P & O Cruises – are food standards slipping?
When my clients return from their cruises I always give them a call to make sure that they were happy with everything I’d organised for them, and increasingly over the last few weeks I’ve been getting complaints about the standard of food on P & O. Today three seperate clients mentioned it!
What is going on? Has anybody else noticed a decline in the quality or quantity of food on P & O? One client even said that the beef on board – whether braised or steak was appalling, and felt that the chef should be sacked.
Interestingly enough, another client said that the food in the alternative dining rooms – ie, those that carry a surcharge, was excellent. His wife was of the opinion that this is a ploy by P & O to force people to dine in the chargable restaurants on board thus bringing in more revenue!
Come on folks, lets have some feedback…….
14 Comments on “P & O Cruises – are food standards slipping?”
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My husband & Marc on Artemis. The food was 1st class. We could not find fault with any thing. We are back on her again on 10th Sept for 17 nights.
WE HAVE RECENTLY RETURNED FROM ICELAND, GREENLAND ETC ON AURORA AND I WOULD DEFINITELY SAY, AS SOMEONE WHO HAS CRUISED OVER A NUMBER OF YEARS, THAT THE QUALITY OF THE FOOD HAS DETERIORATED. NOT ONLY THAT BUT THE SERVICE IN THE DINING ROOM FOR BREAKFAST AND LUNCH SAW MANY WAITERS WHO SEEMED AS IF THEY REALLY DID NOT WANT TO BE THERE!
AURORA CERTAINLY COULD NOT COPE WITH EVERYONE USING THE RESTAURANTS YOU PAY EXTRA FOR AS IT WAS DIFFICULT TO GET AN EVENING BOOKING AT THE EXCELLENT CAFE BORDEAUX MOST EVENINGS.
My wife and I were on Aurora last September for the North American cruise (23 days). The food was average at best. nearing the end of the cruise, it was as if the chef was running out of ideas. Funnily enough we are back on Aurora this year so we will find out if the food has improved or got worse.
Was on Ventura in June, food was excellent in restaurant and acceptable in buffet, it was only a 7 day cruise so perhaps after more days it becomes the menus repeated? Anyhow.. I found nothing to moan about, if I didnt like something it was replaced for something else with a smile.In fact our waiter was most concerned if something wasnt liked, and eager to make us happy.What we didn’t like was never due to poor food, just our tastes.
HI HANNAH WE ALSO WENT TO GREENLAND ON THE AURORA FANTASTC TRIP.THE FOOD HAS GOT WORSE AS MENTIONED SEEMED TO BE CUTTING BACK ON A FEW THINGS .THE VARIETY WAS NOT THERE.ON THE COMMENTS FORM I COMPLAINED ABOUT THE BACON WHICH WAS VERY SALTY AND FATTY NOT NICE.ALL OUR WAITERS, AND STAFF IN THE ORANGEREY WERE ALL HELPFUL.ALL IN ALL A VERY GOOD TRIP.I STILL THINK CUNARD STILL HAVE THE EDGE ON THE WHOLE.
We were on the Azura in June and the food was 1st class no complaints at all, our two prev; cruises were with Celebrity and in our view P&O were far better, some people will find fault with anything.
Just back off Aurora and yes there were complaints over the poor standards of the meat dishes in the main restaurants – tough, being the major one. Also menus appeared to lack imagination in that for example lamb dishes were available on consecutive evenings, etc. Many complained over vegetables being under cooked – but our experiences in frequently having the opportunity to dine at our local Catering University has taught us that this is the modern way, show them the water and no more!. Also Spinach is obviously in season, from the number of times it appeared on our plates.
We have also noticed that the meat/fish portions appear smaller – but when we queried this we were offered double portions, and when we ordered them our request was met with a polite smile and “yes, no problem”, which there wasn’t.
Orangery self-service breakfast, lunch time cold dishes and evening dining themes – no problem, but thought that the choice of hot food at lunch time was disappointing.
