"Must do" Foods on Oceania

[Jancruz]

Absolutely loved the warm sticky buns topped with pistachios that the kitchen whipped up every morning. Don't miss the milkshakes at waves - every day a new adventure in ice cream!

 

Well finally a person that has the same taste as I..the sticky buns are the most decadent food on the ship..all home made and made every other day..oh my gosh..I just got back 3 weeks ago from 5 weeks on board and after reading this board I dont know how I will hold out until November 25 for our Amazon cruise..I may have to make a reservation for the Caribbean to get my O fix...(and sticky bun!!!!)

Jan

*****

[ariellejesse]

I found the sticky buns underdone one day and overdone on two other days. One wonders what happens in the kitchen. I guess the person who cannot watch the oven also "cooks" the pasta ( totally underdone on all occasions) and the seafood, including lobster, fish and shrimp, always overdone. The food on the Regatta was certainly a disappointment.

[Jancruz]

I found the sticky buns underdone one day and overdone on two other days. One wonders what happens in the kitchen. I guess the person who cannot watch the oven also "cooks" the pasta ( totally underdone on all occasions) and the seafood, including lobster, fish and shrimp, always overdone. The food on the Regatta was certainly a disappointment.

 

Sorry you felt that way..I have never been disappointed in their food..and I have been on 17 cruises..

Jan

*****

[ariellejesse]

I wrote to FDR who was amenable to my suggestions and observations. I wish he had acted upon the known complaints of uncooked pasta before I sailed.

[Aussie Gal]

ariellejesse,

 

We only like our paste al dente so perhaps this is what you call uncooked. We cannot abide pasta that is overcooked and mushy. Each to their own!

 

Jennie

[MiamiSky66]

I am going on the Regatta on Nov. 11 and all of you have me starving.

[cathi]

Just received our cruise guide for our upcoming cruise and the description, alone, of the homemade ice cream and milkshakes nearly had my DH in tears!!!! He's tried so hard to lose a few pounds the last couple of years and he just knows that Oceania is going to undo all that!!!!!!

[hondorner]

cathi, wait 'til he tastes the homemade sorbet -- good enough to forget the ice cream and save the diet.

[cathi]

OH NO!!! Sorbet!!! That's my downfall!!!! At least it doesn't have the calories of ice cream!! Just over 2 weeks and I'm starving already. What with chocolate croissants, lip-smacking sticky buns, AND chocolate lasgna!!! What more can they come up with!!???? I'll be lucky to keep the weight gain down to 50 pounds!!!!!

[CruiseLiz]

I started this thread a while ago and I remembered that I never updated it with my personal "must do" foods that I enjoyed onboard the Regatta.

 

These are the dishes that I LOVED and still dream about...

 

Crabcake at Polo Grill - soooo good, I thought I had died and gone to heaven

Calamari at Tapas

Sushi at Tapas

Surf & Turf at Polo Grill

Caprese Salad at Toscana

Caesar Salad at Tapas

Chocolate Croissant at Tapas

Omelets at Tapas

Chocolate Flourless Cake at Tapas

Pasta Sampler at Toscana

Packy Burger at Poolside Grill (can't remember the name of the grill)

 

The homemade icecreams were very good, but I found the milkshakes just weren't sweet enough for my tastes. Obviously I found plenty of food to love anyway :)

[lahore]

I agree with most of the above, but what is a 'packy burger'? In Waves I expect? I don't think I saw those on the list in November, had it changed?

[LHT28]

Crabcake at Polo Grill - soooo good, I thought I had died and gone to heaven

Calamari at Tapas

Sushi at Tapas

Surf & Turf at Polo Grill

Caprese Salad at Toscana

Caesar Salad at Tapas

Chocolate Croissant at Tapas

Omelets at Tapas

Chocolate Flourless Cake at Tapas

 

In case people are looking for the Tapas restaurant-

Tapas is only in the evening as part of the buffet, usually the outside section.... the rest of the day it is called the TERRACE.

[DaveFr]

I agree with most of the above, but what is a 'packy burger'? In Waves I expect? I don't think I saw those on the list in November, had it changed?

The Packie burger is from the Waves Grill. It combines a hamburger, short rib meat and blue cheese. It was great. We had it on our Regatta cruise last January.

 

Dave

[CruiseLiz]

The Packie burger is from the Waves Grill. It combines a hamburger, short rib meat and blue cheese. It was great. We had it on our Regatta cruise last January.

 

Dave

 

Its very good and combines interesting flavors, but don't order it if you want to have any room for afternoon tea...it is very filling ;)

[lahore]

Ah Ok, thanks, I didn't have one. Why is it called a 'Packie' burger - I am missing something here.

