Regatta Disappointment

[ak1004]

3 minutes ago, jonthomas said:

Maybe because they needed the best staff for Vista, many were transferred.  New staff take a while to meet standards. 

On our Marina TA November 2022, 23 day, mid way, the dessert chef changed in the Terrace buffet and the desserts went from "not to be missed" to " don't bother, they are awful".

We will be on the Regatta the whole of September. Will watch for reviews closer to that time. That may give me a clue as to what to expect. But I am very picky about food, what is good to others is just ok for me.

We don't do room service so that's not an issue.

 

Well you can say the same about all ships. We are on the Riviera now. No issues with the staff. Very attentive and professional service. And there are some very bad reviews about Riviera. 

[jonthomas]

Yes you are right.

We were on the Riviera in January.  It was amazing, food, ambiance, all of it.

[DOJO466]

I am on Regatta now sailing with two friends I have met on previous O cruises. We are all seasoned O cruisers and have sailed many times on the various ships. We are in total agreement that this has been some of the best food we have experienced in quite some time out of all our sailings. We each had different dishes in GDR and Specialties and were definitely impressed. 
  Have only eaten one dinner Terrace, ok but being a bit mobility impaired prefer to be waited on. I used to always eat in Terrace but I agree with others that it has limited choices and is just so so.

  I have had room service breakfast almost every morning. It has arrived hot every time, sometimes missing some items. Would have like salt/pepper for my omelet but really didn’t need it for just a bagel and oatmeal.

 As for housekeeper, I have an angel that goes out of her way for me. Twice a day she brings me bags of ice for my knee that is not liking rough seas, brings my daily ration of Bai coconut water that I requested pre cruise and she is just a delight.

 So the food and service has been great, wish I could say the same about our weather.

 

 

 

 

[LHT28]

2 minutes ago, DOJO466 said:

I am on Regatta now sailing with two friends I have met on previous O cruises. We are all seasoned O cruisers and have sailed many times on the various ships. We are in total agreement that this has been some of the best food we have experienced in quite some time out of all our sailings. We each had different dishes in GDR and Specialties and were definitely impressed. 
  Have only eaten one dinner Terrace, ok but being a bit mobility impaired prefer to be waited on. I used to always eat in Terrace but I agree with others that it has limited choices and is just so so.

  I have had room service breakfast almost every morning. It has arrived hot every time, sometimes missing some items. Would have like salt/pepper for my omelet but really didn’t need it for just a bagel and oatmeal.

 As for housekeeper, I have an angel that goes out of her way for me. Twice a day she brings me bags of ice for my knee that is not liking rough seas, brings my daily ration of Bai coconut water that I requested pre cruise and she is just a delight.

 So the food and service has been great, wish I could say the same about our weather.

 

 

Good  to hear you are enjoying  the cruise 

safe  travels

Lyn

[hawkesbaynz]

We really enjoyed the excellent food that we had on the Sirena in November and Marina in February. DW would argue that there were limited options for her at Polo grill as she does not eat steak/lamb/chops but I could have eaten everything on the menu. Service was v.slow at the Red Ginger on Marina. Really enjoyed the Terrace Cafe particularly in good weather.

 

However I cannot really understand the flame torched burnt breakfast bacon. Pure carbon. I wish they offered a Canadian Back Bacon style. Perhaps it is a cultural thing. However that was my only food complaint. 

[pinotlover]

1 hour ago, hawkesbaynz said:

We really enjoyed the excellent food that we had on the Sirena in November and Marina in February. DW would argue that there were limited options for her at Polo grill as she does not eat steak/lamb/chops but I could have eaten everything on the menu. Service was v.slow at the Red Ginger on Marina. Really enjoyed the Terrace Cafe particularly in good weather.

 

However I cannot really understand the flame torched burnt breakfast bacon. Pure carbon. I wish they offered a Canadian Back Bacon style. Perhaps it is a cultural thing. However that was my only food complaint. 

You guys in early Feb on the Marina must of had the cruise people dream about! 🥂. You drank the ship dry of Knob  Creek Bourbon and many of the other top brands. On our 2/27 cruise, not only were the better liquor brands gone, but so to many of the wines on the “ by the glass “ menu. Since Oceania didn’t adequately plan for your splurges, very little was restocked in B. A.  😢

 

On the food side, your cruise wiped the ship out of simple items like capers and arugula. The duck watermelon salad just isn’t the same without rocket!! We were so low on maple syrup, at first they thought they were out, one had to specify syrup on pancakes or French toast towards the end of the cruise or none was offered, then sparingly. If requested. Other main ingredients just weren’t there.

