Karen Lynn Posted March 6, 2013 #1 Share Posted March 6, 2013 Anyone know if the 'wine tasting' can be booked pre sailing? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted March 6, 2013 #2 Share Posted March 6, 2013 Yes You can check the website under Already Booked Then look for dining options Not sure how far in advance of the cruise they show the evening with La Reserve but you can also call Oceania & they will pre book what night you want if available payment is due at the time of booking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimandStan Posted March 6, 2013 #3 Share Posted March 6, 2013 Just be aware that what you can prebook at La Reserve is not a Wine Tasting as such. It is a multi-course meal with wine pairings ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen Lynn Posted March 6, 2013 Author #4 Share Posted March 6, 2013 That could be where I am getting confused..I thought there was a wine tasting only..didn't realize it was paired with meal options, I can indeed see those. Okay thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimandStan Posted March 6, 2013 #5 Share Posted March 6, 2013 Wine tastings are offered on every voyage, although we have just as often seen them held in a Specialty Restaurant (typically Jacques) of an afternoon, as opposed to La Reserve. The difference seems to be that wine events sponsored by the Winery use La Reserve, while ship organized events use a Restaurant. Tastings are not sold or promoted in advance, but they are well publicized on the ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbie21 Posted March 6, 2013 #6 Share Posted March 6, 2013 La Reserve is excellent and highly recommended. The wines are not otherwise available on the ship and the pairings are really interesting. The ship's wine tastings (for a fee) were mostly tastings of wines on the various wine lists. Fun but not a great value. Robbie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimandStan Posted March 6, 2013 #7 Share Posted March 6, 2013 La Reserve is excellent and highly recommended. The wines are not otherwise available on the ship and the pairings are really interesting. The ship's wine tastings (for a fee) were mostly tastings of wines on the various wine lists. Fun but not a great value. Robbie On Cruises of ten days or more, there will usually be Wine Tastings at more than one price-point. The higher end tastings can sometimes provide a truly extraordinary value for money. This is where we first experienced the heavenly Fumanelli Amarone, (at a time when the '05 was still being served), and they nearly always finish with a Crystal Brute......very impressive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbie21 Posted March 6, 2013 #8 Share Posted March 6, 2013 Jim and Stan, I defer to your experience. I will look for those tastings on our next cruise. Thanks, Robbie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baandb Posted March 8, 2013 #9 Share Posted March 8, 2013 This is where we first experienced the heavenly Fumanelli Amarone, (at a time when the '05 was still being served), and they nearly always finish with a Crystal Brute......very impressive. How does this compare to "cristal brut"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPR Posted March 9, 2013 #10 Share Posted March 9, 2013 Cristal Brut is a champagne. "Crystal Brute" would be the security officer on a competitor cruiseline... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babysteps Posted March 9, 2013 #11 Share Posted March 9, 2013 Cristal Brut is a champagne. "Crystal Brute" would be the security officer on a competitor cruiseline... JimandStan's post made enough sense to me :) Too many hooked on phonics courses, obviously! But we could always look for a Lalique figurine of a wrestler ;) Master of Wine Tim Hanni has a funny story of his brother kidding a sommelier and ordering "Chateaubriand" and his dad chasing down the sommelier to cancel the perceived order of (very expensive) "Chateau Haut Brion" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marky63 Posted March 12, 2013 #12 Share Posted March 12, 2013 Is La Reserve worth the price? Not so much the wine but the food. We like wine but are not that well versed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mura Posted March 12, 2013 #13 Share Posted March 12, 2013 We thought so, even though not all the food choices were favorites ... but they were all -- interesting, isn't fair. Excellent! The main course for us was a fabulous beef filet dish. We liked the food more than some of the wine choices, if that helps! We liked it well enough to plan on doing it again on our next cruise. It will be easier to schedule on a transatlantic with lots of sea days than it was with a port intensive cruise with only one sea day, and that being the first day of the cruise. Reading over this I sound measured in my response, but we did think it was well worth the cost (although when we did it the cost was $75, not $95). In general it was a delicious meal and I enjoyed the wines more than DH but that's because he isn't much of a drinker. Mura Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda93 Posted March 13, 2013 #14 Share Posted March 13, 2013 We had the pleasure of sharing the La Reserve dinner Mura refers to, although sadly not at her table. We love food and wine pairing dinners and were very excited about the La Reserve program. In reflecting on whether I personally felt La Reserve was a good value ($75 pp at that time as Mura stated), I thought: - The meal was very delicious; food was interesting and even more care and attention was given to presentation and pacing than a typical O meal (which IMO is already quite good). There were a few unusual items but I enjoyed trying things I might otherwise not choose to order. - The wine presentation was a little disappointing for two reasons: (1) On our evening I found the sommelier a bit difficult to understand, and he spent very little time describing each wine and why it was chosen for pairing with the menu item being served. The wine was poured quickly, a sentence or two spoken, and he moved on. No opportunity to discuss or ask questions. Of course, it's wasn't a wine tasting. But it would have been fun to learn something during the meal. (2) I felt the wines on average were not 'special' enough for the La Reserve program. They served a California chardonnay that you can buy off the shelf for $22. Another was a $25 easily-available Napa cabernet from a decent but not exceptional winery. In fairness, there were some wine gems served during the evening; a few were wonderful. And LR does not claim to provide a high-end wine experience, just 'vintage wines recommended by the connoisseurs at Wine Spectator.' I couldn't tell how much involvement anyone from Wine Spectator actually has with the LR wine selections. Perhaps I was hoping for it to be more than it was, and my expectations needed adjusting. Overall I concluded O had missed an opportunity to do something really exceptional at LR. Perhaps the new Connoisseur menu will provide that exceptional experience. However, I'm not sure I want to spend almost $400/couple to find out. It's also possible if we don't choose to visit La Reserve again that it is more a reflection of the overall quality of food and wine in the dining venues on O, rather than a criticism of the LR program. As an aside, we found the sommeliers on Marina to be superb on average; friendly, engaging and very knowledgeable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddie Posted March 13, 2013 #15 Share Posted March 13, 2013 Mura - Could you be so kind as to describe how the La Reserve meal works. It is not clear on the La Reserve reservation form that is included with our booking confirmation. On that form, it describes three different menu choices, all with different wines. Further, the photos are of one large table, rather than multiple smaller ones. If all three menus (and wine selections) are offered at the same time, does the sommelier explain each of the wines to everyone? Your experience is most welcome. Cheers, Fred Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mura Posted March 13, 2013 #16 Share Posted March 13, 2013 Mura - Could you be so kind as to describe how the La Reserve meal works. It is not clear on the La Reserve reservation form that is included with our booking confirmation. On that form, it describes three different menu choices, all with different wines. Further, the photos are of one large table, rather than multiple smaller ones. If all three menus (and wine selections) are offered at the same time, does the sommelier explain each of the wines to everyone? Your experience is most welcome. Cheers, Fred Okay. There are these days three different menus. Two cost $95, I think the "Conoisseur" menu costs $200 something. (*I have the precise number somewhere.) My understanding that this menu is more expensive because the wines are more expensive. Now, there isn't one large table ...there are like three tables that seat 4-6 people, all next to each other. But it is NOT one large table. The sommelier gives a talk before the wines and food are served to explain exactly what you will be eating and drinking, and they also give you a printed menu. I can send you a copy of the menu we received if you wish. All three menus are NOT offered at the same time. It is one dinner at one time. Or to put it another way, you don't get to choose the wines or courses. It's a set menu. What we didn't know (which is why Andromeda and we ended up at different tables) was that we should have shown up perhaps half an hour in advance for a champagne cocktail intro ... so we missed out on that! Does this help? I'm sure Jim&Stan will be in the offing to help out! Mura Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda93 Posted March 13, 2013 #17 Share Posted March 13, 2013 Here is a link to the most recent La Reserve pairing menu from the O website. You will clearly see the three different menus. As Mura described, LR serves only one of these offerings on a given evening. For our meal, I think the service was arranged as 3 tables of 8 people each, but I could be remembering inaccurately as we did arrive in time for the Champagne cocktails. ;) http://www.oceaniacruises.com/documents/menus/oclass/la-reserve/01-La-Reserve-Menus.pdf For our upcoming