellady: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=47366402

[GLYNAGP]

I enjoyed this response on another thread by scotstravellady: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=47366402

Well this is all very controversial !!!.

 

As I said we enjoy all types of cruising to be honest we just like being at sea . As far as formal nights go we usually do 1 a week and bail out of the second one . The Buffet can make a nice change to the MDR.

 

We live in Spain and sailed Royal Caribbean out of our local port of Malaga a couple of times you should see the Spanish idea of Formal Dress. Ladies absolutely exquisite and the men very very smart but not many in a suit or tie . I actually felt over dressed in my Tux (which I took along as we didn't need to Fly) .

[Hatters cruiser]

The select dining on Ventura such as Epicurean and Sindhu and other P&O ships also require a suit and tie on Formal nights.

The Glasshouse, the Beachhouse and the Wayerside Buffet on Ventura are casual on Formal nights.

 

At least there are only two dress codes now.

[Iron-Maiden's-No1-Fan]

I plan on wearing a cocktail dress on formal night it's black with marabou feathers and it's beautiful. Hubby will wear his black tie and our girls dresses also. It's our time to have or pics taken and we love it ☺

[Iron-Maiden's-No1-Fan]

He won't be wearing the girls dresses I forgot the comma 😅

[oakworth96]

I love the dressing up part of the cruise and it's great seeing all us men dressed in our dinner suits so if people book a P&O cruise then they have realise there is a dress code. I think our first cruise four of the evenings required smart jacket along with four formal nights a Caribbean night and the rest casual.

I'm off to Turkey in a few weeks and my dress code there will be shorts and tee shirts [emoji1]

 

Bob

[kersh]

Why not take your light grey suit and make your decision once on board. The best meals served in the Main Dining room are on for so nights. Such a shame to miss out on the gala dinners. A light grey suit with shirt and tie will be absolutely fine. Dark jeans on casual night are absolutely fine. Just be comfortable and enjoy your holiday. I love the dressing up, hubby tolerates it but there is no way he would miss the gala dinner.

 

Have a great cruise.

[GLYNAGP]

Why not take your light grey suit and make your decision once on board. The best meals served in the Main Dining room are on for so nights. Such a shame to miss out on the gala dinners. A light grey suit with shirt and tie will be absolutely fine. Dark jeans on casual night are absolutely fine. Just be comfortable and enjoy your holiday. I love the dressing up, hubby tolerates it but there is no way he would miss the gala dinner.

 

Have a great cruise.

Thanks .

 

Never thought my light grey suit would be so controversial . We are off for 28 nights on Celebrity Eclipse on 01 November, light grey suit and all

[bellablot]

Why not take your light grey suit and make your decision once on board. The best meals served in the Main Dining room are on for so nights. Such a shame to miss out on the gala dinners. A light grey suit with shirt and tie will be absolutely fine. Dark jeans on casual night are absolutely fine. Just be comfortable and enjoy your holiday. I love the dressing up, hubby tolerates it but there is no way he would miss the gala dinner.

 

Have a great cruise.

 

So to recap, dark jeans would be fine on non formal nights in the main dining room? I'm not bothered about gala nights or formal nights or whatever so will be absolutely fine to avoid them on those nights, I can see why people enjoy them, however not for me!

 

Thanks .

 

Never thought my light grey suit would be so controversial . We are off for 28 nights on Celebrity Eclipse on 01 November, light grey suit and all

 

I think you can blame me for lighting the blue touch paper. :D I won't be the first and certainly not the last to have the jitters on what not to wear etc!