 

I have no doubt that early February Marina cruise was spectacular based on the empty cupboards we saw following your cruise. Happy cruising.🍷

[LHT28]

3 hours ago, hawkesbaynz said:

 I wish they offered a Canadian Back Bacon style. Perhaps it is a cultural thing. However that was my only food complaint. 

They have had back bacon or Peameal  on past  cruises  ..maybe a supply issue  at the time

[hawkesbaynz]

@LHT28 it seems I was lucky in comparison with @pinotlover 😄. Lucky I had the pancakes with maple syrup to fall back on. Enjoyed a Caesar Salad every lunch too. Cannot be held accountable for the booze though as we brought on wine at most stops having identified some decent brands on wine tours in Chile😊. 
 

The weather was great too. Anchored at Stanley and the the sail down to Antarctica @ Drakes passage was a breeze. 
 

Actually the best meal of the trip was at Bouza Winery in Montevideo. Did you visit there @pinotlover ?

[jonthomas]

Regatta disappointment?

[Harters]

14 hours ago, hawkesbaynz said:

I cannot really understand the flame torched burnt breakfast bacon.

After some  40 years visiting the States, I know this is just how it is and know not to order bacon with breakfast. Crispy streaky bacon is just not at all to my taste - but then I don't like any meat "well done".

[jonthomas]

Please post any other Regatta reviews, so we can see if there is progress on the food front, since many of you said it needed improvement.

[lj77346]

I was on both the Regatta's May 4 and May 11 California coastal cruises and found the food to be good, a step up from Princess and Celebrity, but nothing that wowed me. I enjoyed my dinners in the GDR as much or more than Toscana and the Polo Grill because for specialty restaurants, the meals there didn't seem any better than the GDR.  I ate breakfast everyday in the GDR and the food was always very good with probably the best service that I had on 20+ Oceania cruises.  Lunch at Waves or the Terrace Cafe was always good - I was in no danger of starving.  I ordered room service a few times and the food arrived hot and the steak was prepared as hoped for (medium rare).  I was happy that there was Guinness stout in stock and felt fortunate that I am able to cruise.

[ldubs]

On 5/20/2023 at 2:25 PM, MEFIowa said:

You seem heavily focused on food with a bit of complaining on training and customer service. BOTH issues entirely subjective. Not sure I can find an objective issue in your experience on which to say "I can understand that fully".

 

 

Gosh, I thought the OP provided specifics about the service and food issues.  

 

I note in most threads containing criticisms, regardless of the cruise line, the it is subjective defense is often invoked.   

 

[jonthomas]

We are on two sept sailings on Regatta.

 

On our roll call, people are continuing to write that friends that have come home have said the food is not up to par. Very disappointed in quality and variety.

 

Hope something changes soon. We ARE making final pay this week. 

 

Also hope that all these people are making it clear to those in charge that things have to improve.

 

You can have some express their disappointment, but when there are many it begins to ring true. That many cant be wrong.

[zalusky]

We did the Aussie circumnavigation in January and just felt things were limited.  I really wanted to see more food ethnicities.  On this cruise it felt like it was mostly limited to a few regions.

 

So I am interested to follow the thread to see how Regatta is is progressing.

 

I don’t expect to sail on her again as the O class and Vista is much more my style.

[jonthomas]

We are not into "ethnicities "..

 

Just basic good fare.

Having said that, we have enjoyed on O, in the past 3 cruises this year, excellent onion soup, crepes, lasagna, etc.

In the Terrace, salads with no selfish, no roast pig, no Mexican, nothing with curry or cumin, no soups with fish, no sushi...

As you can see, this eliminates a great deal.

Not into gourmet food. Someone here said, you just want mcds type of food. Not true.

Prefer good American, European, Italian, French, German, Greek cuisine,  with some exceptions.

Anyway I don't want to hijack the thread. I have always been able to find something to my liking on O ships, not so on other lines.

[ORV]

5 hours ago, jonthomas said:

We are not into "ethnicities "..

 

Prefer good American, European, Italian, French, German, Greek cuisine,  with some exceptions.

MMmmh? Ok. 

 

[Harters]

6 hours ago, jonthomas said:

European, Italian, French, German, Greek cuisine

We all eat what we like to eat. But, I'm curious about language  - are these not "ethnicities" to you?

[pinotlover]

1 hour ago, Harters said:

We all eat what we like to eat. But, I'm curious about language  - are these not "ethnicities" to you?

He just omitted the first part of each world, kind of like silent letters.

 

So that’s actually Merican French, Merican Etalian, Merican Greek, etc. You know that real Merican Etalian like they serve at Olive Garden. Not any of that authentic stuff like you’d find in a restaurant in Amalfi, that’s ethnic stuff! 😱😂 Having none of that stuff! Gonna stay on the ship where it’s just like eating in Des Moines. 

