Are P&O Trying To Stop Stag/Hen Party On Short Break Cruises?

[RiverSong 403]

After watching the cringe worthy Apprentice last night on board P&O Britannia, me and the other half decided to look at a short break sailing to Bruges.  This notification came up when checking the sailings

 

“We hope you are looking forward to your cruise. Ahead of your arrival, we
wanted to advise about a new dress code policy.

As of 1 January 2018, fancy dress, novelty or clothing personalised with
images/slogans will not be permitted. We are also reducing the amount of
alcohol guests can bring on board (a change from the policy wording in the
January 2018 - October 2019 brochure).

We believe this will make the on board experience special for everyone. Thank
you for your understanding. We look forward to welcoming you on board.

Find out more: pocruises.com/code-of-conduct”

 

Do you think this is going too far or on the flip side not far enough?

 

 

[*Dancing Queen* 394]

In my opinion it's a start  although like most things it is a few who spoil it for the majority, we have only done one short cruise (not P&O) and I said never again !! unfortunately we were doing a back to back and the three day one just happened to be stuck in the middle of the two so our only other choice would have been to disembark and stay in Southampton for 3 days which seemed silly, all I will say is there were some who were 'bouncing' off the walls from the minute they boarded which put us off so as a result we didn't bother using the bars and from what I heard it was probably a good choice, I happened to be at reception the morning we arrived in Bruges and witnessed the police board and escort two passengers off .. no idea why although rumour had it it was something to do with a fight !! 

I don't have a problem with anyone enjoying themselves but it would appear the notification is to deter a certain 'type', I can't say we particularly saw anything inappropriate but I have read of others who have, I also know a lot of people like to add a short cruise to either the beginning or end of a longer one and are probably reluctant to do so if they feel/felt as I did.

I also think restricting the amount of alcohol passengers can bring on board is a good idea, like most I enjoy a tipple on the balcony or when getting ready but more and more you see people 'popping back' to their cabins for a 'top up' they don't even try to hide what they doing, again it is the minority who have/are spoiling it for the majority I'm just surprised it's taken P&O so long to realise this, the bar takings must have been down for years 

Just to add please don't be put off by my comments I'm sure they are all different, if you are looking for something this year I can thoroughly recommend Bruges at Christmastime it's lovely.

Edited November 9, 2017 by *Dancing Queen*
Added last sentence

[harley1 152]

I agree with the new policy, I have been on several short cruises and find it disgusting when hen parties are parading round a giant blow up peni* when there are kids and elderly passengers on board! keep this sort of stuff to the clubs and pubs of Magaluf or Ibiza thank you

[afcandrew 369]

I have only done a couple of weekender cruises, both on smaller ships - Oceana & Oriana.  They were both lively but I only saw groups of Hens wearing sashes.  I was told by one of the Purser's team however that the bars were busy until 6.00am.  Poor bar staff!  I can see however that the bigger, newer ships may attract a rowdier crowd.

[2torts 345]

I totally agree with the new policy. We did one on Oriana & we said never again. Drunk people heckling during the shows, jumping in the pool fully dressed & wearing scanty clothing with slogan t-shirts & wedding veils on formal night is not my idea of a pleasant cruise. 

[Land Ahoy 797]

3 hours ago, afcandrew said:

I have only done a couple of weekender cruises, both on smaller ships - Oceana & Oriana.  They were both lively but I only saw groups of Hens wearing sashes.  I was told by one of the Purser's team however that the bars were busy until 6.00am.  Poor bar staff!  I can see however that the bigger, newer ships may attract a rowdier crowd.

Hi  Although I do feel sorry for the hard working bar staff, I expect the accountants loved the bar profits.

[2torts 345]

1 hour ago, Land Ahoy said:

Hi  Although I do feel sorry for the hard working bar staff, I expect the accountants loved the bar profits.

Some were well oiled before we left Southampton. I. Would imagine that a lot of them bought a bottle of spirits on board with them. Even the new policy won't stop people after all vodka looks a lot like water when it's in a water bottle!

[Tally 392]

I’ve never been on one of these short cruises which are supposed to be taster cruises. I think if I had I would never have booked another. Perhaps I’m a cynic but P&O probably make a good profit from alcohol sales on these cruises, and I can't see them stopping hen and stag parties from booking. Their new policy states ‘We reserve the right to deny embarkation to guests who are inappropriately dressed’. What is to stop people coming onboard appropriately dressed and changing into something inappropriate once on board. The staff won’t say anything they never police anything.

