Kenmo1 wrote: ↑28 Jun 2019, 21:33When we first started cruising on Oriana back in 2000 we were very lucky twice to get placed on officer hosted tables which we quite enjoyed because they provided the wine most nights from their allowance. It seemed the normal thing then. Great for us as we were real cheapskates ( still are) just booking the cheapest cabins possible and getting our table drinks provided. What not to like !!! I can remember one officer was Adrian Archer and another one was called John Thorne, I think. It only happened to us when we were on Oriana, not on any of the other ships we went on. Possibly some of the cruisers who went on PO before 2000 can say whether it did happen regularly on other ships as well but it was a nice touch. We actually keep in touch on Facebook and at Christmas with 2 of the couples who also shared the table with us - perhaps the wine helped.
Glad the holiday turned out well Lindsey. Looking forward to your report.
We've been on several officer hosted tables over the years mainly on Oriana and Aurora and mostly over the Christmas period ( I always assumed it was because the officers usually had their families on board then ) we have been on hosted tables at other times but it's a custom which does seem to have been phased out in recent years, I know on Cunard the Captain/Deputy Captain do host on gala nights perhaps it is the same now on P&O.
You are right though at one time there was an abundance of officers around the restaurant but these days you rarely see one, we were lucky enough to have Captain Paul Brown hosting our table on a Caribbean Christmas cruise - he was but a mere 'navigator' then - goodness I'm going back a long time there it was on the old Sea Princess and probably around 91/92 - those were the days before the Carnival 'bean counters' came along
We are quite fancying an Around Britain cruise so I'll look forward to your review Lindsey, it sounds as if you really enjoyed it.