[kihei228]

I'm curious about the packy burger, too. Is it different from the grilled burger they serve at Waves? Is there a choice? Last Nov., on Insignia, my DH and I were quite underwhelmed by the burgers. I know Oceania cruisers on these boards rave about them, but we thought the quality of the meat was poor. One bite, and that was it. So disappointing after everything we had read here. Other than that, we found the food was good to excellent. Polo Grill and Toscana are the best.:)

[hondorner]

I never saw the Packy burgers on the sign when I was aboard; I'd like to try them. I'm sort of in between kihei228 and many of the others. I thought the meat, which is ground Angus steak, was very good. However, I was disappointed with the preparation. The burgers are cooked in advance, and placed on the griddle for only a few moments to get them hot before serving them. They turned out to be somewhat less than I expected, as a result. They tended to be a bit mushy instead of firm and -- the only word I can think of is "crisp", but that's not quite it. Frankly the Angus Steakburgers from Burger King are better. Part of the problem is that frying a burger on a griddle is not as effective as grilling them over an open flame or broiling them.

 

But, I'm probably more of a burger aficionado than most Oceania passengers. I partially solved the problem at Waves by insisting that the burgers be griddled longer before they served it to me.

[lahore]

I just want to know why they are called 'packy' - and I never saw that name on the menu either from what i recall.

[potterhill]

I, too, was unwhelmed by the burgers at Waves. I expected more and found them to be quite mediocre. The daily fish was much better.

 

Mo

[Rickey 88]

How come no one has ever mentioned the Chocolate Lasagna? When it was dropped from Toscana's menu some years ago, the howls could be heard from miles away. Intervention by FDR put it back on the menu....

[potterhill]

Didn't care for that either! Our entire table ordered it because I told them it was supposed to be amazing. None of us cared for it......and we had some serious chocolate lovers there.

 

Mo

[lcand1923]

We think Oceania food is like restaurant food anywhere, sometimes the kitchen has an off night. Unfortunately with a cruise, the off nights tend to go for the length of the voyage.

 

On our first O cruise, the veal in Toscana was some of the best we had ever eaten. On our second O cruise, it was tough and tasteless. We never got a meal that pleased us at Polo. The beef was always tough. The onion soup from Room Service was better than that served in Polo.

 

The burgers, pizza and ice cream on both cruises was good. The French Toast on the first cruise was better than that on the second. The deserts on the first cruise were far superior to those on the second cruise at all venues.

 

We asked fellow cruisers who we knew were on their third O cruise if the food had gone down. They said that, in their estimation, the food had slipped with each O cruise they had taken.

 

Their biggest complaint on this cruise was that the food tasted as if it had been sitting under warming lamps for quite some time before being served in the GDR, Polo and Toscana. The only place where it tasted fresh to them was in the Terrace. Needless to say, we - and they - ate most of our meals at the Terrace.

[CruiseLiz]

I have no clue why the "Packy" or "Packie" (I can't remember the spelling) is named the way it is....so you're not missing anything.

 

It is on the regular Waves menu (on Regatta at least) where they list the different types of burgers, there was also one with barbeque sauce and onions called Tex or Texas something.

 

I really enjoyed the burgers at Waves, but I don't eat A LOT of beef, so I'm definitely not a burger expert. I also tried one of the paninis and that was very good also.

 

 

In response to the OP, we also ate most of our meals in Tapas on the Terrace. We just found that the environment was more relaxed and we wanted that after walking around all day in port. We also enjoyed the food in Tapas a lot more - the GDR just didn't impress us the 2 times we went there - I found the food in the dining room on Princess or HAL better than what we had in the GDR on Oceania. But we absolutely loved the food in Tapas, Toscana and the Polo Grill.

[Mparis184]

Our first O cruise was in March - TA on the Insigna from Rio to Barcelona. I found the food in the Terrace to be outstanding, the best I have ever had at sea. We only ate dinner once at the Tapas on the Terrace and I wasn't at all impressed. I had one burger and I never ordered another one, it was just OK, not as good as the food in the Terrace or the burgers on Celebrity. I don't remember seeing a sign for "Packy Burgers". I ordered the Chocolate Lasagna because of the rave reviews on the boards. I didn't find it anything special.

I still give O's food a 10, better than most of the other cruise lines.

Marion

[lahore]

Hmmm, so that's our new challenge for trivia = why would someone call a varietal hamburger a 'packie/packy' burger?

 

p.s. agree, we ate at Tapas every night bar one in GDR and several in Polo. I was unimpressed by the GDR - too much waiting, food was less fresh, unable to be selective as in Tapas, and Tapas much more comfortable IMHO.