we were on this cruise, i would have to disagree about the standard of the food ,in the mdr and the horizon it is just about acceptable for mass catering, as for the others, come on P & O dont kid yourselves or your guests that the food is gourmet quality, very much style over substance, i would love to know what, in the epicurean, the [sharing experience] on the menu, of ribeye stake is, only to be served very thin and overcooked individual tomahawk steaks, the maitre d could not explain the sharing bit, also i cannot grasp the concept of the fillet? steak on the hot lava stone either, in the beach house, not a great idea putting a red hot stone in front of you, spitting all over your shirt, and when the steak is cooked to your taste, where do you put that to rest a while, quite often the menu description was nothing like what was served up to you, all the food was edible, no more no less,
i quite agree the drinking does get out of hand, thank goodness we booked the retreat for the duration of the cruise but even there the staff there were not up to the standards of our previous cruises also even on the ship excursions they need to look at the drinking problem, persons overboard on one of our trips, thankfully the crew did their job in the rescue but 30 seconds more in the water might have been a different outcome
on our first couple of cruises with P & O we were disappointed because of the hype from them, now we know what to expect, we have a different mindset and accept what they are offering for the amount they are charging, simple as that,
did we have a good time, yes, will we do it again, yes