Is the quality still with O or has it also been hit with the penny pinching of other cruise lines?

[chromered7]

Because of the recent changes on our usual cruise line has the experience remained the same on O ? We are looking at alternatives for cruises in the future and O  has a very good reputation  but is that still true?

[Harters]

I've cruised on Nautica in recent weeks and my previous experience with O was in 2017. I didnt detect much change between the two, in terms of service (except in the Grand Dining Room, where it was mixed). Food choice might have been a little less, as was my recollection of portion sizes. But we came away from a 10 day cruise nicely fed and feeling well looked after. 

 

Their latest brochure, received in the last week, makes two claims about the food. First is "the cuisine of Oceania is renowned as the finest at sea" (paraphrasing their  trademarked slogan). I do not have any other recent cruise experience with other lines to know how true this might be.

 

The other claim is that it "rivals Michelin-starred restaurants ashore". I have eaten at over 60 Michelin starred restaurants, in several countries and, frankly, Oceania's food does not come close to Michelin standard, even in its speciality restaurants. However it is dressed up, this is mass catering. Good quality mass catering for sure, but with the limitations that mass catering will always bring. 

[jonthomas]

We were on the insignia pre covid. It was so amazing that we gave up being elite plus with celeb to sail O only.

Since then, have done a marina TA and a Carib on the Riviera in January. Not as amazing (food), but better than anything anywhere else. I say that after being on a Viking Ocean in March.

We will be on a back to back in Sept on the Regatta,  I will post when we return.

[Classiccruiser777]

Just did a Regatta Alaska cruise in July. Previously have taken 11 other O cruises dating back to 2015. The only differences I noticed are that tea in Horizons offers fewer selections of baked goods, but still ample, and there wasn’t a ship map included in the keycard wallet.

[pinotlover]

It is still a good quality line. Yes there has been cutbacks, but still good quality.

 

Any claims of even approaching Michelin restaurant level is tomfoolery. I doubt any of their restaurants could compete and survive on shore. They do fine for at sea. Excellent meals, good meals, mediocre meals, and occasionally a poor meal.

[Harters]

43 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

I doubt any of their restaurants could compete and survive on shore.

I reckoned Nautica's Polo & Toscana were about on a par with my local chain steakhouse and neighbourhood Italian. 

Edited August 8, 2023 by Harters

[pinotlover]

45 minutes ago, Harters said:

I reckoned Nautica's Polo & Toscana were about on a par with my local chain steakhouse and neighbourhood Italian. 

Polo Grill may be on par with some of the mid level chains. Their inconsistencies would kill them however. People would soon tire of ordering medium rare and getting medium well to well done. Word of mouth would kill it, unless very cheap.

 

Toscana is an interesting study. It is very very Americanized Italian. Quite a percentage of diners look for something more Italian Italian. In other parts of the country where everything needs to be Americanized, it may do OKAY. But then it gets into a price battle with Olive Garden and other heavy Americanized Italian chains. 

[Harters]

33 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

It is very very Americanized Italian.

Yes, the presentation of oil and balsamic for bread dipping is an immediate giveaway of that. Not something done in Italian restaurants here, nor in Italy in  my experience. But, it's an American ship, catering to a mainly American customer base, so not surprising. 

[SATaxman]

11 minutes ago, Harters said:

Yes, the presentation of oil and balsamic for bread dipping is an immediate giveaway of that. Not something done in Italian restaurants here, nor in Italy in  my experience. But, it's an American ship, catering to a mainly American customer base, so not surprising. 

Booked our first O cruise this Fall. Looking forward to the bread service at Toscana. We are mostly no carb people; exceptions for great bread. Hopefully it is better than Olive Garden, where we have never eaten!

[Harters]

5 minutes ago, SATaxman said:

Hopefully it is better than Olive Garden, where we have never eaten!

I've eaten at an OG fairly often on trips to the States over the years and can confirm that it is much better. The bread selection offered throughout Nautica was an absolute standout

[SATaxman]

2 minutes ago, Harters said:

I've eaten at an OG fairly often on trips to the States over the years and can confirm that it is much better. The bread selection offered throughout Nautica was an absolute standout

Thank you.

[mauibabes]

OMG  folks, to utter Olive Garden in the same sentence as Toscana, even our California area upscale chain  Il Formaio is hardly in the same league. Please do not denigrate the excellence of the Chef’s, menus, and ingredients that Oceania uses to deliver their cuisine. Post Covid, there have been changes but certainly not all for the bad. think of Baristas  and the Bakery on Vista, Aquamar Kitchen, etc.  We all have different likes and dislikes so I would encourage any refugee from X or other mass market line to head to Oceania with an open mind. It really is an excellent cruise line, Pre and Post Covid. Definitely try a Vista cruise or wait about two weeks for the release of Allura’s 2025 itineraries. Come next Summer, check out the remodeled/reimagined Marina. Make your own decisions and enjoy your cruises.

