Table for two sir?

[Britboys]

I understand what you mean Dai. The other drawback with those lines as far as I am concerned is that most of their itineraries have very few sea-days. For me, a 2-week cruise isn't really a cruise unless it has at least 5 sea-days to contemplate how lucky I am :). Good job I am reasonably happy with P&O really!

[daiB]

I understand what you mean Dai. The other drawback with those lines as far as I am concerned is that most of their itineraries have very few sea-days. For me, a 2-week cruise isn't really a cruise unless it has at least 5 sea-days to contemplate how lucky I am :). Good job I am reasonably happy with P&O really!

 

 

Yes I forgot about that one. If we flew I think we would look at them for a repositioning cruise so you would get plenty sea days. I am straining to get back to cruising after my 9 month lay off. But as you can see we have one or two more booked over the next 18 month. :)

[Ehg]

I think it's a great shame that some users of this forum (and other forums) 'pick fights' with other users who have made legitimate posts, just because they don't agree with them or take a different viewpoint. Often these attempts to 'disagree' move into a clear desire to 'humiliate' and all credit to PurpleMoonlight for staying calm and professional in spite of clear provocation.

 

I did not detect an ounce of snobbery from the original post, in spite of allegations to the contrary. As has been evidenced by some of the replies, however, any perceived snobbery by the 'haves' is as nothing to the clear envy and, frankly, venom of the 'have nots'. The UK Labour Party has just learnt a very hard lesson in that regard!

 

In response to the original post, I would make the following observations, based on our experiences of Oriana, Oceana, Azura and Ventura on cruises since 1996 (we have bookings for Britannia and Arcadia).

 

Tables for 2 - The main problem is that there is clearly insufficient supply for the demand. That said, most tables for 2 in the main dining rooms are a joke, as they are simply long rows of small tables with tiny gaps between them. You might as well be dining companions of those either side of you as it's virtually impossible not to overhear the entire conversation and you are so close it can feel awkward if you don't engage in conversation!

 

Dining Companions - On our first few cruises, joining our 'new found friends' at our table in club dining (usually a table for 8, even though there was only 3 or 4 of us), was a highlight of the holiday. We looked forward to each evening meal and had a thoroughly enjoyable time. During our last 3 or 4 cruises, this has not been the case. We have been seated with people with whom we have very little in common and conversation has become more of a struggle. Interludes in the select dining restaurants became a welcome release. We have called 'time' on this and on our next tŵo cruises we have selected freedom dining.

 

Main Dining Room Food - We have generally found this to be good, although the quality has gradually declined over the 20 years we have been crushing with P&O. Portion sizes have reduced noticeably as well. As a point of interest and highly relevant to the original posters comment, we have found on our last few cruises that our 'first night' meal in the main dining room has been a dissapointment (possibly due to the kitchen staff having less time on turnaround days?) but has improved from the next night onwards.

 

Select Dining Restaurants - We are great fans of these and have tried all of them on all ships we have cruised on. The quality of food, attention to detail and service is a massive jump up from the main dining rooms and, in our view, worth every penny of the supplement. Seating arrangements are far better also.

 

Suite Priveliges - We haven't stayed in a Suite yet but having gradually worked our way up over the past 20 years from outside (no balcony) to Superior Deluxe Balcony, we have booked suites for our next 2 cruises. I understand from other posts on here that Priveliges for Suite passengers on P&O are poor compared to other cruise lines, but for us being able to use a select dining venue for breakfast (Epicurean in the case of Britannia) will be a major plus for us. I am not a great fan of the buffet restaurants for breakfast. It's a bit of a bun fight, especially when trying to find a table at peak times and the appalling hygiene habits of some fellow passengers puts me off and leaves me in no doubt as to why Norovirus is so prevalent on cruise ships. P&O do a superb job in trying to control this with gel stations etc (better than most hospitals in fact), but I have lost count of the number of people I have seen bypassing these pumps or licking fingers when they accidentally get food on their hands whilst self serving and then picking up the tongs (yuk). It's a sad fact that most people do not wash their hands thoroughly enough when using the loo and some don't do it at all. The icing on the cake for me once was when I popped in to the gents en route to the buffet one morning. As I was drying my hands, a guy came out of a cubicle, walked out without washing his hands and as I followed him to the buffet he walked straight past the hand pumps and directly to the food servery! As a non-suite passenger you do, of course, have the option of the main dining room for breakfast or lunch (which we use happily), but you have the same seating issues as described earlier.

 

I still believe that P&O is a great brand with service levels that you rarely find on land these days, but the product has definitely been devalued over the years in a desire to go more 'mass market', which is understandable given the number of cabins they need to sell each week. This is obviously great news for those for whom cruising was out of reach years ago, but less good news for those who had become accustomed to a quality product that has, in some cases, been eroded.

 

 

I totally agree with this. A wonderfully balanced post.

