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New restricted dinner menu on Pacific Explorer


Gerko
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Just off PE on Monday and very unhappy with their new reduced dinner menu in the Waterfront. Instead of a choice of salads, pasta, soups and entrees they now only offer one choice of each, and you're only expected to have one in total. So if you don't like the one soup offered, for instance, then that's it. You miss out. And you can't have the entrée followed by the salad as you're only expected to choose one option. They'll grin and bear it if you dare to ask for two, such as having the soup and the entree, but then they will serve both at the same time. The mains are down to a choice of only three, and half the page is dedicated to dishes at extra cost. It appears this new menu works two ways for P & O. Firstly, by offering far fewer choices they reduce their costs and by effectively reducing the number of courses they can get more people in and out quickly. Not sure if this is true but the waiter said this was the first time the new menu was being tried on PE. My wife and I like a leisurely dinner, enjoying a bottle of wine, so this will be our last P & O if they keep this new reduced and rushed menu.

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We finished a cruise two weeks ago and the reduced menu was not a hit with us either. Dessert was really only two choices as one option remained the same throughout. While we didn't have restrictions with ordering like what you seemed to experience our issue was finding things we wanted to eat. Most times we said it was ok but nothing exciting. Gone was the previous experience of spending the day mulling over the choice for dinner - it was instead spent trying to drum up some excitement. Many nights I ordered off the kids menu and we both tended to ask for a garden salad as a starter and then try to make the best of the mains.

 

The other disappointment was that the dishes were very casserole heavy - which even in winter didn't hit the mark for a pacific island cruise. It just came off as cost savings - if they want to reduce wastage they should stop the wait staff from bringing "extras" - we go a dish of vegetables, chips and ice cream every night that we just didn't touch (most nights we didn't even finish the food we requested) and even when we said don't bring them they still did....

 

We left very negative feedback on the menu both on the ship and in the after feedback - so hopefully enough people will complain and they will make yet more changes.....

 

I have always defended P&O to say you don't need to spend money to get a good value for money cruise and they are always upfront with when things cost. But i feel a bit let down by this change.

 

On saying that we found the lunch options in the pantry much better than last year, although the daily lunch roast changed to sausage rolls etc. However the shell and bones area had a different theme each day and the food was always interesting.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

Interesting that it has been extented to another ship.

I went in August on the Explorer after 8 years of not cruising with P&O. The pacific Sun had some great food on it 8 years ago.

 

I was not impressed with the range of meals in the Waterfront.

Loved other things on the cruise but included food was not one of them.

When I paid for food it was really good.

 

 

I mentioned in the post cruise survey about the lack of choices in the Waterfront but I must of been one of only a few not happy with the menu.

Speaking with passengers onboard they would comment how good the food was and I just didn't know what to say.:eek:

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