Our cruise covered Mother's Day so I made a reservation online before the cruise for Ocean Blue by Geoffrey Zakarian. It was exciting to try a restaurant with the name of an Iron Chef attached. We have a 3 year-old, so wanted the earliest available time slot, which was 6 PM (when the restaurant opened). Once we boarded the Norwegian Getaway, I got a phone call telling reminding me that it was going to be "7:30 PM". After two phone conversations, I was able to get it back to 6 PM, but it was a strange to have a digitally done reservation manually changed without reason or permission in the first place.
Ocean Blue was located on deck 8 midship, a little past La Cucina. It is in a space where it is grouped with the sushi & Raw Bar. We sat in a booth window table with a nice view of the Boardwalk. The hostess was friendly, and gave our son an iPad to play with, which was a nice touch.
The service overall, however, was mediocre. Unlike other NCL Specialty restaurants, we knew ahead of time that you cannot have more than one starter or dessert. My wife tried an exchange, asking to skip the dessert, but in exchange be able to order two appetizers to try. The answer was no. And while the staff did a good job serving, cleaning crumbs off the table, and delivering drinks, not once were we asked how the food was. This was the case with the starter, main entree, and dessert. Perhaps there was a fear on their part that if the guests didn't like a particular dish, what may happen. It can't be possible huh, being such a hyped restaurant- everyone must love the food, will enjoy it, or- too bad. The only question (other than taking the order) the servers asked was "Was there anything else we can get for you?"
Now if the dishes were delicious, I may not have an issue regarding the the servers not asking about the food. Unfortunately, the sauce for the Dover Sole was unbalanced & heavy-handed, while the Black Sea Bass tasted fishy and simply not good. I especially did not get the basil seeds in the sauce. In fact, we had difficulty finishing either main entree.
The Crispy Calamari appetizer was tasty, though it was not much better than the free version of it from the main dining rooms. The Mussels Tom Ka Gai was solid, but nothing impressive or different. The complimentary bread was good, however, with sesame seeds on top and very buttery and soft middle.
There were 2 side dishes- Chilled Beans and Charred Broccoli. The cold beans salad was actually pretty enjoyable, but completely burnt broccoli? That has to be some sort of a joke. We tried a bite and simply could not continue eating the black-green bitter mess.
For dessert we had Bergamot Tea Pana Cotta and Apple Strudel with Cardamom. They were good but again nothing that wow'ed. The complimentary "Pitits Fours" (Rasberry Pate Fruit, Chcoolate Sea Salt Cookie, & Dark Chocolate Whiskey Truffle) were tiny miniature bites that were kind of interesting.
Unfortunately I cannot recommend Ocean Blue, especially at its $49 per person price, with the lack of flexibility to have more than one starter. The food we had at Le Bistro numerous times on different NCL vessels easily trump the offerings by Ocean Blue on the Norwegian Getaway, at less than half the price. Adding insult to injury, after this two hour "experience", we found some surprisingly good eats at the Garden Cafe, as they had a special Mother's Day Celebration. People were chumping down lobster tails, steaks, shrimp skewers and seafood paella. As for the service issues, I am fairly certain it stems from institutional mandates that run contrary with the spirit of cruising, and not problems with our particular wait staff.
If Geoffrey Zakarian approved of or came up with the menu and endorses the food, I highly doubt I would dine in one of his land-based restaurants if given the chance. There is simply no way. Interestingly, the following statement was removed from an early version of a message from the menu:
"When considering the hospitality style and sensibility of the restaurant, I planned to bring the best of Manhattan on board the Breakaway."
I suppose he no longer felt confident enough to make that statement, and I can't blame
him. That or the restaurant is better aboard the Breakaway 
.
By the way, we also ordered half a dozen of raw oysters from the Raw Bar. They tasted fresh and were the highlights of dinner. So certainly a yes to the Raw Bar, but a big no for Ocean Blue.
Pros
iPad for kids
Nice restaurant decor and atmosphere
Appetizers & dessert were good
Cons
Overpriced
Main entrees were very disappointing
Wait staff doesn't care if you like the food or not
Not flexible with additional appetizer or exchanging dessert for appetizer
Expect to spend 2 hours for the meal
Complete Menu
