Were we just unlucky with Freedom Dining ?

[Tizzy]

We were quite excited at the prospect of Freedom Dining on Azura but in reality it just didn't work for us at all.

We were sent away with a 'beeper' nearly every single night of our Cruise. It spoilt the whole occasion for us as we never knew how long we would have to wait for a table. It appears there just aren't enough tables for two available. Have you had similar problems or were we just unlucky ?

[dsrdsrdsr]

No, that's normal. Tables for 2 take up more room, so P&O don't have many of them (if they did, they couldn't fit enough people in). So if you want one on freedom dining, you have to wait; if you want one on first or second sitting, you almost certainly won't get one.

 

I don't know if other lines have bigger dining rooms, or if they're the same.

[cclarke12]

We found the wait was usually 20-30 mins if we requested a table after 7.30pm ish which suited us. We knew wanted to eat at 8ish so we always collected a buzzer at around 7.30 before going for pre-dinner drinks. It was fairly obvious that a table for 2 on demand wasn't going to be possible unless you arrived at 6pm or 9pm.

[Thejuggler]

If you have very specific demands you can expect a wait, so it was perfectly normal for P&O.

 

Dsrdsrdsr - On similar sized ships Princess have two freedom dining restaurants with a wide mix of tables and you are free to use either one, so even though we wanted a table for three every night we never had to wait.

[HomelessBear]

When we were on the Azura in the summer, we noticed that where there were sections of tables for 2, these were generally kept empty for a while and filled up at the same time. It seemed to me that they were doing this so that the waiters could take the orders at the same time, rather than different tables for 2 being on different courses. It therefore saved the waiters work!

 

This was only our observation, but would explain why so many folks wanting tables for 2 have to wait a while.

[Denarius]

I have done freedom dining many times and have rarely had to wait. I have however, noticed people with pagers and invariably they are waiting for tables for 2. If you are willing to share a table you will usually be seated straight away.

[Tizzy]

Thanks everyone !

We specifically needed a table for two as I have a slight disability and cannot keep the same pace as everyone else at a larger table. I think in future we would just try for the later Dining slot. We spoke to several people who had also requested tables for two. They were certainly very popular.

[John Bull]

As you'll have started to realise, the delay is because you want a 2-top. If you are willing to share, there's little or no delay - & no messing with bleepers & such.

It's not a P&O thing, its pretty standard across the cruise lines.

 

We prefer the company of fellow-cruisers & get to meet a wide cross-section - and often arrange to dine with them next evening, so easy with Freedom dining. OK, occasionally some fellow-diners aren't our type but its not a cruise-long commitment like on traditional dinng.

I can undrstand that some folk prefer not to share, but other than pre-booking (dont know if that can be done on P&O) I can only suggest you figure the least-busy times.

 

JB :)

[Tizzy]

Hi John

It is not that we don't want to share a table. I am just not able to eat quickly enough and don't want to hold everyone else up. I am also a bit clumsy at times and would be horrified if I spilt something over a fellow passenger. The tables for two were fairly close to one another and most people chatted happily. We did have one particularly uncomfortable evening when our cheery 'Good Evening; was ignored by the couples both sides but I guess some people choose the tables for two because they don't want to chat.

[beachmudhut]

We were quite excited at the prospect of Freedom Dining on Azura but in reality it just didn't work for us at all.

We were sent away with a 'beeper' nearly every single night of our Cruise. It spoilt the whole occasion for us as we never knew how long we would have to wait for a table. It appears there just aren't enough tables for two available. Have you had similar problems or were we just unlucky ?

 

We did the 21 night transatlantic on Azura in Jan and we ate at 8.00pm every evening and never had to wait. We did share with others though. If you wanted a table for 2, I can imagine that's tricky.

 

Freedom certainly didn't work on our cruise on Celeb. Silhouette in September. It was completely disorganised and they kept insisting on giving us a table for 2 when we definitely wanted to share!!!! We queued every day in spite of "booking" a time and they didn't have pagers.

[Denarius]

We did the 21 night transatlantic on Azura in Jan and we ate at 8.00pm every evening and never had to wait. We did share with others though. If you wanted a table for 2, I can imagine that's tricky.

 

Freedom certainly didn't work on our cruise on Celeb. Silhouette in September. It was completely disorganised and they kept insisting on giving us a table for 2 when we definitely wanted to share!!!! We queued every day in spite of "booking" a time and they didn't have pagers.[/quote]

Agree entirely. I was on her in August and it was chaotic. Huge queues at the door waiting for tables, no pagers so wait in line until a table became vacant, often ending up in isolation despite wanting to share. P&Os system is a well oiled machine in comparison.

[SolentSeawater]

When we were on the Azura in the summer, we noticed that where there were sections of tables for 2, these were generally kept empty for a while and filled up at the same time. It seemed to me that they were doing this so that the waiters could take the orders at the same time, rather than different tables for 2 being on different courses. It therefore saved the waiters work!

 

This was only our observation, but would explain why so many folks wanting tables for 2 have to wait a while.

 

Having just returned from Azura, this was my observation too. Four tables of two were almost treated like one table of eight. We were all served together. I also got a little annoyed when all eight main meals would come out at once , even before you may have finished your starter and I could see it there on the side getting cold. I wasn't overly impressed with my first experience of P&O.

[Bav]

We (my wife and I ) always look for a table for two....we are quite happy with each others company and do not want to make small talk with strangers. I suppose some would call us anti social...so be it... but we do live in a free world...or am I mistaken ?

 

Thankyou

[terrierjohn]

We did the 21 night transatlantic on Azura in Jan and we ate at 8.00pm every evening and never had to wait. We did share with others though. If you wanted a table for 2, I can imagine that's tricky.

 

Freedom certainly didn't work on our cruise on Celeb. Silhouette in September. It was completely disorganised and they kept insisting on giving us a table for 2 when we definitely wanted to share!!!! We queued every day in spite of "booking" a time and they didn't have pagers.[/quote]

Agree entirely. I was on her in August and it was chaotic. Huge queues at the door waiting for tables, no pagers so wait in line until a table became vacant, often ending up in isolation despite wanting to share. P&Os system is a well oiled machine in comparison.

Please do not judge your Silhoette experience with all Celebrity ships, we did Celebrity Select Dining last year on the Eclipse and it ran like clockwork. We never pre-booked and the queues were faily short and quick moving, we were always asked if we were happy to share, which we were, and we were then seated immediately.

[Sumdumgi]

We (my wife and I ) always look for a table for two....we are quite happy with each others company and do not want to make small talk with strangers. I suppose some would call us anti social...so be it... but we do live in a free world...or am I mistaken ?

 

Thankyou

 

Ditto. Happy to chat with others in the bars, at breakfast or around the ship but prefer our own company for evening dining. On both Azura and Ventura we've generally had to wait around up to 30 minutes max but build this in to our evening plans.

[sotonjoe]

Always had this experience on Azura. Strangely, I was never sent away on board Independence when requesting table for two. The Grand Class P&O ships seem to struggle with the bloated numbers they put on them.