Food Question

[cruising diva]

I know that Oceania is open seating and you can go to different restaurants.What happens if you want to request a special meal such as low-fat, fat-free, vegetables steamed, no sauces , special orders etc? Is this possible to do if you are not at the same place each night?
How difficult is it to get a table for 2 each night in whatever restaurant we want? My husband and I enjoy eating alone. Thank you in advance for your answers.

[meow!]

I think you can ask for low salt, low fat, etc., when you order your meal in any restaurant (except for buffet, of course, there you have to choose the items on your own). As for tables for two, we had all our meals by ourselves during our two week cruise this past April. You may have to wait for ten minutes at times at the main restaurant, but normally this should not be a problem. As for the two specialty restaurants, you have to pre-book days ahead of time (the earlier the better) any way! I hope this helps.

[Andee]

One evening we ate dinner with a woman who needs a gluten free diet. She had no trouble getting food that she could eat, and they brought her special bread and cookies no matter what table she was at.

[lcand1923]

Oceana would only accept one reservation for Polo and one reservation for Toscana on the day of sailing. We returned to the reservation desk each morning trying to make the second dinner reservations for a Table for Two at each restaurant. We had limited success.

At Toscana, we got a reservation for 6:30 on the night we sailed. The table was near the kitchen. (We only saw two tables for two -- both against a wall and near the kitchen or a serving station.) The second reservation was for a night near the end of the cruise and was supposed to be for 8:00. When we got the confirmation, the reservation had been changed to 9:30.

At Polo, we only managed to get one reservation towards the end of the cruise. The reservation was supposed to be for 8:00. When we got the confirmation, the reservation had been changed to 8:30. We were seated at a table that was set up for four. It ended up being a very bad dining experience. The entire meal took roughly 30 minutes because the waiter "hovered" and removed the plate as soon as you laid down a utensil. The funniest part was the wine service. We ordered a bottle of white. The wine steward brought the bottle, poured one glass and then disappeared with the wine bottle. He did not reappear until we were eating desert!

We couldn't help noticing that adjacent tables with six or eight people were getting acceptable service. A table for six was finishing desert when we were seated. They were still lingering over coffee when we left. A table for eight was finishing their main course when we were seated. They were being served desert when we left.

We did not see any Tables for Two in Polo.

We did not try for a Table for Two at the Grand Dining Room. We had no trouble getting a Table for Two at the Terrace Cafe for breakfast and lunch or at Tapas on the Terrace for dinner.

Our general feeling was Oceana does not like parties of two in Polo or Toscana because the restaurants are designed for 90 people and they want to maximize their utilization.

[digby]

I certainly would not have put up with the treatment you describe! Why did you?

[ClaudiaF]

I certainly would not have put up with the treatment you describe! Why did you?
DITTO!!!

[shipcruise]

We got a table for two in both Tuscana and Polo, no problem, also no problema at the Grand dining room either. Only had to wait for 20 min. on the last night. I guess everyone wanted their last night dinner in the main dining room. Tapas is never a problem either. Had great service in all of the dining rooms.

[lcand1923]

We had had a busy day in port and were quite tired, so it didn't register we were having the proverbial "meal from hell" until we couldn't find ANY member of the wait staff to see if they could locate our wine. We then felt we were in a surreal experience and wanted to see how much worse it could get, so we "hung in there".

After a good nights sleep, we realized we should have just walked out and headed for Tapas on the Terrace on the Grand Dining Room.

[meow!]

During our two week Barcelona to Venice cruise this past April, we had two dinners at Toscana and another two at the Polo Grill. We booked the first set (one in each specialty restaurant) the second morning during breakfast at the Terrace Cafe, and then booked the second set four days later. We specifically wanted tables for two, and there was no real problem. We were flexible, however, and were willing to take any night they could assign us. We got true "two-tops" twice, and "tables for four" for just the two of us twice. As long as we could eat alone by ourselves, we did not mind the slightly larger physical size of the table. I agree that they should have more tables for two, especially in the specialty restaurants, and this was one of my recommendations in my review ("Barcelona to Venice, April 10-24, Parts I, II, III and IV by meow!") on this board.

As for the main restaurant, we had to wait at times for up to 20 minutes (average 5 minutes), but this was rather usual for most restaurants, even on land. The Tappas was always half empty, and the buffet dinner there was very nice. It only gained popularity (as people got to know it) as the cruise went on.

Of course, there would be better and worse luck for anybody on any trip, and each individual experience could be rather different. In our case, since we realized that we were travelling with 680 other passengers, we expected to have some "give and take", and were quite happy as things generally went our way! Thank you.

[lcand1923]

As Meow stated, you have to be flexible with Oceana.

We went to the Reservation Desk every day to see if we could get our tables for two and were willing to take any day and any time. Each time, the gentleman at the desk (by the third day he knew my name and cabin - I would LOVE to be able to remember names and faces like the folks on the Regatta!), asked me if we would be willing to share a table. Each time we declined.

Each cruise is different. I have read here and on the Yahoo board about people eating in Polo and Toscana three and four times on cruises because tables were available.

My reason for sharing our bad experience is to give people a "heads up". Every other dining experience on the Regatta was wonderful, with excellent service. We should have recognized as soon the meal started going down-hill that things would not improve.

In other words, the dining venues on the Regatta are like any other restaurant on land. They will have off nights.
Who is at fault - both, the restaurant for starting the bad experience and the diner for not speaking up.

However, I don't believe the diner is wrong in sharing the details of the bad dining experience with others. If you don't share the details, people will think that you "can never be satisfied". By sharing the details, people will think you are an idiot for putting up with bad service, but they will also be prepared when they start seeing things go wrong with their own dining experience and be able to quickly take action and improve the situation.

[ClaudiaF]

The best person to tell about the bad service is the maitre' de that evening.

[lcand1923]

That may be why our dining experience in Polo was so unsatisfactory. We never saw a Maitre D' that evening.
(Since our table was next to the Maitre D' station, we would have seen the Maitre D' if he/she had ever appeared.)


We were seated by the person who was acting as the Assistant Waiter &/or Bus Boy for roughly eight tables, including ours.

Just like on land, if a restaurant does not have anyone in charge, it probably will not provide a good dining experience for all of its patrons.

[ghlinger]

Is there an extra charge at the specialty restaurants?

[LNielsen]

No, no extra charge. :D