My Recent Riviera Food Experience: IMO Superior Food with Some Server Issues

[CintiPam]

Two weeks back from my first Caribbean cruise and first Riviera cruise, and my other thread now is out of date, so I start a new one about a favorite topic: food!:)

 

I truly thought the food was superior the entire cruise, and my negatives mostly were a result of poor service or lack of training of the wait staff. We knew we were in for a treat from the very first evening when we visited Jacques, and I ordered the mussels appetizer. (Someone on this board advised to order these early in the cruise before they ran out, and I was more than happy to oblige.) The serving filled one of those large serving pots with lids, and it was delicious, perfectly prepared and spiced. Alert for mussels fan: it was about triple the size of the portion served the very next evening in the Grand Dining Room to our roll call friend when we dined together there.

 

Oceania is heaven for chocoholics like spouse and me, and the various iterations of a chocolate volcano dessert on offer were memorable. Also, because I am allergic to fish (the healthy stuff with fins and scales), and husband does not eat seafood, cruising provides me with the rare opportunity to eat seafood at least once a day.

 

We enjoy a nice breakfast and a multiple-course dinner, so to keep the weight gain down to reasonable proportions, we did not go to lunch after the first day and went to afternoon tea only once. The scones with jam and clotted cream servered then are delicious.

 

Specialty Restaurants: The two located on Deck 5 (Jacques and Red Ginger) were far too warm IMO. On the plus side, it appeared that Oceania makes an effort to have servers from the region of the themed restaurant; that thoughtful touch added considerably to the ambience IMO.

 

Jacques. We dined at Jacques our very first evening because that was the only day left where we could reserve for a 6:30 PM dinner when I went to reserve online. An early dinner was my requirement for that evening because our first flight that morning was at 7 AM, necessitating a 5:30 AM awakening. It remains a stand-out in terms of the complete package of excellent food (great sauces and flavors) and excellent service, a perfectly-paced and presented meal. Our table of eight was right by kitchen, so perhaps that accounts for my room-temperature issue there.

 

Red Ginger. It turns out that the only dining staff holdover that we remembered from our 2011 Marina cruise was Gretchen (from Germany), who now is the maitre d’ of Red Ginger. She readily acceded when I requested a table different from the one originally assigned; I prefer chairs for lengthy meals over banquette seating. She also did not turn a hair when I immediately thereafter exited because I thought the room was far too warm. (I returned to our cabin to change out of my two layers of fancy duds to a much more casual top.) I love the décor in this room. The chopsticks and tea offerings are fun; I really enjoyed my first “vanilla tea with coconut accents”. The duck and watermelon salad were as outstanding as I remembered, and I managed to have seafood for both appetizer and entree.

 

Toscana. There is a bad fairy sitting on our shoulders when we dine here. In 2011 on Marina our meal was spoiled by our argumentative server. Fortunately, my husband dealt with the situation calmly and completely, and we left as soon as possible. So lightning cannot strike twice in the same place? Unfortunately that is not the case.

 

This time, our two servers clearly still were in need of training: ridiculously long wait for the appetizers; cold food (not a surprise as a result of the preceding complaint but devastating to my fried calamari); 40-minute wait for butter requested by a fellow diner in place of the vinegar and oil menu; mixing up who ordered what for most courses; literally hitting the blinds with the coffee cup tray; pouring so much pepper on spouse’s meal (after specifically being told just one twist after salad experience!) that a new order had to be prepared (while his neighbor had the pepper applied to the side of the plate rather than the entrée); etc. Our six dining companions simply were astonished. Next time (if there is one; husband does not want to return), I will stick to ordering the exceptional pastas because IMO the entrees are very ordinary but the pastas are fabulous. BTW, it has a rather bland décor.

 

Polo Grill. OMG, this was the best of the best for us, and what a wonderful farewell because we ate here the last night of our cruise. It also provided a lovely last impression after our Toscana debacle. When you combine comfortable seating, well-trained attentive experienced service with excellent well-prepared food served at a nice relaxing pace, together with a very nice pinot noir, it is such a delight. Foie gras en croute with mushrooms, lovely prime rib for me and a superb Porterhouse for spouse, creamed spinach and a seven-layer chocolate fudge cake: our entire experience there was the cherry on top of our 10-day culinary extravaganza.

