Jacques restaurant

[roger b]

We had dinner with the Staff Captain  last night and were informed  that  Oceania  were doing away  with Jacques  and replacing it with another Grill restaurant ? I don't  know how others  feel about this , but personally  this was my favourite restaurant. 

[LHT28]

Depends on the replacement

I am not fond of Jacques  so it may be an improvement  for us  😉

 

Now if they turn it into one of these  healthy  raw food places  ..count me out 😁

[Flatbush Flyer]

29 minutes ago, roger b said:

We had dinner with the Staff Captain  last night and were informed  that  Oceania  were doing away  with Jacques  and replacing it with another Grill restaurant ? I don't  know how others  feel about this , but personally  this was my favourite restaurant. 

Haven't heard that rumor yet. 

[pinotlover]

I would feel rather confident that the use of Pepin’s name, image, and recipes come with a cost to Oceania. So doing this as a cost cutting move would come as no surprise to me since cost cutting is certainly an important goal.

 

Another factor, obviously, is the two new ships. Doing this now means whatever is new will be on those ships.

 

I enjoy Jacques because it is so different from the other restaurants. However, I’ll never complain about a new menu with new items to try. 

[WESTEAST]

Disappointing news as we loved Jacques.  I wonder if this is an indication that O will be moving away from Jacques Pepin as Executive Culinary Director starting with the new ships? 

[RJB]

30 minutes ago, WESTEAST said:

Disappointing news as we loved Jacques.  I wonder if this is an indication that O will be moving away from Jacques Pepin as Executive Culinary Director starting with the new ships? 

Sure hope not as the food is the best thing they have going for them.  Without that we just as well can look for another cruise line to sail on.  And yes we also love Jacques. 

[Flatbush Flyer]

2 hours ago, roger b said:

We had dinner with the Staff Captain  last night and were informed  that  Oceania  were doing away  with Jacques  and replacing it with another Grill restaurant ? I don't  know how others  feel about this , but personally  this was my favourite restaurant. 

Haven't heard that rumor yet. 

However, we do know that O quit Canyon Ranch in favor of its own new spa product - most likely as a cost cutter.

The thing that probably would bother me most is all the new passengers moving to the R ships because Jacques would be gone as a draw.

[RJB]

26 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Haven't heard that rumor yet. 

However, we do know that O quit Canyon Ranch in favor of its own new spa product - most likely as a cost cutter.

The thing that probably would bother me most is all the new passengers moving to the R ships because Jacques would be gone as a draw.

I do not think the R ships have very much going for them.  Past their prime and should be retired. 

[Paulchili]

3 hours ago, roger b said:

We had dinner with the Staff Captain  last night and were informed  that  Oceania  were doing away  with Jacques  and replacing it with another Grill restaurant ? I don't  know how others  feel about this , but personally  this was my favourite restaurant. 

We would be very disappointed if this were to happen as this is our favorite restaurant by far.

It just might tip the scales for us as the changes on Oceania are insidiously progressing and not for the better 😥

Is this a rumor or a fact?

If a fact, what is the timing for this?

[RJB]

3 minutes ago, Paulchili said:

We would be very disappointed if this were to happen as this is our favorite restaurant by far.

It just might tip the scales for us as the changes on Oceania are insidiously progressing and not for the better 😥

Is this a rumor or a fact?

If a fact, what is the timing for this?

Our favorite too.  Had dinner there last night on Riviera.   Great.   Now home and back in the real world. 

[roger b]

1 hour ago, RJB said:

Sure hope not as the food is the best thing they have going for them.  Without that we just as well can look for another cruise line to sail on.  And yes we also love Jacques. 

The food offering  is definitely  on a downhill spiral ,I think the cost cutting measures  have gone to far .there used to be a much bigger  choice  in the MDR now we have at least 8 items that are the same every night .Oceania have lost the things that made it special also the quality of  the food has gone down to the point that a drastic change is needed , sadly I shall be moving to Crystal. 

Edited November 25, 2019 by roger b
Missed word

[RJB]

5 minutes ago, roger b said:

The food offering  is definitely  on a downhill spiral ,I think the cost cutting measures  have gone to far .there used to be a much bigger  choice  in the MDR now we have at least 8 items that are the same every night .Oceania have lost the things that made it special also the quality of  the food has gone down to the point that a drastic change is needed , sadly I shall be moving to Crystal. 

You are right about the MDR.   Food choices are pretty poor and it has many more tables that are empty than as I remember it from the past.  Sometimes a wait for a table, but not now.  Sad.   

[roger b]

14 minutes ago, RJB said:

You are right about the MDR.   Food choices are pretty poor and it has many more tables that are empty than as I remember it from the past.  Sometimes a wait for a table, but not now.  Sad.   

Further to my rant the afternoon tea something that was always special on Oceania now the cake offering is just a few dry type cakes no more eclairs ,fruit tarts or millefeut. 

  I spoke to the F and B manager and he told me that  they were trying to cut the waste so all the cakes were of a dry type that last longer.

[LHT28]

maybe it  is something they will be putting on the  Allure class ship

Maybe  like the Terrace grill  only  more upscale

everyone seems to go to the Terrace for the fresh grilled items

Just thinking  outside the box 😁

[Jancruz]

I am checking with the boss..I have not heard that..

