Returning to P&O

[twotravellersLondon]

20 minutes ago, JeanieC,Aston said:

Hi

P&O should be embarrassed to put this on a MDR menu,,like your Prawn Cocktail this is food from a age now passed for cruise ship dining.This is school dinner food,,or as my old mam used to say ‘Stodge’.

Pps,I’ve had some lovely Prawn Cocktail on some ships depends whether it’s shrimps (P&O) or prawns (Celebrity or Fred Olsen) and the sauce used.

 

 

Prawn Cocktail has made a come back... it's on the menu for Gordon Ramsay's new River Restaurant in the Savoy (so we're told) and the Botanist in Sloan Square, London does a blinder of a Prawn Cocktail. 

 

We've reinvented it for dinners at home... explaining that we were just having a bit of retro fun... reactions have been 100% positive. 

 

We would be very happy to be served a well-made prawn cocktail on P&O.

[Megabear2]

39 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Totally disagree that P and O MDR is not fit for purpose or below an acceptable standard 

 

Other than when things have gone seriously wrong on a given night and they aren't delivering what they intend  to deliver

 

And if you are comparing standards to many years ago the higher end choices by and large are available on the ships. Much wider choices of foods from all cuisines available on the big ships

 

And it now appears some high end items will be finding themselves back in MDR menus as well

 

And the fact they come with a supplement is very much countered by the comparative very low price to cruise with P and O now compared to the old days

 

On all counts P and O is  offering the best opportunities to dine and drink than ever before IMO

 

In the old days drinks would be standard gin and tonic, rum and coke, vodka and orange etc

 

Food would be buffet, MDR and maybe 1 or 2 speciality restaurants with prawn cocktail and the odd lobster meal thrown in to get everybody excited 

 

Prawn cocktail unless it's some deconstructed fine dining new concept of it wouldn't even get close to find dining menus nowadays. Too basic, too standard

 

If one of the amateurs served it on Masterchef they  would get laughed at and would be out first week

 

I could make 5,000 prawn cocktails myself in a day if you put the ingredients in front of me

 

Yet older cruisers on her consider it part of the glory days of MDR on P and O?

 

 

 

Prawn cocktails ...

 

These are Celebrity's 2023 menus for a 7 night cruise.  Very prominent on every night is "Shrimp Cocktail".

 

https://profcruise.com/celebrity-7-night-menus-2023/

 

[Bill Y]

1 hour ago, lincslady said:

I certainly agree that the steak and kidney pie and bread and butter pudding qualify as school dinner fodder - even donkey's years ago when I was at school under post-war rationing.  But I imagine there are normally more exciting things on the included dinner menu.  I would feel pretty insulted if that was the only choice.

I have nothing against steak and kidney although I dislike suet but that is a pudding, a pie has a pastry top the chief should know that! I am not against that being on the menu but as the chief's recommendation the height of his culinary skills that's another matter. The nadir for me was on a formal night the chief's recommendation was Lancashire hot pot! Even my dinner suit felt insulted it sulked and did not want to come out of the wardrobe again. Following a complaint to P&O I was phoned up and inexperienced new staff in the galley were blamed rather than cutbacks in the quality of ingredients. Evidently they had received quite a lot of complaints aboult the dining experience.

Edited September 23, 2023 by Bill Y

[sandancer]

1 hour ago, Megabear2 said:

Prawn cocktails ...

 

These are Celebrity's 2023 menus for a 7 night cruise.  Very prominent on every night is "Shrimp Cocktail".

 

https://profcruise.com/celebrity-7-night-menus-2023/

 

Problem with this Celebrity shrimp cocktail is that it comes with nasty red sauce and not Marie Rose. I’ve sent many a waiter into a tail spin by asking for mayonnaise - very inappropriate apparently but he who pays the piper calls the tune. By the way my DH loves that red sauce. 

[Ardennais]

2 hours ago, JeanieC,Aston said:

Hi

P&O should be embarrassed to put this on a MDR menu,,like your Prawn Cocktail this is food from a age now passed for cruise ship dining.This is school dinner food,,or as my old mam used to say ‘Stodge’.

Pps,I’ve had some lovely Prawn Cocktail on some ships depends whether it’s shrimps (P&O) or prawns (Celebrity or Fred Olsen) and the sauce used.

Ha! That wouldn’t bother me actually. I’m not a foodie. I’m quite happy to eat basic food but cooked properly, with a bit of variety every now and then. That was our main disappointment on Britannia in April - insipid, tasteless veg, plain salads and worse than anything, lukewarm food. 