 

Grand Dining Room: Our dinners in the Grand Dining Room were enhanced by the beauty of this room; the portion sizes are great for those of us ordering several courses, the food was very good, and the service more than adequate for the most part.

 

What I really noticed had changed since our Marina cruise in 2011 was that there were far, far fewer ethnic offerings in any cuisines such as Asian, Mexican, Middle Eastern, etc. The menus were very bland and vanilla compared to those offered in 2011. I love ethnic food because when I dine out, I really enjoy dishes I do not prepare at home. I assume Oceania menu planners are responding to the demands/comments of its patrons but it was much less adventurous dining this time around, which I think is a big loss.

 

Terrace Café: Breakfasts in the Terrace Café were excellent, and I enjoyed the variety of fresh fruit on offer. The excellent sticky buns were available every two or three days. The egg/omelette makers were reduced from three to two compared with Marina in 2011, so lines were longer. This compares unfavorably with breakfast on Azamara, where someone takes your egg order and then it is delivered to your table when ready so you do not have to stand in a line ever at breakfast.

 

On the other hand, I really appreciated the consideration of sanitary issues by having everything on the buffet line served, even though this requires many more staff at meals.

 

If one sits outside aft at breakfast, service (tea, coffee and even just water service) really suffers, but I seldom was in a hurry on this Caribbean cruise. One day I ordered two café lattes so I actually could have two before the place closed for the morning. The boss out there noticed, and our service never suffered again.

 

We actually ate dinner one evening at the Café when Gerry, who strongly prefers to be served at dinner, found nothing particularly appealing on the GDR menu. It really was nice, and supplied me with an opportunity to inhale grilled shrimp and lobster to my heart’s content.

 

Waves Grill. This was my mid-afternoon “snack/lunch” venue of choice, both because it was open past 2 PM and provided prepared to order grilled food with a unique menu going far beyond the usual burgers and hot dogs. After eating the “Surf and Turf” lobster and filet sandwich with truffles sprinkled on the fries on the first sea day, I thereafter switched to a made-to-order “snack/lunch”: a double order of lobster, hold the fries and bread. This lovely grilled lobster and a fresh mixed greens salad helped me to avoid a weight disaster upon our return to home after our many-coursed dinners. I drink a lot of iced tea, which always tastes freshly brewed. I never tried the ice creams or sorbets offered at the Grill, so I cannot comment on them.

 

Serving Staff: We encountered much less staff still needing training on this cruise compared to 2011, particularly in the Grand Dining Room. Service there usually was a well-oiled machine, except for the one evening when our server there had no assistant. Also, we never had to wait for a table in the GDR regardless of when we showed up; any line was very fast-moving line, a nice contrast to our “R” ship experience. Also, when eating with others in the GDR, the meals still were served promptly; on prior cruises, the larger the party, the longer it took to dine, and we did not find this to occur on this cruise (except in Toscana), so kudos to Oceania to cleaning up this annoying problem.

Edited February 8, 2014 by CintiPam

[LHT28]

Very interesting :rolleyes:

[orchestrapal]

Thank you for what sounds like a very realistic review.

You made me hungry for the wonderful food on our Up coming cruises.

[Tarpeian Rock]

Thank you for this. You've given us a lot to eagerly anticipate - and a little to watch out for - in our first O cruise next month on Riviera. We'll report back.

[traveler916]

Waves Grill. I thereafter switched to a made-to-order “snack/lunch”: a double order of lobster, hold the fries and bread. This lovely grilled lobster and a fresh mixed greens salad helped me to avoid a weight disaster upon our return to home

 

My wife calls it "surf and surf" and we eat it the same way - lobster and lobster, no bun no fries....except I get cole slaw instead of salad. If they put those french fries on my plate, unfortunately, I will eat them and I shouldn't.

