Food and dining on P&O ships

[nellydean]

I have tried to be organised and pre-book what I can as regards dining

 

I assume that later dining times (after 6.30pm) can only be booked once onboard?

 

Thanks in advance.

Helen

[sandancer]

Does anyone know if the menu in the Beach House on Iona has changed. I’ve just booked 2 nights and on checking the menu I can’t see the hot stone steak. I’m hoping I’ve got it totally wrong. It was probably the most popular dish on the menu so I can’t believe it’s gone. 

[solentsam]

16 hours ago, sandancer said:

Does anyone know if the menu in the Beach House on Iona has changed. I’ve just booked 2 nights and on checking the menu I can’t see the hot stone steak. I’m hoping I’ve got it totally wrong. It was probably the most popular dish on the menu so I can’t believe it’s gone.

We were on Iona a week ago. Lava stone Steak was  definitely on the Menu.

[sandancer]

Great. Thanks

[Lucky Lou 5]

  Got back from Arvia last Sunday. Good cruise  apart from 6 + hour delay from Gatwick. Nearly 3 on return from Antigua. Anyway back to subject. We pre booked the beach house for 2 visits. Managed the first one on week one but the day of our second visit   on week two we had to cancel as feeling unwell, reception said there would be a £10 cancellation fee. Fair enough but didn’t realise it was per person. £20 total. They refunded us £14.60 which was paid via card from home.  So for cancelling I was £5.40 down.  I cancelled booking giving 5 hours notice so they could get a couple from the wait list. I wonder if we hadn’t bothered cancelling and just not shown up would we  of still had to pay the cancellation fee or just lost the initial fee  

[Mike Senior]

From mycruise page where you booked the restaurant 
A non-refundable cancellation charge of £10 per person is payable for speciality dining reservations cancelled less than 24 hours before the reserved time. This charge also applies to each guest who does not show up for their reservation. Reservations will be held for up to 30 minutes after the scheduled time. After 30 minutes, the reservation will be cancelled and the cancellation charge will apply. All cancellation charges will be charged to the guest's onboard account.

[terrierjohn]

I thought that the Beach house was less than £10pp, so seems a bit steep to charge £10pp for not going. On a pro rata basis to the Epicurean, the cancellation for beach house should only be £2.50pp.

[Megabear2]

I can confirm this happened on my recent Britannia cruise where I became unwell on day 5 and ended up having to have an unexpected stay in Barbados after being refused boarding of the aircraft.

 

In a subsequent follow up with P&O who kindly enquired after my health upon my return the subject of the cancellation fees - in our case for The Limelight Club - was discussed and I was informed that it was expected that discretion would be used regarding the cancellation charge in the event of illness and resale.  In our case the notification was made to Reception at 8.30am for a 7.00pm reservation as The Limelight Club reception was not manned until 4.00pm. Whilst making the cancellation my husband heard two people enquiring about making a booking for that evening and refused as the waiting list of 10 was full.  He was told he could not just pass our reservation to these guests as there were others in front of them.  I assume therefore that someone at least got our table, or at least I hope so.  I can confirm we were stil charged £20.00.

Edited February 18 by Megabear2

[Lucky Lou 5]

26 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

I thought that the Beach house was less than £10pp, so seems a bit steep to charge £10pp for not going. On a pro rata basis to the Epicurean, the cancellation for beach house should only be £2.50pp.

You would think they would use cancellation on a pro-rata basis. Had I of cancelled the Epicurean the £10 fee would have been fine. But when cancellation fees cost more than the meal. Crazy. It really does need sorting. Have done over 20 cruises. 7 with P&O. Will look elsewhere for our next cruise. Principal 

[carlanthony24]

11 minutes ago, Lucky Lou 5 said:

You would think they would use cancellation on a pro-rata basis. Had I of cancelled the Epicurean the £10 fee would have been fine. But when cancellation fees cost more than the meal. Crazy. It really does need sorting. Have done over 20 cruises. 7 with P&O. Will look elsewhere for our next cruise. Principal 

Royal Caribbean also charge minimum. $10 if it’s under 24hr cancellation.

[9265359]

On 2/18/2024 at 1:44 PM, Megabear2 said:

In our case the notification was made to Reception at 8.30am for a 7.00pm reservation as The Limelight Club reception was not manned until 4.00pm. Whilst making the cancellation my husband heard two people enquiring about making a booking for that evening and refused as the waiting list of 10 was full.  He was told he could not just pass our reservation to these guests as there were others in front of them.  I assume therefore that someone at least got our table, or at least I hope so.  I can confirm we were stil charged £20.00.

 

That seems a rather daft move by P&O, as it encourages people not to cancel early in the day but to leave it until the reservation time to see whether they are fit and well and then just not turning up if they are still unwell so disappointing others who might have made use of the empty table.

 

Or alternatively, even thought they are sick they turn up anyway and hang the consequences to anyone else around them.

[Megabear2]

59 minutes ago, 9265359 said:

 

That seems a rather daft move by P&O, as it encourages people not to cancel early in the day but to leave it until the reservation time to see whether they are fit and well and then just not turning up if they are still unwell so disappointing others who might have made use of the empty table.

 

Or alternatively, even thought they are sick they turn up anyway and hang the consequences to anyone else around them.

Yes, exactly what we thought which is why I asked about the policy when they called me.  At the time I was just hopeful someone else would be able to go as it was sold out the whole trip.  The "fine" was applied to our OBC so i didn't query it as at that point i was too unwell to worry about such trvia. 

 

Strangely the excursion team were well within their right to charge for cancellation and yet they did not. 

[Presto2]

We were on the same cruise as Megabear and we cancelled a meal in the Beach House and Sindhus and it was fine and we received our money back within days no question asked why we had cancelled.

To be fair to P&O we were told that lots of passengers are booking loads of restaurants and just not turning up. Am guessing it is a case of the genuine cruisers have to 'suffer' for those who are just 'playing the game'.

I may be wrong -- but to be fair, we had not issue.

(Cancellations made at least 48 hrs before if not longer)

[BouncingWheel]

It’s a tough one and does seem potty but is it aimed to stop the book it and cancel it later types that are causing lost revenue onboard and in restaurants up and down the land? If it is I support it though it should be explained. I would also support it being further rolled out to any venue booking like 710 club / olive Grove. The no shows could harm bar bills even though the venue entrance is free but mainly to stop the book everything for free of missing out approach.

 

Aldo a common sense approach to waiving these must be put in place due to issues like cabin confinement etc…

[Megabear2]

11 hours ago, Presto2 said:

We were on the same cruise as Megabear and we cancelled a meal in the Beach House and Sindhus and it was fine and we received our money back within days no question asked why we had cancelled.

To be fair to P&O we were told that lots of passengers are booking loads of restaurants and just not turning up. Am guessing it is a case of the genuine cruisers have to 'suffer' for those who are just 'playing the game'.

I may be wrong -- but to be fair, we had not issue.

(Cancellations made at least 48 hrs before if not longer)

To clarify we did receive our refund for the booking made from home. The "fine" was due to the less than 24 hours rule.  My comment to the lady who called me - not someone I know or have dealt with previously - was made as it seemed like a pretty good earner for P&O as effectively the penalty charge was giving them a bonus payment as the "seats" were resold so to speak.  P&O received my £20 for two people and then resold the seats at £50 to the replacement couple thereby actually receiving £35.00pp for the table instead of £25.00.  Seemed a pretty good return for P&O to me.

 

No complaint or discussion occurred on the ship save my husband saying he hoped that the lack of notification to waiting list guests would occur before 4.00pm as having been disappointed on previous cruises with being unable to book speciality dining he knew how frustrating it was to miss out.  At the time I was too unwell to deal with anything myself so have no idea whether notification to the waiting list guests was done by reception or by The Limelight Club.  I do know my husband was a little upset that he was told he could not just give the reservation to the couple who were enquiring at the same time he was cancelling as he told me he got the general impression reception were told to place emphasis on the fact we would be charged.

[Presto2]

4 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

To clarify we did receive our refund for the booking made from home. The "fine" was due to the less than 24 hours rule.  My comment to the lady who called me - not someone I know or have dealt with previously - was made as it seemed like a pretty good earner for P&O as effectively the penalty charge was giving them a bonus payment as the "seats" were resold so to speak.  P&O received my £20 for two people and then resold the seats at £50 to the replacement couple thereby actually receiving £35.00pp for the table instead of £25.00.  Seemed a pretty good return for P&O to me.

