Review of FOOD on Riviera 6/17 Lisbon to Rome(Work in progress)

Stayed in the PH 6/17 10 day cruise on Riviera. I am a foodie thus this review is focused on the food of the ship. Since I cant post pictures in the official review section(that I know of) I will post my review here. I am writing this review when I can so excuse the poor grammer/spelling and it will probably take mult post and a few days to cover all the food. Some general comments/tips before I start:

- Extra dining reservation on this mostly full 10 day cruise was very hard to come by(either that or our butler was not aggressive enough). Luckily we had a butler to bring the food to us in our suite. So for those who dont have a butler the visuals may help them decide the few items they may want to try.

- The thelassotherapy(spelling?) pool by the spa is a great spot and officially its for suite or spa guests only. However, no staff checks(on our cruise) who is entering the area. They serve the usual host of drinks on a cart in the area as well.

- You can order virgin strawberry daiquiri or other virgin blended drinks at the bar by the pool at no charge. Great for none alcoholic drinkers like myself.

- I saw 2 instances of of cruisers mistreating staff. Its something I've never seen on any other vacations before. In both cases they were arrogant and total jerks. There is a word for people who harass another who cant fight back. Its called bullying. Having said that except these two the vast majority of cruisers were pleasant.

On with the food:

This was sitting in our suite when we arrived. A nice touch. Desserts on the ship is generally not too sweet(more European style) which I enjoy.

Drinks at the gym.

Some general items served on the terrace grill lunch on boarding. Generally decent but nothing spectacular either. Dinner is better. All the crab used on board is real crab btw. Not the imitation stuff.

NOW I remember why I booked a mostly do-nothing cruise to the Western Caribbean in December, even though we couldn't really afford it! We've been to all the ports before, so we're mostly going to stay on the ship and enjoy the food!

It's a Good Thing that your photos are so beautiful and you're reminding me of the 20 days we've already spent on Riviera. It's a Bad Thing that you're making me so hungry! :p

Continuing on...

Another dish of boarding lunch

Snacks they gave us when we ordered a drink at martini. Not available all the time I believe.

Raw beef capaccio at toscana. Not the wrost beef capaccio but certainly not the best I've had. Fairly bland in flavor. Beef sliced so thin that it sticks to the plate. 2/5 fair dish.

Lobster Risotto at Toscana. Excellently prepared. Risotto cooked perfectly(al dente style). Flavor was rich and creamy with large chunks of lobster. 5/5 a much try if you enjoy risotto.

The octopus carpaccio at Toscana. A visually beautiful dish. However the taste similar to the beef carpaccio is somewhat none existant. It is again sliced too thin and I am not even sure if its raw(texture suggest that it may be cooked). 2/5.

The Veal rack at Toscana. Possibly the best meat dish in Toscana. Your frist reaction when you see it is soft "wow..." Tastes as impressive as it is visually. Tender with a creamy sweet sauce. Easily a $50+ dish at fine establishments. 5/5 must try if you enjoy Veal.

Going to bed now... I will post more tomorrow only if this thread becomes popular since it is so time consuming.

goodnight!

I get only blanks where the pictures are supposed to be.

What am I (or my computer) missing?

PS A couple of pictures loaded as I typed this but most are still blank - maybe I'll just give it some time?

The Veal rack at Toscana. Possibly the best meat dish in Toscana. Your frist reaction when you see it is soft "wow..." Tastes as impressive as it is visually. Tender with a creamy sweet sauce. Easily a $50+ dish at fine establishments. 5/5 must try if you enjoy Veal.

Wow, that looks amazing. I LOVE food based keep up the good work.

I was on the same cruise and the Beef Capaccio in Red Ginger was unbelievable. Fully of flavour and to say mouth watering is the understatement.

Continuing on...

 

Another dish of boarding lunch

 

 

 

Snacks they gave us when we ordered a drink at martini. Not available all the time I believe.

 

 

 

 

Raw beef capaccio at toscana. Not the wrost beef capaccio but certainly not the best I've had. Fairly bland in flavor. Beef sliced so thin that it sticks to the plate. 2/5 fair dish.

 

 

 

Lobster Risotto at Toscana. Excellently prepared. Risotto cooked perfectly(al dente style). Flavor was rich and creamy with large chunks of lobster. 5/5 a much try if you enjoy risotto.

Thanks for taking the time to post this information. We are booked on our first Oceania cruise next year and looking forward to the food and service.

