Our first Oceania cruise

[ORV]

2 hours ago, SargassoPirate said:

 

Thanks for the further info LHT28.  I guess it boils down to I'm not a fan of the evening MDR experience.  We had open seating on Viking, and it was still so loud in the MDR that we couldn't carry on a conversation across the table.  Free wine and beer at dinner was probably helping fuel the decibel levels.  

 

Another plus of traveling alone is I don't have to sit through over-amplified production shows or guest singers - but that's another discussion.

 

Looking forward to trying Oceania.

 

I would recommend to not miss eating in the Specialty restaurants as that is a big part of the Oceania dining experience, IMO.

[marieps]

The Surf and Turf in Waves is the best lunch I've had on a cruise ship.    Maybe that's because I don't do MDR for lunch.  Don't miss it.  The steak is as you order it and the lobster was soft and flavorful.  At least on Regatta.  

Edited December 18, 2020 by marieps

[clairol]

5 hours ago, SargassoPirate said:

 

Thanks for the further info LHT28.  I guess it boils down to I'm not a fan of the evening MDR experience.  We had open seating on Viking, and it was still so loud in the MDR that we couldn't carry on a conversation across the table.  Free wine and beer at dinner was probably helping fuel the decibel levels.  

 

Another plus of traveling alone is I don't have to sit through over-amplified production shows or guest singers - but that's another discussion.

 

Looking forward to trying Oceania.

 

For what it is worth, we rarely eat dinner at Terrace Cafe because we do find it much nosier and more chaotic than the GDR or the specialties. We love it for breakfast though - especially when you can eat outside. You're sure to find what's best for you when you get on board. Especially when you have the choice to do it on your own terms. Look forward to hearing about your experience!  Hope you love it. 

 

[pinotlover]

1 hour ago, clairol said:

For what it is worth, we rarely eat dinner at Terrace Cafe because we do find it much nosier and more chaotic than the GDR or the specialties. We love it for breakfast though - especially when you can eat outside. You're sure to find what's best for you when you get on board. Especially when you have the choice to do it on your own terms. Look forward to hearing about your experience!  Hope you love it. 

 

+1, By far our least favorite venue for lunch or dinner for multiple reasons, including the inability to keep food warm and horrible adult beverage service.

 

We have been on cruises where the outside dining area has been shut down the entire cruise, so eating outside isn’t something one can count on. Additionally, much like boarding a plane, we allow all those cruisers that “ need extra time” ( of which sometimes there are many) to go in get seated and served first and stay away from the opening rush. So we’re not getting there until 7:00-7:15. In doing so it practically guarantees that getting a nice table outside will be impossible.

 

We don’t know how long the current protocols will be in effect, but the current plan is for the Terrace diners to be seated and then served , by staff, from the food on the buffet line. That’s a total no go for us. We prefer seeing what food on the line looks like and have a feeling for how long it’s been sitting out there. Plus, we aren’t as enamored with the frozen lobster tails, often over cooked, as others here are. I can buy all of those I want in the store for $5.99-$6.99 each and fix them to my preferences, which isn’t rubbertized. Not really a treat for us on the ship. The lobster in the Polo Grill or Jacques is a different story! 😜

 

You’ll find plenty of good food aboard, and like clairol, look forward to hearing your views and impressions after you’ve sailed. 🥂

[clo]

40 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

We prefer seeing what food on the line looks like and have a feeling for how long it’s been sitting out there.

So you can't even walk by the stations and check it out. How do you know this since they're not sailing yet?

[pinotlover]

50 minutes ago, clo said:

So you can't even walk by the stations and check it out. How do you know this since they're not sailing yet?

Physical distancing requirements in very confined spaces. FDR addressed this issue earlier and established the protocols. Our local buffet now don’t allow customers to walk around the buffet area. They are forced to stay in a tightly controlled line, with proper distancing going station to station while not leaving the line. I don’t believe that O management found that controllable. Hopefully, by the time they sail and ALL passengers have Covid vaccinations these protocols will be lifted. We’ll see.

Edited December 19, 2020 by pinotlover

[Tranquility Base]

On the Quantum sailings out of Singapore this month, passengers were able to free range roam around the various food stations and have the servers plate their food from there.

 

It was in operation only for breakfast and lunch.

Closed for dinner.

The assumption was that the crew were required in the other restaurants during dinner.

 

[ORV]

15 hours ago, Tranquility Base said:

On the Quantum sailings out of Singapore this month, passengers were able to free range roam around the various food stations and have the servers plate their food from there.

 

It was in operation only for breakfast and lunch.

Closed for dinner.

The assumption was that the crew were required in the other restaurants during dinner.

 

Yes, and this would be a huge step up from the way Royal Caribbean buffet was served before, but would barely bring it up to previous Oceania protocol. 

[Flatbush Flyer]

1 hour ago, ORV said:

Yes, and this would be a huge step up from the way Royal Caribbean buffet was served before, but would barely bring it up to previous Oceania protocol. 

