Worried about food

[grapau27]

2 for £10, really? I've looked at some of the sample menus and they don't look to be on the lines of burger & frozen chips and microwave chilli and rice, which is all I'd expect on a 2 for £10 offer in our local... ;-)

You can have as much as you want,be it 2 starters or 2 different mains or 2 deserts it is disgraceful to rubbish the MDR food the chefs and waiters have my respect.

 

43 cruises and counting.

[gadabout60]

You can have as much as you want,be it 2 starters or 2 different mains or 2 deserts it is disgraceful to rubbish the MDR food the chefs and waiters have my respect.

 

43 cruises and counting.

 

How is it disgraceful?

I see you have been in 43 cruises. Surely you must acknowledge that the standard has plummeted

I have no issue with the chefs and waiters. However it is obvious to me that the money allocated to each MDR meal has dropped considerably

Volume such as 2 starters etc does not make a good meal

[grapau27]

How is it disgraceful?

I see you have been in 43 cruises. Surely you must acknowledge that the standard has plummeted

I have no issue with the chefs and waiters. However it is obvious to me that the money allocated to each MDR meal has dropped considerably

Volume such as 2 starters etc does not make a good meal

True the standard has dropped a lot in the last 20 years we have been cruising but they do their best and i always get something i like but i know if they bring something and I don't like it they will bring me something else without question.

 

43 cruises and counting.

[mickey89]

Having pity for the staff saying 'they do their best' is not acceptable. More people should complain about the food that is served in the MDR otherwise nothing will change and the quality of the food will decline even further.

The MDR food is unacceptable, if it wasn't for the specialty restaurants I would call it a day.

[grapau27]

Having pity for the staff saying 'they do their best' is not acceptable. More people should complain about the food that is served in the MDR otherwise nothing will change and the quality of the food will decline even further.

The MDR food is unacceptable, if it wasn't for the specialty restaurants I would call it a day.

Thats your perogative.

Its not pity because they all do their best and that's all you can ask of everyone.

There is usually a good selection for each course and some like steak available every night.

I personally have written over 200 restaurant trip advisor reviews and yes the MDR might not be Michelin standard i have never had a poor meal on any ship.

 

43 cruises and counting.

[Cahpek]

Last December I tried P&O for the first time after many years of cruising Celebrity, HAL and Princess. It would be fair to say that food quality has declined significantly across all the cruise lines especially with the introduction of the Specialty Restaurants. Britannia MDR food was the worst we have ever experienced, after the second night we decided to use the Beach House, Sindu and Glasshouse and pay extra for a decent meal. We would compare the food in the MDR to what you would expect in British Pub - 2 meals for £10 sort of quality, don't expect any better.

 

 

We tend to understand what you mean about expecting British Pub standard meals. Just in case the meals in the MDR might be better, it would be a "pleasant surprise". That would be better than having high hopes and then end up being disappointed when the food turns out not to be very good. Service was usually relatively quick though,even for Freedom dining.

 

For us , the MDR food on the Ventura was quite inconsistent. One evening, they had lobster on the menu, but when it came out, it was so overcooked (or stored in the freezer for too long, or both) the flesh was stringy and rest of it was stuck to the shell. However , another evening, the lobster came out nice. Same with the fish, one evening poor, another evening quite okay. Guess as someone said, they had to cook for so many people. Having said that, like many folks here, we have been on other cruises too and those other ship kitchens had to cook for so many people as well, yet their quality was more consistent than what the Ventura MDR kitchen could come up with.

 

Glad to hear that the OP will not be using the Buffet much except for breakfast and some salads for lunch - their buffet breakfast was actually quite acceptable. However, the lunch and dinner buffets were probably the weakest points on the Ventura, ahem, dare we say some of the food that came out was close to awful? The cooking for lunch and dinner there was so poor that we sometimes had "visions" of members of Dad's Army running around the kitchen, and they just came out with some dishes that did not necessarily taste like what they should ! So much for "British" influenced cooking!!!

