Why do Oceania’s cookies have no taste?

[zz19]

Just now, zz19 said:

We will be joining you on the Tokyo-San Francisco portion of your ATW on June 20.

Do you want us to bring Costco chocolate chunk cookies from San Francisco ?

 Re: Pizza.   Was on the Riviera in January along with 5 other passengers ,all originally from New York. All agreed--- The new Pizza recipe compared very favorably with New York Pizza.

 

Safe Travels,

 

[lelak]

Oceania and Regent seem to share recipes for some items like cookies and soups.  Many are very good, but a few, like the chocolate chip cookies are strange.  They seem

very much more cake like than a good cc (say Tollhouse or Doubletree or even Costco) cookie.  That gooey chocolate inside is just missing.  We enjoy almost all the soups, but again, their recipe for New England clam chowder doesn't come close to authentic, although the lobster bisque is excellent.

 

As many have said, a lot is subjective, but I'd put the batch of chocolate chip cookies I just baked in a blind taste test against Oceania or Regent any day.

[Hanoj]

21 hours ago, YourWorldWithBill said:

Thanks for a brilliant poem!

The age-old philosophical understanding of the universe is, "Everything happens for a raisin."

Head East, on their Flat as a Pancake album, got the title of their one hit wonder song wrong. It should have been Never Been Any Raison.

[GeezerCouple]

On 6/5/2023 at 6:43 AM, shepherd really said:

There is no raison d'être for raisins in cookies.  😁

This thread has brought back a terrific memory, something I used to wish for a chance to repeat...

 

When I was teaching in a major graduate school, there were some presentations made by small groups in one seminar.  One of the groups was *very* creative.  I have completely forgotten what their topic was.  But I willl never forget HOW they made their presentation:

 

They were the RAISINS D'ETRE! (a small sign on front of each of them. lest the audience forget!)

 

And they each "wore" a dark plastic garbage bag, with 2 cut-outs at the bottom for the legs (so, step into "your costume" 😉 ), and a cut-out near the top of each side for the arms.  Then... the "tie" was secured (gently!) and tied like a bow around the neck. 

 

It was hysterical.  The biggest hit of all of the presentations!

 

I *must* find an occasion to do this!

If nothing else, at least round up a few friends next Halloween... 😁

 

GC

[babysteps]

21 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said:

I *must* find an occasion to do this!

Sailaway party! Or cc gathering 😁

[vlthom]

I am glad to see this particular thread.  We have been regulars sailing on O since 2011 and have always felt that the cookies were horrible.  They usually look good but that's where their appeal ends.  Foolishly, we keep trying them with the hope that they've somehow improved.  They never do.  We enjoy O and the majority of the cuisine onboard but the inferiority of the cookies has always perplexed us.  The pastries and many other baked goods are wonderful.  Cookies are typically an easy thing to bake so why can't O make a decent one?  As another poster stated, it's likely because the base for the cookies is a mix -- and a bad one at that.   I'd rather that they stop offering the bad cookies than to continue putting them out for us to try.  We are foolish enough to be tricked into trying them because they look good. 🤪  And I do agree that Viking's cookies are good -- but otherwise, their food isn't up to snuff.

[basenji56]

Is there any Oceania email address that we can all write to complain about the cookie situation?  

[bob brown]

15 hours ago, zz19 said:

  15 hours ago, zz19 said:

We will be joining you on the Tokyo-San Francisco portion of your ATW on June 20.

Do you want us to bring Costco chocolate chunk cookies from San Francisco ?

Feel free!🙂

[TableGirl]

On 6/4/2023 at 9:24 AM, basenji56 said:

It may be that the pastry chef has no idea what good cookies are supposed to taste like?

