Oceania marina/riviera vs Crystal serenity

[zship]

For anyone who has been on these ships, which would you rate higher for food quality and alternate dining ?

[LHT28]

I have not been on Crystal but I will point out no matter cruise ship you are on the food is subjective

 

 

It is not a question that anyone can really give a definitive answer to

[Leonid]

I have not been on Crystal but I will point out no matter cruise ship you are on the food is subjective

 

 

It is not a question that anyone can really give a definitive answer to

 

Are you kidding me? If someone has been on both lines/ships, then they can offer a positive or negative comment. I've been on both lines and I would say that the food is comparable.

 

For someone who has never sailed on Crystal, it would have been better not to comment at all.

 

Posting for the sake of posting is ridiculous.

[LHT28]

Are you kidding me? If someone has been on both lines/ships, then they can offer a positive or negative comment. I've been on both lines and I would say that the food is comparable.

 

For someone who has never sailed on Crystal, it would have been better not to comment at all.

 

Posting for the sake of posting is ridiculous.

 

I will stick to my comment

 

What one person finds is great food another may not.

 

some people think carnival has the best food :rolleyes:

 

YMMV

[spook1]

I will stick to my comment

 

What one person finds is great food another may not.

 

some people think carnival has the best food :rolleyes:

 

YMMV

Just my thiught when I read your reply. But ankle biters will be ankle biters.:)

[LHT28]

The OP has asked the same question X cruise VS Y cruise line several times over the past year on several forums

Not sure if they actually have taken a cruise based on the food quality question or still trying to decide

 

Too each his own :rolleyes:

 

 

Lyn

[orchestrapal]

The OP has asked the same question X cruise VS Y cruise line several times over the past year on several forums

Not sure if they actually have taken a cruise based on the food quality question or still trying to decide

 

Too each his own :rolleyes:

 

 

Lyn

 

Lyn, You provide wonderful information for both, new to Oceania cruisers, as well as us "old timers." Keep it up!! ;)

[westmount]

Oceania is known for great food and restaurants. Crystal is known for being great. The service in the restaurants on both are pretty good, but a cruise is more than just about food. You pay more for Crystal than for Oceania, but then you get more all around. I played golf with Billy Casper last summer at Valderrama in Spain, but Oceania has better mini golf.

What I'm getting at is the question has a thousand answers, and you won't go wrong on either ship if you are going ONLY to eat. The larger suites on Oceania are fantastic, but all the rooms on Crystal are beautifully done, so it all comes done to finding a cruise that goes to a place you want to go, how much you want to spend, and what's important to you. One thing I will say is it seemed every single crew member on Crystal seemed to be with the line for at least ten years, loved it and made you feel like a king, something that Oceania strives to do, but not quite there yet. That said, going from Pappette to Sydney on Marina, can't wait, as price $10k less and for my money, Oceania gives up nothing that means that much to me.

[Mura]

I haven't been on Crystal myself, and I haven't been on Riviera -- although I have been on all of O's other ships. The food I have found pretty comparable on all of them, so I wouldn't hesitate to answer about Riviera even though we haven't sailed on her yet -- (and as things have been scheduled, probably won't, although we have Marina cruises booked for Nov 2013 and May 2014).

 

I think the food on O is great. Sure, sometimes a miss, but in general beyond excellent.

 

But I read other posters, and not everyone agrees. So Lyn is quite correct -- anyone can say "I like "X" better or "Y" better", but that doesn't mean it will answer the question posed.

 

Only *your* stomach can tell you which line has the better cuisine.

 

Mura

[explore4ever]

We went on our first Crystal cruise, Symphony in October, and first Oceania Marina cruise in Nov-Dec. We disembarked from Marina a week ago.

Symphony has 2 specialty restaurants, while Marina/Riviera has 4. We love food on both. Silk Road on Crystal and Red Ginger on Marina are our favorites. The food and service in other specialty restaurants are superb.

We like Crystal's main dining room better--food portion were just perfect for us, and the pace is just right. The main dining room in Marina is a long drawn out affair. We like dinner done within 1.5 hour.

We enjoyed the enrichment programs, lectures, lessons, etc... on both ships. We find we can strike up conversations easier with fellow passengers on Marina than those on Crystal. And yet we made friends on both. The atmosphere more casual on Marina.

I like Crystal's service more. My husband did not find too much difference.

I find Oceania's itinerary more interesting and Crystal's more sea days.

Crystal is more expensive because it is all inclusive. For someone who does not drink, I think Oceania provides better value.

Our cruise was interrupted by Sandy. We thought Crystal handled it well.

