Pre-Cruise comparison of Oceania Regatta - Vista Suite to Celebrity Millennium Royal Suite

[Cruzin Terri]

17 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Thanks Terri,

 

Like you we are not big Red Meat eaters and I really enjoy fish when properly cooked.    I was wondering about Red Ginger -  we are also not big into spicy and really not big fans of Indian.    I've read numerous recommendation of the Watermelon and Duck.   Any thoughts on it? 

 

My taste run more to French and Continental so somewhat disappointed we will not have Jacques.   

I do not have any thoughts on any food served in Red Ginger.  The only time I went there i had the Sea Bass and it was good

Terri

[Vallesan]

5 hours ago, MEFIowa said:

All the "Welcome Aboard" is now is a generic guide to your ship, with NO personalization and NO specificity for your cruise & its itinerary. Unlike the old ones, that we're being sent out quite recently (e.g., 11/2023). With much of the previous information stripped away and what remains with minimal text and lots of white space.

 

And nothing quite says "waste" like being on a 2nd cruise, the B2B, and receiving a 2nd IDENTICAL generic package! I shudder to think that if someone has a 3rd leg, they'd get a 3rd IDENTICAL generic package. And so on. A cold pile of 4 or 5 identical generic packages.

The  ‘old’ ones, as you say, sent out quite recently (eg. 11/2023) weren’t being sent out to UK passengers! Hence we only had online check in and print out your own labels etc. So for us now the ‘blue’ package arriving in the post is a real ‘bonus’!

[DaKahuna]

On 8/12/2024 at 1:27 PM, Jim_Iain said:

 

Yikes... I don't drink so 6 Liters is a lot of booze.     I'm guessing Iain will select some Chardonnay.     Are you able to send bottles to the Dining Rooms?

 

 

 

Just take an extra bag and bring any leftovers home with you.  I am sure Iian will find something to do with them at home. 

 

On your Booking Terms slide - Celebrity now wants final payments at 120 days vs 90 days.  This is a very recent change. 

 

Edited August 14 by DaKahuna

[Jim_Iain]

2 hours ago, flviking said:

We had done a TA on one of the older Royal ships some years ago.  As we really didn't care for the MDR and the was no Coastal Kitchen we booked the unlimited specialty dining.  Maybe 15 nights between three restaurants.  We got pretty tired of the same sides.  They were really good about finding us "non-menu" vegetables for variety.  We just let them know where we were dining the day before. Steamed broccoli every night was a bit much. 

I can understand that.    We often feel the same on Celebrity.   Unfortunately the M-Class ships are rather limited when it comes to Specialties -

 

Tuscan Grille  -   Italian and Steak

 

Sushi on 5 -  Al La Carte

 

La Petite Prince - animated presentation.   In our Opinion -  One and Done.  

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

1 hour ago, DaKahuna said:

 

Just take an extra bag and bring any leftovers home with you.  I am sure Iian will find something to do with them at home. 

 

On your Booking Terms slide - Celebrity now wants final payments at 120 days vs 90 days.  This is a very recent change. 

 

 

Thanks for update on Payment Terms... All of our current bookings were made 2 years ago so grandfathered.    Celebrity seems to pretend they a premium line but seem to be having lots of miss steps.   

[Jim_Iain]

Now lets take a look at the specialties on Regatta

 

Like Celebrity Millennium class ships specialty is limited.

 

Toscana  - Authentic Italian

 

Polo Grille - Classic steakhouse

 

 

[LuAnn]

4 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Thanks Terri,

 

Like you we are not big Red Meat eaters and I really enjoy fish when properly cooked.    I was wondering about Red Ginger -  we are also not big into spicy and really not big fans of Indian.    I've read numerous recommendation of the Watermelon and Duck.   Any thoughts on it? 

 

My taste run more to French and Continental so somewhat disappointed we will not have Jacques.   

My favorite has always been Red Ginger..and they do have things other than fish on the menu. The watermelon & duck salad is something I ALWAYS order!!! Love it!! 

[Jim_Iain]

14 minutes ago, LuAnn said:

My favorite has always been Red Ginger..and they do have things other than fish on the menu. The watermelon & duck salad is something I ALWAYS order!!! Love it!! 

 

I've read your recommendation and it is on the top of my list.  

 

Interesting when Googling they have the Recipe on Oceania Site.

 

 

 

DUCK AND WATERMELON SALAD INGREDIENTS

Canola oil, for frying

½ cup raw cashew nuts

Kosher salt

6 confit duck legs

2 to 4 tablespoons hoisin sauce

6 cups 1-inch-cube seedless watermelon

½ cup Thai basil or sweet basil leaves

½ cup mint leaves

½ cup cilantro leaves

1/3 cup thinly sliced shallot

 

FOR THE SAUCE: In a medium saucepan, combine the palm sugar and water, place over medium heat, and heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is melted – about 5 minutes.

