Ocean Village Cruises Answers

P&O cruises are fantastic! I have cruised with them for many years, from the late 60s in fact when I travelled with my parents! - I then started again about 10 years ago with my husband and kids and up until this year haven't missed a year! We haven't had a bad one yet!! P&O give you the opportunity to enjoy the glamorous side of cruising, with all the formal dressing up (dinners suits for men, evening dresses for ladies) on about 4 nights on a 16 night cruise on some of their ships, (e.g. Oriana, Aurora) mixed with more relaxed dress codes (usually a mix of 'cocktail' style dressing and 'casual' dressing on a 50/50 basis - though shorts or sportswear aren't allowed in the formal restaurants on any evenings) on the remaining evenings - whereas some of the other ships have more relaxed dress codes anyway - check the brochure. The food is exceptional as is the service - P&O make you feel really special. You won't regret cruising P&O!! Can you in turn give me an idea of cruising with Ocean Village? We are thinking of trying a 7 nighter in May this year as we can't go in the summer - knowing nothing else but the P&O style is quite daunting!! Let me know if you book and please don't be afraid to ask anything else about P&O!

Thank you for your comment about P&O cruises,we have booked to go on the Artemis in October and are really looking forward to it. It's nice to hear your views and that you and your husband and children really enjoy it. As regards to your questions about Ocean Village,we have done a cruise with them twice and enjoyed it,however we feel that having done them we were ready for something more formal,we are not snobs,but it is very relaxed dress style (which obviously we knew) but you dont realise just how much,I dont really like to see people in shorts flip flops etc for evening meals,although it was not the majority. It is so hard to comment on the ship without sounding like I am knocking it,because we did enjoy the 23 night cruise we did round the Med and over to the Caribbean. The food was fantastic, and all buffet style,no waiter service,the entertainment was average,and having spoken to other people who had cruised with other lines they felt the same way about it. The staff were 100% attentive and the ship was spotlessly clean as were the cabins. If you are used to formal,please bear in mind before booking that it is very informal in all areas of the ship. But had Ocean Village not been reloacting to Australia and we found the right deal at the right price we would do it again. We met seasoned cruisers who had been with other lines who said it was their first and last time on Ocean Village,but equally met many others who had been cruising with them for years and loved it,so there will always it seems be good and less than good comments. Anything I can help you with or anything at all you would like to know I am more than happy to supply you with details where I can. But please dont be put off by Ocean Village cruising,I have no other cruise to compare it with and so I am trying to be as honest as I can. As for P&O cruising,I have heard they are the best,so it will really nice to try a completely different experience for us. Could you tell me if the majority of ladies on board tend to wear short cocktail dresses,or was long worn? I just want to make sure I am blending in with everyone else and not standing out from the crowd!

Many thanks for your comments about Ocean Village - they were very helpful we are still debating what to do. We have been advised that Royal Caribbean might not be such a shock to our system! - as you say, we too are not snobs but having enjoyed the more formal style of cruising are a bit worried it might not suit us being so casual, its nice to get a bit dressed up for dinner! I am not sure about the ratio of formal nights on the Artemis as some of the P&O ships do vary, your travel agent should be able to help you - P&O do tell you how many formal, informal and semi casual nights there are on each particular cruise but they always do that much nearer the time, which isn't that helpful if you need to go shopping! - we haven't been on her but as a general rule on the Aurora and Oriana ladies still seem to favour long dresses for formal nights, especially for the nights such as Captains Cocktail Party night and black and white night, although many do wear cocktail length dresses and don't look out of place. The last couple of years when there have been four formal nights I have worn long on two of the nights and cocktail length on the other two (I am 50 - my daughters are 20 and 24 and they too wear a mix of long and short on formal nights when they come with us). Oh, and a good tip would be to have a couple of little shrugs or evening type cardis/shawls or jackets or something to wear into the restaurant - you might find the air conditioning makes it a bit chilly as sometimes they up it due to all the men having to wear jackets! In my experience it can vary considerably. I hope this is helpful - please don't hesitate if you want to ask anything else. Hope you have a fabulous time!

Thank you so much for all the help on the dresses for the ladies! I would hate to feel out of place and it's so hard to know what's best but your comments have given me some ideas for shopping. I do hope some of my comments didn't put you off Ocean Village,I was just trying to be as honest as I could,the first time we thought it was great,but the second time we did notice some things we were not so keen about and we did both leave the ship saying that we would like to try something slightly more formal,so I think when we have come back from our cruise on the Artemis we will have a nice comparison. I know I will probably contact you again with more questions as I go along and new things pop into my head,or equally if you think of any little tips to help us along that would be great and very much appreciated. I hope you and your family find something that will suit you all,as there are so many cruises to choose from these days that it's not easy to find the right one,but's it will be out there somewhere. Thank you again for everything,you feel like a true cruising friend!