MDR lunch?

[AndyMichelle]

I have heard unsubstantiated rumours that P&O are going to stop serving lunch in the main dining rooms. 

I have no idea or evidence if this is true, but just wondered what people's views would be. 

We like them, but have noticed recently that, especially on the smaller ships, the menu is very limited and they are not very well attended. 

Would it be a travesty if the buffet was the only free lunchtime option, or would you be OK with it? 

Would it be better attended with more choice? 

Just wondering? 

Andy 

[Harry Peterson]

No problems with the choices on Azura and Ventura, and we've always really enjoyed the lunches and company in the MDR.

 

If it ever becomes buffet only for lunch that really will be the last time we ever sail with P&O. It would be the final straw. 

[Purdey16]

Hi Andy, I haven't heard any rumors about this but I certainly hope that they don't stop serving lunch in the mdr it's the only place we do have lunch has I'm not a big fan of the buffet area with people rushing you along , touching things with their hands and then trying to find a table, no thanks I like a more civilized lunch and it was certainly very busy on my last couple of cruises on Arcadia and Ventura but still plenty to choose from menu

[AndyMichelle]

18 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

No problems with the choices on Azura and Ventura, and we've always really enjoyed the lunches and company in the MDR.

 

If it ever becomes buffet only for lunch that really will be the last time we ever sail with P&O. It would be the final straw. 

Hopefully it is just a rumour Harry. 

Our last 2 cruises on Aurora have seen largely empty dining rooms, which suited us as always got a table for 2 by the window, but we struggled a few times for choice and we are not fussy eaters. 

Britannia last year was a different matter, with plenty of choice and much busier. 

Andy 

[terrierjohn]

17 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

Hopefully it is just a rumour Harry. 

Our last 2 cruises on Aurora have seen largely empty dining rooms, which suited us as always got a table for 2 by the window, but we struggled a few times for choice and we are not fussy eaters. 

Britannia last year was a different matter, with plenty of choice and much busier. 

Andy 

It may apply to Iona which will have lots of included eateries, which perhaps they hope will remove the need for MDR lunches.

[wowzz]

We like lunch in the MDR fir the same reasons as previously mentioned. However,  the choices do seem to painfully limited. It's almost as if P&O are trying to deliberately make the MDR lunch unattractive. 

[AndyMichelle]

4 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

It may apply to Iona which will have lots of included eateries, which perhaps they hope will remove the need for MDR lunches.

I don't think most passengers would mind if there were options John, but you know how many people despise the buffet... 

Andy 

 

[terrierjohn]

28 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

I don't think most passengers would mind if there were options John, but you know how many people despise the buffet... 

Andy 

 

TBH Andy it's years since we bothered with an MDR lunch, a light snack from the buffet sometimes as late as afternoon tea time, or a slice of pizza or something from the lido grill or even Grab & Go is more than sufficient for us since it's normally 9:30-10:00am before we have breakfast. I know from talking with others that we are not on our own, and I imagine that the restaurant managers monitor the MDR usage, so if P&O think the numbers are fairly small then it's quite likely they will be considering withdrawing the service.

[simonpjd]

Wouldn’t it be nice if P&O copied Cunard and did pub lunches in the Red Lion or similar. Not many choices but all yummy.

fishnchips

chicken tikka masala

steak kidney pudding 

ploughmans

 

and a couple more I cannot remember.

served 12 to 2.

 

[wowzz]

1 minute ago, simonpjd said:

Wouldn’t it be nice if P&O copied Cunard and did pub lunches in the Red Lion or similar. Not many choices but all yummy.

fishnchips

chicken tikka masala

steak kidney pudding 

ploughmans

 

and a couple more I cannot remember.

served 12 to 2.

 

Yes, Princess have a similar concept as well.  

[Elaine0138]

Is the MDR open every day for lunch, or just on sea days like a few other lines

 

[Harry Peterson]

36 minutes ago, Elaine0138 said:

Is the MDR open every day for lunch, or just on sea days like a few other lines

 

Every day. Always a pleasure to eat there.

