Cruise Critic headed out on Marina on Aug. 7 -- any questions?

[Flatbush Flyer]

2 minutes ago, ToxM said:

Asian lunch menu! Already very excited!

 

The wood fired pizza offering ….. if they get the pizza genius from Sirena on that bad boy I will be a happy chick!

Don’t know how they expect to make decent pizza without NYC tap water.

[cruisingxpert]

I noticed something in the article "And for lovers of the grape, Oancea is adding 75 new wines to Oceania's already extensive wine list."

 

What about wine by the glass?  I'm a wine drinker and the choices of wine by the glass are not plentiful or very good.  I would buy a drink package if they offered something like Celebrity that has far more choices of wine by the glass and an option to have a glass of more expensive wines for a small additional cost. 

[PirateShark]

Thank you Chris and get better soon!

[PirateShark]

I know this is just a preview of Vista (and things can still change before launch) but Ember I think will be relegated to a lunch venue for us since the couple of menu items described continue to underwelm.  The cocktail program sounds intriguing and DH will adore the new pastries for breakfast.

[LHT28]

6 minutes ago, cruisingxpert said:

I noticed something in the article "And for lovers of the grape, Oancea is adding 75 new wines to Oceania's already extensive wine list."

 

What about wine by the glass? 

Maybe some  will be "by the glass " options  ?

 

[hawkesbaynz]

Can you clarify the dry dock for Marina. Your article states October 2022. My understanding was that it is Debuting November 2023 post refit. Just interested as we have a cruise on her early 2023.

 

Great article otherwise.

[Cruise Critic Chris]

A few more photos from the Vista preview lunch. 

 

 

[Cruise Critic Chris]

7 minutes ago, hawkesbaynz said:

Can you clarify the dry dock for Marina. Your article states October 2022. My understanding was that it is Debuting November 2023 post refit. Just interested as we have a cruise on her early 2023.

 

Great article otherwise.

 

Duh! Thanks for catching the typo. We'll correct. 

[NYAS]

If I read your article correctly, Marina is now scheduled for refurbishment in October 2022 rather than in 2023? I thought Rivera was being redone this year and Marina not until next year.

[Cruise Critic Chris]

4 minutes ago, NYAS said:

If I read your article correctly, Marina is now scheduled for refurbishment in October 2022 rather than in 2023? I thought Rivera was being redone this year and Marina not until next year.

 We had a typo - sorry! see above. It's now corrected 

[hawkesbaynz]

Drat..... thanks😀

[Bellanina]

Following

 

[WESTEAST]

Thank you for your postings and sadly, no surprise with the answer from the O executives. Curious do you know if Franck Garanger is still with Oceania? Hope that you are on the road to recovery.

[Jancruz]

6 minutes ago, WESTEAST said:

Thank you for your postings and sadly, no surprise with the answer from the O executives. Curious do you know if Franck Garanger is still with Oceania? Hope that you are on the road to recovery.

Franck is no longer with Oceania..he left..

Jancruz1

[Cruise Critic Chris]

53 minutes ago, WESTEAST said:

Thank you for your postings and sadly, no surprise with the answer from the O executives. Curious do you know if Franck Garanger is still with Oceania? Hope that you are on the road to recovery.

Franck is at Explora Journeys, the luxury line that MSC plans to launch. 

[ORV]

Thanks for all this great information. I'm really glad to see changes in the Beverage options. I've long felt they could improve their offerings. Hopefully this will also be on the other ships.

 

I do have a couple of questions concerning the information below.

 

but the special menus, including the Dom Perignon one -- will be available as options in La Prive, the ship's private dining experience.

 

Are they changing the name of Privee on Vista to La Prive? 

 

It has been posted previously that the Wine Pairing dinners would be in the Culinary Center dining room, which the deck plan shows seating for 24, the same as La Reserve on Marina & Riviera. The Privee space on Vista shows 10 seats, the same as the O ships. If it is in Privee then that would certainly cut the numbers of spaces available. Could you double check with someone and see if this is correct? 

 

I wonder if perhaps one of the reasons for no La Reserve by Wine Spectator is the licensing agreements with Wine Spectator. 

 

 

 

 

[ORV]

3 hours ago, Jancruz said:

Franck is no longer with Oceania..he left..

