Considering Oceania

[bradpole]

Hello everyone!

 

I have been considering an Oceania cruise for sometime now and found one that I am very interested in. I am considering booking Regatta's transatlantic, Barcelona to Miami on 11/14/2009. I have a couple of questions that I was hoping you could answer before I book.

 

(I tried the search feature but I couldn't get any valid results from the boards)

 

First of all, I am a foodie and LOVE to try new foods, which is why Oceania is so appealing to me, however my traveling companion has much simpler tastes. Does Oceania offer "daily alternatives" to what appears on the dining room menus? For example would my companion be able to order a plain Caesar salad and plain steak for dinner?

 

My second question is what are the daily activities like on a typical sea day? I've done transatlantics on QE2 and QM2 and loved simply sitting reading a book, or attending lectures. What can be expected for evening entertainment?

 

Also, does anyone have links to menus (interested both bar and food) or daily on board programs that I could look at?

 

Thank you for your help!

[LAexNY]

There is always a wide range of selections on the menu in each dining room. Steak and salads are always available. You can see some sample menus on the Oceania website.

[LHT28]

Not sure on the TA what activities they offer but other cruise have team trivia, lectures, cooking demos, mini golf, ping pong the library is well stocked & a comfortable place to read.

Menus are at http://www.oceaniacruises.com/T_MainContentPage.aspx?PageUID=c217827c-5695-4e5e-9574-cb1e333279eb&RestUID=c9ba9eb3-0666-419a-8c90-ef5e0ff3c023&MenuUID=7243c4f1-0c16-4856-b902-fe9f4183ae45

 

You might find copies of the "Currents" at

http://cruiseclues.com/shipstips/regatta.htm

[bradpole]

Thank you both for your help!

[CA traveler]

I have just returned from the Nautica. In addition to the menu options that change each night, you always have, roast chicken, NY steak and salmon. I ordered a Caesar salad a few times in the evening even though it was not on the menu. And, special requests seemed to be handled routinely.

[happy cruzer]

Evening entertainment in the main lounge is a bit quiet. On our TA we had a guitartist, vocalist, and commedianne. Usually just one performer and they were average to good. There was an excellent classical quartet that played in the lobby. Most of the time all seats were taken to listen to them. One dance band for mostly ballroom style music.

 

We had a guest lecturerer daily at 10am which was pretty entertaining.

 

Best activity was enjoying the great weather we had for the crossing out by the pool.

 

Enjoy!

[Druke I]

We did a Regatta trans-Atlantic, Miami to Barcelona, Mar 08. It was our 3rd Oceania cruise, and we have another Oceania cruise booked for Jan 09, New Zealand & Australia, on Nautica.

 

Yes, your companion can order steak and salad every night in the Grand Dining Room (that is my main diet also!).

 

Entertainment on Oceania's ships is very low key.

 

There was a very good guest lecturer aboard, who spoke several times on ship histories, etc. I do not recall his name at the moment.

 

I'm not a bridge player, but there was a bridge lecturer also aboard, and I'm told he was good. My wife and I did eat lunch with the lecturer and his wife up in Terrace Cafe, and they were quite friendly.

 

Happy Cruzer is correct about the string quartets, playing nightly in the Upper Hall, deck 5, midships. Excellent, and often Standing Room Only. We did not attend any of the evening entertainment offerings in the show lounge, so can't speak to that.

[caribbeansun]

I'm personally not convinced that being a foodie and cruise line food (any cruise line that is) are compatible. The food on O is, IMO, equivalent to about a 3-3.5* restaurant food. If you go with that in mind you'll enjoy it, if your expectations are higher then you may be disappointed. I note in your sig line a number of cruises so I'm going to guess that you are less likely to have expectations that are too high.

 

First of all, I am a foodie and LOVE to try new foods, which is why Oceania is so appealing to me, however my traveling companion has much simpler tastes. Does Oceania offer "daily alternatives" to what appears on the dining room menus? For example would my companion be able to order a plain Caesar salad and plain steak for dinner?