My husband and I spent a very enjoyable 23days onboard Arcadia (Nov 09) travelling to the Caribbean but we found the service and food in the evenings to be far below the experience we had the previous year aboard Oriana. We fortunately were seated with 2 couples who we found to be wonderful company but the food was not great. The service was so bad we often didn’t get served together and one of our group seemed to be left out so one would be still waiting for starters when everyone else was receiving their main course. Complaining made no difference. One night my husband, who waited more than the rest of us, stood up and asked the waiter if he had done something to upset him!! The buffet restaurant was good and when we paid extra for our meal in the Orchid Restaurant it was exceptionally good. We came to the conclusion that we had been thoroughly spoiled on the Oriana and still feel that she has a far better run galley. Needless to say we love cruising and we are looking forward to our next one and at the moment it looks like it will be on the Arcadia!!! To the guys going in Jan for 40days have a ball overall it is a Fabulous ship.
Cruised on Arcadia recently and gave up on the main dining room after 3 nights due to repetitive veg and tough and fatty meat, so spent most of the following evenings in the excellent Gary Rhodes and the Oriental restaurant. To P&O`s credit they waived some of the extra charges and gave a free bottle of wine.
I too was on the recent Aurora Greenland/Iceland cruise. This was our 4th P & O cruise and 2nd time on Aurora. We too noticed the slight decline – our waiter was most aloof, and the beef and veal dishes were tough. One night we had brussel sprouts that were too large to eat in one mouthful, but they were so hard you couldn’t cut them with the knife. Out of our table for 6 – 2 people decided not to return to the restaurant halfway through the cruise and the remaining 4 of us spent several nights in the pennant grill where the steaks melted in your mouth and the food was superb. We also had a cooked breakfast in the orangery on a couple of occasions, early morning just as the “hot” food was brought out, but the sausages were lukewarm and the mushrooms were cold.
I, with four companions, cruised the Med in Ventura for two weeks in June. We can honestly say that, in our opinion, the food was the best we have ever experienced on any of our 28 cruises on all the major cruise lines. This is with regard to quality and variety. Realising that people have individual tastes I cannot see how anyone could possibly complain about any aspect of Ventura, food or otherwise. Your comment printed on 13th July is a very fair comment.
sorry I dont have a comment as have not yet been on a cruise but as I can’t find anywhere on site to ask a simple question thought I would try this site my question is
Is all food (meals) included in the total price of ticket except where you have to pay for extra quality and are there ideas on prices of drinks ?
There seems to be a lot of conflicting reports on food or is it a question of you get what you pay for !!
Thanks for your time, would appreciate any answers, thank you
I have not yet been on a cruise – but thinking about doing one – I think it is most important that the food is of good quality as that is where there could be an outbreak of food poisening and one does read about medical problems not with just a couple of the passengers but tens of them, is there a problem with the chef when one shipping line has many complaints relating to only one ship ? it makes me think twice of taking a cruise because food is one of the most important things on board.
Please do not be put off cruising by the comments. I am the person who was on the Aurora cruise – this was my 4th cruise and although there were a few problems with the tough meat it has certainly not put me off cruising and I have booked another Aurora cruise. I think the problem may be with the buyer who has obviously got the meat from a different source and maybe cheaper hence not so good quality, and it was only the beef and veal which was tough – the pork and turkey were fine.
The price of all meals is included in your cruise but if you dine in the speciality restaurants there is usually a cover charge, between £5 and $10 a head extra to pay, but well worth it.
Regards food poisoning – I have never heard of a case of food poisoning on a cruise. There are outbreaks of norovirus which can happen in any setting where there are lots of people – hospitals, residential homes etc. The problem there is nothing to do with the food – it is a virus which is spread by people not washing their hands properly and being unhygienic. You just need to ensure you wash your hands at every opportunity and especially if you have been touching any handles/surfaces which others may have touched. Hand gel is also useful.