Eating on Riviera Questions

[Blaaamo]

Hi, could someone explain the procedure for eating on the Riviera? From what I can gather there are these options, besides the Grand Ballroom:

Jacques

Red Ginger

Polo Grill

Toscana

Terrace Cafe

Waves

Privée

La Reserve

 

Which one's need a reservation? Is it all of them? When are the reservations made? Is it based on room level? Are some not to be missed and others, just so/so? I'm so very confused. We sail June 23rd if that helps.

 

Thanks!

[computerworks]

Hi, could someone explain the procedure for eating on the Riviera? From what I can gather there are these options, besides the Grand Ballroom:

Jacques

Red Ginger

Polo Grill

Toscana

Terrace Cafe

Waves

Privée

La Reserve

 

Which one's need a reservation? Is it all of them? When are the reservations made? Is it based on room level? Are some not to be missed and others, just so/so? I'm so very confused. We sail June 23rd if that helps.

 

Thanks!

 

We just returned from the Riviera, so I'll help you break the code. Others will also, I am sure.

 

First it's the Grand Dining Room.

 

Jacques - French specialty restaurant - needs a reservation

Red Ginger - Asian Fusion specialty restaurant - needs a reservation

Polo Grill - Steakhouse style specialty restaurant - needs a reservation

Toscana - Italian specialty restaurant - needs a reservation

Terrace Cafe - Buffet style Cafe - open seating

Waves (Grill) - Poolside Cafe - open seating

Privée - Private dining room for small group. No unique menu, carries a fee for the use of the room.

La Reserve - Wine-pairing dinner experience, needs reservation (limited) and carries a surcharge based upon which experience you choose.

 

Reservations and booking can be done online, time frame based on cabin category, or once onboard.

[JimandStan]

Hi, could someone explain the procedure for eating on the Riviera? From what I can gather there are these options, besides the Grand Ballroom:

Jacques

Red Ginger

Polo Grill

Toscana

Terrace Cafe

Waves

Privée

La Reserve

 

Which one's need a reservation? Is it all of them? When are the reservations made? Is it based on room level? Are some not to be missed and others, just so/so? I'm so very confused. We sail June 23rd if that helps.

 

Thanks!

You won't find a Ballroom on the Riviera, but there is a lovely Grand Dining Room where it is always open seating, and reservations are never necessary.

The four "Specialty Restaurants", Jacques (French), Red Ginger (Asian), Polo (a Steakhouse), and Toscana (Italian) are smaller venues which do require reservations. All passengers are guaranteed a certain number of reservations at each restaurant, but those in the expensive digs get first dibs.

There is never a fee to dine in a specialty restaurant on Oceania.

Waves is the outdoor Poolside Restaurant which is only open for luncheon.

Privée is a private party room, tucked away high in the stern of the ship, serving food from either Tuscana or Polo. The fee is $250 per evening, and the room can accommodate up to ten guests (although 8 is the suggested maximum. Privée may be reserved as soon as you book your cruise, but payment is required at the time of reservation.

La Reserve is unique in that it offers a seven course meal with wine pairings for up to twenty four lucky guests. The cost fluctuates dependent on the luxness of the meal and the wines:

http://www.oceaniacruises.com/documents/menus/oclass/la-reserve/01-La-Reserve-Menus.pdf

La Reserve is not in operation on every evening, but as soon as the schedule for your cruise is available on the Oceania website, any passenger may make reservations. Payment is made at the time of reservation.

 

Hope that this helped, please enjoy your cruise, the food on Oceania is the best at sea!

[LHT28]

Do not forget Room Service ...available 24/7, no fee or reservations required ;)

[sitraveler]

Waves also does breakfast on the O class ships

[YoHoHo]

Waves also does breakfast on the O class ships

That is a great tip. But shhhh.... it just might get busy now. :)

The selection is much more limited of course but completely adequate; eggs (prepped & to order); meats; sliced fruit; selection of danish, etc, etc.

On port days Terrace Cafe can get very busy at peak times but Waves is much more relaxing with available tables.

[ronrick1943]

I've been on a few "O" Ships, I didn't know that---I guess two more people at Waves....

this August!

Rick

[Blaaamo]

We just returned from the Riviera, so I'll help you break the code. Others will also, I am sure.

 

First it's the Grand Dining Room.

 

Jacques - French specialty restaurant - needs a reservation

Red Ginger - Asian Fusion specialty restaurant - needs a reservation

Polo Grill - Steakhouse style specialty restaurant - needs a reservation

Toscana - Italian specialty restaurant - needs a reservation

Terrace Cafe - Buffet style Cafe - open seating

Waves (Grill) - Poolside Cafe - open seating

Privée - Private dining room for small group. No unique menu, carries a fee for the use of the room.

La Reserve - Wine-pairing dinner experience, needs reservation (limited) and carries a surcharge based upon which experience you choose.

 

Reservations and booking can be done online, time frame based on cabin category, or once onboard.