sailing, I saw the option of booking LR on certain dates in the online 'Manage My Booking' tool. The specific menu being served on each date was identified in the purchase option, so you can choose a date that has the menu you prefer. You can also book LR by calling your TA or O directly. Hope this helps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marky63 Posted March 13, 2013 #18 Share Posted March 13, 2013 i'm glad you explained the menu, I was assuming i could get one and my wife the other, to taste it all. But that does not sound like the case. That also effects my thoughts i was hoping to taste as much food variety as possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mura Posted March 13, 2013 #19 Share Posted March 13, 2013 Marky, Even with a set menu there are lots of courses to sample. They're mostly small, of course! But many different tastes.\ We started out with an amuse bouche and then an appetizer, followed by a pasta dish, fish, the main course of Chateaubriand, cheese and dessert. Given that the food was on the rich side, this was more than enough! I understand your desire to sample as much as possible, but that probably would put an unfair burden on the kitchen staff when you are feeding 24 people. Mura Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TERRIER1 Posted March 13, 2013 #20 Share Posted March 13, 2013 We ate at La Reserve in June of 2012 for $95 per person. We didn't partake of the initial offering in 2011 at $75 pp. You make you reservation on line and don't have to wait until the same timing as your cabin category for the speciality restaurants reservations. Your credit card is charged at the time you make the reservation. We choose the date but were not provided with the menu for that date. Our table was for eight. We had very nice table mates and had a good time. The experience was definitely worth it but I don't know if we would do it again. As Mura stated, I really didn't learn much about the wines or why they were chosen for each pairing. The pours were adequate but our table never had seconds. The food was good and the portions small but I expected this since we went through several courses. The wines served with our meal seemed to be better than those served at Mura's. If you show up prior to the suggested reservation time you will receive a glass of Prosecco and an amuse bouche as you wait for your table. Enjoy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted March 13, 2013 #21 Share Posted March 13, 2013 i'm glad you explained the menu, I was assuming i could get one and my wife the other, to taste it all. But that does not sound like the case. That also effects my thoughts i was hoping to taste as much food variety as possible. You can view the menus then decide what one to try first You can choose to dine on different nights with the different menu choices if you wish ... Just book in advance I am sure you will find many food sampling opportunities on the ship not just in La Reserve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda93 Posted March 13, 2013 #22 Share Posted March 13, 2013 If you show up prior to the suggested reservation time you will receive a glass of Prosecco and an amuse bouche as you wait for your table. Enjoy. As Terrier1 noted, if you do book La Reserve, be sure to arrive a bit early. At our LR dinner in 2011, I think the nominal start time was 7:30. We arrived around 7pm because we just wanted to be sure we knew where to go (that sailing was so port-intensive we hadn't explored the ship much as yet). It turned out that the LR staff began serving sparkling wine and an amuse bouche at 7pm at the large tables just outside the long glass window wall of LR. This wasn't promoted at all; we just happened onto it. It was enjoyable but I felt bad that some guests had no idea they would be missing out by not arriving early. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare ronrick1943 Posted March 13, 2013 #23 Share Posted March 13, 2013 I think it's well worth the price even the $165++, but I'm sure it states the dinner starts at 7:00PM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mura Posted March 13, 2013 #24 Share Posted March 13, 2013 Andromeda and I did this dinner in Oct 2011 when the start time was 7:30. Things may well have changed since then! (And we had the $75 dinner which is now $95, not the $165 dinner. That could be different as well.) But the moral is: go early if you can! Mura Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jancruz Posted March 18, 2013 #25 Share Posted March 18, 2013 I have done this dinner twice and would do it again in a heartbeat..it is a wonderful opportunity to meet several of the chefs and the food is very different and outstanding..We have gone alone and with others, when we went with others we requested them at the same table at time of booking..last time we had 8 at the table and it was fun..when we went alone we met some lovely people and have stayed friends..if you like wine, sophisticated food and good converstaion, L.R. IMHO is a dont miss experience!! Jancruz1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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