Jancruz1

But are we still going to get the Famous Mashed potatoes?

[WESTEAST]

34 minutes ago, ORV said:

But are we still going to get the Famous Mashed potatoes?

Precisely what we were wondering - our guess is no 😅

[njhorseman]

47 minutes ago, ORV said:

But are we still going to get the Famous Mashed potatoes?

 

11 minutes ago, WESTEAST said:

Precisely what we were wondering - our guess is no 😅

Hopefully the change in management will mean a greater variety of vegetables appearing on the menu. One of my biggest gripes about O's food is that the same few items, including the mashed potatoes, appear perpetually on the menu to the exclusion of other choices.

[Flatbush Flyer]

9 hours ago, hawkesbaynz said:

Can you clarify the dry dock for Marina. Your article states October 2022. My understanding was that it is Debuting November 2023 post refit. Just interested as we have a cruise on her early 2023.

 

Great article otherwise.

Must be a mistake. Marina is busy, at least into December of this year.

[LHT28]

3 hours ago, ORV said:

but the special menus, including the Dom Perignon one -- will be available as options in La Prive, the ship's private dining experience.

 

Are they changing the name of Privee on Vista to La Prive? 

 

 

I think it is just  a typo 😉

 

[LHT28]

2 hours ago, njhorseman said:

 

Hopefully the change in management will mean a greater variety of vegetables appearing on the menu. One of my biggest gripes about O's food is that the same few items, including the mashed potatoes, appear perpetually on the menu to the exclusion of other choices.

Just ask for  what vegetables you want  ....you can have my share of broccoli

[CAG]

1 hour ago, LHT28 said:

Just ask for  what vegetables you want  ....you can have my share of broccoli

And you can have steamed spinach any night.

[Cruise Critic Chris]

6 hours ago, ORV said:

Thanks for all this great information. I'm really glad to see changes in the Beverage options. I've long felt they could improve their offerings. Hopefully this will also be on the other ships.

 

I do have a couple of questions concerning the information below.

 

but the special menus, including the Dom Perignon one -- will be available as options in La Prive, the ship's private dining experience.

 

Are they changing the name of Privee on Vista to La Prive? 

 

It has been posted previously that the Wine Pairing dinners would be in the Culinary Center dining room, which the deck plan shows seating for 24, the same as La Reserve on Marina & Riviera. The Privee space on Vista shows 10 seats, the same as the O ships. If it is in Privee then that would certainly cut the numbers of spaces available. Could you double check with someone and see if this is correct? 

 

I wonder if perhaps one of the reasons for no La Reserve by Wine Spectator is the licensing agreements with Wine Spectator. 

 

 

 

 

The wine dinners are definitely in Privee.

 

The Culinary Center was originally going to be a place to have a meal with the chefs after a demonstration but public health rules might not allow that. So for now, that space will be used for demonstrations and tastings of all kinds -- wine, olive oil, butters, etc. 

[Flatbush Flyer]

1 hour ago, Cruise Critic Chris said:

The wine dinners are definitely in Privee.

 

The Culinary Center was originally going to be a place to have a meal with the chefs after a demonstration but public health rules might not allow that. So for now, that space will be used for demonstrations and tastings of all kinds -- wine, olive oil, butters, etc. 

I’m lost...

As we all know, La Reserve on the two O ships (with or without the future involvement of Wine Spectator and/or Dom Perignon’s involvement) works great for O and for passengers with 24 seats. 

 

If the Vista plan really is to limit La Reserve type wine pairing dinners to 10 seats in a La Priveé setting, it’s hard to believe that it would be as profitable without raising the prices significantly. And for each night that 10 seat space served as La Reserve, it’s usual Priveé rental fee would be lost while the Culinary Center space might be sitting idle. 

 

Moreover, I would think (though no expert) that letting a 24 seat space in the Culinary Center be used for any kind of food tasting would really be no different than a dinner when it comes to public health regulations(?). After all, all sorts of contemporary restaurants have an open kitchen concept.

Just doesn't make much sense not to use it for what appears to have been one of it’s originally planned intentions. Any restauranteurs out there want to chime in? 

 

If not, I guess we’ll just have to book a Vista cruise to find out.