My new pet peeve on Oceania

[osandomir]

1 hour ago, pauon said:

These answers are very entertaining.   

 

If you are looking for an entertainment, that’s probably not the right place.

 

I’m not a “regular” poster here, but the cruise is my vacation also, not just yours. And I’m getting very upset when it’s ruined by people who decided to reach the food at the buffet with their not properly washed hands just because they prefer to do it this way. Code red isn’t fun on the cruise.

 

Maybe I just have a different view of an ideal vacation than you have.

[edgee]

1 hour ago, Paulchili said:

You are correct on all these issues except perhaps the self-service issue at the buffet. A Maitre D’ is in a position of authority to monitor and respond to incorrect dress code. OTOH, the servers at the buffet are often hesitant to reprimand customers out of shyness/lack of language skill/respect, etc. It IS appropriate for a fellow passenger to gently and politely remind another passenger not to self serve themselves. The manner and tone of how this is done makes all the difference. Most polite passengers will in turn thank them for reminding them, the rude ones will argue.

JMO.

 

JMO that it IS NOT the role of passengers to correct others re: the self serve rules. Better enforcement through signage would be a positive step by Oceania, however. I also find somewhat amusing the attitude by many regarding the Terrace self serve policies of Oceania, that it somehow makes Oceania superior even to luxury lines which allow more self service. I must admit that I do prefer Oceania's "no self service" approach partly because it seems more sanitary and is usually more convenient, but I do not regard it as a big deal, and in the overall picture not sure it makes much of a difference health wise.  I enjoy venues similar to the Terrace on luxury lines such as Crystal where more self service is permitted.  Indeed, the only experience with necessary norovirus measures I have had in over 50 cruises on multiple cruise lines has been on an Oceania ship.

 

[pauon]

41 minutes ago, osandomir said:

 

If you are looking for an entertainment, that’s probably not the right place.

 

I’m not a “regular” poster here, but the cruise is my vacation also, not just yours. And I’m getting very upset when it’s ruined by people who decided to reach the food at the buffet with their not properly washed hands just because they prefer to do it this way. Code red isn’t fun on the cruise.

 

Maybe I just have a different view of an ideal vacation than you have.

You do know this entire thread is about "My new Pet Peeve on Oceania"?  The definition of a pet peeve is ; 

 

A pet peeve, pet aversion, or pet hate is a minor annoyance that an individual identifies as particularly irritating to them, to a greater degree than would be expected based on the experience of others. The phrase analogizes that feeling of annoyance as a pet animal that one does not wish to give up, despite its objective lack of importance.

 

If look at the entire thread, you will see  humor throughout.  I agree and don't consider a 'code red"  funny,  nor do I consider it a pet peeve.   

[edgee]

1 hour ago, osandomir said:

 

If you are looking for an entertainment, that’s probably not the right place.

 

I’m not a “regular” poster here, but the cruise is my vacation also, not just yours. And I’m getting very upset when it’s ruined by people who decided to reach the food at the buffet with their not properly washed hands just because they prefer to do it this way. Code red isn’t fun on the cruise.

 

Maybe I just have a different view of an ideal vacation than you have.

If you are concerned that a few people reaching for food is going to cause a code red then you should be concerned about Oceania's food venues which are self serve. These include the pastry/cookie/biscotti self serve counters at Baristas, the self serve mini sandwich and cookie trays in Executive Lounge, Concierge Lounge and some mornings in Horizons, the self serve coffee machines in lounges and in Terrace, the open self serve banana and apple bowl at the juice/ice cream bar in Waves.

Edited March 21, 2019 by edgee
clarity

[Paulchili]

edgee,

Just a coupe points about self service at buffets from my perspective and experience:

1 Self service buffets tend to look like a mess after a while after passengers have been “scavenging” through it

2 Some people tend to pick out items in the buffet dish - such as picking out meat/shrimp/etc and leaving veggies and other “left-overs” for others

3 I was on Crystal where they had a self serve buffet at breakfast. Items were 3 rows deep. To reach an item in the last row I had my ENTIRE arm over the other rows to get to what I wanted and even then I had trouble retrieving them.

