Vintages Wine Bar
Don’t you just love going somewhere that transports you to a completely different place? Whether a movie that makes you feel like you’re in outer space or in a country you’ve never visited, a concert that takes you elsewhere, or a wine bar on a cruise ship. Wait a second! Did I say a cruise ship? You bet I did! Onboard Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas you’ll find Vintages, a beautiful wine bar set in the middle of the lush green surroundings of Central Park.
In my last post about bars and lounges, I didn’t include Vintages because they serve food so I’m doing it here, which will help us to transition to restaurants onboard the Oasis of the Seas.
From any angle Vintages is a the perfect place to be, especially on a day at sea. Pull up a chair and sit and enjoy an afternoon of relaxation with a glass of wine. You’ll absolutely forget that you’re on the largest cruise ship at sea!
My last visit to Vintages was when I was on the Oasis of the Seas in 2010. Since that time, it looks to have had some changes, mostly since dry dock in Rotterdam. The once expansive menu is now shrunk down to a mere 7 items available to pair with your wine.
Yes, the chairs, tables, and plates may be the same, but something has significantly changed. First, the wine flights are no longer available as wines are now served by the glass or bottle only. Second, the food quality is significantly of a lower standard. Lastly, the music that was once the perfect accompaniment to a nice glass of wine has changed from a slow tempo to fast Jazz. Kind of hard to relax to music that has nothing to do with a Spanish-themed bar and a too fast beat. My guess is that they are looking to have people linger a lot less for more table covers.
The food was mediocre at best. Not trying to sound harsh, but this was the one place we were looking to visit since I had such an amazing time the last time I was there.
Look at my previous blog post and scroll halfway down to see the pictures of the food then and look at it now.
The bread was pale and not toasted but we were served an abundance of it, the caper berries had an odd taste, and it was an overall anemic and cold experience.
The major downfall was the dessert options. Admittedly, I wasn’t interested in dessert but wanted to see if that had changed as well and the short answer is yes, considerably. The Almond Tart was an extremely dry pastry shell that tasted like it had been made last year. The Crema Catalan had obviously been and made in the walk in refrigerator and covered with cling wrap. How do I know? Because the glass was ridiculously cold and when I put the spoon in, the liquid from inside came rushing up to the top as you can see in the pic above. Once I saw that, I pushed it away as it definitely wasn’t appetizing.
It wasn’t completely bad, but definitely not the way it was before. They did offer wine tastings every day in the afternoon, but since I only drink wine occasionally, I didn’t return. I think what is truly missing is passion as there was an air of indifference floating over Vintages. Food prepared without passion definitely tastes that way. Here’s to hoping your experience will be better than mine. Yes, I am not always so negative about my cruise experiences and in fact, I think I’m fairly easy to please. However, I feel compelled to speak truthfully about my experiences in my travels. Otherwise, if you’re reading this and feel like you have call me out on misrepresenting my experience, I would feel as if I failed. Only the truth of my experience is what I can write about here on the blog.
Next up: Food pictures and experiences in the restaurants onboard Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas.