margsbolton Posted April 24, 2022 #1 Share Posted April 24, 2022 I am travelling alone for the first time on Arcadia in August 2022 and I have just received a notification advising me that the new dining protocols mean no sharing of dining tables with other guests unless specifically requested. I don’t mind having breakfast alone but it would be nice to share a table at Dinner. Does anyone have experience of this ??? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickey1959 Posted April 24, 2022 #2 Share Posted April 24, 2022 12 minutes ago, margsbolton said: I am travelling alone for the first time on Arcadia in August 2022 and I have just received a notification advising me that the new dining protocols mean no sharing of dining tables with other guests unless specifically requested. I don’t mind having breakfast alone but it would be nice to share a table at Dinner. Does anyone have experience of this ??? What dining did you opt for when you booked? We are on in july and have not had an email, but booked table for 2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
margsbolton Posted April 24, 2022 Author #3 Share Posted April 24, 2022 I opted to share a table for 6 or8 on 2nd sitting dining. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickey1959 Posted April 24, 2022 #4 Share Posted April 24, 2022 8 minutes ago, margsbolton said: I opted to share a table for 6 or8 on 2nd sitting dining. I'm not sure how that's going to work for you then! It's a bit strange we opted for 1st sitting at 6.30. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickey1959 Posted April 24, 2022 #5 Share Posted April 24, 2022 11 minutes ago, mickey1959 said: I'm not sure how that's going to work for you then! It's a bit strange we opted for 1st sitting at 6.30. How ever our booking does say table for 2 not confirmed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loveheart Posted April 24, 2022 #6 Share Posted April 24, 2022 We are a party of 3 who want to dine with my brother and wife who are on a separate booking. How will this work? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobcat1884 Posted April 24, 2022 #7 Share Posted April 24, 2022 Have recently returned and when requesting a table for 2 on Freedom Dining, if there were none available, we were often asked if we wanted to share a table. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickey1959 Posted April 24, 2022 #8 Share Posted April 24, 2022 18 minutes ago, loveheart said: We are a party of 3 who want to dine with my brother and wife who are on a separate booking. How will this work? You will need to link your booking. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pine Man Posted April 24, 2022 #9 Share Posted April 24, 2022 1 hour ago, margsbolton said: I have just received a notification advising me that the new dining protocols mean no sharing of dining tables with other guests unless specifically requested. I wasn't aware of any changes to dining protocols. My next cruise is on Britannia in June 2022 and I selected Club Dining. My booking receipt shows '6 - Requested, not confirmed'. There is no dining information on 'My P&O Cruises' and I have heard nothing from P&O to indicate that this has changed. Have i missed something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickey1959 Posted April 24, 2022 #10 Share Posted April 24, 2022 4 minutes ago, Pine Man said: I wasn't aware of any changes to dining protocols. My next cruise is on Britannia in June 2022 and I selected Club Dining. My booking receipt shows '6 - Requested, not confirmed'. There is no dining information on 'My P&O Cruises' and I have heard nothing from P&O to indicate that this has changed. Have i missed something? Well we haven't heard any thing either we are on Arcadia in july!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loveheart Posted April 24, 2022 #11 Share Posted April 24, 2022 14 minutes ago, mickey1959 said: You will need to link your booking. Will P&O do this or our TA ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davecttr Posted April 24, 2022 #12 Share Posted April 24, 2022 This concerns solo cruisers, travelling on your own. Before covid if you opted for club dining. The default option was sharing a table with other solo cruisers unless you did not want to. I opted for a shared table. Since Covid the default has been changed to eat on your own and you have to opt for a shared table. My next cruise is Iona with only Freedom dining and I probably won't use the mdr at all. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Peterson Posted April 24, 2022 #13 Share Posted April 24, 2022 1 hour ago, davecttr said: This concerns solo cruisers, travelling on your own. Before covid if you opted for club dining. The default option was sharing a table with other solo cruisers unless you did not want to. I opted for a shared table. Since Covid the default has been changed to eat on your own and you have to opt for a shared table. My next cruise is Iona with only Freedom dining and I probably won't use the mdr at all. That’s a shame, Dave. We’ve always opted for Freedom Dining and very much enjoyed the company of the many people travelling on their own. It’s always worked out well, and the variety of diners at every meal has been really enjoyable and really interesting. Is it simply not allowed now then to have mixed tables? I very much enjoy my wife’s company, but we eat together most of the time, and eating with other people on cruises is part of the fun. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
