Super organised - all speciality dining and shows booked for Iona at the stroke of midnight!

[Red Leicester]

Do they hold any back for those that aren't as organised or have to work at midnight so can't book or is it just tough?!

 

This is one thing I don't think is fair that it's first come first served on bits that are extremely limited or where people have to budget.

Or maybe limited people booking to one Epicurean etc to leave chances / opportunities for others.

Edited August 20, 2023 by Red Leicester

[Megabear2]

27 minutes ago, Red Leicester said:

Do they hold any back for those that aren't as organised or have to work at midnight so can't book or is it just tough?!

 

This is one thing I don't think is fair that it's first come first served on bits that are extremely limited or where people have to budget.

Or maybe limited people booking to one Epicurean etc to leave chances / opportunities for others.

No and a dangerous proposition which caused uproar the last time it was muted!

[Red Leicester]

No to which bit and why is it dangerous?

 

I'm sure I read on here a year or so back someone emailing the CEO as they couldn't get the booking they wanted.  

[Megabear2]

22 minutes ago, Red Leicester said:

No to which bit and why is it dangerous?

 

I'm sure I read on here a year or so back someone emailing the CEO as they couldn't get the booking they wanted.  

No they don't hold anything back.  It was mentioned a few months back on the subject of limiting individuals' reservations in the speciality restaurants and it was not received well with some taking it very much a personal dig at them.  

 

I was one of those who wrote to Executive Office asking if things were held back or limited  but after the reaction I saw here I left it well alone.

[Red Leicester]

So really is first come first served and unlucky for those who can't book in time ahead of boarding.

[bronzevernis]

Just now, Red Leicester said:

So really is first come first served and unlucky for those who can't book in time ahead of boarding.

 

The way of the world for most things these days!

[Red Leicester]

2 minutes ago, bronzevernis said:

 

The way of the world for most things these days!

Indeed.  But impossible for those that can't be up at midnight.  Or those that bag two of something when others get nowt.  I have no objection to booking one early doors.

[bronzevernis]

There are still plenty of available speciality dining slots for our cruise on 2nd Sept - 13 days to go.  I’m afraid I am one of those who booked Epicurian and Sindhi x2. To avoid the previous uproar referred to by @Megabear2 I shall refrain from replying to your particular point about this! 

[Windsurfboy]

34 minutes ago, Red Leicester said:

So really is first come first served and unlucky for those who can't book in time ahead of boarding.

 

28 minutes ago, Red Leicester said:

Indeed.  But impossible for those that can't be up at midnight.  Or those that bag two of something when others get nowt.  I have no objection to booking one early doors.

 

32 minutes ago, bronzevernis said:

 

The way of the world for most things these days!

 

Yep that's the way of the world, some people go on cruises, some can't afford any sort of holidays. 

 

Prior to the app, you booked on board, Suites , Liguirian,  Baltic got first dibs, so it's never been equall. Perhaps if P&O rationed booking they might take a pragmatic commercial approach, giving priority to highest paying and loyalist passengers as it used to be. Restricting pre booking to select fares, to encourage people to pay more. Be carefull what you wish for.

 

 

 

 

Edited August 20, 2023 by Windsurfboy

[Red Leicester]

It is what it is I guess.  I'm not fussed by fine dining so I'm not losing out there.  But we wanted to try the Olive Grove and that was fully booked every time we tried. I'm not sure if you can book these as soon as you board but if you can that is also a little unfair on those with a later boarding time.  I stand to be corrected though.

[Red Leicester]

2 minutes ago, Windsurfboy said:

 

 

 

Yep that's the way of the world, some people go on cruises, some can't afford any sort of holidays. 

 

Prior to the app, you booked on board, Suites , Liguirian,  Baltic got first dibs, so it never been equall. Perhaps if P&O rationed booking they might take a pragmatic commercial approach, giving priority to highest paying and loyalist passenger. Restricting ng pre booking for select. Be carefull what you wish for.

 

 

 

 

Indeed we should. 

 

I'm all for valuing loyalty but not 90% of everything going before newbies have a chance to experience and the rest getting snapped up in minutes on board.  Ultimately it will stop some coming back which is what P&O rely on.

[Megabear2]

13 minutes ago, Windsurfboy said:

 

 

 

Yep that's the way of the world, some people go on cruises, some can't afford any sort of holidays. 

 

Prior to the app, you booked on board, Suites , Liguirian,  Baltic got first dibs, so it's never been equall. Perhaps if P&O rationed booking they might take a pragmatic commercial approach, giving priority to highest paying and loyalist passengers as it used to be. Restricting pre booking to select fares, to encourage people to pay more. Be carefull what you wish for.

 

 

 

 

Prior to the app I never had a problem booking a night in these venues.  Booking used to open 14 days before boarding in the cruise personaliser giving everyone an equal opportunity to book.  If the "elite" were getting first dibs there was also room for others on a level playing field. 

 

Once onboard there were tables set up on the first day after sailing, it was announced in Horizon and those interested could go along and reserve.  There was never the panic that occurs nowadays.

 

The lowering of quality and standards in the MDR's has created a situation where many won't even contemplate using them.  Iona and Arvia have changed things enormously which hasn't helped either.

 

P&O push these "fine dining" speciality restaurants at their new cruisers who fully expect to be able to an equal chance of trying them.  It's an interesting conundrum with no perfect solution.

[Gettingwarmer]

1 hour ago, Megabear2 said:

 

Once onboard there were tables set up on the first day after sailing, it was announced in Horizon and those interested could go along and reserve.  There was never the panic that occurs nowadays.

 

The lowering of quality and standards in the MDR's has created a situation where many won't even contemplate using them.  Iona and Arvia have changed things enormously which hasn't helped either.

Indeed they found it hard to get people to book speciality restaurants and there were tables offering enticements to get you to book on the first days. 
 

Due to worries about getting tables in MDR we booked all speciality restaurants on our last cruise on Iona. 

[terrierjohn]

2 hours ago, Red Leicester said:

So really is first come first served and unlucky for those who can't book in time ahead of boarding.

Fortunately we don't feel the need to book speciality restaurants, to make our cruise truly fulfilled, so we are happy to pick up the crumbs. We do find that the Beach House can usually be booked if you visit the main desk while it's open,  although not every day and not at anytime. The glass house similarly you can often find a table, but you do need to visit the restaurant rather than use the app. Similarly with the Olive Grove you can often find an available slot by visiting the main desk, and I understand that a visit to Epicurean or Sindhu can often find an available time slot, but personally I find them both very overrated.

But I do think that the way the app booking system is currently being operated is grossly unfair, and in the end can only foster resentment on those who either don't know how the system works, are not very computer savvy or have a very late check in time, and I don't mind stirring up the Hornets nest one little bit.

[Windsurfboy]

So the solution entails

 

Guaranteed  booking of MDR or other included restaurants 

Better food in MDR and included restaurants. 

 

This would entail perhaps more staff, more tables and better ingredients. 

 

All in all higher prices.

 

But P&O need to keep prices low to entice people on biggest ships , a dilemma. 

 

Too much uncertainty,  looks like after next and last P&O , back to Saga

[TigerB]

2 hours ago, Red Leicester said:

It is what it is I guess.  I'm not fussed by fine dining so I'm not losing out there.  But we wanted to try the Olive Grove and that was fully booked every time we tried. I'm not sure if you can book these as soon as you board but if you can that is also a little unfair on those with a later boarding time.  I stand to be corrected though.

 

The Olive Grove is one of those restaurants that isn't available to book ahead on the Cruise Planner; well, it certainly hasn't been for the three cruises for Arvia and Iona that we've been on.  Once onboard, we found that availablity for the Iona version to be better than the Arvia one, even getting in a few days into the cruise.

 

We like to be able to book our speciality dining, and when available, our MDR dining ahead of the cruise. That said, I would expect that some availablity is held back for booking by others once onboard; if not, it should be.

[Red Leicester]

Lower prices all the way for the me.  And when people jump ship (no pun intended) to the competition that suits their needs it may mean more changes can happen on P&O.  Some change is good.  Not all, some will be awful, and depends how you do it.  But some change is good.

[terrierjohn]

1 minute ago, TigerB said:

 

The Olive Grove is one of those restaurants that isn't available to book ahead on the Cruise Planner; well, it certainly hasn't been for the three cruises for Arvia and Iona that we've been on.  Once onboard, we found that availablity for the Iona version to be better than the Arvia one, even getting in a few days into the cruise.

 

We like to be able to book our speciality dining, and when available, our MDR dining ahead of the cruise. That said, I would expect that some availablity is held back for booking by others once onboard; if not, it should be.

You have far too much faith in P&Os management than I do. Over 20 odd years of cruising I have found P&O ships to have the poorest on board hotel management compared with Princess, Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Star cruises, Thomson (now Marella) and Carnival themselves.

[Red Leicester]

There should also be something done for booking stuff and then being a no-show.

 

Same applies for people who reserve seats on trains and then don't turn up.  Though I can jump into that if needs be.  And don't get me started on being able to reserve a seat mid-journey on a train. You get comfy at Birmingham in a free seat heading to York and unbeknownst it is booked after you leave Brum and you are turfed out at Burton.  That's for a different forum though!

[Red Leicester]

2 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

You have far too much faith in P&Os management than I do. Over 20 odd years of cruising I have found P&O ships to have the poorest on board hotel management compared with Princess, Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Star cruises, Thomson (now Marella) and Carnival themselves.

Why choose P&O then out of curiosity?

[bronzevernis]

6 minutes ago, Windsurfboy said:

So the solution entails

 

Guaranteed  booking of MDR or other included restaurants 

Better food in MDR and included restaurants. 

 

This would entail perhaps more staff, more tables and better ingredients. 

 

All in all higher prices.

 

But P&O need to keep prices low to entice people on biggest ships , a dilemma. 

 

 

 

I wish I could say that our fares were cheap! Standard balcony cabin for 7 days came in at £2.5k (select fare) - booked back in April. The "extras" have cost another £750 (wifi package, refresh drinks package, excursion and speciality dining). This is definitely an expensive holiday for us. 

 

We could not just not afford nor justify some of the prices of other cruise lines - Celebrity and RCL prices were eyewateringly expensive.

[terrierjohn]

1 minute ago, Red Leicester said:

Why choose P&O then out of curiosity?

Probably like you because the price is right, although we have just done a Princess cruise and have another booked for May next year, and if their price is right then they would be our current first choice.

However since we are no longer too fussed about the theatre shows, and don't bother much with the on board entertainment, nor shore excursions as the accessible ones are really only panoramic coach tours, and very expensive, so a simple warm weather cruise with good wheelchair access both on board and ashore, then we are more than happy.

[Megabear2]

6 minutes ago, bronzevernis said:

 

I wish I could say that our fares were cheap! Standard balcony cabin for 7 days came in at £2.5k (select fare) - booked back in April. The "extras" have cost another £750 (wifi package, refresh drinks package, excursion and speciality dining). This is definitely an expensive holiday for us. 

 

We could not just not afford nor justify some of the prices of other cruise lines - Celebrity and RCL prices were eyewateringly expensive.

I sympathise.  It's a myth that all P&O cruises are cheap, they most certainly aren't for everyone.

 

I cancelled a booked Christmas Caribbean cruise on Arvia for this year as the price based on an ordinary balcony cabin with economy flights was over £7,300 for two.  It has been replaced with a Celebrity cruise, admittedly a day shorter for a £1,500 less, same balcony cabin, flights included and a two day stay in Fort Lauderdale. We were lucky to take advantage of a very good 75% off second passenger offer and also a drinks/dining and wifi offer making the deal far better than the P&O offering. 

 

Apart from one or two exceptions it is the two big ships with their repeat itineraries which are offering the bargain fares and if you delve into these the select fare offerings on anything other than an inside they are still not bargain bucket priced. In a strange way all this talk of "cheap" is based on individuals' lifestyles and income.  £100 to some is loose change to others its a fortune.  I'm reminded of the then Chancellor Geoffrey Howe in 1982 having his trousers stolen containing his wallet whilst on a train when he stated he only lost a small amount of loose change - it was £150 at a time when the UK average weekly wage was £154!

 

It is very easy for those among us who can afford Saga, Cunard, Celebrity etc to say P&O are "cheap" but for people such as yourself that is clearly not the case.

 

 

 

 

 

[Ardennais]

1 hour ago, terrierjohn said:

Fortunately we don't feel the need to book speciality restaurants, to make our cruise truly fulfilled, so we are happy to pick up the crumbs. We do find that the Beach House can usually be booked if you visit the main desk while it's open,  although not every day and not at anytime. The glass house similarly you can often find a table, but you do need to visit the restaurant rather than use the app. Similarly with the Olive Grove you can often find an available slot by visiting the main desk, and I understand that a visit to Epicurean or Sindhu can often find an available time slot, but personally I find them both very overrated.

But I do think that the way the app booking system is currently being operated is grossly unfair, and in the end can only foster resentment on those who either don't know how the system works, are not very computer savvy or have a very late check in time, and I don't mind stirring up the Hornets nest one little bit.

Well said! 

[Red Leicester]

If the price is right and cheaper then we need to accept service and quality may not / will not be A1.  You pay £1 for a flight with a budget airline and it’s delayed then customer service isn’t going to brilliant, why people think it will be staggers me to be honest.  Manage your expectations and all that. 
 

P&O certainly isn’t cheap compared to others but is cheaper then luxury lines but for the price I pay I feel I get value for money in all honesty.  I’d much rather pay less and have the odd compromise, and accept as such.  We have looked at other lines which cost more and have weighed up the pros and cons and don’t agree that paying more equals better value.  Yes, we may get more but for us we wouldn’t use it. 
 

We can’t have our cake and eat it.