Peninsular Club Cocktail Party

[reef112]

Hello all!

I'll be moving up to Mediterranean loyalty tier on a future cruise  - Which sounds impressive for me, but nothing compared to the number of nights a lot of people have done on here! I see as a perk is says "Cocktail party (on cruises of 8 nights or more)". Just wondering what to expect? And more importantly, my fiancé is on a lower loyalty tier, will the invite be only for myself, or can I take her too? haha! 

Thanks!

[Son of Anarchy]

31 minutes ago, reef112 said:

Hello all!

I'll be moving up to Mediterranean loyalty tier on a future cruise  - Which sounds impressive for me, but nothing compared to the number of nights a lot of people have done on here! I see as a perk is says "Cocktail party (on cruises of 8 nights or more)". Just wondering what to expect? And more importantly, my fiancé is on a lower loyalty tier, will the invite be only for myself, or can I take her too? haha! 

Thanks!

As long as you're in the same cabin you both get invited.  SIL travelled shared a cabin with us a few years ago.  Her invite never turned up so I popped along to the loyalty desk.  There had been a glitch with the automated system (no surprise there), but they printed out an invite there and then.

 

Oddly enough, on another cruise we were travelling with friend in a lower tier who didn't qualify.  Bizarrely, we got two sets of invites, so we just entered by different doors!  Others in the queue commented that had duplicate invites as well.

 

What happens there?  You hand you invite over, go in.  Usually one queue for photos with the Captain, other straight in.  Once in, a bit like Captains' drinks - watery G & T, whisky & ginger, wine or sparkly stuff.  Grab as as much as you can, if a seated affair, don't be shy to wander up to the bar if the waiters don't get round to you!  Sometimes some canapes.  Sometimes an officer will sidle up to "host" you.  Captain comes along, makes a few quips and gives a bit of info about how the company is doing.  Then pulls one of the invites out of a tombola thing and that (un)lucky person gets a naff prize, or if really lucky a bottle of grog.  In recent years they name and shame the most travelled cruiser and give them a bottle of grog as well.  Lasts about half an hour.

 

We always go along.  Bit of fun and free grog before dinner.

[reef112]

Thanks - Answers everything I wanted to know!
Never been one to turn down free drinks... I won't start now!

[jeanlyon]

My only problem with it is that the second party starts at 8.15 and dinner is delayed.  We would normally have drinks at 7, so by the time you get in there, it's all rather too late.  Used not to be like this.

[tring]

Are P&O doing these at present? 

 

On a couple of other companies we have been in lately, they were not run because of covid.  Princess did not even do a Captains welcome party, though we have had a Captains welcome run in the restaurant or theatre pre show on another line.  Hopefully things like that will return at some stage.

[Valfan]

1 hour ago, Son of Anarchy said:

 

Oddly enough, on another cruise we were travelling with friend in a lower tier who didn't qualify.  Bizarrely, we got two sets of invites, so we just entered by different doors!  Others in the queue commented that they had duplicate invites as well.

 

This has just stirred up a lovely memory for me! On a USA/Canada P&O cruise a few years ago, a lady at our dinner table of single people bizarrely received 4 identical invitations. So 4 ladies all turned up that night, a minute or two apart at the two different doors, and enjoyed the free hospitality.

[Cruisemeister2002]

I wouldn't get too excited. Cheapish wine, I think they rinse the bottle out or wave it over the glass for the G&T. As has been said, you queue in one of two lines. Either you want a photo with the Captain or you don't. If your on Club Dining give your waiter a nod and a wink and you might get more than one drink. Canapes are like snowmen in a desert. If you don't sit in the right place or make sure your noticed you may miss out. But truthfully if you do I wouldn't worry, you haven't missed a lot. You will then get a bit of banter and a thank you for your loyalty from the Captain and probably a brief description of Arvia coming to the fleet and then a prize draw which is maybe something made of glass. Chances are you will be extremely lucky to get picked out .

[JeanieC,Aston]

1 hour ago, tring said:

Are P&O doing these at present? 

 

On a couple of other companies we have been in lately, they were not run because of covid.  Princess did not even do a Captains welcome party, though we have had a Captains welcome run in the restaurant or theatre pre show on another line.  Hopefully things like that will return at some stage.

