Oceana questions

[Mateybubbles]

Hi folks, we are booked on the Oceana next month for a 12 night cruise to the canaries.

 

Just wondered how many formal nights we should expect and also if anyone has any information regarding Marco Pierre Whites establishment. We ate in the White Room twice on the Ventura and loved it, however I understand his restaurant on the Oceana is Italian. We would like to try this too if it gets good reviews on here! Any info on the menu would also be appreciated.

 

Thanks, Jayne

[tartanexile81]

If you click on this link you'll find the dress code for your cruise and also when you'll arrive and depart from each port.

https://ask.pocruises.com/help/PO/life-on-board/dress_code_all

 

We really don't like the MPW restaurant on Oceana. It's called Café Jardin and is set around an atrium. It is very open and very noisy. The tables and chairs are like garden furniture and IMO there's not much atmosphere. It never looks that busy. We're on Oceana in 10 days so we may well have lunch there a few times but never dinner. Our friend loves it for breakfast where they do a Continental selection.

 

Here is a link to the Café Jardin and Horizon Grill menus. HG is an al Fresco restaurant and some people like that but we think it smells too much of the burgers and chips which are cooked there during the day.

 

https://ask.pocruises.com/help/PO/life-on-board/example_menu

 

We'll look after Oceana for you. We're aboard for 28 days - can't wait

[Mateybubbles]

Thanks so much for your reply and for the links, I'll take a look.

 

I had a feeling the MPW restaurant would be more casual than the White Room so unless it looks good with a nice menu and atmosphere we might give it a miss. The food is so good in the MDR anyway! :D

[Mateybubbles]

If you click on this link you'll find the dress code for your cruise and also when you'll arrive and depart from each port.

https://ask.pocruises.com/help/PO/life-on-board/dress_code_all

 

We really don't like the MPW restaurant on Oceana. It's called Café Jardin and is set around an atrium. It is very open and very noisy. The tables and chairs are like garden furniture and IMO there's not much atmosphere. It never looks that busy. We're on Oceana in 10 days so we may well have lunch there a few times but never dinner. Our friend loves it for breakfast where they do a Continental selection.

 

Here is a link to the Café Jardin and Horizon Grill menus. HG is an al Fresco restaurant and some people like that but we think it smells too much of the burgers and chips which are cooked there during the day.

 

https://ask.pocruises.com/help/PO/life-on-board/example_menu

 

We'll look after Oceana for you. We're aboard for 28 days - can't wait

 

Ps enjoy your cruise!

[Denarius]

Café Jardin was not designed as a "select" restaurant, it was designed as a casual alternative to the MDR and used to offer pizzas and basic Italian fare in the evenings at no extra charge. Then P&O got greedy and made it a select dining venue, a role for which it is totally unsuited.

[wilson2579]

I agree with Denarius. I tried to walk through it a couple of times as I thought it was part of the atrium. Not a select dining area in my opinion.

[RobinsonCruiseo]

Despite the comments my family and I really liked Cafe Jardin! It gave a great option for breakfast and lunch and we didn't really notice people walking through. They had a lunch platter of hummus/babaganoush with flatbreads which is totally up my street. My mum and I sat and made our way through a bottle of rosé while people watching many a lunch time :)

 

In the evening the service was fantastic (as it was in the day) and the food was lovely. May not be everyone's choice of 'select' venue, but from what I remember the cover charge is not high for dinner in comparison to other venues across the fleet?

[annieuk]

We used the Cafe Jardin for breakfast on most days - no queues, no crowds of people. We sometimes used it for lunch but occasionally had to queue as everyone was arriving back from morning trips. We did use it for dinner one evening with another couple but we weren't impressed - this was a year ago October last - the service was excellent, the food ok, nothing better than we would have expected in the main dining room. The big problem was that there was a vocalist singing in Tiffany's - one deck below. She was so loud we couldn't hear ourselves talk - very annoying. We spoke to the manager there and he agreed and said it was something he had told the management about before. He asked that we fill in a customer report which we did.

 

We didn't notice people wandering through. In case you didn't know, there is no charge for breakfast or lunch but there is in the evening.

[Denarius]

I agree with Denarius. I tried to walk through it a couple of times as I thought it was part of the atrium. Not a select dining area in my opinion.

 

It is (or at least was) part of the atrium. In the old days it served light breakfasts and lunches, informal evening meals and late night snacks. In those days the buffet was not open in the evenings and the Jardin was the only option for a sit down meal in the evening if you did not use the MDR for some reason. There was never any suggestion however that it was not part of the atrium and that you could not walk through it. Indeed, I recall that you had to walk through it to get to the toilets from the casino and Winners bar.

Edited February 6, 2014 by Denarius
repeated words

[gadabout60]

I think the food in the main dining rooms is generally fine to good but not special - so I do like to go to select venues once or twice per week on a cruise.

 

When on Oceana in December I went to Cafe Jardin several times at lunchtime (free) and twice in the evening (small charge) and it was nice enough but nothing out of the ordinary.

 

The Horizon grill, because it was cold, was in a cordoned off part of the buffet and definitely not special at all

 

The speciality restaurants on Oceana are IMHO a let down

[davecttr]

Cafe Jardin is basically a pizzeria with a few additional dishes. Its location is an inconvenience for all as it blocks access from the forward cabins to the atrium and those frequenting Winners bar and the casino have no access to the public toilets which are forward of the restaurant. During the evening you are not allowed to walk through, access is for diners only. note that on formal nights the dress code is evening casual unlike the horizon grill which is formal

[daiB]

We used the Cafe Jardin for breakfast on most days - no queues, no crowds of people. We sometimes used it for lunch but occasionally had to queue as everyone was arriving back from morning trips. We did use it for dinner one evening with another couple but we weren't impressed - this was a year ago October last - the service was excellent, the food ok, nothing better than we would have expected in the main dining room. The big problem was that there was a vocalist singing in Tiffany's - one deck below. She was so loud we couldn't hear ourselves talk - very annoying. We spoke to the manager there and he agreed and said it was something he had told the management about before. He asked that we fill in a customer report which we did.

 

We didn't notice people wandering through. In case you didn't know, there is no charge for breakfast or lunch but there is in the evening.

 

Shhhhh, stop telling people about breakfast places you do not have to Queue at. It causes queues.:rolleyes:

 

 

Gan Canny

 

 

Dai

[lake5298]

MPW's Cafe Jardin is a nice location for late evening nibbles - since MPW got involved it has improved a lot from how it was previously. Brunch also good.