Live report - Iona G305 Canary Islands

[Selbourne]

25 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Do we know if P&O are still allowing select passengers to change to free parking on existing bookings, and are new bookings getting an uplift to the OBC option in line with the new parking charges?

You can still change your mind on whether to take free parking or extra OBC after booking. Did do just the other day. 

[grapau27]

13 hours ago, Minnie29 said:

What is the App name for booking restaurants etc whilst on board. Can I load the App prior to boarding? 

You should go to the My Holiday desk when getting on the ship and they will put the app on your phone and tell you how to use it.

Graham 

[CliveJ]

Any of you experienced how 'strict' the dressing-up for celebration nights has to be ? Our dining's opened this a.m. for G306, & after a bit of hassle with cards (already registered one, but was then told to 'add a new card' when booking Sindhu/Epicurean) have managed to reserve some shows & dining slots - including the 2nd celebration night in Chef's Table. Now - will have a decent/shirt tie, but no intention of packing jacket/suit etc. for a couple of hours in 2 weeks. Do people get in with a shart/tie...or, maybe, are there options for borrowing/hiring a jacket for the evening ? No money wasted if not, as 'Chef's' is included...but it would be pleasant if possible.

Thank you.

[alpha whiskey]

1 hour ago, CliveJ said:

Do people get in with a shart/tie...

I' m sorry, I don't know the answer to your question, but I award you  'typo of the week' 🏆🤣

[TigerB]

1 hour ago, CliveJ said:

Any of you experienced how 'strict' the dressing-up for celebration nights has to be ? Our dining's opened this a.m. for G306, & after a bit of hassle with cards (already registered one, but was then told to 'add a new card' when booking Sindhu/Epicurean) have managed to reserve some shows & dining slots - including the 2nd celebration night in Chef's Table. Now - will have a decent/shirt tie, but no intention of packing jacket/suit etc. for a couple of hours in 2 weeks. Do people get in with a shart/tie...or, maybe, are there options for borrowing/hiring a jacket for the evening ? No money wasted if not, as 'Chef's' is included...but it would be pleasant if possible.

Thank you.

 

See post #417 on:

https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2908083-food-and-dining-on-po-ships/?do=findComment&comment=64856009

[CliveJ]

7 minutes ago, alpha whiskey said:

I' m sorry, I don't know the answer to your question, but I award you  'typo of the week' 🏆🤣

Yeah frugging hilarious; oh dear, another ficking typo !

[smokey01]

16 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

Do we know if P&O are still allowing select passengers to change to free parking on existing bookings, and are new bookings getting an uplift to the OBC option in line with the new parking charges?

Yes, I have got quotes and changed parking option in the last month as originally we had taken the full OBC with no parking option. On a couple of cruises they only took £120 off the OBC but on a couple of others it was £290 off the OBC. So when they wanted £290 we went with our usual Parking4Cruises except for one cruise where we already had way more OBC than we could spend so we opted for CPS on that cruise.

 

Having just used CPS for the first time in many years last November I find Parking4Cruises much better. That said in the last month we did change 3 select booking cruises to CPS to save us parting with real money to book our preferred parking company.

 

Not sure about OBC uplift though but we did get £150 per cabin for our upcoming April cruise, nothing so far for later bookings.

 

For anyone interested we always book Parking4Cruises through looking4parking currently using a promo code of LOOKINGFOR20.  You then have to select the ‘stress free parking option’ which currently comes up at £107.77 for a 2 week cruise. But ‘stress free parking’ is actually Parking4Cruises when you get to the port.

 

[davecttr]

4 hours ago, CliveJ said:

Any of you experienced how 'strict' the dressing-up for celebration nights has to be ? Our dining's opened this a.m. for G306, & after a bit of hassle with cards (already registered one, but was then told to 'add a new card' when booking Sindhu/Epicurean) have managed to reserve some shows & dining slots - including the 2nd celebration night in Chef's Table. Now - will have a decent/shirt tie, but no intention of packing jacket/suit etc. for a couple of hours in 2 weeks. Do people get in with a shart/tie...or, maybe, are there options for borrowing/hiring a jacket for the evening ? No money wasted if not, as 'Chef's' is included...but it would be pleasant if possible.

