JeanieC,Aston

Hi Thanks for a great blog,,love Silhouette. Looks like you docked on time this morning,,,no such luck for P&O Britannia she is just docking now 4 hrs late,,,,,storms in the North Sea.

Who said I do?…….I don’t.

Hi I think it is a TUI thing,,,,,,we booked a Marella cruise for October a couple of months ago and booked legroom seats and seat numbers at time of booking.

It was vile,,,I remember when my old dad used to cook a fry up on Sunday morning. Cooked in lard he would pour the fat over to dip your bread in,,,,,loved it at the time but I suspect that resulted in my heart by- pass 65 yrs later. Thats J&J now……

Have you never been to John & Joseph’s in Benidorm,,,,

I bet greasy spoon cafes love you.😏

Hi I hate those comments as an excuse for poor food,,,another one is ‘you won’t go hungry’ Even if you sail on a cheap cruise the food should be to an acceptable standard.

But maybe it’s better than Epicurean……..and it is Celebrity. Just saying. Some will pay £15 for a Filet Mignon,,,,,some will pay £200 for a piece of Wagu beef. There is no right or wrong,,,,,,

Celebrity serve steak in MDR,,,,either Flank steak or NY Strip steak. If you want the best of steaks Filet Mignon you pay for it. Ive had some poor steaks on both P&O and Celebrity,,,,P&O being the only one I have sent it back. What Celebrity do well is serve steak in the buffet,,cooked to order whilst there.Steak,Lamb chops and Fish to order. Do P&O do that? But then again I expect no less on Celebrity that’s why I pay more to cruise with them. Similarly that’s why I don’t expect P&O to match them. I eat to live not live to eat,,,,,,but because a cruise is cheap I don’t expect cheap food like Steak Pie & Mash. Although on Silhouette in May they did a lovely Irish Stew,,,,I asked for seconds.😏👌

Hi I am a beer drinker as opposed to lager. Celebrity has slowly phased out Brit beers,,once it was Boddingtons,no more,,no more John Smiths only Newcastle Brown. On my last 4 X cruises they have had no Guinness. I sailed the first Silhouette cruise from Southampton in May,,,no Bitters,,,why I asked,,,no call for it in the US he said,,,,I had to remind him he was in the UK for all the summer. In May on the Silhouette TA Guinness was on the Classic,,,sailing down the English Channel they changed all the menus on the ship to show Guinness at $11 and hence on the Premium.

Hi I haven’t a clue,,the post was from Fb,I’ve looked but can’t find it,unless it’s on a private group. Does seem odd it’s not been reported here. Looks similar to Celebrity in the MDR,,want an extra Lobster tail =$19,,or extra if you want a nice Fillet Mignon. I noticed lots of lines offering paid for items in the MDR. Cut back on the choice and quality,,then offer the good stuff back at a cost.Clever.

Hi This is kicking em off on another P&O social media site,,,haven’t heard of this on here. Menu looks a bit better than the usual school dinners,,don’t know if I want to pay extra for an MDR meal. P&O have introduced a new Signature Menu to the MDR, which is chargeable 'yes it began on Ventura at the beginning of September to give guests even more choice in the MDR and has so far proved very popular. Dishes include Cornish crab rillettes with dressed lobster claw, gruyere sable biscuit and bloody Mary cream; fillet of dry aged Foyle beef with truffled potatoes, pickled mushrooms, asparagus and madeira jus and Valrhona chocolate tart with banana and lime pureee, caramelised cocoa nibs and banana gelato' £14.95 a head seems quite good to me, and they're not altering the existing menus?

TUI has really struggled for aircraft from Manchester this summer. Hence offering EasyJet flights on lots of summer package holidays. They have used x3 leasing companies this year…… GetJet,,,,,Smart Lynx and Privilege Style,,,I believe the laters aircraft are pre Soviet models.😏

Wash yer mouth out😏

Hi I live 10 minutes from LJL airport and I think of myself born and bred in the North West.

Hi Had a thick ribeye from M&S last night,,,£5,,,,,,,pan fried 2 minutes a side,,,delicious.

I live in the NW and never seen Booths. I believe the nearest one is Burscough. ps I thought Brodies was the only decent bar on Iona. The Limelight club was best after the paid for dinner show was finished. As for Crows Nest,,,on all ships,,is somewhere to go for a sleep. Same with Anderson’s.

Is it Tesco or Waitrose?

Hi I agree I did say in post#81 that Celebrity had also gone downhill since restart.

Those of us who live in cuckoo land obviously don’t. I did say in a recent post Murano’s on Celebrity is fine dining.

Dai,Dia….. You asked me to show you where it said fine dining in regard P&O. I showed you where it said it……..end of.

Never said it was,,,Celebrity MDR choice and quality fas also gone down hill since restart. But I would say Murano’s is fine dinning.

I think we can all quote good prices paid. Iona I believe is charging low prices to try to fill the ship,,,not so other ships,,Aurora or Arcadia demand high prices,,,I don’t know why. My 10 nt Silhouette cruise in May in a midship hump balcony with AI included came at a cost of £3800 for 2 of us,,,,that included £800 OBC,,,,my wife bought a iPad mini and a nice ring. Similar Aurora at the time was more for cruise only. Alas Celebrity pricing next year is of no value to me so a change of favourite is coming. I am trying Marella Voyager next month,,,,see how that goes. I can never understand the ‘My P&O good or bad’ posters.

Yes it does it’s called Murano’s. A bit expensive but people say it’s the best dinner they have ever had,,,only done it once,a bit fussy for me.

At last I can agree with you,,,Iona isn’t the same as Celebrity,,,,doesn’t even come close. There is an old saying,,,some people know the price of everything and the value of nothing. Im not getting into comparisons,I sail both and enjoy both. I suggest we stick to the OP question,,,,,,is P&O better or worse than in 2019? I accept there is more choice on Iona,,,there has to be with 6000 passengers. But from my experience on Iona in February the MDR was a shambles in choice,quality and service,,,,I did comment on this forum,….but is the same entertainment,food choice or facilities available on say Ventura or Aurora? I don’t think it is as good as it was in 2019.