Wanted a convenient short break before the nights began to draw in and thought this offered the ideal chance for a weekend away.The trip to Southampton was a road well travelled by us over the years as seasoned cruisers and parking and embarkation was smooth enough. We have sailed a number of times before with P and O although Royal Caribbean and Celebrity are our favourites as they offer a higher standard of entertainment and facilities. Being such a short cruise we took just enough luggage for what was being offered or so we thought. All was well until the Sunday, cabin was fine with a good location. Food in the restaurant was good although the buffet fare in the evening was somewhat limited akin to school dinner levels. To our surprise we were informed that Sunday was termed a formal black tie night which meant that many of us were unprepared and knew the only option for us was the Waterside buffet which in itself was would not have posed a problem if the food on offer had not been restricted to an Indian buffet with the alternative being lamb dinner with very limited veg and roast potatoes. Sadly none of these suited myself and I was left with picking at cheese and salad. Speaking to others they too were were far from impressed with the state of affairs being excluded from the restaurant while the rest of the passengers enjoyed a 3 course meal while paying the same price as ourselves. Reception were rather dismissive and unperturbed by our situation. P and O did not mention the black tie night when we booked as we would never have entertained the break in the first place. We will not be booking with P and O again as they are so inflexible and traditional to the point of ridiculousness at the expense of some of their passengers.