Thanks guys; after 3hr30 in a P&O Call Centre queue this agent confirmed Epicurean is open for Suit B'fast only.
IMO; its a P&O specific problem. We sailed on Celebrity earlier in the year and all venues where open.
The full story re 2nd bedroom is we have an autistic child who cannot sleep in the same "room" as us, so no one sleeps...we tried it once; never again. When we booked in 2019 no one could confirm if there was a door to the bedroom so the boys could use that, so it was agreed we would book and interconnected inside and at the time it was confirmed we would all get suite perks; but this was 2019 and several cruise changes have sinced occured and I fear notes have been lost; bottom line we have paid more to have an interconnected cabin to our suiterather than having them as 3rd and 4th passengers
Also, its not two adults in the suite; P&O (unlike Celebrity) forced us to have one adult and child per room/suite; even when its interconnected and clearly for children..so as it stands myself and youngest are in steerage class..gonna be an intersting conversation on board :-(..not a great start to a holiday