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Iona specialty restaurants closed?


newbie cruissy
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I'm hearing some noise that some of the speciality dining options (Epicurean / Sindu / The Quays) mat be closed on coming sailings, including ours. Can anyone confirm? Maybe report from the last week? Concerning, the change of itinerary aside, this is becoming a touch disappointing if true... 

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1 hour ago, newbie cruissy said:

I'm hearing some noise that some of the speciality dining options (Epicurean / Sindu / The Quays) mat be closed on coming sailings, including ours. Can anyone confirm? Maybe report from the last week? Concerning, the change of itinerary aside, this is becoming a touch disappointing if true... 

Very concerning if The Quays won't be opening.  Personally I wouldn't describe The Quays as speciality dining in the same vein as Epicurean etc.  It's more a specialised buffet.  Will nonetheless be disappointed if The Quays is closed on our next Iona cruise.  Enjoyed using it for breakfast and the occasional lunch when we were onboard last year.

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There has been a lot of talk about changed ports of call in Norway but, frankly, non-availability of alternative dining venues would be more of a problem for us.  I hope that current cruisers can supply more information in the near future!

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1 hour ago, mondas42 said:

I’d heard from someone just boarding today that the Epicurian and the Glass House are closed, no reports about the other ones.

Well it was open last Tuesday as we went. It was very good. Tried to book again but was fully booked to the end of the cruise.

We also went to the Olive Grove which was open all day.

The best bargain of the lot is the chefs table. I imagined one table with about 12 people hosted by a chef. It’s not like that. There are many tables sectioned off from the self service with a menu by Marco which included beef wellington.which is not available in the main restaurants. It’s only open on Celebrations (formal) night. There is no extra cost

Brian

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3 hours ago, mondas42 said:

I’d heard from someone just boarding today that the Epicurian and the Glass House are closed, no reports about the other ones.


I sincerely hope that’s not the case. Friends of ours are on this cruise and will be as disappointed as we would be if they can’t use these venues.
 

We have resigned ourselves to the fact that P&O is becoming a budget cruise line on the basis that it’s a lot cheaper than the more upmarket lines, but being able to pay extra on board to make it a better quality / special experience is something we are happy to do. If that choice is taken away then that’s a pretty poor show. 

 

 

 

 

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It appears there is a supply chain issue affecting the Glass House and Eppicurean menus.

 

Rather than offer a reduced menu service, the decision was made to close and relocate staff to other restaurants where there were gaps.

 

This is temporary and appears to affect supplies loaded in Southampton hence Iona and Ventura most at risk as most regular visitors.

 

It really is turning into a challenging summer for P&O where delivering their core product is less than straight forward.

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2 hours ago, molecrochip said:

It appears there is a supply chain issue affecting the Glass House and Eppicurean menus.

 

Rather than offer a reduced menu service, the decision was made to close and relocate staff to other restaurants where there were gaps.

 

This is temporary and appears to affect supplies loaded in Southampton hence Iona and Ventura most at risk as most regular visitors.

 

It really is turning into a challenging summer for P&O where delivering their core product is less than straight forward.


Thanks for explaining. Regardless of the reason, this will be a serious disappointment to many people especially those, like us, who use these venues regularly. 
 

I sincerely hope that P&O manage to resolve all of these issues (including staffing problems) promptly. Recovering the business is going to be tough enough, especially now that we have the cost of living crisis to deal with on top of everything else, without the core P&O product being degraded.
 

Many experienced cruisers will be disappointed and others (like us) are now holding back booking more cruises until things return to normal. New cruisers won’t have the best first impression. Not good. 

Edited by Selbourne
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1 hour ago, Selbourne said:


Thanks for explaining. Regardless of the reason, this will be a serious disappointment to many people especially those, like us, who use these venues regularly. 
 

I sincerely hope that P&O manage to resolve all of these issues (including staffing problems) promptly. Recovering the business is going to be tough enough, especially now that we have the cost of living crisis to deal with on top of everything else, without the core P&O product being degraded.
 

