Why do you eat dinner in the Oceanview Cafe?

[dateacher]

Another post got me thinking.  I have been on about 5 Celebrity cruises (Summit, Reflection, Silhouette) and we have never eaten dinner in the OVC.  We either eat in the MDR or a specialty restaurant.  We do eat in the OVC for our occasional breakfasts and most lunches. 

 

Other than it being more casual, what about the food makes you go back to the OVC for dinner?  I'm trying to decide if it's something we are missing.  We are very happy with the MDR and don't need to change.  Just looking to see if we there is something special that they are providing at dinner.

[DCPIV]

Sometimes, you just don't want a lot of fuss or take much time to dine. It could also be that the night's menu(s) don't turn you on. You can get good food and just what you want within only a few minutes and then dine in a relatively quiet setting. 

 

The food in OV is nothing to sneeze at. Some of vegetables and vegetarian selections are the best on the ship. The pastas always are good. The salad bar beats anything you can do on the MDR or other assigned dining rooms, and it takes no fuss at all to have it just like you like it. 

[emmas gran]

I think the OP in that posting said he didn’t take long pants with him so it was the only choice available as he couldn’t get into MDR.

We have had dinner in OVC once after a very long day on tour.

[chemmo]

Like you we rarely frequent the Ocean View cafe for dinner. However, it does have some advantages….

 

If you return from a long tour shattered but hungry you can just head there. Eat now, bathe later and head to a bar!

 

On longer cruises if you want a break from served dining you can just graze in OV. Enjoy a pizza, curry or a bizarre plate of bits and pieces…As others have said there are lots of choices. If you have had a tour with an included lunch you may only want a few bits and pieces.

 

If you are really shattered and can’t even be bothered ordering room service just gather a miscellaneous plateful and take it back to your room.

 

If you are leaving a port you want to view at 7ish and have an early set dining time you can just go to OV and do as the name indicates, enjoy the view. They do offer steak/lamb/salmon cooked to order. Add you favourite bits and pieces and you are still enjoying good food.

 

Whilst we generally dine in speciality restaurants we love having the OV option. It is always there as a back up if you really don’t feel up to going to a restaurant. It has a place on a cruise.

 

PS we also find room service a good alternative option too.

 

The beauty of Celebrity is the range of options. Whilst most nights visiting a speciality restaurant would be our choice it is nice to sometimes dine in suite or simply enjoy a buffet selection.

 

 

[gold1953]

We enjoy an evening meal at the OVC. Very good choices, very quiet and we can eat outside if we wish. We can go in our shorts or sweats as well. We can eat at our own pace as well. We like it better than the MDR. We do like Blu when we sail Aqua though

[Travelexpert35]

We sailed on 11 Celebrity cruises and we’ve always gone to the MDR. We always went to the Ocean View Cafe for breakfast and lunch. A few times we would go sit down for breakfast in MDR. There is a great selection in the cafe so on our next cruise whenever that will be, I’m going to try the cafe for dinner. 

[ymncruise]

Sometimes I’d rather do something else than spend 2 hours in the dining room and the food is pretty good. We like to watch the sunset and eating at OV makes it more convenient. 

Edited February 13, 2022 by ymncruise

[basenji56]

Don't forget those of us who go the Oceanview AFTER we leave the main dining room.  😉

[dateacher]

3 minutes ago, basenji56 said:

Don't forget those of us who go the Oceanview AFTER we leave the main dining room.  😉

I would go immediately after but I do miss the midnight buffets

[lv2cruisgrl]

We almost never eat dinner there. However a late night snack is sometimes fun!

[keesar]

There are often theme nights for dinner in the OceanView.  We have gone there for German night, Mexican night, etc.  It was very quiet and you got to relax and eat at your own pace.  

 

On our Alaskan cruise, the Oceanview had fresh fish (3 varieties) and Alaskan king crab legs one evening..  The fish was cooked to order but you had to wait for it.  It was delicious and  It was brought onboard in Juneau if I recall.  There  were few people dining in the Oceanview which was surprising...and pleasant.

[hrhdhd]

I like being able to get a customized plate of food. Sometimes (usually?) in the MDR, I like the protein on one dish, the vegetable on another, and the sauce on a third. While I have occasionally made off-menu requests (e.g., can you bring me a baked potato instead), I'd rather just get what I want in the OV. And the selection is huge.

 

I also prefer eating there as a solo cruiser. 

 

One part I don't like is it's not easy to get a drink there, but that's a minor quibble.

[davekathy]

We eat in the in the Oceanview Cafe once on every cruise for only lunch. Always a sea day. We get a 'burger and fries from the mast/pool grille. Bring them into the OC to eat them. Then we cruise on over to the dessert station(s) and find something for our sweet tooth. 

Edited February 13, 2022 by davekathy

[TeeRick]

Some nights we do eat there.  Over the MDR or even Luminae.  We go for the decent food choices, the quieter setting, and no fuss.  We find it a good option maybe once a cruise.  It is very different for dinner vs the craziness at breakfast and lunch.   Sometimes we are in a hurry and don't have the time or inclination for a sit down meal.