On Ventura 2 weeks ago there was no Captains welcome party,,,,the Captain gave his welcome over the tannoy from the bridge.

Never saw the Captain in the whole 11 days…….COVID.

[wowzz]

1 hour ago, JeanieC,Aston said:

Never saw the Captain in the whole 11 days…….COVID.

I think that is par for the course for the Captain and senior offices on most cruise lines these days - common sensical really.

[Lesanne]

We have a communication that no parties or officer hosted lunches due to covid restrictions

[Bazrat]

1 hour ago, JeanieC,Aston said:

On Ventura 2 weeks ago there was no Captains welcome party,,,,the Captain gave his welcome over the tannoy from the bridge.

Never saw the Captain in the whole 11 days…….COVID.

Actually the captain was working from home all the broadcasts you heard was coming from his bedroom 

[Son of Anarchy]

37 minutes ago, Lesanne said:

We have a communication that no parties or officer hosted lunches due to covid restrictions

Thanks for the update.  If you know, is it a case of these events still go ahead, but without any officers hosting them? Or, are these events simply cancelled completely?

 

The last time we were on Oriana the Peninsula lunch went ahead without the tables being hosted by officers.  This was due to the ship breaking down and the officers were having to catch up on lots of stuff as a result of said breakdown.

 

I suppose a major problem, especially with the lunch, is the number of tables.  

[wowzz]

1 hour ago, Bazrat said:

Actually the captain was working from home all the broadcasts you heard was coming from his bedroom 

I thought he was in the British Virgin Islands !

[crimson moon]

2 hours ago, wowzz said:

I thought he was in the British Virgin Islands !

He is. He's in the same hotel as all the GPs

[sueandphil]

There are no Cocktail parties at the moment (well there wasn't last week) Just a voucher for a drink.  The Peninsular lunch did go ahead though and was split between Baltic and Ligurian one one day and Caribbean on another with different menus, both very nice

 

[Bazrat]

The voucher was for a glass of champagne or nearest fizzy wine drink 🤢🤮

[Son of Anarchy]

2 hours ago, sueandphil said:

There are no Cocktail parties at the moment (well there wasn't last week) Just a voucher for a drink.  The Peninsular lunch did go ahead though and was split between Baltic and Ligurian one one day and Caribbean on another with different menus, both very nice

 

Thought that might of the been the case with the cocktail party.  Good to hear that the lunch was still on.

[Son of Anarchy]

25 minutes ago, Bazrat said:

The voucher was for a glass of champagne or nearest fizzy wine drink 🤢🤮

The Ole Lady can have my voucher.  I'll just make do with an other beer then...

[wowzz]

9 minutes ago, Son of Anarchy said:

The Ole Lady can have my voucher.  I'll just make do with an other beer then...

You made the right choice!

[sueandphil]

22 hours ago, sueandphil said:

There are no Cocktail parties at the moment (well there wasn't last week) Just a voucher for a drink.  The Peninsular lunch did go ahead though and was split between Baltic and Ligurian one one day and Caribbean on another with different menus, both very nice

 

Just to add, at the peninsular lunch,  The Captain walked amongst the tables whilst giving a speech  and we had an officer, in our case the F&B Manager, talk to us personally at our table, but did not dine with us

[Port out]

14 hours ago, sueandphil said:

Just to add, at the peninsular lunch,  The Captain walked amongst the tables whilst giving a speech  and we had an officer, in our case the F&B Manager, talk to us personally at our table, but did not dine with us

For interest, which ship was this on .. joining Iona tomorrow

[daiB]

On 11/10/2021 at 10:03 PM, Son of Anarchy said:

The Ole Lady can have my voucher.  I'll just make do with an other beer then...

The voucher is for any drink at any bar up to £10. Be careful what you give away.

[Son of Anarchy]

43 minutes ago, daiB said:

The voucher is for any drink at any bar up to £10. Be careful what you give away.

Thanks for the heads up Dai.  I shall choose wisely 🍷🙂😇

[Bazrat]

1 hour ago, daiB said:

The voucher is for any drink at any bar up to £10. Be careful what you give away.

We was told on Britannia the voucher was for champagne 

[daiB]

5 hours ago, Bazrat said:

We was told on Britannia the voucher was for champagne 

We had a number of vouchers but the one to replace the cocktail party was for £10. For any drink