pacheco18 Posted December 25, 2012 #51 Share Posted December 25, 2012 We took Oceania cruises intermittently with Azamara cruises, and were able to make very timely comparisons in food, service and PH suites. We are done with Oceania--no more "O" cruises for us--Azamara is definitely our preference. I knew you could answer for yourself! LOL Thanks for clarifying We have a few diehards on these O boards who could never never believe that anything could be better than O (it's always perfect) just as there are a few on the A boards who could never believe anything could be better than A. I'd bet both groups of diehards are wrong. LOLOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacheco18 Posted December 25, 2012 #52 Share Posted December 25, 2012 I must say that in some ports having a McDonald's snack hit the spot. And the fries were always hot. Harry Consistency keeps customers coming back!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbb Posted December 25, 2012 #53 Share Posted December 25, 2012 re: Macs when traveling abroad..... clean bathrooms + free WIFI, and all for the cost of a very welcome coke with ice or decent cup of coffee!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
potterhill Posted December 27, 2012 #54 Share Posted December 27, 2012 cbb re: Macs when traveling abroad..... clean bathrooms + free WIFI, and all for the cost of a very welcome coke with ice or decent cup of coffee!! We tried to use their wifi several times while travelling. Bought the totally AWFUL coffee and the wifi never worked. Australia, NZ, and Europe. Never again! I would rather starve than eat their food. When we are road tripping and DH & son want to eat there, I just stay in the car. That way everyone is happy. :D. We had two wonderful cruises on Insignia, followed by a quite mediocre one with friends on Regatta. Then a great one on Marina, a great one on Regatta, and an ok one on Marina. Next up is Nautica in March. Fingers crossed for another great one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mura Posted December 27, 2012 #55 Share Posted December 27, 2012 Potterhill, I agree. We've had terrible experiences at McDonald's outside of the U.S. The Tel Aviv place was absolutely the worst, but it was Shabbat and it was the only place that was open. We don't normally patronize McD's anywhere, but when we've eaten there in the U.S. it was been as expected ... so I'll grant Laraine's argument about consistency. But not outside of the U.S. We haven't tried them in Canada or Mexico, so I don't know if I could qualify that statement to "not outside of North America". Mura Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacheco18 Posted December 27, 2012 #56 Share Posted December 27, 2012 Potterhill, I agree. We've had terrible experiences at McDonald's outside of the U.S. The Tel Aviv place was absolutely the worst, but it was Shabbat and it was the only place that was open. We don't normally patronize McD's anywhere, but when we've eaten there in the U.S. it was been as expected ... so I'll grant Laraine's argument about consistency. But not outside of the U.S. We haven't tried them in Canada or Mexico, so I don't know if I could qualify that statement to "not outside of North America". Mura Mura - you are quite correct -- that's because those MCDonald's cater to the demographic of the country in which they are located. No hamburgers in India! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted December 27, 2012 #57 Share Posted December 27, 2012 A few years ago we tried the McD in Tallin after a few tense moments trying to order by pointing we got the best chicken sandwich at any McD They used REAL chicken breast & the strawberry sundae had real strawberries not syrup So sometimes McD will be OK we try not to eat in them but sometimes it is a safe alternative ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacqueline Posted December 27, 2012 #58 Share Posted December 27, 2012 Getting off topic, but the McD in Antigua Guatemala may be the best in the world. Lovely gardens, comfortable furniture (as in sofas and chairs). Served on china! Kind of the oddest place to expect such a setting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
globevest Posted December 27, 2012 #59 Share Posted December 27, 2012 A few years ago we tried the McD in Tallin after a few tense moments trying to order by pointing we got the best chicken sandwich at any McDThey used REAL chicken breast & the strawberry sundae had real strawberries not syrup So sometimes McD will be OK we try not to eat in them but sometimes it is a safe alternative ;) We went to the Tallin McD on a Baltic cruise and had the same experience. The Wifi worked as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigmjh Posted December 27, 2012 Author #60 Share Posted December 27, 2012 Hmmmm ... strange turn this board has taken ... from discussing Oceania's 'slip-ups' to how good (or bad) the food is at Mc D's. :rolleyes: Anyway, back to the topic. Yes, experience, food and service may vary. However, when you patronize a "premium" retailer - whether they are selling goods or services - you expect a premium product. And it just seems that lately Oceania has been inconsistent. Using the Mc D's analogy, if you ALWAYS got a good cup of coffee at Mc D's ... you would keep going there for coffee. If it was good one day and not-so-good the next ... wouldn't you tend to try other coffee shops? Same with Oceania ... they need to provide a consistent 5 star level of service for their passengers ... or these same passengers will find other cruise lines willing to do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harryw Posted December 27, 2012 #61 Share Posted December 27, 2012 Sorry that I led the discourse astray. I would just add that while American fast food is a guilty pleasure, seeing the chain logos abroad can be jarring - meandering in Venice, then turning the corner and seeing the Hard Rock Cafe sign was disorienting! Harry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lahore Posted December 28, 2012 #62 Share Posted December 28, 2012 As a stalwart Oceania fan, I was waylaid and I recently cruised for the first time on Seabourn due to a stunningly discounted fare going exactly where I needed to be. I have written a review comparing our experience on Seabourn with Oceania. It's at: http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberre...EntryID=112767. I thought Oceania stood up very well against Seabourn, and would definitely not be returning to Seabourn if Oceania was ever an option. No doubt I'll draw flack from both Oceania and Seabourn fans, but I'm wearing my flame-proof jacket . :eek::p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulchili Posted December 29, 2012 #63 Share Posted December 29, 2012 We recently cruised on the Nautica and are currently on the Marina. Other than the expected slight variance from cruise to cruise (and ship to ship) we are happy to report that we see no troubling "slipping" trend on Oceania. Thank goodness :D Of course and as always, YMMV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbb Posted December 29, 2012 #64 Share Posted December 29, 2012 FWIW...we spent this September in Portugal and Spain and never had a problem with wifi in any of the Macs. As the internet cafes disappear in many European countries we use Macs regularly. Simply ask an employee if you're having a problem or the nearest teenager! Usually the password is printed on the receipt. If you have sent email and then find you're going past the same Macs later in the day, pop in or stand by the door or just outside, and type in the password and usually you can log on and check for answers. My point was, for the price of a cup of coffee or a coke, never mind if you drink it or not, hate it or not, it is a price performer for use of the internet, especially when compared to packages on board cruise ships. Consistency of a brand is what we're talking about, isn't it? (No I don't own stock in Macs) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pablito Posted December 30, 2012 #65 Share Posted December 30, 2012 We've been on 5 cruises on 4 Oceania ships and always found the food to be superb. BUT I did have a complaint on Marina last trip...the ubiquitous use of nuts. As I'm allergic to peanuts, I was concerned. Reporting errors or cross contamination are real possibilities. Hopefully Jacques Pepin will change his ways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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