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CRUISES

Oceania Cruises M/S Regatta




Jana M. Jones, NBC 17 Travel Expert


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TERRACE CAFÉ / TAPAS

This restaurant is what's commonly known as "the Lido Café" on more "common" cruise ships. It's the casual dining room where you serve yourself (kind of) and dine at your own pace. I happen to enjoy this less formal type of restaurant for lunch and occasionally for dinner, when I don't feel like being served and waiting through several courses.

At night the restaurant also becomes TAPAS ON THE TERRACE, which was originally set up to be an alfresco restaurant specializing in that holy grail of Mediterranean dining culture... the slow, leisurely pace of little bits at a time coupled with camaraderie. Because there was no other casual dining in the evening, Oceania wisely opened the restaurant to be BOTH Tapas on the Terrace and The Terrace Café, with indoor tables available to anyone and an expanded menu of meats, fish, salads and vegetables. Except that the food is much better, this might be similar to any other buffet, but here, instead of self-service, the guests are served by eager-to-please staff behind the counters. I have experienced this kind of service before, but usually for only carving stations or hot food. Here, nothing but bread and rolls was self serve; not salads, not coldcuts, not desserts. There is an occasional bottleneck which can be frustrating.

 WAVES GRILL Most cruise ships have some version of this poolside grill, but most don't do it this well. The hamburgers here are not your ordinary frozen cookie-shaped patty; they are instead inch-thick aged Angus beef, freshly ground and cooked to order. Fresh deep-fried calamari is available with a choice of sauces. There is usually a fish dish, a grilled chicken breast, and hot dogs.
A small salad bar with a variety of salads sits off to one side, an ice cream cart with a minimal selection of ice cream and frozen yogurt is on the other side of the grill service area. All meals here are served with a gummy cole slaw and and skinny, crisp fries.

One problem in this area is that you don't know whether to order at the counter or to have a seat and be served, and conflicting directions are given to the guests. This is being streamlined since my cruise so hopefully the issue will resolve itself over time. Being served is nice, if it works. Here, in my opinion, self service would be better. The salad is self-serve, the ice-cream is self-serve, but the food in the middle is table service. Confusing!

 HORIZONS LOUNGE CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST / AFTERNOON TEA First of all, I am an early riser and second, I am not a breakfast person. What I want in the morning is coffee and a cigarette, and silence. Regatta is almost completely non-smoking, a very small area forward on deck nine and a tiny section on the port side of Horizons
being the only spots on board in which you can light up. Every morning on my cruise I would blearily make my way to the forward elevators, hope I was awake enough to punch 10, and get my coffee at the "Early Riser Breakfast Station" on the starboard side of Horizons. Then I'd stagger to the port side, sip my coffee, light a cigarette and stare through the big windows at whatever was beyond them that day.

My quiet time was precious to me for a few moments, until other early riser smokers got their coffee, lit up, and decided to chat. Oh, how I longed for the luxury of room-service coffee and a puff on my veranda and quiet, quiet, quiet. It was not to be, not on this cruise. Smoking is not allowed in either the staterooms nor on your individual veranda.

But I digress... after my cigarette, I would wander back to the coffee station for a refill and avail myself of the best damn pastries to be had anywhere outside of New York City, Paris, or Wishart's Bakery in Carmel, California. It's a really good thing that I am not a breakfast person, because I could have gorged myself on these buttery, flaky, perfectly prepared little gems. The chocolate croissants were my favorites, but I'd occasionally have plain croissants or a Danish. It delighted me, too, to watch the croissants being made when I took a galley tour in the middle of my cruise.

Unless you're a smoker, in which case you can't escape from the tiny area you are allocated in order to find a quieter spot, Horizons in the morning is delightful. It's peaceful, quiet, and very pretty with the wrap around windows at the bow of the ship, open to the vistas ahead. It's especially nice on those early mornings when you are heading to a port as you can watch the arrival and the pilot boats from an excellent vantage point. And you can still have heartier fare for breakfast if you are so inclined: Formally in the Grand Dining Room or casually, in the Terrace Café.

Tea service is elaborate but somewhat uncoordinated. The lounge is transformed when the tables are set with crisp yellow-gold damask linens and delicate blue and white china. Servers in white gloves make the rounds of the vast room, delivering sandwiches, tea bags, pastries and hot water. We found ourselves too often with a tea bag, unable to brew, until the hot-water-guy made his way back to where we were sitting. The setting and pastries almost made up for it though; I even enjoyed the pseudo-scones (in this case basically sweetened biscuits) with jam and whipped cream. British they ain't, yummy they is.

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All content and photos unless otherwise noted copyright Jana M. Jones, on contract to NBC 17. All rights reserved.


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