Dress code

[brian1]

Being a plumber/heating engineer covered in bosswhite and flux all my working life.I look forward wearing a nice whistle.I can understand those that worked in offices etc might find it tedious.

[Denarius]

2 hours ago, brian1 said:

Being a plumber/heating engineer covered in bosswhite and flux all my working life.I look forward wearing a nice whistle.I can understand those that worked in offices etc might find it tedious.

Very true.

My father worked in manual occupations throughout his life and wore overalls at work. He loved to wear a suit collar and tie on his days off. I worked in an office where for most of my career suited and booted was the de riguer. I took off my suit as soon as I got home and put on my jeans. For my father a suit was leisure wear, for me it was work wear. Although I am long retired I still feel the same way. Which is why I no longer posses a suit other than a dinner suit.

[brian1]

18 minutes ago, Josy1953 said:

I buy a Christmas sweater every year, it started when someone had the bright idea that everyone in our office would pay to wear one in the week before Christmas, the money was donated to our local hospice.  We still meet up for a pre-Christmas meal and the jumpers are still a requirement.  A few of the men have an on going competition to find the most horrible one. This year's was purchased yesterday

OMG,that reindeer looks mean.Do his eyes light up red.

[Josy1953]

3 minutes ago, brian1 said:

OMG,that reindeer looks mean.Do his eyes light up red.

No,  she doesn't look mean her eyes are closed and she has little pink blushes on her cheeks.  I have never had a light up jumper.  We were on a cruise on the lead up to Christmas a few years ago and there were a lot of jumpers with flashing red noses and I said th at I didn't like flashing jumpers at all.  We never saw any Christmas jumpers when we were on Queen Mary 2 when we did a pre Christmas cruise on her, perhaps she is too posh for them but the Christmas decorations on there were the best I have ever seen.

[zap99]

14 hours ago, Denarius said:

Very true.

My father worked in manual occupations throughout his life and wore overalls at work. He loved to wear a suit collar and tie on his days off. I worked in an office where for most of my career suited and booted was the de riguer. I took off my suit as soon as I got home and put on my jeans. For my father a suit was leisure wear, for me it was work wear. Although I am long retired I still feel the same way. Which is why I no longer posses a suit other than a dinner suit.

I kept a couple of suits back when I retired . I don't think it's proper to wear a dinner suit to folks funerals.

[brian1]

54 minutes ago, Josy1953 said:

No,  she doesn't look mean her eyes are closed and she has little pink blushes on her cheeks.  I have never had a light up jumper.  We were on a cruise on the lead up to Christmas a few years ago and there were a lot of jumpers with flashing red noses and I said th at I didn't like flashing jumpers at all.  We never saw any Christmas jumpers when we were on Queen Mary 2 when we did a pre Christmas cruise on her, perhaps she is too posh for them but the Christmas decorations on there were the best I have ever seen.

No worries, I'll tell the wolves to come out of hiding now.

[Denarius]

56 minutes ago, zap99 said:

I kept a couple of suits back when I retired . I don't think it's proper to wear a dinner suit to folks funerals.

I don't. One of our family traditions is not to wear (all) black at funerals. So I might wear a dark jacket, black trousers and shoes, and a white shirt with a black (bolo) tie.

[Obobru]

On 10/11/2022 at 10:09 AM, david63 said:

On the first cruise there was an older passenger demographic than there was on the second cruise, which had quite a lot of younger, first time and family cruisers. The point here is that on the second cruise the level of "formal dress" was far higher than that of the first cruise.

 

Now I know that this is not a scientific survey but, to me, it shows that formal wear is what a lot of the "new generation" cruisers still want and yes it probably does depend on the actual ship with the likes of Iona and Arvia becoming more casual.

What this tells me is they are like me, first time on P&O and think they have to be very formal as it's seen as a bit of a stuffy old fashioned cruise company but we are giving it a try as they are fairly cheap (I have read this so now won't be packing a suit) the older more seasoned P&O cruisers already know how casual they can go so less formality. 

[dgs1956]

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.

 

[Britboys]

1 hour ago, dgs1956 said:

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.

