P & O cost cutting apparent

[jeanlyon]

LOL Sharon - I have heard reports of bad food before and always found it to be mostly excellent, so much so that I have never bothered with specialty restaurants :-)

[nyree]

LOL Sharon - I have heard reports of bad food before and always found it to be mostly excellent, so much so that I have never bothered with specialty restaurants :-)

 

 

You were lucky with your cruises then, I am sure that this one was below the norm based on previous reviews being good and then comments from others while on board and the only reviews for this cruise so far being bad, there is obviously something amiss on this particular cruise, the problem is people who've been on one of the good ones know that it's good, but people who've been on one of the below par ones have a different story to tell

[Brayman]

You were lucky with your cruises then, I am sure that this one was below the norm based on previous reviews being good and then comments from others while on board and the only reviews for this cruise so far being bad, there is obviously something amiss on this particular cruise, the problem is people who've been on one of the good ones know that it's good, but people who've been on one of the below par ones have a different story to tell

 

So they were very unlucky!

[nyree]

So they were very unlucky!

 

Yep they sure were, but why should it be that way, P&O should be more consistent

[davecttr]

Yep they sure were, but why should it be that way, P&O should be more consistent

the dining experience should be very consistent as all the ships have basically the same menu (boring) and even have the same basic ingredients.

 

I would have thought that if a ship was getting consistent reports of mediocre food the ships executive chef would be making a quick exit.

 

For me a lot of the mdr food is basically variations of the meat and veg formula beloved by the british. The buffet fare is more interesting in the evenings with theme nights. Salad choice is poor though, ever been on a med cruise with nary an olive in sight? you will on a P&O ship.

[daiB]

Yep they sure were, but why should it be that way, P&O should be more consistent

 

Well in our 20+ cruises it has been very consistant. I have not once had someone at our table complain about the food. We always have tables for 8.

 

Gan Canny

 

 

Dai

[nyree]

the dining experience should be very consistent as all the ships have basically the same menu (boring) and even have the same basic ingredients.

 

I would have thought that if a ship was getting consistent reports of mediocre food the ships executive chef would be making a quick exit.

 

For me a lot of the mdr food is basically variations of the meat and veg formula beloved by the british. The buffet fare is more interesting in the evenings with theme nights. Salad choice is poor though, ever been on a med cruise with nary an olive in sight? you will on a P&O ship.

 

Totally agree - did find the menus very uninspiring, but the buffet on our particular cruise was dire, I thought it was just our cruise, but as others point out P&O are consistent, so maybe it's always like that

[Dressage Superstar]

I have to admit, I've always had good food on p and o, right down to the toast still being warm delivered to our room in the morning for room service. I've eaten in silver service fine dining in the city right down to McDonald's and am happy with p and o but I understand its all down to people's own opinions.

 

I'm still very much looking forward to our cruise on the azura in just over 4 weeks...no matter what reviews are posted! Bring on the sun and the cocktails! :rolleyes:

[Britboys]

Why on earth do people keep paying extra for food when it's included in your fare. If what is being posted is true, it appears to me that P&O are serving up sub standard food to entice people to pay extra and eat in their pay venues.....and looking at this website, it is working!

 

The logical conclusion to this statement is that mdr food on all mainstream cruiselines is poor as they have all introduced more 'extra-fee' dining options over the last few years.

[Britboys]

My own experience of food on P&O is that it is pretty consistent and very acceptable. I have, fortunately, never had a cruise with them where I have felt the food in the mdr was poor throughout the cruise. There have been individual dishes I found poor - and when sent back the waiters have gone to great lengths to replace with something different and the section head waiter has asked what the problem was. I have also found on one or two nights that the selection was not very inspiring - but not on the same cruise.

 

I do however agree that the buffets aboard US ships are normally better than those on P&O. Having said that, there was always plenty I could choose from at lunchtime buffets aboard Aurora last October.

[Britboys]

Just to add to my last post on this thread - food is of course a very subjective topic. I was recently in a restaurant where someone recommended a gateau to me saying it was "absolutely delicious". I tried it and thought it was probably 99p from Iceland stock - horrible! We all have very different tastes.