4 There is no doubt in my mind that it is less hygienic when multiple people - some with very poor hygiene habits - handle the same serving utensil which I have to use to serve myself.

Al in all, I much prefer the style of buffet on Oceania over those on self serve lines, even if they are on “luxury” line.

That is my opinion and we may have to agree to disagree about this.

Edited March 21, 2019 by Paulchili

[pinotlover]

Personal experience from my February cruise. The lady in front of me in the Terrace breakfast line was reaching up underneath the glass and almost putting her hand and finger in the dishes as she pointed at what she wanted.

 

I very kindly asked her if she spoke English which she ensured me she did. I replied” so does the service staff, so if you ask for scrambled eggs,bacon , or whatever they’ll understand you and give it to you! No need in sticking your arm in to point.” The waiter smiled at me which future agitated her. 

 

Her reply was “ Mind your own business! If they allowed me to serve myself I wouldn’t have to go this charade”. Then she nearly stuck her hand into the lyonnaise potatoes pointing at them.

 

This entire issue is a point of argument and discontent for some! I see little common ground.

[LHT28]

so  back to my pet peeve  it would  solve  the problem of people reaching under  the sneeze  guard

Have the glass go down close to the counter  they can leave a gap for cleaning  but not  for fingers to get through to the food 😉

 

Just saying

 

[pinotlover]

Lyn;

 

I wholeheartedly agree with your thoughts on this but I have the advantage of not being vertically challenged at 6’1”. It is my understanding that the reason they don’t do as you recommend is because passing plates over the top of the glass to those in wheelchairs or to the vertically challenged ( short) cruisers may be unmanageable. That little 5 foot tall 80 year old elderly lady may have a difficult time reaching up that high and not spilling her plate bringing it back down! 

 

I can’t for the life of me understand why some get so upset about not being able to serve themselves. Or, why standing in line, asking for what you would like with a please and a thank You is a difficult task. 

[Rob the Cruiser]

10 hours ago, pinotlover said:

Personal experience from my February cruise. The lady in front of me in the Terrace breakfast line was reaching up underneath the glass and almost putting her hand and finger in the dishes as she pointed at what she wanted.

 

I very kindly asked her if she spoke English which she ensured me she did. I replied” so does the service staff, so if you ask for scrambled eggs,bacon , or whatever they’ll understand you and give it to you! No need in sticking your arm in to point.” The waiter smiled at me which future agitated her. 

 

Her reply was “ Mind your own business! If they allowed me to serve myself I wouldn’t have to go this charade”. Then she nearly stuck her hand into the lyonnaise potatoes pointing at them.

 

This entire issue is a point of argument and discontent for some! I see little common ground.

 

Great example of why we avoid the buffet. Thank goodness for Waves Grill.

[LHT28]

Oceania  seems to  attracting  some "charming people" these days 

[Flatbush Flyer]

12 hours ago, pinotlover said:

Personal experience from my February cruise. The lady in front of me in the Terrace breakfast line was reaching up underneath the glass and almost putting her hand and finger in the dishes as she pointed at what she wanted.

 

I very kindly asked her if she spoke English which she ensured me she did. I replied” so does the service staff, so if you ask for scrambled eggs,bacon , or whatever they’ll understand you and give it to you! No need in sticking your arm in to point.” The waiter smiled at me which future agitated her. 

 

Her reply was “ Mind your own business! If they allowed me to serve myself I wouldn’t have to go this charade”. Then she nearly stuck her hand into the lyonnaise potatoes pointing at them.

 

This entire issue is a point of argument and discontent for some! I see little common ground.

I've occasionally seen "that" person on an Oceania cruise. Not only rude (including line cutting), s/he never washes hands after using the rest room, coughs/sneezes into hands (vs sleeve, if covering the cough/sneeze at all) AND picks their nose on tour buses. 

Sometimes, their partner is just as bad.

[edgee]

15 hours ago, Paulchili said:

edgee,

Just a coupe points about self service at buffets from my perspective and experience:

1 Self service buffets tend to look like a mess after a while after passengers have been “scavenging” through it

2 Some people tend to pick out items in the buffet dish - such as picking out meat/shrimp/etc and leaving veggies and other “left-overs” for others

3 I was on Crystal where they had a self serve buffet at breakfast. Items were 3 rows deep. To reach an item in the last row I had my ENTIRE arm over the other rows to get to what I wanted and even then I had trouble retrieving them.