[Ardennais]

2 hours ago, twotravellersLondon said:

 

 

Prawn Cocktail has made a come back... it's on the menu for Gordon Ramsay's new River Restaurant in the Savoy (so we're told) and the Botanist in Sloan Square, London does a blinder of a Prawn Cocktail. 

 

We've reinvented it for dinners at home... explaining that we were just having a bit of retro fun... reactions have been 100% positive. 

 

We would be very happy to be served a well-made prawn cocktail on P&O.

‘Well-made’ is the key! I’ll try most things as long as they’re well-made. Nothing wrong with steak and kidney pudding if it’s well-made and hot. 
You can’t compare the roasts in the MDR with anything we can get around here on a Sunday. As someone said above, MDR roast equates to a thin slice or two of meat, probably green beans, some carrot lookalike and potatoes by some fancy name which aren’t terribly good. Whereas our favourite haunts on a Sunday serve delicious roasts, with locally sourced meat and a fantastic selection of veg and other bits and pieces. All served piping hot. 

 

 

[JeanieC,Aston]

2 hours ago, lancashire_cruisers said:

I know my late Mum would have as she was a very plain eater and she wasn’t alone in that respect. I read some posts on this board and wonder why the heck some people put themselves through the horror (in their minds) of a P&O Cruise 😂😂😂

Hi

I don’t put my selves through the horror of a P&O cruise,I enjoy most of my P&O cruises.,,,but if I don’t like the choice in the MDR I will eat elsewhere.

Its nothing to do with P&O cruise itself.,,,it’s the decline in quality and choice in the MDR.

If the MDR was the only eating place on P&O I wouldn’t cruise P&O,,,would you?

Edited September 23, 2023 by JeanieC,Aston

[Interestedcruisefan]

58 minutes ago, JeanieC,Aston said:

Hi

I don’t put my selves through the horror of a P&O cruise,I enjoy most of my P&O cruises.,,,but if I don’t like the choice in the MDR I will eat elsewhere.

Its nothing to do with P&O cruise itself.,,,it’s the decline in quality and choice in the MDR.

If the MDR was the only eating place on P&O I wouldn’t cruise P&O,,,would you?

But it's the 10 plus other options for dining now on the big ships that's what makes them so exciting and appealing to new cruisers

 

There really is something for everyone now

 

 

[Scirocco Breeze]

2 hours ago, sandancer said:

Problem with this Celebrity shrimp cocktail is that it comes with nasty red sauce and not Marie Rose. I’ve sent many a waiter into a tail spin by asking for mayonnaise - very inappropriate apparently but he who pays the piper calls the tune. By the way my DH loves that red sauce. 

I returned a prawn cocktail on Princess that came with a very red sauce that tasted like pure tomato ketchup. Horrible! And I usually praise Princess food. 

[Selbourne]

On 9/18/2023 at 3:50 PM, killaypirate said:

Not cruised with P&O since July 2019. How does it compare now to then. Recent cruises with Celebrity & Azamara. Both becoming poor value for money and in Celebrity's case poor menu choice & quality of food.

As this thread has turned in to a dialogue about one aspect only (MDR food), I thought I’d go back to your original question, which I assume related to far more than just one specific aspect of cruising!
 

Like you, we hadn’t cruised with P&O since the end of 2019 until our cruise on Britannia two months ago (we’ve also been on Iona since). As well as a detailed ‘live from’ blog, I posted a lot of info afterwards on the ‘post Covid’ P&O. Whilst we noticed a good few dozen things that had changed (most often referred to on this forum as ‘cut backs’), if you can be bothered to plough through the 4 or 5 long posts that I made in this thread (each of which addressed a different aspect - dining, cabins, entertainment etc) you will see that the majority of them didn’t impact adversely on our cruise experience and even some of those that did had work-arounds. Hope it helps. 
 

 

[zap99]

3 hours ago, twotravellersLondon said:

 

 

Prawn Cocktail has made a come back... it's on the menu for Gordon Ramsay's new River Restaurant in the Savoy (so we're told) and the Botanist in Sloan Square, London does a blinder of a Prawn Cocktail. 

 

We've reinvented it for dinners at home... explaining that we were just having a bit of retro fun... reactions have been 100% positive. 

 

We would be very happy to be served a well-made prawn cocktail on P&O.

They have never gone away on RC

[zap99]

21 minutes ago, Scirocco Breeze said:

I returned a prawn cocktail on Princess that came with a very red sauce that tasted like pure tomato ketchup. Horrible! And I usually praise Princess food. 

The RC offering came with horseradish cream.

 DW said can I have rose Marie. The waiter said " you can have any sauce you want madam.

