Harters

I'd also make it the Fat Duck. Went for my 60th birthday, in 2010. It was then rated as the third best restaurant in the world. The Waterside was for our 40th anniversary (2012). It would certainly be in my top five places, along with Le Manoir in Oxfordshire. I'd have to really think which other two places to put on that list. Maybe the now closed Club Allard in Madrid would be one

Recently back from an Oceania cruise. The MDR, specialities and the buffet all had their individual merits and we had dinner in all of them. One of the benefits of Oceania is that specialities are not chargeable extras as I understand to be with some other lines. The buffet allowed us to dine outside on the terrace one evening and the Spanish buffet another night was excellent. I suppose though that we ate in the MDR more nights than anywhere else. A major selling point for us with Oceania is that you can turn up at the MDR at whatever time you like, ask for a table for two and get one pretty much immediately. We have no interest in cruising on a ship where there are "sittings" or you are seated with other people. It's just not us. We also like thier "smart casual" dress code which is how we'd dress for a nice place on land - but that's a whole different dining question, I suppose.

Probably fish with lots of fiddly bones. Fine with fish on the bone, as such, so long as I can easily slide the flesh off the bone.

Both run basically the same routes and charge the same prices. We used the Turistic a couple of weeks back - only because we came to them first in Plaza Catalunya. It was fine. We treated it as a city sightseeing tour for a couple of hours, only hopping off at the Miro Museum (but then we've been to Barcelona for long weekends before, so know the main sights).

I regularly play on the Tripadvisor Tenerife forum (which we visit annually) where these two companies are consistently recommended. Mentioned almost as often as the "one ot avoid" - Goldcar.

I'm not really fussed whether gratuities are built into the price or not. O makes it clear in the T & Cs that they have to be paid. It's really no different than looking at a restaurant menu in the UK and seeing they add a discretionary service charge (in place of old fashioned cash tipping). In both cases, you know you are going to be asked to pay £X + £Y. That said, it's obviously more transparent if tips are included in the main price. A question for my fellow Britons, though. Do you find any UK travel agents likely to offer pre-paid gratuities as a perk, as often mentioned by North Americans? My guess is not and that the UK travel agent industry is different from the American one in this sort of respect but I'd be interested in confirmation (or not).

Perhaps so. Perhaps drinkers were more attracted to excursions that mentioned food. But, as the only tee-totaller, I found it an interesting occurance.

It was four pressed items (submitted within the first three days) on Nautica the other week.

I'd be curious to learn the proportion. On our recent Nautica cruise, we went on two ship's excursions where alcohol was available (to accompany tapas). In both cases, I was the only person not drinking (I am teetotal).

We didnt on our recent cruise. But then, like my fellow European Hambagahle, I come from a country where a cash tipping culture no longer really applies. I regarded the automatic $23 gratuity as simply an incorporated cost of the cruise, just as I do for a service charge added to a restaurant meal.

Frankly, it shouldnt to any significant degree. The GDR on any ship, as it's land based equivalent in tourist focussed hotels, is a major mass catering enterprise. To a large extent, numbers of diners can be predicted and staff are already there. It is not the individual crew members who are the issue here. I think ToxM hits the nail on the head at post #7 suggesting this is a structural/management problem. My criticism of breakfast food items arriving randomly is entirely down to how the kitchen is being managed at that service.There was no similar problem at lunch or dinner. My criticism about dilatory service in the GDR has a similar base. Staff may have been trained to spend time doing Task X in preference to, say, taking orders in good time from newly seated diners. Or doing that because supervison/management is not being effective. I eat in enough restaurants to know a well run customer focussed room. This wasnt one - but there are individual servers who I would employ in an instant if ever I was foolish enough to want to open a restaurant.

Citation, please. I'm conscious that the world has 195 countries and it seems very possible that some may have a six month requirement. But, of course, if you different........

I think PhD-iva is right about local requirements. Passports were not held on our recent cruise (which only included Spanish ports). Of course, in that case, everyone was already legitimately in Spain.

Oh, yes. And don't be misled by the reference to "Canadian bacon" on the breakfast menu in the GDR. This is not the back bacon that's served in Canada. It's a round slice of some fairly bland unidentifiable meat, presumably from a tin - a bit like Spam but without Spam's flavour. And just not at all nice.

