RMLLEL Posted April 6, 2019 #1 Share Posted April 6, 2019 This is our first cruise on Oceania. We are on a 10 day Riviera cruise in June. There are no sea days. I am trying to figure out which nights to make reservations in the specialty restaurants. We are in concierge class. I was wondering if there is any night you would definitely want to eat in the main dining room? Would you eat in a specialty restaurant second to last night of the cruise? Last night? Which night is the Captains Cocktail Party? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare GeezerCouple Posted April 6, 2019 #2 Share Posted April 6, 2019 7 minutes ago, RMLLEL said: This is our first cruise on Oceania. We are on a 10 day Riviera cruise in June. There are no sea days. I am trying to figure out which nights to make reservations in the specialty restaurants. We are in concierge class. I was wondering if there is any night you would definitely want to eat in the main dining room? Would you eat in a specialty restaurant second to last night of the cruise? Last night? Which night is the Captains Cocktail Party? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks. We are on a 14 day cruise (Marina) with no sea days, and it's a first for us. What we did was look at the ports each day, and also the times of departing from each port, plus what we had planned for each day (or not). And then we figured when we'd be least tired, or even had a day where we had no major outings planned, or not yet... GC 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edgee Posted April 6, 2019 #3 Share Posted April 6, 2019 10 minutes ago, RMLLEL said: This is our first cruise on Oceania. We are on a 10 day Riviera cruise in June. There are no sea days. I am trying to figure out which nights to make reservations in the specialty restaurants. We are in concierge class. I was wondering if there is any night you would definitely want to eat in the main dining room? Would you eat in a specialty restaurant second to last night of the cruise? Last night? Which night is the Captains Cocktail Party? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks. Captain's cocktail party will likely be second night of cruise on a non sea day itinerary unless that is a late night in port. JMO if you logically guess which night that will be that is a good night to dine in specialty restaurant because after captain's party large numbers of folks converge on Grand Dining Room at once creating service issues. Overwise in choosing specialty restaurant nights may want to avoid late nights in port assuming you want to enjoy those ports into the evening hour. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mura Posted April 7, 2019 #4 Share Posted April 7, 2019 We always aim for specialties on a sea day but when there aren't any, we don't have any particular strategies. On board we may check menus in the GDR and Terrace Cafe to determine where we want to go, but that's irrelevant to the specialties since those menus are set in stone. I never thought of the possible problem caused by the Captain's cocktail party (which we tend not to attend). The odds are that we've been in the GDR on those nights, but I can't say that we noticed any sudden influx of passengers. Could be I wasn't paying attention! If so, it didn't seem to affect our food service. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flatbush Flyer Posted April 7, 2019 #5 Share Posted April 7, 2019 Without sea days (a cruise I'd already try to avoid), we would try to do specialties on a night with early departure from port followed by late arrival the following day. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPR Posted April 7, 2019 #6 Share Posted April 7, 2019 Best meals in the MDR are usually the second (sometimes the third) and next to last nights. You can often get into a specialty restaurant as a walk in the first night. So you may want to reserve nights 4-8 in the specialty restaurants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
su-arizona Posted April 7, 2019 #7 Share Posted April 7, 2019 We're on the same cruise with you - also in Concierge - and we've chatted on the Roll Call. No sea days, and there are three days in a row that I expect will be very long, tiring days of touring - I know we are both touring Seville from Cadiz and Granada from Almeria - and Malaga also has many full-day tours. So I won't book specialties for those nights, as we probably will choose to dine casually in the Terrace. But that's just us...we rarely dine in the GDR and head to the Terrace Cafe when we're tired and don't want to get 'dressed up'. Most dishes from the GDR are also available in the Terrace, plus the grill options. Like others have said, specialties are rarely booked on the first night and the last night out is usually a Terrace/packing night for us. Gosh...that doesn't leave much time! I don't usually enjoy sea days, but this is our first with NO sea days! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMLLEL Posted April 7, 2019 Author #8 Share Posted April 7, 2019 Thanks everyone for your insights. This is our first cruise with no sea-days also, Su-Arizona. Love relaxing on sea days but we are looking forward to all the ports. I think I have figured out when to make our Specialty Restaurant reservations thanks to everyone’s help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMLLEL Posted April 7, 2019 Author #9 Share Posted April 7, 2019 Thanks everyone. I was able to make our reservations last night. It was easy. Glad I figured out before hand when we wanted to reserve (thanks to all of your help). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edgee Posted April 7, 2019 #10 Share Posted April 7, 2019 16 hours ago, Mura said: We always aim for specialties on a sea day but when there aren't any, we don't have any particular strategies. On board we may check menus in the GDR and Terrace Cafe to determine where we want to go, but that's irrelevant to the specialties since those menus are set in stone. I never thought of the possible problem caused by the Captain's cocktail party (which we tend not to attend). The odds are that we've been in the GDR on those nights, but I can't say that we noticed any sudden influx of passengers. Could be I wasn't paying attention! If so, it didn't seem to affect our food service. We are fresh from a mid March cruise on Riviera where we enjoyed excellent service in all dining rooms except in the GDR the night of the Captain's party. One of the asst. head waiters told us they were exceptionally backed up in service for that reason and we certainly noticed the difference. Also we always dine at a table for two and on the smaller R ships we have had to wait longer for a table for two on Captain's Cocktail party night. Never had to wait to get a table on the O class ships, as dining room capacity is much more capable of seating surges in number of guests showing up. Unfortunately, while there is plenty of seating capacity on O ships, sometimes there is inadequate staffing to handle things when large numbers of guests show up at the same time. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare GeezerCouple Posted April 7, 2019 #11 Share Posted April 7, 2019 16 hours ago, JPR said: Best meals in the MDR are usually the second (sometimes the third) and next to last nights. You can often get into a specialty restaurant as a walk in the first night. So you may want to reserve nights 4-8 in the specialty restaurants. Is this pattern (or "best meals) fairly regular? And obviously, it would depend upon individual taste, etc. IF the first night is an overnight in departure port, would that shift the "2nd and 3rd" night to the "3rd and 4th", e.g., the 2nd and 3rd night "out"? I'm guessing that a fair number of people would eat off ship on the overnight dinner (?). We'll have been in Barcelona for several days already, so while we'll see more of the city, we'll probably return for dinner (and rest!) Thanks. GC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMLLEL Posted April 7, 2019 Author #12 Share Posted April 7, 2019 I wish we knew for sure which night the Captain's Cocktail Party will be. On the second night of our cruise we leave port at 7:00pm and I wasn't sure if they would do the Cocktail Party that night since I was told it usually starts at 5:30. Thought the crew might be busy getting the ship underway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoWhiners Posted June 14, 2019 #13 Share Posted June 14, 2019 Just wanted to post--I don't like foie gras (just liver with an upscale name) So anyone who wants mine, just let me know! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulchili Posted June 14, 2019 #14 Share Posted June 14, 2019 (edited) 18 minutes ago, NoWhiners said: foie gras (just liver with an upscale name) Nothing could be further from the truth. That’s like saying all meat is the same - wagyu beef is the same as goat meat just with an upscale name 😀 Foie gras is NOTHING like calf liver - love one, wouldn’t touch the other 😊 Edited June 14, 2019 by Paulchili 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoWhiners Posted June 14, 2019 #15 Share Posted June 14, 2019 5 minutes ago, Paulchili said: Nothing could be further from the truth. That’s like saying all meat is the same - wagyu beef is the same as goat meat just with an upscale name 😀 Foie gras is NOTHING like calf liver - love one, wouldn’t touch the other 😊 Nope, that is a bad analogy. Goat not equal to beef. I would eat goat meat before foie gras. And I have, no comparison. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulchili Posted June 14, 2019 #16 Share Posted June 14, 2019 13 minutes ago, NoWhiners said: I would eat goat meat before foie gras. To each their own - it’s a wonderful world 😀 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clo Posted June 14, 2019 #17 Share Posted June 14, 2019 10 hours ago, Paulchili said: Nothing could be further from the truth. That’s like saying all meat is the same - wagyu beef is the same as goat meat just with an upscale name 😀 Foie gras is NOTHING like calf liver - love one, wouldn’t touch the other 😊 I'm with you, buddy. And you can add chicken liver to this no-touch list. For my 65th b'day I went to the soon-to-be-closed Sonoma Foie Gras and bought two whole lobes. A splurge but, hey, you only go around once, right? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulchili Posted June 14, 2019 #18 Share Posted June 14, 2019 35 minutes ago, clo said: For my 65th b'day I went to the soon-to-be-closed Sonoma Foie Gras and bought two whole lobes. A splurge but, hey, you only go around once, right? May have to check that one out before it's too late 😀 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clo Posted June 14, 2019 #19 Share Posted June 14, 2019 7 minutes ago, Paulchili said: May have to check that one out before it's too late 😀 Oh, sorry, that was seven years ago. I'm an old coot 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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