The best and the surest way to find out is to try them both, like we did. We are glad we did.

[globevest]

explore4ever,

 

A well presented response. I enjoyed your view. Thank you.

[pacheco18]

My 2 cents

I just do not understand all this focus on food. Believe me, I love great food. I was raised in NY and I have dined in the greatest restaurants and I have been to cooking school in Italy. I am a foodie or sorts. BUT

 

If food is the most important aspect of travel for you, there are way better ways to experience great food than cruising. There are gastronomical tours, cooking classes abroad with great experiences for dining -- and much more.

 

No matter what a cruise ship does with food, it is still serving to large numbers of persons, some of its stuff is frozen rather than fresh, and it will never be comparable to truly great food you can get on land in the great restaurants of the world. We have all had "hit and miss" experiences on cruise ships, even on Oceania.

 

You can get wonderful things to eat on any cruise line -- just be selective. I would look at the bigger picture -- itinerary, value, accommodations, service, amenities -- before I would look at food. You are paying for far more than food when you cruise.

[billy.qc]

My 2 cents

I just do not understand all this focus on food. Believe me, I love great food. I was raised in NY and I have dined in the greatest restaurants and I have been to cooking school in Italy. I am a foodie or sorts. BUT

 

If food is the most important aspect of travel for you, there are way better ways to experience great food than cruising. There are gastronomical tours, cooking classes abroad with great experiences for dining -- and much more.

 

No matter what a cruise ship does with food, it is still serving to large numbers of persons, some of its stuff is frozen rather than fresh, and it will never be comparable to truly great food you can get on land in the great restaurants of the world. We have all had "hit and miss" experiences on cruise ships, even on Oceania.

 

You can get wonderful things to eat on any cruise line -- just be selective. I would look at the bigger picture -- itinerary, value, accommodations, service, amenities -- before I would look at food. You are paying for far more than food when you cruise.

Well said. Food is just a small fraction of what I remember from my cruises. The different places, sites, and people along the way, are what matter most to me.

[Mura]

Because some of us talk about the food doesn't mean that is all we consider in evaluating a cruise. The cruises that we have been on which did not have great food (none of them had terrible food, far from it) had other problems that we considered far more serious.

 

But good cuisine IS important to us personally (I speak only for DH and myself). It isn't the only thing, of course. And I wouldn't say it is the most important thing.

 

But it IS important -- for us. And my experience (on not that many different cruise lines I admit) is that the cruise lines that had excellent food were excellent in other respects as well. I agree that we would be unhappy if a ship we were on had great food but everything else was mediocre.

 

Mura

[Jacqueline]

The point is that there is no alternative if you do not care for the dining options, food quality, ambiance. I have stayed at AI s on land but rarely eat more than breakfast there.

I do not think that people cruise to dine, but one must dine on the ship most of the time.

That said, I agree that this is an impossibly subjective topic when you do not know the poster offering the opinion, in particular.

[cbb]

The big problem we saw on Crystal was the lack of casual dining after visiting a port all day. Yes, we could hurry and have a hamburger at their outdoor grill but one had to eat pretty early in the evening. Remember, we are the people who dine almost every meal at Tapas/Terrace so dressing up for dinner is not something we enjoyed.

 

The other thing we noticed is that Crystal's itineraries are not as port intensive as we like. Others cruise for the cruise experience but spas, massages, fine dining every night, etc is not for us. The port is the thing!!

That is why we love O. c

[almostretired]

cbb - not sure when you were last on a Crystal ship but the Lido is open on the Symphony and Tastes on the Serenity at least two nights (six on our last 12 day cruise that was port intensive) per cruise and often more based on the itineraries. You can now add the Bistro each evening also. There is alwasy room service also. WE have come to enjoy a night or two in casual dining on Crystal

[cbb]

AlmostRetired--Thanks for the info about casual dining on the 2 Crystal ships. We had a lovely time when we sailed on Symphony but again we much prefer the port intensive itineraries of O. (And some of the passengers were just a little too fond of themselves)

 

We retired "young" and want to see as much of the world as we can before we get too old to make the airplane trips so port intensive it is! c

[vml]

I've sailed on Crystal 14 times and soon to be 3 times on Oceania (coming up Jan 13 on Riviera- can't wait!) I agree with every point explore4ever made in comparing the two lines. Food is outstanding on both, Crystal has slightly better service and better food in MDR where Oceania has more variety in their spectacular specialty restaurants and a better buffet. The only drawback of Oceania is their entertainment and activities - but my husband much prefers their more casual dress. You can't go wrong with either line - Regent too!