[laslomas]

2 hours ago, sandancer said:

Problem with this Celebrity shrimp cocktail is that it comes with nasty red sauce and not Marie Rose. I’ve sent many a waiter into a tail spin by asking for mayonnaise - very inappropriate apparently but he who pays the piper calls the tune. By the way my DH loves that red sauce. 

 

I always have one, or two, Prawn Cocktails on Celebrity. It is on their everyday choices. There is a choice of sauce - Marie Rose, or the one they simply call "the hot one". personally I love the hot one. The problem with these on Celebrity is the prawn/shrimp, which are very large, have been decreasing in number over the years. Hence my need to order two. Last year, on a couple of nights there were only three in the dish.

[JeanieC,Aston]

1 hour ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

But it's the 10 plus other options for dining now on the big ships that's what makes them so exciting and appealing to new cruisers

 

There really is something for everyone now

 

 

Hi 

I don’t want to go to the Quays for Fish & Chip wearing my Tux.

Thats not why I cruise with P&O.

I found nothing exciting about Iona,,,,if it was half the number of passengers maybe,,,but queues everywhere was not my idea of a what a cruise should be.

 

I did write a review on here of my Iona cruise in February,it was a shambles,,,queues for dining,queues for Club House,,,queues for Buffet,queues for late night snacks,,,why was their a 30 yard queue at 23:00hrs for Late Night buffet,,,,because everyone was starving after the inedible food in the MDR.

Want a drink,,,give your order to the guy with the iPad,,,along with 20 other customers,,,you may get your drink in 20min.

There is definitely not enough evening live music venues for 6000 passengers,,only the Clubhouse,and that’s one in one out.

Thats why they have so many pay for eateries,,,,,they have to sit that many people somewhere….

Try RCL big ships to see how they cater for huge numbers o passengers,,,live music venues everywhere…..and not just a guy playing the piano who looked like he wanted to be somewhere else,,,no interaction whatsoever.

 

Btw..The Limelight Club was great ‘after’ the show finished.great service,live band,no waiting for drinks plenty of seats,,,,,,probably because most of the 6000 had gone to bed by 23:00,,,,bored to death.

 

My next cruise is on Britannia,,,have you ever sailed on her or Ventura,,,your comments all seem to be about Iona,,,,,there must be a reason why they are selling Iona for £60pppd.,,,,,,no repeat customers I suspect.

 

 

[JeanieC,Aston]

1 hour ago, laslomas said:

 

I always have one, or two, Prawn Cocktails on Celebrity. It is on their everyday choices. There is a choice of sauce - Marie Rose, or the one they simply call "the hot one". personally I love the hot one. The problem with these on Celebrity is the prawn/shrimp, which are very large, have been decreasing in number over the years. Hence my need to order two. Last year, on a couple of nights there were only three in the dish.

Hi

In May on Silhouette there were four,🥳,,and yes I loved the spicy sauce.

[JeanieC,Aston]

1 hour ago, Selbourne said:

As this thread has turned in to a dialogue about one aspect only (MDR food), I thought I’d go back to your original question, which I assume related to far more than just one specific aspect of cruising!
 

Like you, we hadn’t cruised with P&O since the end of 2019 until our cruise on Britannia two months ago (we’ve also been on Iona since). As well as a detailed ‘live from’ blog, I posted a lot of info afterwards on the ‘post Covid’ P&O. Whilst we noticed a good few dozen things that had changed (most often referred to on this forum as ‘cut backs’), if you can be bothered to plough through the 4 or 5 long posts that I made in this thread (each of which addressed a different aspect - dining, cabins, entertainment etc) you will see that the majority of them didn’t impact adversely on our cruise experience and even some of those that did had work-arounds. Hope it helps. 
 

 

Hi

I thought by the OP mentioning poor menu choice and quality I imagined that was the gist of his question.

[Selbourne]

15 minutes ago, JeanieC,Aston said:

Hi

I thought by the OP mentioning poor menu choice and quality I imagined that was the gist of his question.

Not so. The OP asked “Not cruised with P&O since July 2019. How does it compare now to then?”. That, to me, is a generic question that applies to ALL aspects of the cruise experience, not just one specific thing.
 

The OP went on to say that on their post Covid Celebrity cruise they had experienced poor menu choice & quality of food however, I repeat, their original question in relation to P&O was NOT solely asking about the MDR.

 

Hopefully, if the OP reads the thread that I have provided the link to they will gain a thorough understanding of all the changes (albeit some will be specific to Britannia, whereas others are fleet wide), which may put into perspective some of the posts in this thread which are focussing on one specific aspect only. 

