Why is prime rib out of the Polo Grill menu on Vista?

[Thought2go]

6 hours ago, ATWCruiser said:

That is true.  Just takes the excitement of the dish called Whole Maine Lobster Steamed a few notches down.  I ordered it once and never ordered it again. 

Once you’ve had fresh- like from hook to the  heat in under 3 hours- you are spoiled forever and will always be disappointed. The absolute best tuna sandwich I ever ate was on the Outer Banks with a catch that came in that morning.

[Thought2go]

32 minutes ago, Harters said:

if it's landed in New Hampshire, it will be sold as "lobster". And, if it's landed on the northern bank of the river, it's sold as "Maine lobster"

Sounds like the labeling fight years ago that went on in the EU about what could be called what on food items.

[Harters]

Certainly similar, although I don't know about the legalities around American lobsters. 

 

As regards the EU protected designations, they are quite prized in the food industry. The UK used to be part of the scheme but, since we left the Union, we now have our own system which mirrors and continues to accept the EU system. By co-incidence, it was only last week when we were in a restaurant and a tartlet on the plate said it used "Yorkshire Fine Fettle Cheese". I googled this later to discover that it was originally called "Yorkshire Feta" but then the EU designation came along that said feta had to be made in Greece, so the producers changed the name. 

 

In similar vein, the "Cornish Pasty" has PDO status which means it has to be made in Cornwall and to a set specification. The intent is to preserve the nature of the product as well as its geographical heritage. 

[MEFIowa]

4 hours ago, Thought2go said:

... The convo here is about Polo on Vista. The newest class. So I went to their oldest ship Sirena and pulled up the MDR menu (a good basic gauge) to see how far to the bone they had cut offerings down. ...There is only one offering of a steak. A Sirloin....

We're going to be on Sirena starting 8/28 for 22 nights. Do not forget that Sirena has Tuscan Steak, the only R-class with this. Combines Polo and Tuscana. From that menu, you can get:

 

Tuscan Porterhouse 20oz serves one | 40oz serves two This signature Tuscan porterhouse showcases the flavor of the prime cut of beef. Hand-carved and presented on a hot lava stone *

Filet Mignon 6oz *

Ribeye 12oz *

New York Strip 10oz *

Prime Rib King’s Cut 32oz | Queen’s Cut 16oz

 

tuscan-dinner-menu.pdf (oceaniacruises.com)

[ATWCruiser]

The Grand Dining Room always had at least the one sirloin option for dinner.  Been like that forever.  Terrace Cafe has their grill station with more steak options and you can also get steak from room service menu.     

[ruthnlarry]

13 hours ago, ATWCruiser said:

I am bummed that they took out prime rib at Polo Grill but am excited to try Galician Veal Tomahawk Veal and Galician Bone-in Beef Sirloin....BUT can we trust it is really from Galicia, Spain?  I keep on thinking of the Whole Maine Lobster on the Polo Grill menu.  Doesn't taste like lobster from Maine.  Just saying.

Our Galician Bone-in Sirloin was excellent.  It had a very good taste, was tender, and cooked medium-rare as we had ordered.  Don't be deceived by the listed weight.  The weight includes a very large fat cap and bone which are removed as it is carved at the table.  We ate every bit of it.  None was wasted.  As I stated previously, I would order it every time over Oceania's prime rib, and I love prime rib.

Have not tried the Tomahawk Veal.

[Cruzin Terri]

8 hours ago, Thought2go said:

Just for giggles I went to the O web site. The convo here is about Polo on Vista. The newest class. So I went to their oldest ship Sirena and pulled up the MDR menu (a good basic gauge) to see how far to the bone they had cut offerings down.

You would think that their Marketing Dept would put their best foot forward to entice new cruisers. Perhaps those who want to move up from the mass market. Scale down from the huge party ships.

There is only one offering of a steak. A Sirloin.

if you book a Concierge Level you get an expanded MDR room service menu. Why bother. Lunch is even worse.

It’s a sad representation and as a new potential customer- I would not be impressed.

The MDR menu you pulled up is a sample of their offering.  The menu changes every evening.  There are three offerings that are offered each evening.  Salmon, steak and chicken.

Did you look at the menu for Tuscan Steak and for Red Ginger as well?  There are other beef offerings at these specialty restaurants as well.