I think Americans have high cookie expectations.  I have rarely had a yummy 'cookie' overseas.  Perhaps cookies are essentially American?  It takes quality ingredients - butter, vanilla and perhaps chocolate to make a good cookie - and of course plenty of sugar.  I'm glad to read your comment.  Perhaps I can avoid the cookies on my first Oceania sailing 😀

[basenji56]

2 minutes ago, TableGirl said:

I think Americans have high cookie expectations.  I have rarely had a yummy 'cookie' overseas.  Perhaps cookies are essentially American?  It takes quality ingredients - butter, vanilla and perhaps chocolate to make a good cookie - and of course plenty of sugar.  I'm glad to read your comment.  Perhaps I can avoid the cookies on my first Oceania sailing 😀

We are the birthplace of Mrs. Fields, Famous Amos, Pepperidge Farm, the Keebler elves and the Toll House cookie recipe.  Very high cookie standards.

[TableGirl]

On 6/4/2023 at 7:46 PM, LHT28 said:

They  still were not as good  as they were before they made some recipe changes

 

The scones were  good  for many years  so not sure why they felt the need to change the recipe 😲

If it ain't broke  don't  fix it

HAL altered their Caesar Salad dressing after the re-opening.  On my first HAL cruise after the re-opening it was the same.  The cruise 4 months later it changed.  It was awful.  I asked the Maitre'd why it was changed and he went to the Pinnacle Grill to get me a 'small batch' Caesar Salad - same awful dressing.  I wrote to the F&B manager.  He found me at dinner the next night and said there were supply chain issues.  Seriously?  A shortage of anchovy paste maybe?  I counted on their Caesar Salad to help me stay on my low carb plan.  Maybe I'll bring some Chocolate Chip recipes and chocolate chips and send to the F&B manager and suggest they try making them from scratch.  They may not appreciate that but wouldn't it better if they stopped making them at all if everyone takes one bite and leaves the rest?

[YourWorldWithBill]

One more cookie note: my wife is from Thailand and is not fond of the very sweet American deserts, which I love, of course. She didn't even try the cookies on Viking or HAL, so I will be interested to see how she likes the cookies on O on the Riviera next fall. A full report will follow, of course (unless I forget).

[CAG]

If you think the cookies now are horrible, you should have tried them 16 to 18 years ago.  They were absolutely terrible. Frank A. Del Rio even complained about them. We were told that the French chefs do not use much sugar in their baking.  I will admit that I did have an excellent cranberry cookie at tea last month on board Insignia, so they can make good cookies some of the time.

 

 

[cruisemom42]

16 hours ago, CAG said:

If you think the cookies now are horrible, you should have tried them 16 to 18 years ago.  They were absolutely terrible. Frank A. Del Rio even complained about them. We were told that the French chefs do not use much sugar in their baking.  I will admit that I did have an excellent cranberry cookie at tea last month on board Insignia, so they can make good cookies some of the time.

 

 

 

I don't think it's the sugar that makes the difference. I like a lot of different European cookies (or biscuits if you will). But many of them have a delightful rich buttery flavor missing in many cookies I've had at sea (and for the record, not on O yet but the complaints sound similar to what I've experienced on other lines).

 

[Redtravel]

I love cookies.  On last cruise, we noticed that cookies weren’t great.  Instead we got the rolled up wafers that are served with ice cream.  We love the HS ice cream.

[MarkWiltonM]

On 6/4/2023 at 9:39 PM, YourWorldWithBill said:

One day, I may bring aboard a 24-pack of Costco chocolate chunk cookies, and give them to the pastry chef, to taste what good is…🙂

 

If you do, the chef may point out how highly processed those cookies are compared to theirs. Artificial flavors, preservatives, etc. 

 

https://www.fooducate.com/product/Kirkland-Signature-Gourmet-Chocolate-Chunk-Cookie/08C830D6-9D9E-11E0-86F7-1231380C180E

[Redtravel]

I am a very fussy eater. If I don’t like something, I don’t eat it. I have never gone hungry on Oceania.  

