Food on Oceania

[tfred]

we found the food to be excellent on O. The specialty restaurants are uniformly excellent as well.  My least favorite was the Steakhouse - pretty good, but you can get that anywhere these days on land.  The service is fairly "formal" so expect white gloves.

 

O MDR is way better than Celebrity these days

[Flatbush Flyer]

2 hours ago, zltm089 said:

By TA, I presume you mean travel agent?...

 

No thanks, I'd rather get the feedback of people who actually cruise rather than people who sell cruises.

When it comes to Oceania, you'll find that the personnel of many TAs who are part of Oceania's Connoisseurs Club will have as much (if not more than) O experience/knowledge as do the regulars here on CC.

 

As for O Life with/without air, the first O Life price you see on the O website includes air. If you start a mock booking and select O Life, the next screen asks if you will "need air?". If you check "no," the next screen will give you the O Life price without air. Thus, by subtracting that price from the O Life price on the first screen, you will know how much is the air credit.

 

At first, negotiating the Oceania website, can be a bit daunting. Over a few cruises with O, the booking/pricing/perks/loyalty cruise credit idiosyncrasies all start to fall into place, at least in terms of understanding them.

 

Nonetheless, the specifics can (and do) elude some regular O cruisers. So, you may want to take some of what you read here on CC with a grain of salt until you can doublecheck with an O Club Ambassador onboard or with an O Connoisseurs Club TA.

 

BTW, note that O is one cruise line where using one of their preferred partner TAs often results in commission sharing that can easily mean significant commission sharing with you. 

[Flatbush Flyer]

2 hours ago, edgee said:

Correct. And, you can take air credit divided in half and fly one way using Oceania air and the other way on your own. That works great for transatlantic cruises where the transatlantic flight is very expensive one way if purchased on your own.

The hacks may work for the included economy or (in some cases) premium economy air. But, be very careful if you generally fly bizclass. Even O's air office will tell you that you're better off taking the credit and opt for DIY bizclass.

[edgee]

14 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

The hacks may work for the included economy or (in some cases) premium economy air. But, be very careful if you generally fly bizclass. Even O's air office will tell you that you're better off taking the credit and opt for DIY bizclass.

We almost always take the full air credit and do air on our own. However, with transatlantic cruises, if we do not have a good opportunity to use FF miles, we will use O air for transatlantic one way due to cost of one way transatlantic air if we do it on our own. While we certainly prefer business class, we have taken O air in coach on occasion since we usually can fly non stop to or from most European cities from major east coast airports near our home.

Edited December 25, 2019 by edgee
Clarity

[Paulchili]

7 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Oceania. Finest cuisine in the world? Not even close. Finest Cuisine at Sea™? "You bethcha!"

I agree with this sentiment and will include the likes of Silversea, Regent, Seabourn and Crystal with a couple of caveats:

1 Food is very subjective - what I love you may hate and v.v.

2 The overall food on Oceania is not what it was some 10 years ago but it’s still best OVERALL and IMO

3 Each of the above cruise lines has wonderful food but taken OVERALL, O comes out ahead

[clo]

3 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Even O's air office will tell you that you're better off taking the credit and opt for DIY bizclass

THIS^^^^^

[AtA]

2 hours ago, Paulchili said:

I agree with this sentiment and will include the likes of Silversea, Regent, Seabourn and Crystal with a couple of caveats:

1 Food is very subjective - what I love you may hate and v.v.

2 The overall food on Oceania is not what it was some 10 years ago but it’s still best OVERALL and IMO

3 Each of the above cruise lines has wonderful food but taken OVERALL, O comes out ahead

Based on my one other cruise with O 3 years ago, I'd still give the nod to Crystal but I'm going on Serena in 1 1/2 weeks so I'll definitely let you know.

[Paulchili]

59 minutes ago, AtA said:

Based on my one other cruise with O 3 years ago, I'd still give the nod to Crystal but I'm going on Serena in 1 1/2 weeks so I'll definitely let you know.

It’s really hard to actually complain about the food on any of these premium and luxury lines - it all comes down to personal tastes and preferences.

[Tansy Mews]

11 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Say something right now to the F&B director.

agreed. 
 

so they can fix it. 
 

frances

[AtA]

14 hours ago, Paulchili said:

It’s really hard to actually complain about the food on any of these premium and luxury lines - it all comes down to personal tastes and preferences.

