Is Oceania Slipping???

[bigmjh]

Just finished a 32 day B2B on the Regatta and I must say that Oceania did NOT live up to expectations. The ship is beautiful (as are all the 'R' ships). For the most part the staff was friendly and professional ... EXCEPT in the dining rooms. Staff in the dining rooms seemed to be "stretched thin". Perhaps Oceania has been hit by the financial realities of today and has cut back of staffing. In the MDR, I observed most of the waiters and assistants having to take care of 10 or more tables (30 or more diners) ... way too many for quality service.

 

Food was generally good ... but not exceptional ... and was always beautifully plated and presented.

 

Service in all the dining venues was inconsistent and sporadic at best. On several occasions orders were NOT delivered correctly, food was served cold (when it should have been hot) or warm (when it should have been cold), dirty dishes were not cleared promptly, etc. etc. etc. Service upstairs in the Terrace Cafe ... despite the fact that it was a buffet ... was far better than in the MDR. Service in Toscana and Polo ... the upscale venues ... was GENERALLY better but still flawed.

 

Specific instances (these are only a few of many) - (1) in Toscana - a fish dish was beautifully fileted table-side, plated and served - COLD and on the same plate were COLD roasted garlic mashed potatoes; (2) in Polo - my water glass was empty from shortly after ordering and remained empty for the entire meal ... no one ever came around to refill. Same meal - dirty entree plates were left on the table while desert menu was presented and order was taken ... they were only cleared when waiter actually brought the desert and had no place to put it; (3) Main Dining Room - water was poured and small bits of something (other than ice) were floating around in the water glass. On two other occasions water was served in glasses with chips / cracks on the rim; (4) Also in the MDR - my wife's meal (breakfast) was brought and I sat there with nothing. After about 10 minutes I had to call the waiter over and ask where my breakfast was ... he apologized ... went to get my order ... 10 minutes later he still hadn't reappeared with my breakfast ... we just got up and left as we had an excursion to catch; (5) Also in MDR - we sat down and noticed that some of the silverware had a greasy feel ... it was promptly replaced when I called attention to it; (6) Also in Polo - I had ordered my steak blackened-style ... when it arrived it was not. No, I didn't send it back because my wife had her food and by the time it was replaced it would have been cold or she would have been finished.

 

And I could go on and on with more examples. And, in talking to fellow passengers, we weren't the only ones noticing the service lapses. Many voiced the same, or similar, complaints.

 

While all these might seem to be trivial ... on Oceania, a cruise line that prides itself on being a 5* cruise line with outstanding cuisine, this should NEVER happen. Yes, I reported problems to the Maitre d' and they would always apologize ... but, again, things that require apologies should NOT be happening on such a regular basis.

 

Incidents like these really take the shine off of a 5* rating ... Oceania might be slipping in status. And Mr. Del Rio had better watch out ... Azamara is targeting the same demographics and is cruising quickly into Oceania's territory. With "dings" like this lingering in passengers minds when booking their next cruise, maybe they will look to other cruise lines. Yes, I know, there are many die-hard, devote Oceania cruisers that would never consider anything but Oceania and I respect their choices. I have merely used this forum to voice concerns that I (and others) have concerning the direction in which Oceania is heading.

 

My 32 days on the Regatta, while for the most part enjoyable, will probably be my last, maybe only, days on Oceania. At least until they seem to be able to get their act together.

[LEESRE]

Yes like you we have found that the food is not hot as it should be but only luke warm at times.

Yes we did mention this everytime it happened, and it was most evenings, but nothing seemed to be done, just the usual apology.

 

If Mr Del Rio does in fact read these posts, I do hope that he will see to it that if a passenger asks for HOT food then the passenger gets HOT food. Also like you we found that if you needed a hot plate then you could not find one in th buffet areas, but when it came to plating say ice cream, the plates were that hot the ice cream melted before you got back to your table.!!!

 

A minor issue I know to some passengers, but to me if food is meant to be hot serve it hot please.

 

We travel again on Riviera next year and hope that things have improved.

[PHOENIXfire]

I will be on Riveria in April. I have read about dinners being served cold food many times on Oceania. What does one do when cold food is brought to your table without spoiling the experience?

[vaitape]

Yikes, if food is not kept at proper temps, organisms grow and can cause food-borne disease. Potentially serious stuff.

[LHT28]

I will be on Riveria in April. I have read about dinners being served cold food many times on Oceania. What does one do when cold food is brought to your table without spoiling the experience?