Can you please expand on your comment re the difficulty in getting dinner reservations? Did you attempt to book online in advance? Or did you choose to have your butler handle it once aboard?

Since we are booked in a standard cabin, I am now concerned that we will be last on the list for dining in the specialty restaurants. We do prefer to dine later, about 8-8:30, and wondering about the popularity of those times.

Thanks.

Please.....sir...may we have more???? :)

Boarding Riviera in a bit over two weeks and can't wait :p

I was on the same cruise and the Beef Capaccio in Red Ginger was unbelievable. Fully of flavour and to say mouth watering is the understatement.

I reviewed the beef cappcio in toscana not the one in red ginger. And yes the cappaccio at Red Ginger is better than the one in Toscana. I have a pic of that as well hopefully will eventually get to it.

Thanks for taking the time to post this information. We are booked on our first Oceania cruise next year and looking forward to the food and service.

 

Can you please expand on your comment re the difficulty in getting dinner reservations? Did you attempt to book online in advance? Or did you choose to have your butler handle it once aboard?

 

Since we are booked in a standard cabin, I am now concerned that we will be last on the list for dining in the specialty restaurants. We do prefer to dine later, about 8-8:30, and wondering about the popularity of those times.

 

Thanks.

Everyone will get their 4 guranteed specialty reservations. And yes, definitely go online in advance to book them. Its getting more than one shot at each specialty restaurant(especially on a full and shorter cruise) that was the challenge. The menu is fairly lengthy and with only one go its impossible to try even half of menu(unless you have a butler who can bring the food to your room).

You take good photos! thank you!! As a "foodie" myself I can't wait to try the food on Oceania. I endorse the plea for moooore!!

Continued...

The Lemon Veal Scallopini from Toscana. A few have raved about this dish on the forums. Personally for me while the sauce is decent, the meat itself was on the dry side(you dont get to pick how well its done for this dish, it comes well done). The meat texture itself reminded me of porkchops. The perfect meat for me would be American snake river wagyu or USDA prime cooked rare to medium-rare, and this veal was distant from the ideal. 3/5 Its decent but I'd recommend you go with the veal rack rare to medium-rare instead.

Caviargal,

Another point. You can't assume because reservations were hard to get (upon boarding) on one cruise that the same is true for all cruises. A lot of it depends on your fellow passengers.

I know we aren't the only ones who tend to UNDER-use our allotted reservations, especially on the "R" ships. So if there are a fair number of like-minded people on a cruise, reservations will be easier to get.

Likewise, if most of the passengers want to eat in the specialty reservations as often as they can -- you probably will have difficulty with reservations.

It seems to me that it was a fairer system when no one could book the restaurants until boarding. Even then, suite passengers had an advantage ... but it wasn't so noticeable. As it is now, suite passengers can pre-book all their allotted reservations before lesser cabins have a chance.

Mura

NOW I remember why I booked a mostly do-nothing cruise to the Western Caribbean in December, even though we couldn't really afford it! We've been to all the ports before, so we're mostly going to stay on the ship and enjoy the food!

And I have to remember that in preparation for my Riviera Crossing next year I have to lose that weight that I gained on my last cruise!

Carpaccio. If it's good in Red Ginger maybe I'll try it. I will certainly try that risotto, it sounds great.

Continued...

The Dover Sole at Toscana. Served tableside. Buttery, Creamy, soft, and a little bit of fun since they filet it in front of you. However, its nothing amazing and it is dwarfed in a major way by another fish dish served in Red Ginger. 3/5 solid but nothing amazing. In fact.... As a lover of fish I've had fish cooked and raw in many ways and country, from the cheap to pricy, and a fish dish from Red Ginger was so jaw dropping amazing that it will be etched in my memory forever. More on that later. :)

I should not have looked at these photos prior to eating breakfast ~ I'm now salivating! Thanks for posting these pics along with the commentary. I can't wait to be on the Riviera next July.

Harriet

Continued...

 

The Dover Sole at Toscana. Served tableside. Buttery, Creamy, soft, and a little bit of fun since they filet it in front of you. However, its nothing amazing and it is dwarfed in a major way by another fish dish served in Red Ginger. 3/5 solid but nothing amazing. In fact.... As a lover of fish I've had fish cooked and raw in many ways and country, from the cheap to pricy, and a fish dish from Red Ginger was so jaw dropping amazing that it will be etched in my memory forever. More on that later. :)

Were you able to try the Dover sole in Jacques? It might have been prepared more to your liking.

