Selbourne ‘Live’ from Aurora’s 2024 Grand Tour

[WestonOne]

On 3/8/2024 at 9:13 AM, jh1809 said:

Thanks from me too. I've very much enjoyed all your reports.

 

I wonder if the attitude that only customer satisfaction scores of 10 are adequate has filtered down from P&O being part of a US company. I understand that in the US, where everything is hyped, it is usual to award much higher scores than we Brits would do. I wonder if cabin stewards and waiters who fail to get an average score of very close to 10 miss out on their share of the gratuities that are included in passengers' fares?

I have heard that from cabin stewards.  At least a score from 1-10 is better than ones I have seen in some land hotel chains, which have survey gradings of  "very poor", "below average", "average",  "above average" and "exceptional".  Their senior management requires, I have been told by the local management, that every hotel in their chain to be at least "above average" for the chain...

[WestonOne]

On 3/10/2024 at 1:13 PM, gadabout60 said:

Cruising on some cruises with P&O is interesting. Standard food offering in MDR and buffet is universally agreed not to be great but some very cheap cabins sometimes to be had.

I for one - and I suspect many Aurora passengers would agree -would be happy to pay say £10 more per day and go back to the P&O dining experience of 15 years ago.

perhaps not so relevant on the newer ships but certainly on cruises like this one 

So would I.  I started cruising on P&O late in the 1980s, and there is no comparison in the menus.  On the other hand, nor is there in the prices.

[terrierjohn]

8 hours ago, WestonOne said:

So would I.  I started cruising on P&O late in the 1980s, and there is no comparison in the menus.  On the other hand, nor is there in the prices.

And no shared bathrooms either, and the most common cabin is a balcony rather than inside.

Edited March 13 by terrierjohn

[daiB]

14 hours ago, mercury7289 said:

Sorry I do not wholly agree,

I am also only making the point regarding the MDR. The current level of meals including presentation choice and taste,fall a long way short of the so called advertised dining experience in MHO. Linking the poor quality of food choice, presentation and taste to cruise pricese food to be that much different is not logical. 16 night cruise at say an extra £10.00 extra per night,at worst = £160.not exactly a deal breaker on the adult only ship Aurora in MHO.

And I disagree with you after 60+ cruises in 20+ years I do not find that much different. As for choice it is interesting to look at menus from 10 to 15 years ago and the choice is very much the same. That is why I keep the menus. They are laid out differently but you can still get 6/7 courses if you want. Which I have done on occasions on our last 3 cruises to prove the point.

[S1971]

4 hours ago, daiB said:

And I disagree with you after 60+ cruises in 20+ years I do not find that much different. As for choice it is interesting to look at menus from 10 to 15 years ago and the choice is very much the same. That is why I keep the menus. They are laid out differently but you can still get 6/7 courses if you want. Which I have done on occasions on our last 3 cruises to prove the point.

 

6/7 courses is not something I can say I've experienced recently, dinner menus simply show starter, main and dessert, celebration night an extra course maybe but it's certainly not the norm, certainly no "always available" steak for instance so menus not the same and ingredients are of a lower standard or certainly not as much choice.

 

Two starters and an extra dessert isn't the same, if I remember correctly it wasn't exactly welcomed when possibly Selbourne or another poster requested an extra earlier in the blog.

 

Traditional 6/7 courses went long ago in my experience.

Edited March 14 by S1971

[mercury7289]

9 hours ago, daiB said:

And I disagree with you after 60+ cruises in 20+ years I do not find that much different. As for choice it is interesting to look at menus from 10 to 15 years ago and the choice is very much the same. That is why I keep the menus. They are laid out differently but you can still get 6/7 courses if you want. Which I have done on occasions on our last 3 cruises to prove the point.

daiB

I am not harping back to the old days, neither am I commenting on volume, merely on quality and presentation.which in MHO is not up to scratch

[Eglesbrech]

4 hours ago, daiB said:

And I disagree with you after 60+ cruises in 20+ years I do not find that much different. As for choice it is interesting to look at menus from 10 to 15 years ago and the choice is very much the same. That is why I keep the menus. They are laid out differently but you can still get 6/7 courses if you want. Which I have done on occasions on our last 3 cruises to prove the point.

