No booking needed in MDR on future Iona cruise

[bobstheboy]

I have just logged on to my cruise on Iona in Jan 25, 35 nights to Caribbean. Alongside the four MDRs it says in red letters No Booking Needed.

 

On my Arvia cruise I have just returned from, they were far more accommodating if you wanted the same table, same time, every night.

 

Anyone else seeing the same ?

[lancashire_cruisers]

We go on `Iona in a few weeks and yes ours says the same. I wonder what the system will be instead?

[terrierjohn]

22 minutes ago, lancashire_cruisers said:

We go on `Iona in a few weeks and yes ours says the same. I wonder what the system will be instead?

Hopefully back to the turn up when you want, and if prepared to share, get seated immediately.

[Interestedcruisefan]

2 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Hopefully back to the turn up when you want, and if prepared to share, get seated immediately.

And if you don't want to share?

[lancashire_cruisers]

5 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Hopefully back to the turn up when you want, and if prepared to share, get seated immediately.

I do hope not! I have no interest in sharing a table - ever!

[Interestedcruisefan]

I've read  the opening post again and am hoping those who want to book and are happy to use the app to do so are still able to do so 

 

And that we can still have our own queue away from the guests who just want to turn up on spec and either shared or be turned away with a pager

 

I'm sure that must be the case 

 

It won't just be a free for all

Edited October 2, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[Megabear2]

59 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

And if you don't want to share?

You wait with a pager if there's no immediate availability to sit as was always the case.  

 

 

[Interestedcruisefan]

5 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

You wait with a pager if there's no immediate availability to sit as was always the case.  

 

 

Which is 100 per cent a step backwards if thats the case. For those that have embraced the app and prefer the virtual queues or just to book ahead

 

Hence why I hope app booking and virtual queues remain an option as well

 

For those who wish to take advantage

 

I note the opening post says booking not needed

 

Suggesting you stil can book if you prefer

 

Can't believe they would abandon pre booking  for those who value that option

Edited October 2, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[Megabear2]

7 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Which is 100 per cent a step backwards if thats the case. For those that have embraced the app and prefer the virtual queues or just to book ahead

 

Hence why I hope app booking and virtual queues remain an option as well

 

For those who wish to take advantage

 

I note the opening post says booking not needed

 

Suggesting you stil can book if you prefer

 

Can't believe they would abandon pre booking  for those who value that option

Contrary to your experience a very great number have replied to P&O's Feefo review request indicating the restaurant situation with the app has been challenging.  Way back in July a representative of P&O indicated there that they acknowledged P&O had a problem with the app and dining.  Why would they not change the way things are to see if they can improve things for the passengers if that's what the passenger has indicated it would prefer?

 

Until Iona and Arvia there was no booking required to dine in MDRs put simply they broke the system on the other ships to try something different on the new ones.

Edited October 2, 2023 by Megabear2

[bee-ess]

We are in a minority but would like it if club dining was available on these 2 ships or at least the option for same table same time every night 

[Interestedcruisefan]

20 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Contrary to your experience a very great number have replied to P&O's Feefo review request indicating the restaurant situation with the app has been challenging.  Way back in July a representative of P&O indicated there that they acknowledged P&O had a problem with the app and dining.  Why would they not change the way things are to see if they can improve things for the passengers if that's what the passenger has indicated it would prefer?

Because pagers are obsolete, outdated and entirely anti eco and environmentally unfriendly in the world we now live in?

 

They need charging with electricity on an ongoing basis and/or batteries replacing.  And need disposing of in an environmentally friendly way at the end of their life cycle

 

They are bulky versions of basic text messaging which is basically a single yes or no message at the end of a wait you receive no information about and cannot reply back to

 

Like I say if P and O revert back to physical queues and pagers for bookings for MDR full stop its such a backward step in so many ways it's untrue

 

Keep them for the people who really want them for old time sake etc but not for the entire cruise

 

And don't deny the people who want to pre plan and pre book their dining the opportunity to do so

 

I shouldn't worry as there's no way they will take the backward step of doing this

 

I'm sure the message is just to appease the cruisers who prefer the old ways and booking the 21st century way is still an option for all who want to

Edited October 2, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[Megabear2]

6 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Because pagers are obsolete, outdated and entirely anti eco and environmentally unfriendly in the world we now live in?

 

They need charging with electricity on an ongoing basis and need disposing of in an environmentally friendly way at the end of their life cycle

 

They are bulky versions of basic text messaging which is basically a single yes or no message at the end of a wait you receive no information about 

 

Like I say if P and O revert back to physical queues and pagers for bookings for MDR full stop its such a backward step in so many ways it's untrue

 

Keep them for the people who really want them for old time sake etc but not for the entire cruise

 

And don't deny the people who want to pre plan and pre book their dining the opportunity to do so

 

I shouldn't worry as there's no way they will take the backward step of doing this

 

I'm sure the message is just to appease the cruisers who prefer the old ways and booking the 21st century way is still an option for all who want to

Your outrage speaks volumes. Now you might understand why others were unhappy when their preference was removed.