Ask your waiter to take it back & bring hot food

 

I have had some dishes that were not hot but still warm enough to eat right away & some that were not so warm (Toscana)

They replaced the food with hotter ones

 

In our experience it is not often things are served luke warm but I will send it back for a warmer version

 

Lyn

[JimandStan]

Ask your waiter to take it back & bring hot food

 

I have had some dishes that were not hot but still warm enough to eat right away & some that were not so warm (Toscana)

They replaced the food with hotter ones

 

In our experience it is not often things are served luke warm but I will send it back for a warmer version

 

Lyn

 

What bothers me when food has to be sent back is how it disrupts the flow of courses. Therefore, if it is just the two of us, and there is a problem, I usually ask that they redo both plates, so that our meal stays "in sync".

 

A pleasant word to the waiter is all that is ever required.

 

I try to say something vaguely positive along the lines of, "I know that you can do better than this". And they almost always do. :D

[vaitape]

What concerns me is not the flow of the meal but what kind of flow the meal not kept at proper temperature can cause me.

[OzAbroad]

On all the cruise lines boards you sometimes read of voyages were things go a little awry. We are currently on Marina and my immediate reaction to this voyage was that the food and service had lifted. I am yet to have a meal that I haven't enjoyed and the ship seems to running like clockwork. So from my perspective nothing is slipping, and in fact its improving. I do wonder whether the staffing on all the ships is equal.

[Cathy Maneri]

I was on the Marina this past March and the food and service was flawless.

 

I was on the Regatta this past November and the food and service was not up to Marina standards and I had the same issues as the others.

 

I'm on the Riviera next December with new friends to Oceania and I hope it lives up to my bragging on how great this line is.

 

Knowing how Oceania listens to its passengers, I'm sure the issues will be addressed.

[pacheco18]

I think these issues are ship and sailing specific

 

I know that on my last voyage on Nautica, what made Toscana beyond outstanding was the restaurant's manager. We had had mediocre food and service in Toscana on other voyages.

 

Unfortunately, O cannot clone people and people will always make the difference.

[LHT28]

What bothers me when food has to be sent back is how it disrupts the flow of courses. Therefore, if it is just the two of us, and there is a problem, I usually ask that they redo both plates, so that our meal stays "in sync".

 

A pleasant word to the waiter is all that is ever required.

 

I try to say something vaguely positive along the lines of, "I know that you can do better than this". And they almost always do. :D

I am always polite ...why would you think otherwise:eek:

 

I know it is not easy to keep up with the serving of the dishes when some passengers like to engage them in chit chat & they are too polite to excuse themselves to get the orders that are piling up at the serving stations

 

Lyn

[LHT28]

What concerns me is not the flow of the meal but what kind of flow the meal not kept at proper temperature can cause me.

I agree

usually people at the tale are understanding

 

Lyn

[TKS]

I agree with Laraine, the management of each restaurant makes the difference. We were on Regatta a year ago and found Polo to be consistently wonderful (I think we ended up eating there four nights) largely due to the chef, who made the rounds of the tables regularly. One night he was telling us about one of his favorite specialties, which was being served in MDR that night, and when we said it sounded wonderful he personally served us that dish so we could enjoy it. Did he run down to pick it up? Don't know, but his enthusiasm and attention to detail was appreciated. While on the same cruise Toscana, which had been my favorite on Nautica a year earlier (I think we ate there three or four nights too), was adequate but nothing to write home about, with some of the same issues described above and no sign of the chef circulating through the room.

[LEESRE]

I agree with Laraine, the management of each restaurant makes the difference. We were on Regatta a year ago and found Polo to be consistently wonderful (I think we ended up eating there four nights) largely due to the chef, who made the rounds of the tables regularly. One night he was telling us about one of his favorite specialties, which was being served in MDR that night, and when we said it sounded wonderful he personally served us that dish so we could enjoy it. Did he run down to pick it up? Don't know, but his enthusiasm and attention to detail was appreciated. While on the same cruise Toscana, which had been my favorite on Nautica a year earlier (I think we ate there three or four nights too), was adequate but nothing to write home about, with some of the same issues described above and no sign of the chef circulating through the room.

 

You were very fortunate to get that many bokings in these restaurants, normally only one reservation per cruise inless you are in the upper suites.

 

Like my previous post, I do hope that when we sail on Riveira in May of next year they have sorted the temperature of the food out.

Yes more than once and I mean many mnay times, we asked for our food to be hot, and when we had had the first course we again remeinded the waiter that we would like our entree hot. This did not happen on many occasions. Only after being served by the Maitre'd did we achieve hot food.

It is such a shame because we love Oceania.

[JimandStan]

normally only one reservation per cruise inless you are in the upper suites.

 

That is Completely untrue.

 

You are referring to the number of reservations that those cabins are guaranteed, not the number that they are limited to.