 

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and glad you enjoyed your cruise. It seems further evidence of the direction P&O are sailing in. The day I see shorts and flip-flops in the mdr on Aurora or Arcadia is the day I don't book any more cruises with them. I really don't judge a person by what they wear - it's just that it is not the sort of ambience I want on a cruise.

[dgs1956]

25 minutes ago, Britboys said:

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and glad you enjoyed your cruise. It seems further evidence of the direction P&O are sailing in. The day I see shorts and flip-flops in the mdr on Aurora or Arcadia is the day I don't book any more cruises with them. I really don't judge a person by what they wear - it's just that it is not the sort of ambience I want on a cruise.

Like yourself I don't judge by what people are wearing but sadly my "shorts and flip flops" comment was my attempt at being diplomatic. As I say, we ballroom dance and the Crystal Room is a very good venue and on two Formal evenings we had to watch two different very drunk women dancing about on the floor who completely out of it only for it to be followed up by a quiz and Karaoke. We had the unique of experience of doing a Jive while a woman was dancing with a chair. What amazes me was that she was so beautifully dressed and made up but was out of it by 7.30.

[Harry Peterson]

1 hour ago, dgs1956 said:

We had the unique of experience of doing a Jive while a woman was dancing with a chair. What amazes me was that she was so beautifully dressed and made up but was out of it by 7.30.

I have witnessed very similar behaviour.

 

But it wasn’t on a cruise, I was in my late teens, it was in Birmingham, and it was Rag Week!

 

How times change……..😉

[crompton21]

18 hours ago, Harry Peterson said:

I have witnessed very similar behaviour.

 

But it wasn’t on a cruise, I was in my late teens, it was in Birmingham, and it was Rag Week!

 

How times change……..😉

 

Recently back from Iona G237, had an aft cabin.  On the day of the Gary Barlow concert there was a large and expensive looking drone flying around, presumably taking footage for some sort of PR.  At the time there were four men in one of the rear whirlpools.  On seeing the drone flying around, one of the occupants stood up, dropped his trunks and waved his bottom at the camera.

 

Don't see that sort of thing going on at Butlins!

 

"This is the life" as they like to say.

[Harry Peterson]

5 minutes ago, crompton21 said:

 

Recently back from Iona G237, had an aft cabin.  On the day of the Gary Barlow concert there was a large and expensive looking drone flying around, presumably taking footage for some sort of PR.  At the time there were four men in one of the rear whirlpools.  On seeing the drone flying around, one of the occupants stood up, dropped his trunks and waved his bottom at the camera.

 

Don't see that sort of thing going on at Butlins!

 

"This is the life" as they like to say.

Butlins is a very unfair comparison. Anyone remember Club 18-30?

[dgs1956]

1 hour ago, Harry Peterson said:

Butlins is a very unfair comparison. Anyone remember Club 18-30?

That's a fairly accurate comparison but probably best renamed as Club 38-50. We had one woman going about hiding plastic ducks for people to find. The significance of that was lost on me.

[zap99]

2 hours ago, crompton21 said:

 

Recently back from Iona G237, had an aft cabin.  On the day of the Gary Barlow concert there was a large and expensive looking drone flying around, presumably taking footage for some sort of PR.  At the time there were four men in one of the rear whirlpools.  On seeing the drone flying around, one of the occupants stood up, dropped his trunks and waved his bottom at the camera.

 

Don't see that sort of thing going on at Butlins!

 

"This is the life" as they like to say.

Waving ones bottom doesn't sound like a practice that we follow in British holiday camps. We only do that on cruise ships.

[bobstheboy]

If P&O have a Dress Code and it applies in named locations, then the managers onboard should enforce it, especially in the MDR. I am saddened to hear of people wearing shorts in the evening in there, especially when the staff look so smart. 

 

P&O should be honest and either say it will enforced or it is voluntary, especially during the evening.

[Harry Peterson]

1 hour ago, bobstheboy said:

If P&O have a Dress Code and it applies in named locations, then the managers onboard should enforce it, especially in the MDR. I am saddened to hear of people wearing shorts in the evening in there, especially when the staff look so smart. 

 

P&O should be honest and either say it will enforced or it is voluntary, especially during the evening.

