Food and dining on P&O ships

[Fionboard]

3 hours ago, Red Ray said:

Far too many veggie/vegan choices on the MDR dinner menus imo.

Especially the desserts. Made with no dairy. Tasteless. Shame as something I like to indulge in, but do not have at home. 

[Mark36]

Available in the buffet at dedicated Vegan counter, Vegan cakes with Soy milk always available.

Other products need checking sometimes I.E. biscuits for cheese some are vegan.

Vegan ice cream sold in ice cream station at skydome says Vegan on the label

[Bazrat]

3 hours ago, Mark36 said:

Available in the buffet at dedicated Vegan counter, Vegan cakes with Soy milk always available.

Other products need checking sometimes I.E. biscuits for cheese some are vegan.

Vegan ice cream sold in ice cream station at skydome says Vegan on the label

The sandwich looks good just missing a bit of ham on it.

[9265359]

22 hours ago, zap99 said:

I don't know how many Vegans were on the ship  but P&O may be better not catering for Vegans at all. They seem to get nothing but  criticism.

 

Given the amount of criticism people have for any sort of food served then perhaps P&O would be better off not serving any food at all.

[Thejuggler]

Providers need to make a choice.  If they are going to state vegan food can be catered for it needs to be and be done well.

 

An excellent menu would have dishes which are so tempting even non vegans would choose them, as is the case with an Indian restaurant I visit regularly and I'm not vegan.  They are 100% vegetarian and over 50% are vegan dishes.

 

However if the vegan option amounts to little more than variations of boiled rice with a few pieces of veg take the bad publicity and stop offering it as an option.

[9265359]

8 minutes ago, Thejuggler said:

Providers need to make a choice.  If they are going to state vegan food can be catered for it needs to be and be done well.

 

An excellent menu would have dishes which are so tempting even non vegans would choose them, as is the case with an Indian restaurant I visit regularly and I'm not vegan.  They are 100% vegetarian and over 50% are vegan dishes.

 

However if the vegan option amounts to little more than variations of boiled rice with a few pieces of veg take the bad publicity and stop offering it as an option.

 

You are conflating vegans by choice with vegans due to religious conviction, and the latter means it would be impossible for P&O or any other UK cruise company not to offer vegan food.

 

[zap99]

1 hour ago, 9265359 said:

 

Given the amount of criticism people have for any sort of food served then perhaps P&O would be better off not serving any food at all.

We have never complained about P&O's food.There is always a variety of food in a variety of restaurants.  We are quite looking forward to trying out Arvia. If a restaurant doesn't suit, we don't go back. The frequency, or volume of green beans doesn't bother us. Octagonal roasties, or cheese wheels either. We don't go in for 3 courses three times a day. We refuel and get on with other things.  Vegan, or veggie menus don't interest us. When we decide to eat in a ' special ' restaurant it had better be good, or they will know. If we eat in the Beach House we will tell them no black nachos please. If We get any black ones they will be told. We won't be telling cyberworld about the experience.  In my mind food isn't a great issue.

Edited April 5 by zap99

[pete14]

39 minutes ago, 9265359 said:

 

You are conflating vegans by choice with vegans due to religious conviction, and the latter means it would be impossible for P&O or any other UK cruise company not to offer vegan food.

 

I may be wrong but I cannot think of any major religion that insists its adherents are vegan. Some teach or prefer vegetarianism and others may think it safer to have a vegetarian diet onboard due to no total guarantee that meat is kosher or halal. Kosher meals are available if P&O are notified in advance but they are not freshly prepared, not sure if the same applies to halal. Jewish law states that they should not eat meat and milk at the same time but this does not equate to being vegan because they can and do eat meat without dairy products. 

[zap99]

54 minutes ago, 9265359 said:

 

You are conflating vegans by choice with vegans due to religious conviction, and the latter means it would be impossible for P&O or any other UK cruise company not to offer vegan food.

 

They could put a banner heading on their website and brochure....We don't offer Vegan meals..I don't think its a legal requirement to cater for vegans.

 

[9265359]

1 hour ago, pete14 said:

I may be wrong but I cannot think of any major religion that insists its adherents are vegan.

 

Jainism certainly is, and it is promoted within Hinduism and Buddhism and I am not sure that P&O would want to argue in court that it is not a requirement of a particular religion.

 

1 hour ago, zap99 said:

They could put a banner heading on their website and brochure....We don't offer Vegan meals..I don't think its a legal requirement to cater for vegans.

 

Take a read of the Equality Act 2010 and then see if the courts would agree with that view.

 

But irrespective of whether P&O are required to do this, it would be a pretty stupid business that would deliberately exclude a section of the population that want to give it money.

[zap99]

47 minutes ago, 9265359 said:

 

Jainism certainly is, and it is promoted within Hinduism and Buddhism and I am not sure that P&O would want to argue in court that it is not a requirement of a particular religion.

 

 

Take a read of the Equality Act 2010 and then see if the courts would agree with that view.

 

But irrespective of whether P&O are required to do this, it would be a pretty stupid business that would deliberately exclude a section of the population that want to give it money.

Sorry, but I really can't be bothered to read the act. I'll take your word for it. Perhaps the banner should say....Vegans...plenty of green beans and other vegetables available.

Edited April 5 by zap99

[Mark36]

15 hours ago, Bazrat said:

The sandwich looks good just missing a bit of ham on it.