And I have to remember that in preparation for my Riviera Crossing next year I have to lose that weight that I gained on my last cruise!

 

Carpaccio. If it's good in Red Ginger maybe I'll try it. I will certainly try that risotto, it sounds great.

Wendy, when you go to Red Ginger try to go with six or eight people and ask the waiter/waitress to serve family style..I have found thats the best way to get a taste of everything and believe me everything is out of this world!!

Jancruz1

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Lobster Tail served over "Tagliolini" pasta in Toscana. All you can taste is garlic, tomato, olive oil, and of course juicy lobster as well as al dente pasta. 4/5 fresh, simple, and delicious.

A pre-dessert snack at Toscana.

Chocolate dumplings at Toscana. Oceania knows their dessert. I really enjoyed the milky sauce and the rubbery(in a very good way) texture of the dumpling. The chocolate on the ship again taste more European than American(ie. More bitter than sweet). Contrast that with the slightly sweeter cream sauce and it was perfect.

Dessert sampler at Toscana.

Olive oil selection. I am no olive oil expert so it was a bit confusing.

Continued...

Jacques "finest selection of AOC french cheese." Woah who cut the cheese! I enjoy cheese; even the slightly more pungent stuff... but I was not prepared for this... at all. Lets just say some smelled like toe jam while others a variety of body odors in a crowded Rome no air conditioning subway in the summer(which we got to experience first hand at the end of cruise). The mold is very visible on some pieces and it tastes very "well aged" to put it nicely. I will not review this plate since it would be like a non-alcohol drinker reviewing fine wine I suppose. However be warned... this dish I consider to be for expert cheese eater only.

Continued...

If you are a average american cheese eater like myself and crave for some cheese... ask them to chip off some cheese for you from the wheel in Toscana. Its delicious! Great Parmesan!

I would probably avoid this lady unless you know what your in for. They look awfully similar to the "fine AOE french cheese."

I was on that cruise also. Riviera is amazing and the official O photos do not do her justice.

I thought the food was really good in all venues and was very pleasantly surprised by how much I liked Red Ginger! But extra or changed reservations were very hard to come by.

The only issue we had was at disembarkation at Rome. The Rome Port Authority shut down the process twice, the last time for about a hour at 8:15 am. O's President even went ashore to try and work things out. The Port finally allowed the process to restart only after all luggage was off the ship. Why it took over 3 hours to get the luggage off is another matter.

Unfortunately, the delay probably caused some folks to miss flights and when the process was restarted, one 'gentleman' shoved his way to the front of the line, yelling and cursing at everyone who had been waiting for over an hour in line. :mad: Others who had tight connections politely asked if they could squeeze in and the line let them.

I have to say I really love Oceania and the cruise was extraordinary!

Charlotte

I was on that cruise also. Riviera is amazing and the official O photos do not do her justice.

 

I thought the food was really good in all venues and was very pleasantly surprised by how much I liked Red Ginger! But extra or changed reservations were very hard to come by.

 

The only issue we had was at disembarkation at Rome. The Rome Port Authority shut down the process twice, the last time for about a hour at 8:15 am. O's President even went ashore to try and work things out. The Port finally allowed the process to restart only after all luggage was off the ship. Why it took over 3 hours to get the luggage off is another matter.

 

Unfortunately, the delay probably caused some folks to miss flights and when the process was restarted, one 'gentleman' shoved his way to the front of the line, yelling and cursing at everyone who had been waiting for over an hour in line. :mad: Others who had tight connections politely asked if they could squeeze in and the line let them.

 

I have to say I really love Oceania and the cruise was extraordinary!

Charlotte

Was that "gentlemen" tall, Caucasian, Mosyly gray haired, not bald, maybe late 50s, and overweight?

Continued...

 

Jacques "finest selection of AOC french cheese." Woah who cut the cheese! I enjoy cheese; even the slightly more pungent stuff... but I was not prepared for this... at all. Lets just say some smelled like toe jam while others a variety of body odors in a crowded Rome no air conditioning subway in the summer(which we got to experience first hand at the end of cruise). The mold is very visible on some pieces and it tastes very "well aged" to put it nicely. I will not review this plate since it would be like a non-alcohol drinker reviewing fine wine I suppose. However be warned... this dish I consider to be for expert cheese eater only.

 

The stinkier the better for me - looks like heaven!