Grand Dining Room Last Nights of Cruise

[carlsbadguy]

Does Oceania tend to do any special diners the last nights of the cruise? Second to last night is a sea day and last night in port till 6:00 PM.  Deciding if I should plan one of my specialty reservations for one of those nights.

[LHT28]

nothing special

[Flatbush Flyer]

6 minutes ago, carlsbadguy said:

Does Oceania tend to do any special diners the last nights of the cruise? Second to last night is a sea day and last night in port till 6:00 PM.  Deciding if I should plan one of my specialty reservations for one of those nights.

The only scheduled "difference" (possibly affecting food) involves the "farewell from the crew" event in the show lounge on the night before the last full cruise day. If you want to experience that participatory activity, you'd have to plan dining times to accommodate it.

BTW, scheduling specialty restaurants on the first/last evenings usually provides better flexibility for non-sharing reservations.

[princeton123211]

9 hours ago, carlsbadguy said:

Deciding if I should plan one of my specialty reservations for one of those nights.

We did Toscana the last night this past trip to Bermuda and it was much less crowded and less harried then it had been earlier in the trip and made for a much better dining experience (we were able to get 2 reservations in Toscana and 1 in Polo for the trip). Would do it again and highly recommend the last night. They were so light that a number of senior crew were also dining there. 

[JPR]

Second to last night is the gala farewell dinner. Last night dinner is like the first night dinner, nothing special. (We tend to use our PH butler to order dinner from the specialty restaurants while we pack on the last night...)

[LHT28]

8 minutes ago, JPR said:

Second to last night is the gala farewell dinner.

What is  the Gala farewell dinner??

 

[JPR]

The next to last night’s menu in the GDR has higher end offerings (e.g., foie gras, caviar, beef Wellington, lobster), much like the typical second night dinner.

 

Check it out on your next cruise.

[LHT28]

8 minutes ago, JPR said:

The next to last night’s menu in the GDR has higher end offerings (e.g., foie gras, caviar, beef Wellington, lobster), much like the typical second night dinner.

 

Check it out on your next cruise.

Well  truthfully I never noticed much of a difference  maybe because we do not eat lobster or Foie Gras

Who knew 😎

Had the beef wellington  but it usually too rare for me

[Toranut97]

We always looked forward to the last night dinner, which (in the GDR) typically featured roast turkey with the trimmings or Wiener schnitzel as entrees. My husband loved good roast turkey and really enjoyed it, but I don't know if all the purported changes have done away with this tradition.

 

Donna

[ricka47]

48 minutes ago, JPR said:

The next to last night’s menu in the GDR has higher end offerings (e.g., foie gras, caviar, beef Wellington, lobster), much like the typical second night dinner.

 

Check it out on your next cruise.

 

We'll be on our first O cruise a month from today  - 11 nights.  The second night and the next to the last night typically have some special items in the GDR?

Edited September 12, 2019 by ricka47

[JPR]

44 minutes ago, ricka47 said:

 

We'll be on our first O cruise a month from today  - 11 nights.  The second night and the next to the last night typically have some special items in the GDR?

 

Yes, though of course (like beauty) menu dishes are in the eye of the beholder.  

 

You can check out the menu for each special GDR dinner (and every other one) on your TV earlier the same day and see if it appeals to you. 

 

i remember when cruise ships would invariably serve flaming Baked Alaska in the darkened dining room  on the next to last evening farewell dinner. That used to be the cruise ship tradition until it became a dated cliche...

[pinotlover]

My foie gras was very good. I wish Oceania made Beef Wellington! BW has Pate, my favorite being duck ( canard), but others will do as a cheaper alternative. Oceania uses some ground up mushroom paste instead of pate ! Sorry that Chef’s interpretation of Beef Wellington just isn’t BW😪! 

[ricka47]

1 hour ago, JPR said:

 

Yes, though of course (like beauty) menu dishes are in the eye of the beholder.  

 

You can check out the menu for each special GDR dinner (and every other one) on your TV earlier the same day and see if it appeals to you. 

 

i remember when cruise ships would invariably serve flaming Baked Alaska in the darkened dining room  on the next to last evening farewell dinner. That used to be the cruise ship tradition until it became a dated cliche...

 

Yes, the flaming Baked Alaska parade was quite a sight at one time.