 

For the restaurants that need reservations, are they hard to get? Do they cost extra?

[computerworks]

For the restaurants that need reservations, are they hard to get? Do they cost extra?

 

No cost for specialty restaurants.

 

Reservations are not a problem... you are guaranteed one at each of the four.

 

Make them online at the time allotted to you before the cruise, based on cabin.

 

Or, make them onboard; the longer you wait, the less chance you will get a 'prime time' reservation.

 

All of this is very clear on the Oceania site. Log in and Manage your Reservation.

[Blaaamo]

No cost for specialty restaurants.

 

All of this is very clear on the Oceania site. Log in and Manage your Reservation.

 

It says "We're sorry. Reservations cannot be made at this time. Please try again later or contact our Reservations department at 1-866-765-3630."

I have 2 more days until I can book, which is why I had questions.

[LHT28]

I know getting answers here is a lot faster but you can also look at the FAQ on Oceania website

http://www.oceaniacruises.com/guestservices/faq.aspx?Cat=All

 

A lot of information can be found there

[hondorner]

Waves also does breakfast on the O class ships

As YoHoHo said, perfectly adequate for a basic breakfast, and the best part is it's open until 11:00 AM!

[Blaaamo]

The food seems to be one of the main reasons to choose Oceania, but what about eating at local restaurants? I'll be in France and Italy and feel it would be a shame to not try the local cuisine. Is there a balance to be struck? How do you pick one over the other?

[LHT28]

The food seems to be one of the main reasons to choose Oceania, but what about eating at local restaurants? I'll be in France and Italy and feel it would be a shame to not try the local cuisine. Is there a balance to be struck? How do you pick one over the other?

If we are in the town/city at lunchtime we eat locally if not we eat on the ship

 

We usually manage a coffee & sweet in the port town ;)

 

Lyn

[JimandStan]

The food seems to be one of the main reasons to choose Oceania, but what about eating at local restaurants? I'll be in France and Italy and feel it would be a shame to not try the local cuisine. Is there a balance to be struck? How do you pick one over the other?

 

This is one of those problems that everyone thinks about before they cruise, but tends to work itself out quite naturally.

 

The ship will seldom be in port late enough for you to enjoy a proper dinner ashore, and if you're going to do any amount of sightseeing at all, it usually isn't practical to go all the way back to the ship, just for lunch.

 

Of course, everyone has a big breakfast before they leave the ship and on some days those sights will be so worth seeing that you may opt to tour straight through...

 

On those days, you will find yourself rushing to get back to the ship in time to catch a bite at waves (4 pm closing).

[branclue]

Several of the excursions we have booked through Oceania include snacks or meals

( Florence Uffizzi & Academia- lunch buffet of Ravoli, italian cold cuts, salads, breads, deseerts, and wine at a fancy restaurant; Lunch prepared outdoors by a French Chef at a Winery in Provence Winery Tour ; Livorno Market and Culinary Class back on ship included tasting a local chickpea sandwich from a local vendor and cheese, cold cut, and wine tastings at a cheesemaker's business, as well as food we prepared in Bon Appetite; Turkish Excursion ended with Rug Making Demonstration where Tea or Beer and sandwich was served at rug company, etc). For the non food inclusive excursions, my DH and I drank cappacino and ate bakalava in a small cafe overlooking a beautiful view of the ocean and landscape in Santorini, ate pizza by the slice in Amalfi, had flavored cannoli's on the streets of Taormina. Since the food is so outstanding on the ship, we usually just get local snacks on our own dime and save the money we might have spent in port restaurants on locally made non-food goods to bring home. ( Buyer beware, many of the shops sell "made in china" goods!) This keeps extra spending down alot and we still get to "taste local flavor".

[bbwex]

As noted, you will get at least one reservation in each of the four specialty restaurants (Toscana, Polo, Red Ginger, and Jacques) during your cruise. On cruises of about 10 days or less, you will get the one, and likely none others. We were on a 14-day cruise on Regatta, and we ate in the specialty restaurants (there are only two on the R ships), six or seven of the 14 nights. The extra nights allow extra time to cycle passengers through their reservations. On the shorter cruises, they have a hard time getting everyone their initial reservations, and we were able to get only one extra, and that was the last night during an overnight port stay. You did not say how long your cruise is, so this has to be a generic reply.

[Paulchili]

I hate to give out this info (for selfish reasons :D) but here it is.

You can get an "extra" specialty restaurant reservation on the first night almost 100% of the time - people don't seem to want to book this night ahead of time.

Thus, we never book it ahead either but once onboard, we check to see which one is available on the first night :)

[wripro]

Paul,

 

That was supposed to be our secret!!!!!

[no fuss travel]

If you cannot make your reservations online, phone Oceania and they will help you with the reservations. I always seem to be able to make some but not all of my reservations, so I phone Oceania and they straighten out the problem. Yes, reservation start time does depend on what type of cabin you have booked, but we managed to get several additional reservations once we were aboard the Marina last February.