 

We have been lucky enough to sail in suites on the majority of our cruises, all with P&O and the last 3 all on Arcadia. We feel that there are fewer and fewer perks, less and less bang for your buck, I suppose. There seems to be a lot of resentment of people in suites from other passengers, but if you pay more then why should you not get more?

 

We are trying Celebrity next and Cunard after that.

 

We are definitely not snobs.

[NSWP]

A simple solution to all this conversation, some nasty, re tables for 2 in the MDR. Get P&O to get rid of the tables for two, make every table for 6 or 8 and get pax to mix, it would make for a happy ship, would it not?

 

In our 20 cruises on various lines, we have never requested a table for two, always like a 6 or 8, we like to meet people from all over. We have a table for 2 at home every night, boring !!

 

As for some of the pax on here who say they eat better at home than on the P & O ships, simple solution, pay a lot more and go on an upmarket cruise line. To me P&O UK is a main stream cruise line, middle of the road.

 

Stand by for incoming.

Edited May 21, 2015 by NSWP

[PurpleMoonlight]

A simple solution to all this conversation, some nasty, re tables for 2 in the MDR. Get P&O to get rid of the tables for two, make every table for 6 or 8 and get pax to mix, it would make for a happy ship, would it not?

 

In our 20 cruises on various lines, we have never requested a table for two, always like a 6 or 8, we like to meet people from all over. We have a table for 2 at home every night, boring !!

 

 

 

Surely the best way to have happy passengers is to give them what they desire, not force them to dine with strangers if they don't want to?

 

Most passengers are in couples on board but not every couple live together and have a boring dinner for two every night.

[Josy1953]

Surely the best way to have happy passengers is to give them what they desire, not force them to dine with strangers if they don't want to?

 

Most passengers are in couples on board but not every couple live together and have a boring dinner for two every night.

 

Absolutely agree, the day that P&O get rid of tables for 2 is the day that we will stop booking with them.

 

Since freedom dining was introduced we have chosen it so that we can be sure to have a table for 2. This is not because we are anti-social but even after 40 years of marriage we still prefer to chat to each other over dinner, we find that sharing a table for lunch in the MDR gives us plenty of opportunity to enjoy chatting with fellow passengers. On Azura last July we met a lovely couple at lunch who felt exactly as we do, preferring to dine alone in the evening but liking to share at lunch, after sharing twice we started to arrange to meet on sea days for lunch and are still in touch with them.

[P&O SUE]

Absolutely agree, the day that P&O get rid of tables for 2 is the day that we will stop booking with them.

 

Since freedom dining was introduced we have chosen it so that we can be sure to have a table for 2. This is not because we are anti-social but even after 40 years of marriage we still prefer to chat to each other over dinner, we find that sharing a table for lunch in the MDR gives us plenty of opportunity to enjoy chatting with fellow passengers. On Azura last July we met a lovely couple at lunch who felt exactly as we do, preferring to dine alone in the evening but liking to share at lunch, after sharing twice we started to arrange to meet on sea days for lunch and are still in touch with them.

 

Totally agree, after 27 years of marriage my DH and I never sit at a table not talking to each other - we always have plenty to say! The pattern of our working lives means we often don't "see" a lot of each other in the day at home so we enjoy the time we have together on holidays.

[Scriv]

My husband and I really enjoy each other's company too and always have plenty to talk about over dinner, but we also really enjoy socialising and sharing a table with others as part of our cruise. We usually ask for a table for six.

 

We find plenty of times on a cruise when we get our time together as a 2.

Edited May 21, 2015 by Scriv

[kersh]

We much prefer a table for two. If we go out for a nice meal in a restaurant we would be horrified if asked to share. We have lots to talk about over dinner but not necessarily what we would want to share with others. We will share a table at lunch if there are no tables for 2 left. We are not anti social and happily chat to fellow cruisers in the bars and by the pool but at dinner if you are sat with a whinger you just have to put up with it for 90 minutes.

[cruiseluvva]

AND you have to eat at everyone else's pace!

[Scriv]

I agree we would also be horrified at being asked to share when we go out to a restaurant at home - but I like it in the MDR on a cruise when we enjoy getting to know our dining mates.

 

We sometimes ask for a table for 2 at breakfast or at lunch in the MDR.

[balf]

AND you have to eat at everyone else's pace!

 

Yes, don't you just love the gobblers who wolf down dinners like they're going off the market.

 

David.

[daiB]

To us having a large table is, a major part, of what cruising is all about. I like to hear what other people have to say and I am interested when someone wants to tell me about their cruises. However we cannot all be the same, there are not enough tables for 8 available. :) :). However when we get to our table there is a very good chance that the people we meet are of similar minds to us.

[PurpleMoonlight]

Yes, don't you just love the gobblers who wolf down dinners like they're going off the market.

 

David.

 

That isn't necessarily the case.

 

On Oriana one couple on my table for six was consistently at least ten minutes late to the table, they then always had the soup course which nobody else did, so more often than not everyone else had been sat at the table for over an hour before the main course arrived.