[YourWorldWithBill]

2 hours ago, MarkWiltonM said:

"One day, I may bring aboard a 24-pack of Costco chocolate chunk cookies, and give them to the pastry chef, to taste what good is…🙂"

-----------------------------------------------------------

If you do, the chef may point out how highly processed those cookies are compared to theirs. Artificial flavors, preservatives, etc. 

 

https://www.fooducate.com/product/Kirkland-Signature-Gourmet-Chocolate-Chunk-Cookie/08C830D6-9D9E-11E0-86F7-1231380C180E

That first quote was not my comment; I was replying to and quoting someone else's comment.

[Straughn]

On 6/4/2023 at 9:42 PM, YourWorldWithBill said:

Someone here needs to defend raisins, so I guess I'll be brave. Not with chocolate chips, of course, I can't even think of that. But in oatmeal cookies? Definitely.

 

I feel like the charge of the light brigade... "Into the Valley of Death Rode the 600."

I am with you. A really good slightly chewy, oatmeal cookie with cinnamon, nutmeg, and of course, raisins. No chocolate, no Crasins, no nuts.  My mother had the perfect recipe. After she died, I went thru every recipe card and cook book she had. Never did find the recipe. I can still see the index card with the typed recipe. 

[Woofa]

57 minutes ago, Straughn said:

My mother had the perfect recipe.

I would guess that many of us feel the same way.🙂

[YourWorldWithBill]

16 minutes ago, Woofa said:

I would guess that many of us feel the same way.🙂

My grandmother made good cookies; her sister made great cookies; my mother ate them.

[Psoque]

On 6/6/2023 at 7:43 PM, TableGirl said:

I think Americans have high cookie expectations.  I have rarely had a yummy 'cookie' overseas.  Perhaps cookies are essentially American?  It takes quality ingredients - butter, vanilla and perhaps chocolate to make a good cookie - and of course plenty of sugar.  I'm glad to read your comment.  Perhaps I can avoid the cookies on my first Oceania sailing 😀

I’ve had excellent cookies outside of US.  Actually, every time after spending time in many foreign countries for a few days, everything, including cookies, tastes gross here at home.  I agree that quality ingredients are crucial.  I don’t think quality ingredients are routinely used in commercially produced anything in the US.

[bob brown]

8 hours ago, MarkWiltonM said:

 

If you do, the chef may point out how highly processed those cookies are compared to theirs. Artificial flavors, preservatives, etc. 

 

https://www.fooducate.com/product/Kirkland-Signature-Gourmet-Chocolate-Chunk-Cookie/08C830D6-9D9E-11E0-86F7-1231380C180E

That quote was actually from me, but anyway, I tried reading your link to learn from it, but did not want to register with that site to enable access.

 

I am certainly not a nutrition expert, all I know is, is what my taste tells me, and it tells me that those Kirkland chocolate chunk cookies are vastly superior to what Oceania offers, in general.

 

Having said that, I must disclose that the ones served me at the Insignia Grand Dining Room last evening were greatly improved.  I really enjoyed them and made sure to pass along comments to the chef…🙂

[sidwich]

5 hours ago, bob brown said:

Having said that, I must disclose that the ones served me at the Insignia Grand Dining Room last evening were greatly improved.  I really enjoyed them and made sure to pass along comments to the chef…🙂

 

I second that the Insignia cookies from yesterday were better.  I still don't think that they're using best quality butter, but they made up for it with copious amounts of good quality chocolate and the texture was improved for some reason.  (I know this is a personal preference thing, but I like a moist and chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie and that was the style yesterday).

 

Besides better butter, I'd probably also suggest using more brown sugar vs white sugar in their recipe, but yes, the cookie was definitely much improved yesterday.

[babysteps]

15 hours ago, YourWorldWithBill said:

My grandmother made good cookies; her sister made great cookies; my mother ate them.

Are we related? 

 

Family lore is my grandmother's maiden aunt lives to make delicious and huge sugar cookies for breakfast when her grand nieces stayed over (without parents).