[Denarius]

Just returned from Ventura. Food was as good as ever, no complaints there. Elsewhere however, more cutbacks were apparent. The latest "victims" were the Spanish guitarist in Ramblas - just piped music in ther now - and the classical music artist. Drink prices were also noticably higher - a bottle of Becks which cost £2.85 last Easter is now £3.50!

[Pennbank]

I have just returned from a 24 night cruise on Arcadia and felt that the standard of food was below what I would have expected the choice and quality was down and clearly they have been forced to reduce standards. Although the staff was excellent and I feel they are being let down by constraints imposed by head office to save money. The delivery and collection of baggage was a shambles with the result that disembarkation was half and hour late. Despite having priority embarkation and disembarkation this appeared to count for little. The present pricing policy is something of a lottery and despite the price promise I feel that booking to far in advance is not likely to prove worthwhile unless a specific cabin is required. I have cruised with P & O on 25 previous occasions my experience with the last cruise coupled with a very poor response from passenger services over booking a previous cruise has convinced me not to cruise with P & O again.

 

Just returned from Ventura. Food was as good as ever, no complaints there. Elsewhere however, more cutbacks were apparent. The latest "victims" were the Spanish guitarist in Ramblas - just piped music in ther now - and the classical music artist. Drink prices were also noticably higher - a bottle of Becks which cost £2.85 last Easter is now £3.50!

 

Just returned from my First P&O Cruise on Oriana in January and it will be my last.

Food in MDR was like school dinners. Never hot, Watery mushy vegetables and the menu was amusing, food served bear no resemblance to the menu.

ie, Lamb Shank was two slivers of lamp on a plate with no bone. Mango puree was unripped mango cubes. In the Self service only 2 out of the 4 Tea Coffee Orange drink stands were manned by the staff. As they had to serve us through out the day Cruise due to Norovirus which meant queues and more queues for Orange Juice then Tea/Coffee. It was a shambles. Noro Virus has been on the ship since Well before Christmas and they could have arranged more staff. No Ice Cream Machines or 24hour Buffett just pieces of Pizza up to 2am. The selection of food in the Conservatory was in my opinion very poor compared to other cruise lines. Except for the Lunch time Curry which was exceptional when available. However the Ocean Grill was exceptional with a surcharge of around £12.75. The food served in the Ocean Grill is of a quality that is served in the MDR of other cruise lines I have travelled on.

As for the so called entertainment well thats another problem. One Commedian was booed off stage and never appeared again.Entertainments team hardly seen. And lack of live music in the drinking venues. The Entertainment Team and management on board in my opinion where a disaster. I have had better food and entertainment on board Danish ferries.

P&O not for me........

[Brayman]

Pennbank - Please tell me who the Cruise Director was. We are on Oriana for 17 days in May, so hoping to experience anything like you say you did.

Thanks

[Denarius]

As for the so called entertainment well thats another problem. One Commedian was booed off stage and never appeared again.Entertainments team hardly seen. And lack of live music in the drinking venues. The Entertainment Team and management on board in my opinion where a disaster. I have had better food and entertainment on board Danish ferries.

P&O not for me........

Can't comment on Oriana as it is a few years since I've sailed on her, but on Ventura there used to be live music in the pub bar (the Exchange) every evening. On my last two cruises on her however, all there has been is cheap passenger participation activities like quizzes (2 most evenings!), kareoke and horse races. Not my choice of entertainment but obviously cheaper than paying musicians. To be truthful however, there were more people in the bar for the quizzes than there used to be for the music, so perhaps that is what people want.

[Brayman]

Pennbank - Please tell me who the Cruise Director was. We are on Oriana for 17 days in May, so hoping NOT to experience anything like you say you did.

Thanks

 

oops!

[Britboys]

I was on Aurora for the second half of October and there were bands playing music in both the Crow's Nest and Champions Bar most nights so I am surprised to hear that Oriana did not have similar in the Crow's Nest and Lord's Tavern.

