Lunch On The Go

[eeniemeenie]

I will be on the Nautica in February. First time on Oceania. Will they pack a box lunch for you to take on port days?  

[Flatbush Flyer]

28 minutes ago, eeniemeenie said:

I will be on the Nautica in February. First time on Oceania. Will they pack a box lunch for you to take on port days?  

That really depends on the port.

 

Needless to say, many ports (air and cruise) prohibit bringing food off and/or on the ship (Try it in places like Chile, NZ and Australia or even US states like Hawaii and California and you could have a "lot of explaining to do.") Allowable, commercially prepackaged items occasionally may be made available by Oceania - again, depending on your itinerary. But, in my experience, those occasions would be few and far between (particularly, if you're headed ashore on your own - vs. with an O excursion).

 

That said, note that many Oceania excursions that span "lunch time" will include a midday meal. But, in general, most of those tours are designated as "Oceania Select (OS)" and are not eligible as a complimentary O Life selection. 

[Noxequifans]

Depending on the port, many locations are totally safe to have lunch. Usually the ship staff dispense bottled water as you go ashore ,,, don't want to get dehydrated. 

[eeniemeenie]

 

Didn't realize that.  I have seen people take fruit and snack items off the ship on other cruise lines. Does Nautica check your bags when you leave the ship. Of course, they do when you re-enter. 

[Hawaiidan]

1 hour ago, eeniemeenie said:

I will be on the Nautica in February. First time on Oceania. Will they pack a box lunch for you to take on port days?  

No.... food can not be taken off the  ship. that includes fruit too....  unless sealed in packaging like small snacks..  Solution:  eat a good breakfast and   have an early dinner.

Port authorities  will check bags most times for foods. 

 Hawaii, Australia and New Zealand are   places you can loose  not only your stuff  but fined  / denied entry if you do..

   

Edited July 21, 2019 by Hawaiidan

[eeniemeenie]

Thanks, that is good information to know. I have never personally felt a need to take food, but have seen othe guests to that on certain cruises. 

[pinotlover]

We will be taking lunches from the ship on two of our tours on an upcoming cruise. Our tour guides recommended that we do so and that it is perfectly allowed.

 

Location, Location it matters. The world is not a one size fits all environment. Simplest solution, if going on a privately lead tour, is to query the tour guide before the tour. The tour leader should have the answer to most of these questions or can obtain them from the tour company.

 

Let me add that typically we prefer to have lunch ashore. We love eating fresh produce and dishes in the various ports we visit. We don’t tour the world to eat Americanized food as served on the ship! Nor do we run to Burger King or KFC in foreign ports. Sometimes however the schedule dictates lunch plans.

Edited July 21, 2019 by pinotlover

[clo]

20 minutes ago, Hawaiidan said:

No.... food can not be taken off the  ship. that includes fruit too....  unless sealed in packaging like small snacks..  Solution:  eat a good breakfast and   have an early dinner.

Port authorities  will check bags most times for foods. 

 Hawaii, Australia and New Zealand are   places you can loose  not only your stuff  but fined  / denied entry if you do..

   

I know that we were warned about certain foods - can't remember what now - when traveling by coach from Argentina into Chile.

[clo]

One of our great pleasures is eating the local food...with the locals.

[LHT28]

I pack power bars  for those places where we may not find food to eat ..(it has not happened yet)  but we do not travel way off the path

Be very careful what you take ashore  even it is allowed .. nothing that will go off  in the heat etc...

[pinotlover]

Nautica in February is typically the Far East. We were on the Nautica February of 2018 in HK, Vietnam, Singapore, and Thailand. We had tremendous lunches ashore and during overnights we typically ate ashore. Great Food. As with the vast majority of my Oceania Cruises the best food we had on the cruise was ashore by far. That’s not implying anything derogatory of Oceania food, just the abundant availability of fresh local produce prepared in authentic manner. Most of the stuff served in the US is not true its origins but Americanized to appeal to the largest spectrum as possible.