[Tablelamp]

I too find the buffet quite stressful,  various passengers like to push and shove, almost as if they had a train to catch.  However, the choice of salads and seafood is good.  Because of the pushing and shoving, I did try the MDR recently on the Aurora and ‘shared’ a table with five other people who had all chosen their lunch.  Consequently, 

it was a VERY rushed affair.that I wrote a letter of complaint and received a telephone call offering an apology.  If P and O do do away with the MDR they will need to offer another venue as the buffet surely will be unable to cope.

[AndyMichelle]

7 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

TBH Andy it's years since we bothered with an MDR lunch, a light snack from the buffet sometimes as late as afternoon tea time, or a slice of pizza or something from the lido grill or even Grab & Go is more than sufficient for us since it's normally 9:30-10:00am before we have breakfast. I know from talking with others that we are not on our own, and I imagine that the restaurant managers monitor the MDR usage, so if P&O think the numbers are fairly small then it's quite likely they will be considering withdrawing the service.

We like the table service but have found ourselves doing the same as you John and grazing in the buffet at various times as the choices have been very limited in the MDR. 

It may only be a small ship issue as Harry and others have found the choices great on Azura etc. 

Andy 

[AndyMichelle]

7 hours ago, simonpjd said:

Wouldn’t it be nice if P&O copied Cunard and did pub lunches in the Red Lion or similar. Not many choices but all yummy.

fishnchips

chicken tikka masala

steak kidney pudding 

ploughmans

 

and a couple more I cannot remember.

served 12 to 2.

 

Sounds lush..,

If that menu was served in the MDR or elsewhere on the ship Simon, we wouldn't be having this discussion as I'm sure the venue would be busy. 

I only feel it is underused because of the poor choices. 

Andy 

[Josy1953]

I really hope that this is not true, I detest buffets because too many people pick bits of food up and then put them down, the feeling of being rushed, trying to find a table are the main reasons but not the only ones for not going there.  If there is nothing we fancy on the MDR menu we go to the Glasshouse but while I don't mind doing this 2 or 3 times per cruise I don't think that the menu is varied enough to do it more.  We do enjoy the Red Lion pub lunches when we go on Cunard and love the pizzeria in the atrium on the Princess ships which is where we always eat if we decide to eat lunch on board on port days.

 

[terrierjohn]

2 hours ago, AndyMichelle said:

We like the table service but have found ourselves doing the same as you John and grazing in the buffet at various times as the choices have been very limited in the MDR. 

It may only be a small ship issue as Harry and others have found the choices great on Azura etc. 

Andy 

There are alternatives to the MDR and Buffet on Aurora as well, not been on Arcadia or Oceana recently but I assume they, like Aurora, have a lido grill with Pizzas, Burgers, hot dogs etc as well as the grab & go option, if P&O could be persuaded to offer a pub grub option in one of the other bars that would round it off nicely, however I suspect it may reduce the lunchtime trade in the paid for options, so perhaps that would not be in their interests.

[amajaa]

We normally try and eat in the MDR unless we have an early afternoon tour or there is something going on around the ship very early afternoon, in which case we have a quick in and out of the buffet.

 

I do think lots of people don’t even realise there is lunch in the MDR, which is probably why it isn’t well attended.

Also you would be amazed at the number of people who think because their evening Dinning room allocation isn’t mentioned for lunch that they can’t go to the MDR, or indeed for breakfast or afternoon tea. We have told so many people that they can and they have been pleased. I think P & O and other cruise lines should really make this clear.  One couple we met on day 3 of a cruise were not enjoying their holiday because they didn’t like going to the buffet until we told them they could go to the waiter service restaurant, after that we realised they were not in the minority. 

[Eglesbrech]

I much prefer the MDR to the buffet and find the choices sometimes a bit different from dinner, the lovely veggie curries or lentil dishes for example at lunchtime.

 

As it is only a rumour I won’t concern myself about it meantime. How good was the source Andy?