Edited May 31, 2023 by pinotlover

[jonthomas]

1 hour ago, Harters said:

We all eat what we like to eat. But, I'm curious about language  - are these not "ethnicities" to you?

Yes of course they are...hence the quotations...all of course written with tongue in cheek...just showing we all have excentricities...I more than most....

[LuAnn]

I'm just off the Regatta yesterday and was on the cruise with Deb. I didn't order room service but enjoyed the meals we had in the MDR, Terrace and Polo. TBH I didn't think Tuscan Grill was very good at all..in fact we cancelled our next reservation. But we all enjoyed everything else. 

 

This was my first cruise back with O since the restart. For me I enjoyed the cruise just as much as all the others in the past. Looking forward to Vista in October through the Panama Canal. 

[bobolz]

I’m sorry to hear about the OPs experience, but happy to hear about others  recent positive comments. We are traveling on the regatta in late Sept for the California coast itinerary. For those that have traveled during this time and this 7 day itinerary (LA to LA) , I was curious how the seas were , ie were they rough during this time of year? . How were they around Santa Barbara since that is the only tender port. I prefer the O classships Versus the R class oships like regatta, but looks like regatta has been upgraded since last time I was on board which was 8+ years ago. Also is the port in LA always San Pedro? Is that very far from LAX ? 

 

thanks in advance for any feedback

Edited June 4, 2023 by bobolz

[hmorrow]

On 5/21/2023 at 9:31 PM, bphman said:

We just got off the May 11th Regatta sailing and I have to say that the food was not up to Oceania's standard. This was our third Oceania cruise and the food and service was off considerably.  I have written a complete review that has not posted yet.  We came back to Oceania based on prior experience and I echo the concerns of many that the food was just OK.  We did not use room service so I have no comments.  The Terrace Grill where we only had lunch had limited selections and some dishes were not good.  The freshly grilled swordfish was not edible.  The other grilled items were fair.  The roast pig was exceptional but the baron of beef was tough as leather.  The MDR food was OK at best.  Prime rib was tasteless and cold.  Lobster had been cooked out of the shell and my wife said it was fishy and the temperature was inconsistent.  The last night, I had escargot and was rushed as we were on a few occasions.  Never got our entrees and our table was cleared including the wine glasses and we were handed dessert menus.  We had to wait even longer for our main course.  For breakfast I ordered scrambled eggs and broiled kippers.  The eggs (tasted powdered) came with CAPERS.  I said I ordered KIPPERS.  By the way, capers go well with eggs.  I can accept language issues.  But the kippers came long after we finished as we were getting up to leave.  These are just a few.  So, I have to agree with the OP that something is wrong and needs to be corrected.  The wine selections were excellent as was the sommelier service but the food and service was not.  Yes, I did mention all of this to the Maitre 'd and I completed survey but all I got were apologies but no improvement in service or food quality.   So, for all those bashing the OP, leave her alone.  The food was subpar on this sailing.  

We were also on the May 11 sailing. I thought the food in the specialty restaurants, excellent. Dining room, good to excellent. Terrace cafe good.- except for the pancakes, that I could not cut, with a knife. Seriously.

One thing we do, practically every place we dine, is to order on our time frame.  Appetizers, first, and when we're finished with those, the rest of the meal.  That way no chance of being rushed. We have no problem with time in between courses.

Was everthing perfect- no, was it special-yes

This was our first O cruise, with many on Celebrity, Royal, Holland.  We liked it enough to book 3  weeks on Marina, in 2024.

[avalong]

8 hours ago, bobolz said:

I’m sorry to hear about the OPs experience, but happy to hear about others  recent positive comments. We are traveling on the regatta in late Sept for the California coast itinerary. For those that have traveled during this time and this 7 day itinerary (LA to LA) , I was curious how the seas were , ie were they rough during this time of year? . How were they around Santa Barbara since that is the only tender port. I prefer the O classships Versus the R class oships like regatta, but looks like regatta has been upgraded since last time I was on board which was 8+ years ago. Also is the port in LA always San Pedro? Is that very far from LAX ? 

 

thanks in advance for any feedback

Yes, it's always San Pedro which is about 22 miles from LAX via a very busy freeway. Recommend you fly in the day before and stay at the Doubletree in San Pedro. 

[Rally]

 

We stayed many times at the San Pedro Doubletree (by Hilton) the night before boarding.  It is very convenient and comfortable and runs a free shuttle to the various docks. Also, for Southern California residents who may elect to drive to San Pedro, they allow free 14 day parking.  Highly recommended.