 

No complaint or discussion occurred on the ship save my husband saying he hoped that the lack of notification to waiting list guests would occur before 4.00pm as having been disappointed on previous cruises with being unable to book speciality dining he knew how frustrating it was to miss out.  At the time I was too unwell to deal with anything myself so have no idea whether notification to the waiting list guests was done by reception or by The Limelight Club.  I do know my husband was a little upset that he was told he could not just give the reservation to the couple who were enquiring at the same time he was cancelling as he told me he got the general impression reception were told to place emphasis on the fact we would be charged.

To be fair to PO they seem to be caught between a rock and a hard place really. .I was told that lots of passengers were booking lots of select dining options and then just not turning up so others had not  been able to book. I was speaking to customer services and at the time my comment was .. "Well make them pay then!" In your situation sadly it is a case of genuine passengers being affected by their 24 hr rule. Once a cancellation is made they have to go back to their waiting list I imagine and can't just give it to someone else who happens to be there at time. 

Am not one for speaking up for PO all of the time as you know but on the issue of booked dining I'm not sure what else they can do to deter people from misusing the system. Its those passengers who misuse the system to blame.

Just a thought Megabear ...could any expenses or money lost due to your illness be claimed back on your insurance? Just a thought.

Anyway hope you are feeling better now and on the mend.

Ps we never got to the Retreat .. but we didn't miss it and it saved us a fortune  :-)

[Megabear2]

17 minutes ago, Presto2 said:

To be fair to PO they seem to be caught between a rock and a hard place really. .I was told that lots of passengers were booking lots of select dining options and then just not turning up so others had not  been able to book. I was speaking to customer services and at the time my comment was .. "Well make them pay then!" In your situation sadly it is a case of genuine passengers being affected by their 24 hr rule. Once a cancellation is made they have to go back to their waiting list I imagine and can't just give it to someone else who happens to be there at time. 

Am not one for speaking up for PO all of the time as you know but on the issue of booked dining I'm not sure what else they can do to deter people from misusing the system. Its those passengers who misuse the system to blame.

Just a thought Megabear ...could any expenses or money lost due to your illness be claimed back on your insurance? Just a thought.

Anyway hope you are feeling better now and on the mend.

Ps we never got to the Retreat .. but we didn't miss it and it saved us a fortune  :-)

As I said I didn't say anything about the charge personally, I am merely adding to the overall conversation about charging when a seat is resold.  As it happens it cost us nothing as we had a very large amount of OBC which P&O were able to not pay out.  All of our booked from home cancellations were refunded back to our credit card so we are not out of pocket.

 

However it does remain that the dining cancellation charge when a reservation is resold means that P&O are making a profit above and beyond the sale price of a booking.  Our upfront reservations which were refunded were replaced by a new booking charged at the on sale price that day.  Therefore P&O were not in any way out of pocket by our cancellation at 8.30am when I was advised not to leave the room for 24 hours.  Contrast this with excursions who immediately they were informed cancelled our trips, refunded the money and made no cancellation charge due to it being a medical situation.  I am aware they too resold the trip which was sold out.

 

Regarding those who just don't turn up, they are quite rightly automatically charged the £10pp.  The P&O lady who rang to check on my well being actually stated that she was disappointed reception did not use their discretion to waive the late cancellation fee as they were aware I was unwell rather than just cancelling because I didn't want to go.  She also mentioned my husband was unfortunate in telling reception when the honeymoon couple he spoke with were told he couldn't give them our reservation. She actually suggested he should have just told them to quote our cabin number on entry and arrange an under the counter financial transfer between them!

 

I can confirm we actually left over £400 obc on our account when we left the ship as it was of little relevance to us and we chose to write it off as my health situation was more important.  My insurer has been outstanding with no dramas and immediate pay out.  As a result we have not lost a penny.

 

Thank you for your good wishes on my health.  I am still under my GP and apparently my cough/sore throat is now being treated as something called "the 100 day cough".  I do this week thankfully finally feel better and have some appetite back.  

[terrierjohn]

13 minutes ago, Andy24v said:

I suppose it too much to ask for discretion to be exercised. I understand that P&O would be out of pocket if someone cancels at the 11th hour and they can't resell the place. However in MB's case, they had a full waitlist, so no problem filling the space, so they should have waived the cancellation charge.