[9265359]

4 minutes ago, zap99 said:

I really can't be bothered to read the act.

 

You do surprise me.

[alpha whiskey]

From my experiences on P&O they offer meals with meat; meals for vegetarians; meals for vegans.

All boxes ticked.

Perhaps if some are having a huge problem with the offerings, it might be the time to change their cruise line.

Personally, value for money, a comfortable ship, nice itinerary, reasonable food choices, pretty much does it for me.

P&O ticks that box as well.

 

[pete14]

56 minutes ago, 9265359 said:

 

Jainism certainly is, and it is promoted within Hinduism and Buddhism and I am not sure that P&O would want to argue in court that it is not a requirement of a particular religion.

 

I don’t suppose there are many Jains who cruise on P&O. I did specifically post Major religions, Jainism doesn’t really come in that category, especially in UK. Hinduism and Buddhism strongly prefer vegetarianism but do not insist on veganism which is what I was referring to.

[nosapphire]

Ethical veganism is indeed recognised under the equality act.

Reading the summary of the sample case, it was clear that the party involved had a very strong vegan ethos which dictated their entire lifestyle, and it seems probable that their belief would prevent them from travelling on a cruise ship in the first place.

 

The equality act mainly relates to employment - therefore a cruise ship (under UK law) would presumably have to cater for any crew/staff member who was vegan.

 

To the best of my understanding, it does not extend to making it compulsory for cruise ships to cater for vegan passengers.

 

[zap99]

8 minutes ago, alpha whiskey said:

From my experiences on P&O they offer meals with meat; meals for vegetarians; meals for vegans.

All boxes ticked.

Perhaps if some are having a huge problem with the offerings, it might be the time to change their cruise line.

Personally, value for money, a comfortable ship, nice itinerary, reasonable food choices, pretty much does it for me.

P&O ticks that box as well.

 

Same here. TBH, thinking about Vegan issues doesn't occupy much of my time.

[Megabear2]

Having eaten in Green & Co on Arvia, which was by far the best meal I ate on her, I find it impossible to understand why P&O seem to be failing so dismally for the vegetarians and vegans.  They clearly can do it right and well if you are happy to pay the cost - the meal in Green & Co was pricey.  I can't help but wonder if cost may be helping cause the lack of decent offerings elsewhere as I suspect the demand is probably not high overall.  The ingredients the OP and others have mentioned in their sparse offerings are items the chef's can "multi task" into non vegan/vegetarian offerings whereas to make top quality vegan/vegetarian food requires many more unique items.

[terrierjohn]

3 hours ago, 9265359 said:

 

Jainism certainly is, and it is promoted within Hinduism and Buddhism and I am not sure that P&O would want to argue in court that it is not a requirement of a particular religion.

 

 

Take a read of the Equality Act 2010 and then see if the courts would agree with that view.

 

But irrespective of whether P&O are required to do this, it would be a pretty stupid business that would deliberately exclude a section of the population that want to give it money.

It seems that trying to cater for  veggies and vegans has reduced the choice for the majority of passengers who are neither, which would seem an even more stupid business choice.

[Thejuggler]

4 hours ago, 9265359 said:

 

Jainism certainly is, and it is promoted within Hinduism and Buddhism and I am not sure that P&O would want to argue in court that it is not a requirement of a particular religion.

 

 

Take a read of the Equality Act 2010 and then see if the courts would agree with that view.

 

But irrespective of whether P&O are required to do this, it would be a pretty stupid business that would deliberately exclude a section of the population that want to give it money.

P&O Ferries successfully argued the UK minimum wage legislation doesn't apply to them and had very bad publicity until the day after they took the decision to sack everyone, they are still operating ferries, The UK Equality Act will be no barrier as they aren't a UK land based company.

 

They are getting bad publicity for being useless at vegan food so a day or two of bad publicity for removing it probably won't affect them too much.

Edited April 5 by Thejuggler

[AchileLauro]

4 hours ago, 9265359 said:

 

Jainism certainly is, and it is promoted within Hinduism and Buddhism and I am not sure that P&O would want to argue in court that it is not a requirement of a particular religion.

 

 

Take a read of the Equality Act 2010 and then see if the courts would agree with that view.

 

But irrespective of whether P&O are required to do this, it would be a pretty stupid business that would deliberately exclude a section of the population that want to give it money.

Which courts would you be referring to?

Are you forgetting that not all but many of the P&O fleet sail under flags of convenience making the question of jurisdiction a rather interesting one. 

[zap99]

1 hour ago, terrierjohn said:

It seems that trying to cater for  veggies and vegans has reduced the choice for the majority of passengers who are neither, which would seem an even more stupid business choice.

They are leaning towards helping veggies. The ' always available ' sirloin is down to 5oz. They're slowly getting there.

[zap99]

17 minutes ago, AchileLauro said:

Which courts would you be referring to?

Are you forgetting that not all but many of the P&O fleet sail under flags of convenience making the question of jurisdiction a rather interesting one. 

Well m'Lud ,we do cater for Vegans and Veggies. We do beans of green and Roast potatoes in geometrical shapes.

[Red Ray]

It always strikes me as a damned cheek that vegans moan & whinge about the food offerings available to suit their lifestyle choice. My lifestyle choice would be to cosy up with Kylie Minogue but I am yet to find her waiting in my cabin.

[Bazrat]

4 hours ago, Mark36 said:

Is it made in Yorkshire or is that fake as well