Of course, those of us who live in countries where the tax is already incorporated into the menu price, will usually tip, or pay the service charge, on the full amount. Here, in the UK, sales tax (VAT) is there at 20%.

Two further asides, which I didnt want to put in the review. Firstly, breakfast in Waves was just the thing on two mornings when we needed something quick. What seemed slightly odd was that, on both occasions, we were the only people in there. And, second, the cruise didnt seem full. Indeed, up to at least a few days before, O's website still showed availability. It seemed most apparent on sea days when you know everyone must be around. Where was everyone? Tucked up in their cabins? Certainly not in the main public areas, So, one day, I asked at reception how many were on board and was told Nautica was "sailing full". I wondered if the guy may have been "economical with the actualité" (as a British politician once said in court).

Yes - very easy to grab a cab from the rank. Cost is around €40 to the city centre

I've just posted to the review section of CC, but thought I'd copy it here for the benefit of forum folk This cruise had been a long time coming. We had a HAL Alaska cruise cancelled on us at the beginning of the pandemic. That would have been a 70th birthday present to myself. And, last summer, we got Covid a couple of days before an Oceania cruise we’d booked as a present to ourselves for our golden wedding. Then more general health issues intervened, meaning we couldn’t get travel insurance – so that meant we couldn’t book a replacement cruise in the early autumn. And we had to cancel the transatlantic cruise we’d put a deposit on with Oceania. We also had to cancel our annual three week winter break in Spain. Knowing the health issues were about to be resolved, we started to keep an eye on one cruise that was similar to the original golden wedding one but it became waitlisted the day before we were in a position to get insurance. So, we booked this one as something of a second best. Second best in that the ports were not particularly good – several we either knew well or knew we had zero interest in them. But, hey, we were going cruising and with three sea days, out of ten, this suited us. So, some brief comments We’d booked a penthouse suite, during the “extraordinary savings” sale for the price we might have expected for a Concierge. We may now be spoilt for any future cruises with O. Loads of space. Lots of storage. Really well fitted out, with lots of plug sockets where you need them. Shower cubicle of “proper” size (I know this is an issue with cheaper cabins). The three bags of “free” laundry was helpful. As for the butler, we hardly troubled him. Got a couple of items pressed when we boarded. Got canapes a couple of nights (they weren’t very good so we didn’t bother after that). And he brought us an ice bucket one evening. But that was it. “The Finest Cuisine at Sea”. We’ve nothing to validate that marketing claim against. So, we said to ourselves, yes we know this is mass catering but let’s see how it compares with the neighbourhood restaurants we regularly go to at home. Well, it proved to be a mixed comparison. Terrace Café and Waves were excellent for what they are. And the Polo Grill and Toscana stood up to our local steakhouse and Italian. In my experience American steak is never as full flavoured as European steak – it’s why I no longer order steak on trips to the States. But, I know it’s an American ship, catering for American tastes, so no actual criticism there. My only other comment is that, on the second visit to Polo, dessert took so long that we gave up on it – never walked out of one of my local places. But otherwise, service in the specialities was fine. Which brings me to the Grand Dining Room which we found very hit and miss. This was particularly the slow service which, at breakfast, can only be politely described as dilatory. And , at breakfast, the kitchen has a most peculiar way of plating. So, for example, one morning, a bowl with two poached eggs was put in front of me, followed minutes later, by a plate with the rest of the breakfast. Same meal, my partner is served most of her cooked breakfast, except for the grilled tomato which appeared later. Another morning, an order for pancakes and bacon saw the pancake arrive and be almost completely eaten before the bacon was served. It’s bizzare. Even a greasy spoon café can plate a full breakfast. As for dinner, we realised early on that the dish as described on the menu would be quite spartan and, from then on, always ordered a couple of sides. Menu choice was fine, although a tad limited. The bread basket served with all meals in all locations, was exemplary – on occasions the best thing we ate during the meal. Moving on to drinks, the free soft drinks and water is great. Not least as I don’t drink alcohol and my partner only sparingly. But on the occasions, when she did order an alcoholic drink, we both had sharp intakes of breath about how eye-wateringly expensive it all was. And we were making that comparison as Britons used to high levels of tax being levied on alcohol. . The drink prices are already very high and then there’s the extra 20% gratuity added. A bottle of Peroni coming in at $9.25 for example. . As for the entertainment, we know from our previous cruise on Marina that the shows are fairly minimal. That’s absolutely fine with us. We went to the show every night and enjoyed them. We’d taken the option to have the free excursions as always seem to be recommended on Cruise Critic’s Oceania forum. We found them a bit basic and not that interesting. Now, I accept that we knew several of the ports well so, even if we looked to do an excursion there, it was going to be a bit limited. One of our three was particularly disappointing. Billed as a “Gastronomy Tour of Salobrena”, it was no such thing. We only drove past the outskirts of the town, stopping for a couple of minutes for a photo opportunity of its castle. Gone was the promised stop for tapas at a local bar. Gone was the promised lunch at a beach chiringuito. In their place, a drive along the coast and then taken to “wedding venue” sort of place for lunch. Pleasant it was. Gastronomy tour it wasn’t. If ever we do a future O cruise, I think we’d question whether excursions are the best value for us or whether OBC would be a much better bet. Small ship or larger ship? We’ve had one previous cruise on Marina and I was little concerned I might feel constrained by the much small Nautica. I wasn’t, although I think that, all other things being equal, I’d prefer the larger space. But it wouldn’t stop me sailing on Nautica again. To summarise, this was a lovely holiday and we don’t regret it at all. But it is, by far, the most money we’ve spent on a holiday and, as at today, we’re not convinced that it was value for money. It certainly isn’t affordable as a regular holiday (without our retirement savings disappearing at a rate of knots). And I think we’d have to make a price comparison between an Oceania cruise and a stay in, say, a 5* Spanish hotel and assess what we were getting with a cruise for the extra cost.