There is NO RESTRICTION AT ALL on the number of Specialty Restaurant reservations that ANY CABIN MAY have.

[Louby-Lou]

Madeleine & Maurice

We had much the same experience on a 28 day cruise on Regatta in 2011. In fact at the Q & A session that was held 4 or 5 days into the cruise, the poor service in the MDR was brought up. The dining room manager did acknowledge there were problems and that there would be no tables seating more than 6 as the wait staff were finding it difficult to cope! The service did improve slightly. Obviously the problems haven't been resolved. We also had the exact same problem in the MDR with breakfast - we both ordered exactly the same (poached eggs on toast - not too challenging). DH was presented with his with a cheery 'enjoy' and the waiter walked off! We appreciate that mistakes are made but it was the fact that he had no idea I had ordered anything we found incredible. Every evening in the MDR was a challenge :eek:.

On a positive note, at that time we had already booked another O cruise on Insignia's last sailing. We are happy to report that it was a totally different experience and we had a great time.

Lou

[TKS]

There is NO RESTRICTION AT ALL on the number of Specialty Restaurant reservations that ANY CABIN MAY have.

 

We did feel a bit like "pigs" getting so many opportunities to dine in the specialty restaurants. We were in an A-3 cabin, by the way. We made friends with the Maitre'd in GDR and on several evenings seating was backed up there, but when we asked about the specialty restaurants he checked & they had availability. Just a matter of being in the right place at the right time and asking the right questions. I made a special trip down the last day of our cruise to give him special thanks and a nice tip. Hope he remembers us on the next cruise where we meet.:p

[traveler916]

 

Unfortunately, O cannot clone people

 

What??? Say it ain't so!!!! I thought O could do ANYTHING :)

[bbwex]

We were just on the Riviera and while the service and food quality were good in most places, we had terrible service in Polo -- normally my favorite restaurant. We waiting a really inordinate amount of time to be approached initially for our drink orders, and the rest of the service was about the same. The service was so awesome in Red Ginger and the MDR that you forgot (almost) about the bad time in Polo. But still, the one restaurant was a bad experience.

[LuAnn]

What??? Say it ain't so!!!! I thought O could do ANYTHING :)

 

 

"we" just experienced that didn't we....???? Always...not what you know but who you know!!!! Had such fun....hope to see you again in '14!!! LuAnn

[no fuss travel]

We were just on the Riviera and while the service and food quality were good in most places, we had terrible service in Polo -- normally my favorite restaurant. We waiting a really inordinate amount of time to be approached initially for our drink orders, and the rest of the service was about the same. The service was so awesome in Red Ginger and the MDR that you forgot (almost) about the bad time in Polo. But still, the one restaurant was a bad experience.

 

We had bad service on the Insignia last year in the Polo, same problem you had, and they made another reservation for us and then we had waiters continuously asking us if everything was okay. It went from one extreme to the other.:D

[beaniele]

First Regatta cruise to Alaska in June. Getting a little nervous about the negative food comments. Maybe things will be better by then!

[bigmjh]

We were just on the Riviera and while the service and food quality were good in most places, we had terrible service in Polo -- normally my favorite restaurant. We waiting a really inordinate amount of time to be approached initially for our drink orders, and the rest of the service was about the same. The service was so awesome in Red Ginger and the MDR that you forgot (almost) about the bad time in Polo. But still, the one restaurant was a bad experience.

 

THIS shouldn't happen on a 5*+ cruise line. Maybe on Princess or Celebrity and probably on Carnival. Poor service and/or food quality that needs an apology shouldn't be occurring with this frequency on Oceania. :mad:

[TKS]

Like the food quality on O, different people have different opinions about the service. Not saying anything bad about anyone on this thread, mind you. But what is "poor" service to one person is "relaxed" to another. I agree, hot food should be served hot, and cold food should be served cold. But when MDR is serving over 500 meals three times a day, things are bound to go sideways from time to time. Even a 5-star restaurant has a bad day here and there.

 

I've found that simply appraising the waiter of your needs brings things to the way you want them nearly 100% of the time. No anger necessary, no apologies necessary.

 

Of course, I'd like to see things go perfectly all the time. But I'm on vacation, and I'm not going to let getting a meal initially served at the wrong temperature or a busy waiter who doesn't appear the moment I think he should ruin that for me.

[ORV]

THIS shouldn't happen on a 5*+ cruise line. Maybe on Princess or Celebrity and probably on Carnival. Poor service and/or food quality that needs an apology shouldn't be occurring with this frequency on Oceania. :mad:

 

My experience has been that service on Celebrity is more or less on a par with Oceania. Princess I'd agree with, one time with them was more than enough for me.