Concierge Lounge snacks and drinks

[IDL]

We booked a concierge class cabin on the Vista and want to find out what types of food and snacks the concierge lounge typically has on their other ships and also what time it opens in the morning. 

[LHT28]

Pre covid on the O ships  it was open 24/7 with your key card

 

They had coffee machine/ juice/ water/ sodas (I think)

snacks are like muffins/cookies mini sandwiches  it changes through out the day

 I am guessing it will be the same on Vista

[IDL]

1 minute ago, LHT28 said:

Pre covid on the O ships  it was open 24/7 with your key card

 

They had coffee machine/ juice/ water/ sodas (I think)

snacks are like muffins/cookies mini sandwiches  it changes through out the day

 I am guessing it will be the same on Vista

Thanks, 24 hours would be great as I’m an early riser and would love coffee relatively early. 

[LHT28]

11 minutes ago, IDL said:

Thanks, 24 hours would be great as I’m an early riser and would love coffee relatively early. 

if up at 6:30 am make the trip to Barristas it is worth the extra steps 😉

 

[IDL]

My first Oceana cruise; is the coffee at Barristas included or is that extra?

[Woofa]

Included.  All non alcoholic drinks included.  And total agreement with LJT28.  Baristas coffee was very good. I often got it there and brought it into Terrace to have with my breakfast.  Next cruise I need to try experimenting with the machines.  Other than Baristas all the coffee we tried was mediocre at best.  heard that if you know the right combination, the machines are pretty good.

[LHT28]

58 minutes ago, Woofa said:

Included.  All non alcoholic drinks included.  And total agreement with LJT28.  Baristas coffee was very good. I often got it there and brought it into Terrace to have with my breakfast.  Next cruise I need to try experimenting with the machines.  Other than Baristas all the coffee we tried was mediocre at best.  heard that if you know the right combination, the machines are pretty good.

yes  if you can play around  with the settings  you can get a decent cup  but Barristas win 🙂

 

Some of the new non alcoholic beverages in the bars are fee based

[Woofa]

1 minute ago, LHT28 said:

yes  if you can play around  with the settings  you can get a decent cup  but Barristas win 🙂

Some of the new non alcoholic beverages in the bars are fee based

I was not aware of this.  Thank you.

[LHT28]

4 minutes ago, Woofa said:

I was not aware of this.  Thank you.

They are on the menus posted  by ROBJAMES

 the ones made with Lyres non alcoholic spirits

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2904150-riviera-new-bar-drinks-menus-and-prices/

 

[AMHuntFerry]

1 hour ago, IDL said:

We booked a concierge class cabin on the Vista and want to find out what types of food and snacks the concierge lounge typically has on their other ships and also what time it opens in the morning. 

During breakfast there were pastries/muffins on the food shelves. There are also snacks in the frig...yogurt and some other things I didn't eat so can't remember. I think there was fresh fruit on the counter (all day??). For lunch there were mini sandwiches on the food shelves. Later there were cookies (strangely O does not do cookies well), and other desserty snacks (small cakes and the like).

There is the coffee machine...espresso, cappucino, americano, latte (all either caffeinated or decaf); as mentioned, Baristas is first choice, but the machines pretty well do in a pinch. There are a variety of Twining teas, juices from a machine on the counter, plus there were other juices and milk in the frig. Any of the sodas/mixers that are in the room mini-frig were in the lounge frig. I know I'm missing something...for such a compact area it had quite a bit.

[Woofa]

6 minutes ago, AMHuntFerry said:

Later there were cookies (strangely O does not do cookies well)

Funny you mention this, I remember saying to my wife I found it odd I did not find a good chocolate chip or oatmeal raisin cookie all cruise.  Figured maybe I was not looking in the right places.

Edited March 24, 2023 by Woofa

[AMHuntFerry]

8 minutes ago, Woofa said:

Funny you mention this, I remember saying to my wife I found it odd I did not find a good chocolate chip or oatmeal raisin cookie all cruise.  Figured maybe I was not looking in the right places.

Thankfully there are those evil little cakes (look like a tall, skinny bundt) and biscotti. The biscotti come from a bag but I can nibble them all day!

[mauibabes]

They are made more European style, not overloaded with sweeter chocolate chips/chunks. They are just not sweet enough for our American tastebuds. I found a chocolate, chocolate chip that was pretty good in Barista’s in the afternoon. Actually it is a good thing they are not home made toll house or oatmeal cookies because they are far tooooo available and I would eat many, many more than I should compounding the battle of the bulge. 
Short of the Sticky buns, I would say deserts in general are less sweet but that is for my taste. 
My problem, I still keep tasting them to find a sweeter cookie so my personal battle continues. 
Words from a Cookie Monster,

Mauibabes

[samiam0403]

1 hour ago, LHT28 said:

 

 

Some of the new non alcoholic beverages in the bars are fee based

Good clarification. The non-alcoholic beer is also not included. It was hit or miss on whether or not the bartenders would include it as a second drink during 2-for-1 happy hours (I had the premium bev package, husband did not.) I don't believe they're technically supposed to include a different beverage during happy hour, but I took it as a bonus when they did!

[GeezerCouple]

3 hours ago, IDL said:

My first Oceana cruise; is the coffee at Barristas included or is that extra?

