Breakfast in the Epicurean

[crompton21]

I've heard a rumour that a similar thing is about to be trialled with the canapes, the customer agrees to be paid £8ppn in order to allow Canapes to be delivered to their room on a daily basis.  The only downside is that they have to consume all of them for the payment to be made...

[david63]

7 minutes ago, molecrochip said:

Well, in my view choosing not to sail on a ship because they’ve chosen to make one restaurant bigger is daft.

It is nothing to do with the size of the restaurant it is to do with the devaluing of one of the major "perks" of having a suite for which I pay considerably more than £8 a day.

[Guest ccpm]

Epicurean does seem to be raising some emotions at the moment. Not just this but on another thread booking every night in there before departing was suggested to disable people from getting bookings. There were suggestions that bookings may be better being limited e.g. 3 per cruise. I have had no experience of ever having seen Epicurean full but I sail out of season. First nights its lucky to have a dozen in. I am soon expecting that solos like me will not be allowed to book at all as we take up a table for 4 as shared tables are not a thing in there although of course you can join up with others beforehand and book together. 

[molecrochip]

9 minutes ago, david63 said:

It is nothing to do with the size of the restaurant it is to do with the devaluing of one of the major "perks" of having a suite for which I pay considerably more than £8 a day.

You pay a premium for a collection of upgrades.

 

Going back to my room service example, you don’t get difference room service, it’s just included instead of at a cost. Epicurean breakfast is just the same. This is not Cunard where you get a dedicated suite passenger restaurant.

 

The perk is having breakfast in a speciality restaurant. The benefit does not state it’s to the exclusion of others. 
 

The Captain and one of his officers was having breakfast on the next table during my last cruise - does that devalue your experience because you’re sharing with crew?

[pete14]

1 hour ago, ccpm said:

Yes that was me too and yes it is true. Now I can (and do) pay that does not apply anymore so I will no longer be a wrong doer but will from above comments be devaluing suite passengers experience. Pity that maybe I need to reconsider my dining options. I was harassed in the MDR for being a "snobby cow who thought I was better than my table companions". My fault I have very poor hearing so with the noise of a busy dining room I couldn't hear anyone so I took myself off to Epicurean. Now I am spoiling suite guests experience by accepting a very kind invitation or paying for breakfast can't win. Maybe room service is thew only option left to me where I will trouble no-one.

If that is aimed at me, please reread my post. I said that allowing people to pay £8 for breakfast is devaluing the perk, not the passenger’s experience as you have stated. My guess is that pricing of the select restaurant breakfast in determining the cost of a suite on a 14 night cruise is more than £112 (£8 x 14). Nowhere did I suggest that someone paying to fill up empty tables would spoil my experience, although if it caused a queue, pre booking through an app, using a pager and /or inferior service, I would not be happy.
As it seems only to be a thing on the 2 ships in the fleet that I am not interested in travelling on, it won’t affect me so I will leave the conversation to others who might.

[crompton21]

On a serious note regarding suites on Iona/Arvia, when we travelled on Iona there were two butlers (we were told there should be three but only two on our cruise).  The suites are at the fore and aft which is a mighty long walk, particularly if one of them is on a break.  In the end we gave up trying to use the butler as the timescales involved from trying to order some food to it actually arriving were sometimes over an hour and a half. 

I haven't seen anyone else post similar so maybe we were just unlucky. 

[david63]

13 minutes ago, molecrochip said:

The perk is having breakfast in a speciality restaurant.

No it isn't - it is "breakfast each day in an exclusive restaurant" (https://www.pocruises.com/accommodation/suites) and "Suite guests can enjoy breakfast in a restaurant reserved exclusively for them" (https://www.pocruises.com/blog/suite-life) which in my book means that non suite passengers do not use it.

 

 

 

Edited June 19, 2023 by david63

[zap99]

27 minutes ago, david63 said:

It is nothing to do with the size of the restaurant it is to do with the devaluing of one of the major "perks" of having a suite for which I pay considerably more than £8 a day.

But more people will be able to see you eating there.

[zap99]

15 minutes ago, molecrochip said:

 

The Captain and one of his officers was having breakfast on the next table during my last cruise - does that devalue your experience because you’re sharing with crew?

No, but in general it is an insult to paying guests that they can't book speciality restaurants as they are full. You then do a bit of grovelling, get in and " crew " are occupying the tables.