It is interesting how many of the wannabes are copying Oceania's traditional policies and practices.

 

[SargassoPirate]

Sailing solo has the advantage of being able to change my mind about a dining option without a committee decision, so if I find a particular venue crowded I can come back later or go elsewhere  I've never gone hungry on a cruise yet and while the food is part of the experience, it's not the main reason I cruise.  In fact, I usually shed a few pounds on a cruise from walking several miles a day around the promenade and in ports.

 

The freedom of choice is appealing to me.  I can enjoy a good hamburger just as much, if not more than, a rubber lobster tail.

 

Stay well.

[jagoffee]

4 hours ago, SargassoPirate said:

Sailing solo has the advantage of being able to change my mind about a dining option without a committee decision, so if I find a particular venue crowded I can come back later or go elsewhere  I've never gone hungry on a cruise yet and while the food is part of the experience, it's not the main reason I cruise.  In fact, I usually shed a few pounds on a cruise from walking several miles a day around the promenade and in ports.

 

The freedom of choice is appealing to me.  I can enjoy a good hamburger just as much, if not more than, a rubber lobster tail.

 

Stay well.

My wife and I have learned that we do care for the typical warm water lobsters that they usually serve on a ship.  Some ships offer the cold water version, but that is not really your point.  My DW really enjoying the non casual options for dinner when cruising.  If by myself I would certainly be casual more often.  

 

Your circumstances are unusual.  I am not judging, but I am curious.

 

 You are paying the solo supplement to take a cruise by yourself without your SO?  Your SO could be on the same cruise for almost no extra cost, but doesn’t join you?  

 

It is nobody’s  business as to the reasons, because we all make choices for various reasons. Good for you both for not being afraid to cut your own path.  
 

What percentage of your cruises are solo by choice?

[Hawaiidan]

On 12/18/2020 at 3:08 PM, clo said:

So you can't even walk by the stations and check it out. How do you know this since they're not sailing yet?

Good question...... Ya'   

[edgee]

On 12/18/2020 at 6:58 PM, pinotlover said:

Physical distancing requirements in very confined spaces. FDR addressed this issue earlier and established the protocols. Our local buffet now don’t allow customers to walk around the buffet area. They are forced to stay in a tightly controlled line, with proper distancing going station to station while not leaving the line. I don’t believe that O management found that controllable. Hopefully, by the time they sail and ALL passengers have Covid vaccinations these protocols will be lifted. We’ll see.

I agree with your conclusion..we all hope tough protocals are lifted soon after sailing begins, but unless FDR was a helluva lot more specific than you are implying, not sure how you are coming to a definite sounding conclusion that passengers dining in the Terrace would not be permitted to look at the food offerings before ordering it. 

[pinotlover]

12 hours ago, edgee said:

I agree with your conclusion..we all hope tough protocals are lifted soon after sailing begins, but unless FDR was a helluva lot more specific than you are implying, not sure how you are coming to a definite sounding conclusion that passengers dining in the Terrace would not be permitted to look at the food offerings before ordering it. 

I thought FDR was fairly specific in what he said on the issue.

 

Do you look at the food offering in the GDR or Specialties before ordering, or read the menu?
 

In the tight quarters of the R ship Terrace serving area, who and how are they going  to enforce social distancing with people roaming at large? A very controlled line? Back to Big Burley Gnarly Dude to control the line again.

 

I currently don’t expect sailing will resume without all passengers having received a vaccination. When that is the case , many of those earlier envisioned protocols can be lifted. Just reading about the effects capacity limits in elevators had on the cruises. The cruise blogs were reporting 30-45 minute waits to catch an elevator, and that was with an overall younger more mobile demographic than typically sails Oceania. A large number of cruisers can’t or won’t attempt to walk up 2-3 level of stairs, no less 5+. After some initial optimism, I think the reality is sinking in. It will take a vaccine to get sailing going again.

[ORV]

Concerning eating in the Terrace. It's my recollection that FDR said that initially guests will be seated and ordering from a menu in that area, just like other restaurants

[Tranquility Base]

If a cruise line considers it too risky to wander around a buffet, I guess they would also consider it too risky to share a table with others outside your cabin in any of their restaurants.

[clo]

1 hour ago, Tranquility Base said:

If a cruise line considers it too risky to wander around a buffet, I guess they would also consider it too risky to share a table with others outside your cabin in any of their restaurants.

And it would be too risky for me to cruise.

[SargassoPirate]

19 hours ago, Tranquility Base said:

If a cruise line considers it too risky to wander around a buffet, I guess they would also consider it too risky to share a table with others outside your cabin in any of their restaurants.

 

Good point, Tranquility Base. It will be interesting to read reports from the folks who jump on the early post-shutdown cruises.  I always tend to follow the money, and I would be willing to bet that as the vaccine becomes widespread, most if not all of these extra measures will fall by the wayside.  Some of the current practices, such as constantly wiping down every surface is mostly theater to instill a sense of safety and well-being in customers.

