Live from nautica 7/15

[TERRIER1]

Hardly matters who is responsible. Bad food is bad for Oceania and used to be unusual and now it is more and more often. Not very good for their foodie reputation.

 

I remember a time not too long ago if there were negative food comments FDR would jump right in to the thread and interject. I haven't seen that at all lately.

[LHT28]

What one needs to understand is that the issue may run deeper than a "hiring agency". Prestige Cruise Holdings (AKA Oceania & Regent) is majority owned

by Apollo Global Management (APO on the NYSE). One of Apollo's subsidiaries

hires and manages almost all crew except those on the bridge & engine room.

This includes the kitchens.

 

Exactly! so they should be more slective in their hiring practices

Anyone from some Countries can say they have cooking experience & forge papers to get accepted by Apollo

[CintiPam]

I can get better steak at Golden Coral.

 

OMG!:eek:

 

Sounds like I will be sticking with Riviera for my future Oceania cruises.

[LHT28]

OMG!:eek:

 

Sounds like I will be sticking with Riviera for my future Oceania cruises.

 

That is no guarantee things will be better ;)

 

Our worst meals on Oceania were on the Riveira in January ...you were luckier than us ;)

 

Lyn

Edited July 27, 2014 by LHT28

[pacheco18]

I have been speaking with the exec chef every day. He is very visible and likes to engage with passengers. He is all over the polo problem it will be fixed

 

 

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[Paulchili]

I have been speaking with the exec chef every day. He is very visible and likes to engage with passengers. He is all over the polo problem it will be fixed

 

 

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He can "fix" the steak preparation issue but not the meat quality (not short term, anyway).

Not what I want to hear about food on Oceania :(

[hypercafe]

To really be honest I was never impressed with the quality of beef.

 

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[pacheco18]

He can "fix" the steak preparation issue but not the meat quality (not short term, anyway).

 

Not what I want to hear about food on Oceania :(

 

 

He is also looking into supplier issues. At least we have a proactive chef. He prepared an Icelandic buffet last night that was wonderful. Lots of fresh fish prepared in a myriad of ways. Everything food wise has been great except polo. I have had bad polo experiences on other cruises as well. Bad Toscana experiences too

 

The sky is not falling

 

 

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[LAexNY]

With all due respect to Laraine and Paul, with whom we are cruising, we've had two excellent meals at Polo on this cruise. The NY strip steak has been perfect. Let's not get hysterical. I don't agree that the food has been mediocre, although some meals are better than others.

[pacheco18]

With all due respect to Laraine and Paul, with whom we are cruising, we've had two excellent meals at Polo on this cruise. The NY strip steak has been perfect. Let's not get hysterical. I don't agree that the food has been mediocre, although some meals are better than others.

 

 

I acknowledge that some have reported good meals in polo. The fact that many of us have been dissatisfied simply means there's work to be done. It should be consistently good. That's the mark of a good restaurant

 

 

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[pacheco18]

I had a terrific prime rib in polo tonight. Our table mate complained that the pork chop Was tough and I edible. Another table mate a few nights ago said the pork chop was tender and delicious

 

Consistency is the issue or lack of it

 

 

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[editor@cruisecritic]

Laraine, loving your posts from Nautica, feel like I'm back onboard with you!

 

Carolyn

 

Carolyn Spencer Brown

Editor in Chief

Cruise Critic

[hondorner]

What one needs to understand is that the issue may run deeper than a "hiring agency". Prestige Cruise Holdings (AKA Oceania & Regent) is majority owned

by Apollo Global Management (APO on the NYSE). One of Apollo's subsidiaries

hires and manages almost all crew except those on the bridge & engine room.

This includes the kitchens.

Yet more proof that a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. The above statement is untrue.

 

Apollo Global Management does own a significant percentage of Oceania and Regent, through their subsidiary Prestige Cruise Holdings, managed by Oceania founders and executives with minimal BoD participation by Apollo. They recognize a good thing and for the most part leave it alone.

 

Read about The Apollo Group for yourselves. There is no more connection between them than the coincidence of the name.

Rafael A. Ordoñez founded Apollo in 1969 with a very simple mission statement in mind: To offer the best quality product at the lowest possible price. One single word, - quality - became the mantra that would define Apollo in the most competitive field of the cruise industry.

Apollo's culinary product was an integral part of the growth of great cruise companies such as Carnival, Chandris, and Celebrity Cruises. Forty years later, the same holds true with Oceania Cruises, Regent Seven Seas, and Island Cruises.