Dianne - just about to post my review to the forum

Just exercise the caution you'd usually exercise in any crowded major city. I say that as someone who has twice been a victim (once in Paris, once in Tenerife).

We're just back from Nautica. We only booked it a few weeks ago and I went straight to the roll call. It had been active when it was started last year but in the past months it had been very flat. Nothing of interest to me there.

And 20% automatically added on already high priced alcoholic drinks. Even by the expensive standards of the UK, this is eye-wateringly expensive. Thankfully, I don't drink and my partner only sparingly.

As mentioned back in April, we'd booked the Avenida Palace, based on mentions on this thread and further research. It’s situated on the Gran Via, just a few minutes stroll from the Plaza Catalunya, so very central, with a metro station just outside. It’s an old building with quite a history but, inside, there was a top floor (9th) spacious room with good wifi, Nespresso machine and very welcome air-con. Beds were comfy, shower was efficient and breakfast was very good. Lots of choice, including the making of pan con tomate and other “continental” stuff. There was also hot food but, truth be told, that rarely looks appealing in Spanish hotels and this was no exception. We’d booked direct which got us a 10% discount on the rate, a small discount on the price of breakfast and a free welcome drink. When we checked in, the guy on reception suggested we have that drink on the rooftop terrace. So we did, It’s a lovely spot with a small bar, small pool and big, big views of the city. Good stay and thoroughly recommended.

My thanks to all. I note that the vast majority of respondents are from North America and I note almost all prefer east to west. The two replies from my fellow Europeans note that, for us, west to east means no tiring jetlag at the end of what should be a relaxing holiday, so confirming my initial thoughts. It may prove to be something of a moot point. We have just returned from Nautica's cruise from/to Barcelona. It was very enjoyable but, in truth, the full cost has left us wondering whether future cruises with O are (1) affordable and (2) represent value for money for us. I will write a review in the coming days and will share that on the forum as well as the review pages. John

We do not come close to having a 6 figure income (in either dollars, sterling or euros) which is why our forthcoming cruise is only our second with Oceania. When the new deal is announced, we'll decide if there will ever be another one. Maybe, maybe not - after all, there are other holidays available, other than upscale cruises. Given only a choice between our regular winter break in Tenerife or a cruise, we'd be going to Spain every time.