Food and dining on P&O ships

[Britboys]

9 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

Depends on the ship afternoon tea is no longer done in MDR on Iona or Arvia.

Fortunately that won't affect me but good for others to know!

[jh1809]

22 hours ago, Britboys said:

Just been looking at the "Dining" section in "My Cruises" on the website. It says there that Afternoon Tea in the mdr is available "once a week on a sea day", so it seems they are limiting this activity now. Of course, as it is on the website, it is anyone's guess if it is correct...

It was more than once a week on Aurora during her Nov/Dec cruise to the Carribean, I think. My impression was that it was on all sea days from about mid-cruise. There was no publicity, though; I just happened to notice it appearing in the list of meal times in Horizon. That meant that the one time I went there were  very few of us there.

[No pager thank you]

Update from Britannia:

 

Biscuit-gate:  Cabins remain stocked with the "St Michel" variety.  The humble biscuit is hidden in the drawee out of the view of the accountants.

 

Tray-gate: It's the end of the line for the tray.  Buffet has been like a scrum on occasions.

 

Epicurean: Good service but all food remains plated (not done at table).

 

Coffee is now Nescafe not Douwe Edgberts.

 

Prices on board seem stable to last year, with exception of on board retail, where there has been rises, particularly perfumes and accessories/clothing.  The popular "4 for £45 or £55" offer on bottles has also gone.  Notably less stock in some of the on board retail outlets.

 

Otherwise, same as so far, enjoying Skagen today.

 

[Selbourne]

56 minutes ago, No pager thank you said:

Update from Britannia:

 

Biscuit-gate:  Cabins remain stocked with the "St Michel" variety.  The humble biscuit is hidden in the drawee out of the view of the accountants.

 

Tray-gate: It's the end of the line for the tray.  Buffet has been like a scrum on occasions.

 

Epicurean: Good service but all food remains plated (not done at table).

 

Coffee is now Nescafe not Douwe Edgberts.

 

Prices on board seem stable to last year, with exception of on board retail, where there has been rises, particularly perfumes and accessories/clothing.  The popular "4 for £45 or £55" offer on bottles has also gone.  Notably less stock in some of the on board retail outlets.

 

Otherwise, same as so far, enjoying Skagen today.

 

Thanks for the update. Shame that Epicurean isn’t back up to scratch as we are hoping to use it a number of times when on Britannia in July. Did they give any reason why?

[Camberley]

I rather like those little biscuits. Surprisingly delicious when dunked.

 

The last few cruises this past year, including our cruises so far this year, Epicurean remained terrific each time, and we tend to eat there around half of the evenings. Personally I have no issue whatsoever about the food being plated before it comes to the table - and unless I fall down a timehole into late 1970s Britain, I can do without the theatrics of plating at the table.

[No pager thank you]

3 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Thanks for the update. Shame that Epicurean isn’t back up to scratch as we are hoping to use it a number of times when on Britannia in July. Did they give any reason why?

No, to be honest I didn't ask.  Crepes Suzette were very good all the same.

[Selbourne]

1 hour ago, Camberley said:

I rather like those little biscuits. Surprisingly delicious when dunked.

 

The last few cruises this past year, including our cruises so far this year, Epicurean remained terrific each time, and we tend to eat there around half of the evenings. Personally I have no issue whatsoever about the food being plated before it comes to the table - and unless I fall down a timehole into late 1970s Britain, I can do without the theatrics of plating at the table.

That’s good to hear. Which ship(s)? It’s not just the theatrics though. We were on Cunard 2 weeks ago and had a number of dishes finished tableside. All the generous helpings of alcoholic substances being added really did add to the flavours enormously 😂 

[Camberley]

1 hour ago, Selbourne said:

That’s good to hear. Which ship(s)? It’s not just the theatrics though. We were on Cunard 2 weeks ago and had a number of dishes finished tableside. All the generous helpings of alcoholic substances being added really did add to the flavours enormously 😂 

Iona and Britannia. 

[Selbourne]

48 minutes ago, Camberley said:

Iona and Britannia. 

Great. We are on both over the next 3 months and are really looking forward to Epicurean on both ships, multiple times!

