AFTERNOON TEA

[Snow Hill]

With all these changes to availability of restaurants, change in menus etc, does anyone know what P&Os current offerings for coeliacs (gluten free) is? We used to get sight of next days Evening Menu the night before, so could chose options, is this still the case? What about specialty restaurants are there still g/f options? The buffet was always the worst place to eat for coeliacs as food could easily be cross contaminated by uncaring passengers, on the last pre Covid cruise you had to ask specifically for g/f options in buffet, is this still the case?  

[TigerB]

48 minutes ago, Snow Hill said:

With all these changes to availability of restaurants, change in menus etc, does anyone know what P&Os current offerings for coeliacs (gluten free) is? We used to get sight of next days Evening Menu the night before, so could chose options, is this still the case? What about specialty restaurants are there still g/f options? The buffet was always the worst place to eat for coeliacs as food could easily be cross contaminated by uncaring passengers, on the last pre Covid cruise you had to ask specifically for g/f options in buffet, is this still the case?  

 

We were on Britannia this September with our adult children and their partners; our eldest is a coeliac.

She has cruised once before, with Marella, and said the buffet on that cruise offered more choice but the restaurants on Britannia were much better.

 

On our first evening in the Peninsular I asked our waiter, Asanta, if we could have the same table whenever the eight of us dined in there, or be in his section if fewer than eight dined together. That was so he and his assistant waiter, Anindya, would get used to our likes and dislikes, but more so because of my daughter; that paid off.

Asanta's knowledge of the ingredients of particular dishes and allergens was excellent, and he was very careful about cross-contamination; there was one morning when Anindya went to place regular toast on the table and in doing so was going to pass the toast rack over my daughter's plate; I stopped him and, on seeing that, Asanta took him to one side and gave him what for. It didn't happen again.

 

Generally, in the Peninsular, there were a choice of at least two GF items for each course. Asanta would give my daughter a copy of the next evening's menu or, if she wasn't dining with us, give it to us to pass to her. If she wanted something that wasn't listed as GF, and if it could be adapted, she was able to pre-order.

She ate in all the speciality restaurants at least once and, with the exception of the Limelight Club, all had good choices of GF dishes or she was able to pre-order.  The Limelight Club's menu choices were poor, a choice of two starters, two mains, and just once dessert. However, with pre-ordering she was catered for; an off-menu dessert was made for her.

 

Once or twice she did ask for GF dishes in the buffet, but found it a hassle and said the choices were poor.

 

She usually joined me and her mother for breakfast in the Peninsular and there was loads of choice for her. She said the bread items were good.  She went for breakfast once and said it was dire.

 

I don't think the coeliac in your party will have a problem.

 

Incidentally, I would say that about 70% of all desserts on board were GF anyway. Also, a good thing for vegetarians, all the marshmallows were vegetarian and many desserts, such as panna cotta, which is usually a no-no for vegetarians, did not contain gelatin.

Edited October 24, 2022 by TigerB

[cheshire]

I love afternoon tea.  It’s quintessentially British.  Warm fruit d ones, strawberry jam and ideally clotted cream though I sadly fear the latter will be a bit of an ask.  
 

my wife likes a nice pot of tea and cake. Unhurried and served to her.  
 

too much to ask for?  

[zap99]

11 hours ago, cheshire said:

I love afternoon tea.  It’s quintessentially British.  Warm fruit d ones, strawberry jam and ideally clotted cream though I sadly fear the latter will be a bit of an ask.  
 

my wife likes a nice pot of tea and cake. Unhurried and served to her.  
 

too much to ask for?  

On Britannia that is available in the Atrium.

[Britboys]

2 hours ago, zap99 said:

On Britannia that is available in the Atrium.

Is that complimentary or "For a little extra"?

[zap99]

29 minutes ago, Britboys said:

Is that complimentary or "For a little extra"?

You pay it.

[twotravellersLondon]

14 hours ago, cheshire said:

I love afternoon tea.  It’s quintessentially British.  Warm fruit d ones, strawberry jam and ideally clotted cream though I sadly fear the latter will be a bit of an ask.  
 

my wife likes a nice pot of tea and cake. Unhurried and served to her.  
 

too much to ask for?  

 

Quintessentially British?

 

My mother's ancestors were fisher folk, merchant navy and Royal Navy, ship builders and lifeboat men in the North Sea... I don't think that a having a scone with the cream on first or second ever crossed their minds. My father's folk were farmers, crofters, miners, and coach owners in the Highlands and they helped to build harbours, railways, roads and to plant forests. I've never heard of them taking a breather in the mid afternoon for a cucumber finger sandwich or a angle cake.