Jancruz1

[Paulchili]

53 minutes ago, roger b said:

The food offering  is definitely  on a downhill spiral ,I think the cost cutting measures  have gone to far .there used to be a much bigger  choice  in the MDR now we have at least 8 items that are the same every night .Oceania have lost the things that made it special also the quality of  the food has gone down to the point that a drastic change is needed , sadly I shall be moving to Crystal. 

We have a few more O cruises booked and we shall see how we feel about what we find.

It wouldn't surprise or shock me to find that they are cost cutting - it's an understandable  business decision.

That said, it's just a matter to what degree this effects the overall experience (food being at the top of that).

They - Oceania - may well have made the decision that in view of a very large number of new cruisers from mass market lines who would not know the difference as they have little or no prior O experience and chances are that what they find on Oceania even today is an upgrade from the prior cruise line.

Of course, many of those passengers are leaving their prior cruise lines (Princess, HAL, Celebrity) because of overall decline (food included).

This may result in O loyalists moving on essentially for the same reason?

Edited November 25, 2019 by Paulchili

[WESTEAST]

Our next two cruises are on the R ships (not Sirena) due to itinerary and already sad to miss favs Jacques and Red Ginger!  However, we will definitely be monitoring cuisine quality and identifying this rumour about Jacques on our mid-cruise and final cruise feedback that if they remove Jacques it will DEFINITELY be a deciding factor for future cruises.  Hopefully, they will hear the O loyalists!

[Mura]

RJB, saying that the "R" ships should be retired is your view, and you are entitled to it.  But there have been significant entries just on this thread that show there are many who still prefer the smaller ships.  We like both classes for what they offer. 

 

I for one (obviously I'm not alone) would dearly miss Jacques since that is our favorite specialty restaurant.  I also don't like all these cost-cutting measures while our fares keep on increasing!

 

At least for now we are not cruising due to DH's health problems, but I keep on posting here because I want to see what happens down the road.  I expect when possible to be cruising again, even if on my own.

 

But I would really hate for my favorite cruiseline to drive me away with the cost-cutting measures.

 

Mura

[pinotlover]

ORV, in his report on the Riveria, said in his very first post in that thread that “ all the food has been very good to excellent “!

 

He later repeated the same words in a different post.

 

Many of the posters here are definitely not giving Oceania those accolades! On our August cruise aboard the Nautica we had both several excellent meals and a couple of very low quality. It’s very difficult to decipher exactly what direction Oceania is taking for the future. I do believe that O is ushering in a slightly different concept to appeal to younger Boomers and Gen Xers. I believe this will all become much clearer as the new design of the A ships is made public. Current cruisers will have to decide if that is path they seek. If like ORV you feel everything is just wonderful currently, you have little to fear.

[Paulchili]

6 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

Current cruisers will have to decide if that is path they seek. If like ORV you feel everything is just wonderful currently, you have little to fear.

Of course, while food is very important to us (as unfortunately neither one of us can or even wants to cook like they do on Oceania), there is more to enjoyment of the cruise.

Dining with fellow cruisers in specialties wearing beer logo T shirts is not one of those things.

[LHT28]

15 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

ORV, in his report on the Riveria, said in his very first post in that thread that “ all the food has been very good to excellent “!

 

He later repeated the same words in a different post.

 

Every cruise  may be different re the food 

Different cooks  in the kitchens  at different times

 

we have  had good meals  but some  were very bad  usually Red Ginger 

they  must have a photo of us & just try to  kill us 😀

 

[firsttimers68]

Say it isn't so! Jacques is my favourite restaurant and I would really miss it. Let's hope it's just a  rumour. 

[Jay23]

In my opinion, Jacques is the nicest food place on Oceania.       Red Ginger is my least favourite.  We will be on Sirena next summer and it is disappointing,  to me,  that it is RG and not Jacques that has been introduced following the re-fit.  J

 

[tvmovielover]

On our past O cruises we have had many very good meals and a few clinkers even in the specialties.  Our absolutely worst meal on any of these cruises was in Jacques.  We did try J again and it was fine (DH had the pork chop which had been disgusting and poorly presented on the previous cruise again and it was good).  So I think the point above that there are different chefs on each cruise does make a difference.  At least I  hope this is the case as I am looking forward to our O cruise next year.  I would think Gen Xers on down would prefer better food when they can afford to cruise since they mostly do not order Big Macs from Uber Eats.

[RJB]

10 hours ago, Mura said:

RJB, saying that the "R" ships should be retired is your view, and you are entitled to it.  But there have been significant entries just on this thread that show there are many who still prefer the smaller ships.  We like both classes for what they offer. 

 

I for one (obviously I'm not alone) would dearly miss Jacques since that is our favorite specialty restaurant.  I also don't like all these cost-cutting measures while our fares keep on increasing!

 

At least for now we are not cruising due to DH's health problems, but I keep on posting here because I want to see what happens down the road.  I expect when possible to be cruising again, even if on my own.

 

But I would really hate for my favorite cruiseline to drive me away with the cost-cutting measures.

 

Mura

When we first started go cruise on O about 15 years ago, from Crystal the R ships were great. Bur things change.  They can not give us most of what the O ships have.  Just the way it is and we have to change too.   Can't wait to see how the new ships look.  If they do not cost cut too much they should be wonderful.  Hopeful.