[HLM 519]

8 hours ago, Tally said:

The staff won’t say anything they never police anything.

Exactly what I was thinking Tally, they can't even enforce the relatively easy sunbed policy.

Also where do they draw the line and what exactly does this mean "novelty or clothing personalised with images/slogans will not be permitted" ?

Will be interesting to see what happens in January when it come in to force.

HLM.

[afcandrew 369]

Slightly off topic I know but I was on a flight from Luton to Malaga earlier this year, with a very rowdy Hen Party.  They were swearing liberally and loudly throughout.  The crew continued serving drinks to them throughout the whole flight as they got louder & louder.  One woman had an eye ask with F**k Off written across it.  It was a dreadful 2 hours 20 minutes!

[cruise addict 164]

On two week cruises we have seen people (mainly men) on formal nights dressed in T shirts and jeans and been allowed into the main restaurants on P & O ships. Many years ago my husband took his bow tie off in the crows nest and was asked to put it back on or go to another venue. How times and standards have changed.. 

[sinbad10 757]

On our last Azura cruise one family wore track suit bottoms and football shirts every casual dress night in MDR and on the Formal nights they put the track suit jackets on so they had a "suit" over their football shirts and were still allowed in MDR.

[cruise chef 866]

It will be interesting to see if they enforce it!! As clearly from previous comments everything else seems to be allowed!

[Janis 0]

Looks like the weekend cruises have spoiled taking drinks on board for everyone on longer cruises. Had I have known this was going to happen I wouldn' have booked my cruise. My cruise in August will be my last with p&o

[mitch 325]

from what ive seen other cruise lines dont allow any personal booze on board so i fail to see why its such an issue. or the need quite honestly to take booze on board there are plenty of bars on board.

the last rccl cruise i was on in the nineties they were all over personal booze in cabins as someone on a previous cruise died as they were abusing alcohol in the cabin etc.

if thats going to be the deciding factor on cruiseline ????????

[afcandrew 369]

I too Mitch am still finding it amazing that this could be the deciding factor on which cruise line to sail on... 

[littlemousa 26]

What? No fancy dress? How will I manage as I wear my Wonder Woman costume permanently. Or perhaps I am the only one who can see it ?

[Bruce C 0]

As a regular cruiser with P&O, I am a little disappointed with the new policy. We don't bring any alcohol on board on embarkation, but sometimes when ashore, like to bring a bottle of local wine on board if it is particularly appealing. This will probably amount to 2 bottles on a 2 week cruise. However, it certainly won't spoil our cruise next summer.

[afcandrew 369]

You can of course still buy the wine and then drink it when you get home .

[Dozydo 18]

What exactly is fancy-dress?  Many cruises have a “Tropical Night” and we’ve also been on one which had “Cowboy/Country & Western night”. Then on British ships there’s the “Red, white and blue night” with flag-waving etc.  Where is the dividing line?

[afcandrew 369]

P&O are happy for pax to dress in accordance with an official theme night.  What they are trying to stop are groups of people turning up dressed as 'vicars & tarts', 'escaped convicts' etc.

[sinbad10 757]

3 hours ago, Dozydo said:

What exactly is fancy-dress?  Many cruises have a “Tropical Night” and we’ve also been on one which had “Cowboy/Country & Western night”. Then on British ships there’s the “Red, white and blue night” with flag-waving etc.  Where is the dividing line?

Like what happened to us on Azura when dining one night in Sindhu and a group of women walked past the restaurant and one was carrying a huge blow up penis. By the way it wasnt a 2/3 nighter popular with hen/stag parties but a 14 nt roundtrip from Southampton to the Med.

[afcandrew 369]

21 minutes ago, sinbad10 said:

Like what happened to us on Azura when dining one night in Sindhu and a group of women walked past the restaurant and one was carrying a huge blow up penis. By the way it wasnt a 2/3 nighter popular with hen/stag parties but a 14 nt roundtrip from Southampton to the Med.

Good grief Sinbad - definitely not what you expect on a 14 night cruise!  I can only but think that they were getting married on board and this was the Hen Night...  No excuse though - especially on a family ship.

[J.I.S. 4]

Not before time. These week end cruises have been known as booze cruises for years. We once attached such a cruise to a following 2 week cruise. Never again. Impossible to get any sleep. People running and behaving like children past cabins all night. All in all it was like a zoo with the cages being left open.