On the other R ships the Specialty Restaurants are different than Sirena.  They are Polo and Toscana.  In Polo there are many beef offerings. 

I suggest that you look at the sample menus for the spcialties for each ship as they do differ slightly. The O Ships ( Riviera and Marina) offer 4 specialties (Polo, Toscana, Jacques, and Red Ginger) as does Vista.  On Vista Ember replaced Jacques.

I hope this helps.

Terri

[Thought2go]

31 minutes ago, Cruzin Terri said:

The MDR menu you pulled up is a sample of their offering.  The menu changes every evening.

Of course I am aware the menu changes. An yes I looked at the speciality restaurants to see the changes. That was NOT my point. The point is they put a poor showing for the MDR menu on the web site which isn’t putting their best foot forward. The MDR menu should represent the backbone of the cuisine offered. Certainly not representative of “the best cuisine at sea” especially for the price that Many cruisers will not pop for suites therefore are limited in reservations for the specialities. Yes I know you can usually get in without reservations but new people are unfamiliar they may be coming from the major ships where that isn’t the case.

The changes since May this year in the MDR is stark.

 

[clo]

23 minutes ago, Thought2go said:

Of course I am aware the menu changes. An yes I looked at the speciality restaurants to see the changes. That was NOT my point. The point is they put a poor showing for the MDR menu on the web site which isn’t putting their best foot forward. The MDR menu should represent the backbone of the cuisine offered. Certainly not representative of “the best cuisine at sea” especially for the price that Many cruisers will not pop for suites therefore are limited in reservations for the specialities. Yes I know you can usually get in without reservations but new people are unfamiliar they may be coming from the major ships where that isn’t the case.

The changes since May this year in the MDR is stark.

 

Has anyone already posted this? I googled Oceania grand dining room sample menu 2024. I wouldn't have a problem in the world eating off this every night if I had to...which I wouldn't have to.

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/sites/default/files/2023-04/grand-dinning-dinner-sample.pdf

[iowananny]

We just returned Monday from a Baltic cruise.  I'm referencing the menu Clo showed.  It was really good.  My husband said the lamb chops were just as good as the ones he had in Polo.  I also had them with lobster bisque, and I think some type of salad but it must have been good because I don't remember anything that was bad in the dining room.  It was probably a week ago and of course I can't remember which one it was.  My husband said the pad Thai salad he had was outstanding.  We were very, very happy with the food in the dining room.  Great service and we could get a glass of wine right after we sat down rather than wait until dinner was almost over which is when they finally got around to us in the Terrace Cafe.  We also shared meals with some really nice people.

 

They had some problems with serving hot foods hot at the TC on the Nautica.  Service was not good at dinner and we ate all but two of our dinners in the dining room and two in the specialty restaurants.  We always had the same servers and wine steward in the dining room.  Really great service and we never had anything that was not good.  Loved the fact that we always had the same servers, and we didn't even have to give our room number to the hostess after the second day when we came in.  We felt like VIPs.  Better than having a dinner roll and a glass of wine at the TC on the Baltic night because I was so disappointed with the food.  My husband wanted to go but in my opinion it was some of the worst cuisine at sea.  If you like room temperature food that is supposed to be hot, try salmon with a cream sauce that really was room temperature.  I wondered how long it had been at that temperature and decided not to chance it   I hate to throw food away but I did.  And a Danish open face sandwich that was so soggy the server could barely serve it as it kept falling apart.  I would have complained but there was no one around with a tie on who looked like they were managing the dining room to complain to.  Yes, we did go in about 8:00 but the place was not empty and if they say they're open until 9:00 the food should be fresh and at the right temperatures at 8:00

 

Lunch and breakfast at the TC was okay although they still had problems with keeping food hot.  Maybe my expectations were too high but I think hot foods should be served hot and cold foods cold.  I was very disappointed in what I got.  One morning at breakfast a manager brought my plate to my table for me.  I sat down and took a bit of fried potatoes.  It was room temperature.  He was still in the area and I called him over and put a piece of potato on a fork and asked him to feel it for the temperature.  He agreed it wasn't hot (it was room temperature) and said the chef would look into it.  We had an excursion that morning so it was just 7:00 and he'd just brought my food to the table so he knew it hadn't sat there for a long time.  

 

Otherwise, it was a nice cruise, but I talked to several people who were first time O cruisers and their biggest complaint was the food.  We do have another cruise booked in January on Serina and we'll be going to the dining room.  