Thank you.

last Tuesday I only spotted one man in a shirt and tie, the rest were wearing suits or dinner jackets. Also the Chefs table overflows into part of the main buffet with not quite the atmosphere of the Beach House section.

 

Try the Olive Grove, that is evening casual on celebration night

[Selbourne]

24 minutes ago, davecttr said:

last Tuesday I only spotted one man in a shirt and tie, the rest were wearing suits or dinner jackets. Also the Chefs table overflows into part of the main buffet with not quite the atmosphere of the Beach House section.

 

Try the Olive Grove, that is evening casual on celebration night

Seems a bit odd to be dressing in formal wear and dining in what is essentially the buffet, even if it is table service. Are the additions for the Chefs Table menu worth sacrificing the more refined environment of the MDR? I’m struggling to understand what the attraction is, so am clearly missing something. 

[terrierjohn]

 Just been listening to the Captains safety briefing, and a bit concerned that passengers who need help with disembarking in an emergency will be helped into life craft in the FINAL stages of disembarkation.

[wowzz]

18 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

 Just been listening to the Captains safety briefing, and a bit concerned that passengers who need help with disembarking in an emergency will be helped into life craft in the FINAL stages of disembarkation.

To be fair, in an emergency, you need to evacuate as many people as quickly as possible. Those who need help delay the process.  

Sorry if that seems harsh. 

[terrierjohn]

6 minutes ago, wowzz said:

To be fair, in an emergency, you need to evacuate as many people as quickly as possible. Those who need help delay the process.  

Sorry if that seems harsh. 

In todays world it sounds a bit discriminatory, but I do understand your logic, even if I personally disagree with it.

[wowzz]

7 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

In todays world it sounds a bit discriminatory, but I do understand your logic, even if I personally disagree with it.

I understand. But surely better to save 100 than 1 ?

[TigerB]

24 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

In todays world it sounds a bit discriminatory, but I do understand your logic, even if I personally disagree with it.

 

Yup! In today's modern and inclusive society, wheelchair users along with the captain and the band, will go down with the ship.🙄

[Ardennais]

One other top tip! The film studios seem to fill up really quickly on sea days. We wanted to see Mrs Harris last Tuesday at 1.30pm. We turned up at 1.00 and it was full. The other 3 studios were full too. 

[Ardennais]

Just now, grapau27 said:

I'm pleased to hear you had a great cruise.

Do you know if the issue with the overflowing infinity pool onto aft balconies has been resolved.

Thanks.

Graham.

No idea! Didn’t even see the infinity pool. 

[grapau27]

4 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

 Just been listening to the Captains safety briefing, and a bit concerned that passengers who need help with disembarking in an emergency will be helped into life craft in the FINAL stages of disembarkation.

I hope Pauline and yourself have an amazing cruise John.

If you get an opportunity can you report if the infinity pool on deck 16 at the aft of the ship is still causing overflow onto the aft balconies.

Graham.

[Ardennais]

5 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

 Just been listening to the Captains safety briefing, and a bit concerned that passengers who need help with disembarking in an emergency will be helped into life craft in the FINAL stages of disembarkation.

The new-look safety drill is very easy, but I do wonder how people would cope in a real emergency. There were only 1900 Peninsular club members on Iona last week, out of 5200, so I took that to mean that over 3000 were either first time cruisers or P&O virgins. The old system meant that you had to concentrate. It’s rather worrying really! 

[Stu UK]

21 hours ago, CliveJ said:

Any of you experienced how 'strict' the dressing-up for celebration nights has to be ? Our dining's opened this a.m. for G306, & after a bit of hassle with cards (already registered one, but was then told to 'add a new card' when booking Sindhu/Epicurean) have managed to reserve some shows & dining slots - including the 2nd celebration night in Chef's Table. Now - will have a decent/shirt tie, but no intention of packing jacket/suit etc. for a couple of hours in 2 weeks. Do people get in with a shart/tie...or, maybe, are there options for borrowing/hiring a jacket for the evening ? No money wasted if not, as 'Chef's' is included...but it would be pleasant if possible.