4 There is no doubt in my mind that it is less hygienic when multiple people - some with very poor hygiene habits - handle the same serving utensil which I have to use to serve myself.

Al in all, I much prefer the style of buffet on Oceania over those on self serve lines, even if they are on “luxury” line.

That is my opinion and we may have to agree to disagree about this.

Paulchili, Thanks for your thoughtful and courteous response. I think we may agree more than we disagree.I had a similar experience as you on Crystal a few months ago where I had to reach three rows back for one of my favorite breakfast items...with a bad shoulder I had to ask the staff for help. I much prefer Oceania's non self service Terrace. It is mostly efficient and seems a lot more sanitary. One efficiency issue is the crowding for deserts, especially on sea day lunches since the ice cream, cakes and pie and mousse/pudding type dessert areas are very very close together. However, I do not think it is the total cat's meow for sanitation and customer service. As I noted in a post above, there are some areas of Oceania service where people share tongs for self service cookie trays and the like, so we are still not talking about a super sterile environment here. Also, the idea of passengers correcting newbies or recalcitrant people who do not obey the rules can cause many problems...I just don't feel comfortable doing it. I am happy to share suggestions with folks in other venues such as how to avoid odd even corridor confusion on O ships by looking for the wall phone which is always on the even side as you get off the elevator. However, it seems that almost any way you tell folks about the serving rules, they could take it as a criticism and I just prefer not to risk confrontational moments while on vacation.

Edited March 21, 2019 by edgee
clarity

[Shawnino]

The missus certainly played by the rules re: not serving herself, but was annoyed on our November trip on Riviera.

Missus would sometimes want sushi as her main course for lunch or dinner in Terrace.

The serving portion was two bite-sized pieces. When she asked for more, the server told her she would need to come back. 

This happened two separate days (same server), so I'm guessing it was indeed policy. There was no language barrier.

 

One of the F&B officers came by our table one day in Terrace to ask how everything was.

We said generally fine, but mentioned this, adding that this was the second day we had that issue and that the server had been rude this time, curtly telling my wife she had already explained the rules to her the day before.

He said he would take care of it.

Nothing changed (same server at that station rest of cruise).

[Paulchili]

Shawnino - I am not doubting your experience but in our 25+ O cruises NOTHING like this has ever happened - with sushi or any other food  item. I have seen people ask for 4 lobster tails and some grilled shrimp and nothing was said by the cook.

I know that whenever I have sushi I definitely have more than 2 pieces. It’s hardly worth breaking the chop sticks and get soy/wasabi/ginger for 2 pieces of sushi.The attitude of that served was inexplicable and unacceptable and if nothing was done by Maitre D’ (as you said) I would have escalated it to the F&B manager.

The type of sushi they serve is not so extravagantly expensive that they would have to limit you to 2 pieces - it just makes no sense. Also, the person preparing sushi has no other job at that time but to make sushi - as much as is needed. He has no other obligations during that time that would call him away and limit his “production” of sushi.

If he should run out of shrimp or tuna, that’s a different matter.

Edited March 21, 2019 by Paulchili

[mybagsarepacked]

11 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

I've occasionally seen "that" person on an Oceania cruise. Not only rude (including line cutting), s/he never washes hands after using the rest room, coughs/sneezes into hands (vs sleeve, if covering the cough/sneeze at all) AND picks their nose on tour buses. 

Sometimes, their partner is just as bad.

Yikes! I hope he/she is not on the Rio to Barcelona cruise we are taking in a few weeks. How revolting. I know as much as all of us on these boards travel that we are all exposed to people like this, but it is never pleasant to be around them.

 

We also generally avoid buffets of any kind, mostly because as we are on vacation we enjoy having table service for our meals. I am sure we will try the buffet at least once on this next cruise and I hope we don’t see this person or persons. 😬

[Shawnino]

13 hours ago, Paulchili said:

Shawnino - I am not doubting your experience but in our 25+ O cruises NOTHING like this has ever happened - with sushi or any other food  item. I have seen people ask for 4 lobster tails and some grilled shrimp and nothing was said by the cook.

