JYDCruise

The plural of anecdote (not even plural in this case, just the same one repeated ad nauseam) is not data.

Not commenting about De Laurentis specifically but being a media superstar chef definitely does not preclude someone from having "sufficient credentials". Just because "Oh! I've heard of . . .", for example Emeril "Bam!" Legasse or Gordon "F!$k" Ramsey doesn't mean they don't have very legitimate cooking chops, because they most certainly do. IMO either would have been good choices for culinary advisors regardless of their popularity. And Jacque Pepin - what problem does he have? Pepin had/has quite the culinary background before becoming a media star, really before chefs became media stars at all. Sufficient credentials, indeed.

Did someone force you to eat that pizza?? For me, luxury is the ability to eat what I feel like, not what my inner accountant claims I should. Sometimes that's bar en croute, and sometimes that's (hope you're sitting down) . . . a pizza. I know from experience that after a few nights straight of Michelin-starred dinners (to which I'm not equating the Oceania food, decent as it is), I want a break. Having the option to eat what many say is a pretty decent pizza (or burger, or butter chicken, or . . . ) when you feel like it is part of a luxury offering.

Yes. See my post above - the collar was the key to entry into the GDR.

We had completely forgotten about the GDR dress code when on the Marina a couple of weeks ago, and my son was wearing a (very nice, clean, no logo) T-shirt when we went there for dinner. The maître d' gently reminded us that my son needed a collared shirt, so he changed into a polo shirt. No problem, no muss, no fuss, though I suspect the T shirt was nicer/higher quality than the polo.

At first, I was wondering how you watched a game (SDSU - UConn) that hasn't been played yet, and then remembered last year's final. Quite a coincidence that they're matched up again!

Sigh . . . really? OK, what happened exactly is that the server wheeled up the tray with the fish and immediately* started portioning it out. I would have expected and hoped that he would have given us the opportunity to admire the effort that went into creating the puff pastry fish before cutting it apart. I would have also appreciated being served a bit of the leftover puff pastry, but I'm greedy that way. The fish was properly cooked and quite tasty regardless. *I'll concede that it was not truly "immediate" in Planck time terms.

EJ's goal in handling this should be leaving you, the customer, feeling good about the resolution. I worked briefly helping a sizable company create and roll out a loyalty program. As a new program, there were some issues but management made it clear that the customers were to be taken care of, to the point were they were more than satisfied. In your case, were I EJ, as an absolute minimum I would have offered you a 10% refund (as the cruise was shortened by 10%) and your choice of either a couple of nights hotel stay pre-cruise (if you stay with your original flights) or compensation for changing your flights. That's the make-whole part, but I'd also offer you something else, OBC or FCC, to leave you feeling "hey, this all worked out well".

We just got off of Marina, and Jacques was my favorite among the specialties. The service missed on a couple of points (no amuse? and the tableside presentation of the Bar en Croûte lasted about 1/4 second before the server started cutting into the beautiful puff pastry), but the dishes were well conceived, well executed and flavorful. Is it "authentic" French? Not really, but to me that's not a problem.

It was the butler, of course. That's why Sthrngary's coffee was late.

Off topic, but this can be a problem for me with tasting menus - even small portions add up when there are enough of them. At an absolutely marvelous kaiseki dinner in Japan, at one point I found myself thinking "I hope that there aren't any more courses".

Well, I learn something new every day. Thanks! Increasing antibiotic resistance is a massive concern, though, but I assume that's part of the calculus in their recommendation. We went to the travel medicine group of our medical provider before our very recent trip to South America, and got an encyclopedia's worth of warnings (and, eventually, Yellow Fever and Hep A vaccines) but I don't recall any discussion about pre-prescribing antibiotics.

That's the point. The poster to whom I was responding is arming him/herself with antibiotic "just in case", and apparently will self-diagnose as to whether they have a viral or bacterial infection, or something else, and then pop pills (or not). That's not a good plan, IMO, in any jurisdiction, and is part of why bacteria develop resistance so quickly to the few new antibiotics being developed.

IANAD, but am extremely surprised that a doctor would prescribe an antibiotic to be taken at the patient's discretion on a cruise. Is the plan that in event of a problem, you confirm the need for an antibiotic with the ship's medical personnel, and then have the mediation already at hand? Overuse of antibiotics is a major world health issue, and part of why antibiotics lose their effectiveness over time.

Darn! I would have really enjoyed renting a 1931 Austin 7 Swallow!

Mainly bourbon and cornflakes (in a cookie-ish form so they stay crisp), in a vanilla ice cream base.

(emphasis added) "Stop belaboring the issue" . . . and yet, here you are with 3 out of your 22 posts. 🤣 🤣🤣 And as for the "bunch of babies" comment, well . . .

Strictly in the interest of Science, and with a valorous effort to "take one for the team", I have tried several flavors of Humphry Slocombe on my current cruise. My key metric is "is it worth the calories"? Elvis The Fat Years - how they are able to make all of the key components (peanut brittle, banana, bacon) shine individually and yet remain in perfect harmony is remarkable. I can see how some people might not like it, but for me it's 9/10. Worth the calories, obviously. Summer Sweet Corn - again, probably not to everyone's taste but wonderful and evident corn flavor, and I'd go back for it again . . . and did. 8/10 and worth the calories. Toast and Jam - eh, IMO needed more jam flavor. 5/10, not worth the calories. I did not try a couple of others that have been served on this cruise as I have had them before, and can get them anytime at the nearby grocery store. Black Sesame - good, but not my favorite. 6/10 and not worth the calories Secret Breakfast - YOWZA! 10/10 and worth risking a heart attack. Note that they make a similar flavor without the bourbon (identical, maybe?). Like the flavors or not, I simply don't see how anyone could possibly claim that HS is not a "premium" ice cream.