 

[Harry Peterson]

It would probably make good commercial sense to Carnival.  I suspect most of the people who choose to lunch in the civilised environment of the MDR would probably not want to eat in the buffet scrum. 

 

And if they don't,  it's likely to involve their paying for the food that was already included in the fare. 

[berlingo]

16 minutes ago, amajaa said:

 

 

I do think lots of people don’t even realise there is lunch in the MDR, which is probably why it isn’t well attended.

Also you would be amazed at the number of people who think because their evening Dinning room allocation isn’t mentioned for lunch that they can’t go to the MDR, or indeed for breakfast or afternoon tea. We have told so many people that they can and they have been pleased. I think P & O and other cruise lines should really make this clear.  One couple we met on day 3 of a cruise were not enjoying their holiday because they didn’t like going to the buffet until we told them they could go to the waiter service restaurant, after that we realised they were not in the minority. 

 

I do agree with you on both points.

A lot of new cruisers unfortunately do not understand their dining options. 

P&O should do much more to provide this and other basic information. I am sure it would improve the passenger experience and satisfaction at very little cost.

Plus as you mentioned a little publicity about MDR lunch placed in the Horizon could really help. After all P&O provide few income generating lunch options which this would impede and overcrowding in the buffet is a perennial complaint.

Juliax

[terrierjohn]

3 minutes ago, berlingo said:

 

I do agree with you on both points.

A lot of new cruisers unfortunately do not understand their dining options. 

P&O should do much more to provide this and other basic information. I am sure it would improve the passenger experience and satisfaction at very little cost.

Plus as you mentioned a little publicity about MDR lunch placed in the Horizon could really help. After all P&O provide few income generating lunch options which this would impede and overcrowding in the buffet is a perennial complaint.

Juliax

But that would just lead to an increase in complaints about sunbeds being hogged due to passengers needing to change for lunch and leaving their sunbeds unused for an hour or two.😉

[jh1809]

13 hours ago, AndyMichelle said:

I have heard unsubstantiated rumours that P&O are going to stop serving lunch in the main dining rooms. 

I have no idea or evidence if this is true, but just wondered what people's views would be. 

We like them, but have noticed recently that, especially on the smaller ships, the menu is very limited and they are not very well attended. 

Would it be a travesty if the buffet was the only free lunchtime option, or would you be OK with it? 

Would it be better attended with more choice? 

Just wondering? 

Andy 

Most of the rumours that fly around prove to be untrue, so I hope this is one of those. I really enjoy lunch in the MDR. I tend to give the buffet a wide berth at all times, except when I am going on an excursion that departs so early that breakfast in the MDR isn't feasible. I don't like buffets anyway, and I also figure that I am greatly reducing my chances of going down with norovirus.

 

My experience has been that lunch in the MDR is still reasonably well-attended, if less so than in the past. If they were looking to cut costs, I'd have thought that MDR afternoon tea would be a better target, where when I've gove the numbers have been very small.

[grapau27]

13 hours ago, AndyMichelle said:

I have heard unsubstantiated rumours that P&O are going to stop serving lunch in the main dining rooms. 

I have no idea or evidence if this is true, but just wondered what people's views would be. 

We like them, but have noticed recently that, especially on the smaller ships, the menu is very limited and they are not very well attended. 

Would it be a travesty if the buffet was the only free lunchtime option, or would you be OK with it? 

Would it be better attended with more choice? 

Just wondering? 

Andy 

We always get room service breakfast around 8am and often only use MDR for lunch on sea days.

Usually when we do a tour or independently explore a port the MDR lunch is due or has closed by the time we get back on board ship.

RCCL only have the MDR open on sea days and maybe this is what P&O are contemplating.

When our schedule allows we will always use MDR for lunch because the buffet with its various downsides usually doesn't appeal to us.

Fortunately there are alternative dining areas to get a hot dog,pizza etc.

[jh1809]

5 hours ago, Elaine0138 said:

Is the MDR open every day for lunch, or just on sea days like a few other lines

 

Every day. But perhaps P&O are considering shutting it just on port days, which would make more sense.