musicmom3

1 hour ago, LHT28 said:

They also serve  seafood  in Toscana & Polo  & hopefully  they do have a separate area in the kitchen  so there is  no cross contamination for food allergies  like yours

They do have separate areas (according to those we spoke to on our last trip). But, more importantly to me, the condiments, sauces, and garnishes used in typical meal preparation are not as much seafood-forward, the way they are in Asian cuisine, so the risk factor is reduced. Surprisingly (at least to me, and something that made me really happy), there are also separate areas in the Terrace Café. 🙂

18 hours ago, rvmike said:

Some good suggestions, my paranoia now is cross contamination that the kitchen cannot control with the # of meals being served. I just will not take a chance, Nothing wrong with with pasta

Cross-contamination is definitely an issue, especially when dealing with anything fried, unless there is a non-seafood-dedicated fryolater. But for me, I have recently realized, the concern is starting well before that, when the ingredients arrive on site. For instance, if the Gochujang chili paste ordered by Red Ginger for my trip arrives with fish sauce as an ingredient (and there are many suppliers of chili pastes, all with their own "secret sauce" ingredients, and many of them include seafood), will anybody notice? It's kind of a big ask, with the volume of meals served as you point out, to have somebody read every label for every condiment or garnish used in the kitchen. Not such a big deal in Toscana as it is in Asian cuisine so, yes, bring on the pasta! 

13 hours ago, Paulchili said:

Perhaps once you are onboard you can speak to the GM about your situation and they can arrange to give you extra reservations in the other restaurants to compensate you for RG and give you at least the total that you are entitled to.

This is a terrific idea! Will definitely pursue, thanks!

6 hours ago, kibutzer said:

Depending on the severity of your allergy you are taking a risk. Even with the best of intentions Asian ingredients are very seafood forward . Do you regularly eat in Asian restaurants at home?

 

I would ask to speak with Executive chef of restaurant  but as the mother of a chef I would encourage you to reconsider dining in RG. 

I have come to learn that I ignore my intuition at my peril, and my intuition has been suggesting I do just what you recommend. It's nice to have perspective, though, which is why I asked the question--while I strive to be sensible, I also strive not to become fearful. With this choice, it really is about the odds of something going sideways despite best intentions. Thanks for the input, kibutzer. The reward to risk ratio is too high, so we'll be cancelling our reservations.

6 hours ago, CintiPam said:

I am allergic to fish (with fins and scales) but not shellfish, the more common allergy that many develop as they age.  Red Ginger is my favorite specialty restaurant.  I have found that talking directly to my main server about my allergy when I am ordering avoids any problems because that person immediately checks with the kitchen regarding ingredients if there is any question regarding the ingredients in the dishes I plan to order.  

That's really good to hear. And, yes, talking to the folks in the know is definitely the way to go!

Thanks to all. My allergy is severe to shellfish, less severe to flatfish (unless it is a flatfish with a similar protein structure to what's in shellfish, like anchovies, and then it's severe). It sure is a hassle to give everybody the third degree every time we eat out, but so it goes. Everybody on Oceania was great during our last trip and hoping for a repeat of that. Nothing beats talking to the people who know the kitchen, that's for sure.

3 minutes ago, rvmike said:

Had a slight reaction 2 years ago. Waiter promised the world but it still happened. If you have the allergy and don't want to deal with it, don't go. I won't again. Told Oceania and my TA.

 

Mike

Not what I wanted to hear, but I guess that's at the heart of my question, Mike...despite best intentions, do the folks dealing with the food accurately know the ingredients in the various sauces and condiments?  Tuna is often in miso, for example, and fish sauce/paste seems to appear all over the place. I guess if you have to ask...you shouldn't go....

Thanks for the reply, Mura. Yes, I do all that...the TA works on my behalf, we notify the ship beforehand and, much more importantly, speak to the people at the dining reservations desk and the executive chef and everybody else who we deal with in food service. Allergies of any sort definitely require a proactive stance, and that stance helped, I believe, make our last experience seamlessly safe. My point in asking the question now is to elicit anecdotal personal experiences from those with allergies who have dined at Red Ginger, as Asian cuisine can be challenging to navigate because of hidden seafood in stocks, condiments, and garnishes. We avoided Red Ginger last time...it would be nice to include it in our rotation this time. 

Very impressed with Oceania's attention to my seafood allergy on our first sailing with the line (last year, on Marina), but  I wasn't confident enough at that time to keep our reservation at Red Ginger, given all the hidden ways that seafood can pop up in Asian cuisine, especially in stocks, condiments, and garnishes. We just made reservations for the specialties for our upcoming trip, including Red Ginger, and I'm interested in giving it a try this time around. Any seafood-allergic folks have Red Ginger experiences to share? 

