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nadalina

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About Me

  • Location
    Birmingham, AL
  • Interests
    travel and reading
  • Favorite Cruise Line(s)
    Celebrity
  • Favorite Cruise Destination Or Port of Call
    Bermuda

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  1. Wow! I’ve been a member of Cruise Critics since 2008 and I didn’t expect so much pushback by simply expressing my experience as a first-time O cruiser. For years I have placed O on a very high pedestal but they were, candidly, out of my price range. So this cruise was a true splurge for me and not one I regret at all in any way. I have not asked for nor have I wanted or expected sympathy, agreement or validation. As others have said, opinions about food and service are completely subjective and I own my opinions. To answer some of your questions, no, I did not complain while onboard for a couple of reasons. Whether you agree with my reasons or not or whether you would have handled the issues differently is irrelevant. Again, MY reasons, MY opinions. #1, I didn’t complain because there wasn’t anything I wanted them to do or to “make right”. #2, I didn’t want to make a scene, cause a problem, draw attention to myself, or cause someone/anyone in particular to get in trouble because of my complaint. #3, It’s Oceania, for crying out loud, so my particular experience must be an aberration and there’s no need to bring it to their attention. It will fix itself. No, I did not attend any of the solo gatherings. #1, I wasn’t invited to any, and #2, I would not have gone even if I had been because I wasn’t there to meet other single people. I signed up to share my tables everywhere so I could meet others, no matter the age, ethnicity or marital status. Out of the many meals I ate onboard, only two were room service. As someone else noted, there’s no place to eat in the solo staterooms, really, so I had the tray placed on my bed and ate there. The fact that both of those meals were really bad is just a simple fact, in my opinion. I participated in three events and went to the spa three times and bought $200 worth of products. No complaints there. I did not take any shore excursions, so I can’t offer an opinion about those. I didn’t indulge in the ice cream and milkshakes because I’m lactose intolerant, but they looked very enticing. As for the entertainment, I thoroughly enjoyed the pianist and the string quartet. The singers and dancers were fine, as was the Cruise Director. I played a little in the casino but quickly lost my gambling allowance. I purchased a lovely pair of Swarovski earrings in the Boutique, and I purchased two $125 (plus 20% tip) bottles of delicious wine for my table in Toscana that I am delighted to learn that I can buy here for $64.95 each. Here’s to Oceania and its continued success and to all of their loyal guests!!
  2. I have lived alone for over 30 years and I still work full time for the same man for 27 of those years. I eat 99.9% of my meals alone and cooking for one is not easy or fun, so, yes, when I cruise, quality of food is highly important to me, as is excellent service. I wanted SO MUCH to love every aspect of this cruise! I met some wonderful people that I hope will keep in touch. There were aspects of the cruise that I loved. I went to two wine tastings and a whiskey tasting that were excellently presented and a lot of fun. The library is gorgeous and an absolute delight! Barista’s was excellent, just very crowded at times and not nearly enough seating. Everyone raved about the ice cream and milkshakes but I didn’t partake. The other desserts I tried were delicious. I did eat in Waves twice ( once inside and once outside) and at the buffet three or four times. The food at Waves sounded and looked delicious, but the quality was disappointing the second time. As for the buffet, the offerings were beautiful and plentiful and, for the most part, good. The cook making eggs and omelets to order needs to find a new position. And training desperately needs to be conducted with the waiters here. So many didn’t have a clue about the nuances of good service. They were all very cute, polite and friendly but inexperienced. Not a big deal but a little surprising. My disappointing experiences regarding the food happened in different locations but I had some wonderful experiences as well. The dining room offered a dessert soufflé of different flavors every night — amazing and unheard of on other lines!! I am not a fan of lobster but I love most all other seafood, and all of the seafood I ate was superb and perfectly cooked — shrimp, escargot, sea bass, salmon, grouper, calamari and monkfish!! I truly regret my negative experiences but I truly don’t believe I am exaggerating them either.
  3. And I do plan to let O know about my experiences on the comment survey they send out.