[laura Bra]

Yes, don't you just love the gobblers who wolf down dinners like they're going off the market.

 

David.

 

That isn't necessarily the case.

 

On Oriana one couple on my table for six was consistently at least ten minutes late to the table, they then always had the soup course which nobody else did, so more often than not everyone else had been sat at the table for over an hour before the main course arrived.

 

we all meet the gobblers, they are not nice. i work hard for my cruise. i work overtime to pay for me cruise. me wears nice dresses to dinner. me takes me time.

 

let me ask the purplewoman, does she not like the soup ? me ate soup almost every night. i break the bread rools into me soup and its delicious. its delicious i say. and if the purplewoman is a soup snob, shame on you i say. on behalf of soup lovers all over the place, me not afriad to say that me love soup.

 

your bud

[chrisg1uk]

Yes, don't you just love the gobblers who wolf down dinners like they're going off the market.

 

David.

 

But they have to eat quickly so they can get to the show early. :)

[PurpleMoonlight]

let me ask the purplewoman, does she not like the soup ?

 

I'm male.

 

Nope, I don't have the soup and neither does Mrs Purplemoonlight :D, we find three courses perfectly adequate.

Edited May 21, 2015 by PurpleMoonlight

[cruiseluvva]

Yes, don't you just love the gobblers who wolf down dinners like they're going off the market.

 

David.

 

We like to be in and out because sitting for more than an hour causes considerable pain. For us, there is nothing worse sitting and waiting and waiting and waiting while others chomp their way through the entire menu, when we only eat one or at very most two courses!

 

On our last table for eight, our hearts would sink - and my husband's numbness set in - when others on the table ordered starter, soup, mains, desserts and then cheese followed by coffee and petit fours!

 

No thanks, a table for two every time!

Edited May 21, 2015 by cruiseluvva

[insanemagnet]

There seem to be two opposing sides here. The sitting at group tables is fun, and the sitting at group tables is not fun.

 

Now that is fine, and differences are what makes the world interesting.

 

What is annoying is one group trying to argue that the other group is wrong. Included in that is P&O, who try to force the non-group table people to join a group table, by having insufficient tables for two, despite the demand for them.

[PurpleMoonlight]

 

What is annoying is one group trying to argue that the other group is wrong. Included in that is P&O, who try to force the non-group table people to join a group table, by having insufficient tables for two, despite the demand for them.

 

And I would argue space.

 

I don't see four tables for two taking up much more room than a large table for eight, if any.

[insanemagnet]

I think that the issue is that P&O know that some people like group tables.

 

They fill those group tables by forcing people who would prefer a table for two to sit at one (you only have to hear the requests as people enter to know this).

 

If they had sufficient tables for two so that everyone who wanted one got one, then the group tables would be filled with only 'group table' people. From hearing the comments about the behaviour of some of these people who choose a group table are a little 'odd', I wonder if P&O know they are diluting the ratio of 'odd' to normal by limiting the tables for two.

[Scorpio41]

I don't have the soup, I change it for sorbet. :)

Edited May 21, 2015 by Scorpio41

[laura Bra]

I'm male.

 

Nope, I don't have the soup and neither does Mrs Purplemoonlight :D, we find three courses perfectly adequate.

 

great that mr and mrs purplemoonlight like soup but decline it at dinner.

i like soup

[Cruisingcouple95]

We've been on a table of 6 before and must admit after getting to know them which does take more than one sitting 2 I'd say as a minimum we had an excellent evening then on.

 

We always have plenty of family so have bigger tables anyway but when we are on our own we do prefer having a table for two. Not because it isn't nice having conversation with others but sometimes it's nice for us to spend time relaxing together. Normally in the day time you do interact with others wether u go out you way or not because most people are just so friendly.

 

I think from what others have already said the demand for tables of 2 and others should be met. It would make everyone happy to be able to have there own choice and not forced into a situation they are uncomfortable with.

 

We all have different tastes and some do want to eat more or less so depending on how they feel should choose accordingly to where they want to be. As long as you enjoy your holiday that's the most important thing.

 

Inside to suite we are all on board sharing a common interest and should personally all be treat equal and have a brilliant time regardless. As we all know there's ships that cater for those willing to get more benifits out of higher graded cabins.

 

The main reason we have sailed with P&O for such a long time is because we always felt that there was no class or special benifits for other and feeling equal to others we feel is important and brings a sense of were all here to share the same experience. Shame some people can't see that and feel the need to be either a snob about their cabin or just on how others act because that's not how cruising is in the 21st century.

 

I'd say a thank you to all who make cruising a special experience and just make everyone feel welcome. :)

[balf]

That isn't necessarily the case.

 

On Oriana one couple on my table for six was consistently at least ten minutes late to the table, they then always had the soup course which nobody else did, so more often than not everyone else had been sat at the table for over an hour before the main course arrived.

 

In that case I would have a quiet word with the waiters and ask them to serve us without waiting for the laggards to catch up.

 

David.