pinotlover

Depends upon the chain and source. There is a standard among high end restaurants, definition wise, on the definition of rare, mr, medium, etc. Not picking on the chains, but many present MR as what is definitely medium by standard definition. In that Oma is German for Grandma, and having lived there for several years, many of the German restaurants used their own definition of doneness, not the international standards.

I most always use that approach. I have never gotten rare and only occasionally even MR. I believe what Oceania receives for most of its steaks and chops ( not all) is the same as most chain restaurants. Pre cut, pre individually wrapped, and partially cooked for fast kitchen turn around with minimal labor. This makes medium rare nearly impossible on most cuts by the time it is further warmed.

Or start thread # 5000 on whether you can bring beer, wine, or alcohol aboard! Google , and/or the search function, can be your friend! 🥂

Still getting Viking mailers! 🙄 My guess is Oceania is saving up for a few big mailers. First, the release of cruises for the new Allura. Second, a mailer for the 2026 ATW along with some Grand Voyages. Finally, the release of the remaining 2025 and early 26 cruises. As far as mailings for current releases , Why? Many are completely sold out , or have been out there already for a long time with multiple sales. Why spend more money you don’t have? Wait til you can give them something new! 🥂

The discussion was primarily Toscana. The food there is definitely better than OG and on par with IL Formia. To complete means to compete and survive every night. For Oceania’s Toscana menu, what price do you think the entries would have to come in at? Definitely above both aforementioned chains, imho. So Toscana would be competing in the higher range $30-$45 secondi range, and $20+ primi . When you move into that price range, the competition, and authenticity, stiffens immediately. IMHO, with their menu, they can’t price down, and they can’t compete upwards. Also, Oceania strives to serve a large captive crowd of eaters wanting plain and bland. Many of those rarely eat outside their assisted living facilities at home or drive at night. Plain and bland doesn’t go far ashore. Red Ginger, in a market with out a large upscale Asian presence, would do fine.

Polo Grill may be on par with some of the mid level chains. Their inconsistencies would kill them however. People would soon tire of ordering medium rare and getting medium well to well done. Word of mouth would kill it, unless very cheap. Toscana is an interesting study. It is very very Americanized Italian. Quite a percentage of diners look for something more Italian Italian. In other parts of the country where everything needs to be Americanized, it may do OKAY. But then it gets into a price battle with Olive Garden and other heavy Americanized Italian chains.

Excellent review. I pose a question for you. Do you possibly think the reason for Ember being “ not very busy” was because others had already voted with their feet?

It is still a good quality line. Yes there has been cutbacks, but still good quality. Any claims of even approaching Michelin restaurant level is tomfoolery. I doubt any of their restaurants could compete and survive on shore. They do fine for at sea. Excellent meals, good meals, mediocre meals, and occasionally a poor meal.

Go to your Roll Call and check. It will be posted there, not here.

How about this? I don’t care what you tip. You should likewise care less about how or how much I tip. Please tip as YOU feel appropriate and in your conscience correct. You don’t know how Oceania distributes paid gratuities and they aren’t going to tell you. Get over it.

In our tv, with current sailings, if you went to a specific menu, it stayed there for as long as you want. Not sure which screen you’re viewing.

Cute play on words! 👍. Actually they only changed the dosage. The Brix at picking remained the same mostly.

You can likewise thank the Brits for Brut Champagne. The early champagnes including Limouix were all very sweet. The favorite of the Russians was sticky sweet at 330 g/l sugar after dosage. The Brits wanted something different and more food friendly and pushed the dryness to Brut. Now we have extra Brut and Natural with between 0-6 g/l of added sugar dosage.

True on the Swiss village. You otherwise give Champagnes too much credit. Sparkling wine was first developed by the monks in Limouix at St. Hilaire monastery in SW France in 1531. A Century and a half later, the Brits were buying rot gut still wine, with sugar added, from Champagne. In the heart of the “mini Ice Age” the French couldn’t get their grapes ripe, thus sugar was allowed to be added. The Brits decided to try something, almost anything, to get those wines to taste better, so they opted for the methods from Limouix . It was a decade after that the monks in Champagne started doing the process themselves. Dom Perignon by no way invented the sparkling wine of the Champagne area, but he did work feverishly at improving the production techniques and quality of the wine. Lots of funny stories after that of exploding bottles and dead yeasts.

The market moves daily, however Oceania often hedges and sets its exchange rates for tours a year in advance. Sometimes the exchange rates appear very good, other times not.

You can leave as early as you like.

The blue top Monopole has all three of the grapes, but is primarily Pinot Noir. This gives it a nice fruity flavor and texture. The Pinot Meunière is present but in a far lower percentage than Germain.

With the very maybe exception of Waves, I doubt you’ll ever get the wine steward to bring you margaritas mix to diy your drink. You’ll need to bring the mix in yourself with you.

Yes. But. To be a Brut, the addition of 6-12 g/l of sugar in the dosage is allowed. For Extra Dry, it’s 12-17 g/l. Some people’s Brut can be very near another’s Extra Dry in added sugar. Thus is the case of Germain. Per Champagne regulations, the wine can only be made from three grape varieties:Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunière . Many champagnes use primary one or both of the first two, with sometimes 20% or less of the third. Germain uses only Chardonnay and Pinot Meunière . PM has and adds a very distinct flavor to the bubbly which many don’t particularly like. It’s large presence in Germain is one reason many don’t like it. Add 1 & 2, and you have a very unpopular wine.

A total waste of breath. You are not going to teach manners, etiquette, or medical safety measures to Oceania aged population. They either practice them or they don’t. Case in point; even with constant urging from the staff on scene, look at the people that refuse to use the provided hand sanitizer then grab and use the railings on the gangway. Something so simple, and they won’t do it.

A significant reason for SM is to either replace customers like us, or just squeeze more money out of us. It will be enlightening to see the new release of cruises in the next mon+. We’ll then be able to analyze the cost of this new Program without the sales gimmicks. Oceania may well successfully drive away current customers to make room for more profitable ones.

Maybe a quarter (25%) of the passengers even read their Currents. Most ignore, and are totally oblivious to any and all CD or senior staff announcements. If you want to protect yourself, YOU must take the necessary precautions and not count on your fellow passengers in any regard. A sad state of affairs, but the way it is.

I think he meant some posted the exact postings from earlier that were incorrect. It wasn’t about You! 😂

I haven’t looked today. Must have changed the header. 🍷

Yesterday there was a big header across Oceania’s website saying their website would be down from this morning through tomorrow night at midnight. Try back Monday morning. It will probably all be there.