 

The Ventura has quite a number of good points about it - great accommodation (the cabin lighting was one of the best on any ship) , friendly and hard working staff, good drinks prices, reasonable gratuity charges, reasonable prices even for their excursions , etc. But for "foodies" , in our opinion, that is not the ship to choose.

Edited April 19, 2017 by Cahpek

[grapau27]

We tend to understand what you mean about expecting British Pub standard meals. Just in case the meals in the MDR might be better, it would be a "pleasant surprise". That would be better than having high hopes and then end up being disappointed when the food turns out not to be very good.

 

For us , the MDR food on the Ventura was quite inconsistent. One evening, they had lobster on the menu, but when it came out, it was so overcooked the flesh was stringy and rest of it was stuck to the shell. However , another evening, the lobster came out nice. Same with the fish, one evening poor, another evening quite okay. Guess as someone side, they had to cook for so many people. Having said that, like many folks here, we have been on other cruises too and those other ship kitchens had had to cook for so many people as well, yet their quality was more consistent than what the Ventura MDR kitchen could come up with.

 

Glad to hear that the OP will not be using the Buffet much except for breakfast and some salads for lunch - their buffet breakfast was actually quite acceptable. However, the lunch and dinner buffets were probably the weakest points on the Ventura, ahem, dare we say some of the food that came out was close to awful? The cooking there was so poor that we sometimes had "visions" of members of Dad's Army running around the kitchen, and they just came out with some dishes that did not necessarily taste like what they should ! So much for "British" influenced cooking!!!

 

The Ventura has quite a number of good points about it - great accommodation (the cabin lighting was one of the best on any ship) , friendly and hard working staff, good drinks prices, reasonable gratuity charges, reasonable prices even for their excursions , etc. But for "foodies" , in our opinion, that is not the ship to choose.

I agree.

 

43 cruises and counting.

[tartanexile81]

The Ventura has quite a number of good points about it - great accommodation (the cabin lighting was one of the best on any ship) , friendly and hard working staff, good drinks prices, reasonable gratuity charges, reasonable prices even for their excursions , etc. But for "foodies" , in our opinion, that is not the ship to choose.

 

I agree about Ventura and we had a great time on her in Jan / Feb. However the food / new menus are still disappointing. We commented in our feedback on the number of fish dishes and chocolate desserts but that's our personal taste / food allergies. We enjoy the MDR for breakfast and don't eat lunch, but dinner in the MDR isn't made with good quality ingredients and that's the crucial point. The food will only be as good as the ingredients used. It's a few years since we stopped using the buffet and now we like the bigger ships because of the variety of select venues where the quality is better. We'll probably use the MDR for the 4 formals on our next cruise on Britannia but on other nights it will be the Beach House, Limelight and Glass House

[mondas42]

As someone who is allergic to fish/seafood the trend to more fish options on the menu is a big concern. Oh well, looks like steak quite a few nights.

[mickey89]

As someone who is allergic to fish/seafood the trend to more fish options on the menu is a big concern. Oh well, looks like steak quite a few nights.

Ensure you ask for a sharp knife !

[mika6617]

Having pity for the staff saying 'they do their best' is not acceptable. More people should complain about the food that is served in the MDR otherwise nothing will change and the quality of the food will decline even further.

The MDR food is unacceptable, if it wasn't for the specialty restaurants I would call it a day.

 

You have hit the nail on the head with that one. Unfortunately more and more people are finding poorer quality and bland tasting food perfectly acceptable. If it wasn't for the select restaurants on board such as the Glass house and Sinhu etc... food would be such a let down. However as someone has posted already P&O are laughing all the way to the bank as it suits them perfectly. I think you may find that the 'two for a tenner'

might actually be cooked a bit better as well!

[barriead]

Absolutely agree with you, Josy. We were on Ventura 2-9 Apr and ate in the MDR most nights - couldn't fault it at all. Don't forget to enquire about the 'always available' options if there's nothing on that evening's menu that takes your fancy......

 

I was aware of Steak + Chips being always available....what are the other items if you dont mind me asking.?

