Why do you eat dinner in the Oceanview Cafe?

[davekathy]

4 hours ago, RedneckBob said:

Don’t have to dress up and seems like every cruise there is a hero bar once a cruise; I mean gyro bar.

Now you've got my attention. 

[SPacificbound]

We always have dinner in the OV.

 

We get to choose what we want from many selections, enjoy our meal and go. We always watch the show, so we usually have dinner as soon as OV opens for dinner. 

[nikel]

6 hours ago, PMT51 said:

We remember this, it was great. We enjoyed it so much we went almost every night and most of the time were the only guests.  Talk about personal service.  We miss this a lot.

I remember something similar to that on the Summit around 12 - 15 years ago.  Liked it a lot.

[twincheryl]

1 hour ago, SPacificbound said:

We always have dinner in the OV.

 

We get to choose what we want from many selections, enjoy our meal and go. We always watch the show, so we usually have dinner as soon as OV opens for dinner. 

Same… don’t enjoy dressing up… did that for too many working years.  Like sitting where we want, picking any foods we want, no server wondering if you liked your food (when you didn’t eat it all)… could go on and on.  Early risers, enjoy the early show, a nice walk after the show, back to the cabin or balcony to read and fairly early to bed.  

[Birdnutty]

We like to eat at least a few times per cruise in the OV.  We like the grazing concept, and I love to try numerous small amounts of all kinds of foods.  I could do that in the MDR, but old ingrained habits die very hard, and I feel compelled to finish everything on/in my plate.  I don't need that many calories when I all I want is a taste of each.

 

Another is veggies.  I am not a vegetarian by any means, but my heart lit up one night when I found a huge mound of all kinds of roasted veggies at one station.  The MDR treats veggies (as do many people) as garnish.  I usually ask for a separate plate just of veggies in the MDR, but then I don't get to choose what they are.  The OV usually has a very large selection, prepared in many ways, and I am in heaven.

 

Another issue that I have with the MDR is strictly a willpower thing for me.  I have miraculous will power.  I can resist anything - except temptation.   By the time I get to dinner, I'm hungry.  (OK, I'm always hungry, but that's another story). When I eat at the MDR, I order my dinner.  Then wait.  And what's in front of me, begging to be consumed?  Rolls!  Bread! With butter! Carbs and fats of the least useful type.  At OV, I can go directly to my salad or main courses without having to confront the carbs course first.   I actually eat a little healthier, because I take only what I know I want with none of the extras.  And I can have a smidge of each one so I can taste it without wasting a whole serving.  

 

And yes, the desserts.  The ice cream, the huge frypan filled with apple crisp, the bread pudding.  Aahhh... can't wait.

[Cruise Junky]

Long day in hot port, want to stay in shorts, sit outside, soak up the views   Tons of reasons. 

[Denny01]

Why do I eat dinner at Oceanview?  I don’t. Fully understand why others do and all sounds perfect. 
 

But a bit surprised at the comments about MDR waitstaff asking if someone didn’t enjoy a dish because it wasn’t all eaten. Never had that occur and I usually don’t leave cleaned plates. And not wanting to have to dress up when dress for MDRs is pants and a collar is nor exactly ‘dressing up’. But understand wanting to stay in shorts. 
 

den

[downsmead]

We enjoy the Indian food from the buffet, and although X now does an Indian evening at Sushi on 5, we find the buffet offerings are just as good.

[terrydtx]

20 years ago when the MDR was more dressy we would dine in the OV after a long shore excursion,, now with the relaxed dress codes we prefer the MDR. If we still do not want to change out of shorts we use room service. Our last couple of cruises we upgraded to Suites and we love Luminae and would hate to miss having dinner there. Our next 6 Celebrity Cruises are all in Suites so no chance we dine in OV, we enjoy being pampered. 

[sydbarrett]

Convenience and variety. Just want to get in and get out and get to the next event. The dining experience itself is not important to me (at least not every night).