 

If the app booking does turn out to not be in use will you feel it necessary to complain about it or will you just go along with what's being offered?  Now you see the dilemma P&O faced, just who do they need to keep happy!

[Interestedcruisefan]

Interestingly despite the UK being such a small per cent of the worlds population we account for 10 per cent of the pagers still being used in the world and will be no doubt be the very last country to abandon the use of them as old habits really do die hard with us guys

 

 

Edited October 2, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[Interestedcruisefan]

1 minute ago, Megabear2 said:

Your outrage speaks volumes. Now you might understand why others were unhappy when their preference was removed.

 

If the app booking does turn out to not be in use will you feel it necessary to complain about it or will you just go along with what's being offered?  Now you see the dilemma P&O faced, just who do they need to keep happy!

There's no way they will stop using  the app or stop people pre-booking. Too many other things happen with the app as well 

 

I'm sure this is purely for those who don't want to use the app and don't want to manually book in advance to give them the options they are  used to. Although I guess we are assuming that will involve pagers tbh. As thats what's happened in the past. Maybe there's another plan altogether? 

 

There's not enough pagers left in the modern world to cope with ionas MDRs Megabear!!

 

 

[Eglesbrech]

18 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Because pagers are obsolete, outdated and entirely anti eco and environmentally unfriendly in the world we now live in?

In the scheme of things pagers have a miniscual environmental impact when compared with cruise ship travel and flights to the Carribean surely.

[Selbourne]

2 hours ago, bobstheboy said:

I have just logged on to my cruise on Iona in Jan 25, 35 nights to Caribbean. Alongside the four MDRs it says in red letters No Booking Needed.

 

On my Arvia cruise I have just returned from, they were far more accommodating if you wanted the same table, same time, every night.

 

Anyone else seeing the same ?

I believe that this has always been the case on Iona. The ability to book the same table every night was unique to Arvia due to the problems caused by the latter only having two MDRs, in an attempt to pull some demand forward away from peak times. As Iona has four MDRs there is no need for this.
 

The app seemed to work well on Iona and we didn’t notice any excessive waits. The problems occur when people don’t use the app and just turn up and/or pagers are used. This is what we experienced on Britannia and it just doesn’t work having three different systems operating (app, turn up and pagers). The restaurant team couldn’t cope so they turned the app to ‘Queue Full’ so those doing as requested and using the app got the worst service and the longest waits. 
 

IMHO it’s a shame that they can’t find a way to make the app compulsory and remove any ability to allow pre bookings, walk ups and pagers. That way the app would work brilliantly and there would be minimal waits. Because they can’t do that (due to those who can’t or won’t use the app) chaos can ensue, as we discovered! People worked out that the quickest way to get seated was to ignore the app and just turn up, which made a mockery of the whole thing. 

[Megabear2]

1 minute ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

There's no way they will stop using  the app or stop people pre-booking. Too many other things happen with the app as well 

 

I'm sure this is purely for those who don't want to use the app and don't want to manually book in advance to give them the options they are  used to. Although I guess we are assuming that will involve pagers tbh. As thats what's happened in the past. Maybe there's another plan altogether? 

 

There's not enough pagers left in the modern world to cope with ionas MDRs Megabear!!

 

 

I'm not worried, I can assure you I won't be gracing Iona or Arvia with my presence any time soon!   Might make the other ships better for the rest of us though so fingers crossed.

 

Perhaps Medallion is coming ... OMG

[Interestedcruisefan]

9 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

In the scheme of things pagers have a miniscual environmental impact when compared with cruise ship travel and flights to the Carribean surely.

You can say that about lots of things that happen on cruise ships but they all add up don't they?

 

I love reading the daily horizons myself. But let's be honest what a huge waste of paper they are

 

The debates on here about people wanting two or three sets of fresh towels daily etc. 

 

Complaints about plastic trays no longer being available etc

 

At a time when there is a real urge or movement to reduce unnecessary waste etc UK cruise ships will probably be the last to move with the times based on their customer base and habits 

 

I understand why some like them but pagers really are obsolete devices now and unnecessary clunky additions that add so little value to anything

 

Most companies that make them have either closed down or gone bust?

 

It's a bit like sat navs?