[Britboys]

On 5/14/2023 at 8:22 AM, No pager thank you said:

Update from Britannia:

 

Biscuit-gate:  Cabins remain stocked with the "St Michel" variety.  The humble biscuit is hidden in the drawee out of the view of the accountants.

 

Tray-gate: It's the end of the line for the tray.  Buffet has been like a scrum on occasions.

 

Epicurean: Good service but all food remains plated (not done at table).

 

Coffee is now Nescafe not Douwe Edgberts.

 

Prices on board seem stable to last year, with exception of on board retail, where there has been rises, particularly perfumes and accessories/clothing.  The popular "4 for £45 or £55" offer on bottles has also gone.  Notably less stock in some of the on board retail outlets.

 

Otherwise, same as so far, enjoying Skagen today.

 

The cost savings continue then...

[Bill Y]

Last time we sailed with P&O before covid, on embarkation day there used to be people with clipboards trying to sell speciality restaurant bookings at half price for that night or possibly the next night. It’s probably been asked before, does this still happen?

[TigerB]

9 minutes ago, Bill Y said:

Last time we sailed with P&O before covid, on embarkation day there used to be people with clipboards trying to sell speciality restaurant bookings at half price for that night or possibly the next night. It’s probably been asked before, does this still happen?

 

 

The last time I saw anything like that was about five years ago on Britannia, on the first day and at least one other day during the cruise.

[Selbourne]

1 hour ago, Bill Y said:

Last time we sailed with P&O before covid, on embarkation day there used to be people with clipboards trying to sell speciality restaurant bookings at half price for that night or possibly the next night. It’s probably been asked before, does this still happen?

 

I think those staff members are probably now cleaning cabins, moving luggage, serving in the MDRs etc etc etc 😂 

[Froxfield]

Given the prices I have been quoted for 14 day cruises in 2024 and 2025 over the last few months I would not be surprised if cost cutting continued! Frankly I think that P&O are offering remarkable value for money at around £100 per person per day all found for a select fare in a balcony cabin on Arvia/Iona. Although most of the entertainers on offer do not appeal to us most of the time, we are still more than happy with value for money! At the price, we are more than happy to ante up for speciality restaurants and like the variety of the larger ships. I understand that long-standing former P&O passengers may be less than delighted with this option but I am guessing it is the shape of things to come on most, if not all "bulk" cruise lines.

[Selbourne]

8 minutes ago, Froxfield said:

Given the prices I have been quoted for 14 day cruises in 2024 and 2025 over the last few months I would not be surprised if cost cutting continued! Frankly I think that P&O are offering remarkable value for money at around £100 per person per day all found for a select fare in a balcony cabin on Arvia/Iona. Although most of the entertainers on offer do not appeal to us most of the time, we are still more than happy with value for money! At the price, we are more than happy to ante up for speciality restaurants and like the variety of the larger ships. I understand that long-standing former P&O passengers may be less than delighted with this option but I am guessing it is the shape of things to come on most, if not all "bulk" cruise lines.

That’s exactly our view, even though we are long standing P&O customers. Given all the changes, we are no longer prepared to pay what we once did for a P&O cruise, but we don’t mind a more budget experience as long as the prices reflect it. We are fortunate that we are able to do a number of cruises a year. If we want a special cruise we will now use Cunard or Saga, but for ‘filler’ holidays we will continue to use P&O - unless any of the cruises that we do this year (our first since Covid, and on 3 different ships) convince us that our P&O days are numbered. Hopefully that won’t be the case 🤞

[Ardennais]

9 hours ago, Selbourne said:

That’s exactly our view, even though we are long standing P&O customers. Given all the changes, we are no longer prepared to pay what we once did for a P&O cruise, but we don’t mind a more budget experience as long as the prices reflect it. We are fortunate that we are able to do a number of cruises a year. If we want a special cruise we will now use Cunard or Saga, but for ‘filler’ holidays we will continue to use P&O - unless any of the cruises that we do this year (our first since Covid, and on 3 different ships) convince us that our P&O days are numbered. Hopefully that won’t be the case 🤞

I understand your point, but the problem is this - the glossy advertising doesn’t project a ‘more budget experience’! 