[TeeRick]

12 hours ago, Virginia100 said:

I ate there the last night on my 10 night cruise as at the end of our last port call I developed a kidney stone.only a few opioids from on board doctors gave me a little relief, not enough for s full seat down dinner. 

I have had a few bouts with kidney stones in my life but fortunately never on a cruise!  Very painful experience.😬

[TeeRick]

I thought I would bring up another example of why we used the OV buffet.  On our S.America cruise on Eclipse, my dw developed some bad respiratory illness (not flu) and was pretty sick.  Symptoms similar to COVID but it was early Jan 2020.  So it was not even on the radar then and the virus was supposedly still in China.   I got whatever it was a few days later.  We mostly stayed in our cabin.  When she was first sick, I  would go to the Oceanview Cafe and get us plates for dinner because the selection there was much better than Room Service.  And hot soups and comfort foods.    We were in a corner aft sky suite but we were not up to dining at Luminae as we felt awful.  Later when I became ill and she felt a bit better, she did the same for me.  We also figured we had a lesser chance to expose anybody else like the folks bringing Room Service.  If it was early COVID we had just no idea about it at that point.  A lot of people on the ship came down with it.  In fact, a couple of months later in March it was Eclipse that was not allowed into any port and was stranded for weeks at sea.  There was absolutely no testing then.  It was not until June 2020 that I could find a COVID antibody test which was negative.  But it was 6 months later so who knows.  Sorry for the long story.  But people do go to the OV Cafe for many different reasons for dinner.

[Glendakayself]

Totally agree with Rayhorn on every point. My hubby has a brain injury, and all the activity in the dining room bothers him. He likes to walk to his favorite section of the buffet and get his favorite dishes each night and to actually see the options before selecting. We eat breakfast in the smaller, quieter Elite breakfast venue. He has difficulty with the busy lunch buffet. We usually find seats, and he stays behind to save our seats while I walk the buffet and battle the crowds to get our lunch. The dining room is probably a better option for him at lunch, but I do love the buffet salad bar.

[SueMo]

1 hour ago, TeeRick said:

I thought I would bring up another example of why we used the OV buffet.  On our S.America cruise on Eclipse, my dw developed some bad respiratory illness (not flu) and was pretty sick.  Symptoms similar to COVID but it was early Jan 2020.  So it was not even on the radar then and the virus was supposedly still in China.   I got whatever it was a few days later.  We mostly stayed in our cabin.  When she was first sick, I  would go to the Oceanview Cafe and get us plates for dinner because the selection there was much better than Room Service.  And hot soups and comfort foods.    We were in a corner aft sky suite but we were not up to dining at Luminae as we felt awful.  Later when I became ill and she felt a bit better, she did the same for me.  We also figured we had a lesser chance to expose anybody else like the folks bringing Room Service.  If it was early COVID we had just no idea about it at that point.  A lot of people on the ship came down with it.  In fact, a couple of months later in March it was Eclipse that was not allowed into any port and was stranded for weeks at sea.  There was absolutely no testing then.  It was not until June 2020 that I could find a COVID antibody test which was negative.  But it was 6 months later so who knows.  Sorry for the long story.  But people do go to the OV Cafe for many different reasons for dinner.

I was on that March Eclipse ship stranded at sea for weeks!  Both DH and I got COVID, although it wasn't confirmed until we got home and were able to be tested.  Like you, we went to Oceanview Cafe to get our dinners and stayed in our room the rest of the time.  DH was pretty sick--had pneumonia and high temp for weeks, me not so sick, but we luckily both recovered.  We were in Aqua class for that voyage--think our server might have been sick as well.

[davy jones]

19 hours ago, RedneckBob said:

Don’t have to dress up and seems like every cruise there is a hero bar once a cruise; I mean gyro bar.

Is the gyro bar available at lunch?  DW would love that.  In fact, she might go just for that.

[davy jones]

We might do it once a cruise, for reasons already stated.  

