Dissapointed with the buffet, on Azura.

[Dollywobble]

we did the TA from Barbados, over all the cruise was ok, the food in the MD was OK , the buffet in the Venezia, was unappetising, not many signs on the dishes, the salad selection was really dissapointing and a poor selection, the tomatoes were piled so deep in the container that the slices underneath were so squashed that the juice was up to the top layer (ugh) also not much choice in salad dressings, balsamic vinegar , thousand island and one other that looked like weak black coffee with white blobs on the top. It was to small an area to get round without bumping into people, the burgers on lido deck were ready done and wrapped up and gristly and dry. The entertainment was mediocre apart from the New Zealand singer and the comedians. The staff were very friendly and our cabin on B deck was faultless.

[Cathygh]

I was on the weekender to Bruges after the TA. I totally agree about the buffet. I don't like buffets at the best of times but it had gone down since our last cruise in December 2015. If you got there towards then end the food was dried.

I didn't see much of the entertainment except for the beginning of Evolution which looked fab if you like that type of thing. Frankie Glicksman is still murdering Skyfall on the piano.

The rest was great. Cabin, MDR etc all good.

[FredChopin]

Did you complain to the Food and Beverages manager about the buffet whilst on board?

[insanemagnet]

the burgers on lido deck were ready done and wrapped up and gristly and dry.

 

Just ask the staff on the grill to cook you some fresh ones.

 

That is what I do and they have never refused me.

 

Same with anything​ that is served below par, simply point out the issue and ask to have a freshly made one.

[Cahpek]

we did the TA from Barbados, over all the cruise was ok, the food in the MD was OK , the buffet in the Venezia, was unappetising, not many signs on the dishes, the salad selection was really dissapointing and a poor selection, the tomatoes were piled so deep in the container that the slices underneath were so squashed that the juice was up to the top layer (ugh) also not much choice in salad dressings, balsamic vinegar , thousand island and one other that looked like weak black coffee with white blobs on the top. It was to small an area to get round without bumping into people, the burgers on lido deck were ready done and wrapped up and gristly and dry. The entertainment was mediocre apart from the New Zealand singer and the comedians. The staff were very friendly and our cabin on B deck was faultless.

 

 

That's interesting. You were disappointed with the buffet on the Azura. In another thread, someone else thought the buffet offerings on the Arcadia in the evenings was "awful". And as for us, we were on the Ventura in February, and out of 10 cruises we have done (with other cruise companies), that was probably the worst buffet we have ever had!

 

 

The Ventura buffet reminded us of buffets in 3-starts Spanish hotels, you know, the ones where food were cooked in loads and there was no signs of "pride" nor "passion" from the chef in his cuisine. The food did not seemed to be served with "love"!

 

It was not just one or two items that was mediocre or below standard, but a host of them. It was not just for one or two days, but throughout most of the cruise. Imagine meringue so hard it wouldn't t break even when we knocked it on the table - then tried to "jab" it with a knife, it still wouldn't break. Think soup that lacks tastes, and it was barely hot. Think custard that was so watery and lack creaminess. Think Singapore fried noodles that did not taste like its namesake. So much of the food tasted "samey" - some dishes seemed similar from the previous days but they just add an extra item and changed its name. As for their 10 o'clock(?) buffet, don't be surprised to see leftovers from dinner! The fish and chips had so much better and so little fish, a lady passenger had to go back for more helpings to get enough fish to eat! And the problems went on and on.

 

The buffet food was so poor at lunch or dinner, that sometimes, after taking the food and tasted a bit of it, we just could not swallow it, and left it. (To be fair, the breakfast offerings in the buffet was quite decent, but not for lunch or dinner).

 

There was no point reporting to management. On the second day, we reported to the Food and Beverage manager. He pretended to write down those complaints in his little note book, but nothing seems to be done by him. Those terrible items of food we complained to him seemed to continue being served several days after that.

 

We found that even in the MDR, the standard of cuisine was very inconsistent. Some dishes were quite nice, and then, so many others were really very poor (think "dry" tasting meat). The "joke" was their "Signature Dessert", the Eight Layered Molten Chocolate cake - it only has 2 layers, not 8 as claimed on their menu. The waiters seemed to know it so well, they just laughed when we told them about it and they indicated they knew it. One even indicated he should have "warned" us before we ordered it. Probably so many passengers have complained about that to them in the past.

 

We also tried the "freshly" cooked beef burgers, and it was certainly not first class!

 

And for Room Service, you would probably find that about half of all the items in the menu were either not available on that ship (ie they were on the Oriana, and if they were on the Oriana, they were not on your ship), or you would have to pay a supplement. There were relatively few items to choose from which were complimentary.

 

On our cruise, the quality of the food, or rather, the lack of it, seemed to be one of the most popular discussions amongst passengers on board.

 

We think that instead of spending so much on their marketing budget getting stars like Rob Brydon doing their TV adverts, they should instead spend more in improving the quality of the food.

 

We would think twice, maybe three times, before deciding to go with P&O in future especially when there have been unfavorable comments about the buffet on not one P&O ships but several. (It is not often to see that level of complaints about the buffet on not one ship but several ships. Other cruise lines may see complaints sometimes about it on one ship, but on 3 out of their 5 ships, and within such a relatively short period? Does that mean it could be a P&O issue???!!!)Until we hear better reviews about the standard of their catering, we would be wary travelling with them again. It was no fun spending thousands of £££'s and to be served poor food .

Edited April 7, 2017 by Cahpek

[Dollywobble]

I totally agree, I don't think we will be doing P&O again, it's a shame as with some care and attention to detail the food could be so different and better presented, the fish and chips in the MD had the wateriest tartar sauce I have ever seen, the Creme Anglais must have been made with water, surely we as paying Customer's deserve better.

[Florry]

That's interesting. You were disappointed with the buffet on the Azura. In another thread, someone else thought the buffet offerings on the Arcadia in the evenings was "awful" .

 

 

I think that was me - it either resembled dog food or what you might expect to see in a back street chip shop [emoji31] I used to post about how good the buffet was in the evenings but no more. I added feedback on the questionnaire but it is very obvious they have made budget cuts. The captain was proud to announce that P&O were keeping costs down.

 

 

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