[TeaBag]

Way back, they used to have table service in the Oceanview at dinner.  A corner of the area by the back windows was set aside with tablecloths on the tables and you were served by waiters.  I believe they were waiters in training and the fee to eat there was $2/per person.  Anyone remember this?  I don't think it lasted very long.  I remember sailing from Victoria to Vancouver and we had a table in the corner surrounded by windows.  It was delightful.

Edited February 13, 2022 by TeaBag

[Pitbull1130]

1 minute ago, TeaBag said:

Way back, they used to have table service in the Oceanview.  A corner of the area by the back windows was set aside with tablecloths on the tables and you were served by waiters.  I believe they were waiters in training and the fee to eat there was $2/per person.  Anyone remember this?  i don't think it lasted very long.  I remember sailing from Victoria to Vancouver and we had a table in the corner surrounded by windows.  It was delightful

I remember it, we did it on an Alaska trip way back....It was a nice dinner.

[amyr]

3 minutes ago, TeaBag said:

Way back, they used to have table service in the Oceanview.  A corner of the area by the back windows was set aside with tablecloths on the tables and you were served by waiters.  I believe they were waiters in training and the fee to eat there was $2/per person.  Anyone remember this?  i don't think it lasted very long.  I remember sailing from Victoria to Vancouver and we had a table in the corner surrounded by windows.  It was delightful

We enjoyed it too.  It was a great way to have a sit down meal if you came in late from an excursion and didn't want to shower and change for dinner.  That was when the MDR dress standards were much higher, Formal, Semi-formal, and business casual nights, but the nice $2 Oceanview option was a tablecloth full service meal in your jeans.  

 

My husband and I rarely eat in the Oceanview for dinner, but when I travel with my sister we do several nights per cruise.  We enjoy going for an early grazing meal and then using the pool and hot tubs when everyone else is at dinner.  

[DCPIV]

I'm glad someone mentioned dining outside. There's a lot to be said for a very, very pleasant evening of grabbing a plate to take outside and then finishing up with a drink or few at the Sunset Bar. 

[markeb]

We've not done the Ocean View for dinner, but we used to eat dinner in the Windjammer on Royal Caribbean once or twice a cruise. For many of the same reasons others have posted. If you come back late from a port call, especially a beach port call, sometimes you just want to eat, and not "dine". When Royal went to fleet wide standardized menus, the amazing ethnic food that had always been on the menu pretty much left the MDR, but it was in the Windjammer. And from what I've read here, the same is largely true for the Ocean View (actually, I may have grabbed some Indian food for a pre-dinner appetizer...).

[BigAl94]

We might have lunch there on a sea day, reluctantly as it's always like a cattle market in "normal" times. Each to their own I suppose. Only ever went once at night when the food at the poolside BBQ was so bad, it was our only option due to how we were dressed!

[LGW59]

2 minutes ago, BigAl94 said:

We might have lunch there on a sea day, reluctantly as it's always like a cattle market in "normal" times. Each to their own I suppose. Only ever went once at night when the food at the poolside BBQ was so bad, it was our only option due to how we were dressed!

Agree with the cattle market feeling, but that said, after reading what so many recent cruisers have described with the crew now serving, I might just give it a try

[anniedave]

When we did our first cruise 2 years ago ...one evening we came back from an excursion ( think it was 4th day in a row of excursions ) had a nap .....and woke up at 10pm ...that evening we were glad of late nite pizza & salad 🤣🤣.

Also on sea days we discovered we enjoyed...late breakfast....afternoon tea ( great sandwiches, salads & pastries) and late dinner as our 3 meals a day 🙂

[CruisnDeb]

35 minutes ago, keesar said:

There are often theme nights for dinner in the OceanView.  We have gone there for German night, Mexican night, etc.  It was very quiet and you got to relax and eat at your own pace.  

 

How do find out theme nights? Do they post it in the daily?

[Yvonne]

On our recent Silhouette cruise we had dinner at the ocean view cafe 8 of the 10 nights. Our first night was in Murano and while we enjoyed it we just don’t see spending extra $$ to eat in specialty restaurants very often.  We had dinner in the dining room one night but we really don’t enjoy dressing up all that much anymore so just prefer the OVC.  We can wear casual clothes and take as much or as little time as we want to eat. 
 

Of all our cruises we felt the cafe on the Silhouette was the best we have seen.  So many choices, and many different items each night.  The cafe was very quiet and most of the time we could have a window seat.  If we really liked something we could go back for seconds, or go try something else.  
 

 We had no problem getting drinks.  Almost immediately when we sat down someone was coming over to take our drink order, and would come back again if our drinks got low.

[Baron Barracuda]

Over time developed a fondness for late traditional dining so began a routine of first hitting the cc cocktail hour then a bite at the Oceanview followed by the nightly show and finally dinner in the MDR.  Oceanview was better back when they had sushi at the buffet but still love the cooked to order pasta and grill items.  Often if we asked they had grilled shrimp or tuna.