 

They served a purpose but they are obsolete now

 

Smart phones and apps have replaced them

 

 

Edited October 2, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[Interestedcruisefan]

10 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

I believe that this has always been the case on Iona. The ability to book the same table every night was unique to Arvia due to the problems caused by the latter only having two MDRs, in an attempt to pull some demand forward away from peak times. As Iona has four MDRs there is no need for this.
 

The app seemed to work well on Iona and we didn’t notice any excessive waits. The problems occur when people don’t use the app and just turn up and/or pagers are used. This is what we experienced on Britannia and it just doesn’t work having three different systems operating (app, turn up and pagers). The restaurant team couldn’t cope so they turned the app to ‘Queue Full’ so those doing as requested and using the app got the worst service and the longest waits. 
 

IMHO it’s a shame that they can’t find a way to make the app compulsory and remove any ability to allow pre bookings, walk ups and pagers. That way the app would work brilliantly and there would be minimal waits. Because they can’t do that (due to those who can’t or won’t use the app) chaos can ensue, as we discovered! People worked out that the quickest way to get seated was to ignore the app and just turn up, which made a mockery of the whole thing. 

But surely the message is:

 

Bookings not needed in MDRS

 

Not that you can't book at all

[Eglesbrech]

1 minute ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

 

I understand why but pagers really are obsolete devices now and unnecessary despite the fact some people liking them 

definition. - “no longer produced or used; out of date”

 

They are not obsolete as per the dictionary definition as P&O (and other cruise lines) still use them on a daily basis.

 

On Iona I tried to use the app for the Olive Grove but they switched it off after it reached a certain number so I was issued with, guess what, a pager.

[terrierjohn]

4 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

You can say that about lots of things that happen on cruise ships but they all add up don't they?

 

I love reading the daily horizons myself. But let's be honest what a huge waste of paper they are

 

The debates on here about people wanting two or three sets of fresh towels daily etc. 

 

Complaints about plastic trays no longer being available etc

 

At a time when there is a real urge or movement to reduce unnecessary waste etc UK cruise ships will probably be the last to move with the times based on their customer base and habits 

 

I understand why but pagers really are obsolete devices now and unnecessary despite the fact some people liking them 

 

Most companies that make them have either closed down or gone bust?

 

It's a bit like sat navs?

 

They served a purpose but they are obsolete now

 

 

I assume your last 2 sentences refer to free standing sat navs, compared to built in ones. Although I would guess there are still more cars sold in the UK without built in sat navs, and most older cars will not have one built in.

[Interestedcruisefan]

10 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

I'm not worried, I can assure you I won't be gracing Iona or Arvia with my presence any time soon!   Might make the other ships better for the rest of us though so fingers crossed.

 

Perhaps Medallion is coming ... OMG

I'm tempted to say that old time cruisers stuck with old habits (that's not  you by the way MB) using other ships rather than Arvia and Iona might make them better for modern cruisers as well in the long run when apps are fully embraced and standard and we don't have separate queues for anything and we don't have compromises aimed at keeping everyone happy at the same time 

 

There's probably some truth in both points of view for both types of cruiser to be fair

 

There's cruises out there for all tastes but mixing modern technology with old habits and expectations on the same ship is a hard mix for sure

[Interestedcruisefan]

1 minute ago, terrierjohn said:

I assume your last 2 sentences refer to free standing sat navs, compared to built in ones. Although I would guess there are still more cars sold in the UK without built in sat navs, and most older cars will not have one built in.

Yes

 

I used to have issue them to my staff

 

Cost me a fortune and we used to lose them and have to replace on a monthly basis

 

Now they all use their phones and it's real time traffic finding the best route as they travel

 

Absolute godsend

 

I drive a BMW which has an intelligent satnav built in linking with other BMW drivers etc but still nowhere near as reliable and intelligent as googlemaps. So I just use Googlemaps on my phone now unless I don't mind making a few mistakes with my journey and I have time 

 

But I imagine we must still have people in the UK who buy road maps. Probably a lot of them like to go on cruise holidays! Lol

[Eglesbrech]

8 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

I'm tempted to say that old time cruisers stuck with old habits

And P&O who switch off the app when it is overwhelmed and then they (not “old timers stuck with old habits”) issue pages as per my previous post.

[Interestedcruisefan]

6 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

And P&O who switch off the app when it is overwhelmed and then they (not “old timers stuck with old habits”) issue pages as per my previous post.

On the rare occasions the app goes down

 

Compared to every night trying to operate different rules for different people to try and make everybody happy and then compromising everybody together into a bodge job of how to book

 

As selbourne points out above

 

Has anyone cruised on a Japan cruises lately. I bet theyve got it nailed and everybody using modern tech together ? And I bet it works great?

 

Japan got rid of pagers several years ago now from life in general full stop

Edited October 2, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan