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How far has Oceania "Dumbed Down" or made Bland, the taste of it's Culinary Offering!


St Paul Girl
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Well, with all of the posting that we have had concerning the "cuisine" on Oceania becoming "bland" due to the corporate direction of Oceania to "cater" to it's target clientele, I believe that a separate tread should be created to discuss this trending topic in detail.

Also, I believe that Oceania monitors Cruise Critic, so this may help all of us who appreciate finer cuisine on our cruises, NOT bland meat and potatoes.

I'll start with the comment about the Caesar salad dressing being no better than some concoction of mayonnaise and nothing else and having to request the "original" dressing because Oceania clientele prefer the other non bland dressing.

I would also like to say that any food served from any kitchen has to contain at least some salt to begin the cooking process, or it is NOT worthy of being served anywhere.

From a restaurant perspective, salt should not be available on the table. The food should be prepared properly when being cooked not after.

Anyway, let's see how this goes and please be respectful of persons comments unless they want meat and potatoes, then go ahead and flame them.:)

Happy Cruising everyone!:)

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As far as what I've read there is only one vocal poster saying this. In my opinion that does not make a trend.

 

 

Currently on Nautica, food seems the same as always. I don't eat salads though.

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As far as what I've read there is only one vocal poster saying this. In my opinion that does not make a trend.

 

 

Currently on Nautica, food seems the same as always. I don't eat salads though.

 

.....and we don't need a new thread for SAME issue discussed already

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Agree with above concerning this strange thread, and one posters' view of the food. Just off the Regatta, and no need to ask for a different Caesar salad dressing, unless you were on a restricted diet, as were our friends. Then, yes, the salad dressing was different. I believe the vocal posters may have been given dietary restricted dressing etc by accident. Remember, O has Vegan, low salt, gluten free, fat free, etc dietary foods. Food tasted the same for us as it has been for the past 5 years. YMMV, and yes, this thread should be put to rest, until you return from YOUR cruise.

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Well, with all of the posting that we have had concerning the "cuisine" on Oceania becoming "bland" due to the corporate direction of Oceania to "cater" to it's target clientele, I believe that a separate tread should be created to discuss this trending topic in detail.

 

Also, I believe that Oceania monitors Cruise Critic, so this may help all of us who appreciate finer cuisine on our cruises, NOT bland meat and potatoes.

 

I'll start with the comment about the Caesar salad dressing being no better than some concoction of mayonnaise and nothing else and having to request the "original" dressing because Oceania clientele prefer the other non bland dressing.

 

I would also like to say that any food served from any kitchen has to contain at least some salt to begin the cooking process, or it is NOT worthy of being served anywhere.

 

From a restaurant perspective, salt should not be available on the table. The food should be prepared properly when being cooked not after.

 

Anyway, let's see how this goes and please be respectful of persons comments unless they want meat and potatoes, then go ahead and flame them.:)

 

Happy Cruising everyone!:)

 

 

 

Ignore that poster. The food has not been dumbed down Indeed fake news

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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Why not wait until your cruise & judge for yourself

Everyone has different tastes

As I mentioned in the other thread there are many factors that can alter one's tastes buds

Go enjoy the cruise with an open mind

JMO

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Why not wait until your cruise & judge for yourself

Everyone has different tastes

As I mentioned in the other thread there are many factors that can alter one's tastes buds

Go enjoy the cruise with an open mind

JMO

 

That's always been the plan. I just posted it to see other persons opinions compared to other cruises. If you have not cruised on anything other than Oceania, well there is nothing to compare it too other than real land restaurants.

We are "foodies" and know how food should be prepared if you own a restaurant.

We have cruised only on Princess(2) and Celebrity(1) and found the food on Princess to a notch above "wedding" catered food in the MDR and did not think the specialty restaurants were worth the upsell after one try.

Celebrity, in Luminae, was as good as any top notch restaurant that we tried in cities around the world, well worth the up charge.

We choose Oceania solely because of the great itinery for South America.

We will not starve on this cruise and look forward to the food as that is the "feature" that is talked about and advertised by Oceania.

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If you are lucky enough to have the Indian Dinner scheduled in The Terrace -- do not miss it. While the vindalooo will not melt your tonsils, it certainly has not been dumbed down. It left a pleasantly warm glow.

I say don't miss it because there were a number of people who came in, saw the choices (many Indian foods and some that weren't) and spun on their heel and left huffing about 'not eating that stuff'. Too bad. Their loss.

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If you are lucky enough to have the Indian Dinner scheduled in The Terrace -- do not miss it. While the vindalooo will not melt your tonsils, it certainly has not been dumbed down. It left a pleasantly warm glow.

I say don't miss it because there were a number of people who came in, saw the choices (many Indian foods and some that weren't) and spun on their heel and left huffing about 'not eating that stuff'. Too bad. Their loss.

Thanks for the heads up! We will definitely keep our eyes on the daily menus for it.

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St Paul Girl I've reading the same threads as you and am wondering also. However, i don't think salt is the primary issue (despite the comment above); you can't seriously dictate that all people eat food at the same salt levels - people with low blood sugar crave salt like a deer at a salt lick; people with salt restrictions become used to its absence.

Spice is another matter; it can mean "hot" like habanero , or taste based like cumin or cardamom; this is where Oceania has excelled; they used bold flavors where others feared to tread.

On my January cruise we enjoyed most of the dishes and when I was concerned (not specific to the ship) I requested and got more spice on my Lobster Fra Diavolo, and it was yummy (despite posts complaining about the Lobster).

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Well, with all of the posting that we have had concerning the "cuisine" on Oceania becoming "bland" due to the corporate direction of Oceania to "cater" to it's target clientele, I believe that a separate tread should be created to discuss this trending topic in detail.
The main recent thread I believe you are referring to ran its course fading out to a discussion of what is a Caesar salad and some regional differences, that's all. Tempest tamed.

 

I think all the repeated posts of bland food is from the same poster who is also really mad about "geriatrics" ruining his or her tour. And is for some reason is concerned that they wear diapers and whine. I think that is where the recent whining of bland food is coming from. perhaps you've seen more reports from others that might lend some credibility but like others I see no beed more a new thread, just get the old one back on topic if you have something to add.

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St Paul Girl I've reading the same threads as you and am wondering also. However, i don't think salt is the primary issue (despite the comment above); you can't seriously dictate that all people eat food at the same salt levels - people with low blood sugar crave salt like a deer at a salt lick; people with salt restrictions become used to its absence.

Spice is another matter; it can mean "hot" like habanero , or taste based like cumin or cardamom; this is where Oceania has excelled; they used bold flavors where others feared to tread.

On my January cruise we enjoyed most of the dishes and when I was concerned (not specific to the ship) I requested and got more spice on my Lobster Fra Diavolo, and it was yummy (despite posts complaining about the Lobster).

 

I agree with you 100%! It's not necessarily the "heat" but the proper use of spices that make a culinary statement. From a simple dry rub(cumin, coriander, smoked paprika, brown sugar and garlic and onion powder) on a steak or garlic in a red sauce, all add to the taste experience.

Try the dry rub on a steak, no need to add anything to that steak but a nice Cabernet!

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That's always been the plan. I just posted it to see other persons opinions compared to other cruises. If you have not cruised on anything other than Oceania, well there is nothing to compare it too other than real land restaurants.

We are "foodies" and know how food should be prepared if you own a restaurant.

If you own a restaurant you may be disappointed

 

We had a person who was a Chef on one of our cruises way back in the early years who found the food OK but not up to her standards

 

 

I found HAL food was mediocre ingredients & some tasted awful

 

Swiss Chalet chicken was 5 star compared to HAL chicken

YMMV

 

I prefer my steak plain maybe some pepper I would not waste giving a good Cab to the steak ;)

 

Much ado about nothing IMO

Edited by LHT28
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If you own a restaurant you may be disappointed

 

We had a person who was a Chef on one of our cruises way back in the early years who found the food OK but not up to her standards

 

 

I found HAL food was mediocre ingredients & some tasted awful

 

Swiss Chalet chicken was 5 star compared to HAL chicken

YMMV

 

I prefer my steak plain maybe some pepper I would not waste giving a good Cab to the steak ;)

 

Much ado about nothing IMO

 

Now I'm really looking forward to my HAL cruise in February; never heard of Swiss Chalet but I suspect it's a frozen food brand featuring Chicken and not to be missed Salisbury Steak; must try some and compare. :o

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Well, the original topic is not "what food do we like best", but has O's cuisine declined. IMHO, definitely it has.

 

Not long ago I posted here and elsewhere that we found O's food the best of any line we've been with: including all the mainstreams, Regent, and Crystal. It stood out because of menu selection, quality of the varied courses, and the presentation.

 

Now I think all three factors on O are good, but do not stand out from other lines. Perhaps it is a sign of the times, but it's the way I see it.

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Honestly, I think you have to focus on the cruise for the sake of the cruise and not so much the food.

Food can sometimes be excellent on Oceania. Sometimes it's really disappointing. But if your primary focus is food and you consider yourself a "foodie" (an overused term if there ever was one), you are probably better off doing a land trip where you can dine at outstanding restaurants.

At the end of the day, it's still a cruise ship and they are preparing food for a huge number of passengers.

Edited by MarkieMarkNYC
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