Remove from the heat. Stir in the shallot, lemongrass, lime leaf and galangal and let sit at room temperature to cool and to infuse the flavors for at least 1 hour, or preferably overnight.

 

Strain the liquid through a fine-mesh strainer into a small bowl. Discard the solids. Add 1 tablespoon each of the fish sauce and tamarind, mixing well. Taste and adjust seasoning with additional fish sauce and tamarind if needed. Set the sauce aside at room temperature.

FOR THE SALAD: Pour 4 inches of canola oil into a large, deep saucepan and heat to 325°F on a deep-frying thermometer. Line a small plate with paper towels for draining the cashews and line a larger plate for draining the duck. Add the cashews to the hot oil and fry until crisp, about 1 minute. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to the towel-lined plate. Sprinkle with salt while hot.

 

Increase the temperature of the oil to 350°F. Add 2 duck legs to the hot oil and fry, turning to brown on all sides, until crisp, 4 to 5 minutes. Using tongs, transfer to the towel-lined plate to drain. Repeat with the remaining duck legs in two batches.

When the duck legs are cool enough to handle, peel off the skin from each leg in as large a piece as possible. Cut the skin into strips and set aside. Bone the legs and shred the meat into a bowl. Season to taste with the hoisin sauce.

 

In a separate bowl, combine the watermelon, basil, mint, and cilantro. Add the duck meat, duck skin, cashews, and shallot. Toss with enough of the sweet fish sauce to coat lightly. You may not need all of the sauce.

TO SERVE: Divide the salad among individual serving plates or martini glasses.

[ORV]

There are a number of items that are neither spicy nor red meat. Depending on whether you like tempura or not there is an excellent vegetable tempura as an app, as well as a couple of shrimp dishes. Also Udon noodles and some rice dishes. I like most of what I've had there. We usually pass on the Edamame, the tea and chopstick dance as well as the broth. Just bring on the food. 

[cruisingxpert]

Going to be following with interest.  Regarding Duck and Watermelon salad, it is very nice except  for one thing.  They usually cook the duck so long that I feel that it tastes like a wood  shard. I love the watermelon in it.

In Polo I have always found the French Onion Soup to be the best appetizer- some people really love the beet salad.

Toscana has the best bread basket in my opinion.

 

If the weather cooperates, I recommend trying the Terrace Buffet one night.  I wouldn't say that about any other cruise line.

 

[Vallesan]

Food is so subjective! I always have the duck and watermelon salad but the miso glazed seabass is just not to my taste, it’s too sweet. In fact on our next cruise I’m going to see if I can pre-order ‘plain’ seabass!

[Tranquility Base]

7 hours ago, ORV said:

We usually pass on the Edamame, the tea and chopstick dance

Yep.....once I thought I'd be smart and I selected the heavy set.

Error......I needed to change to a lighter pair to get them to work.....🥢

[MEFIowa]

21 hours ago, ORV said:

... appreciate what Oceania does instead of complaining about it. I'm just happy to be going, so I don't take time to pick apart what they do send me, I just toss the stuff I don't need and keep the things that I do, like the luggage tag inserts....

Keeping in mind thoughts on efficiency and effectiveness (something I assume we all want O to focus on), you seem to want to miss the point. IF O is going to "do something" then they should do it "right". As opposed to just "doing something" that has little value. We received the prior packages in 2021, 2022, and 2023. Then comes the new de-personalized, stripped down, dumbed-down generic information "Welcome Aboard". When you compare all that was REMOVED, you realize that there isn't hardly anything in it that you haven't already seen if you surfed O's web site even a little. Everything specific to you and your cruise was removed. Making it pointless. Ineffective and inefficient. And as I sit here typing this I have 2 identical generic "Welcome Aboards" for our B2B. Utter waste.

[MEFIowa]

21 hours ago, ORV said:

... those packages you received post covid were nowhere as near personalized as the older original blue ones....

A simple example might suffice. For our 11/2022 Sirena cruise the prior package had a page giving us information on our guest lecturer. "Personalized" to our cruise. Once I saw this, I surfed the web to see her CV, published works, reviews on same, etc. I was looking forward to engaging with the lecturer that I'd be spending 5 hours with on the cruise. To maximize the "value" of what I might learn from her. NOW there is NO page on the guest lecturer. That section is removed from the new generic "Welcome Aboard".

[Harters]

21 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

I was wondering about Red Ginger -  we are also not big into spicy and really not big fans of Indian. 

I wouldnt worry at all. There is nothing Indian, or broader South Asian, on the menu. Everything is their take on East Asian food.

