Random reports from Vista

[sitraveler]

Domenick has always gone above and beyond. 7 years ago I was boarding Marina for its trans-Atlantic.   He greets me with “I have something for you”.   A crew member brought a souvenir magnet from Dubrovnik to my cabin.  I had asked a passenger on the second previous cruise to leave it for me. 

[Vallesan]

8 hours ago, 1985rz1 said:

Isn't it time to stop using the denigrating, dismissive, and insulting terms like "no-nos"  for those who by choice or medical reasons prefer less spice and salt, to characterize personal disagreements with those preferences.  Personally, I like spice and salt, but I am sensitive to those who can't tolerate them for whatever reasons.  Yes, adding salt and spices at the table is not the same as during the preparation, but is the difference worth the hand-wringing and superiority complexes that some folks seem to value?  I'm willing to compromise for the good of society and my fellow travelers.

 

Some folks on this board love to invent insulting terms to advance their views, but that approach  falls into the category that if you can't win on facts, resort to insults and personal attacks.

 

I sometimes wonder if Oceania should adopt a policy whereby, somewhere, way, way away from land, they just push overboard all the passengers who choose to eat at 6.30 pm or earlier, like to go to bed by 9pm, use mobility aids, are over a certain age ( not sure what age that should be) or dislike certain foods!

That would satisfy the odd sanctimonious person on here and would also boost Oceania’s profits as so few people would be eating lobster etc. but would have paid their fares in full. 
 

Only problem is that would be a very short term measure as they would be destroying a large part of their customer base!😂😂😂 

[Techno123]

9 hours ago, 1985rz1 said:

Yes, adding salt and spices at the table is not the same as during the preparation, but is the difference worth the hand-wringing and superiority complexes that some folks seem to value?  I'm willing to compromise for the good of society and my fellow travelers.

 

I’m afraid I’m not willing to compromise on eating good, correctly cooked food for the sake of the onboard society. Reducing the quality of the cooking to suit a few is not the way to go and doesn’t happen in land based restaurants. I fully accept that people have dietary needs/preferences but these should be accommodated separately. 

[bbqoug]

Are we not supposed to believe the people who have recently been saying the food on their Oceania cruise was delicious & flavorful?

Are they not qualified to know what good food tastes like? Were the meals they were served under-seasoned & bland, but they just aren't refined enough to know the difference?

 

That seems to be the message that the people on this forum that throw out the term NoNo want us to believe.

[iowananny]

I think everyone has a different opinion on what they like and what they don't like.  We don't think the food at Red Ginger is that good and on our last couple of cruises we haven't eaten there.  A really easy solution.  We love Asian food but like ours a with a little more spice.  It certainly doesn't ruin our cruise not to have Asian fusion on our cruise.  Believe it or not we can get good Asian food in Iowa.  Next time you're in downtown Ames try the restaurant Spice.

 

We have had many wonderful and tasty meals on O.  Of course, we've had a few misses, but they certainly didn't ruin our cruise.   I don't agree with Pinotlover and his dislike of lobster on O.  On the second night after the Captain's party they usually have lobster in the dining room.  I've never been disappointed with it.  They also have duck a l'orange that night which my husband likes and we go to bed happy with full bellies.  In my opinion the lobster they serve at the grill in the Terrace Cafe is not that good.  Just my opinion.  

 

I feel they serve a wide range of food to fit many people's tastes.  I just wish they would switch things up a little.  We take a couple of cruises a year and the menus change very little.  I wish they would have some new menu items.  But I guess they did on the Vista and all they got was complaints.

 

 

 

[clo]

18 hours ago, 1985rz1 said:

"no-nos" 

Is "picky eaters" better? I don't mean spice or salt but rather a preparation that just different from what they have at home. Or an ingredient that they've never tasted and don't want to. Like tofu. Or snails. I had some rat in Thailand but I won't include that here. Just my two cents.

[no fuss travel]

Oh I had to laugh at this forum.  Frank Jr. is not known for always making the correct decisions.  We were on the Marina a few years ago sailing from Tahiti to Sydney.  Frank Jr.  had hired an older man who played the accordion and his son who played a violin to take the place of the string quartet.  They lasted till Auckland when they were replaced with a string quartet.  They were awful and the complaints too many to count.  No one was sitting in the bars so they could avoid listening to them. 

I agree with the Ember comments.  We went once and my husband could not convince me to got back.  The GDR food far surpassed that particular restaurant.  The only thing good was that the couple we were sharing the table with were very entertaining and made me forget that I didn't particularly like the food.  Just not my cup of tea.

[clo]

7 minutes ago, no fuss travel said:

Oh I had to laugh at this forum.  Frank Jr. is not known for always making the correct decisions.  We were on the Marina a few years ago sailing from Tahiti to Sydney.  Frank Jr.  had hired an older man who played the accordion and his son who played a violin to take the place of the string quartet.  They lasted till Auckland when they were replaced with a string quartet.  They were awful and the complaints too many to count.  No one was sitting in the bars so they could avoid listening to them. 