I imagine the last thing they want is the potential for a confrontation. The sort of person who’s prepared to ignore a very clear rule might well be the same sort of person who reacts badly to authority, no matter how politely it’s done.

[bobstheboy]

4 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

I imagine the last thing they want is the potential for a confrontation. The sort of person who’s prepared to ignore a very clear rule might well be the same sort of person who reacts badly to authority, no matter how politely it’s done.

Sorry, Harry, I disagree. I know what you're saying and today's society is full of these people. However cruise ships do have security onboard and could be called for, and are, for extreme bad behaviour. I have been on ship's when families have been removed. 

 

As I said, if they are not prepared to enforce rules, don't have them.

[Harry Peterson]

2 minutes ago, bobstheboy said:

Sorry, Harry, I disagree. I know what you're saying and today's society is full of these people. However cruise ships do have security onboard and could be called for, and are, for extreme bad behaviour. I have been on ship's when families have been removed. 

 

As I said, if they are not prepared to enforce rules, don't have them.

I agree entirely. But I suspect that might be behind the reluctance to enforce the rules - rather like the apparent reluctance of the police to tackle crime.

[brian1]

5 hours ago, crompton21 said:

 

Recently back from Iona G237, had an aft cabin.  On the day of the Gary Barlow concert there was a large and expensive looking drone flying around, presumably taking footage for some sort of PR.  At the time there were four men in one of the rear whirlpools.  On seeing the drone flying around, one of the occupants stood up, dropped his trunks and waved his bottom at the camera.

 

Don't see that sort of thing going on at Butlins!

 

"This is the life" as they like to say.

Yeah,it's bad when the cracks start to show.Some peeps pay extra for an aft view though.

[dgs1956]

2 hours ago, bobstheboy said:

If P&O have a Dress Code and it applies in named locations, then the managers onboard should enforce it, especially in the MDR. I am saddened to hear of people wearing shorts in the evening in there, especially when the staff look so smart. 

 

P&O should be honest and either say it will enforced or it is voluntary, especially during the evening.

I agree entirely and that was that's the point I was making as well. Why have a rule if they are just going to let people ignore them and not enforce them? I don't agree with wearing shorts in the MDR but they were nowhere near as bad as how some, mainly women, were dressed.

[gsmt47471015]

For info only and NOT an opinion, we have just returned from a cruise with Azamara and their dress code is smart casual, apart from the white night (which is optional), one evening a party of eight were in front of us waiting for the Matre d to book them a table, she noticed that a lady in the party was wearing a smart matching top and shorts which at first glance looked like a short skirt, she advised the lady she would have to change or eat elsewhere but the rest of the party would be allowed in, after a heated discussion the lady had to change and the rest of the party waited in the bar until she returned and all were then allowed to dine in the mdr. We witnessed another similar incident and it ended with the same result  

[dgs1956]

1 hour ago, gsmt47471015 said:

For info only and NOT an opinion, we have just returned from a cruise with Azamara and their dress code is smart casual, apart from the white night (which is optional), one evening a party of eight were in front of us waiting for the Matre d to book them a table, she noticed that a lady in the party was wearing a smart matching top and shorts which at first glance looked like a short skirt, she advised the lady she would have to change or eat elsewhere but the rest of the party would be allowed in, after a heated discussion the lady had to change and the rest of the party waited in the bar until she returned and all were then allowed to dine in the mdr. We witnessed another similar incident and it ended with the same result  

For some people Smart Casual is a bit of a vague concept and some just push the boundaries but when you see an older woman wearing a baggy logo t-shirt, wrinkled 3/4 shorts and rubber flip-flops for a Formal Night then there is little doubt it is taking the proverbial.

[9265359]

17 hours ago, gsmt47471015 said:

a lady in the party was wearing a smart matching top and shorts which at first glance looked like a short skirt, she advised the lady she would have to change or eat elsewhere

 

Ah the logic of - men's bare legs are offensive but women's are not, however if we allowed women to wear shorts that revealed no more than a short skirt (which would be allowed) then we would have to allow men to wear shorts.

 

Pathetic decision by the maître d'.