[Snow Hill]

16 hours ago, Selbourne said:

That’s exactly our view, even though we are long standing P&O customers. Given all the changes, we are no longer prepared to pay what we once did for a P&O cruise, but we don’t mind a more budget experience as long as the prices reflect it. We are fortunate that we are able to do a number of cruises a year. If we want a special cruise we will now use Cunard or Saga, but for ‘filler’ holidays we will continue to use P&O - unless any of the cruises that we do this year (our first since Covid, and on 3 different ships) convince us that our P&O days are numbered. Hopefully that won’t be the case 🤞

If you treat a P&O Cruise as a “ferry” to get you from one country to another then their prices are reasonable based on what is supplied. We using only eat in MDR or possibly buffet, the only paid for restaurant we have eaten in is Sindhu. If in port we will usually find somewhere to eat locally and not join the lunchtime rush back to the ship.
 

We don’t buy drinks packages for 2 reasons, 1 given we are not great drinkers of alcohol we couldn’t justify the cost, plus those days we aren’t on board for a large period we wouldn’t be using it if we bought one.

[Selbourne]

7 hours ago, Ardennais said:

I understand your point, but the problem is this - the glossy advertising doesn’t project a ‘more budget experience’! 

That’s very true but, of course, all budget brands could be accused of that. Whilst P&Os IT department takes incompetence to a whole new level, they clearly have a very skilled marketing team 😂 

[Froxfield]

17 hours ago, Selbourne said:

That’s exactly our view, even though we are long standing P&O customers. Given all the changes, we are no longer prepared to pay what we once did for a P&O cruise, but we don’t mind a more budget experience as long as the prices reflect it. We are fortunate that we are able to do a number of cruises a year. If we want a special cruise we will now use Cunard or Saga, but for ‘filler’ holidays we will continue to use P&O - unless any of the cruises that we do this year (our first since Covid, and on 3 different ships) convince us that our P&O days are numbered. Hopefully that won’t be the case 🤞

Well we have one more Cunard cruise coming up in November and then we will see. Frankly we don't much care for the Britannia class experience, based on two QM2 transatlantics and Princess Grill is becoming prohibitively expensive for us! Again, whilst the Grills restaurants are nice and true Freedom dining (!), the menu seems resolutely stuck in the 1970s with things like duck a l'orange And I do not need caviar: having lived in Moscow for six years, I have had my fill of that!  We enjoy the grills cabins on QV and QE but (horror of horrors) the new Queen Anne cannot offer a bath in the bathroom: shower only!  And the prices! We think this might be our last Cunard cruise.

 

To get back on topic, I think P&O offer a great choice of dining experience. And I must disagree with Snow Hill above. The experience is nothing like the "ferries" of my experience. Just a normal good international hotel standard. We now have three more cruise booked on Iona/Arvia.  Wild horses wouldn't get us on the smaller ships! It takes all sorts......Other opinions are available!

[Selbourne]

3 minutes ago, Froxfield said:

Well we have one more Cunard cruise coming up in November and then we will see. Frankly we don't much care for the Britannia class experience, based on two QM2 transatlantics and Princess Grill is becoming prohibitively expensive for us! Again, whilst the Grills restaurants are nice and true Freedom dining (!), the menu seems resolutely stuck in the 1970s with things like duck a l'orange And I do not need caviar: having lived in Moscow for six years, I have had my fill of that!  We enjoy the grills cabins on QV and QE but (horror of horrors) the new Queen Anne cannot offer a bath in the bathroom: shower only!  And the prices! We think this might be our last Cunard cruise.

 

To get back on topic, I think P&O offer a great choice of dining experience. And I must disagree with Snow Hill above. The experience is nothing like the "ferries" of my experience. Just a normal good international hotel standard. We now have three more cruise booked on Iona/Arvia.  Wild horses wouldn't get us on the smaller ships! It takes all sorts......Other opinions are available!

We haven’t done standard Britannia on Cunard. Our recent QM2 cruise was Princess Grill which we absolutely loved and couldn’t fault, but was at an absolute bargain price that will never be repeated of just under £100 pppn! We wouldn’t pay the usual Grill prices though. Much as we loved it, we don’t like cruising that much!
 

On both future Cunard cruises we have booked Britannia Club. Expensive, but we love the fact that you have your own table for breakfast, lunch and dinner, with the ability to use it whenever you like and no need to queue (virtual or physical) - just turn up when you fancy (like grills). As you say, true freedom dining. Some a’la carte enhancements as well, but obviously not full grills. Nothing comparable on P&O.
 