For anyone who's interested, just passing along info from our TA on a few Deck 7 cabins with forward-facing beds on Nautica--I had originally said Regatta, sorry for the mixup--7063, 7039, and 7041.

4 hours ago, ricki said:

Why not ask your travel agent that call O to be certain?

 

Ricki

Yes, that is what we decided to do, having no luck in puzzling it out for ourselves. Hoping to hear back soon.

On 11/1/2018 at 1:13 PM, LHT28 said:

we were in 7115  & faced aft   not sure if it follows a pattern

No pattern found yet, but thanks for the info! 

On 11/2/2018 at 4:09 AM, Two4Sea said:

Musicmom3 you raise a point I look at too. There is a cruise deck plans com site. Under the line/ship/category choices are a number of cabin pictures. Many of them have the cabin number in the caption. That should give you a start for the alternating pattern. In the broadside photos of the R ships there are three places with extra width balcony pillars between the cabins. These run top deck to bottom because of the firewalls. They may break the cabin layout pattern so try all four R class ships to see if you can get close to the cabins you are looking at. This point is emphasized as the deck 6 & 7 balcony framing is in pairs except for the first cabin aft of the aft firewall (forward edge of the smokestack).

 

Bill

Thanks for this info...just filled up my coffee cup and heading over to that site now to see if it helps crack the code of the forward-facing-bed pattern!

6 hours ago, cruiseaholic78 said:

You may want to check out this wonderful spread sheet someon ehas made for the Azamara ships, they are the same layout as the small Oceania ones. Some people have also added which way the bed faces, this is something I always like to know if possible.

Happy planning.

Rosalyn

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/applications/core/interface/file/attachment.php?id=355520

Thanks! What a great idea to compile such a document. The two rooms listed in the category we're looking at show 1 aft and 1 forward...but the forward one is right next to the elevators so that one probably won't work for us. This may be a case for our travel agent to solve!

We prefer to face forward rather than travel facing backward on trains and ships, and I'm wondering if there is some way to figure out which cabins have forward-facing beds on deck 7 on Regatta. When we selected our stateroom for our very enjoyable first Oceania cruise on Marina, we learned here on Cruise Critic to look at the notches on the staterooms to figure out which way the beds were facing (we chose #10057). But those notches aren't a part of the Regatta deck plans. Can anybody help?

We pack light because we typically add on several weeks of adventuring before and after our cruises, navigating by public transportation and toting gear for outdoor trekking...so it would be a (literal) pain hauling extra luggage just to satisfy dressing for dinner for the cruise portion of our travels. To minimize overload, I've adopted a dinner uniform that packs small but checks the boxes--black Chico's Traveler's pants, black Chico's Traveler's Jacket, black Chico's high-neck tank...with dress shoes and a bunch of pretty scarves and statement jewelry pieces that squish nicely into a compression bag and change up the look every night. We have one Oceania cruise under our belts and I was getting a bit agitated beforehand after reading the various posts about proper dress...happy to report that I was always in the mainstream with my "uniform," and sometimes even felt overdressed. I suspect style varies from cruise to cruise, but this formula worked well enough for me that I will be repeating it on our Bay of Biscay cruise next April.

Wow! Your write-up was a real eye-opener. We recently returned from a Baltic cruise on the Marina and found that the system worked really well for my seafood allergy. But that is ONE allergy only, which now seems relatively simple compared to your experience. Still, I have learned to tread cautiously, and it's that vigilance that made us decide that keeping our reservation at Red Ginger just wasn't worth the risk, since hidden seafood (like shrimp paste and fish sauce) can show up in condiments, flavorings, and sauces common in Asian cuisine. We just didn't want to bet on having a compulsive label-reader in the kitchen. I hope Oceania takes note of your analysis and comments and works to address them. It's hard to travel with dietary restrictions, and it's worth working hard to keep folks safe. (It's also worth investing time in developing exciting vegan and vegetarian dishes--we were disappointed in many of those offerings on our cruise, as you were.) Thanks for sharing your info!

You could probably ask them to not put sugar on them when you order

 

I will be looking forward to your reviews on the new dishes

 

we are not Vegan nor Vegetarian but still enjoy meatless meals

 

Hope they are as good as they sound

It's usually not the added sugar but the sugar that comes along for the ride in processing (acai berries used in smoothies typically come as sweetened powder or sweetened frozen pulp). It will be interesting to see if nutritional info is available. I wouldn't be surprised if it was--Oceania seems to have an eye on health and wellness. We're not vegan or vegetarian either, but enjoy a plant-based diet much of the time.