Mauibabes

[Vallesan]

4 hours ago, Harters said:

I've cruised on Nautica in recent weeks and my previous experience with O was in 2017. I didnt detect much change between the two, in terms of service (except in the Grand Dining Room, where it was mixed). Food choice might have been a little less, as was my recollection of portion sizes. But we came away from a 10 day cruise nicely fed and feeling well looked after. 

 

Their latest brochure, received in the last week, makes two claims about the food. First is "the cuisine of Oceania is renowned as the finest at sea" (paraphrasing their  trademarked slogan). I do not have any other recent cruise experience with other lines to know how true this might be.

 

The other claim is that it "rivals Michelin-starred restaurants ashore". I have eaten at over 60 Michelin starred restaurants, in several countries and, frankly, Oceania's food does not come close to Michelin standard, even in its speciality restaurants. However it is dressed up, this is mass catering. Good quality mass catering for sure, but with the limitations that mass catering will always bring. 

I agree with you.

We have sailed on three different O  ships since last summer and the food ‘choice’ is very much smaller. In the MDR they now include a vegetarian and vegan choice in the mains so this cuts a reduced menu even further, unless of course you want vegan or vegetarian. I struggled some evenings mainly because the three standards, salmon, chicken and steak, IMHO, were all below par.

In saying all that, you will never go hungry, but Oceania can’t really claim to have the ‘best food at sea’ . Recently sailed Silversea and it was very good, maybe even better than O … but hey it’s all subjective!

[Heartfelttraveler]

Just my two cents - We are somewhat foodies.  We have put up with some pretty dismal ship food for the luxury of staying in a three bedroom/3 1/2 bathroom cabin.  Even with that my husband said never again.  We have taken two Oceania cruises, both on the larger O ships.  The Chilean Seabass is the best I have had either on land or sea.  We enjoyed all of our meals on the ship except for the night we requested to share a chicken dinner and we both got a full portion.  We felt extremely guilty leaving so much food on our plates.

 

We have finally talked our traveling companions into cruising on smaller (more expensive) cruise lines.  Our next Oceania cruise is on one of the R ships with only two specialty restaurants.  We are hoping that our praise of Oceania is still true.

[DOJO466]

34 minutes ago, SATaxman said:

Booked our first O cruise this Fall. Looking forward to the bread service at Toscana. We are mostly no carb people; exceptions for great bread. Hopefully it is better than Olive Garden, where we have never eaten!

OMG, can't control myself with the baguettes. I would eat them over dessert.

[pinotlover]

19 minutes ago, mauibabes said:

OMG  folks, to utter Olive Garden in the same sentence as Toscana, even our California area upscale chain  Il Formaio is hardly in the same league. Please do not denigrate the excellence of the Chef’s, menus, and ingredients that Oceania uses to deliver their cuisine. Post Covid, there have been changes but certainly not all for the bad. think of Baristas  and the Bakery on Vista, Aquamar Kitchen, etc.  We all have different likes and dislikes so I would encourage any refugee from X or other mass market line to head to Oceania with an open mind. It really is an excellent cruise line, Pre and Post Covid. Definitely try a Vista cruise or wait about two weeks for the release of Allura’s 2025 itineraries. Come next Summer, check out the remodeled/reimagined Marina. Make your own decisions and enjoy your cruises.

Mauibabes

The discussion was primarily Toscana. The food there is definitely better than OG and on par with IL Formia. To complete means to compete and survive every night. For Oceania’s Toscana menu, what price do you think the entries would have to come in at? Definitely above both aforementioned chains, imho. So Toscana would be competing in the higher range $30-$45 secondi range, and $20+ primi . When you move into that price range, the competition, and authenticity, stiffens immediately. IMHO, with their menu, they can’t price down, and they can’t compete upwards.

 

Also, Oceania strives to serve a large captive crowd of eaters wanting plain and bland. Many of those rarely eat outside their assisted living facilities at home or drive at night. Plain and bland doesn’t go far ashore.

 

Red Ginger, in a market with out a large upscale Asian presence,  would do fine.

[LHT28]

55 minutes ago, SATaxman said:

Hopefully it is better than Olive Garden, where we have never eaten!

Then you will not know the difference 😄

 Enjoy

[shepherd really]

22 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

 Many of those rarely eat outside their assisted living facilities at home or drive at night. 

