Dining

[weylady]

Good morning all hope you are having a good day so far,

can you good people give me a idea how the dining arrangements work please,

we are on a early saver and will be expecting a select time for dining say 6.30pm so will we be allocated a certain dining room like MDR for our evenings on the cruise is it a set menu or do we have the choice like the buffet, this is our first cruise so not sure what to expect.

any advice would be grateful :o

[pete14]

In the MDR, you have waiter service of your choice from a daily set menu. There is plenty of choice in each of the three courses.

[Brayman]

In the MDR, you have waiter service of your choice from a daily set menu. There is plenty of choice in each of the three courses.

 

..and in addition the menu changes every day.

 

You may also use the MDR for breakfast and lunch, but it isn't necessarily the same one you use in the evening. It's all very civilised :)

[HomelessBear]

Hi Weylady,

You'll be given a time and dining room for evening dining (unless you're given freedom dining). If fixed dining, you'll be allocated a set table and keep that table for the rest of your cruise.

There will be a choice of dishes for all courses, and in my experience, the waiters try to help if there is anything you'd like to adapt (eg without sauce).

 

You don't have to eat in the main dining room every evening, and have other choices such as the buffet, room service, or speciality restaurants. If you know you won't be attending one evening, it's polite to let the waiters and your tablemates know, so they aren't waiting for you.

 

If you have any special dietary issues, if you let P&O know beforehand, they'll inform the appropriate staff on board. We had the head waiter visit us the first evening and chose from the menu for the next day. My experience has been excellent for dealing with our food allergies.

 

Have a wonderful cruise.

[weylady]

Thanks for your help I was a bit confused how it worked we are not on freedom dining unless they allocate it to us when we board the ship, so where is the buffet usually situated and is it a rugby scrum or civilized.

[Growler5010]

The buffets are usually on the Sundeck & if you time it right you can miss the scrum. However, some of the Themed Buffets in the evening are very popular - particularly the Indian buffet - so if you are happy eating early I would get in there just after the doors open!

[sagaris]

Thanks for your help I was a bit confused how it worked we are not on freedom dining unless they allocate it to us when we board the ship, so where is the buffet usually situated and is it a rugby scrum or civilized.

 

You have a set dining room for freedom dining. The difference is you choose what time to dine and you do not have the same table every night.

 

The buffet is open virtually 24 hours a day, but you do not have to use it.

 

We always have breakfast in the MDR as it is less frantic, there is a good choice of food and is waiter service.

 

If you want a snack at lunchtime you can again use the MDR, buffet, room service etc. or one of the outlets on deck - they do pizza, burgers etc.

 

Molly

[dsrdsrdsr]

Busy but civilised, in the buffet. Quite a few people on here claim they have to push and shove, but they aren't representative IMO.

[weylady]

ok thanks it gives me a good idea now what to expect, thank you all for your time and effort any other tips on the Azura would be useful.

:D

[johncandt]

ok thanks it gives me a good idea now what to expect, thank you all for your time and effort any other tips on the Azura would be useful.

:D

You can book the speciality restaurants prior to your cruise if you wanted say a particular night , or do it when you board however Seventeen gets booked up very quickly not such a problem with Sindhu both of which are excellent as is Verona and Glass House in fact its all great !!!! can't wait to be back on Azura March 2016, ask MOLLY she knows EVERYTHING !!

[sagaris]

You can book the speciality restaurants prior to your cruise if you wanted say a particular night , or do it when you board however Seventeen gets booked up very quickly not such a problem with Sindhu both of which are excellent as is Verona and Glass House in fact its all great !!!! can't wait to be back on Azura March 2016, ask MOLLY she knows EVERYTHING !!

 

Cheeky,:D hope you and Trish are both well:)

[weylady]

Thanks for your replies guys and girls.

[lizdave]

here is a typical menu across the P & O Fleet https://ask.pocruises.com/resources/carnivaluk/life-on-board/PO_Typical1-14N_Dinner_Menu.pdf

(Downloads as a PDF)

Edited September 25, 2014 by lizdave

[P&O SUE]

The buffet can be a bit of a scrum for lunch on sea days - we found the glass house much more pleasant for a sea day lunch -it's extra but only a small amount - about £5- and well worth it we thought.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

Edited September 26, 2014 by P&O SUE
Typo

[weylady]

thank you Sue and all we are looking forward to it. :D

[shallwe]

I'm probably easily pleased, but we found the food in the MDR of a very good quality with the right quantity. If you wanted a bit extra of something (in my OH's case, vegetables) the waiters in club dining learnt within two meals and gave her a dish of vegetable all for her.

 

we only went to the buffet once during the cruise because we got ready too late for the MDR. The food was good (curry night :D ) but it just wasn't the same as the MDR.

 

We used the MDR for nearly all meals, breakfast, lunch and dinner and only once came across a waiter who didn't give a damn and got our orders wrong (at breakfast time).

[weylady]

I must be a bit thick what does MDR mean please.

[Brayman]

I must be a bit thick what does MDR mean please.

 

Main Dining Room :)

[weylady]

thank you brayman :o

[Magwig]

Hi

 

We cruised on Azura in July, it was our first cruise and we loved it. With regards to the food you also need to make room for afternoon tea usually between 3 and 5 pm, I really enjoyed this especially after visiting a port. Finger buffet sandwiches, scones fresh cream, toasted tea cakes etc. we always had this in the buffet restaurant and never had a scrum.

[johncandt]

Hi

 

We cruised on Azura in July, it was our first cruise and we loved it. With regards to the food you also need to make room for afternoon tea usually between 3 and 5 pm, I really enjoyed this especially after visiting a port. Finger buffet sandwiches, scones fresh cream, toasted tea cakes etc. we always had this in the buffet restaurant and never had a scrum.

Afternnon tea!!! my god we had enough trouble with Breakfast , Lunch and Dinner manage to put on 8lbs without trying afternoon tea I'm glad i can't eat a lot !!! just booked Azura again for March 2016 Caribbean

[weylady]

thank you the afternoon tea sounds tempting. :p

[FAB1]

We would often have afternoon tea in place of lunch not as well as. Really don't like the food in the buffet at lunchtimes :(

[Scriv]

We liked afternoon tea, but had to stop going as we were on first sitting at 6 30 pm and it just did not work. We just couldn't cope!

Edited October 1, 2014 by Scriv

[themanwithahat]

..and in addition the menu changes every day.

 

You may also use the MDR for breakfast and lunch, but it isn't necessarily the same one you use in the evening. It's all very civilised :)

 

I think it partly changes ; there are two halves to the menu,one which is the same every day, and one which changes.