Aloha 1

Just now, WESTEAST said:

Sorry to hear about Polo as we have yet to receive slow and incorrect dining. But agree the Dover Sole at Jacques is just the best as well as the service.

Sadly, I've too many steaks overcooked/undercooked in our 10 O cruises on Riviera and Marina. No excuse for that.

For us, we second Mauibabes Red Ginger recommends. FYI, I have been able to get some sriracha or chili garlic sauce from the kitchen by asking.

At Jacques, The sea bass in pastry is always excellent as is the Dover Sole. I also like the Lobster Thermador. A great throwback dish.

Toscana, where to start? Big fan of the Carbonara along with  a few other pastas.

Can't recommend anything from POLO as I consider it the worst specialty in the fleet. Always slow, never correct.  

Appreciate the reply but not sure if it applies to the refurbed O suite on Riviera. What you described on Marina matches what we had on the pre refurb Riviera with the exception of having a PS 3 (this was 2015). My understanding is they upgraded all the media stuff in the O suites during the refurb. 

Does anyone have a copy of the Suite "premium" selections? The ones beyond the standard list.

Anyone who has been in an Oceania Suite on Riviera post refurbishment, can you please help me with the following questions:

What exactly is the "media/entertainment" set up in the second room?

Are there any HDMI ports available to connect a Nintendo Switch or Apple TV?

Does the TV allow Apple Play ?

We travel with our adult autistic son and the last time we had an O Suite, they had a PS 3 , DVR, and a preloaded movie and game machine. Perfect for him.

Any info appreciated .

Just now, clo said:

Thanks. Very, very similar and for this particular recipe that's not surprising. And definitely no cream.

Absolutely not!

Hank; Thanks for a great "blog". I've followed your posts for several years and picked up some good tips on ports, restaurants, etc. Enjoy your land excursion . We head for Milano in July with a side trip to Switzerland, then Firenze  and down to Civitavecchi to board the new Regent Grandeur, Rome to Athens. Any restaurant tips are appreciated (ken2048ataoldotcom).  Will post our experiences on the Regent board.

2 minutes ago, clo said:

Can't open this. Marcella Hazan's is my only recipe for this. I make it regularly. 

See my additional post with PDF

Oops! Realized I sent the pages version (mac) which some may not be able to open. Resending as a PDF file 

Pasta%20Carbonara-Oceania.pdf

4 hours ago, Hlitner said:

DW tells me that when you get the ratio of pasta water to parmesan just right, the result does seem creamy.  She has heard of using some butter, but that seems to vary depending on the recipe and chef.

 

Hank

This is the carbonara recipe from Noel Barille, one of the CIA trained and Italy based chefs who run the culinary center on Riviera, Marina, and Vista. It is authentic and excellent and it is what is served in Toscana.

Pasta Carbonara-Oceania.pages

On 4/4/2024 at 4:26 PM, Hlitner said:

Let’s deal with the CD announcement issue.  They are NOT piped into the cabins, but the sound of the the announcement bells is easily heard in many cabins and enough to wake many light sleepers.  In our experience (18 cruise lines) the higher the quality of the line, the fewer announcements.  O is trying hard to compete with Carnival when it comes to annoying PA announcements.  We have yet to meet anyone who says they look forward to hearing a CD reading the daily schedule.  O is too good of a line to have this BS.

 

Hank

We have 10 O cruises under our belt and another 40 + on other lines, and Peter was the most annoying CD we've ever experienced.

Wow. So sorry about your illness. Like the others, we really enjoyed reading your "blog". Very entertaining. The Katz's pic sent my mouth drooling. Get well, heal up, and perhaps we'll meet up at the Pool Bar someday. Look for the guy in the aloha shirt with his adult autistic son. Usually center bar.

On 4/10/2024 at 5:59 PM, Mudhen said:

On the Feb Grandeur Caribbean run,

we stopped in St.Barts as well.