Don't get me wrong. One of the main reasons I chose Oceania again was because the food was very good when we last sailed her. The other reason i chose O was because I'm taking my son on his first cruise (he's 31) and the ship originally was slated to do Cuba and when that was canned, the fares became extremely attractive. That, the food and the small ship size. 

[Classiccruiser777]

We love the food. Waves, the snack bar near the pool has lobster tail medallions and filet mignon, the “surf and turf,” everyday and they aren’t stingy with the portions. There are many other choices as well, all cooked to order.

 

At the Terrace, the buffet, salads are made to order, the food is served, and at dinner there is almost always a nice selection of sushi, grilled lobster, prawns, fish, steaks and lamb chops. There are also many other choices to complement the selections.

 

The deserts are as good as they look and the ice cream, as most other delights, are made fresh on board. 

 

[wripro]

23 hours ago, zltm089 said:

By TA, I presume you mean travel agent?...

 

No thanks, I'd rather get the feedback of people who actually cruise rather than people who sell cruises.

Then you don't have a good TA. A good one will know you and work to satisfy you not the cruise lines. But course, it's your call if all you want is a bunch of opinions which is all you'll get here.

[pinotlover]

52 minutes ago, wripro said:

Then you don't have a good TA. A good one will know you and work to satisfy you not the cruise lines. But course, it's your call if all you want is a bunch of opinions which is all you'll get here.

+1 to this! I have an excellent Travel Agent whose answers to any of my questions are far more accurate , and up to date, than many of opinions expressed here. Most importantly,  those answers come from managers extremely farther up the food chain than people talk to when calling O’s 1-800 number . Now that is typically a waste of energy!

[AveSaloon]

Food on O is schizo.

 

As noted, Waves is excellent for lunch.  Grill at the Terrace is excellent for a fresh, hot grilled meat dish.

 

OTOH, MDR is just OK.  Food uninspiring, service lackluster.  Decor is my grandma's parlor.

 

Specialties are hit and miss, especially on smaller ships. Pretty overrated in my book.

 

When I find foie gras, lobster tail, escargot and similar as daily dinner options on Regent, anyone who says O has the best food is delusional.

[docmark]

"OTOH, MDR is just OK.  Food uninspiring, service lackluster.  Decor is my grandma's parlor.

 

Specialties are hit and miss, especially on smaller ships. Pretty overrated in my book."

 

-----Agree with first statement, in our recent cruise on Marina, we tried GDR one night, service was mediocre , lead waiter ( who barely spoke/understood English) got one entre and one desert wrong (there were 6 of us) and food was definitely sub-par (my wife who really likes salmon, ordered it and she only ate 1/3, it was dry and not all "tasty") , we never went back.

-----Disagree with second statement STRONGLY: Specialties were all good to excellent, we visited all except "steakhouse"'(once) at least twice. Service, and food were very good in "specialties" .

 

We had dinner at Terrace 3-4 times, all very good.

We have never been in "smaller" ships 

[LHT28]

3 hours ago, AveSaloon said:

Food on O is schizo.

 

As noted, Waves is excellent for lunch.  Grill at the Terrace is excellent for a fresh, hot grilled meat dish.

 

OTOH, MDR is just OK.  Food uninspiring, service lackluster.  Decor is my grandma's parlor.

 

Specialties are hit and miss, especially on smaller ships. Pretty overrated in my book.

 

When I find foie gras, lobster tail, escargot and similar as daily dinner options on Regent, anyone who says O has the best food is delusional.

WOW

 I found the food on Crystal sub par   &  I do not eat Lobster/Foie gras or escargot  which were only served one night anyway

Talk about decor  Crystal designers have NO taste in art works compared to Oceania

[FlyerTalker]

I find it quite interesting.  A poster above commented about the options available on Regent vs O, and somehow LHT found a way to get back to slamming Crystal.  What the???

 

We get it.  You love Oceania. You hate Crystal. Oceania can do no wrong.

 

[LHT28]

I find it interesting that the Crystalized have come to Oceania forum to make nasty comments  LOL

Oceania is not perfect  no cruise line is

JMO

 

[Mura]

I find I have to defend Lyn here.  We haven't been on Crystal ever, Princess back in 1990.  Our main experiences in cruising since 1999 have been Renaissance and then Oceania.  Not exclusively, but about 90%.