[ORV]

33 minutes ago, iowananny said:

We just returned Monday from a Baltic cruise.  I'm referencing the menu Clo showed.  It was really good.  My husband said the lamb chops were just as good as the ones he had in Polo.  I also had them with lobster bisque, and I think some type of salad but it must have been good because I don't remember anything that was bad in the dining room.  It was probably a week ago and of course I can't remember which one it was.  My husband said the pad Thai salad he had was outstanding.  We were very, very happy with the food in the dining room.  Great service and we could get a glass of wine right after we sat down rather than wait until dinner was almost over which is when they finally got around to us in the Terrace Cafe.  We also shared meals with some really nice people.

 

They had some problems with serving hot foods hot at the TC on the Nautica.  Service was not good at dinner and we ate all but two of our dinners in the dining room and two in the specialty restaurants.  We always had the same servers and wine steward in the dining room.  Really great service and we never had anything that was not good.  Loved the fact that we always had the same servers, and we didn't even have to give our room number to the hostess after the second day when we came in.  We felt like VIPs.  Better than having a dinner roll and a glass of wine at the TC on the Baltic night because I was so disappointed with the food.  My husband wanted to go but in my opinion it was some of the worst cuisine at sea.  If you like room temperature food that is supposed to be hot, try salmon with a cream sauce that really was room temperature.  I wondered how long it had been at that temperature and decided not to chance it   I hate to throw food away but I did.  And a Danish open face sandwich that was so soggy the server could barely serve it as it kept falling apart.  I would have complained but there was no one around with a tie on who looked like they were managing the dining room to complain to.  Yes, we did go in about 8:00 but the place was not empty and if they say they're open until 9:00 the food should be fresh and at the right temperatures at 8:00

 

Lunch and breakfast at the TC was okay although they still had problems with keeping food hot.  Maybe my expectations were too high but I think hot foods should be served hot and cold foods cold.  I was very disappointed in what I got.  One morning at breakfast a manager brought my plate to my table for me.  I sat down and took a bit of fried potatoes.  It was room temperature.  He was still in the area and I called him over and put a piece of potato on a fork and asked him to feel it for the temperature.  He agreed it wasn't hot (it was room temperature) and said the chef would look into it.  We had an excursion that morning so it was just 7:00 and he'd just brought my food to the table so he knew it hadn't sat there for a long time.  

 

Otherwise, it was a nice cruise, but I talked to several people who were first time O cruisers and their biggest complaint was the food.  We do have another cruise booked in January on Serina and we'll be going to the dining room.  

Thanks for a first hand report. 

[Thought2go]

1 hour ago, clo said:

Has anyone already posted this? I googled Oceania grand dining room sample menu 2024. I wouldn't have a problem in the world eating off this every night if I had to...which I wouldn't have to.

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/sites/default/files/2023-04/grand-dinning-dinner-sample.pdf

Clo- is this the same link??

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/Documents/Menus/13391/Grand-Dining-Dinner-Menu.pdf

This is directly from the Oceania.com web page on Serina as of today.

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/Documents/Menus/13391/Grand-Dining-Dinner-Menu.pdf

Maybe I didn’t express myself well enough- but from the O web site, if I was a newbie- I don’t think O has put their best foot “sales job”😂- forward.

And thank you to Cruzin Terri - please don’t take my frustration with O’s web site personally. Your honest offering did not go unnoticed.

[Harters]

1 hour ago, iowananny said:

we always had the same servers,

Did you ask to be seated in the same area?  Reason for asking is that, over our two cruises in the last year, seating has been random. Occasionally, we've been seated in an area where we've previously eaten  but it's been entirely coincidental. 

[Thought2go]

7 hours ago, MEFIowa said:

Do not forget that Sirena has Tuscan Steak

Yes I looked at the current O web site menu for Tuscan and figured I would be upping my reservations.

[iowananny]

1 minute ago, Harters said:

Did you ask to be seated in the same area?  Reason for asking is that, over our two cruises in the last year, seating has been random. Occasionally, we've been seated in an area where we've previously eaten  but it's been entirely coincidental.

Yes, we did ask to be seated in the same area.  Our waiter got to know me at teatime on our first day out and he told me his name and asked for us to ask for him at dinner.  After that night they always sat us in his section.  He was a really nice guy and so was his assistant.  We had many nice visits with them.  We also had the same wine steward every night and he was also very nice and I don't think we ever had an empty wine glass until we said enough.  