 

Blame The Apollo Group if you like, but there is NO connection between them and Apollo Global Management and NO dastardly conspiracy theories.

[ronrick1943]

Quality is Quality, if it's not the same every night something is missing and that's MANAGEMENT from Miami. It seems like it's lacking and that's not good.

Rick

[ronrick1943]

I have to tell you I think it's more than food. We just last month got off a 28day b2b cruise and had are share of problems (but we still enjoyed the cruise). That said we booked the next cruise on SilverSeas, talking to SilverSeas people is night and day from "O". It's all about service, service and more service. I'm looking forward to seeing how it will work out, but if the service is anything like before you cruise-it should be good. I'll let you know the end of August how it was compared to "O".

 

Rick

[pacheco18]

Laraine, loving your posts from Nautica, feel like I'm back onboard with you!

 

Carolyn

 

Carolyn Spencer Brown

Editor in Chief

Cruise Critic

 

 

Hello Carolyn

 

I know you've been almost everywhere but this itinerary was out of this world. You'd have had a ball with 70 ccers on board. One of the best cruises I have taken

 

 

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[Travelcat2]

I spoke with the Food and Beverage Director on Regent last week about quality differences in their lamb chops/rack of lamb. We learned that the great lamb chop and the mediocre one came from the same farm - the same heard -- the same shipment. I suppose that, like human beings, born and raised in the same environment with the same food and nutritional supplements, not all lambs, cattle, etc. are going to be equal or even consistent. I had not thought of the inconsistencies in this way which is why I'm sharing what I learned. Perhaps the chefs should be paying more attention to obvious deficiencies in some cuts of meat(?)

 

For anyone who does know, Regent and Oceania get their meat from the same supplier.

[durante]

Re Travelcats post, on Insignia, we had a fabulous rack of lamb in the MDR, yet in Polo, it was horrible. We were told that the MDR lamb was from New Zealand, and the Polo lamb from USA. If this was indeed correct, then the meat can be sourced from different places.

[pacheco18]

The cookies are now perfect

Chef worked on them the entire cruise

 

Overall the food on this cruise has been the best I have ever had on o, with the exception of polo. But I have had disasters in polo on other cruises

 

This exec chef is inventive and hands on. The results were fantastic

 

He will be on nautica again in January for my Cape Town to Singapore cruise. I'm quite delighted about that

 

Sea day tomorrow and then home

 

 

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Edited July 31, 2014 by pacheco18

[Travelcat2]

Re Travelcats post, on Insignia, we had a fabulous rack of lamb in the MDR, yet in Polo, it was horrible. We were told that the MDR lamb was from New Zealand, and the Polo lamb from USA. If this was indeed correct, then the meat can be sourced from different places.

 

That is really very interesting since all of Regent's lamb is from New Zealand. I guess that, although Regent and Oceania have the same suppliers, their orders are different. Thanks for the information.

 

It is interesting for me to read about the Insignia -- we will be visiting the ship when it is in port with the Riviera in December. It will be the first time seeing Oceania's smaller ships.

[avalong]

My husband and I took a 3+ week land-based trip traveling around New Zealand. Interesting fact: in only ONE restaurant did we find rack of lamb on offer. A Kiwi told us that we had not just been unlucky, that in fact you did not often find rack of lamb offered in restaurants there (leg of lamb, lamb shanks, yes -- rack of lamb, no). Our theory was that there were exporting all the rack of lamb to the U.S..... & apparently Oceania!

[editor@cruisecritic]

I wish we were there!

 

Have done some of the itinerary -- the Scottish part, and loved the Faroe Islands. Also did Reykjavik, but not Akeyuri, that's on my bucket list. And haven't seen Greenland. Yet.

 

The Faroes -- magic :)

 

Carolyn

 

Hello Carolyn

 

I know you've been almost everywhere but this itinerary was out of this world. You'd have had a ball with 70 ccers on board. One of the best cruises I have taken

 

 

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[pacheco18]

I wish we were there!

 

Have done some of the itinerary -- the Scottish part, and loved the Faroe Islands. Also did Reykjavik, but not Akeyuri, that's on my bucket list. And haven't seen Greenland. Yet.

 

The Faroes -- magic :)

 

Carolyn

 

 

Agree

 

Heading home

Until the next one. Lol

 

 

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[NCP]

Thank you for your info. We will be taling our first O cruise next January.

[GotTheTeeShirt]

We traveled with Bob and enjoyed him. Does anyone know how he is or when he will be back? Thanks!