Food is different on Oceania

[stevesol6718]

Food has definitely changed for the worse since the end of covid.  We sailed on Nautica, 30 days December 2022, and the food in the main dining room was just not good.  The food in Toscana definitely was not the same as before, and even different than Toscana on Marina. Maybe, Oceania has started to use the Norwegian supply line, maybe the quality of the products are not as good, but there is a definite change. We will sail again in December 2023 for 39 days on the Marina and we hope that they have improved the food. I know that many will say that the food is great, but we have sailed on Oceania since 2008 and are certainly qualified to comment about this.

 

[basenji56]

Since I am comparing the food to Viking, Celebrity and Royal, I am very pleased with the food on Regatta this week. Hopefully it will get back to the even higher pre-Covid standard!

[WESTEAST]

We sailed on the Regatta in September 2022 and just returned from sailing on the Riviera this month and the food in all venues was excellent with insignificant changes that did not impact our dining in the least: no fresh parmesan wheel in Toscana, no bread roll with 'Jacques' written on in Jacques and the breakfast croissants may have been a tad smaller.

[DC225]

We sailed on the Rivera in 02/22 and just got off Insignia today.  We thought that the food was superb on Riviera and almost excellent on Insignia (meaning most everything was terrific, with a couple big misses here and there).  Overall I'd say that's pretty darn good for large scale catering on a ship.

[MarkWiltonM]

I have only sailed Oceania post-Covid, but I am not overly impressed with the food. It is a bit better and more consistent than we've had on HAL and Celebrity, but not nearly as good as the old Crystal. We had a terrible dinner at Toscana on our first Oceania cruise (bad food and even worse service) and have never been back. We don't have the patience to wait through the olive-oil-selection silliness they do with the bread, and the pastas and pasta sauces are just not very good. We had good food in Red Ginger on one ship and not-so-good on another ship. Had one great dish in Jacques but the rest of the food was sub-par (and the decor was tired/dated). Have never been to Polo Grill; steakhouses are no longer our thing. We stick to the Grand Dining Room and Terrace Café for the most part and always find decent food to eat, even if we have to occasionally send something back. We also like the pizza they serve in the evening at Waves Grill. Looking forward to trying Ember on Vista in December; I understand some people love it and some hate it. 

 

[LHT28]

27 minutes ago, MarkWiltonM said:

I have only sailed Oceania post-Covid, but I am not overly impressed with the food. It is a bit better and more consistent than we've had on HAL and Celebrity, but not nearly as good as the old Crystal.

Good news  Crystal is back sailing 😃

 I found the   evening buffet on the old Crystal a joke

MDR  had some hits but mostly misses for us

 

So I guess all lines have some gimmick

[ORV]

I'm just curious why you waited 7 or 8 months to let us know this vital information. 

[basenji56]

Best ice cream at sea. 

[willidc]

13 hours ago, ORV said:

I'm just curious why you waited 7 or 8 months to let us know this vital information. 

Hi, ORV!

 

Exactly my thought!  And OP been sailing longer than us. With only one post under that screen name.   Hmmmmm.

 

Anyway, we were on Nautica December 2022 as well for the MidEast sailings. Differences we noted were mostly some common sense economics like two pats of butter under the cover for a table of two at breakfast vs four or more.  Bread baskets more in line for two diners.  Portion distortion trimmed down a bit with always an offer of “more” if the plate was clean.  I could go on.  Quality for us was never an issue with rare exception. But food opinion is so subjective, we can only say that there were no more “misses” than in 2012 when we began sailing Oceania 19 cruises ago (which is fewer than you have.)

 

We are on Nautica now ( in Venice) in the middle of a B2B and can say service is pretty much back to pre Pandemic.  Terrace (never our favorite) has been exceptional on this sailing and I may begin visiting there because I want to rather than I have to after a late tour return. 
 

With several other discussions on this same topic, beginning a new one brings up either redundancy or the question “Why?”.

[Harters]

6 minutes ago, willidc said:

or the question “Why?”.

Perhaps you'd like to suggest an answer to your own question. 

 

Personally, I'm as interested in the comments of someone's first post as someone's 5k post. Perhaps more so.