Thank you.

Jackets are usually enforced in MDR’s, Crows Nest, Chefs Table, Epicurean and Anderson’s. Not sure about Sindu. 

Edited February 19, 2023 by Stu UK

[davecttr]

16 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Seems a bit odd to be dressing in formal wear and dining in what is essentially the buffet, even if it is table service. Are the additions for the Chefs Table menu worth sacrificing the more refined environment of the MDR? I’m struggling to understand what the attraction is, so am clearly missing something. 

Probably because formal night over stresses the main dining rooms and apparently even more so on Arvia.

[Selbourne]

51 minutes ago, davecttr said:

Probably because formal night over stresses the main dining rooms and apparently even more so on Arvia.

Yes, I understand why it’s in P&O’s interest to do it, I’m just keen to understand what the appeal of Chefs Table is for passengers. If I’m having to go to the trouble of getting into formal attire my preference would be the MDR, not the buffet, but what would we be missing by not going to the Chefs Table event? Do any ‘extras’ that you get above the MDR menu more than offset the fact that the ambiance isn’t as nice?

[davecttr]

5 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Yes, I understand why it’s in P&O’s interest to do it, I’m just keen to understand what the appeal of Chefs Table is for passengers. If I’m having to go to the trouble of getting into formal attire my preference would be the MDR, not the buffet, but what would we be missing by not going to the Chefs Table event? Do any ‘extras’ that you get above the MDR menu more than offset the fact that the ambiance isn’t as nice?

There is no virtual queue and you make a reservation with a time slot?

[Eglesbrech]

42 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Yes, I understand why it’s in P&O’s interest to do it, I’m just keen to understand what the appeal of Chefs Table is for passengers. If I’m having to go to the trouble of getting into formal attire my preference would be the MDR, not the buffet, but what would we be missing by not going to the Chefs Table event? Do any ‘extras’ that you get above the MDR menu more than offset the fact that the ambiance isn’t as nice?

The appeal for me was having a definite time for dining so I could book shows around that fixed time. The queues on the formal night for the MDR were long and reports of people missing courses to get to pre booked shows in the theatre.

 

While the Chefs Table was in the buffet it was laid out with proper table cloths, glassware etc.. As everyone was seated at the same time there was no coming and going from tables which can be an issue in the MDR if you are at one of the “corridor” tables. Consequently I would say the ambiance was actually better in some ways, like old fashioned fixed dining.

[TigerB]

58 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Yes, I understand why it’s in P&O’s interest to do it, I’m just keen to understand what the appeal of Chefs Table is for passengers. If I’m having to go to the trouble of getting into formal attire my preference would be the MDR, not the buffet, but what would we be missing by not going to the Chefs Table event? Do any ‘extras’ that you get above the MDR menu more than offset the fact that the ambiance isn’t as nice?

 

I'm with you on this; I don't see the point dressing up in your best bib and tucker for what is essentially the Beach House with tablecloths and maybe one or two different menu choices, and someone telling me what wine to pair with my mushroom and tarragon strudel.

That said, we are on Iona in June for just seven days, and I can't be bothered taking my dinner suit for just one formal night; I will instead just take a jacket and tie, and perhaps try the Chef's Table to see what the fuss is about. 

 

 

52 minutes ago, davecttr said:

There is no virtual queue and you make a reservation with a time slot?

 

Depending on the ship and time slot, you can book ahead for the MDR on formal nights.

[crompton21]

As far as I can see, the event appears to include luxuries such as the provision of tablecloths and glassware with the added bonus of being able to be served at a reasonable time. 

It's quite a feat of marketing to be able able to persuade people that they should eat their "celebration meal" in the environs of the cafeteria whilst promoting it as an upgrade. 

Edited February 19, 2023 by crompton21