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Hm. You've got me worried now Neil. The reviews on OV(bar 1 or 2) were pretty good. There were all sorts on our cruise with RCI and dressing up for dinner is not necessarily a matter of class. Maybe we've booked the wrong cruise line for the Caribbean but I sincerely hope not. Jill

Having had our first cruise this year with RCL, we decided that we fancied a Caribbean cruise in Feb. After lots of homework on this site we've booked with Ocean Village (via a T.A). It's informal (although we enjoyed the formal style of RCL) and the itinerary looks good. Have a look and see if it appeals to you.

Just a whisper in your ear, you could look at my favourite, Azamara. Two ships, 700 passengers maximum, no formal nights, open seating dining and great food. Just look. Azamara.com ...... Neil

Most cruise ships are 'classy' to an extent (with the exception of Carnival that are VERY glitzy to put it mildly) it can sometimes be the clientèle that are not. Your requirements of not too old, not too formal and 'classy' are a difficult combination to find. Some mass-market ships, like NCL, have Private Villa's with there own pool, and private dining - so you have a ship within a ship; but that's not as cheap as booking a Celebrity cruise in a more modest cabin. P&O can attract very elderly people at certain times of the year, on certain ships.

Why not try P&O Oceana nice ship good range of ages and no 15% added to your bar bill. This ship always gets good reviews.

Hi we have recently returned having sailed on the Emerald Princess, there were just 2 formal nights if you wanted to take part, so if you dont fancy it no need to worry there are still plenty of restaurants to choose from. The Emerald is very spacious, clea, extremely well organised and the staff are falling over themselves to help. I would deffinately sail with Princess ships in the future.

In my opinion 'class' and 'formal' do tend to go together. Even the more formal ships are probably not as formal as you imagine. Would it really a problem putting a suit and dress on a couple of times a week for a classy evening diner? I would look at Cunard (who are occasionally in the Caribbean) or Celebrity (who are regularly in the Caribbean). Solstice and Equinox are their brand new ships. Royal Caribbean are good, but very mass-market and do attract a lots of families, younger people and have a bit of a Butlins feel. NCL are similar but are very informal with very flexible dining. Avoid Carnival at all costs.