There were quite a few other things that we preferred about Cunard, but I’m not sure that we’d pay too much of a premium over P&O for the standard Britannia experience. Never say never though. Over the next 18 months we have 4 P&O cruises and 2 more Cunard cruises, so we will have a really good idea as to where our preferences and priorities lie. I see no reason why we won’t use both - and we’ve yet to try Saga!

[daiB]

On 5/15/2023 at 2:26 PM, Froxfield said:

Given the prices I have been quoted for 14 day cruises in 2024 and 2025 over the last few months I would not be surprised if cost cutting continued! Frankly I think that P&O are offering remarkable value for money at around £100 per person per day all found for a select fare in a balcony cabin on Arvia/Iona. Although most of the entertainers on offer do not appeal to us most of the time, we are still more than happy with value for money! At the price, we are more than happy to ante up for speciality restaurants and like the variety of the larger ships. I understand that long-standing former P&O passengers may be less than delighted with this option but I am guessing it is the shape of things to come on most, if not all "bulk" cruise lines.

Just wandered into this thread and. As long standing P&O passengers who have recently tried Iona I can tell you we think she is wonderful and the range of eating venues is fabulous. We even got used to freedom dining which has never worked for us the times we have used it.

 

Gan Canny

 

Dai 

[Al_W]

On Britannia, 7 days into a 14 night cruise. 
 

We are freedom dining. MDR food is not special at all, very standard and not feeling very special even on the celebration nights. Getting bored with the options already which seem very bland and similar.
 

The amuse bouche on celebration nights never arrived even though it says in the menu. If you ask to get it when your starters arrive. Mixed service we had terrible service one night spoke to the manager and asked what is going on and was told he’s new. Then asked the waiter and he said it’s his 18th year on a cruise ship!
 

We have had to wait up to and over an hour for a table. One evening we joined at 7.30 both queue over 100 and didn’t start eating until 8.45. Freedom dining is not working as well on this one as it had on our other cruises. If you join earlier it’s a bit quicker but I’ve never seen a queues less than around 50 when we like to eat. 

 

1st visit to epicurean on any po cruise. Food was better than MDR but I thought it would be better for the price. I had the tiger prawns for my main though and that was amazing, other courses weren’t that special. One of us had the lamb and it was terrible, complained and was offered a  replacement. 
 

Beach house was nice last night for £9.50 plus extras. Better than MDR.
 

Limelight was nice, better than MDR but no welcome cocktail anymore on arrival.

 

Buffet not really noticing any issue with no trays other than a couple of people carrying too much and dropping something. Food is not as good as before, definitely feels budget and more about quantity over quality.

 

We are going to try Glass House one evening. 

 

PO food doesn’t feel special anymore unless you want to pay for it. 

[Selbourne]

16 minutes ago, Al_W said:

On Britannia, 7 days into a 14 night cruise. 
 

We are freedom dining. MDR food is not special at all, very standard and not feeling very special even on the celebration nights. Getting bored with the options already which seem very bland and similar.
 

The amuse bouche on celebration nights never arrived even though it says in the menu. If you ask to get it when your starters arrive. Mixed service we had terrible service one night spoke to the manager and asked what is going on and was told he’s new. Then asked the waiter and he said it’s his 18th year on a cruise ship!
 

We have had to wait up to and over an hour for a table. One evening we joined at 7.30 both queue over 100 and didn’t start eating until 8.45. Freedom dining is not working as well on this one as it had on our other cruises. If you join earlier it’s a bit quicker but I’ve never seen a queues less than around 50 when we like to eat. 

 

1st visit to epicurean on any po cruise. Food was better than MDR but I thought it would be better for the price. I had the tiger prawns for my main though and that was amazing, other courses weren’t that special. One of us had the lamb and it was terrible, complained and was offered a  replacement. 
 

Beach house was nice last night for £9.50 plus extras. Better than MDR.
 

Limelight was nice, better than MDR but no welcome cocktail anymore on arrival.

 

Buffet not really noticing any issue with no trays other than a couple of people carrying too much and dropping something. Food is not as good as before, definitely feels budget and more about quantity over quality.