Even if you think the menus are vaguely the same (and personally I don’t think they are, particularly not for lunch), the quality is not IMO.

 

Just as one small example do you get the same choice of cheese now that you got 15 years ago? If you do then can you tell me how you manage that please.
 

Recently all I have been presented with is some very small and very bland bits of over chilled basic cheese and it’s exactly the same plate every single night. Have you seen a Stilton soaked in port on formal nights recently because I haven’t even when it is requested.

 

The cheese used to come out on a board and you selected what you wanted from it which the waiter cut. The round of Stilton used to be scooped our at the table. All of this was not that long ago so I’m not talking ancient history here.

 

I also used to get a nice little bowl with a selection of nuts, apricot, dried apple etc with the cheese which I haven’t had recently. The choice of crackers has gone form a full basket with a good choice of different types of crackers down to almost take it or leave it.

 

Even of the formal night recently when the menu actually said the cheese was different, out came the same tired little plate. I asked about that, pointed out the menu and they didn’t actually have what was on printed there in the kitchen.

 

Food is very subjective but some things have manifestly changed and not for the better IMO. Yes we pay much much less but personally I’d rather pay a bit more and go back to having better quality and choice. The cheese is just one insignificant example but as I seldom eat dessert it’s one I certainly notice.

 

[daiB]

5 hours ago, S1971 said:

 

6/7 courses is not something I can say I've experienced recently, dinner menus simply show starter, main and dessert, celebration night an extra course maybe but it's certainly not the norm, certainly no "always available" steak for instance so menus not the same and ingredients are of a lower standard or certainly not as much choice.

 

Two starters and an extra dessert isn't the same, if I remember correctly it wasn't exactly welcomed when possibly Selbourne or another poster requested an extra earlier in the blog.

 

Traditional 6/7 courses went long ago in my experience.

Well all you do is ask, just because it is not laid out into 6 courses does not mean you cant have them. I have had starter, soup, fish course, main desert, cheese, coffee.. Just ask it is available, within the past year on Ventura, Iona and Aurora.

[mercury7289]

15 minutes ago, daiB said:

Sorry still no change. Never sent anything back or heard a complaint from table mates.

I do not send any thing back, I just leave it. On Aurora in December I left a lot, particularly the so called roast potato!

[S1971]

47 minutes ago, daiB said:

Well all you do is ask, just because it is not laid out into 6 courses does not mean you cant have them. I have had starter, soup, fish course, main desert, cheese, coffee.. Just ask it is available, within the past year on Ventura, Iona and Aurora.

 

If it is not on the set menu then that's not a 6 course meal, you're just asking for additions 

 

As I remember the menus were set something like below.

 

Appetizer

Salad

Soup

Main

Dessert

Cheese board

Coffee

 

I'm not disputing that you are getting 6 courses, I am just saying it is not standard as it was years ago, the quality is nowhere near the same either, but that reflects in todays prices.

 

 

 

 

Edited March 14 by S1971

[AchileLauro]

1 hour ago, daiB said:

I book on day one as i have to to get a cabin. The quality of the food I have had has been good to excellent. 

Of the many cruises that we have taken with P&O starting in 1986 I can only think of two meals taken in the main dining room that either my wife or I have been totally dissatisfied with.

That's not to say that they can't improve, indeed P&O really need to take some lessons from Marella and Fred Olson both of which seem to us to be of a higher standard.

However, we can't be that disappointed with P&O as we currently have two future cruises booked with them.

[Selbourne]

For balance, can I just reiterate that the comments regarding much of the MDR food being mediocre was specific to our recent cruise on Aurora. We heard plenty of similar (or worse) commentary on board, but also some who were fine with it. I have also been clear that we were very happy with the vast majority of our MDR meals on Britannia, Iona and Ventura last year, so we very much saw this as an ‘Aurora’ issue, rather than an across the board ‘P&O’ one.
 