I think she's fine. Her announcements are crisp and easy to understand, does a nice job leading trivia, and is a solid performer based on her solo show last night.

Day 5 on the Buenos Aires - Rio cruise. Today is Balneario Camboriu . . . or rather, it was supposed to be. In what appears to be an Oceania tradition, though we are anchored in port, the Captain has determined that it is too choppy for the tenders to operate so today is "cancelled" and will become a second consecutive sea day. There are certainly some swells, but to my untrained eye it doesn't look too bad (no whitecaps, but more of a rolling wave, maybe 4 feet???) - but there's a reason that he is the captain, and I am not! The crew scrambled to change the day's activities, and we all had a revised schedule by 9:30 or so. 12:30 now, and we're still at anchor. The morning cancellation announcement indicated we'd be here for a couple of hours while the Brazil immigration was processed but perhaps it's going slower than anticipated. They have opened the GDR for lunch, since it's now a "sea day". Sea day activities included gaming tournaments, slots, blackjack and poker. My son and I played in the Texas Hold'em tournament. There were 3 tables, top 3 places paid out 50/30/20. When we got to the final 4, there were two big stacks, two small (though given the huge blind increases, nobody really had that many chips) and we agreed that the 2 big stacks would split the first and second place prizes, and the 2 small stacks split third place. As my son had one of the big stacks, and I had one of the small, it worked out pretty well for us! 😁 One bit of a surprise - as yesterday was a sea day, I thought the laundry room would be packed but I was able to jump right in and get a load done. The entertainment last night was Fred Becker, a magician/comic, and I enjoyed his show. In my limited experience, the comics on board cruise ships are dated (Azamara comic kept referencing his time working on Benny Hill . . . ) with bland material and, well, just not that funny. Becker, however, interacted well with the audience, had a funny routine, good improv skills and decent magic tricks. He's doing another show on the last night, and I'll definitely go. Our second go-round at Toscana was pretty much the same as the first - good if not great food, good if not great service (see: auctioneer-speed olive oil salesman). Viz-a-viz Azamara's Aqualina, I'd give Toscana the edge and of course there's no additional fee. Could Toscana make it as a land-based restaurant? I think if the food was reasonably priced (think mid-range/family restaurant), then yes, it could; it's certainly better than some of my local options. The food wouldn't justify luxury or high-end pricing, though. Last night was Indian food in the Terrace Cafe, and it was pretty good, better than I had thought it might be (note that I come from the San Jose area, where we have a lot of Indian restaurants, and we eat Indian food on a regular basis), with the lamb surprisingly well spiced. Well done, Oceania!

To help keep this topic/thread going, we are currently on the Marina, boarding yesterday in Buenos Aires and are now in Montevideo, Uruguay. Some of my comments will be newbie-ish, as this is our first cruise on Oceania (and only 4th overall). Despite having to go to an alternative port location (Oceania fully informed us of this), boarding was efficient and quick. We were able to book an additional specialty at Toscana for 8:30 which was fine with us and then wandered the entire ship. To my inexperienced eye, the ship seems to be in fine condition. Is there a bit of minor wear here and there if you look specifically for it? Sure, ships are exposed to pretty rough environments, so of course it's not 100% just off the showroom floor, but really not that far off. Dinner at Toscana was fine, if not particularly exciting. The dishes were all cooked properly, the pasta was quite nice and the lobster itself (risotto and tagliatelle) was good, just that none of the dishes are anything that we'll remember in a day or two. The service was good, though the olive oil introduction was done at light-speed and the concept, while interesting, falls flat. Note that the menu isn't exactly what is shown on the website, but that's doubtless due to seasonality and sourcing (though it wouldn't be hard for them to show the current menu, really) and it's probably 85-90% the same as online. We stopped by the casino and watched for a bit - maybe 10 people playing table games, plus a few at the slots. People were having fun, though I don't know that this can really be much of a profit center for Oceania. Montevideo was very nice, and the weather was absolutely perfect. We booked an independent walking tour and had a good guide. I'd be interested in coming back for a few days to see more of Uruguay.

Azamara also allows individual passengers to upgrade. It’s nice that both lines treat their passengers as adults.

I guess I don't understand this at all. "Thankfully there aren't" some special events? Don't like the Azamazing Evening? Don't go. Don't like the White Night? Don't go. Seems pretty simple to me. Unless you're trying to argue that the money spent on these is taken away from things you prefer, how could having these events that others enjoy diminish your experience in the slightest?

The Oceania website is, to say the least, not up to date and very misleading in this case. If you have Simply More, the cost to upgrade the drink package is $30/day, despite showing the old pre-SM pricing; in fact, IIRC it shows that you would still need to buy the basic drink package, even though it's included with SM. If you call Oceania, they will upgrade you on the phone at the $30/day rate.

Yes, but . . . too much! We just got back from dinner at a BA steakhouse. 2 entrees, 1 steak and 1 side was more than enough for 2 of us. We then decided to share the 1/2 portion of the dessert tasting. The HALF portion. HALF. It was enough to put a family of 8 into a week-long sugar coma.