Terrace Cafe for Dinner?

[CintiPam]

I prefer being served dinner onboard but usually dine at the Terrace Cafe once or twice on a cruise because I love the grilled shrimp and lobster.  I post just to comment that for the first time ever while onboard Marina this past May on our Western Mediterranean cruise that the grill lines were very long.  My husband patiently waited around 15-20 minutes in line only to be told that they had just run out of the ribeye steak he planned to order.  This was at 7:20 pm!  We did not return there again for dinner on our cruise.

[Paulchili]

27 minutes ago, CintiPam said:

My husband patiently waited around 15-20 minutes in line only to be told that they had just run out of the ribeye steak he planned to order.  This was at 7:20 pm!  We did not return there again for dinner on our cruise.

Sorry to hear about this Pam - seems to be part of “new” Oceania.

This is among the reasons why we eat early.

We get a table we want, no lines (or we are near the front), everything is available and hot, get out in time for the show, etc, etc.

I know it’s not everyone’s choice but it works for us.

[CintiPam]

2 hours ago, Paulchili said:

Sorry to hear about this Pam - seems to be part of “new” Oceania.

This is among the reasons why we eat early.

We get a table we want, no lines (or we are near the front), everything is available and hot, get out in time for the show, etc, etc.

I know it’s not everyone’s choice but it works for us.

Paul, we were there by 6:45, our table was great, I already had stood in a shortish line (the usual five or six) and had my dinner plate filled with grilled shrimp and lobster by 7 but spouse did appetizers and salad first so got stuck in a long line that never got shorter the rest of the time we were there, a consistent line of at least 15.  In contrast, the GDR never filled.  Perhaps a unicorn cruise? 

 

We love trivia, and there always was some at 8:30 pm so unless we were dining at a specialty, we too dined early enough to be in Martinis by then.

 

In fairness I should add that the food and service on this cruise were the best we ever have experienced on Oceania.

Edited August 7, 2019 by CintiPam

[Noxequifans]

13 hours ago, CintiPam said:

I prefer being served dinner onboard but usually dine at the Terrace Cafe once or twice on a cruise because I love the grilled shrimp and lobster.  I post just to comment that for the first time ever while onboard Marina this past May on our Western Mediterranean cruise that the grill lines were very long.  My husband patiently waited around 15-20 minutes in line only to be told that they had just run out of the ribeye steak he planned to order.  This was at 7:20 pm!  We did not return there again for dinner on our cruise.

Sorry that happened. But I have to put such inconveniences I encounter in a larger context. Perhaps I am too sympathetic but I usually am just pleased to be on board and traveling. 

[Hawaiidan]

2 hours ago, Noxequifans said:

Sorry that happened. But I have to put such inconveniences I encounter in a larger context. Perhaps I am too sympathetic but I usually am just pleased to be on board and traveling. 

 

That is the essence of of not only travel  but specific, for me, being on Oceania...

 

I think reactions based on a singular experience are perhaps short sighted.    I  had a flat tire the other day...  and got upset and vowed never  to drive again because it upset me.   

[CintiPam]

1 hour ago, Hawaiidan said:

 

That is the essence of of not only travel  but specific, for me, being on Oceania...

 

I think reactions based on a singular experience are perhaps short sighted.    I  had a flat tire the other day...  and got upset and vowed never  to drive again because it upset me.   

I believe that if the last two posters read both my posts 76 and 78 above they would realize I simply was reporting my last experience at dinner in the Terrace Cafe.  My intent was to address the question asked by the OP regarding experiences at dinner at the Tereace Cafe.  We average a cruise a year on Oceania and thought our overall cruise experience just three months ago was excellent in both the food and service areas (see post 78 above) but running out of unfrozen steak before 7:30 pm I thought was worthy of note.

 

Dan, I certainly did not vow to never eat dinner at the Terrace Cafe or sail on Oceania again! 

Edited August 7, 2019 by CintiPam

[Hawaiidan]

8 minutes ago, CintiPam said:

I believe that if the last two posters read both my posts 76 and 78 above they would realize I simply was reporting my last experience at dinner in the Terrace Cafe.  My intent was to address the question asked by the OP regarding experiences at dinner at the Tereace Cafe.  We average a cruise a year on Oceania and thought our overall cruise experience just three months ago was excellent in both the food and service areas (see post 78 above) but running out of unfrozen steak before 7:30 pm I thought was worthy of note.

