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Food on Oceania


zltm089
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Doing a bit of research about Oceania and it looks like they are one of the best lines for food (main dining, buffet and speciality).

 

Is this really the case? They are in the premium cruise line category and as such charge a premium price. I just want to hear people's views before I consider them for my next cruise as their ships are very small and might not offer the same level of facilities and entertainment over HAL or Celebrity.

 

I'm basically looking for cruise lines which are renowned for food. Which other cruise lines would you recommend? I'm after mostly after mainstream/premium or premium cruise lines. Not interested in luxury or mass markets lines.

 

Many thanks!

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food is  subjective

They do use quality ingredients  but it may depend who is doing the cooking 😉

Overall we found the food  very good  we have had some misses 

nothing is perfect

 

Yes the entertainment  will not be like the larger ships  smaller ship smaller spaces

 

Give O a try & decide for yourself

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As stated above, what one likes in food choices is somewhat subjective. We have found the food on O excellent and I am an extremely picky eater. We have cruised on O, RCCL, NCL, X, HAL, Princess & Viking (as well as several river cruise lines) - we enjoyed O's food the most.

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We found food on O fantastic, way better than HAL or Celebrity, and overall cruise experience is few steps above the mass market lines. But entertainment is better on Celebrity overall (although on our last cruise on Reflection we were not impressed).

 

In terms of food, only Crystal was comparable to O, and we sailed on 10 lines.

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Oceania is a good value in that its food is among the best at sea; equal or better (lengthy debates on former or latter) compared to much more expensive, more all inclusive lines like Crystal, Regent, Seabourn etc. Price wise it is in a unique niche, that is more inclusive (and usually more expensive) than mass market lines (all non alcoholic  drinks included) but, unlike more expensive lines, alcohol and tours are not. 

 

 

 

 

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There was a thread on CC a few years ago about a cruise industry study regarding dollars per passenger cruise lines spent on food. 

Oceania was cited in the top three while you had to count up from the bottom of the list for HAL and Celebrity.

 

As for the quality of what is served to you, look at the numerous accolades from the pros including Bon Appetite and Saveur.

 

One of the reasons we prefer Oceania is the food. I've lived in NYC, SF and LA and our dining out hits the entire range from "roach coach" to Michelin starred.

 

Oceania. Finest cuisine in the world? Not even close. Finest Cuisine at Sea™? "You bethcha!"

 

 

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14 minutes ago, edgee said:

Oceania is a good value in that its food is among the best at sea; equal or better (lengthy debates on former or latter) compared to much more expensive, more all inclusive lines like Crystal, Regent, Seabourn etc. Price wise it is in a unique niche, that is more inclusive (and usually more expensive) than mass market lines (all non alcoholic  drinks included) but, unlike more expensive lines, alcohol and tours are not. 

 

 

O Life perks included in standard Oceania cruise pricing includes a choice of booze, tours or OBC as well as airfare (or air credit), unlimited internet, all non-alcoholic beverages and all specialty restaurants. 

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We just did our first O cruise and found the food to be the best we have ever had on a cruise, however our experience is on mid market lines.  We thoroughly enjoyed our experience but entertainment and lectures were not any better then those same mid market lines.

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I am currently on Oceania Nautica and I’m very disappointed with the food. Unlike the Marina, where we loved the food, now it is hit or miss even in the two speciality restaurants. No seasoning just blah tasting. While food is certainly subjective, this is just my humble opinion.

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We were on Nautica in Oct/Nov and the food was very hit or miss.  Experiences included

  • a clearly visible dime size lump of mud on top of the romaine lettuce in Polo's Cobb salad (no apology, just a replacement salad)
  • 3 of us at a table for eight returned the featured snapper dish to the kitchen because it was not only extremely overcooked, but obviously a day or two past prime (it smelled and tasted spoiled and again, just took it away, no apology).
  • Steaks in Polo were consistently tough
  • Poached eggs in Terrace were sometimes perfect, other times hard fully cooked yolk
  • Other issues that I won't go into
  • On the other hand, we had some excellent meals in Toscana and the GDR

In all, we would give the dining experience a 50/50 of good/unpleasant.  Fortunately, all other aspects of the cruise were great.

Edited by ropomo
spelling
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18 minutes ago, irisbax3 said:

I am currently on Oceania Nautica and I’m very disappointed with the food. Unlike the Marina, where we loved the food, now it is hit or miss even in the two speciality restaurants. No seasoning just blah tasting. While food is certainly subjective, this is just my humble opinion.

Say something right now to the F&B director.

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Irisbax3;

 

We were on the Marina last February and the Nautica for 20 days in August and I second your comments on food differences. As Lyn said, “ it depends upon the chefs aboard “!

 

Overall, I do believe that Oceania has the best food “ at sea”. That is not to say they can compete with most upscale land based restaurants, because they are at Sea! Remember that and you won’t be disappointed.

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4 hours ago, zltm089 said:

Doing a bit of research about Oceania and it looks like they are one of the best lines for food (main dining, buffet and speciality).

