All_About_Food

I'm writing my packing list and can't find information on robe sizes on Solstice (aqua class). I'm happy to pack a robe, but I'll feel silly if it turns out I didn't have to.

Thank you!

9 hours ago, Mura said:

I am coming to this thread late but I did at least skim through all the comments ...

 

I'm a good cook -- NOT a pastry chef!  Friends who have had dinner here call me a gourmet cook.  I do not.  I just plan my menus carefully so that it looks like I spent three days cooking ...

 

That said, we've been very happy with food on Oceania ever since the early days,  Sure, there are some misses.  And I've seen complaints here where some people say the food is too salty, others say it isn't salty enough ... different tastes for different folks, I guess.

 

But in general we find Oceania's sea-going fare excellent.  I can't speak for your palate, of course.

 

In terms of the specialty restaurants on Marina/Riviera, we rank Jacques #1, Polo/Toscana #2 and Red Ginger #4.  But there are plenty of regulars who would but Red Ginger first and Jacques last ...  We have thoroughly enjoyed our La Reserve dinners, and also like the dinner buffet in Terrace VERY much.

 

I'm inclined to think that the suggestions that you take a short cruie to test it out and see what you think.  THEN you can better decide if you want a longer cruise to more exotic destinations.

 

Of course,these days, who knows when we will really be cruising again????

 

 

Oh, being a pastry chef just means I can produce a lot of product quickly. I appreciate the perspective of a fellow kitchen creative!

I'm leaning towards trying a short cruise on both Oceania and Regent to compare. Thank you so much for taking the time to write such a thorough and helpful post!

10 hours ago, Tansy Mews said:

 

Can you tell us which cruise lines / ships you have tried? 

I've been on Princess, Carnival, and Celebrity, but this was all 15 or more years ago. The landscape has changed dramatically. The food on Princess was adequate, Carnival was ... Carnival, and Celebrity was alright but I was eating for sustenance not pleasure. Essentially, I'm attempting through research to find the best food available from a city girl's perspective. Thank you for responding!

2 hours ago, Jay23 said:

All About Food.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,    The food on Oceania is undoubtedly the best food at sea.  However it is Mass Catering as the ships carry between 600 and 1200 passengers.   I don't think it will be quite good enough for you.  Have you  cruised before.   Maybe cruising isn't for you at all.

I have cruised before, on Celebrity, 15 years ago. I greatly enjoyed the pace and ease of the trip and have always wanted to try it again. However, the only thing that I didn't particularly care for was the food, so I'm hoping to mitigate that as much as I can. That being said, I totally understand the limitations of the number of people dining and certainly wouldn't expect the best meal of my life. I just don't want to be eating to simply survive whilst on vacation. 

Thank you for taking the time to respond!

1 hour ago, flossie009 said:

I agree that some of the main courses in Chartreuse can be disappointing.

However the starters & desserts are delicious; the cheese trolley in Chartreuse is not to be missed if you enjoy a selection of hard & soft French cheeses 😋

You said the magic word. I will do bad things for good cheese. Apps are probably my favorite, so this is heartening. Thank you!

1 hour ago, blacksmith said:

I’m not a “foodie”, but I love quality food. You mentioned French food as one of your favorites so at considerable risk I will offer my opinion. IMHO Jacques on Oceania is better than Chartreuse on Regent. Totally subjective.
Having said that, I would choose Regent over any cruise line I have had any experience with.


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I'm considering Oceania, but I'm leaning towards Regent because it sounds, on balance, like it will appeal more to me because of the whole package. Thank you for your take on Jacques and Chartreuse, it's really appreciated.

1 hour ago, flossie009 said:

@All_About_Food, You will find some useful reviews of Regent cuisine if you search out some of the live blogs to be found on this Board.

Here is one from Explorer which has some excellent food pictures & descriptions scattered throughout the pages:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2685671-sorta-live-from-the-explorer-in-the-norwegian-fjords/

 

We have always been very pleased with the standard of food on Regent - menu choice, quality of ingredients & care in preparation.

The evening menu in the main Dining Room, Compass Rose, is exceptional with an extensive list of delicious "always available' options plus daily specials.

 

 

Thank you! This is so helpful. I am still figuring out how to navigate this board, it was lovely of you to do the legwork on this.

42 minutes ago, clairol said:

I understand what you are saying... honestly, it is by no means Michelin star quality but (and I echo others when I say) that it is excellent by cruising standards. I love food. And love really good high quality food - have been lucky enough to eat at top restaurants and, through philanthropic work, had some of the best chefs in the country cook for me. By enlarge I am pleased with the food - especially in the specialty restaurants. There are definitely some big hits and some misses... My SIL, however, is a total food snob and I know she would find fault - thus we have never suggested she join us... I will also say, some of the food shots I have seen on the board do not do Oceania's food justice. 

Really helpful response, I so appreciate you taking the time. I don't need Michelin star quality, not many of those to be had in my new hometown and the best meals I've ever enjoyed weren't in Michelin level restaurants. Your answer really helps me gauge what to expect and I'm encouraged. I can almost always find something to enjoy wherever I am, as long as it's not, well ... Carnival. But for this trip I want to splurge and find the best food available so that I can pair my love of cruising with my love of food. It sounds like Oceania isn't overselling their quality of offerings.

Thanks again! 

41 minutes ago, Paulchili said:

First you have to accept the concept that cuisine at sea is different from that on land.

You can't always go to the the market daily to get the freshest ingredients like chefs can on land.