 

And, with this thread, I have some agreement with the Op. Our Nautica experience a few weeks ago did indicate a deterioration in the food experience from our ore-Covid Marina cruise. Menu choice in the MDR a bit smaller (some dishes being repeated on many nights); portions a tad smaller, service not at all as sharp - that sort of thing. 

[basenji56]

After a fabulous dinner last night at Polo, I can only imagine how much better the food was in the days of misty memories.

[ATWCruiser]

If you go on a long cruise, we find that who the head chef is makes a difference.  For instance, we were on ATW 2015 and we had 4 chefs in that span of time.  The first chef was excellent.  The 2nd chef was good.  Then it went downhill from there.  On our last cruise on Marina around the Caribbean for 10 days in Dec 2022, my meal at Polo wasn't as good as before. 

[Wynterwynd]

Any meal I don’t have to make a grocery list for, shop for and cook (and I love to cook!) is a plus for me!  We sailed on Marina for 15 days July-August this summer and found the food just as good, with some things better than pre-COVID.  We sailed to Alaska last August (2022) and enjoyed the food also.  Toscana is my least favorite, but the Dover sole is always a great option.  Jacques was new to us but we found several things we enjoyed…and those we didn’t was not something we’d blame on the chef or the kitchen.

We cruise with Oceania because we enjoy good food and they provide lots of options.  Comparing now to pre-COVID is the same as saying ‘no one makes cherry pie like my mom did.’  Doesn’t keep me from eating the pie or trying a new dessert!

[ruthnlarry]

3 hours ago, Harters said:

Perhaps you'd like to suggest an answer to your own question. 

 

Personally, I'm as interested in the comments of someone's first post as someone's 5k post. Perhaps more so.

 

And, with this thread, I have some agreement with the Op. Our Nautica experience a few weeks ago did indicate a deterioration in the food experience from our ore-Covid Marina cruise. Menu choice in the MDR a bit smaller (some dishes being repeated on many nights); portions a tad smaller, service not at all as sharp - that sort of thing. 

 

Was Chef Vijay the head chef on Nautica in Terraces?  He was on our January cruise on Nautica from Cape Town, and the food was the worse that we have ever had on Oceania.  The food was not served at the proper temperature.  Even the soup was room temp.  When I informed Chef Vijay of the problem, he said that he could take mine and heat it.  However, this would do nothing for the others in Terraces.  The carved meats were the toughest that I ever had.  Chef Vijay came by and asked what was wrong, and I told him that I could not even cut the meat.  Chef Vijay's response was that he could take it back to the kitchen and cook it some more.  This would not solve the problem.  It would only make matters worse.

During the cruise, I even talked with the GM about the problems with food.

We have had 2 cruises since Nautica.  The food on our Feb. Regatta cruise and recent Vista cruise was excellent.  We just hope that our experience on Nautica was an anomaly, and has been corrected.

 

[bradpole]

20 hours ago, DC225 said:

We sailed on the Rivera in 02/22 and just got off Insignia today.  We thought that the food was superb on Riviera and almost excellent on Insignia (meaning most everything was terrific, with a couple big misses here and there).  Overall I'd say that's pretty darn good for large scale catering on a ship.

I have to agree, we've sailed a few times post covid and besides some minor changes we haven't noticed any changes that have impacted us or caused us to not make a future booking.  It always amazes me how two people on the same ship can have completely opposite experiences.  Last week DH and I thoroughly enjoyed our cruise on Insignia.  A lady in Barista's started chatting me up and after talking to her I was wondering if she was on the same ship I was!  "Horribly under cooked sea food in the Terrace..."  "stale bread everywhere..."  "Cold coffee if and when you could get a cup..."  "Room service constantly late..." she kept going on and on...  I eventually stood, smiled and said, "enjoy the rest of your cruise!" and walked away.  

[Harters]

47 minutes ago, ruthnlarry said:

Was Chef Vijay the head chef on Nautica in Terraces?

That name suggests to me someone of South Asian heritage. If so, then no, that wasnt the head chef doing the tours of the tables in the restaurants (we also spotted him having dinner with colleagues one evening in the Terrace). This guy seemed to me to be more of a Latin heritage. 

[ruthnlarry]

29 minutes ago, Harters said:

That name suggests to me someone of South Asian heritage. If so, then no, that wasnt the head chef doing the tours of the tables in the restaurants (we also spotted him having dinner with colleagues one evening in the Terrace). This guy seemed to me to be more of a Latin heritage. 