 

I think that we've got to look at the 1930s landed gentry with the time and resources to indulge in Lapsang Souchong or Earl Grey mid afternoon while cook busied herself taking the cake from the oven ready for the maids to take up to the drawing room....

 

A visit to the Dowager Duchess of Grantham at Downton Abbey... here we come! We will leave the sou-westers and the hobnails at the tradesmen's entrance if we may!

 

 

Now that may just possibly give na insight into why P&O probably serve more beer and burgers than tea and scones.

[Camberley]

15 hours ago, cheshire said:

I love afternoon tea.  It’s quintessentially British.  Warm fruit d ones, strawberry jam and ideally clotted cream though I sadly fear the latter will be a bit of an ask.  
 

my wife likes a nice pot of tea and cake. Unhurried and served to her.  
 

too much to ask for?  

Done well it’s a truly fabulous foodie treat.
 

Sadly P&O have yet to do Afternoon Tea well in its free versions: their buffet attempt is execrable: synthetic, cheap-tasting and utterly depressing. And their former freebie that used to be in the MDRs was a tacky carb-fest with not even a hint of attention to detail, let alone the sophistication Afternoon Tea needs. It makes out-of-date Costco-style cakes and bakes seem like you’re eating at the Ritz!

 

But their scones are good. So a pot of tea & some scones and jam is certainly pleasant enough. Forget the clotted cream, though, on P&O: it’s barely whipped, not clotted.

[Britboys]

1 hour ago, Camberley said:

Done well it’s a truly fabulous foodie treat.
 

Sadly P&O have yet to do Afternoon Tea well in its free versions: their buffet attempt is execrable: synthetic, cheap-tasting and utterly depressing. And their former freebie that used to be in the MDRs was a tacky carb-fest with not even a hint of attention to detail, let alone the sophistication Afternoon Tea needs. It makes out-of-date Costco-style cakes and bakes seem like you’re eating at the Ritz!

 

But their scones are good. So a pot of tea & some scones and jam is certainly pleasant enough. Forget the clotted cream, though, on P&O: it’s barely whipped, not clotted.

Whilst I would agree that the mdr afternoon tea really isn't a culinary thrill, it wasn't that bad imho. Last month on Aurora, the afternoon tea items available in the Horizon Buffet were okay. There were some very pleasant cakes (as well as a few that weren't) and the scones were lovely. There was two types of cream, listed as whipped and clotted. Whilst there wasn't any sign of clots in the clotted, it was very thick and tasty.

[zap99]

31 minutes ago, twotravellersLondon said:

 

And that's the difference... Dinner at dinner time (about noon) rather than "dinner" as the main meal at what many, including my own folk, would call supper time later in the evening.

 

 

Funny old day today. We were going out this afternoon, so had dinner at lunch time.We had tea at dinnertime and skipped lunch. Sometimes on Britannia we were ashore till mid afternoon, so had lunch at tea time. I don't drink tea, so when we have afternoon tea I have coffee with it, or if feeling flush , have afternoon tea with a glass of fizz.🤭

[brian1]

3 hours ago, Britboys said:

Whilst I would agree that the mdr afternoon tea really isn't a culinary thrill, it wasn't that bad imho. Last month on Aurora, the afternoon tea items available in the Horizon Buffet were okay. There were some very pleasant cakes (as well as a few that weren't) and the scones were lovely. There was two types of cream, listed as whipped and clotted. Whilst there wasn't any sign of clots in the clotted, it was very thick and tasty.

I've heard the clotted custard is to die for.

[twotravellersLondon]

3 hours ago, cheshire said:

Don’t know what you’ve been missing all these years. I’m pretty sure I worked hard so I could retire early and enjoy even  more afternoon teas knowing time is my own now. 
 

Gin and tonic or glass of fizz as the sun goes down each night is the perfect accompaniment.   Add in the odd “English breakfast “ and I’m in my element.

 

Ah yes! The joy of afternoon teas... I remember it well. The finger sandwiches, the sultana scones, the clotted cream, the strawberry jam, the pot of tea... Ah yes! I remember it well. The little cakes, the icing tops, the sweet taste... Ah yes I remember them well. The sparkling wine, the delicate mousse, the gentle bouquet and fresh taste... Ah yes! I remember it well.

 

We indulged at four... or was it five... just one cake... or two... perhaps three... perhaps just one glass... or perhaps more... I remember it less well.

 

But seriously, I worked hard so that I could retire early and make the most of every joy that life can bring. Afternoon tea... once on a while, a beer on occasions, good food, good wine, good company, great restaurants, world class entertainment and travel to my heart’s content now that the world is opening up again. But to do that, I had to lose four stone, have a healthy diet of fish, seafood, lean meat, fresh vegetables and fruit. I enjoy great iconic beers and fine wines... and craft gins but all in delightful moderation.