[teddy dicklinson]

We were on Aurora 3 week cruise to Caribbean. We were first sitting in Alexandra restaurant. The food could not be faulted. One of the best cruises as far as the food is concerned. Other faults with Aurora but food in MDR definitely not one of them. Buffet was exceptionally bad probably the worst ever but we are not buffet fans. Not over keen on the select dining venues either on this ship.

 

We are on Azura in March so hope the MDR has improved by then, but we can always go to Sindhu and the Trattoria on there.

 

Sue

We were on this cruise, but 1st sitting Medina, very surprised to hear the 2MDR varied so much, I always assumed they served the same food, ours was really bad. Christmas dinner was rubbish, We had another one last week because we felt cheated out of it this year! Food throughout the cruise was bland ,boring, dreadful. The buffets were the worst we have come across on any cruise.

[elleks]

We sailed Ventura in September 12 and found the food very uninspiring. It was well cooked, but portions were very small. And the buffet in the Beach House and Waterside served the same limitesd selections every day.

I loved the ship, but for food would go back to RC every time.

[soobs]

Oh no I was hoping to food would equal Cunard we only did a TA to new York not a proper cruise and it was a rough crossing with loads of people including staff off sick for a few days BUT the food was faultless and the main reason we are trying cruising again.

 

Loads of people said P & O & Cunard we very much the same without the stuffyness of Cunard and the constand formal attire in an evening.

 

I hope I am not going to be dissapointed??

 

Susan

[Pennbank]

Pennbank - Please tell me who the Cruise Director was. We are on Oriana for 17 days in May, so hoping (Not) to experience anything like you say you did.

Thanks

 

It was a lady named Natalie, Who in my opinion was not very good Never mingled with the passengers, she was never seen around the ship except for serving the food in the Self Service Restaurant when the Peninsular club lunches were on for Two Days . (Self service was off for the 3 week + Cruise due to Norovirus) as with the previous cruises on the Oriana. Yet another deep Clean occurred when we arrived back into Southampton .

[Brayman]

Thank you for coming back to me on this. I will be looking out to see who we have then. Not sure if I have come across a Natalie, I'll have to check back.

[Midsomer Madness]

It was a lady named Natalie, Who in my opinion was not very good Never mingled with the passengers, she was never seen around the ship except for serving the food in the Self Service Restaurant when the Peninsular club lunches were on for Two Days . (Self service was off for the 3 week + Cruise due to Norovirus) as with the previous cruises on the Oriana. Yet another deep Clean occurred when we arrived back into Southampton .

 

We had this cruise director in 2011 on Aurora at Christmas and thought she as absolutely useless...shame she now able to ruin Oriana as well :rolleyes:

[Britboys]

Oh no I was hoping to food would equal Cunard we only did a TA to new York not a proper cruise and it was a rough crossing with loads of people including staff off sick for a few days BUT the food was faultless and the main reason we are trying cruising again.

 

Loads of people said P & O & Cunard we very much the same without the stuffyness of Cunard and the constand formal attire in an evening.

 

I hope I am not going to be dissapointed??

 

Susan

 

Go with an open mind Susan. I have good friends who sail regularly with both Cunard and P&O, enjoying both - including food. As I said earlier in this thread, food is very subjective. I have other friends who love the food on P&O and hated it on Cunard when they did a T/A back-to-back.

 

Of course - if you ate in one of the grills on Cunard, P&O food may not be up to your expectations...

[Pennbank]

Go with an open mind Susan. I have good friends who sail regularly with both Cunard and P&O, enjoying both - including food. As I said earlier in this thread, food is very subjective. I have other friends who love the food on P&O and hated it on Cunard when they did a T/A back-to-back.

 

Of course - if you ate in one of the grills on Cunard, P&O food may not be up to your expectations...

 

In my opinion Cunard Food always excellent. Oriana on Caribbean Cruise just past, rubbish.

Had to go to the Ocean Grill for a decent meal. I don't travel in the grills on Cunard either.