[Guest ccpm]

20 minutes ago, pete14 said:

If that is aimed at me, please reread my post. I said that allowing people to pay £8 for breakfast is devaluing the perk, not the passenger’s experience as you have stated. My guess is that pricing of the select restaurant breakfast in determining the cost of a suite on a 14 night cruise is more than £112 (£8 x 14). Nowhere did I suggest that someone paying to fill up empty tables would spoil my experience, although if it caused a queue, pre booking through an app, using a pager and /or inferior service, I would not be happy.
As it seems only to be a thing on the 2 ships in the fleet that I am not interested in travelling on, it won’t affect me so I will leave the conversation to others who might.

No it was not "aimed" at you, I would have quoted you if that was the case.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 19, 2023 by ccpm

[Harry Peterson]

Just two advantages to the huge cost of a suite. Size of suite (and that only applies to a small number of them) and Epicurean breakfasts in quiet, relaxed, unhurried, spacious, uncrowded surroundings with small numbers and excellent service as a result.

 

That’s most of the Epicurean perk removed then, at a stroke, so that’s only the space left.

 

Two options then - pay up just for the extra space, or ditch the suite altogether and pay a very substantial sum less for a few Epicurean breakfasts.  Somehow I don’t think we’ll be booking suites any more with P&O. Just one more nail in the P&O coffin.

[molecrochip]

14 minutes ago, zap99 said:

No, but in general it is an insult to paying guests that they can't book speciality restaurants as they are full. You then do a bit of grovelling, get in and " crew " are occupying the tables.

This wasn’t the case as this was breakfast on Iona or Arvia.

23 minutes ago, david63 said:

No it isn't - it is "breakfast each day in an exclusive restaurant" (https://www.pocruises.com/accommodation/suites) and "Suite guests can enjoy breakfast in a restaurant reserved exclusively for them" (https://www.pocruises.com/blog/suite-life) which in my book means that non suite passengers do not use it.

 

 

 

Acknowledged however given that your table is there and waiting for you, there is a reservation exclusively for you. No turn up and wait. The standard wording predates the trial and remains true on most ships.

29 minutes ago, crompton21 said:

On a serious note regarding suites on Iona/Arvia, when we travelled on Iona there were two butlers (we were told there should be three but only two on our cruise).  The suites are at the fore and aft which is a mighty long walk, particularly if one of them is on a break.  In the end we gave up trying to use the butler as the timescales involved from trying to order some food to it actually arriving were sometimes over an hour and a half. 

I haven't seen anyone else post similar so maybe we were just unlucky. 

On Iona/Arvia, the butlers split by decks not forward/aft. They walk miles a day.

 

Timescale to order should be <10 min, timescale for delivery is not butler related but room service related.

2 hours ago, ccpm said:

Yes that was me too and yes it is true. Now I can (and do) pay that does not apply anymore so I will no longer be a wrong doer but will from above comments be devaluing suite passengers experience. Pity that maybe I need to reconsider my dining options. I was harassed in the MDR for being a "snobby cow who thought I was better than my table companions". My fault I have very poor hearing so with the noise of a busy dining room I couldn't hear anyone so I took myself off to Epicurean. Now I am spoiling suite guests experience by accepting a very kind invitation or paying for breakfast can't win. Maybe room service is thew only option left to me where I will trouble no-one.

You keep doing what you’re doing. Many little unofficial concessions exist to help.

[david63]

5 minutes ago, molecrochip said:

The standard wording predates the trial and remains true on most ships.

Then the wording should be updated otherwise P&O could/will be accused of misleading passengers.

 

7 minutes ago, molecrochip said:

there is a reservation exclusively for you

Yes - but not, apparently, in an "exclusive" restaurant.

 

This is as I said earlier - all down to the "bean counters" and totally ignoring the passengers.

[Selbourne]

13 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

Just two advantages to the huge cost of a suite. Size of suite (and that only applies to a small number of them) and Epicurean breakfasts in quiet, relaxed, unhurried, spacious, uncrowded surroundings with small numbers and excellent service as a result.

 

That’s most of the Epicurean perk removed then, at a stroke, so that’s only the space left.

 

Two options then - pay up just for the extra space, or ditch the suite altogether and pay a very substantial sum less for a few Epicurean breakfasts.  Somehow I don’t think we’ll be booking suites any more with P&O. Just one more nail in the P&O coffin.

We thought that suites stopped being value for money on P&O even when Epicurean was an exclusive perk! If spending that sort of money we would now prefer to cruise with Cunard or Saga in a standard balcony cabin. The value with P&O is now with balcony cabins and below where, if you look, there is great value to be had, even if you use speciality restaurants often including, perhaps, Epicurean for breakfast 😉 

[zap99]

38 minutes ago, zap99 said:

No, but in general it is an insult to paying guests that they can't book speciality restaurants as they are full. You then do a bit of grovelling, get in and " crew " are occupying the tables.