I know that whenever I have sushi I definitely have more than 2 pieces. It’s hardly worth breaking the chop sticks and get soy/wasabi/ginger for 2 pieces of sushi.The attitude of that served was inexplicable and unacceptable and if nothing was done by Maitre D’ (as you said) I would have escalated it to the F&B manager.

The type of sushi they serve is not so extravagantly expensive that they would have to limit you to 2 pieces - it just makes no sense. Also, the person preparing sushi has no other job at that time but to make sushi - as much as is needed. He has no other obligations during that time that would call him away and limit his “production” of sushi.

If he should run out of shrimp or tuna, that’s a different matter.

 

Agreed on all counts.

Thanks for the info re: the sushi chef.

We probably should have escalated, but we thought this F&B guy might have been running the show as it was. He had epaulets with bars.

There was zero issue at any other food station in Terrace.

As some people mentioned, on somedays we did find it reminded us of the Sahara Desert (tough to get a drink) but we filed the whole thing under First World Problems. 

[pinotlover]

The Terrace is for Teatotallers!

 

They make it easy to choose other venues for lunch and/ or dinner.

[KatieBelle]

16 hours ago, mybagsarepacked said:

We also generally avoid buffets of any kind, mostly because as we are on vacation we enjoy having table service for our meals. I am sure we will try the buffet at least once on this next cruise and I hope we don’t see this person or persons. 😬

 

I am in agreement with you, mybagsarepacked.  I would prefer breakfast in the MDR although some days tours don't allow for the luxury of time.  Prefer lunch in the MDR or Waves. Definitely prefer anywhere but Terrace for dinner simply because I don't want to schlep plates through a maze of tables.  However, DH loves the Terrace at dinner so some compromising is in order.

 

5 hours ago, pinotlover said:

The Terrace is for Teatotallers!

 

Maybe if you keep repeating with added (!) you will convince yourself and a few others that this is true.  We have never suffered from a lack of alcohol the the Terrace including an occasional mimosa at breakfast.  😋

 

Katie

[edgee]

3 hours ago, KatieBelle said:

 

I am in agreement with you, mybagsarepacked.  I would prefer breakfast in the MDR although some days tours don't allow for the luxury of time.  Prefer lunch in the MDR or Waves. Definitely prefer anywhere but Terrace for dinner simply because I don't want to schlep plates through a maze of tables.  However, DH loves the Terrace at dinner so some compromising is in order.

 

 

Maybe if you keep repeating with added (!) you will convince yourself and a few others that this is true.  We have never suffered from a lack of alcohol the the Terrace including an occasional mimosa at breakfast.  😋

 

Katie

We had zero difficulty being served alcohol last week during dinner in the Terrace.

[jackdeb]

Katie you are right, never a problem having a couple of beer at lunch at Terraces in the sunshine. 

[ORV]

As a veteran of over 20 Oceania cruises I have noticed that lately the wine/drink servers have been cut back,  pretty much in all venues. Of course I get plenty to drink one way or the other. ,

[aquidneck1]

On the Marina in February, there was a shortage of beverage servers in the Terrace Cafe. There were a number of them in the Wave Cafe but they did not service the Terrace area unless requested to do so. 

[Paulchili]

4 minutes ago, ORV said:

As a veteran of over 20 Oceania cruises I have noticed that lately the wine/drink servers have been cut back,  pretty much in all venues. 

I believe the same is true for waitstaff in Terrance in general.

[ORV]

2 hours ago, Paulchili said:

I believe the same is true for waitstaff in Terrance in general.

And that's not a really good precedent. Especially with the current competion  in the upper luxury market.

[Paulchili]

12 minutes ago, ORV said:

And that's not a really good precedent. Especially with the current competion  in the upper luxury market.

I agree. It is one of several “changes” I have noticed on some of our recent O cruises. One other thing that I really miss is the wonderful lobster salad that was often available in the Terrace at lunch - it was AMAZING with large chunks of lobster in a wonderful dressing.

Edited March 23, 2019 by Paulchili