Price of "extras"

[bassman67]

Now that we are only 20 days away, can any of you maiden voyagers tell us the price of things like the Cookery Club, Sindhu, and the other restaurants, please?

[Gill W]

We've booked Sindhu at £15pp and the Limelight Club (dinner and a show with a named artist, in our case Kiki Dee) at £22pp



I can't comment about Epicurian and the Cookery Club as we haven't looked at these

[majortom10]

Epicurean is £28pp, the Eric Lanlard speciality afternoon tea served in Epicurean is £15pp and the Cookery Club varies from £45pp up to £150pp.

[bassman67]

Thanks to both. I've got another 8 months to save up then!

[Andy2461]

How far in advance can you book these ?

[Gill W]

For the maiden we booked in the early part of January, so it's at least two and a half months

[Mervyn and Trish]

I presume it will be the same for other cruises, but we got frequent emails as different things became available to book. Worth doing it asap as some things sell out quickly - particularly the cookery sessions with a celeb chef. We booked for Trish to teach James Martin how to knock up a Steak and Kidney pie and it wasn't long after than was labelled "inquire on board", which I presume means waitlisted.

[Manoverboard]

Placing a booking is no doubt easy enough but does CP tell you what the Dress Code will be for any given night ?

The reason I ask is that we book the venues on the ' Jacket Required ' evenings so would need to know when they will be for advance bookings.

[majortom10]

You can book 90 days prior to any cruise and no they do not tell you in advance what the dress code is for any of the nights.

[Mervyn and Trish]

Placing a booking is no doubt easy enough but does CP tell you what the Dress Code will be for any given night ?

The reason I ask is that we book the venues on the ' Jacket Required ' evenings so would need to know when they will be for advance bookings.

A good point Moby. We aim to book on nights other than the Black Tie nights as we prefer to eat in the MDR on those. They're slightly easier to anticipate as they do tell you the number on the cruise - usually 4 in 14 nights - and they are usually the second night and the penultimate night, which is usually the Gala Dinner, and the other two are usually sea days. But there's no guarantee of getting it right.

On the surface it would be good if they told us in advance but it is subject to change at sea. We've certainly had a Black Tie night announced in the programme as we board and then get moved because seas were rough that day and they didn't the evening spoiled. If they did announce them in advance no doubt there would be demands for compensation if they changed! ("I packed my Tuesday night DJ and you moved it to Wednesday so I wasn't dressed correctly and you ruined my life")

[Manoverboard]

You can book 90 days prior to any cruise and no they do not tell you in advance what the dress code is for any of the nights.

Thank you, that is what I expected ... so, we will continue to book once on board. I guess the main benefit of advance booking is if one has a birthday / anniversary to celebrate, we are simply having a change of restaurant when the jacket needs to be worn.

Merv ... An improvement to the system could ask which code should apply for your reservation(s) as that way it could be any or all of them.

[oldbluefox]

I feel sure if emailed the Maitre D onboard he would be able to tell you which nights were formal. With online booking it would make sense to publish the programme of dress codes with a disclaimer that they could be amended. When they are doing the same cruises over and over again I imagine they know the programme already.

[david63]

I feel sure if emailed the Maitre D onboard he would be able to tell you which nights were formal.

But probably only two or three weeks prior to the cruise. My understanding is that the information for the next cruise only gets sent to the ship about two weeks before the cruise but as everything is now arranged shoreside then it would probably be better to email P&O Operations - although trying to get any sense out of them might prove to be a bit of a long shot!

[towny44]

I feel sure if emailed the Maitre D onboard he would be able to tell you which nights were formal.

But probably only two or three weeks prior to the cruise. My understanding is that the information for the next cruise only gets sent to the ship about two weeks before the cruise but as everything is now arranged shoreside then it would probably be better to email P&O Operations - although trying to get any sense out of them might prove to be a bit of a long shot!

I always understood that it was the CD, or Entertainments manager as he is now called, who decided on the dining format which is of course linked to which nights the shows will be performed. And, as this is decided on board it is the reason given by the shoreside CS as to why they cannot give you the exact info about formal nights.

[david63]

I always understood that it was the CD, or Entertainments manager as he is now called, who decided on the dining format which is of course linked to which nights the shows will be performed.

That was always my understanding but I was told by a CD a few years back that it was done shoreside - it may have changed back and/or the CD was telling "porkies"

[Mervyn and Trish]

I always understood that it was the CD, or Entertainments manager as he is now called, who decided on the dining format which is of course linked to which nights the shows will be performed.

That was always my understanding but I was told by a CD a few years back that it was done shoreside - it may have changed back and/or the CD was telling "porkies"

Wherever it is initially decided, it is subject to change because of weather etc. However Foxy's suggestion of publishing it with the cruise itinerary on the personaliser with a disclaimer seems sensible. After all the entire itinerary is equally liable to change because of weather etc.

[david63]

Now Merv - how many times have you been told that you cannot use the word "sensible" in the context of P&O?

[Manoverboard]

The only way it can possibly work without tons of Admin and faux pas is to book, for example, a ' Jacket Required ' evening and then let the Venue Manager worry about when you will go ... assuming that you do not need to be date specific regarding your booking(s).

[david63]

However there is nothing to stop you wearing a jacket on any evening

[Gill W]

And on Britannia, Azura, Ventura and Oceana, there won't be any jacket required nights anyway - there's only formal and smart casual

[Manoverboard]

However there is nothing to stop you wearing a jacket on any evening

I personally prefer to wear a jacket in the alternate dining venues regardless of the ship we are sailing on.

And on Britannia, Azura, Ventura and Oceana, there won't be any jacket required nights anyway - there's only formal and smart casual

In which case ' one ' would book the venues on ' Casual ' nights, assuming that most cruisers would wish to be in the MDR for the formal occasions. The jacket in this instance would then be entirely optional of course.

[Mervyn and Trish]

Now Merv - how many times have you been told that you cannot use the word "sensible" in the context of P&O?

My sincere apologies for the lapse. I had intended to apply it to Foxy, but now I see my error!

[Andy2461]

Ive just booked the epicurian for my 50th birthday so looking forward to this

[oldtimer]

Why would anyone pay £15 for afternoon tea even if it is Lanlard? I assume most people have a big breakfast, and then too much food at lunchtime, so with a big dinner in the evening why would you want a large afternoon tea. On Azura and P & O ships, afternoon tea in the main restaurant is free, so I assume for £15 pp you get more cakes and better quality, however I can buy some very nice cakes at my local bakery and few would cost more than £1 each. I suppose Lanlard' cakes are special, but lets assume they would cost £2 each, I'm hardly likely to eat 7 of them before an evening meal a few hours later.

[david63]

Why would anyone pay £15 for afternoon tea even if it is Lanlard?

Freedom of choice