Yes, I think Chef Vijay is of Indian heritage.  He was roaming around Terraces a lot during meals.  I think the Executive Chef was Michael.  

 

I mentioned earlier that foods weren't served or kept at their proper temp.  Even the breakfast sticky buns were room temp or cool even though they were in a chafing dish.  The water for afternoon tea in Horizons wasn't hot.  

During our January Nautica cruise, I ate a lot of pasta, grilled lamb chops, and grilled shrimp.  The pasta chefs, egg chefs, and grill chefs were great.

I hope that Vijay is no longer on Nautica or the other O ships that we have booked, or he has completely changed.  One of our future O cruises is a 35 day Nautica cruise next year around the west coast of Africa.  We are really looking forward to this unique cruise itinerary which had been cancelled 2X during Covid.

I am only commenting on this thread because some seem to doubt the OP and a few others.  

 

 

[LHT28]

The Terrace  no matter what ship you are on  have a bad  habit of not having hot food in in the  ready made trays & no hot water under  in the pans so how would the food be hot

 

The only way to get hot food is to go to the grill & made to order stations 

I gave up on eating in the Terrace unless it was cold food I wanted like salads or fruit/desserts

Try WAVES   for breakfast & lunch

JMO

 

[stevesol6718]

Wow a lot of mixed responses.  Let me clarify when we sailed on the Insignia Dec 2022, we sailed for 30 days Dubai to Cape Town.  The food in the main dining room for breakfast and lunch was fine.  Dinner was just not good.  No taste, cold and not of the quality we were used to.  Toscana was just not good.  The octopus was not the same as before.  The dover sole was over salted and inedible.  The tomato sauces tasted like it was out of a can.  Just did not taste like the Italian food of the past. In Polo the steaks had so much fat, you cut away more than you ate.. Waves sandwiches were totally different and not as good.  For example, the Rueben had roast beef instead of corned beef.  Not a Rueben.  The Cuban had mystery meat, not the usual.

When we sailed in June on the Marina, the specialty restaurants seemed back to normal.  However, the main dining room was still not good for dinner.  

I asked several of the staff why?  They all seemed to sheepishly say that Oceania was now using Norwegian's supply chain. That could very well be a reason.  

The ships also ran out of some food items, like blueberries, strawberries, decaf tea etc. That is also a supply chain problem

In my opinion, there is a definite difference in the food products.  Maybe not all, but many, and it tastes like it.  Another possibility is that the smaller ships do not have the same quality chefs in the restaurants, and it definitely shows.

It is also possible that there are many new cruisers who did not experience the food of yesterday, and have only the current reference.

The reason I waited so long to post, as one responder asked, it that I was waiting for a response from Oceania to my questions and surveys.  None ever came.

 

 

[ruthnlarry]

17 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

The Terrace  no matter what ship you are on  

They have a bad  habit of not having hot food in in the  ready made trays & no hot water under  in the pans so how would the food be hot

The only way to get hot food is to go to the grill & made to order stations 

I gave up on eating in the Terrace unless it was cold food I wanted like salads or fruit/desserts

Try WAVES   for breakfast & lunch

JMO

 

We eat the majority of our meals in Terraces, and have never had a problem except for Nautica.  On all of our cruises, soups are hot served out of the kettle, sticky buns are warm, ....

I love breakfast in Terraces.  The egg chefs do a fantastic job.  I am able to get bacon, sausage, or ham.

There was no excuse for the problems on Nautica.  We had friends who ate a lot with us, and they had the same complaints.  In fact, they were contemplating cancelling future O cruises.  However, they recently disembarked Riviera, and said the difference was like night and day.  The food on Riviera was excellent just like they were accustomed to.  There were a lot of others complaining about Nautica. 

One day on Nautica, I had a reuben in Waves.  It had no corned beef.  The meat appeared to be left-over sliced roast beef just as the OP reported.

I have been on 20+ O cruises, and have enjoyed the food except for Nautica.   

Edited September 7, 2023 by ruthnlarry

[LHT28]

51 minutes ago, ruthnlarry said:

We eat the majority of our meals in Terraces, and have never had a problem except for Nautica.  On all of our cruises, soups are hot served out of the kettle, sticky buns are warm, ....