[clo]

1 hour ago, pinotlover said:

Nautica in February is typically the Far East. We were on the Nautica February of 2018 in HK, Vietnam, Singapore, and Thailand. We had tremendous lunches ashore and during overnights we typically ate ashore. Great Food. As with the vast majority of my Oceania Cruises the best food we had on the cruise was ashore by far. That’s not implying anything derogatory of Oceania food, just the abundant availability of fresh local produce prepared in authentic manner. Most of the stuff served in the US is not true its origins but Americanized to appeal to the largest spectrum as possible.

Great comment and I totally agree.  We were with a group in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.  The best food we had was when we broke away from the group.  And ships would certainly be the same.  Here's a soup called "Bun Bo Hue" in Hue, Vietnam.  Bourdain called it the best soup in the world.

 

[pinotlover]

Clo;

 

Great picture! We loved Hue and had an incredible meal there at lunch. It was so big and filling I don’t believe we needed or had dinner that night! 

 

The best food food we eat, while on a cruise, is rarely on the ship. 

 

 

[clo]

5 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

Clo;

 

Great picture! We loved Hue and had an incredible meal there at lunch. It was so big and filling I don’t believe we needed or had dinner that night! 

 

The best food food we eat, while on a cruise, is rarely on the ship. 

 

 

We've not been big cruisers but are traveling on Oceania in December which is really known for its food so I'm optimistic.  But we only have one sea day and the rest are ports between Rio and Buenos Aires.  Love THAT food.

[Hawaiidan]

too many variables.... locals can eat stuff and be used to the bugs .... your not them.   You may score something great.  you may not   you have no way of knowing.   

However, if i am on a cruise for 20-30 days I am not going to risk coming down with something that will ruin the rest of the cruise wasting thousands of dollars in time and money.    The risk to me is too great,    I don't need that.... if you do cool.  

 

Even when  a tour has a meal   I elect to skip it...  Had  too many chunks of  this and that with hair on them and things that moved.   Bourdain  would eat anything...    Asia  I have  seen  some pretty bad things they do with food... and good.     Not  going to play with health   

 I would rather see what the locals do and have, not try to be one of them... 

[Paulchili]

37 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

We loved Hue and had an incredible meal there at lunch.

You were very lucky. M was sick for weeks after our lunch in Hue.

It doesn't stop us from traveling and eating abroad but there are some risks with that - definitely higher than eating aboard.

I got sick after a dinner at 5* Shangri La (of all places) in Shanghai - and it was on a cruise where we chose to have a meal ashore with great views of Shanghai. Had to miss our next day in Shanghai and instead spent it in the BR on the ship 😥

When I informed Shangri La of my unfortunate experience there after the trip, the GM offered me a free meal there on our next visit (not in the cards 😉)

[clo]

2 minutes ago, Hawaiidan said:

too many variables.... locals can eat stuff and be used to the bugs .... your not them.   You may score something great.  you may not   you have no way of knowing.   

However, if i am on a cruise for 20-30 days I am not going to risk coming down with something that will ruin the rest of the cruise wasting thousands of dollars in time and money.    The risk to me is too great,    I don't need that.... if you do cool.  

 

Even when  a tour has a meal   I elect to skip it...  Had  too many chunks of  this and that with hair on them and things that moved.   Bourdain  would eat anything...    Asia  I have  seen  some pretty bad things they do with food... and good.     Not  going to play with health   

 I would rather see what the locals do and have, not try to be one of them... 

There are germophobes and I respect their sensitivities.  I've eaten everything and most tap waters (not in Cusco, Peru, cause there was 'particulate' in the water).  The only time I've ever been sick was from salmonella-tainted American peanut butter that had not been removed from the shelf in Rio.  If I couldn't eat the local food, I wouldn't travel.  Period.

[clo]

50 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

lunch

We were at this place at 8AM cause when she runs out that's it for the day.  IIRC two bowls was about $4.