 

We are going to try Glass House one evening. 

 

PO food doesn’t feel special anymore unless you want to pay for it. 

Oh dear. We are on Britannia in July and this doesn’t fill me with confidence! We are booked on Freedom Dining which, prior to Covid, always worked very well for us. I had been led to believe by other that the problems with freedom dining were mostly early, due to a lot of people wanting to eat as soon as the restaurant opened and then having to wait for these tables to clear. Your experience tends to suggest that the problems extend throughout the evening. We are happy to dine late once the surge has subsided, but the danger then is that service is then rushed. 
 

We’ve only booked recently and the price that we paid reflected the fact that we anticipated issues that we hadn’t experienced before. However, we planned on using the speciality restaurants a lot (in particular Epicurean which, on 3 previous pre-Covid cruises on Britannia had been fantastic), so it’s a concern that your experience there wasn’t great. On a 14 night cruise you don’t want to eat in speciality restaurants every night, so the MDR needs to deliver a good experience. 

[No pager thank you]

26 minutes ago, Al_W said:

On Britannia, 7 days into a 14 night cruise. 
 

We are freedom dining. MDR food is not special at all, very standard and not feeling very special even on the celebration nights. Getting bored with the options already which seem very bland and similar.
 

The amuse bouche on celebration nights never arrived even though it says in the menu. If you ask to get it when your starters arrive. Mixed service we had terrible service one night spoke to the manager and asked what is going on and was told he’s new. Then asked the waiter and he said it’s his 18th year on a cruise ship!
 

We have had to wait up to and over an hour for a table. One evening we joined at 7.30 both queue over 100 and didn’t start eating until 8.45. Freedom dining is not working as well on this one as it had on our other cruises. If you join earlier it’s a bit quicker but I’ve never seen a queues less than around 50 when we like to eat. 

 

1st visit to epicurean on any po cruise. Food was better than MDR but I thought it would be better for the price. I had the tiger prawns for my main though and that was amazing, other courses weren’t that special. One of us had the lamb and it was terrible, complained and was offered a  replacement. 
 

Beach house was nice last night for £9.50 plus extras. Better than MDR.
 

Limelight was nice, better than MDR but no welcome cocktail anymore on arrival.

 

Buffet not really noticing any issue with no trays other than a couple of people carrying too much and dropping something. Food is not as good as before, definitely feels budget and more about quantity over quality.

 

We are going to try Glass House one evening. 

 

PO food doesn’t feel special anymore unless you want to pay for it. 

I am also on the same cruise and have heard several stories of 1 1/2 hour waits for MDR meals, across several evenings.

 

In summary, good food, a normal dining time and, in some respects, attentive service, are now all paid for extras.  I have started to factor this in to the true cost of a P&O holiday and its important to book soon after boarding to get your choice of dining times and venues. In the specialty restaurants, which I have used most nights, food and service has been good.

 

However, for balance, I have seen an improvement in the levels of waiting on staff, particularly in the paid for venues (like Java, Market Cafe and Brodies).  Again, here the customer is paying extra!

[Al_W]

2 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Oh dear. We are on Britannia in July and this doesn’t fill me with confidence! We are booked on Freedom Dining which, prior to Covid, always worked very well for us. I had been led to believe by other that the problems with freedom dining were mostly early, due to a lot of people wanting to eat as soon as the restaurant opened and then having to wait for these tables to clear. Your experience tends to suggest that the problems extend throughout the evening. We are happy to dine late once the surge has subsided, but the danger then is that service is then rushed. 
 

We’ve only booked recently and the price that we paid reflected the fact that we anticipated issues that we hadn’t experienced before. However, we planned on using the speciality restaurants a lot (in particular Epicurean which, on 3 previous pre-Covid cruises on Britannia had been fantastic), so it’s a concern that your experience there wasn’t great. On a 14 night cruise you don’t want to eat in speciality restaurants every night, so the MDR needs to deliver a good experience. 

So we booked select on azura in Jan. Was happy with the price then but now don’t feel it’s value for money. People have booked since on saver less than half the price we paid. Maybe they feel differently?

 

We are going to cancel our next PO cruise based on this experience, we had a £6500 cruise booked to Caribbean next year.