I love breakfast in Terraces.  The egg chefs do a fantastic job.  I am able to get bacon, sausage, or ham.

There was no excuse for the problems on Nautica.  We had friends who ate a lot with us, and they had the same complaints.  In fact, they were contemplating cancelling future O cruises.  However, they recently disembarked Riviera, and said the difference was like night and day.  The food on Riviera was excellent just like they were accustomed to.  There were a lot of others complaining about Nautica. 

One day on Nautica, I had a reuben in Waves.  It had no corned beef.  The meat appeared to be left-over sliced roast beef just as the OP reported.

I have been on 20+ O cruises, and have enjoyed the food except for Nautica.   

well we have not been on as many cruises as you but maybe we were just unlucky on the ones we have been on 

Unless you catch the tray of food coming from the kitchen  it has been luke warm at best

We have not been on Nautica  just  Insignia/Regatta/Marina/Riviera   & hard to get a HOT meal from the precooked trays

 

The omelette station has been good  but you are standing there while they cook your eggs  & it is hot out of the pan to the plate   same as the grill

 

 Just our experience

 

 

[sunlover12]

I thought the food on Nautica a week ago was very good.  No complaints. Thinking back, the only thing I didn't like at any of the restaurants was the scrambled eggs at Terrace which I tried once.  I usually just have a croissant and fruit for breakfast so can't comment on the temperature of the food.  There was a Chef's Market Grill for 2 nights in Terrace while we were sailing off of Italy.  It was fabulous. Hot foods were hot. The executive chef was Mario Santoro, one of the best in my opinion.  I saw him several times roaming the ship, including at Terrace.  You know you're in good hands when he is onboard. 

[EJL2023]

1 minute ago, sunlover12 said:

I thought the food on Nautica a week ago was very good.  No complaints. Thinking back, the only thing I didn't like at any of the restaurants was the scrambled eggs at Terrace which I tried once.  I usually just have a croissant and fruit for breakfast so can't comment on the temperature of the food.  There was a Chef's Market Grill for 2 nights in Terrace while we were sailing off of Italy.  It was fabulous. Hot foods were hot. The executive chef was Mario Santoro, one of the best in my opinion.  I saw him several times roaming the ship, including at Terrace.  You know you're in good hands when he is onboard. 

Did you have the already prepared scrambled eggs or at the grille where made fresh? Few months ago on Vista had the already prepared ones and they were not too good. From the grille, excellent in my case. 

[ruthnlarry]

8 minutes ago, sunlover12 said:

I thought the food on Nautica a week ago was very good.  No complaints. Thinking back, the only thing I didn't like at any of the restaurants was the scrambled eggs at Terrace which I tried once.  I usually just have a croissant and fruit for breakfast so can't comment on the temperature of the food.  There was a Chef's Market Grill for 2 nights in Terrace while we were sailing off of Italy.  It was fabulous. Hot foods were hot. The executive chef was Mario Santoro, one of the best in my opinion.  I saw him several times roaming the ship, including at Terrace.  You know you're in good hands when he is onboard. 

That's great news.  We were hoping that Nautica was just going through a bad period.  The GM was aware of the problems after we talked with him, and we were confident that things would improve.

[EJL2023]

1 hour ago, ruthnlarry said:

We eat the majority of our meals in Terraces, and have never had a problem except for Nautica.  On all of our cruises, soups are hot served out of the kettle, sticky buns are warm, ....

I love breakfast in Terraces.  The egg chefs do a fantastic job.  I am able to get bacon, sausage, or ham.

There was no excuse for the problems on Nautica.  We had friends who ate a lot with us, and they had the same complaints.  In fact, they were contemplating cancelling future O cruises.  However, they recently disembarked Riviera, and said the difference was like night and day.  The food on Riviera was excellent just like they were accustomed to.  There were a lot of others complaining about Nautica. 

One day on Nautica, I had a reuben in Waves.  It had no corned beef.  The meat appeared to be left-over sliced roast beef just as the OP reported.

I have been on 20+ O cruises, and have enjoyed the food except for Nautica.   

I think they need to drop the Reuben from the menu. Had it on vista and honestly was not good. The only meal I’ve had on Oceania that I mentally noted, never again.