[pinotlover]

I am sure a quick survey could find someone that got sick in Lyon. Dan should forthwith avoid going there and eating. Bad for his delicate tummy and he shouldn’t be taking risks!

 

Speaking of mitigating risks, look at the numbers of reported cases of Noro on Oceania! Should Dan even be getting on a ship? 

[clo]

21 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

I am sure a quick survey could find someone that got sick in Lyon. Dan should forthwith avoid going there and eating. Bad for his delicate tummy and he shouldn’t be taking risks!

 

Speaking of mitigating risks, look at the numbers of reported cases of Noro on Oceania! Should Dan even be getting on a ship? 

And even at home, well done meat/chicken only, no raw vegetables and forget the Ragu' spaghetti sauces. 

 

I remember eating a chicken wing from a street vendor in Guatemala.  Heavens to betsy, what WAS I thinking?!

[pinotlover]

I wonder if those flying in a day early bring granola bars and prepackaged snacks to eat until they rush to the ship?

 

We were always told to drink the local wines and drink the local beers, it kills all the germs. Seems to have worked for me! I work especially hard at killing them too! Keep the blood alcohol level high enough so the bugs can’t survive! 😂

 

FWIW, Uniworld put us up in the Shanghai Shangri La and we had excellent food and accommodations. Luck of the draw sometimes.

[clo]

4 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

Keep the blood alcohol level high enough so the bugs can’t survive!

People sometimes comment that I don't look as old as I am - 72.  My comment is "well, thanks, but it's not from clean living."

 

Re the Shangri-La Hotel it's a huge corporation with tens of thousands of rooms.  I'm betting they don't even source most of their food locally.  That episode, barring a culture or microscopic examination, could probably more easily come from someone with a 'bug' who one came in contact with over the previous couple of days.  I got one of those a few years ago - at home - and then my husband got it a few days later.  

[Mura]

While I am sure that Clo has dined "on land" more than we have, we have done so quite a lot in our travels and NEVER had a problem.  I won't say we avoid "street food" but then again I can't remember having tried it.  I know there are areas where this can be the best (?) way to go, we just haven't done so.

 

On our first visit to Rio (March 1974) we were advised that any water that you are not used to can be a problem -- it isn't necessarily bad but your system just isn't used to it.  Therefore the guide recommended bottled water.  (We were there for a whole week.) We found that the local beer was so good that we drank a lot of that! -- Not that we never had water.  I wouldn't want to brush my teeth with beer, no matter how good it is!

 

But we have followed that advice in years since.  (Not about brushing teeth ... about not drinking the local water when you aren't sure.)

 

It's one thing when you are on a cruise and only occasionally eating on land (say lunch on a tour or possibly dinner when you have a late departure or an overnight) ... When you are on a DIY trip, you certainly COULD only eat in your hotel.  But that's never occurred to us as being a desirable thing to do.  And it's clear that many of us have done more than take a cruise or a guided tour.

 

Mura

 

[eeniemeenie]

Hi-

Not sure how to post a new topic here. I am used to the older format and not this one.  I will put my post here and hope it gets read, and perhaps someone will help me with how to make a new post.

 

We have had several rough months since I posted here.  I have been unable to put in much time responding to tour plans.

Hoping that there is still space on some tours for us to join.  We are a couple from the lower Hudson Valley of New York. We have done a good deal of cruising, but this will be our first on Oceania. We are looking forward to this fabulous itinerary. 

if someone has room on a tour they have planned for the two of us...please let me know.  Any space available on the tour to Addo Elephant Park?   My email is Enids@optonline dot net 

 

Thanks!

enid

[LHT28]

8 minutes ago, eeniemeenie said:

Hi-

Not sure how to post a new topic here. I am used to the older format and not this one.  I will put my post here and hope it gets read, and perhaps someone will help me with how to make a new post.

 

On the main Oceania forum page  just click on START A NEW TOPIC   button (top right)