I agree with the Ember comments.  We went once and my husband could not convince me to got back.  The GDR food far surpassed that particular restaurant.  The only thing good was that the couple we were sharing the table with were very entertaining and made me forget that I didn't particularly like the food.  Just not my cup of tea.

Do you remember what you had?

[no fuss travel]

1 minute ago, clo said:

Do you remember what you had?

To be honest no.  Nothing on the menu really appealed to me.  Too much fried food.  My grandparents came from Kentucky and the one dish my grandmother could cook was southern fried chicken.  I think it was chicken that I had.  I found the servings to be too large.  I am not a picky eater on the whole, but I will admit there are several southern dishes that I simply do not like.  Bad experience as a child visiting relatives all down the eastern coast.  They were not great cooks and my mother was.

[chloemonkey]

9 minutes ago, no fuss travel said:

Oh I had to laugh at this forum.  Frank Jr. is not known for always making the correct decisions.  We were on the Marina a few years ago sailing from Tahiti to Sydney.  Frank Jr.  had hired an older man who played the accordion and his son who played a violin to take the place of the string quartet.  They lasted till Auckland when they were replaced with a string quartet.  They were awful and the complaints too many to count.  No one was sitting in the bars so they could avoid listening to them. 

I agree with the Ember comments.  We went once and my husband could not convince me to got back.  The GDR food far surpassed that particular restaurant.  The only thing good was that the couple we were sharing the table with were very entertaining and made me forget that I didn't particularly like the food.  Just not my cup of tea.

We were dreading Ember after having read months of poor reviews.....and were actually THRILLED with most of its offerings!  And even managed to overlook the lack of a white tablecloth! lol.....to each his own one might say but hard when you are running a cruise line.  I think that I need to comment more when things go "right" as my fear is that the main things the people in charge hear are those things that cruisers are unhappy with....

[clo]

4 minutes ago, no fuss travel said:

To be honest no.  Nothing on the menu really appealed to me.  Too much fried food.  My grandparents came from Kentucky and the one dish my grandmother could cook was southern fried chicken.  I think it was chicken that I had.  I found the servings to be too large.  I am not a picky eater on the whole, but I will admit there are several southern dishes that I simply do not like.  Bad experience as a child visiting relatives all down the eastern coast.  They were not great cooks and my mother was.

I'm originally from the South also and had the sense that that's what's getting defined as "American food." We live in Seattle now and I'm guessing that mussels wouldn't be on their menu. Locally grown and harvested.

 

[clo]

5 minutes ago, chloemonkey said:

We were dreading Ember after having read months of poor reviews.....and were actually THRILLED with most of its offerings!  And even managed to overlook the lack of a white tablecloth! lol.....to each his own one might say but hard when you are running a cruise line.  I think that I need to comment more when things go "right" as my fear is that the main things the people in charge hear are those things that cruisers are unhappy with....

What did y'all have? 

[chloemonkey]

4 minutes ago, clo said:

What did y'all have? 

 

4 minutes ago, clo said:

What did y'all have? 

Well we could have LIVED off of those delicious rolls that they pass out!  Brioche I think?  The Crispy Shrimp appetizer was something we ate on several occasions.....I even enjoyed a Cobb Salad if I recall?  On one of those nights that I had just become overwhelmed with all the heavy dinners.....Fish and Chips were great.....sorry but cannot remember them all....but now I am hungry!

 

[pinotlover]

A few random thoughts since I’m the target of some of the comments:

 

A few years back, Chedders Restaurant was named our best local fine dining restaurant in a local survey! 🙄 Wouldn’t make the top Five from those that actually go to fine dining restaurants.On another thread a person was raising Cain because a Ruby Tuesday had been named the best local restaurant, by Yelp, in his town. Fact was, they had a one star Michelin rated restaurant, which people drove for miles to eat at often spending the night at local hotels to do so, but the survey says Ruby Tuesday’s. I have zero clue what many here rate as outstanding or flavorful.

 

Case in point, a couple of the Cheerleaders have posted that ALL the wines on the “ wines by the glass “ menu were outstanding! Really?? I do wine as a living. Some of those wines are in fact good, quaffable, and go with the food adequately. But outstanding!! 🙄! Do those folks have any clue what it takes to get an outstanding rating in the wine world? Have they ever drank a truly outstanding wine in their lives? Good is Good, no problem with good, drink good regularly, but we should never confuse outstanding with good. In the wine world only 2% or less of wines get outstanding ratings. Of course the adjectives of Very Good lies between Good and Outstanding! None of those that are truly rated VG or Outstanding are on Oceania’s wine by the glass list. That in no way makes O’s wine list substandard . It only means people are using adjectives which are highly off target. And please, No if some rot gut wine is outstanding to me, it’s an outstanding wine. Life isn’t that subjective.