 

Great review of the food and service, Pam

[JimandStan]

Marvelous Review Pam! :D

 

So well painted I almost feel like brushing the flakes of one one of those amazing chocolate croissants off my shirtfront ;)

[CintiPam]

Marvelous Review Pam! :D

 

So well painted I almost feel like brushing the flakes of one one of those amazing chocolate croissants off my shirtfront ;)

 

I very deliberately did not mention the chocolate croissants, but having confessed to being a chocoholic, I also will confess that I ate one every morning that sticky buns were not served.:)

[CintiPam]

Because there only were four months between our Azamara cruise and our January Oceania cruise, I offer some areas in which the food/food service could be improved on Riviera. I understand that I am comparing serving 694 passengers with serving 1,200.

 

I previously mentioned how nice it was that, similar to the way Oceania mans the Waves Grill, at breakfast on Azamara, if you want made-to-order egg dishes, you simply provide your order to a waiting staff member, receive a numbered slip from him which you hand to your server when you sit down. The server then retrieves your order and delivers it to your chosen table. It saved time at breakfast on port days. Also, I am not a patient line person, so I like this superior system.

 

Azamara also will provide fresh made-to-order waffles (very yummy!) and pancakes. Spouse reports that Riviera's come from a steam table and were not worthy eating.

 

Breakfast service on Riviera was hit or miss depending on where you sat. One morning, we truly could not even get a glass of water at our table on the aft outside until the end of our meal.

 

The Mosaics coffee area on Azamara is a much nicer relaxing venue than Baristas, with table service provided. The Baristas servers are excellent, but it is not a venue where I would hang out for more than a few minutes, particularly because it served as a corridor for many to other areas on that deck.

 

The gelato and ice cream on Azamara are delicious; that on Riviera is not worth wasting one's calories!:) (Perhaps not noticeable if placed in a milkshake.)

 

Azamara's dinner menus included many poultry choices; very few were offered on Oceania. (Spouse limits his beef intake and does not eat fish or pork products so this truly was noticeable to us.) The menu in the Grand Dining Room on Riviera was very repetitive with little variety although the food served was very tasty. What happened to the marvelous Indian, Middle Eastern, Asian, etc. appetizers and entrees we enjoyed on Marina in 2011?

 

The New York cheesecake offered on Azamara truly tasted like NY cheesecake while that served on Riviera did not in any way. It was neither smooth or creamy enough and for some unexplained reason also always had brulee torched onto the top of it.:eek:

 

OK, these are nits, but people always are asking me to compara our Azamara and Oceania experiences. (Yes, no fresh blueberries on Azamara.)

[LHT28]

I previously mentioned how nice it was that, similar to the way Oceania mans the Waves Grill, at breakfast on Azamara, if you want made-to-order egg dishes, you simply provide your order to a waiting staff member, receive a numbered slip from him which you hand to your server when you sit down. The server then retrieves your order and delivers it to your chosen table. It saved time at breakfast on port days. Also, I am not a patient line person, so I like this superior system.

 

 

Our experience differed

We gave our order to the expediter at Waves along with the table number (all the tables had a number stand like at a fast food place )

 

When your eggs sausage whatever was ready it was brough to your table

 

So even on the same cruise experiences differ :D

 

Lyn

[A Knitter]

I am looking forward to comparing A to O as we sail on the Quest tomorrow out of LA along the coast. Hubby thinks we are attending one of my conferences in Long Beach so it will be a surprise. :D

[TERRIER1]

I am looking forward to comparing A to O as we sail on the Quest tomorrow out of LA along the coast. Hubby thinks we are attending one of my conferences in Long Beach so it will be a surprise. :D

 

We are giving Azamara a shot this June. We like the smaller R ships and the itinerary and double upgrade offer prompted us to go for it. This will be our first cruise on a line other than Oceania.

[PirateShark]

Marvelous Review Pam! :D

 

So well painted I almost feel like brushing the flakes of one one of those amazing chocolate croissants off my shirtfront ;)

 

Pure Heaven! They should be illegal but am so glad they are not.

 

My review of the Marina cruise Papeete to Papeete is now online. With the exception of the embarkation and Toscana, it was aa close to perfect a cruise as could be. The only shame (for us) is that due to work project deadlines, I won't be able to sail with Oceania until early 2016. The food and service will definitely bring us back.