menus for La Reserve

[raye70]

I am not a big eater and in restaurants I always order appetizer size meals, at la reserve they only give a small amount and seconds if there is extra, if I don't eat all I pass to husband.  Some food I will not eat and my husband eats everything and anything .  Never felt I paid to much and nothing ever wasted it was awesome.  Always fully booked and worth every penny you are on Oceania enjoy it you will not regret it

[Mura]

Actually, I do think that Privee is a good suggestion for Clo given that La Reserve really doesn't sound like it's worth the expense!  (I've lived with a tightward for many years and some of that has rubbed off.)

 

But at least in Privee you are paying for the room -- which at $250 isn't that much compared to the per person price on some of the La Reserve offerings.  And you can order what you want, as long as it is from Toscana or Polo.  Plus if you find people to join you, that per person price goes down.  Yes, you DO have to pay for the wines in Privee whereas they are included in La Reserve ... But in Privee you can choose your wines whereas in La Reserve, the ship chooses for you.

 

If you want to try the wine pairing meals, of course that is another issue.  But I do think (and I'm not alone, it is clear) that you would be paying full price for eating half the food if you really find that La Reserve has too much for you.  Those of us who've partaken of these meals know that although there are lots of courses, they are spaced out well and plates are NOT full.

 

Why not just book La Reserve, eat what you want from each plate, and leave it at that? But if you want to try La Reserve anyway, you really will need to book BEFORE you board, not after.  They do book up early.

 

Passengers:  1250                    Reserve capacity:  24                    Reserve Offerings Per Sailing:  Not many!

 

 

Having said that ... when Oceania erred in losing our one reservation and was able to replace our dinner with another, clearly there was room -- this was perhaps a week in advance.  PLUS, one of the people at our table was a single traveler so we did have an empty chair ... You never know.

 

But I'd never "assume" that I could just walk by while on board and get two reservations at La Reserve for the next offering.

 

 

 

[GeorgesGal]

On 8/7/2019 at 2:04 PM, Hawaiidan said:

The most recent Oceania  cruise book.........I think they  call it Privee...  

 

Privee is a lovely venue located between two of the specialties.  Decor is beautiful - all white and gold with a gorgeous gold chandelier fashioned from Murano glass.  The venue seats ten, and at the two times I booked it on a Marina TA two years ago, the price per person was only $25.00 (which I believe was to cover the dedicated staff for the night).

The dining room sits at the stern overlooking the wake, between Toscana and Polo.  Dinners are offered from those two restaurants' menus, mixing and matching as each diner desires.  There is no dedicated menu for Privee, just the two mentioned.

 

I guess you might say I really was impressed with the venue, and it is a really special place to celebrate a significant occasion (one of which was an engagement dinner for fellow guests), and the first just to get together with some of our fellow roll call guests with whom we were sharing tours.

 

Donna

 

 

[janecambridge]

And Donna, we loved you and your sisters company.x

[GeorgesGal]

12 minutes ago, janecambridge said:

And Donna, we loved you and your sisters company.x

 

Hi, Jane, so nice to hear from you, and thank you for your kind words.  We certainly enjoyed your company as well; perhaps some day our paths might cross again.  Marianne and I have a cruise booked for next March on the Sirena, the only ship in O's fleet we haven't yet sailed - Caribbean 14 days.  Want to come along?  Of course, the small ships don't have Privee.... .  I think we will survive, though.  There are no bad dining options on any O ship

[babysteps]

19 hours ago, GeorgesGal said:

the two times I booked it on a Marina TA two years ago, the price per person was only $25.00 (which I believe was to cover the dedicated staff for the night).

 

We have also enjoyed our dinners in Privee.  Math-wise, GeorgesGal is correct for a fully subscribed dinner - but I think the fee is a flat $250, no matter the number of guests you choose to host.  In case someone was looking to have a cozy dinner for 4 in Privee for $100, that's not how it works - I believe it would still be $250.

[JPR]

Correct.

[GeorgesGal]

45 minutes ago, babysteps said:

 

We have also enjoyed our dinners in Privee.  Math-wise, GeorgesGal is correct for a fully subscribed dinner - but I think the fee is a flat $250, no matter the number of guests you choose to host.  In case someone was looking to have a cozy dinner for 4 in Privee for $100, that's not how it works - I believe it would still be $250.

 

Babysteps, thank you for clarifying the actual cost of Privee.  I appreciate it; wouldn't want anyone to get a big surprise if they didn't have 10 people participating in the dinner.

[LHT28]

22 hours ago, GeorgesGal said:

 

Privee is a lovely venue located between two of the specialties.  Decor is beautiful - all white and gold with a gorgeous gold chandelier fashioned from Murano glass.  The venue seats ten, and at the two times I booked it on a Marina TA two years ago, the price per person was only $25.00 (which I believe was to cover the dedicated staff for the night).

 

Did Oceania  actually bill your account $25 pp or did you pay the host or collect from others if you were the host?

just curious

[GeorgesGal]

Oceania did bill my on-board account the full $250, and since this was 'non-hosted' with me being the facilitator, I collected the $$ from the participants.

 

Our second visit to Privee was a hosted party, with the host paying for the venue.

 

Donna

[LHT28]

10 minutes ago, GeorgesGal said:

Oceania did bill my on-board account the full $250, and since this was 'non-hosted' with me being the facilitator, I collected the $$ from the participants.

 

Our second visit to Privee was a hosted party, with the host paying for the venue.

 

Donna

Thank you

Your comment that it is $25 pp is misleading  though

some new to Oceania  may think they can book for $25 pp  like La Reserve is PP 

just saying

 

It is $250  for the room you can have 1 to 10  for the same fee

wine is not included

[GeorgesGal]

I don't know what happened to my post in which I corrected my $25/pp and indicated that the evening would cost $250, regardless whether there were two or ten participants in attendance.  So I repeat it here.  Hope this clears things up!