Didn’t know this had been an issue…

So did Splendor in February.

On 4/1/2017 at 4:31 PM, UUNetBill said:

To submit your rating and comments, please use the following template and paste the information in a reply - I'll paste the information into the master listings as time allows. Remember, the more folks contribute, the more useful this will be!

 

PLEASE BE SURE AND SPECIFY WHICH SHIP YOU WERE ON! I could probably figure it out but it's a LOT easier to know up front!

CC Rating Template.xls 32.5 kB · 869 downloads

Review For Splendor

CC%20Rating%20Template.xlsx

On 4/16/2024 at 12:46 PM, Harters said:

V - as you know, whilst we cannot mention UK travel agents on the forum, Cruise Critic itself has no qualms about providing a list

 

https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/articles/best-cruise-travel-agents

 

I'm sure if you start looking through that list, you'll see a company with a web address very similar if shorter to the one I've just given. Go fourth and you'll be almost there.

Well done! Did you have a career with MI 5?

We are Gold on Regent and Silver on Oceania. Been on both in the last 9 months. 

Regent Splendor,17 nites: Not one bad meal in Compass Rose. Had the best steak ever on R or O in Prime 7. Excellent food in Pacific Rim plus they had a very good sake selection. Although Chartreuse is our least favorite, the one visit we had was excellent. Sette Mari also very good both times.

Oceania Riviera, 18 nites: The BEST thing about O is The Terrace. Not having to dress after a long day touring is priceless plus the food selection hits all the right notes. We never go to the GDR as we are not fans of 2 1/2 hour long meals. Jacques, Toscana, and Red Ginger all were excellent. Polo once again failed epically; slow service, steak not cooked as ordered. No clue as to why this one venue just can't get it right. Waves pizza in the evening was a nice change of pace especially since you can pair its with whatever from The Terrace.

Bottom line, we did notice a few cutbacks, typically at breakfast and lunch, on both lines. But in general the food was still better than the mass market lines. I wish O could deliver the same type of experience as Compass Rose and wish R had a casual venue in the evening ( like the Pool Grill) where you didn't have to dress, however.

Our first meal on any O cruise is always in Jacques. The man is a world treasure and frankly, is the reason for O's food reputation. We only sail on Riviera or Marina due to the newer ships not having Jacques. With a new generation taking over the operation of Oceania, one can only hope they study a bit of history and realize that even Millennials can be taught to appreciate fine cuisine and not assume they only want "chain restaurant" menus .

On 3/5/2024 at 7:32 AM, mrpotatohead said:

We were there about 5 years ago, got a free shuttle I think into the market area, had a look around . Some bargains if you are game and a real good insight into the locals lives. Then just walked down to a great Khmer restaurant called Sandan, was really great food

What did you eat?

I would add, all tables pay 3 to 2 for Blackjack. None of that 6 to 5 stuff like on other lines. Minimum bets from $10-$15.

Just got off Splendor 2 weeks ago. All dealer delt.

Currently on Splendor and Starlink is NOT installed yet.

Anyone know if Starlink has been rolled out on Splendor?

1 hour ago, Critically Cruising said:

 

THE FINEST CUISINE AT SEA®

 

You forgot to include the registered trademark symbol.  The legal beagles will be coming soon.

Well, I did put in quotes 😁

I sincerely hope they do NOT roll these changes out fleet wide. The Impossible burger is a sodium laden chemistry experiment and is in no way heart healthy . And ground beef instead of filet medallions??? When you start messing with "the finest cuisine at sea" you risk losing your customers.

3 hours ago, PhD-iva said:

 

Also, restaurant staff are shifted to the La Veranda buffet line as passengers are not allowed to serve themselves. I view this as an enhanced service. On Oceania passengers are not supposed to serve themselves.

 

One of the strange mysteries between O and R. Why would you allow passengers to feed themselves from the buffet? And they wonder how norovirus spreads?