Even on Oceania ships, which are smaller than mass market, you are cooking for 1200 people and the kitchen staff is larger and more varied and less well trained than it would be at French Laundry.

Once you accept those limitations, IME Oceania has the best overall food at sea (at least that was the case before COVID).

Sure, other lines, especially the luxury ones, have excellent meals but taken overall, Oceania beats them all IMO.

You have to sail on Marina or Riviera that have 4 specialties and offers wine paired special dinners that are truly outstanding.

After having said all this, you already know that food is one of the most subjective and least objective topics discussed here.

All of this is just my opinion having sailed on just about every major or minor cruise lines.

Alternatively, as others suggested, why not take a trip to France and visit a few Michelin star restaurants of your choice?

That's an excellent point, the lack of getting the best ingredients of the day is a completely understandable limiting factor. I have been considering a land-based trip but honestly, I love the pace and ease of cruising. I guess, fundamentally, I'm hoping to find a cruise where the food won't drag down the trip, if that makes sense. It is, as you say, completely subjective. It's why I tried to provide some context because my tastes reflect my history. Unfortunately I think my attempt at poking fun at how I could be perceived as a snob backfired spectacularly. Ah, the joys of internet communication.

Thank you for such a thorough and thoughtful response!

15 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

 

As a lifelong NY/SF "3-4 star" diner who will occasionally fly to NOLA just to eat my way across town, I can assure you that, overall, O's food is exceptionally good. 

A decent comparison would be solid/better, "tourist oriented" restaurants like Carmine's in NYC, Scoma's in SF, Commander's Palace in NOLA. What O's food is not is French Laundry, Jean George or one of my NOLA favorites - Brigtsen's

In addition, and unlike many other cruise lines, O's quality is consistent across venues. Specialty restaurants aren't "better" than the GDR. Rather the specialty restaurants have focused menus, decor and ambiance.

This is just what I was looking for! Thank you so much for providing real world examples, as it helps me calibrate. I quite enjoy Commander's Palace so this is very encouraging. I've just been burned before by cruise marketing regarding food so am a bit wary. Thanks again!

43 minutes ago, ORV said:

Oceania is about as good as it gets on cruise ships in many people's opinion. It sounds like cruising might not be for you though as most people in the know agree that Oceania simply can't compare to fresh ingredients prepared in a small setting. Being a dumb country boy I find it quite enjoyable. Not as good as the farm and Southern country cooking I grew up with, but still pretty good.

That's really good to know, thank you! Nothing like Southern home cooking, that's for sure.

10 minutes ago, Mudhen said:

I'm sure that online, somewhere are some sample menus for Compass Rose, as well as Prime 7, Chartruese and Pacific Rim.

Maybe if you perused them, you might get a general idea of what is offered. CR, in particular has huge choices and for the most part, you can probably get almost anything you want.....whether you like it or not.....we can't help you with that!

My husband is a retired upscale restaurant chef and I can't think of any meal on board that he's ever complained about. Having been in the restaurant business, we have tremendous respect for kitchen staff (all of 'em!) and table service. I can't fault Regent in any of those areas.

I love the menus, it's a large part of what has drawn me to Regent. Your feedback is so helpful, thank you!

20 minutes ago, RJ2002 said:

Have you cruised before with any line?  Probably an important question.

 

We've sailed many lines, and find the food on Regent (as well as Oceania) to be among the best.  We prefer Regent and the wide variety of choices and combinations in Compass Rose, the main dining room.  They will do their best to accommodate special requests.

Excellent question, I should have included that in my original post. My husband and I went on Celebrity for our honeymoon 15 years ago and overall enjoyed the experience a lot. The one area that I was disappointed in was the food, so I've been doing an ungodly amount of research on the subject and have narrowed it down to Regent and Oceania. Of course, at this point who knows what it will look like once the dust settles, but dreaming of a great vacation helps pass the time.

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my question! It was very helpful.

I was poking fun at myself because I didn't know how to convey how important food is to me without sounding like, well, a snob. Thank you for your thoughts!

Hello! I've been poring through this board, hoping to get a real sense about the food. I'm concerned about how many passengers must be served in the same time frame. So, I thought I'd ask this wonderful group of people what you think!

I grew up in San Francisco, recently moved from the City by the Bay to New Orleans and am in my 40s. I adore food and used to be a pastry chef. French cuisine is of particular interest to me. What are the chances that Regent is able to produce food of world-class quality on a ship of hundreds of people? I know I sound horrid, but food is really, really important to me and I want to make the best choice I can for a cruise on the other side of all of this difficulty. Perusing cruise lines is keeping me sane. Though maybe not that sane; I have spreadsheets with every little detail to compare (down to coffee makers in the cabins). 

Any insight you could provide would be greatly appreciated!

Hello! I've been poring through this board, hoping to get a real sense about the food. But the pictures I've seen lead me to believe that it's not quite up to what I'm looking for. However, pictures can be misleading so I thought I'd ask this wonderful group of people what you think!

I grew up in San Francisco, recently moved from the City by the Bay to New Orleans, and am in my 40s. I adore food and used to be a pastry chef. What are the chances that Oceania is able to produce food of world-class quality on a ship of hundreds of people? I know I sound horrid, but food is really, really important to me and I want to make the best choice I can for a cruise on the other side of all of this difficulty. Perusing cruise lines is keeping me sane. I have spreadsheets with every little detail to compare. 

Any insight you could provide would be greatly appreciated!