[FetaCheese]

as for baked alaska, I was told several years ago on X that it was eliminated due to fire hazard concerns.  I miss it.  Also, I do not remember if O does it, but I hate the swaying Auld Lang Zine (sic).!

regarding specialty restaurants, we have always been able to get a 2 top on day 1 and last night in Polo or Toscana ( in addition to our guar. allotment)

[clo]

22 hours ago, pinotlover said:

My foie gras was very good. I wish Oceania made Beef Wellington! BW has Pate, my favorite being duck ( canard), but others will do as a cheaper alternative. Oceania uses some ground up mushroom paste instead of pate ! Sorry that Chef’s interpretation of Beef Wellington just isn’t BW😪! 

I think there are far too many people who think foie gras tastes like chicken or beef liver.  More for us 🙂

[carlsbadguy]

I made most of my specialty dining reservations for the first half of the cruise hoping if I really enjoyed one could get another reservation later in the cruise. Have not been on one before. 

[princeton123211]

15 minutes ago, carlsbadguy said:

I made most of my specialty dining reservations for the first half of the cruise hoping if I really enjoyed one could get another reservation later in the cruise.

You can usually score one for Toscana the last night-- we nabbed a table for 4 at 8pm and the dining room wasn't very crowded. The other nights were full. Polo tends to be full the whole time (which I didn't understand after eating there because we found Toscana to be of a higher quality). 

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, FetaCheese said:

as for baked alaska, I was told several years ago on X that it was eliminated due to fire hazard concerns.  I miss it.  Also, I do not remember if O does it, but I hate the swaying Auld Lang Zine (sic).!

 

 I do not recall  ever seeing it on Oceania   at least not on any of my sailings

[carlsbadguy]

8 hours ago, princeton123211 said:

You can usually score one for Toscana the last night-- we nabbed a table for 4 at 8pm and the dining room wasn't very crowded. The other nights were full. Polo tends to be full the whole time (which I didn't understand after eating there because we found Toscana to be of a higher quality). 

Polo was the one restaurant I could not get a table for 2 on any of the nights I wanted. 

[clo]

48 minutes ago, carlsbadguy said:

Polo was the one restaurant I could not get a table for 2 on any of the nights I wanted. 

I think unadventuresome eaters feel safer at a 'steak place.'

[Mura]

Carlsbadguy found Polo to be inferior to Toscana whereas we have always found the opposite!

 

Not that either is our be-all-and-end-all.  On the "O" ships Jacques is our favorite.

 

Please don't tell me how awful Jacques is!  (This is a general comment, not specifically to Carlsbadguy).  Not everyone likes all of the restaurants.  We aren't very fond of Red Ginger and we know that many passengers are.

 

Mura

 

P.S.  I should add that we are among those who are able to dine from the restaurants in our room and we have taken to always doing so on "pack-up night".  It's much easier to have dinner be served in our room and this gives us more time to pack.  But I am guessing that many suite passengers do the same, which could be a reason for "open spaces" in the restaurants on the last night.

 

 

 

Edited September 14, 2019 by Mura

[bob brown]

On 9/12/2019 at 1:39 PM, JPR said:

 

 

 

i remember when cruise ships would invariably serve flaming Baked Alaska in the darkened dining room  on the next to last evening farewell dinner. That used to be the cruise ship tradition until it became a dated cliche...

And the last night dinner, was also when you traditionally gave your gratuity envelopes to your assigned server’s, in the days of assigned dining, and no prepaid daily service charges...

[ricka47]

21 minutes ago, bob brown said:

And the last night dinner, was also when you traditionally gave your gratuity envelopes to your assigned server’s, in the days of assigned dining, and no prepaid daily service charges...

 

Indeed, that was somewhat bittersweet but a nice touch.  However, I used to notice that many people went to the buffet that last night and perhaps that is one reason why the prepaid/automatic gratuities were added.

[Beagle5]

On 9/14/2019 at 3:49 AM, LHT28 said:

 I do not recall  ever seeing it on Oceania   at least not on any of my sailings

On 9/14/2019 at 2:26 AM, FetaCheese said:

as for baked alaska, I was told several years ago on X that it was eliminated due to fire hazard concerns. 

Baked Alaska is the last course of the ‘La Cuisine Bourgeoise’ menu in La Reserve.

They set it on fire, but there was no parade.

Edited September 14, 2019 by Beagle5
add pic

[LHT28]

I think they may offer it as a dessert option  in the  GDR but without the parade  😉