Many experienced cruisers will be disappointed and others (like us) are now holding back booking more cruises until things return to normal. New cruisers won’t have the best first impression. Not good. 

We were looking at 2023 yesterday. P&O are getting towards the budget end. If that is their intention, so be it. We don't fly Ryan air, so may be going elsewhere 

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3 hours ago, molecrochip said:

It appears there is a supply chain issue affecting the Glass House and Eppicurean menus.

 

Rather than offer a reduced menu service, the decision was made to close and relocate staff to other restaurants where there were gaps.

 

This is temporary and appears to affect supplies loaded in Southampton hence Iona and Ventura most at risk as most regular visitors.

 

It really is turning into a challenging summer for P&O where delivering their core product is less than straight forward.

Not surprising given that land based restaurants are also have supply chain and staffing problems, P&O are not immune from this disruption which is expected to last for sometime yet. 
 

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51 minutes ago, newbie cruissy said:

Agreed. We are due on board Iona in 3 weeks time. Marco Pierre White is kind enough to be joining us. Tad embarrassing if the flagship restaurant is closed. 


I somehow suspect that the issues that are out of P&O’s control will be miraculously resolved for that cruise!

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29 minutes ago, zap99 said:

We were looking at 2023 yesterday. P&O are getting towards the budget end. If that is their intention, so be it. We don't fly Ryan air, so may be going elsewhere 


I have no objection to budget brands. I use the newer Premier Inns often and have only ever had good experiences with EasyJet (although I’m very glad that I’m not flying anywhere this summer). Where I have a problem is where a budget brand falls short of what is already, by defInition, a somewhat limited product. I used Ryan Air once and had a terrible experience so would never use them again. Mind you, we had a dreadful experience with BA (hardly a budget brand) around 20 years ago and have never used them since either!

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1 minute ago, Selbourne said:


I have no objection to budget brands. I use the newer Premier Inns often and have only ever had good experiences with EasyJet (although I’m very glad that I’m not flying anywhere this summer). Where I have a problem is where a budget brand falls short of what is already, by defInition, a somewhat limited product. I used Ryan Air once and had a terrible experience so would never use them again. Mind you, we had a dreadful experience with BA (hardly a budget brand) around 20 years ago and have never used them since either!

I don't have a problem with budget brands either. I do have a problem with companies that treat their customers with contempt, hence my Ryan air reference. I do have a problem with brands that build up folks expectations and spectacularly fail to deliver. Unfortunately that seems to be applying to more and more brands. In a well known steakhouse chain ' sorry, we have run out of butter ' For goodness sake, it's their flipping job . ' We haven't got enough staff, but won't cancel the sailing as we would need to refund people, we will just close things , and put it down to ' operational reasons. 

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Agreed with all the above! And perhaps regretting having booked for November.  We will have to see how things develop. Of course, supply chain issues may relate to prices for ingredients going up quite sharply?

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The difference between venues/resorts on land and cruise liners is that, on land one is able to scrutinise what is available and make a choice - accept the limitations and chose to stay, or take your custom elsewhere.  None of your hard earned cash leaves your account until you’ve made that informed choice, and eaten.  On a cruise liner you’ve paid upfront and if the ingredient, meal, service, or now, even restaurant, is not there, that’s just tough luck.  You can’t walk to the next ship!  Special cruises become not so special when your birthday or anniversary dinner in Epicurean is downgraded to MDR or buffet.  
 

Yet another factor to add to the ‘con’ column when considering whether to cruise P&O or not at the moment.  If other lines are performing better, well, why risk a far from special holiday?

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55 minutes ago, zap99 said:

 ' We haven't got enough staff, but won't cancel the sailing as we would need to refund people, we will just close things , and put it down to ' operational reasons. 


There are a dozen or so pubs and restaurants in our area that we frequent on a regular basis for meals. Most are affected in some way by either supply chain issues (certain menu items not available) and / or staffing issues. One or two currently close one or two days a week now as a result of the latter. Surely P&O could compromise in this way, perhaps making it clear that some of the select dining venues have some menu shortages and will be closed on X or Y days? Shutting the venues down completely for the entire duration of the cruise looks like throwing the towel in with no consideration of the impact that this may have on those for whom these places are a major part of their cruise experience. 

