Oceania Food Is So Incredibly Good !!

O food is very good.

However, many people say that Princess pizza is superior.

Ira

Princess pizza is divine. People wait in line for the next hot pie out of the oven. We were told that they bought a small Italian cruise line and got all the recipes.

I tasted O pizza once and was not impressed. The pizza sits for long periods of time as there are few takers.

Princess pizza is divine. People wait in line for the next hot pie out of the oven. We were told that they bought a small Italian cruise line and got all the recipes.

As to the "small Italian cruise line", do you mean Sitmar Cruises?

Way back when, it may have been our first cruise on Oceania which would have been in January 2004, we spoke with the crew member manning the pizza station. As I recall he'd either worked in a pizza establishment in Italy OR he may even have had an ownership interest in that establishment.

According to him Oceania didn't have a proper pizza oven which made it just about impossible to come up with the perfect slice. I can understand that a ship won't be able to have such a hot oven on board!

I wonder if the situation he described is still the same, or even if other lines may have better equipment.

Just wondering!

Mura

O food is very good.

 

However, many people say that Princess pizza is superior.

 

Ira

Pizza is definitely not Oceania's strong suit.

Way back when, it may have been our first cruise on Oceania which would have been in January 2004, we spoke with the crew member manning the pizza station. As I recall he'd either worked in a pizza establishment in Italy OR he may even have had an ownership interest in that establishment.

 

According to him Oceania didn't have a proper pizza oven which made it just about impossible to come up with the perfect slice. I can understand that a ship won't be able to have such a hot oven on board!

 

I wonder if the situation he described is still the same, or even if other lines may have better equipment.

 

Just wondering!

 

Mura

Their problem is not the oven, it's the recipe.

Maybe their pizzas are not Americanized enough for some

We prefer a thin crust so I make my own at home

What made Princess pizza special for me is that on some ships (not all - I think it was the Crown) you could order your own small personal pizza.

Thus I could have one without tomato sauce - which ruins the pizza for me - and only the ingredients I wanted (choice of about 10 or 12). It only took a few minutes to make.

I have only seen it once. :(

I would love to see that on Oceania.

Princess...Pizza was excellent.

Cunard Princess Grill..very disappointing..wouldn't waste my money on a grills again.

Royal Clipper is absolutely superb.Some of the best food at sea...

Oceania...excellent.

Princess pizza is divine. People wait in line for the next hot pie out of the oven. We were told that they bought a small Italian cruise line and got all the recipes.

I tasted O pizza once and was not impressed. The pizza sits for long periods of time as there are few takers.

Believed they got the Pizza oven when they bought out Sitmar. They kept that oven design ever since. It is the oven more than the recipe.

In trade publications that came out, I read it in several sources.. Regent and O are the same owner ship.... same provisions... Having sailed both Regent and O I actualy found the food quality as high or higher on Oceania .

Thats based of sailing over 60 days on board each line.

On the Atlantic Crossing they had all the head chef's and F and B Managers on Riviera. They were all at the Grand Tea and I was talking to Franck (I do not recall his last name). They were using the classroom kitchen to design new recipes and menu items. He told me that all the provisions were the same on both lines and most recipes except the specialites have different menus

Their problem is not the oven, it's the recipe.

What recipe? In my experience the Oceania pizzas look and taste very much like supermarket frozen pizzas. :eek::eek:That is to say, awful!!

I have never noticed anything at the pizza station that gave me any indication that they were actually making the pizzas there.

What recipe? In my experience the Oceania pizzas look and taste very much like supermarket frozen pizzas. :eek::eek:That is to say, awful!!

 

I have never noticed anything at the pizza station that gave me any indication that they were actually making the pizzas there.

You may well be right but I don't think you can actually prove that one way or the other - unless you have access to the kitchen :).

All we see is the finished product (pizza) - we don't see where and how they make it - whether they make it from scratch or put a frozen one in the oven.

Much like every other food item in the buffet - we see the finished products (various dishes) but not where and how they cooked them (except at the grill station).

I always heard Oceania does not offer a good bagel. Is that still the case?

We have Noahs and Einsteins and Katella Deli in our neighborhood, and we are simply BAGEL-SPOILED!

Some brands of the frozen supermarket pizza are much better.

I suspect the trade publications are simply regurgitating Oceania press releases making these claims. Next you'll be quoting reader awards in publications like Conde Naste which also lack credibility given the voting process and selection criteria

 

Some independent evaluation would carry some weight - maybe the Berlioz cruising guide?

 

In so far as using the same provisions - really? It's what the chefs do with the ingredients isn't it? The quality of ingredients if indeed that is the case is only one aspect

 

I'll leave it at that as we're never going to agree on this one

As a a guy who has been a party to professional culinary training in the us and france, I must tell you that the quality of the ingredients is the most important aspect in cuisine, A chefs job is to not screw it up and to do as little as possible to detract or modify it.

Second the chefs next most important or maybe and equal first it to find and locate those sources or purveyors that offer him the freshest and most reliable top quality products. Finding a purveyor is thus hyper critical

For example all bake goods on O are made from a special dairy in France and all the flour used is also from a select region of France... That aint cheap...but its product is exceptional.

While I am but one guy, i HAVE had considerable training in how to evaluate and select top class ingredients... AND having been Regent and O's galleys, the Garde, and stores, I can tell you, from my perspective this is high end stuff.

I dont need some journalist to tell me. The trade journals are not commonly available to the traveling public and are professional trade reading, not travel hype. bit for managers and operations folks.

Hey doubt all you like....but the reality is you would notice a gem in a 5 and dime store....

I always heard Oceania does not offer a good bagel. Is that still the case?

 

We have Noahs and Einsteins and Katella Deli in our neighborhood, and we are simply BAGEL-SPOILED!

If the bagels which those chains serve taste good to you, then you will most likely enjoy Oceania bagels.

Being from the New York area, I consider the Oceania version to be bagel shaped bread (the gluten ratio is entirely wrong).

That said, Ritz Carleton, the St, Regis and the Four Seasons serve an identical bagel product; there must be a market for them.

Being from NYC I agree with Jim/Stan here ... but that being said, I find the bagels on board entirely acceptable. Yes, we get better ones here -- but not always!

For starters, on board the ships I've never seen anything but a plain bagel. Not even my favorite, an EGG bagel. All the flavors we find on land just are not found on the ship. (Pumpernickel, Sesame, Everything, Garlic, etc.)

I'm not complaining ... they give us many different varieties of sweet rolls and breads. I wouldn't expect them to have a large sampling of different flavors of bagels and never have.

Mura

I always heard Oceania does not offer a good bagel. Is that still the case?

 

We have Noahs and Einsteins and Katella Deli in our neighborhood, and we are simply BAGEL-SPOILED!

I agree with you.

Bagels are not Oceania's best baked goods product (unlike their excellent baguettes, croissants, etc) .

It is my understanding that bagels and English muffins are the only baked goods that are brought onto the ship frozen - all other baked goods are baked freshly onboard.

I think that explains the difference.