margsbolton Posted April 24, 2022 Author #14 Share Posted April 24, 2022 (edited) Thankyou to Davecttr for explaining the situation properly. I am not sure that I want to spend the whole cruise on my own !!! I may have to consider cancelling before final payment is due !!! Edited April 24, 2022 by margsbolton 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Peterson Posted April 24, 2022 #15 Share Posted April 24, 2022 1 minute ago, margsbolton said: Thankyou to Davecttr for explaining the situation properly. I am not sure that I want to spend the whole cruise on my own !!! I may have to consider cancelling before final payment is due !!! I can absolutely understand that, but I do hope there’s a way you can join other people on shared tables. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrierjohn Posted April 24, 2022 #16 Share Posted April 24, 2022 13 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said: That’s a shame, Dave. We’ve always opted for Freedom Dining and very much enjoyed the company of the many people travelling on their own. It’s always worked out well, and the variety of diners at every meal has been really enjoyable and really interesting. Is it simply not allowed now then to have mixed tables? I very much enjoy my wife’s company, but we eat together most of the time, and eating with other people on cruises is part of the fun. It is allowed, but with omicron being so much more infectious, and with the consequences of quarantine, it is perhaps not worth risking sharing a dining table. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zap99 Posted April 24, 2022 #17 Share Posted April 24, 2022 41 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said: That’s a shame, Dave. We’ve always opted for Freedom Dining and very much enjoyed the company of the many people travelling on their own. It’s always worked out well, and the variety of diners at every meal has been really enjoyable and really interesting. Is it simply not allowed now then to have mixed tables? I very much enjoy my wife’s company, but we eat together most of the time, and eating with other people on cruises is part of the fun. I very much enjoy dining with my wife and have convinced her to share a table for 2 with me.🤣 4 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josy1953 Posted April 24, 2022 #18 Share Posted April 24, 2022 29 minutes ago, terrierjohn said: It is allowed, but with omicron being so much more infectious, and with the consequences of quarantine, it is perhaps not worth risking sharing a dining table. I am surprised that many people want to share a table with strangers while covid is hanging around and as you say the variants are becoming more infectious albeit less severe. We not chosen a shared table for years, even before anytime dining we would request a table for 2 when we booked. I can however understand singles wanting to share in order to have someone to chat with. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickey1959 Posted April 24, 2022 #19 Share Posted April 24, 2022 2 hours ago, loveheart said: Will P&O do this or our TA ? You can phone P&O and just ask them to link your booking, every thing else will just fall into place, dining, shore excursions etc. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wowzz Posted April 24, 2022 #20 Share Posted April 24, 2022 49 minutes ago, terrierjohn said: It is allowed, but with omicron being so much more infectious, and with the consequences of quarantine, it is perhaps not worth risking sharing a dining table. The tables for two are so close together, I don't think it makes any difference if you share a table or not. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbtablet Posted April 24, 2022 #21 Share Posted April 24, 2022 (edited) Re earlier posts, don't be concerned if your booking shows Table for 2 "requested - not confirmed" - this is automatic and standard wording. P&O need to tell you they have heard your request and if you booked fairly soon after the cruise went on sale you will get your table for two, even before COVID, but they don't promise it to you ahead of the cruise because it limits their flexibility in case circumstances change. Having said that, we have always had our requested "not confrmed" table for two without any bother. Edited April 24, 2022 by bbtablet 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zap99 Posted April 24, 2022 #22 Share Posted April 24, 2022 10 minutes ago, Josy1953 said: I am surprised that many people want to share a table with strangers while covid is hanging around and as you say the variants are becoming more infectious albeit less severe. We not chosen a shared table for years, even before anytime dining we would request a table for 2 when we booked. I can however understand singles wanting to share in order to have someone to chat with. Folk seem to have a different mindset. In Lanzarote we found folk naturally waited for the next lift if it arrived occupied. We would be fairly happy to share a table, but normally prefer a table for 2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clodia Posted April 24, 2022 #23 Share Posted April 24, 2022 4 hours ago, margsbolton said: I am travelling alone for the first time on Arcadia in August 2022 and I have just received a notification advising me that the new dining protocols mean no sharing of dining tables with other guests unless specifically requested. I don’t mind having breakfast alone but it would be nice to share a table at Dinner. Does anyone have experience of this ??? You soon get used to dining alone; I've been cruising and land travelling alone for years and I like it, as well as it being less risky at present. I started asking for a table alone at breakfast as I have an extreme allergy to baked beans, which shouldn't IMO be served at breakfast, but..I would see the Head Waiter and explain that I would have to leave if someone ordered beans on my shared table, so was always seated alone. It was a short step from there to being alone at dinner or lunch. Now I prefer it. And of course if you eat in the speciality restaurants as I always do on several occasions on a cruise, you are seated alone. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loveheart Posted April 24, 2022 #24 Share Posted April 24, 2022 30 minutes ago, mickey1959 said: You can phone P&O and just ask them to link your booking, every thing else will just fall into place, dining, shore excursions etc. Thank you x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grapau27 Posted April 24, 2022 #25 Share Posted April 24, 2022 4 hours ago, margsbolton said: I am travelling alone for the first time on Arcadia in August 2022 and I have just received a notification advising me that the new dining protocols mean no sharing of dining tables with other guests unless specifically requested. I don’t mind having breakfast alone but it would be nice to share a table at Dinner. Does anyone have experience of this ??? When we went into the main dining room on Iona in March we were asked if we wanted to share a table but we said no because we wanted a table for 2. On Britannia last week there was no mask wearing except in the theatre. Restrictions seem to be getting less so for August to be told you can't share a table seems extremely unusual. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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