 

One can love bland food. They may not want oregano, rosemary, basil, sage, garlic, or a long host of other ingredients incorporated in their dishes. Their tastes. Don’t be confused when some comments that the dishes without them aren’t as flavorful as they could, or authentically should, be.

 

I realize that I’m probably the problem. I grew up in a world where kids might get participation D’s or maybe a C, instead of the F they earned. Today’s high schoolers get participatory A’s and B’s and have a median gpa of over 3.4. Outstanding and brilliant in nearly every class! 🙄  If that’s true why can’t MD 20/20 be an outstanding wine for some? 🤔

 

Guess I need to know who some of these raters are.

Edited Saturday at 03:09 AM by pinotlover

[Harters]

4 hours ago, pinotlover said:

was named our best local fine dining restaurant in a local survey!

You'd probably get a similar result if you looked at Tripadvisor which, invariably, seems to have odd high ratings. Take a look at the listings for your own area - my bet is that top of the list are places that you know to be only mediocre. 

 

The mention of "picky eaters" reminds me of a travel thread on non-travel forum. The poster was asking about places to eat in rural northern France. He was going to act as guide for a party going to visit World War 1 battlefields and he had a few "picky eaters" in the group.  The best reply he got was that they would become less "picky" as they got hungrier. And I think that sort of response might well apply here. Cook a dish as it's traditionally  intended to be cooked. Folk can always look at a menu and not choose that dish - just as they might at a land based restaurant. 

[goletans]

MD 20/20

I looked this up. Do folks really drink this? Who? Why? Where? When???? Perhaps it's very young drinkers like the ones that drank Ripple.

[clo]

16 hours ago, pinotlover said:

On another thread a person was raising Cain because a Ruby Tuesday had been named the best local restaurant, by Yelp, in his town.

I used to be on a food site and Yelp was pretty universally disparaged. I use it to get addresses. I just looked up where we used to live at Lake Tahoe. Taco Bell was three stars.
And pinotlover, I agree with everything you wrote. And I really like wine but don't know jack about it. But I know food pretty 🙂 We have a friend at Tahoe. He would bring the wine and I would provide the food. Happy meal.

[mauibabes]

Ah, MD 2020, our 50-60 years ago version of 2 Buck Chuck that is available at Trader Joe’s. In my college days I used to work in a liquor store in a few different “downtown” locations and it was a favorite of our local unwashed and unhoused as they are known today. The price was always right 🤪 and the under 21 crowd often acquired it for an evenings “entertainment” or a cheap drunk. Liquid courage. 
Mauibabes

[EJL2023]

14 minutes ago, mauibabes said:

Ah, MD 2020, our 50-60 years ago version of 2 Buck Chuck that is available at Trader Joe’s. In my college days I used to work in a liquor store in a few different “downtown” locations and it was a favorite of our local unwashed and unhoused as they are known today. The price was always right 🤪 and the under 21 crowd often acquired it for an evenings “entertainment” or a cheap drunk. Liquid courage. 
Mauibabes

Oh yea.  Mad Dog 20/20…….cranky as a mad dog the following day.  Hey, in college, whatever you could afford. Our fraternity had Mad Dog parties. Not a pretty sight. Ahhhh, another hijacked thread. Sorry 

[pinotlover]

Mad Dog 20 20 is still being sold at most wine and liquor stores.

[tarhoosier]

For non U. S. and <50 y. o. readers:

Mogen David (MD) was a former kosher wine company that in the 1960's moved into mass market by creating fortified, fruit flavored, screw top bottles. Reverse peristalsis was a feature rather than a bug for the devotés of this product. 

[clo]

2 hours ago, pinotlover said:

Mad Dog 20 20 is still being sold at most wine and liquor stores.

I just saw that. I've never had it. I don't suppose O would have it on their SM wine list 🙂

[vlthom]

For those wondering what the Vista “Bakery” that’s located on 14 behind Barista, has to offer, here is a sample of today’s mid-day offerings….

[Harters]

I'm a big fan of the Bakery. The quiche are always well flavoured. The beignet light as a feather and generously filled with the day's flavour. 

 

Actually I'm a big fan of Baristas generally. Including (and perhaps especially) when it morphs into Baristas Aperitivo in the evening. Nice snacks to go with your pre-dinner aperitif (and a particularly good location if dinner is in Polo or Toscana. 

[vlthom]

13 minutes ago, Harters said:

I'm a big fan of the Bakery. The quiche are always well flavoured. The beignet light as a feather and generously filled with the day's flavour. 

 

Actually I'm a big fan of Baristas generally. Including (and perhaps especially) when it morphs into Baristas Aperitivo in the evening. Nice snacks to go with your pre-dinner aperitif (and a particularly good location if dinner is in Polo or Toscana. 

I agree with you and wish that more would discover Baristas Aperitivo so that they continue with it.  We’ve enjoyed having drinks up there before eating in the Specialties and almost no one is there.