Oceania - How "low key" is it?

[UAL_FlyGal]

We are still trying to decide between the Oceania Riviera and Celebrity Reflection for our Eastern Mediterranean Cruise.

 

Mid-30's? Take Celebrity Reflection. I believe you'll be bored silly on O.

However, if you're a "Foodie", take O. You will lose your mind!! (In a good way) ;p

[njhorseman]

Jacques is my favorite restaurant on O.

You apparently know more about authentic French cuisine than JP who was the private chef for 3 (or maybe even 4) French presidents, He is very particular about every detail at Jacques. BTW, we've had several young French men and women serving us at Jacques - not bad for a cruise ship. They were very polite and knowledgeable - so you are right - it may not be a true French experience :D

As for ambience, it is impossible to compare eating on a ship with eating in a bistro in Paris or a cafe in Provence no matter what you do,

 

Jacques Pepin may have designed the menu and provided recipes, but he is not in the galley cooking, nor even there supervising the chefs who are cooking.

 

Having a meal personally prepared or directly under the supervision of a great chef for a relatively small number of diners is a far cry from having a meal prepared for large numbers of diners by cruise ship chefs. Cooking is an art...a chef is constantly tasting what he cooks. Anyone else's opinion of whether a sauce tastes as intended will not be the same as Jacques Pepin's opinion. His being particular about details doesn't equate to his presence in the kitchen.

[Mura]

Then I guess we can ignore all of the recipes on the ship because he is rarely there.

[Travelcat2]

I happen to love your posts.

While I love Oceania and will generally choose it over other lines, I don't think it's perfect.

I was smiling when I read your comments about the presentation of olive oils. It's utterly pretentious and a simple observation of the faces of neighboring diners when this occurs suggests that it's a practice that could be retired.

I also find the experience in Jacques to be typically underwhelming. It hardly provides a true French experience.

But - I do enjoy the casual vibe and the friendly crew and passengers.

 

Different lines offer different experiences - it sounds like you can appreciate a nice balance.

 

I agree with your opinion about the olive oils. Interestingly, although we are olive oil lovers, we have not found one that we like on Oceania. Also agree that Jacques does not provide a true French experience but we do enjoy the food (probably because we don't care for authentic French food:evilsmile:).

 

Food is so subjective that it is a difficult subject to discuss. We dislike the Terrace Café so much that I cannot imagine going there again. In general we enjoy the specialty restaurants on Oceania but do not find that the rest of the food lives up to the hype.

 

To nudge this thread back on topic, I agree that the night live on Oceania depends upon the itinerary and length of the cruise. For instance, if you are on a port intensive cruise where you need to wake up early in the morning and are gone all day, there will be few people out and about at night since they have to be up early the next day.

[Hawaiidan]

There can be no other topic other than smoking and kids, that evokes such a controversy.

 

Its entirely your opinion, based on tour likes and dislikes. It can be influenced on where you have traveled, lived, what you eat back home, what you dislike, French, German, British, Ethopian, Australian, American , Chinese, Indian and even Somalian... experiences will color your like of dislike. There are those who love something and others who when served the same thing will say it is inedible... Who is right. Is Mark, Is Paul, is Jaques, ?

Well all are, it is their brain processing their experience against their acquired personal opinions. and what they have learned for whatever reason.

Some see the French Laundry not better than Sizzler because it is not to their taste and others can enjoy both Sizzler and French Laundry. While others still would not eat at either... Some loathe Liver but love Sushi...the list is never ending..

Hey, Warren Buffet,, dines regularly at Mc Donald's. Walt Disney, when staying in London and Paris, brought cased of Denisons Chili for the chefs to prepare for him.... Taste know bounds as to culture, wealth, age, race or sex. .....

 

To recall President Abraham Lincoln, ( and you can apply this to food and foodies ) ";)

You can please some of the people, some of the time, Some of the People part of the time and some of the People none of the time":rolleyes:

Now, that we have that cleared up, lets talk about politics, marriage and religion...:o..

[Kingofcool1947]

There can be no other topic other than smoking and kids, that evokes such a controversy.

 

Its entirely your opinion, based on tour likes and dislikes. It can be influenced on where you have traveled, lived, what you eat back home, what you dislike, French, German, British, Ethopian, Australian, American , Chinese, Indian and even Somalian... experiences will color your like of dislike. There are those who love something and others who when served the same thing will say it is inedible... Who is right. Is Mark, Is Paul, is Jaques, ?

Well all are, it is their brain processing their experience against their acquired personal opinions. and what they have learned for whatever reason.

Some see the French Laundry not better than Sizzler because it is not to their taste and others can enjoy both Sizzler and French Laundry. While others still would not eat at either... Some loathe Liver but love Sushi...the list is never ending..

Hey, Warren Buffet,, dines regularly at Mc Donald's. Walt Disney, when staying in London and Paris, brought cased of Denisons Chili for the chefs to prepare for him.... Taste know bounds as to culture, wealth, age, race or sex. .....

 

To recall President Abraham Lincoln, ( and you can apply this to food and foodies ) ";)

You can please some of the people, some of the time, Some of the People part of the time and some of the People none of the time":rolleyes:

Now, that we have that cleared up, lets talk about politics, marriage and religion...:o..

 

"Another person's steak is another person's poison"? :)