O Food v. Cunard Grills?

[Classiccruiser777]

How does O's food compare to Cunard's Queen's or Princess' Grills?

[StanandJim]

How does O's food compare to Cunard's Queen's or Princess' Grills?

 

We found the food quality to be better on Oceania, and although at first blush Cunard appears to have a larger selection, what with their choices of bacon's and butters and the Jam Trolleys, the "real" variety was actually quite similar. The exception would be British-centric items like black pudding or mash peas, staples on Cunard, but almost never seen on Oceania.

 

Food is served much more simply on Oceania, however, so if you enjoy amenities like flambés or table-side french service, stick with the Queens.

[Paulchili]

The ambience of the Grills (we were in the Princess grill) is like that of a small private dining room with same table for each meal for the entire cruise and dedicated servers. Anything (almost) can be ordered with 24 hour notice. That is the good news.

The quality is not in the same league - Oceania being far superior, IMO.

Others may not agree.

My personal objection - on a 22 day cruise I had to wear a jacket AND a tie on 21 days; on the 22nd day they gave me a "break" - jacket only.

Not for me regardless of the food quality and service :D

Edited June 20, 2015 by Paulchili

[LaCroisiereS'amuse]

Totally agree about Cunard......been in Cunard QG twice and found the service and cuisine to be a caricature of a bygone age; although I never encountered a Jam Trolley :confused:

Rather glad we don't get mushy peas on O too :D

[IFlyHarder]

My experience has been different than those above. While I have only been on Oceania once, I have been on Cunard 5 times (once in PG and the others in QG)). I found the food in the grills to be consistently amazing while on Oceania it ranged from very good to poor.

I do enjoy the more casual atmosphere and service on Oceania and am therefore using them again next year while taking a break from the formality of Cunard.

[wripro]

I have sailed on O four times and in QG on Cunard a total of ten times. While the food in the specialty restaurants on O is excellent, especially on the Marina and Riviera, the food in the main dining room is far less so and the atmosphere reminds me of a catering hall. And truth is one eats in the GDR most nights unless in one of the top suites. In the QG on Cunard you dine in an intimate atmosphere every night and day and can special order anything you want. The food is more traditional but it's of a very high level. I won't comment on dress codes since the OP did not ask about those.

[Torbsboy]

How does O's food compare to Cunard's Queen's or Princess' Grills?

 

We were on the last crossing of the QE2 to NYC a few years ago in a Queens Grill cabin andwe had the same cabin grade cabin on Queen Victoria a few years later followed by Marina 18 months ago and I can honestly say I would NEVER travel with Cunard again compared to Oceania. The speciality restaurants were stunning and compared to the Queens Grill no competition however we only went to the Main Dining room once on Marina and it was just ok - the same standard as the Grill on Cunard. Basically we love food and if you compare the food, the service and the cabins to Cunard O is 6 star and Cunard is a 4 plus!

[Mura]

Even though not many have posted on this thread, it seems obvious that there are very differing opinions.

 

Let me say at the outset that we only sailed twice on Cunard and that was on the QE2 in 2003 and 2004, so obviously I can't speak to the current ships. Our 2004 cruise was in Queens Grill and the food was excellent. Our previous cruise was in the restaurant a step-down from Princess Grill, and we also thought that food was excellent. We also liked the Lido Cafe. But ... how to compare to the current ships?

 

I'm writing mainly because of the differences in opinion about the GDR on Oceania. We have ALWAYS liked it very much. Even on Renaissance. We found the food excellent in general, and we like the variety. In fact, on early cruises we tended to avoid the specialty restaurants! On several cruises we received calls begging us to book a specialty restaurant! (That was on Ren.)

 

(In my defense, my friends call me a gourmet cook although I would not categorize myself that way. But I think I can tell good food from bad ...)

 

So count us in as people who like the GDR on all of the ships ... I do wish the older ships had room for two more restaurants, but they don't ... so that is THAT.

 

And we don't object to the ambiance in the GDR either ... personal taste, I suppose. As is dietary taste.

 

Mura