[zap99]

On 9/18/2023 at 3:50 PM, killaypirate said:

Not cruised with P&O since July 2019. How does it compare now to then. Recent cruises with Celebrity & Azamara. Both becoming poor value for money and in Celebrity's case poor menu choice & quality of food.

No much change TBH. Food is similar. No turndown like on X. So no chocolate. 

[zap99]

1 hour ago, JeanieC,Aston said:

Hi

In May on Silhouette there were four,🥳,,and yes I loved the spicy sauce.

On RC the prawns were bigger in Chops than the MDR.

[terrierjohn]

7 hours ago, funinhounslow said:

But you are paying a lot less in real terms than “years gone by”, so again it’s an unfair comparison - you aren’t comparing like with like. Stick the cost of a cruise from 5-10 years ago into the BofE’s inflation calculator and prepare to be taken aback. 
 

About the only thing that hasn’t gone up in price significantly over the past couple of years  is my P&O cruise. 
 

I don’t consider the MDR food “below acceptable standard”. If anyone does they can hit the buffet or pony up for the Epicurean. Or pay extra and go on Celebrity or whoever. Like I said you pay your money and take your choice. 

Maybe they were making far too much profit in the old days?  

However since by far the biggest cost factor for any firm today is labour, then I would argue that the staffing to passenger ratio is far lower today, primarily due to cruise ships now having far more passengers, and it's only right than customers should enjoy some of this benefit, and I imagine ICF would agree that food costs make up a very small part of the restaurant sales price, so there is no excuse for cruise lines to scrimp on the quality.

[lancashire_cruisers]

5 hours ago, JeanieC,Aston said:

Hi

I don’t put my selves through the horror of a P&O cruise,I enjoy most of my P&O cruises.,,,but if I don’t like the choice in the MDR I will eat elsewhere.

Its nothing to do with P&O cruise itself.,,,it’s the decline in quality and choice in the MDR.

If the MDR was the only eating place on P&O I wouldn’t cruise P&O,,,would you?

Quite simply yes. We started cruising with P&O in 2002 and back then there wasn’t the choice of alternative venues that we have now. I’m a pescatarian and a fussy one at that and P&O have served me very well with my restricted diet - much more so than some of the other cruise lines I’ve sailed with.

[funinhounslow]

12 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

Maybe they were making far too much profit in the old days?  

However since by far the biggest cost factor for any firm today is labour, then I would argue that the staffing to passenger ratio is far lower today, primarily due to cruise ships now having far more passengers, and it's only right than customers should enjoy some of this benefit, and I imagine ICF would agree that food costs make up a very small part of the restaurant sales price, so there is no excuse for cruise lines to scrimp on the quality.

You are overlooking the fact that Carnival is over US$30 billion in debt

[Interestedcruisefan]

15 hours ago, JeanieC,Aston said:

Hi 

I don’t want to go to the Quays for Fish & Chip wearing my Tux.

Thats not why I cruise with P&O.

I found nothing exciting about Iona,,,,if it was half the number of passengers maybe,,,but queues everywhere was not my idea of a what a cruise should be.

 

I did write a review on here of my Iona cruise in February,it was a shambles,,,queues for dining,queues for Club House,,,queues for Buffet,queues for late night snacks,,,why was their a 30 yard queue at 23:00hrs for Late Night buffet,,,,because everyone was starving after the inedible food in the MDR.

Want a drink,,,give your order to the guy with the iPad,,,along with 20 other customers,,,you may get your drink in 20min.

There is definitely not enough evening live music venues for 6000 passengers,,only the Clubhouse,and that’s one in one out.

Thats why they have so many pay for eateries,,,,,they have to sit that many people somewhere….

Try RCL big ships to see how they cater for huge numbers o passengers,,,live music venues everywhere…..and not just a guy playing the piano who looked like he wanted to be somewhere else,,,no interaction whatsoever.

 

Btw..The Limelight Club was great ‘after’ the show finished.great service,live band,no waiting for drinks plenty of seats,,,,,,probably because most of the 6000 had gone to bed by 23:00,,,,bored to death.

 

My next cruise is on Britannia,,,have you ever sailed on her or Ventura,,,your comments all seem to be about Iona,,,,,there must be a reason why they are selling Iona for £60pppd.,,,,,,no repeat customers I suspect.