Thanks for your reply which wasn't altogether helpful I'm afraid!! Also, have I told you I'm vegan?!! I'm hoping it'll all be ok when we sail, fingers crossed. (No animals were harmed in the writing of this post)

We sail next week and are looking forward to the vegan and vegetarian offerings--I'll try to remember to snap some photos and report back when we return. It's our first time out with Oceania, and we picked the line for the itinerary, ship size, comfortable surroundings, and (we are hoping) simpatico vibe of fellow travelers. It would be great to find a variety of inventive fresh and wholesome food choices that complement our lifestyle focus. (Would also be nice to find that the acai berry bowl isn't loaded with sugar--we shall see.)

Thanks all, and happy to report that while I was refreshing my browser and furiously clicking away, my husband had quietly fired up his iPad, signed in under his own name, and made all our reservations for the dates and times we had wanted. I was still getting the pop up box about the dining restrictions but he never did.

Who knows what was going on. But in the end, it was worth staying up until midnight.

LHT, yes, we are in an A cabin.

Our link for reserving the specialty restaurants went live minutes ago, but when I try to book, I get a pop up that says "due to dining restrictions you cannot shop at this time." Our TA had informed Oceania about certain food allergies, but nobody told us we wouldn't be able to book the specialties because of that. Anybody here have experience with this? We are first time Oceania guests and this is quite the surprise. Of course it's a shame that we stayed up to midnight on a work night just to do this....

I won't appoint myself to police appropriate attire. I don't work for the cruise line. I am a passenger taking a cruise. I also don't presume to be the judge of appropriate attire. If I think something affects health and safety....... I will say something to the crew. I certainly won't confront any passengers about their attire whether they are 6'-6" or 5'. I have common sense. If you confront other passengers you might be the one who gets the boot. It is good most passengers are not like you. For any new cruisers reading this, I have been on over 50 cruises and never saw a fellow passenger confront another passenger about their attire.

As a cruiser new to Oceania, this is good to know. Thank you for sharing.

I am astonished by the level of nastiness hurled at me and my family. The purpose of my post was simply to point out that concepts of "dressy" differ, and one should not impose one's own ideas on others. On the Cunard boards, there are discussions of suit vs. sports jacket and the definition of black tie. Of course we dress in line with the published dress standards of any cruise line we choose to sail; for this reason, we will not sail Cunard. However, within the written guidelines, there is room for a variety of dress styles, and the level of judgement, sarcasm, and just plain rudeness exhibited here saddens me. My mother had a lovely time at her party, by the way, as did we all.

I've been following along here because we have our first Oceania cruise upcoming. I have been really surprised by the level of mean-spirited commentary that's been published in response to your post. You've been very civil throughout, and I hope there are lots of people like you on our Oceania adventure.

Loving your attention to the details of culture and nature as you travel--so much fun to read (and dream of going someday). Looking forward to hearing more adventures!

OK, I'm the original poster, and yes, the people in suites snap up the best spots for sure - sea days, reservations before 9 PM, etc. I think they might get more than one reservation in each restaurant too, but I forget what Oceania allows for an 11 or 12 day cruise.

 

Last night at midnight EST I went on the site and booked my reservations. I was able to make them for 7:30 on 2 of the four days I was considering, including one on a sea day (gasp!) All the tables for 2 were gone except for a few later times on days that were very early and very late in the cruise, but sharing isn't bad except, so overall I was happy. If you pay for a suite, you should get something else besides a larger room. I hate eating at 8:30 or 9, so the time is important to me. The system was easier to use than when I used it before - fewer steps to see what was open and make a choice. This morning I went back on at 7:30 EST and the only times open for all days I looked at (5 or 6) was 9 PM, so I was definitely glad I didn't fall asleep at 11:30 like my body was telling it wanted! Next time, though, I think I'll just go on at midnight, go straight to the shared table tab and start from there, and after I make reservations, I can try for that hard-to-get private table somewhere.

I'm a first timer to this so have been following along...located the "to do" list and now have our date--May 3. There is no link to the reservation system at this point so I'm wondering how one actually makes the reservations when the time arrives. I have checked under the "dining" tab and I see a line for "specialty restaurants" but the link is not live currently. Does it become live when it's time to reserve? Or is there someplace else to go? I'd hate to waste time trying to figure this all out with the clock ticking. Thanks for any info.