 

DH, the coffee connoisseur of our household, loves Baristas, on the Riviera (that's the only O ship we've sailed, and we love it).  The Barista at Baristas tends to get to know him, and after asking for the same thing a few times, and then the Barista would ask DH when he walked in, soon it became just if DH smiled and nodded. 🙂 

 

And... Baristas tends to have some very nice biscuits, pastries... etc.

Am I remembering correctly that they had Madeleines, or is that wishful thinking?   Possibly chocolate Madeleines??  (I used to make those, but I don't find them elsewhere, and being a card-carrying Chocoholic...... 😉 )

 

DH would often return from Baristas with a treat for me.  Or several!

 

And then there is the surf and turf at Waves.  I remember reading about that before our first O cruise, and wondering what all the commotion was about.

Well...!! Yes indeed! Yum!

There have been some other threads here about the general food.  We wouldn't be surprised if things aren't quite up to par due to the various Covid issues.  We also happened to find some of the Specialties, well, special.

Another "thing" I kept hearing about before our first O cruise was the "Sea Bass" at Red Ginger.  Oh my...

 

Oh, I miss all of that.... hopefully we'll be back soon...

 

ENJOY all of it!

 

GC

 

[AMHuntFerry]

11 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

Am I remembering correctly that they had Madeleines, or is that wishful thinking?   Possibly chocolate Madeleines??  (I used to make those, but I don't find them elsewhere, and being a card-carrying Chocoholic...... 😉 )

 

Vanilla, or pistachio, or chocolate 🙂

[Sujormik]

I am medically mandated to anvoid caffeine, can I hope all these great Baristas drinks are available in decaf?

[GeezerCouple]

5 hours ago, Sujormik said:

I am medically mandated to anvoid caffeine, can I hope all these great Baristas drinks are available in decaf?

 

Do notify Oceania in advance.

We've found them to be *very* careful about dietary allergies/restrictions.  So give them advance notice so they can be prepared.as well as possible.

(We've found them very responsive to special requests that weren't medically necessary, but "just a preference".)

 

I'm sure there are some others here who can tell if decafe is always just as available as regular.  And I'll ask DH.  (He sometimes drinks decafe at home, but I don't know if he did that on any cruises.)

 

GC

[tvmovielover]

There is a coffee machine and food available all day in the Concierge Lounge but I would not get a concierge cabin just for that (there are some other perks).  there are too many other choices.  Baristas has the best coffee on the ships available from 6:30 (and sometimes earlier) and different snacks etc.  Horizons and Terrace have coffee machines that as said above provide a better cup of coffee than the dining rooms if you work the machines right AND Horizons also has some morning foods from 6 and sometimes earlier.  There are things available for those of us who get up early and leave so partners can sleep.

Edited March 25, 2023 by tvmovielover

[LHT28]

9 hours ago, Sujormik said:

I am medically mandated to anvoid caffeine, can I hope all these great Baristas drinks are available in decaf?

I know  they offer decaf Cappuccino I am sure  they will other decaf options  just ask the server

[terrydtx]

Good to know about the Concierge lounge, we booked our first O cruise on the Marina in Concierge class cabin on the same floor as the lounge.

[CruiseLibra]

We regularly book a Concierge room so that we can use the lounge. We aren't big breakfast eaters so having the ability to pop into the Concierge Lounge on port days to grab a coffee and a light snack in the morning is a lifesaver for us. 

 

[IDL]

5 minutes ago, CruiseLibra said:

We regularly book a Concierge room so that we can use the lounge. We aren't big breakfast eaters so having the ability to pop into the Concierge Lounge on port days to grab a coffee and a light snack in the morning is a lifesaver for us. 

 

What other Concierge class benefits do you utilize? 

[CruiseLibra]

We also take advantage of the earlier pre-cruise specialty reservation booking and the earlier boarding time on embarkation day. 

 

[xinnia317]

20 hours ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

DH, the coffee connoisseur of our household, loves Baristas, on the Riviera (that's the only O ship we've sailed, and we love it).  The Barista at Baristas tends to get to know him, and after asking for the same thing a few times, and then the Barista would ask DH when he walked in, soon it became just if DH smiled and nodded. 🙂 

 

And... Baristas tends to have some very nice biscuits, pastries... etc.

Am I remembering correctly that they had Madeleines, or is that wishful thinking?   Possibly chocolate Madeleines??  (I used to make those, but I don't find them elsewhere, and being a card-carrying Chocoholic...... 😉 )

 

DH would often return from Baristas with a treat for me.  Or several!

 

And then there is the surf and turf at Waves.  I remember reading about that before our first O cruise, and wondering what all the commotion was about.

Well...!! Yes indeed! Yum!

There have been some other threads here about the general food.  We wouldn't be surprised if things aren't quite up to par due to the various Covid issues.  We also happened to find some of the Specialties, well, special.

Another "thing" I kept hearing about before our first O cruise was the "Sea Bass" at Red Ginger.  Oh my...

 

Oh, I miss all of that.... hopefully we'll be back soon...

 

ENJOY all of it!

 

GC

 

We loved Baristas on the Riviera - the baristas themselves were wonderful and made a special unsweetened iced coffee drink for me that was amazing. We enjoyed the Americanos too - nice and strong - with cream. They do have very nice nibbles. Including vanilla, chocolate and pistachio Madelines!! I enjoyed the smoked salmon with cream cheese, capers and lemon on sliced baguette!