ORIANA, Sindhu or Sorrento?

[NSWP]

G'day again, we are on Oriana in October, looking at select dining for a night, P&O site only comes up with Sindhu an Indian themed restaurant. I was of the opinion there was also an Itialian one - Sorrentos on board. Any intelligence?

 

Thanks in anticipation

[coralsmum]

Hi, yes there is an Italian themed restaurant but it is made from part of the buffet area in an evening. I don't think you can pre-book it although it carries a small cover charge. Sindhu is the one you can pre-book so that is probably the reason why it is the only one showing. Sue.

[jeanlyon]

Sorrento will be gone by October and replaced with the Beach Hut unfortunately. We are very disappointed. i loved Sorrento.

[NSWP]

Thank you coralsmum and Jean (jeanlyon). The Beach Hut ? Crikey what gourmet delights will they sell? Beach Hut sounds very American or even Australian, perhaps American hot dogs and Aussie meat pies? LOL.

 

The Carnival influence reigneths on P&O.

Edited June 19, 2015 by NSWP

[jeanlyon]

Yes American, burgers, fries, steaks. Not my scene.

[daiB]

Yes American, burgers, fries, steaks. Not my scene.

 

 

A little more than your description I think.

 

Here is the link.

 

https://ask.pocruises.com/resources/carnivaluk/life-on-board/AU_BeachHouse.pdf

 

That is for Aurora but I suspect it will be the same.

[jeanlyon]

Well yes, but nothing to tickle my fancy I'm afraid. nachos, ribs, blackened chicken. I had a hard time choosing what to eat in Sorrento, it was all lovely. We will give it a try, but it doesn't appeal.

[daiB]

Well yes, but nothing to tickle my fancy I'm afraid. nachos, ribs, blackened chicken. I had a hard time choosing what to eat in Sorrento, it was all lovely. We will give it a try, but it doesn't appeal.

 

 

I still have not had the steak on the Rock. But there are half a dozen things or more on there I would very happily have.

 

Of course I would be quite happy with the Sorrento menu as well and the Sindhu and the Ocean Grill and the eppy-watsit menu. Now why is it I like cruising? :) :)

[NSWP]

A little more than your description I think.

 

Here is the link.

 

https://ask.pocruises.com/resources/carnivaluk/life-on-board/AU_BeachHouse.pdf

 

That is for Aurora but I suspect it will be the same.

Thanks Dai, menu looks great, real food (in my opinion.) Almost like a 'Floating Little Chef Restaurant.' LOL.

Edited June 20, 2015 by NSWP

[Florry]

I found Sindhu very disappointing, Sorrento on the other hand was lovely. I assume they have done the maths and compared results on other ships but I do sometimes wonder if P&O are losing touch with their customer base - or maybe prepare for it to change/evolve? Disappointed to hear about Sorrento going :-/ One of the things I like about P&O are the individualities of the ships but they are becoming clones, I guess that must be a more profitable way of supporting them but I think it will eventually encourage customers to try other brands to experience the variety we used to get between ships.

Edited June 20, 2015 by Florry

[jeanlyon]

Out of interest, if anybody has eaten in The Beach Hut, is it buffet style or are you served like in Sorrento?

[jaceyar]

We have used the Beach House on both Ventura and Britannia and always found it a welcome change from the noisy and lengthy meals in the MDRs.

The menu is simple, the service attentive and the food of a high quality - the seafood kebab is stunning. When we were in the Fjords recently it was lovely in the Beach House watching the scenery glide by - you see nothing in the MDRs.

It would seem that P&O wish to rename the restaurants on all the ships so they are all the same which is what some other cruiselines including Princess do.

Edited June 20, 2015 by jaceyar
typo

[jaceyar]

Out of interest, if anybody has eaten in The Beach Hut, is it buffet style or are you served like in Sorrento?

 

It is waiter service.

[Mysticalmother]

We have used the Beach House on both Ventura and Britannia and always found it a welcome change from the noisy and lengthy meals in the MDRs.

The menu is simple, the service attentive and the food of a high quality - the seafood kebab is stunning. When we were in the Fjords recently is was lovely in the Beach House watching the scenery glide by - you see nothing in the MDRs.

It would seem that P&O wish to rename the restaurants on all the ships so they are all the same which is what some other cruiselines including Princess do.

 

I can see the logic behind the consistent branding...but it would be nice if perhaps the adult only ships could have their own and the family friendly ones something different. Variety is the spice....and all that....even in epicurrywotsit...:D

[jeanlyon]

Just had another look - the specialty kebabs are another £3.95 for goodness sake. There are only about 2 things on the whole manu that I would choose and both have an extra charge. Wonder why they do that.

[jaceyar]

Actually I thought the seafood kebab was more than that but worth every penny - we were on holiday!