 

Dan, I certainly did not vow to never eat dinner at the Terrace Cafe or sail on Oceania again! 

Pam  I hoped you  took my comment with the humor  it was intended....     

[CintiPam]

1 hour ago, Hawaiidan said:

 

I think reactions based on a singular experience are perhaps short sighted.    I  had a flat tire the other day...  and got upset and vowed never  to drive again because it upset me.   

Humor?  OK, in that case, haha! 😁. 

[susiesan]

We usually go to the Terrace at 6:30 when it opens and have sushi and appetizers. Then we go to dinner in the GDR. If the weather is nice and the entrees look good, we often just finish dinner at the Terrace. Any time I can have unlimited sushi everyday I am a very happy camper.

[njhorseman]

18 hours ago, Paulchili said:

Sorry to hear about this Pam - seems to be part of “new” Oceania.

 

15 hours ago, CintiPam said:

In fairness I should add that the food and service on this cruise were the best we ever have experienced on Oceania.

Well..PaulChili, it looks as though the "new" Oceania is actually better than ever based on CintiPam's full explanation of her experience. 😊

[njhorseman]

21 hours ago, edgee said:

NORO seems to happen just as often on Oceania ships with all the "precautions" in their non self serve buffet than it does on cruise lines with full self service buffets such as Crystal. Out of 40+ cruises on a number of cruise lines the only NORO we experienced was on Oceania Marina. 

This was also our experience. With over thirty years of cruising on about 10 different cruise lines our only case of noro was on Marina .  I think ours was spread at least partially by a "Typhoid Mary" in the Terrace Cafe staff. I would often go to her station in the morning. When I came back after three days of quarantine she asked me where I'd been and then told me that she had come down with it before I did and had just been cleared to go back to work two days before.

 

Management's handling of the situation was so incompetent that one assistant maitre d' actually quit during the middle of the cruise.

 

Earlier this year I had a long discussion about my experience with a physician employed by another cruise line in the same corporate family and he was very critical of how both Marina's medical staff and general management handled the situation.

[CintiPam]

20 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

 

Well..PaulChili, it looks as though the "new" Oceania is actually better than ever based on CintiPam's full explanation of her experience. 😊

For us, the combination of good food plus good service really affects our view.  After a rapid fleet expansion, we had quite a few cruises with the good food but definitely not the good service.  Then we had a Riviera noroviris experience that not only cut our cruise by two days out of ten but was so mishandled on board and upon our return to Miami from a communication point of view, including our CD Dottie, that we almost did not return to Oceania taking almost 20 months off.

 

Husband prefers the two “O” size ships so we have not sailed on an Oceania “R” ship since 2011 when Marina debuted.  However, our Crystal-only friends took a Western Mediterranean cruise last month on Sirena and absolutely loved their experience!  

[njhorseman]

2 minutes ago, CintiPam said:

 Then we had a Riviera noroviris experience that not only cut our cruise by two days out of ten but was so mishandled on board and upon our return to Miami from a communication point of view, including our CD Dottie, that we almost did not return to Oceania taking almost 20 months off.

If you read my post immediately after the one you're quoting, you'll see my comments on the total bungling of a noro situation on a Marina cruise we took. This seems to be a systemic problem on Oceania...and we haven't gone back since that one either, but that's not to say we might not in the future.

[Paulchili]

1 hour ago, njhorseman said:

Well..PaulChili, it looks as though the "new" Oceania is actually better than ever based on CintiPam's full explanation of her experience. 😊

Glad to hear that the food was “better than ever” however, there is more to a cruise experience than just food (although we weight food quality heavily)

48 minutes ago, CintiPam said:

For us, the combination of good food plus good service really affects our view.  After a rapid fleet expansion, we had quite a few cruises with the good food but definitely not the good service.

As Pam states, it’s the combination of good food and good service (as well as the  overall experience) that makes the cruise a great one or just a good one.

IMO, the “new” Oceania is not quite up to the “old” Oceania overall but still suits us better than any other line all things considered (so far). Seabourn comes close second.

Edited August 7, 2019 by Paulchili

[sanfran57]

What are the busiest hours for dinner? 6:30?