Ouch, that's going to leave a mark. 😆

[ORV]

4 hours ago, Classiccruiser777 said:

Just did a Regatta Alaska cruise in July. Previously have taken 11 other O cruises dating back to 2015. The only differences I noticed are that tea in Horizons offers fewer selections of baked goods, but still ample, and there wasn’t a ship map included in the keycard wallet.

But do you really need a ship map after 11 cruises with O? I know I don't. Especially on an R ship. 

 

22 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

 Many of those rarely eat outside their assisted living facilities at home or drive at night. Plain and bland doesn’t go far ashore.

Ah cmon man, that's pretty rough. 

[Classiccruiser777]

9 minutes ago, ORV said:

But do you really need a ship map after 11 cruises with O? I know I don't. Especially on an R ship. 

 

Ah cmon man, that's pretty rough. 

No, we don’t. I was responding to the OP’s question regarding changes experienced, that’s all.

[1985rz1]

48 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

Many of those rarely eat outside their assisted living facilities at home or drive at night. 

You've been honing your insult skills, again. 

[Woodrowst]

7 hours ago, chromered7 said:

Because of the recent changes on our usual cruise line has the experience remained the same on O ? We are looking at alternatives for cruises in the future and O  has a very good reputation  but is that still true?

We were on the Nautica two months ago and it was as good as ever.  One positive surprise was that shrimp cocktail was available at virtually every dinner.  I don’t remember it being that plentiful pre-COVID.

[Harters]

6 minutes ago, Woodrowst said:

One positive surprise was that shrimp cocktail was available at virtually every dinner.

Each to their own. But I found the repetitiveness of things like that on Nautica to be a negative. It is already a short menu (no bad thing in itself) but to have the same thing appearing so often means that choices are limited unless, of course, you want to eat the repeated dish often. 

[lj77346]

For what it's worth, here's my opinion relative to food on Oceania pre- and post-pandemic. For purpose of comparison, I had 12 Oceania cruises pre-pandemic (2016 to early 2020) and 11 Oceania cruises post-pandemic (late 2021 - July 2023).  I'm not a foodie, so I surely will miss the finer points of dining.

 

In general, I've found the quality of food in the main dining room to be relatively unchanged with the exception being smaller portions of the entrees.  In the Terrace Cafe, there is a noticeable difference in the size and quality of the steaks offered at the grill.  On a recent Alaska cruise on the Regatta, I felt that the Alaska seafood night in the Terrace Cafe was not as good as it was on my 2022 Regatta Alaska cruise.

 

I've always felt that the specialty restaurants, with the exception of Jacques, were not that special.  Jacques continues to have very good food as does Red Ginger where I especially enjoy the appetizers.  Toscana and Polo Grill are hit and miss, both now and previously - I can't understand how Polo can consistently be unable to cook a steak medium rare.  I've had good meals in Toscana, but nothing that really "wowed" me.  As I won't be cruising on the Vista until December, I won't be able to evaluate what I've read about Ember until then.

 

I've also been cruising on Celebrity and Princess and food on Oceania is better than what the other lines offer.  I've always felt (in the past and now) that I could get something good to eat on Oceania and I've never lost weight on an Oceania cruise.  Having said that, I think Oceania's hype about its food is a bit excessive.  If I believed everything its advertising said, I would feel that it over promises and under delivers.

 

On another topic, I'm a bit surprised at the snarky comments about the age of the Oceania clientele.  I remember when I started cruising 40 years ago, I used to think - some of these passengers are really old - now I'm one of them.  So for those who are critical of the older passengers on Oceania, in the future, if you are lucky, you may be one of them.  I know that although sometimes I feel like my "get up and go" got up and left, I'm still happy to be cruising and spending my kids' inheritance.  Cheers!

[mauibabes]

Again, OMG FOLKS, variety is the spice of life so there are lots of options, whether on an R or O or an A (Allura) Class ship.  We keep trading off between Specialties, 2 or 4, and GDR for DW’s FAVORITE Jacques Chicken and the Terrace Cafe. TC when we want a faster, simpler dining option or Special Menu/Ethnic after a tiring excursion port day, or maybe joining some friends in GDR for a longer, chatty evening.  If you are fortunate enough to pick up some “Availability” driven dinner reservations in the Specialties, that could leave you with easily 20-30 Main Entree options for dinner nightly. I don’t know about you but that is more dinner options than I would see in a month at home. 🤪DW Even if I lived in an Independent or Assisted Living Residence 🤪🙏🤙 or Uber Eats delivery, etc. Even Room Service from the GDR or Specialties if necessary, you have delicious options so just ENJOY. 😇👍❤️🍷

Mauibabes