 

Donna

[janecambridge]

On 8/13/2019 at 8:45 PM, GeorgesGal said:

 

Hi, Jane, so nice to hear from you, and thank you for your kind words.  We certainly enjoyed your company as well; perhaps some day our paths might cross again.  Marianne and I have a cruise booked for next March on the Sirena, the only ship in O's fleet we haven't yet sailed - Caribbean 14 days.  Want to come along?  Of course, the small ships don't have Privee.... .  I think we will survive, though.  There are no bad dining options on any O ship

Donna, we would love to come with you in March if you can pay,😂..

we have just had a short  cruise on SAGA on their new ship and it’s fantastic.We will need to toss a coin to see which ship we will choose. Although we have a week in November this year on Marina and 2 weeks next November with SAGA again.Counting the weeks is not good as life flashes by.! 

Wishing you and your sister a lot of future fun.

P.S Those  who haven't done Privee,go to your roll call and find enough people to make up 10 for this great evening.Well worth it .

[StanandJim]

43 minutes ago, janecambridge said:

P.S Those  who haven't done Privee,go to your roll call and find enough people to make up 10 for this great evening.Well worth it .

Not sure that  I agree-

 

With friends, Privee is a spectacular, not to be found elsewhere at anywhere NEAR this price point experience.

 

Going Dutch with 8 strangers means that you're paying $250.00 just to see the room.

Lovely yes, but the Hall of Mirrors, it ain't  😒

[LHT28]

3 hours ago, StanandJim said:

Not sure that  I agree-

 

With friends, Privee is a spectacular, not to be found elsewhere at anywhere NEAR this price point experience.

 

Going Dutch with 8 strangers means that you're paying $250.00 just to see the room.

 

Lovely yes, but the Hall of Mirrors, it ain't  😒

 

I agree

With friends  paying the  $25 PP (if going Dutch)  to get the same food as in Toscana  or Polo  is not worth it for me

We were invited  to dine there  & it was nice  to be with people we had met  but we were not paying

YMMV

[pinotlover]

I particularly enjoy doing wine dinners there where other wine enthusiasts bring outstanding wines to share during the meal. We typically theme the event, for the wine selection, and enjoy great food with spectacular wines. It becomes a wine event more than a food event. The Roll Call is a great tool to put such an event together. If you get 6 or up to 10 people together, it’s still a great evening of enjoyment. We typically schedule the night before a Sea day! 🤪

 

If one’s view of Privee is just a venue of having to pay for food one can otherwise get for free, they have missed the enrichment of the venue!

[clo]

5 hours ago, StanandJim said:

Lovely yes, but the Hall of Mirrors, it ain't  😒

 

Every time I see a photo of it I'm totally turned off.  It's just too stark/cold for my taste.  I wouldn't do it for that reason.

[pinotlover]

5 minutes ago, clo said:

Every time I see a photo of it I'm totally turned off.  It's just too stark/cold for my taste.  I wouldn't do it for that reason.

Clo;

 

1. On many cruises it completely booked well in advance, so don’t feel like you’re hurting them!

 

2. When the table is surrounded by people and the table full of plates and wine glasses all that starkness evaporates and disappears. What’s left is great food, great wine, exceptional service found nowhere else aboard ship, and ( hopefully) great company all in a lovely venue.

[clo]

Just now, pinotlover said:

Clo;

 

1. On many cruises it completely booked well in advance, so don’t feel like you’re hurting them!

 

2. When the table is surrounded by people and the table full of plates and wine glasses all that starkness evaporates and disappears. What’s left is great food, great wine, exceptional service found nowhere else aboard ship, and ( hopefully) great company all in a lovely venue.

1.  Not my concern whatsoever.

 

2.  When my table is "surrounded by people and the table full of plates and wine glasses" it's warm and lovely looking and feeling.  And I'm a better than average home cook so hopefully the food is great also.  It's just my taste.  I find it sterile to the point of off-putting.

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, pinotlover said:

If one’s view of Privee is just a venue of having to pay for food one can otherwise get for free, they have missed the enrichment of the venue!

 well if you are not sharing wines or dining with good friends   it is not really  special

YMMV

 

[JPR]

Re Privee, when I looked at the room I expected to see a man in a white tuxedo walk in and say, “Bond. James Bond. Will Mr. Blofeld be joining us this evening?”

Edited August 19, 2019 by JPR

[pinotlover]

4 hours ago, LHT28 said:

 well if you are not sharing wines or dining with good friends   it is not really  special

YMMV

 

 

Lyn;

 

I agree with you actually. Is any venue worth the price without good wine and good friends? Probably not to me or most all of my friends! 

 

I love great wine, but great wine, to me, is always better shared with friends than consumed alone. Thus is life.

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, pinotlover said:

 

Lyn;

 

I agree with you actually. Is any venue worth the price without good wine and good friends? Probably not to me or most all of my friends! 

 

I love great wine, but great wine, to me, is always better shared with friends than consumed alone. Thus is life.

If I like the taste of the wine then it is "Good Wine"  & DH shares  it with me 😁

no worries

To each their own 😎

[janecambridge]

We thoroughly enjoyed it.We don’t sail with friends and always  dine at a table for two, so getting together with others from cruise critic was really good fun.We felt we already knew most of them even though we had never met.We would not have booked on a willy milly basis,not knowing anyone.There is plenty of room around the table.$25 is nothing when you receive OBC.

 

[GeorgesGal]

Thank you, Jane, that was exactly why I decided to get a group together from Cruise Critic.  I was of the impression that everyone at the table thoroughly enjoyed the company and the meal.