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17 hours ago, BrianI said:

Well it was open last Tuesday as we went. It was very good. Tried to book again but was fully booked to the end of the cruise.

We also went to the Olive Grove which was open all day.

The best bargain of the lot is the chefs table. I imagined one table with about 12 people hosted by a chef. It’s not like that. There are many tables sectioned off from the self service with a menu by Marco which included beef wellington.which is not available in the main restaurants. It’s only open on Celebrations (formal) night. There is no extra cost

Brian

We tried Chefs Table in September.  Enjoyed it and hopefully will manage to book it again later this year.

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3 hours ago, Snow Hill said:

Not surprising given that land based restaurants are also have supply chain and staffing problems, P&O are not immune from this disruption which is expected to last for sometime yet. 
 

I'm sorry but my experience on Celebrity which ended yesterday says it can be done properly without causing major disruption to the passengers.  As I commented elsewhere I have just had a full service experience on Celebrity Edge who are apparently experiencing staffing problems.  If I hadn't been told by crew members and officers I would never have known.  Absolutely nothing closed and only one shortage I noted was the rose wine not available in one restaurant. Ten minutes after the apology at the lack of it a bottle of a superior Provence rose was delivered to my table from the restaurant for suite guests at no extra charge despite it being outside my drinks package range.  Incidentally the drinks package included has no limit on numbers and I found very little outside its terms.

 

I note Molecrochip said elsewhere mainly a Southampton issue but this situation on Azura cannot be.

 

I join Regal Princess next Saturday in Barcelona so will be very interested to see how another of the Carnival stable is performing.  Currently reading reviews on the Princess forum there do not seem to be too many noting restaurants closed etc.

 

The cynic in me says that the P&O problems seem to be be inflicted almost deliberately by putting them at the bottom of the list.

 

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Am on Azura in the med at the moment. 
 

Sindu has been closed since April, Epicurean closed last week, The Glass House isn’t doing food, afternoon tea is cancelled, and the Beach House was booked solid for the whole cruise from day one. 
 

The reception manager offered a standard letter confirming the situation to be sent to guest services on return by disappointed customers. 

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3 hours ago, Snow Hill said:

Not surprising given that land based restaurants are also have supply chain and staffing problems, P&O are not immune from this disruption which is expected to last for sometime yet. 
 

I haven’t seen any issues yet aboard Enchanted Princess apart from the app which seems to freeze at regular intervals! 

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2 minutes ago, picsa said:

Am on Azura in the med at the moment. 
 

Sindu has been closed since April, Epicurean closed last week, The Glass House isn’t doing food, afternoon tea is cancelled, and the Beach House was booked solid for the whole cruise from day one. 
 

The reception manager offered a standard letter confirming the situation to be sent to guest services on return by disappointed customers. 


Shocking. So it’s clearly not solely an Iona issue, nor a Southampton issue. Seems to be firmly a P&O issue. Have to say that I am extremely relieved that we haven’t booked any P&O cruises for 2022 but I’m wondering if we may still live to regret booking Iona and Ventura for 2023. This all very much smacks of a company in crisis. 

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55 minutes ago, Selbourne said:


Shocking. So it’s clearly not solely an Iona issue, nor a Southampton issue. Seems to be firmly a P&O issue. Have to say that I am extremely relieved that we haven’t booked any P&O cruises for 2022 but I’m wondering if we may still live to regret booking Iona and Ventura for 2023. This all very much smacks of a company in crisis. 

I find it quite shocking that on some cruises the speciality restaurants are closed and not available. Apart from extremely disappointed and unhappy passengers, P&O must be concerned about the lost revenue that these places generate. Certain cutbacks can be forgiven in the current climate - but the ability to eat somewhere different / more upmarket than the MDR is inexcusable and it doesn’t bode well for the future.

 

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