 

I might add that on some cruise lines, some of that evening's dishes are also offered in the casual eatery.

[TeeRick]

29 minutes ago, SueMo said:

I was on that March Eclipse ship stranded at sea for weeks!  Both DH and I got COVID, although it wasn't confirmed until we got home and were able to be tested.  Like you, we went to Oceanview Cafe to get our dinners and stayed in our room the rest of the time.  DH was pretty sick--had pneumonia and high temp for weeks, me not so sick, but we luckily both recovered.  We were in Aqua class for that voyage--think our server might have been sick as well.

Sorry to hear that.  I felt so bad for all of you on board!  I truly wonder if Eclipse was already carrying the virus in January when we sailed.  Just didn't know it.

[TN Vol Fan]

Agree so much with Birdnutty. Love the selection of vegetables in the OV. Nice quiet place to dine and I always go to the BacioSegundo to order my drinks and chat with the bartenders. Sometimes it’s just easier!

See you soon Birdnutty on the Apex!

[the_dylaness]

When we sail alone (just myself and DH) I am not sure that we hardly ever eat dinner in the OVC.  I like sit down dinners as part of the cruising experience, and if it's just the two of us we are more likely than not in a sky suite or AQ, so get to enjoy Luminae or Blu.  

 

When we sail with our kids, we eat nearly every dinner in the OVC.  The food is still enjoyable, and our kids are young enough that a 2 hour dinner is boring for them and frustrating/not relaxing for us.  Sometimes we take them up for an early dinner, then to kids club, then we walk around, have a drink, listen to some music, and then grab a later OVC dinner before picking them up from kids club.  

 

[txtechmk]

The only thing we ate in the late evening hours in OV was ice cream!  Usually that was after the show and before we went to our cabin for bed.

[Islandhop9]

9 hours ago, downsmead said:

We enjoy the Indian food from the buffet, and although X now does an Indian evening at Sushi on 5, we find the buffet offerings are just as good.

We really liked the Indian food in the buffet on Equinox in October and Millennium in  December. 

However we were disappointed with the Indian on the Apex, only a few dishes and most weren't good, lacked flavor/spices. Two supervisors said Celebrity management told them to decrease the number of dishes and spices. I'd rather they not have any if not done right. 

 

Buffet is nice if you're in a hurry or don't want to dress up. Food wasn't as good as lunch and the place was pretty empty when we went on Apex. MDR was better and had higher quality items. Two circular buffet stations were empty at dinner. 

 

Edited February 14, 2022 by Islandhop9

[dkjretired]

14 minutes ago, Islandhop9 said:

We really liked the Indian food in the buffet on Equinox in October and Millennium in  December. 

However we were disappointed with the Indian on the Apex, only a few dishes and most weren't good, lacked flavor/spices. Two supervisors said Celebrity management told them to decrease the number of dishes and spices. I'd rather they not have any if not done right. 

 

Buffet is nice if you're in a hurry or don't want to dress up. Food wasn't as good as lunch and the place was pretty empty when we went on Apex. MDR was better and had higher quality items. Two circular buffet stations were empty at dinner. 

 

Why Not

[D C]

Our reasons:

Wide selection of options (they'll cook steaks to order)

We can sit outside

Sometimes we don't want all the 'fuss' of a dinner in the MDR and just want to chill a bit

[DCPIV]

19 hours ago, Islandhop9 said:

However we were disappointed with the Indian on the Apex, only a few dishes and most weren't good, lacked flavor/spices. Two supervisors said Celebrity management told them to decrease the number of dishes and spices. I'd rather they not have any if not done right.

 

That is a shame!

[chuckroast1]

We just got off a 10 night cruise where we only went to MDR 4 nights. It was fine, the food was fine and the servers were excellent. But, we are just getting to a place in our lives where making a big fuss over dinner doesn't ring our bell. So, Ocean View is easy, has a big variety, and has great views. 

 

Viva la diffe'rence