 

She Who Must Be Obeyed and I still laugh about an experience on the way into a ship's buffet several years ago.  We asked where the hand sanitizing station was.  The reply from the greeter was that it wasn't cold and flu season.  SWMBO and I always carry our own little bottles of sanitizer with us anyway -and we use it frequently.

 

Stay well until we can get back out there.

[Hawaiidan]

On 12/21/2020 at 9:22 AM, clo said:

And it would be too risky for me to cruise.

The sense of joy and interacting with others will be robbed....it will cease to be anything but an endurance.....one I see no point in participating. and paying to experience.........

[CintiPam]

11 hours ago, SargassoPirate said:

She Who Must Be Obeyed and I still laugh about an experience on the way into a ship's buffet several years ago.  We asked where the hand sanitizing station was.  The reply from the greeter was that it wasn't cold and flu season.  SWMBO and I always carry our own little bottles of sanitizer with us anyway -and we use it frequently.

 

Stay well until we can get back out there.

I am certain that your experience regarding the hand sanitizing station did not occur on an Oceania ship. As someone who lost several cruise days a few years back due to Norovirus causing the ship’s early return to Miami per CDC guidelines, I assure you that there is not a single dining venue on an Oceania ship that does not have a hand sanitizing station at its entrance because I never pass one by without using it. I doubt that will disappear once Oceania starts sailing once more.

Edited December 22, 2020 by CintiPam

[SargassoPirate]

On 12/20/2020 at 11:22 AM, jagoffee said:

My wife and I have learned that we do care for the typical warm water lobsters that they usually serve on a ship.  Some ships offer the cold water version, but that is not really your point.  My DW really enjoying the non casual options for dinner when cruising.  If by myself I would certainly be casual more often.  

 

Your circumstances are unusual.  I am not judging, but I am curious.

 

 You are paying the solo supplement to take a cruise by yourself without your SO?  Your SO could be on the same cruise for almost no extra cost, but doesn’t join you?  

 

It is nobody’s  business as to the reasons, because we all make choices for various reasons. Good for you both for not being afraid to cut your own path.  
 

What percentage of your cruises are solo by choice?

 

 

While our circumstances seem perfectly normal, we know they are not the norm.  I take extended Harley trips and She Who Must Be Obeyed has no interest in riding, so I ride alone.  She takes "girl friend" trips with some of her long-time friends - Africa, the UK, Mexico, etc.   While we have cruised together many times, I did my first cruise without SWMBO several years ago when I did an "Around the Horn" cruise from Fort L to SF.  Since then, I've done a few other cruises solo.  With my benchmark of a motorcycle trip where I camp out about one third of the time, a solo inside cabin fills the bill for me nicely.  Some cruise lines do not charge double for a single passenger, which makes it even more economical.

 

We both know that if there is something one of us wants to do, but lets the other hold us back, we will regret it the rest of our life.  Living with regrets about things we didn't do is no way to live.

 

 

[clo]

4 hours ago, SargassoPirate said:

We both know that if there is something one of us wants to do, but lets the other hold us back, we will regret it the rest of our life.  Living with regrets about things we didn't do is no way to live.

 

Absolutely! I don't understand why some people want to be 'joined at the hip.'

[jagoffee]

4 hours ago, SargassoPirate said:

 

 

While our circumstances seem perfectly normal, we know they are not the norm.  I take extended Harley trips and She Who Must Be Obeyed has no interest in riding, so I ride alone.  She takes "girl friend" trips with some of her long-time friends - Africa, the UK, Mexico, etc.   While we have cruised together many times, I did my first cruise without SWMBO several years ago when I did an "Around the Horn" cruise from Fort L to SF.  Since then, I've done a few other cruises solo.  With my benchmark of a motorcycle trip where I camp out about one third of the time, a solo inside cabin fills the bill for me nicely.  Some cruise lines do not charge double for a single passenger, which makes it even more economical.

 

We both know that if there is something one of us wants to do, but lets the other hold us back, we will regret it the rest of our life.  Living with regrets about things we didn't do is no way to live.

 

 

Good for you.  Enjoy.

[GeorgesGal]

On 12/23/2020 at 7:44 AM, SargassoPirate said:

 

 

While our circumstances seem perfectly normal, we know they are not the norm.  I take extended Harley trips and She Who Must Be Obeyed has no interest in riding, so I ride alone.  She takes "girl friend" trips with some of her long-time friends - Africa, the UK, Mexico, etc.   While we have cruised together many times, I did my first cruise without SWMBO several years ago when I did an "Around the Horn" cruise from Fort L to SF.  Since then, I've done a few other cruises solo.  With my benchmark of a motorcycle trip where I camp out about one third of the time, a solo inside cabin fills the bill for me nicely.  Some cruise lines do not charge double for a single passenger, which makes it even more economical.

 

We both know that if there is something one of us wants to do, but lets the other hold us back, we will regret it the rest of our life.  Living with regrets about things we didn't do is no way to live.

 

 

Good for both of you. You both seem to have a great, healthy attitude!