[brellis]

Had Terrace on Marina last night around 7. Was a bit crowded but plenty of seating. Lines moved fast. Was a long port day in Rome thus more opted for terrace. Prefer the pace and ease of dining room but terrace is fine and the quality isnt a step down, just feel you have to work a bit for your dinner. Food has been great!

[kibutzer]

Just an FYI with potential new passenger mix, they need to learn any new dining patterns. Not having enough unfrozen steak is far different than not having for rest of cruise. I am sure that other changes may happen as O looks to new passenger mix. 

[clo]

1 hour ago, kibutzer said:

Not having enough unfrozen steak

From what I've read - on Oceania's website - all the beef served in all the venues is prime, 28 day dry-aged.  While that kind of meat CAN be then frozen it will affect the texture so it's unlikely that they would freeze it.

[edgee]

On 8/7/2019 at 3:31 PM, njhorseman said:

If you read my post immediately after the one you're quoting, you'll see my comments on the total bungling of a noro situation on a Marina cruise we took. This seems to be a systemic problem on Oceania...and we haven't gone back since that one either, but that's not to say we might not in the future.

We encountered our first and only Noro situation on the Marina a few years ago. Corporate culture of "circle the wagons and disclose as little as possible to passengers" attitude immediately kicked in. Made the experience much more unpleasant than it had to be as (admittedly necessary) measures became more stringent by the day with little warning or explanation. 

[babysteps]

On 10/9/2019 at 12:49 PM, clo said:

From what I've read - on Oceania's website - all the beef served in all the venues is prime, 28 day dry-aged. 

@clo haven't been on board since April 2019, but the website might be "puffing" things up a bit.

 

Prime dry aged at Polo, yes.  And trimmed so there is not too much of that aging-rind flavor (most people don't like the aging-rind/gamey flavor anyway, but FYI).  Not sure, but by texture I suspect the Polo steaks are from grass-fed cattle who have not been grain-finished - tasty, but sometimes can be chewy (but sometimes super tender - ymmv).

 

In our experience, steaks at Terrace are 'regular', not prime dry-aged.  Others with more-recent-experience/more-focused observations/copies-of-GDR-menus will be able to report whether some steaks in GDR are prime dry-aged or not (my guess is usually not, but as a special maybe once in a while?).

 

If things have changed and all venues are always prime dry-aged, that would be lovely.  But don't be too disappointed if that isn't the case.

[Go-Bucks!]

5 minutes ago, babysteps said:

@clo Prime dry aged at Polo, yes.  And trimmed so there is not too much of that aging-rind flavor (most people don't like the aging-rind/gamey flavor anyway, but FYI).  Not sure, but by texture I suspect the Polo steaks are from grass-fed cattle who have not been grain-finished - tasty, but sometimes can be chewy (but sometimes super tender - ymmv).

 

I loved the filets in Polo on Insignia!! Juicy and tender, but delicious flavor. Steaks in other venues were very good (especially Waves), but not as flavorful as in Polo...IMHO.

[clo]

54 minutes ago, babysteps said:

Prime dry aged at Polo, yes.

I must have been dreaming 🙂  Yes, Polo is the only place I see it mentioned.  But honestly I doubt we'll have a steak.  We fix great steaks at home.  We're more likely to make a lot of our meals from multiple apps.

[kibutzer]

On 10/9/2019 at 11:49 AM, clo said:

From what I've read - on Oceania's website - all the beef served in all the venues is prime, 28 day dry-aged.  While that kind of meat CAN be then frozen it will affect the texture so it's unlikely that they would freeze it.

From what I have read dry aged is only available for Polos and other Speciality. 

[clo]

5 minutes ago, kibutzer said:

From what I have read dry aged is only available for Polos and other Speciality. 

Right.  I corrected myself above.

[RJB]

On 8/5/2019 at 9:06 PM, Nachosdelux said:

Wife and I did our first Oceania cruise on the Riviera in March 2019.

 

We LOVED the Terrace for dinner.  Great quality, variety, and service.

 

Try it and see for yourself.

WE also loved the Terrace for dinner on a warm evening.  A few years ago we were in Monte Carlo and the views from the terrace were outstanding. Sure was nicer than trying to look out the window from the MDR.  Just have to pick your spots as when to dine out there.