 

Is this really the case? They are in the premium cruise line category and as such charge a premium price. I just want to hear people's views before I consider them for my next cruise as their ships are very small and might not offer the same level of facilities and entertainment over HAL or Celebrity.

 

I'm basically looking for cruise lines which are renowned for food. Which other cruise lines would you recommend? I'm after mostly after mainstream/premium or premium cruise lines. Not interested in luxury or mass markets lines.

 

Many thanks!

Man I suggest that you pose these questions to you TA who should have a broader knowledge of all cruise lines and their product as opposed to just here.

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2 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

O Life perks included in standard Oceania cruise pricing includes a choice of booze, tours or OBC as well as airfare (or air credit), unlimited internet, all non-alcoholic beverages and all specialty restaurants. 

But you also have the choice of paying less and not taking "O life" option which includes one of the following: booze, tours or OBC.  Correct?

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15 minutes ago, edgee said:

But you also have the choice of paying less and not taking "O life" option which includes one of the following: booze, tours or OBC.  Correct?

Yes, and not taking O-Life does not impact unlimited internet (one account per stateroom), free non-alcoholic beverages, or free specialty restaurants, all of which are independent of the O-Life package.

Edited by 1985rz1
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3 minutes ago, 1985rz1 said:

Yes, and not taking O-Life does not impact unlimited internet (one account per stateroom), free non-alcoholic beverages, or free specialty restaurants, all of which are independent of the O-Life package.

And even if you drive to an embarkation port or prefer DIY flight arrangements, you can opt for an air credit if you selected O Life pricing.

 

BTW, the value of O Life pricing becomes obvious if you select the excursions price and choose allowable tours valued at >$100 or get the basic booze perk which can be upgraded to Prestige unlimited for only $20/person/day (including the 18% gratuity).

 

Prefer the "bare bones" cruise? Opt for "cruise only" pricing and you still get beverages, internet, specialty restaurants et al.

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1 hour ago, wripro said:

Man I suggest that you pose these questions to you TA who should have a broader knowledge of all cruise lines and their product as opposed to just here.

By TA, I presume you mean travel agent?...

 

No thanks, I'd rather get the feedback of people who actually cruise rather than people who sell cruises.

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No one seems to be mentioning Windstar for very good food. I have been on 3 Windstar cruises, 2 on the small sailing ships and one on the Star Pride before stretching, and I would rate the Windstar food very close to Oceania's. I give the nod to O for having sushi every night at Terrace. I will be on Sirena in January and Marina in June, and I chose O for these two itineraries for the food quality and better pricing than Windstar. If you can find a deal on WS I would suggest you give them a try.

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42 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

And even if you drive to an embarkation port or prefer DIY flight arrangements, you can opt for an air credit if you selected O Life pricing.

 

BTW, the value of O Life pricing becomes obvious if you select the excursions price and choose allowable tours valued at >$100 or get the basic booze perk which can be upgraded to Prestige unlimited for only $20/person/day (including the 18% gratuity).

 

Prefer the "bare bones" cruise? Opt for "cruise only" pricing and you still get beverages, internet, specialty restaurants et al.

 

Oceania website shows only 2 options: OLIFE FARE W/AIRFARE and CRUISE ONLY FARE. 

 

Are you saying that it's possible to get O Life but with no airfare? What the pricing would be in this case?

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5 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

 

Oceania website shows only 2 options: OLIFE FARE W/AIRFARE and CRUISE ONLY FARE. 

 

Are you saying that it's possible to get O Life but with no airfare? What the pricing would be in this case?

Yes, you can take O-Life with or without air (or air with or without O-Life).  Technically air is not part of the O-Life package, but Oceania makes that fact rather obscure.

 

To calculate the airfare credit per person, subtract the OBC per person (half the stateroom amount) from the O-Life w/air price, and that amount less the cruise only fare gives you the air credit.

Edited by 1985rz1
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7 minutes ago, 1985rz1 said:

Yes, you can take O-Life with or without air (or air with or without O-Life).  Technically air is not part of the O-Life package, but Oceania makes that fact rather obscure.

 

To calculate the airfare credit per person, subtract the OBC per person (half the stateroom amount) from the O-Life w/air price, and that amount less the cruise only fare gives you the air credit.

Correct. And, you can take air credit divided in half and fly one way using Oceania air and the other way on your own. That works great for transatlantic cruises where the transatlantic flight is very expensive one way if purchased on your own.

Edited by edgee
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Food is subjective but what we found on O was that the objective stuff (freshness, temperature, doneness, pairing on same or separate plate) was done pretty well. Beyond the fundamentals, everyone has his own opinions, but if the fundamentals aren't right, there's not much hope. In our experience, O starts on the right foot. 

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1 hour ago, ak1004 said:

 

Oceania website shows only 2 options: OLIFE FARE W/AIRFARE and CRUISE ONLY FARE. 

 

Are you saying that it's possible to get O Life but with no airfare? What the pricing would be in this case?

Yes

You can get O Life with or without air

just ask for the  pricing for both options

 

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