 

We were on Marella last year, and had a couple of tours booked. The afternoon before one of the tours, my knee started playing up, so I went down to the destination desk to see if I could cancel. Whilst I was waiting, I got talking to a couple who were looking to book the tour I wanted to cancel. When I got to the desk to ask if I could cancel, I was told that there were no refunds if cancelled less than 24 hour before. I mentioned that the couple behind me wanted to book that tour, and the tickets were transferred to them, and my account refunded. 

 

 

 

I get the impression that very few staff have the authority to override the usual t&c's, and possibly get told off for even agreeing to ask their manager.

[Andy24v]

1 hour ago, terrierjohn said:

I get the impression that very few staff have the authority to override the usual t&c's, and possibly get told off for even agreeing to ask their manager.

My post wasn't a criticism of the staff, it was that the P&O policy should allow discretion and a degree of common sense.

[terrierjohn]

10 minutes ago, Andy24v said:

My post wasn't a criticism of the staff, it was that the P&O policy should allow discretion and a degree of common sense.

Unfortunately it does not seem that discretion is something that P&O understand.

[carlanthony24]

Could use discretion yes but then everyone would start saying I have a cold I want to cancel can I have my money back. Even though nothing is wrong with some of them.  

[Megabear2]

1 minute ago, carlanthony24 said:

Could use discretion yes but then everyone would start saying I have a cold I want to cancel can I have my money back. Even though nothing is wrong with some of them.  

Hmm ... so I'm under the ship's doctor, confined for 24 hours then sick for the remainder of the cruise under P&OS care and they can't use discretion?  As I said I was too ill to argue the case and didn't give a damn.  Whatever picture is painted if the reservation is resold regardless of the less than 24 hour cancellation P&O are not losing any money and are actually gaining from someone's misfortune by fining them.  

 

Obviously if someone just doesn't turn up or they can't resell the reservation then the "fine" is reasonable.  My point is the "fine" when the reservation is resold and filled by someone else is a nice way for P&O to increase revenue.

 

Incidentally this is a quote from an email sent to me two days ago by P&O customer care in Southampton:

 

"I am also sorry to note the issue you had regarding your reservation at the limelight club, I understand that due to the circumstances you would not have been able to cancel within the time-frame usually given, therefore I would expect that discretion would be used on a case by case basis".

[carlanthony24]

36 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Hmm ... so I'm under the ship's doctor, confined for 24 hours then sick for the remainder of the cruise under P&OS care and they can't use discretion?  As I said I was too ill to argue the case and didn't give a damn.  Whatever picture is painted if the reservation is resold regardless of the less than 24 hour cancellation P&O are not losing any money and are actually gaining from someone's misfortune by fining them.  

 

Obviously if someone just doesn't turn up or they can't resell the reservation then the "fine" is reasonable.  My point is the "fine" when the reservation is resold and filled by someone else is a nice way for P&O to increase revenue.

 

Incidentally this is a quote from an email sent to me two days ago by P&O customer care in Southampton:

 

"I am also sorry to note the issue you had regarding your reservation at the limelight club, I understand that due to the circumstances you would not have been able to cancel within the time-frame usually given, therefore I would expect that discretion would be used on a case by case basis".

"Even though some nothing is wrong with them". Yes ones under the doctor should be refunded. Even then people could still just go and be like my throat is hurting when generally nothing is wrong with them. You know like everyone else once it happens for someone they expect the same regardless.

Edited February 20 by carlanthony24

[Andy24v]

44 minutes ago, carlanthony24 said:

Could use discretion yes but then everyone would start saying I have a cold I want to cancel can I have my money back. Even though nothing is wrong with some of them.  

You're missing the point.

If someone cancels leaving the space unfilled, then I have no problem with cancellation charge.

What I am suggesting is that if the place is filled with another booking, such as from a wait list, then P&O are not out of pocket, so the charge should be waived.

[kalos]

19 minutes ago, carlanthony24 said:

Yes ones under the doctor should be refunded. Even then people could still just go and be like my throat is hurting when generally nothing is wrong with them.

Those folk would then be paying a ships medical bill, that does not come cheap .