  4. For those of you who asked, no, I didn’t complain at the time. Perhaps I should have. I wondered while onboard if I was the only one having a disappointing experience with the food, thinking I might be being overly critical. However, as I was leaving the ship, I ran into a large wedding party group that I had met on the first day and they, too, were very disappointed and even more critical than I was. So that confirmed it wasn’t just me. I did have wonderful experiences with some of the crew members, the most significant one being a wine sommelier from Ukraine named Uliana. She is delightful and I hope we will keep in touch. It isn’t that anything was terribly bad on this cruise, just disappointing. It’s the little things. The nuances of elegant service just wasn’t there. Like the waiter in the Terrace Cafe who would bring me coffee and place it on the table too far away for me to reach, or the assistant waiter in the MDR who would pick up my plate before I was finished and without asking first, or the waiter in Toscana who served the only gentleman at the table of four first before the three ladies because the man was closest to him. I expect more from O!!
  5. Hahaha…..you’re right, of course, we did sail out of San Pedro. I flew into and stayed in Long Beach but I do know the difference. Thanks for calling me out on it though.
  6. I’ve been on well over 100 cruises since 1989, mostly on Celebrity and Royal Caribbean, but it has been on my bucket list to sail on an Oceania ship for years. Frankly, it’s too expensive for me, but I recently returned from a 7-night on the Regatta out of Long Beach, California. I admit that I’m a very picky cruiser and I had high expectations prior to boarding, and I wanted so badly to be blown away by their excellence. Unfortunately, that was not the case. I was so disappointed in the service and food. The ship is lovely and exudes an elegant sophistication. I traveled alone and had one of the 150 sq. ft. solo cabins. I was afraid I would be unhappy with the room but I wasn’t. Yes, it was small but they smartly utilized every tiny space and there was plenty of storage space. I was in 6030 and the view was obstructed but not as badly as the other solo cabins. Mine only had a small rescue raft outside my window instead of the much larger lifeboats, so I could see the ocean whereas others could not. I’m going to write a review, but just quickly and briefly, here are a couple of my main complaints. On the first day my steward asked if I had any special requests and I asked for ice every day and ginger ale in my fridge. I didn’t think that was a major deal but evidently it was because I only got ice three days out of the seven. I asked again and again and gave gentle reminders but it did no good. I ordered room service twice. Both times the food was really not good. The first was a cheeseburger (cooked medium) and fries. The beef was cooked well done, cold, hard and dry. So were the fries. No mayo, ketchup or mustard. The salt shaker was empty. The second time I ordered some snacks. The shrimp cocktail (3 shrimp) was good, but the spinach and artichoke dip was so cold and so hard that I had to scrape it out of the tiny container with a spoon and it came out in one glob and wasn’t edible. The “salsa” was puréed tomatoes ONLY with no taste at all. No salt or pepper. And the cheesecake was so dry and tasteless that I couldn’t eat it. All of my steaks were served extremely well done, cold and dry. The sirloin steak was so tough and dry it was inedible and what was supposed to be a small filet on a ciabatta roll was too tough to be from a tenderloin. It looked beautiful on the plate but was cooked well done, cold and was probably a piece of top sirloin. At the only tea time I went to, I went early and was the first person served. I asked for three little sandwiches, all different. The bottoms of the various breads were slightly wet and the tops were so hard I couldn’t eat two of them. The chicken salad was on a tiny roll and it was okay. The meals in the Polo Grill and Toscana were okay but nothing to brag about. I’ve had much better meals in restaurants at home. I could go on and on but I’ll stop here. The bars and wines, both in product and service, were excellent. I genuinely hate my experience turned out this way. But for once I was ready to leave the ship. And for the price I paid, I wish I had used the money to go on three Celebrity cruises. Please feel free to ask any questions.
  7. Thank you, All, for your valuable advice and information. And for being patient with me as I learn the details about this wonderful cruise line. I’m excited for the firsthand experience!
  8. I suppose I was thinking the daily gratuities are for the main dining room personnel, not the specialty restaurants, but I’m sure Harters is correct. By the way, I know each guest is guaranteed at least one dining experience in each specialty restaurant but if I wanted to have dinner in one of them more than once and there is room available to seat me, may I do so for an additional charge?
  9. Hey Y’all, forgive me if this has already been discussed but what about tipping in the specialty restaurants? It will be my first with Oceania. On other lines’ specialty restaurants, depending on the service and extent of the courses served, I would typically tip $20. What do you recommend?
  10. Excellent advice…..thank you! Actually, availability of the nicer brands to drink neat was my biggest concern. I’ll definitely do what you suggest.
  11. I'll be on my first cruise with Oceania next month and I'm trying to decide whether or not to purchase the premium drink package. Does anyone have a list of the whiskeys and prices they offer? Thank you!
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