 

But I've found Lyn to be very fair in her assessments.  If they didn't like their recent cruise, is that so terrible and biased?  I don't think so!

 

I also question the anti-GDR comments on this thread.  While I don't like the reduced menus these days (and I admit it's been a while since we last sailed due to DH's health problems), we never had such experiences as people are describing.  I'm NOT saying they are wrong -- we weren't there.  We just have always had excellent service and dining experiences in the GDR.  (That's why we tend not to go overboard on making specialty restaurant reservations.)  And to describe the decor as "grandma's" is definitely not our experience!

 

Calm down everyone ...

 

Mura

[Flatbush Flyer]

40 minutes ago, Mura said:

I find I have to defend Lyn here.  We haven't been on Crystal ever, Princess back in 1990.  Our main experiences in cruising since 1999 have been Renaissance and then Oceania.  Not exclusively, but about 90%.

 

But I've found Lyn to be very fair in her assessments.  If they didn't like their recent cruise, is that so terrible and biased?  I don't think so!

 

I also question the anti-GDR comments on this thread.  While I don't like the reduced menus these days (and I admit it's been a while since we last sailed due to DH's health problems), we never had such experiences as people are describing.  I'm NOT saying they are wrong -- we weren't there.  We just have always had excellent service and dining experiences in the GDR.  (That's why we tend not to go overboard on making specialty restaurant reservations.)  And to describe the decor as "grandma's" is definitely not our experience!

 

Calm down everyone ...

 

Mura

Reduced menus?

C'mon. There's plenty to choose from in the GDR and significant variety with a nice mix of standards and nightly specials. Here's three recent Sirena dinner menus:

[Jay23]

On 12/25/2019 at 7:14 PM, zltm089 said:

By TA, I presume you mean travel agent?...

 

No thanks, I'd rather get the feedback of people who actually cruise rather than people who sell cruises.

This from a cruiser from the UK.

Booking Oceania here is a bit different from booking in the US.        Look in the travel section of your newspaper for the Travel Agents who specialise in Oceania cruises.  Half page ads showing whole cruises and special offers. (we in the UK do not have access to the Conniosseur TAs that are a available in US)  Phone them.  They are very helpful and knowledgable and can offer you special discounts.  It is always best to take air credit and book your own flights unless there is a special offer.  Oceania sometimes sail from Southampton.   You can take your own wine on board and pay corkage ($25) in the dining room or drink it in your suite for free.  

 

There is no way to compare Oceania with Princess, and there is no way we on CC can tell you if you will like Oceania or think it is value for money..  We can only tell you the way we see it.    Alcohol and tours are pricey in comparison with Princess,  but comfort and service, food and ambiance are far above Princess.  We have recently  had a cruise, to the Baltic states,   booked with the TA,  , and included in our fare, were six tours per suite and other offers.    But only you can decide if this is for you.  We cruised with Princess and P&O for many years,  but we have now booked our fifth Oceania one.   We have tried Seaborne and Regent but have returned to Oceania each time.  Good luck.  J

[zltm089]

I do appreciate that food is highly subjective, but what I was after are comments regarding food on oceania including the members' cruising foodie experience (i.e their "foodie" background) and then see whether the "offical" reviews, reputation and numerous awards all tie up. Many of yous have done that and I thank you very much.

 

With regards to travel agents in the UK, I'm still not convinced. Will call around and see what they say.

[DeeniEncinitas]

Good morning all!

Back to the food issue. Some of you know I am new to O! March and April finally will be on Riviera!

Question? In a PH, will the menus of the specialty restaurants be there to look at so we can enjoy some dining in our stateroom? I didn’t want to start a thread on this question.

Thanks

Denise😊

[LHT28]

28 minutes ago, DeeniEncinitas said:

Good morning all!

Back to the food issue. Some of you know I am new to O! March and April finally will be on Riviera!

Question? In a PH, will the menus of the specialty restaurants be there to look at so we can enjoy some dining in our stateroom? I didn’t want to start a thread on this question.

Thanks

Denise😊

if not in suite when you arrive  ask your butler to bring them

[Mura]

I've also read here that menus are now available on the TV.  When we've been in a PH and above (no OS yet and not likely ever to happen) the menus were always in the room.  If not, as Lyn says -- ask your butler.