Food and dining on P&O ships

[Selbourne]

3 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Are you sure ? Never had a problem walking up in Princess.

wowzz. The quote you are questioning was from terrierjohn, not me. 

[wowzz]

5 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

wowzz. The quote you are questioning was from terrierjohn, not me. 

Sorry !

[Jdillett]

Hi

We are sailing on the Azura mid May on our first cruise😃

To avoid the crowds and check things out, we plan to have lunch on embarkation day at our allocated restaurant/table

 

Not sure when are you allocated a dining room/table

Is that possible?

 

Regards

John

[Selbourne]

1 minute ago, Jdillett said:

Hi

We are sailing on the Azura mid May on our first cruise😃

To avoid the crowds and check things out, we plan to have lunch on embarkation day at our allocated restaurant/table

 

Not sure when are you allocated a dining room/table

Is that possible?

 

Regards

John

Welcome to Cruise Critic! On embarkation day, the main dining room isn’t open for lunch. The buffet is open for that purpose. 

[wowzz]

56 minutes ago, Jdillett said:

Hi

We are sailing on the Azura mid May on our first cruise😃

To avoid the crowds and check things out, we plan to have lunch on embarkation day at our allocated restaurant/table

 

Not sure when are you allocated a dining room/table

Is that possible?

 

Regards

John

Just to add that at lunch time you just turn up to whichever MDR is open. Allocated tables only relate to fixed dining in the evening.

[mandymac]

Can anyone tell me what restaurants will be open the day we embark on Arvia please?

Also can anyone tell me how often will Limelight be on during a 14 night cruise and will there be a performace on the 1st night?

Thank you in advance

 

[happy v]

1 hour ago, mandymac said:

Can anyone tell me what restaurants will be open the day we embark on Arvia please?

Also can anyone tell me how often will Limelight be on during a 14 night cruise and will there be a performace on the 1st night?

Thank you in advance

 

Limelight is open every night, including the first.

The buffet will be open when you embark. I don't know about other restaurants but I would guess the Quays 

[NavyPanda]

On 3/15/2023 at 8:55 AM, Jdillett said:

Hi

We are sailing on the Azura mid May on our first cruise😃

To avoid the crowds and check things out, we plan to have lunch on embarkation day at our allocated restaurant/table

 

Not sure when are you allocated a dining room/table

Is that possible?

 

Regards

John

 

Normally, the main dining rooms won't be open for lunch on embarkation day.

 

However, Azura is special due to running overlapping 7 and 14 day itineraries on fly cruises.

 

This means a main dining room WILL be open for lunch on the day you embark. This will probably be the Peninsular restaurant, which is on Deck 6, just off the atrium. 

 

The restaurant will probably close for new arrivals at 1:30pm, your flight may not be early enough to meet this. If not, the buffet will be serving lunch until 5pm.

[Walace]

Does anyone know if Sindhu on Iona is open for lunch or is it just dinner?

[davecttr]

1 hour ago, Walace said:

Does anyone know if Sindhu on Iona is open for lunch or is it just dinner?

Just dinner, 6.30pm to 9pm

[jh1809]

1 hour ago, Walace said:

Does anyone know if Sindhu on Iona is open for lunch or is it just dinner?

On Aurora's cruise to the Caribbean in Nov/Dec, Sindhu opened for "tiffin" lunches on some sea days towards the latter end of the cruise. It might be different on Iona, of course.

[awmartin]

Does anyone know if it is possible to see which menus are active in Epicurian, Sindu as these are available to book on line before sailing but they have menu 1 and menu 2 but it does not show which is active for the dates. 

[majortom10]

1 hour ago, awmartin said:

Does anyone know if it is possible to see which menus are active in Epicurian, Sindu as these are available to book on line before sailing but they have menu 1 and menu 2 but it does not show which is active for the dates. 

No you cannot.

[awmartin]

1 minute ago, majortom10 said:

No you cannot.

Thank for the reply.

[majortom10]

Just returned today from 14 nts on Iona and would be happy to give any up to date info or help. Will give a more detailed post about cruise later good and bad. Will surprise many including myself IMO there was not much bad and has more than likely been posted by others.

[NHH]

Hi - a new cruiser here, looking at a cruise on Azura from Valletta, May 2024.

 

As we are both vegan a big concern we have before booking is how good the food options will be for us - we appreciate that there will be a limited choice, but can't survive on lettuce alone! lol

 

If anyone has any advice on the options / menus in the different restaurants for us it would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance.

[Presto2]

Hi

 

How do we now book speciality dining?

Do we book before we go on line or do we have to wait until we are on the ship?

Similarly, if we are on freedom dining, is it all back to normal and we just turn up and take a pager?

Have not been since Covid so feel like we don't know what we are doing

 

Help

 

[majortom10]

We returned from Iona this morning and the only speciality restaurants available to book prior to boarding was Epicurean, Sindhu and Limelight Club. All available to book 14 days before cruise, We booked Epicurean which was £28pp but because booking in advance they give you a £4pp discount and we have 10% loyalty club benefit so ended up at £21-60pp and was excellent, Sindhu you pay a deposit of £10pp and then when you have your meal all dishes are individually priced and because you have booked in advance they give you a 20% discount and then deduct £10pp already paid. Limelight Club we were not interested in booking but do know that Lee Mead was on the first night of the following cruise and was £35pp. Olive Grove no cover charge but some dishes have supplement and was excellent. Beach House has a cover charge of £9-50pp and some dishes extra supplement and we were very disappointed and didnt think it value for money.

Edited March 18, 2023 by majortom10

[Presto2]

19 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

We returned from Iona this morning and the only speciality restaurants available to book prior to boarding was Epicurean, Sindhu and Limelight Club. All available to book 14 days before cruise, We booked Epicurean which was £28pp but because booking in advance they give you a £4pp discount and we have 10% loyalty club benefit so ended up at £21-60pp and was excellent, Sindhu you pay a deposit of £10pp and then when you have your meal all dishes are individually priced and because you have booked in advance they give you a 20% discount and then deduct £10pp already paid. Limelight Club we were not interested in booking but do know that Lee Mead was on the first night of the following cruise and was £35pp. Olive Grove no cover charge but some dishes have supplement and was excellent. Beach House has a cover charge of £9-50pp and some dishes extra supplement and we were very disappointed and didnt think it value for money.

Thanks, great info 🙂

[Interestedcruisefan]

We paid for Epicurean and Limelight Club on Arvia

 

Both meals were excellent quality. 

[majortom10]

8 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

We paid for Epicurean and Limelight Club on Arvia

 

Both meals were excellent quality. 

Never got as far as looking at the meals in Limelight on Iona as was not interested in the acts we were being asked to pay to see.

[Interestedcruisefan]

5 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

Never got as far as looking at the meals in Limelight on Iona as was not interested in the acts we were being asked to pay to see.

I felt the same but bit the bullet and bought tickets to see Mary Mac. And had a really great night of food and entertainment

[majortom10]

3 hours ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

I felt the same but bit the bullet and bought tickets to see Mary Mac. And had a really great night of food and entertainment

We didn't fancy Sam Bailey or Kevin Simm.

Edited March 18, 2023 by majortom10

[wowzz]

5 hours ago, majortom10 said:

that Lee Mead was on the first night of the following cruise

Who he ?

[Interestedcruisefan]

1 hour ago, majortom10 said:

We didn't fancy Sam Bailey or Kevin Simm.

My wife made the point that Limelight should be entertainment not just a singer