Moley.

 

The title of the thread is ' BreKfast' in the epicurian. It has drifted . At least one paying customer who had to grovel to get a table for dinner got well hacked off to find one table occupied by two junior officers and young Ladies from the posh shops and another by an officer and his family . We pay the wages, they don't.  Fill the tables up with guests first, the 'crew' can have to spare capacity.

[molecrochip]

17 minutes ago, zap99 said:

Moley.

 

The title of the thread is ' BreKfast' in the epicurian. It has drifted . At least one paying customer who had to grovel to get a table for dinner got well hacked off to find one table occupied by two junior officers and young Ladies from the posh shops and another by an officer and his family . We pay the wages, they don't.  Fill the tables up with guests first, the 'crew' can have to spare capacity.

I’m not sure of your point? My comments have been about breakfast and how that relates to the Epicurean and Suite passengers.

 

My comment about the captain was specifically about breakfast time.

 

I agree that crew should not take preference over paying passengers.

[Selbourne]

1 minute ago, molecrochip said:

I’m not sure of your point? My comments have been about breakfast and how that relates to the Epicurean and Suite passengers.

 

My comment about the captain was specifically about breakfast time.

 

I agree that crew should not take preference over paying passengers.

Zap makes a fair point though. Thinking about it, whenever we have used Speciality restaurants there are often Officer class crew dining in them. Does that still happen on the ships where people report speciality restaurants often being fully booked?

[molecrochip]

2 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Zap makes a fair point though. Thinking about it, whenever we have used Speciality restaurants there are often Officer class crew dining in them. Does that still happen on the ships where people report speciality restaurants often being fully booked?

Unless it’s changed, officers can only book on the day if there is capacity.

[terrierjohn]

1 minute ago, molecrochip said:

Unless it’s changed, officers can only book on the day if there is capacity.

We have noticed that crew normally dine quite late in any speciality restaurant, and are often arriving as we are about to leave, generally after 9:00pm, which is a lot later than most passengers want to dine.

[daiB]

3 hours ago, ccpm said:

Nope it was not. No pockets involved other then standard. ones. You can pay it was £8.50pd I saw a review that mentioned it and asked the Maitre D' simple as that. It was not advertised anywhere so not sure how you would normally find out. Now the Keel and Cow do breakfast I am not sure if this will continue on Iona.

Keel and cow breakfast was excellent.

[daiB]

2 hours ago, david63 said:

Then that is a good enough reason to not sail on those ships

No its not!!!

[daiB]

2 hours ago, david63 said:

It is nothing to do with the size of the restaurant it is to do with the devaluing of one of the major "perks" of having a suite for which I pay considerably more than £8 a day.

No one forces you to pay for a suite.

[daiB]

2 hours ago, crompton21 said:

On a serious note regarding suites on Iona/Arvia, when we travelled on Iona there were two butlers (we were told there should be three but only two on our cruise).  The suites are at the fore and aft which is a mighty long walk, particularly if one of them is on a break.  In the end we gave up trying to use the butler as the timescales involved from trying to order some food to it actually arriving were sometimes over an hour and a half. 

I haven't seen anyone else post similar so maybe we were just unlucky. 

When we use a suite if we want food we will pre order. If we dont then we have to expect a wait. That would be on any ship not just bthe big 2.

[9265359]

Many here have overlooked what the purpose of suites is. It isn’t to proved ‘value for money’ but a mechanism to allow people to pay more than others, because they *want* to pay more.

 

That facility exists everywhere, from food and drink, clothing, restaurants, hotels, it’s everywhere - people like to spend more money than others because they are happier spending more money and demonstrating they can spend more money.

 

However part of that spending more money means they want to see those who have not spent it being deprived of the same things. Whether it is the label on the clothing not appearing on cheaper lines, or those in ‘cattle class’ not being able to disembark an aircraft before them, or others being denied access to a restaurant….

 

Personally I think anyone paying for a suite on P&O is crazy given how little it buys you. At least on Cunard, NCL, HAL, etc. you get dedicated restaurants, pool areas, bars, sections in the theatre set aside, etc.  But on P&O all you get is to have breakfast in an area that others can now apparently buy their way in to. Hmm…

 

 

[ParisHilton]

2 hours ago, molecrochip said:

The Captain and one of his officers was having breakfast on the next table during my last cruise - does that devalue your experience because you’re sharing with crew?

 

My concern, if I were seated next to the captain , would be WHO'S DRIVING THE BOAT 🙂