 

We went to TC many times on previous cruises but it's so relaxing to sit down and have dinner served to you and we were never disappointed in our food or service.  Our service was always prompt and we usually eat a little later than most but if we were sitting with another couple we never felt hurried if we lingered with coffee while chatting.  To me that is what makes cruising fun.

[clo]

30 minutes ago, Thought2go said:

Clo- is this the same link??

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/Documents/Menus/13391/Grand-Dining-Dinner-Menu.pdf

This is directly from the Oceania.com web page on Serina as of today.

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/Documents/Menus/13391/Grand-Dining-Dinner-Menu.pdf

Maybe I didn’t express myself well enough- but from the O web site, if I was a newbie- I don’t think O has put their best foot “sales job”😂- forward.

And thank you to Cruzin Terri - please don’t take my frustration with O’s web site personally. Your honest offering did not go unnoticed.

The link you included had a date of January 2020. That's odd; I honestly don't know what any of them are now 🙂

[iowananny]

1 minute ago, clo said:

The link you included had a date of January 2020. That's odd; I honestly don't know what any of them are now 🙂

 Most of the menus have been the same for quite a few years.  I know the menu you posted was the exact menu we had about a week ago.  I think most menus and food in TC hasn't changed in quite some time.  At least not since we started cruised with O.  But it was good and we had a nice meal.

[Thought2go]

1 hour ago, clo said:

The link you included had a date of January 2020. That's odd; I honestly don't know what any of them are now 🙂

That’s just plain weird all around. Like a temp was told to update the link with a menu and they picked any old pdf to add. Of course cruise lines aren’t the only outlier-so many various industries are becoming head scratchers of late.

[AMHuntFerry]

31 minutes ago, Thought2go said:

That’s just plain weird all around. Like a temp was told to update the link with a menu and they picked any old pdf to add. Of course cruise lines aren’t the only outlier-so many various industries are becoming head scratchers of late.

The 2020 menu has only changed slightly...see Day 6 of the GDR menus on https://www.thepreismans.com/riviera_24_menus.htm#grand

BTW, Clo's posted menu is Day 11.

I go to the Preisman blog any time I want to drool on the keyboard. These menus are why we first decided to try O (and cruising) in 2021.

[Thought2go]

53 minutes ago, AMHuntFerry said:

These menus are why we first decided to try O (and cruising) in 2021

Me too- had my daily meal planner all worked out. Taste buds a going!! Now where did Jacques Escargot go!!🤗

[clo]

16 minutes ago, Thought2go said:

Me too- had my daily meal planner all worked out. Taste buds a going!! Now where did Jacques Escargot go!!🤗

Those were the best snails I've ever had. I never made them again after that 🙂

[ORV]

20 minutes ago, Thought2go said:

Me too- had my daily meal planner all worked out. Taste buds a going!! Now where did Jacques Escargot go!!🤗

Who said they went anywhere? I believe they're still serving them on the 2 ships that have Jacques, Riviera and Marina. Page 2, first item. 

 

Jacques-Dinner-Menu.pdf (oceaniacruises.com)

[ORV]

Or maybe that was a joke, like Eddie Murphy in Trading Places. Groan.........

[pinotlover]

On 8/9/2024 at 4:41 AM, Thought2go said:

Once you’ve had fresh- like from hook to the  heat in under 3 hours- you are spoiled forever and will always be disappointed. The absolute best tuna sandwich I ever ate was on the Outer Banks with a catch that came in that morning.

People come here raving about how great the previously frozen lobster on Oceania is. Can only assume they prefer their lobster mushy. I suppose it’s also comparable to people that prefer their steaks well done or cremated as that’s the way many of the lobster tails are served in the TC. Oceania has plenty of good food, but it’s a rarity for me and my tastes to find lobster aboard that classified as such.

[MEFIowa]

16 hours ago, iowananny said:

We just returned Monday from a Baltic cruise. ... We do have another cruise booked in January on Sirena and we'll be going to the dining room.  

We board Sirena in London on 8/28 for 22 nights in the Baltic. Hope the food is hot in the TC, since we love to eat there in the evenings. It was when we were on Sirena 11/2022. But I also always do breakfast in Waves, and the hot food there has been hot.