[Britboys]

Well yes, but nothing to tickle my fancy I'm afraid. nachos, ribs, blackened chicken. I had a hard time choosing what to eat in Sorrento, it was all lovely. We will give it a try, but it doesn't appeal.

 

I completely agree Jean. I thought Sorrento was lovely too with an excellent choice of menu. I just don't get why they need another casual-style eaterie. We can all get that anywhere at home.

[Britboys]

I can see the logic behind the consistent branding...but it would be nice if perhaps the adult only ships could have their own and the family friendly ones something different. Variety is the spice....and all that....even in epicurrywotsit...:D

 

Absolutely! The consistency again is down to cost-cutting. If you have all the same restaurants, you can buy in the requisite food supplies in more bulk and so save money. I do however agree that they could have different things on the adult only ships. They generally have a very different feel and atmosphere and so could easily have different eating-places. I'm afraid I will not be eating in any of the alternative venues on Oriana in October - but I would definitely have gone to Sorrento a couple of times.

[NSWP]

Just had another look - the specialty kebabs are another £3.95 for goodness sake. There are only about 2 things on the whole manu that I would choose and both have an extra charge. Wonder why they do that.

To keep the Carnival Corp bean counters happy @ 'User Pay.' Just like they have alcohol sales targets to meet on board.

Edited June 23, 2015 by NSWP

[Triplalot]

Absolutely! The consistency again is down to cost-cutting. If you have all the same restaurants, you can buy in the requisite food supplies in more bulk and so save money. I do however agree that they could have different things on the adult only ships. They generally have a very different feel and atmosphere and so could easily have different eating-places. I'm afraid I will not be eating in any of the alternative venues on Oriana in October - but I would definitely have gone to Sorrento a couple of times.

 

 

Why should adult only ships deserve a different class of select restaurants since these eateries are largely used by adults and very few children. I have booked a cruise on a family ship based on itinerary despite not traveling with kids and plan to use the select restaurants so to have a change from the MDR and hopefully experience a more intimate atmosphere. Unfortunately the restaurant scene changes, and these changes/trends will be reflected on the P&O offerings on their ships, good and bad.

[jeanlyon]

Andrew, yes agree. We might go to the Indian buffet in September on Oriana for a change, but that Beach Hut menu leaves me cold.

[Britboys]

Why should adult only ships deserve a different class of select restaurants since these eateries are largely used by adults and very few children. I have booked a cruise on a family ship based on itinerary despite not traveling with kids and plan to use the select restaurants so to have a change from the MDR and hopefully experience a more intimate atmosphere. Unfortunately the restaurant scene changes, and these changes/trends will be reflected on the P&O offerings on their ships, good and bad.

 

I suppose the point I was trying to make is that the adult-only ships generally attract those of us that prefer a more traditional cruise experience. That usually includes food closer to fine dining than casual dining. Sorrento had some lovely main courses in particular. The beach house with the possibility of potato skins followed by nachos just doesn't cut it for me. Whilst Sindhu is not my cup of tea, I do appreciate it is a quality, more formal eating experience. The Beach House menu just puts me in mind of the sort of place you find between the bowling alley and the cinema at home. Nothing wrong with that at all - just not what I want when I am on a cruise. It will be interesting to see how well it does on Oriana.

 

Also, on a slightly separate note, some of us would just like some of the fleet to have different options on - not all being identikits of each other.

[Triplalot]

Britboys I think you will find a large number of cruisers on all of the ships to whom fine dining is the preferred option, myself included. From what I have read Sorrento's did sound lovely. Next week I cruise on Oceana for a special anniversary trip and admittedly adult only would have been perfect but did not fit with our dates and preferred itinerary. During our cruise the Horizon Grill will transform into a Beach House thereby making Cafe Jardin the debatable fine dining option available onboard. I will try the speciality restaurants but my expectations are not great and I certainly will not be eating nachos or potato skins :). Trends change in restaurants and maybe P&O will introduce some more fine dining options over time, I certainly hope so !

[Mysticalmother]

Why should adult only ships deserve a different class of select restaurants since these eateries are largely used by adults and very few children. I have booked a cruise on a family ship based on itinerary despite not traveling with kids and plan to use the select restaurants so to have a change from the MDR and hopefully experience a more intimate atmosphere. Unfortunately the restaurant scene changes, and these changes/trends will be reflected on the P&O offerings on their ships, good and bad.

 

I wasn't suggesting, nor do think Britboy was, a different CLASS of restaurant - not sure how you would define a "class" of restaurant anyway. But others have complained that places like Sindhu, Epicurean etc don't cater for children, whereas I suspect The Beach Hut does. The family friendly ships are bigger anyway so can have more choice. So leave the adult only ships with their own type of restaurant like Sorrento. It shouldn't be a case of "one size fits all" but it seems that is the way pando is going. A shame I think.

[Florry]

I'm with Britboys [emoji106]🏼