 

 

We had a 2 week cruise on Azura in the Caribbean over Xmas and New Year with the kids

 

Perfectly good cruise and we all enjoyed it

 

Nowhere near the options and facilities Arvia and Iona now  offer of course

 

We ventured in the Club House on both Arvia and Iona. Not our cup of tea. Way too big and busy

 

We preferred the live pianists in the Crows Nest and the live music in the 710 Club and the shows in the theatre every night

 

Never queued for any of them

 

Instant table service and drinks served In less than 5 minutes In Crows Nest and 710 Club

 

Way calmer and more serene places.

 

Sat at the bar when we went in Clubhouse. Such a big busy place. Much prefer the higher end bars with live music as above. 

 

If you don't like crowds and waiting to be served why on earth do you choose to go and choose the busiest bar on the ship? And then complain about it?

 

It's the same In Brodies IMO - more like a busy pub. 

 

So many nicer more serene places to enjoy drinks on the big ships. 

 

And who asked you to wear a Tux for fish and chips in the Quays ??

 

Lol

Edited September 24, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[Interestedcruisefan]

12 hours ago, lancashire_cruisers said:

Quite simply yes. We started cruising with P&O in 2002 and back then there wasn’t the choice of alternative venues that we have now. I’m a pescatarian and a fussy one at that and P&O have served me very well with my restricted diet - much more so than some of the other cruise lines I’ve sailed with.

My wife is Pescatarian too. Loads of options on the big ships for her

[Megabear2]

1 hour ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

We had a 2 week cruise on Azura in the Caribbean over Xmas and New Year with the kids

 

Perfectly good cruise and we all enjoyed it

 

Nowhere near the options and facilities Arvia and Iona now  offer of course

 

We ventured in the Club House on both Arvia and Iona. Not our cup of tea. Way too big and busy

 

We preferred the live pianists in the Crows Nest and the live music in the 710 Club and the shows in the theatre every night

 

Never queued for any of them

 

Instant table service and drinks served In less than 5 minutes In Crows Nest and 710 Club

 

Way calmer and more serene places.

 

Sat at the bar when we went in Clubhouse. Such a big busy place. Much prefer the higher end bars with live music as above. 

 

If you don't like crowds and waiting to be served why on earth do you choose to go and choose the busiest bar on the ship? And then complain about it?

 

It's the same In Brodies IMO - more like a busy pub. 

 

So many nicer more serene places to enjoy drinks on the big ships. 

 

And who asked you to wear a Tux for fish and chips in the Quays ??

 

Lol

ICF if everyone chose to ignore Brodies, the Club House and the Atrium all the other places you mentioned would be rammed.  The ship has 5200 passengers, big venues are needed to hold the events that are part of the cruise.  You go to bed early by your own admission, many don't and want to go somewhere lively where they have a sing and dance, watch the late night comedy etc.  It's totally impractical to say that the rest of the small venues can soak up these people. 

 

You speak of Azura and she's a totally different animal.  In her day she too was the most up to date and modern offering of the day.  More importantly people didn't want to eat in all the speciality restaurants, for British ship she and Ventura were a revelation in having 17 as it was then called.  

 

The many cruises you told me your been on last year are in the scheme of it really quite small.  There are people here on this forum who will do that number in a eighteen months or so (not me I hasten to add).  Arvia cannot in any way be called "serene"! Have a look at the Food thread for a current example of what I mean.  Her public areas inside are large, often crowded and noisy.  That's fine if people go aware of it.  

 

As someone who sails all year willl tell you a Caribbean port intensive sailing is not comparable in any way with a cut back itinerary in the Med with 8 seadays and only 6 ports.  You too might find that a different experience and not be quite so enthusiastic.  Until you try it is suggest you withhold comment on such a cruise.

 

Evening dress in the Quays?  Yes they are inviting you to go there in it.  On celebration night they've tried to relieve the pressure on the MDRs by offering special pop up food offerings in the Quays, one such being a tandoori offering.  

 

Here's a scenario.  Mr and Mrs Fred book Arvia and love one or two nights in their posh gear.  They think they'll get into a main MDR for that nice meal in their best big and ticket. On boarding the MDR has no availability so they ask reception  where might be nice to eat for that special night.  We have a pop up in the Quays  says the man. Oh that sounds nice says Fred.  Result, he finds himself dressed up in the Quays eating his self served Tandoori.  Don't mock it ICF, if you read enough reviews elsewhere it's happening - not everyone is I hasten to add complaining just telling their experiences.

 

Before jumping in defending the big ships you should remember that because you want to sit listening to quite stuff drinking cocktails many would gate that.  They want to dance, have a laugh etc and therefore need to use those venues you dislike.

 

Ps:  Brodies is a pub, it's MEANT to be.

Edited September 24, 2023 by Megabear2