[daiB]

I was aware of Steak + Chips being always available....what are the other items if you dont mind me asking.?

 

 

Someone is on Oriana now and is posting the menus on FB. It looks like Salmon, Chicken and Steak are on each day. And there is a roast and a grill each day. This is as well as the menus of the day with 2 fish 1 meat and 1 vegetarian.

 

We tend to go on longer cruises and so we like the occasional day with plain food. I do not think you can eat 'rich' food over a long period of time. Certainly when we do the 28 night Caribbean we are looking for som very plain food on a number of nights.

 

 

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[gadabout60]

Nothing wrong with plain food but plenty wrong with cheap food

[Cahpek]

Nothing wrong with plain food but plenty wrong with cheap food

 

Know just what you mean.....Fish and Chips with excessive greasy batter and little fish, and the "Chef's Speciality" Cornish Pasty. Or soup that was barely hot and lacking in taste. Or cheap greasey tasting burger.

[daiB]

Know just what you mean.....Fish and Chips with excessive greasy batter and little fish, and the "Chef's Speciality" Cornish Pasty.

Not my experience of P&O fish and chips at all.

 

When on the long cruise 7 of the 8 on the table had the same all excellent.

 

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[barriead]

I do like Green Cabbage, Runner beans and Swede and carrot mix....something you did not see much of on my Adriatic Cruise last October.:)

[daiB]

Nothing wrong with plain food but plenty wrong with cheap food

Very noticablebthat the moans come from the same group of people who have a history of finding fault with P&O. One wonders if they look for problems. Just one long moan really. Do they also moan about the miners on the ship. Just a thought.

 

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[barriead]

Dai, what are your thoughts on the veg available/frequency on board? I am not a moaner..far from it...but it is one thing I do find a bit dissapointing.

[Cahpek]

Not my experience of P&O fish and chips at all.

 

When on the long cruise 7 of the 8 on the table had the same all excellent.

 

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When on our last cruise in Feb., it was not just us who experienced that. One lady kept going back to the buffet. She said it was because she got one piece of fish in batter, there was so much batter and so little fish she had to keep going back for more fish to get that "fish" taste!

 

Having said that, some folks may prefer greasey batter and little fish in their fish and chips. Everyone's different.

[Cahpek]

Very noticablebthat the moans come from the same group of people who have a history of finding fault with P&O. One wonders if they look for problems. Just one long moan really. Do they also moan about the miners on the ship. Just a thought.

 

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DaiB , with respect, we think you are one of those people that do not allow others to express their views, but you seem to be here on this board expressing your views all the time.

 

We think it is good that you can express your view(s), you could agree or not with the others, that's your prerogative, but you should not try and shut other people up when they write their own views. Remember, mutual respects, that's what is required by CruiseCritic to posters on this Board !!! Just a thought.

[wowzz]

Very noticablebthat the moans come from the same group of people who have a history of finding fault with P&O. One wonders if they look for problems. Just one long moan really. Do they also moan about the miners on the ship. Just a thought.

 

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I wasn't aware there were any collieries on P&O.

 

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[mika6617]

DaiB , with respect, we think you are one of those people that do not allow others to express their views, but you seem to be here on this board expressing your views all the time.

 

We think it is good that you can express your view(s), you could agree or not with the others, that's your prerogative, but you should not try and shut other people up when they write their own views. Remember, mutual respects, that's what is required by CruiseCritic to posters on this Board !!! Just a thought.

 

Bullseye

[grapau27]

Nothing wrong with plain food but plenty wrong with cheap food

Can't disagree with that.

 

43 cruises and counting.

[Clodia]

Like a previous commentator I have just come off Azura; didn't have a bad meal. I ate in the MDR and all the speciality restaurants at least once. Yes the MDR is mass catering, but it's perfectly good mass catering. If I didn't fancy any of the dishes on the menu I ordered a medium rare steak and it was, both times, very good. I like my food and am a keen cook, but have never been disappointed on P and O, while other lines have been more hit and miss.