That being said, our view is that the MDR experience on P&O isn’t what it once was. It’s not a show stopper for us, as with the lower prices, rising food costs and pressure on Carnival profits post Covid, it is inevitable that a few things have had to give and this is one of them. These things work both ways though, and we now have a maximum price per day that we will pay for a P&O cruise, and that is lower than we’ve paid in the past. 

[Eglesbrech]

6 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

For balance, can I just reiterate that the comments regarding much of the MDR food being mediocre was specific to our recent cruise on Aurora. We heard plenty of similar (or worse) commentary on board, but also some who were fine with it. I have also been clear that we were very happy with the vast majority of our MDR meals on Britannia, Iona and Ventura last year, so we very much saw this as an ‘Aurora’ issue, rather than an across the board ‘P&O’ one.
 

That being said, our view is that the MDR experience on P&O isn’t what it once was. It’s not a show stopper for us, as with the lower prices, rising food costs and pressure on Carnival profits post Covid, it is inevitable that a few things have had to give and this is one of them. These things work both ways though, and we now have a maximum price per day that we will pay for a P&O cruise, and that is lower than we’ve paid in the past. 

A fair and balanced assessment as ever Sebourne.

[daiB]

4 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

A fair and balanced assessment as ever Sebourne.

Even I agree with that.

[S1971]

20 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

For balance, can I just reiterate that the comments regarding much of the MDR food being mediocre was specific to our recent cruise on Aurora. We heard plenty of similar (or worse) commentary on board, but also some who were fine with it. I have also been clear that we were very happy with the vast majority of our MDR meals on Britannia, Iona and Ventura last year, so we very much saw this as an ‘Aurora’ issue, rather than an across the board ‘P&O’ one.
 

That being said, our view is that the MDR experience on P&O isn’t what it once was. It’s not a show stopper for us, as with the lower prices, rising food costs and pressure on Carnival profits post Covid, it is inevitable that a few things have had to give and this is one of them. These things work both ways though, and we now have a maximum price per day that we will pay for a P&O cruise, and that is lower than we’ve paid in the past. 

The voice of reason Selbourne.

[Thedonkeycentrehalf]

Don't knock the portion sizes in the MDR.  I had three courses in there most evenings and still came away from a two week cruise 1kg lighter than when I left home so there are some positives to the cutbacks🤣

[Sarah1974]

@Selbourne I've just read the last few pages of your blog.  Thank you for taking the time to give a great detailed review of each day.  I have enjoyed following your travels.  I hope your throat is now healed and I look forward to reading about your future adventures

[Eglesbrech]

46 minutes ago, TigerB said:

 

I wholly agree with you about Iona and Arvia. We have a 19 nighter booked on Aurora next October and, not only because of Selbourne's blog, but also because of reports from elsewhere, we are reconsidering it. Just as well that we have only pair £100 thus far.

I’m onboard relatively soon so will let you know what I think, for what my opinion is worth.

 

Selbourne said the Head Chef has changed so things may be on the up (hopefully).

 

[Selbourne]

22 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

Selbourne said the Head Chef has changed so things may be on the up (hopefully).

40% of the staff were ending their contracts at the end of our cruise (not sure about the Executive Chef), so by the time you go I’d say there’s a 50/50 chance. Either way, half of the kitchen staff will have changed, so I suspect that things will be different. You never know, they may even have found the seasoning 😂 

[TigerB]

11 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

You never know, they may even have found the seasoning 😂 

 

...and lost the green beans!😉

[Slugsta]

We board Aurora on 8th April, so am rather hoping that someone will have found the seasoning by then! However, I am not fond of many veg so would be happy with green beans most days.

[Fionboard]

On Aurora now. Green beans still prevalent but last night I had carrots and celeriac! 

[TigerB]

I like celeriac, but did they cook it right?

[Fionboard]

9 minutes ago, TigerB said:

I like celeriac, but did they cook it right?

I don't know how it is supposed to be cooked. It was cubed, soft and very nice for a change. 

[TigerB]

Personally, I like it when it is cut into segments and roasted.