 

We've had two meals in RG (Marina & Vista) and found the food underwhelming on both occasions. It is very disappointing compared to what I would expect in a land based restaurant - not just a lack of chilli heat in dishes that should have it, but a lack of the other vibrant spices that make East Asian food a joy (and, last trip, just very poor cooking of one dish). We've pretty much decided that we won't book RG on the next cruise. Of course, that's just us and you'll find many posts on the forum from folk who just love RG - we all have our own experiences and expectations with food. 

[Jim_Iain]

9 hours ago, Vallesan said:

Food is so subjective! I always have the duck and watermelon salad but the miso glazed seabass is just not to my taste, it’s too sweet. In fact on our next cruise I’m going to see if I can pre-order ‘plain’ seabass!

 

I'm confident that they would accommodate a request to prepare without the glaze.   Sea Bass is one of my favorites.

[Jim_Iain]

16 hours ago, ORV said:

There are a number of items that are neither spicy nor red meat. Depending on whether you like tempura or not there is an excellent vegetable tempura as an app, as well as a couple of shrimp dishes. Also Udon noodles and some rice dishes. I like most of what I've had there. We usually pass on the Edamame, the tea and chopstick dance as well as the broth. Just bring on the food. 

 

They all sound nice.   I should have said that I don't mind some spice and pretty accustom to Asian fusion.  We have a tenancy to eat mostly Fish, Chicken and pork.    I will however confess --- I LOVE lamb.

[lorimay]

10 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

They all sound nice.   I should have said that I don't mind some spice and pretty accustom to Asian fusion.  We have a tenancy to eat mostly Fish, Chicken and pork.    I will however confess --- I LOVE lamb.

If you love lamb, then Oceania is the cruise line for you. I also love lamb and my husband won't eat it, so when we are on a cruise I tend to order a lot of it. This last cruise I realized I had lamb at dinner for the first three nights. The Terrace grill does lamb chops to order (along with lobster tail, steak, and shrimp - maybe chicken). Sometimes they are carving leg of lamb at lunch or dinner. Each of the specialty restaurants has lamb offerings and I believe the GDR does most nights too. 

 

While I am not a big fan of the buffet on Celebrity ships (very much quantity over quality), the buffet on the three larger Oceania ships I have sailed is in a whole different league. The quality and freshness of the food is very good. 

[Harters]

17 minutes ago, lorimay said:

lamb offerings and I believe the GDR does most nights too. 

That's not my recollection from our transatlantic earlier this year. It actually seemed to be quite a rare occurrence and I never ordered it and my partner only twice. If it had been on the menu most nights, I'm sure we would have ordered it more often  as it's probably the meat most often eaten at home.

 

A look through the menus posted on the Priesmans website is always a good bit of food porn. Their last on O

https://www.thepreismans.com/riviera_24_menus.htm#grand

[babysteps]

3 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

They all sound nice.   I should have said that I don't mind some spice and pretty accustom to Asian fusion.  We have a tenancy to eat mostly Fish, Chicken and pork.    I will however confess --- I LOVE lamb.

Me too!

You probably already know this from your research, but for all of us who enjoy lamb:

The rack of lamb at RG is lovely (for your Vista cruise next year).

The lambchops on the GDR breakfast menu are small (both around and thickness) but tasty.

Terrace grill usually offers lamb chops (thick) every night.

[cruisingxpert]

Unless they dropped it, the GDR serves baby lamb chops for breakfast.

[JDPCruisers]

17 hours ago, babysteps said:

Me too!

You probably already know this from your research, but for all of us who enjoy lamb:

The rack of lamb at RG is lovely (for your Vista cruise next year).

The lambchops on the GDR breakfast menu are small (both around and thickness) but tasty.

Terrace grill usually offers lamb chops (thick) every night.

As do I so this is welcomed news. Oh, what brand of welcome Champagne do they have in the Suites and around the ship?

[flviking]

I am looking forward to the lamb options.  One trip to New Zealand I ate some form of lamb every day for 23 days.  Even had lamb on pizza!

[ORV]

38 minutes ago, JDPCruisers said:

As do I so this is welcomed news. Oh, what brand of welcome Champagne do they have in the Suites and around the ship?

There is no "Welcome Champagne" around the ship. Depending on the ship the Champagne available at lunch and dinner could be Heidseick Monopole Blue top or Germain. 

 

In the suites, Concierge & up it will vary. Usually the Heidseick or better. 

[JDPCruisers]

Just now, ORV said:

There is no "Welcome Champagne" around the ship. Depending on the ship the Champagne available at lunch and dinner could be Heidseick Monopole Blue top or Germain. 

 

In the suites, Concierge & up it will vary. Usually the Heidseick or better. 

Thanks for this info. Yes, I was referring to the Suites so appreciate it.