 

Result... three trouser sizes smaller, enjoying walking up to six miles a day, a heart condition, kicked into submission and other potential health problems beaten. Now that my time's my own... I can go places, do things, experience things and contribute to things that I've not been able to do for years. I'm enjoying a whole new lease of life. The life that I would have liked to have the money and time to enjoy twenty years ago.  'Cos... why live a little when you can live a lot?

 

So each to his or her own. Nothing wrong with an afternoon tea, nor a glass of fizz nor a G&T... and a decent "Full English" can be truly phenomenal... it's just that sometimes... it may be that these things are better and more enjoyable and easier to fully appreciate as part of a wider "diet" of life experiences. 

 

 

 

Just enjoy!

 

 

[brian1]

Our 1st experience of a posh afternoon tea was by pure accident.We were on a Far East cruise on Diamond Princess in 2012.We saw a sign outside one of the MDRs advertising it,my Mrs said she fancied a cuppa.We weren't dressed exactly formal,lol.There were waiters in tails and white gloves milling all around us and all of a sudden a string quartet struck up in the corner.The sarnies and cakes were amazing and so was the experience expecting just a cup of tea and a custard cream.

[Britboys]

15 hours ago, Red Leicester said:

Talking of custard... hugely disappointed at how bad this was on Britannia last month.  I can put up with most other things but not bad custard!

It was fine on Aurora last month in the Horizon. Just a shame that the day's hot pudding was repeated so often...

[Ladyshopper23]

On 10/24/2022 at 11:08 AM, Snow Hill said:

With all these changes to availability of restaurants, change in menus etc, does anyone know what P&Os current offerings for coeliacs (gluten free) is? We used to get sight of next days Evening Menu the night before, so could chose options, is this still the case? What about specialty restaurants are there still g/f options? The buffet was always the worst place to eat for coeliacs as food could easily be cross contaminated by uncaring passengers, on the last pre Covid cruise you had to ask specifically for g/f options in buffet, is this still the case?  

We were on Iona last month, and are both coeliac. It was a fantastic experience. Every night we were given both the lunch and dinner menu for the next day, and could place pre-orders for both if we wanted (we only did lunch in the MDR once). I'm also a vegetarian (my husband isn't), so if there wasn't anything that was marked as both veggie and GF they would happily adapt something else, or come up with a suggestion.

The buffet on Iona was manic, and a bit of a mixed experience, but basically the people in yellow aprons are there to help, so speak to them and they can get you anything you might want fresh out of the kitchen. There was afternoon tea up there in the afternoon, an awful lot of cakes were GF as standard, which was brilliant, and actually tasted really nice too (unlike Princess where they are awful!). We would either reach through to the back where they often had an untouched platter ready to go out and take from there to avoid contamination, or again, ask for one fresh from the kitchen.

There is also a dietary counter at the buffet, at breakfast they had GF bread which you could ask to be toasted (this was done separately) and croissants (which were really nice for GF!). Also, throughout the day, they keep a selection of pre-packaged cakes gluten-free cakes, which are really nice, and great to take to your cabin and keep for snacks, or take out on port days. If they don't have them, just ask.

If you speak to your cabin host, you should be able to get GF biscuits from the cabin.

On Iona we did a few meals at speciality restaurants, including Sindhu (which we also did on Britannia last year), The Beach House and Olive Grove. At each place we booked, we went up there 24 hours beforehand to speak to them and pre-order (there is a lot of GF options at all the speciality restaurants as I made a point of looking, but by pre-ordering it just makes the kitchen aware to take extra care with cross contamination).

At the pizza place they do GF pizza, and are very careful with cross contamination, the pizza is prepared in the kitchen and they have a separate oven, change gloves etc.

Not sure which ship you're going on, but on Iona they've got The Quays, which has 3 different counters with different foods (fish and chips, asian fusion, and American diner style). They do GF fish and chips (cooked separately), and there was always an option at the asian fusion counter too. The American Diner didn't look as if it would be suitable, but to be fair we didn't ask (wasn't very veggie friendly for me!). Also at breakfast, the fish and chip counter does gluten-free pancakes, and the asian fusion counter does omelettes cooked to order.

Don't know how the above compares to your previous experience, but we felt very safe, had loads of choice compared to other cruise lines, and have just booked another cruise on Iona for next year basically based on our ability to eat lovely GF food! We were impressed last year on Britannia too, it was slightly different then as it was just after cruising re-started, so numbers onboard were limited, the buffet was served by staff so less chance of cross contamination.