Riviera

We have just returned from back to back cruises on Riviera and I thought I would post our delight at the quality of the cruises. We have cruised a number of times with Oceania as well as other cruise lines but for us, Oceania always stands out. The quality of the ships, their smaller more intimate size, the quality and variety of dining destinations for us is always there and has been commented on many times.

After recently sailing on another cruise line, we also realised that things we often take for granted with Oceania are often not there on other lines. The timing of events on Oceania are designed to flow smoothly from the afternoon tea to the Happy Hour at a convenient time before dinner to the timing of shows.

However what really stood out for us on this cruise was the quality of the staff on board and now nice our fellow cruisers were. All the staff did a great job but were universally friendly making the ship a pleasure to be on. We may have been more sensitive to this as some friends had just returned from a cruise around Hawaii and had found the staff to be indifferent.

My wife and I were travelling alone this time but found we were never alone on board. We had arranged a number of excursions with fellow cruisers and had a great time with the people we met as well as others we met on board. Oceania certainly attracts a like minded crowd of interesting people.

Finally from a value for money perspective, the O Life options as well as the quality of the experience, for us, represents great value. Keep up the good work Oceania.

Allan

Thanks for sharing this! Your experience matches up with ours this spring. We dearly love the Riviera!!!

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Wonderful to hear. I am taking my first ever cruise on Riviera in 2 weeks. Looking forward to this experience and seeing new cities along the way. Glad you have a wonderful trip.

Glad to hear that you enjoyed your cruise - thank you for sharing.

We likewise had a recent experience on another cruise line and we always enjoy returning to Oceania.

This time we had a B2B on Seabourn Encore (brand new ship) and Insignia. While the Seabourn cruise was OK - the ship is beautiful - the food was not even close as far as we were concerned. The overall ambiance on Oceania was also much more to our liking.

Again, Seabourn was fine but why would I pay more for something that I overall enjoy less.

Of course, others will feel differently. This is JMO.

One of my most favorite ships.... And the food ! Video I took on the Riviera-- Venice to Istanbul ...

We were just on for seventeen days and had the best service ever.

[quote=Paulchili;53126310

This time we had a B2B on Seabourn Encore (brand new ship) and Insignia. While the Seabourn cruise was OK - the ship is beautiful - the food was not even close as far as we were concerned. The overall ambiance on Oceania was also much more to our liking.

Interesting ... I've wondered how Seabourn compares to Oceania. Any chance you could go into more detail at some point on this board or the Seabourn board?

we will be on the riviera aug 22 for a 10 day ending in athens.

we are in a PH1 (due to a "move")...is this considered concierge level? i will be calling O with questions on tuesday....but CC is so helpful to newbies on O.

we will be on the riviera aug 22 for a 10 day ending in athens.

 

we are in a PH1 (due to a "move")...is this considered concierge level?

No

Concierge is A1 to A 4 cabin Cat

You are a level ABOVE Concierge! Enjoy!

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Wow....never had suite before....I thought balconies were good. I had better not get used to this....says DH

thanks

Wow....never had suite before....I thought balconies were good. I had better not get used to this....says DH

thanks

You're going to LOVE it!

Wow....never had suite before....I thought balconies were good. I had better not get used to this....says DH

 

thanks

You're going to LOVE it!

And -- spoiler alert -- you ARE going to be spoiled!

maybe when you "move" from ship to another with an incentive, you don't get all perks? i will call revenue dept on tuesday to ask. we went from a nov sailing to august...popped up a few categories.

We are taking our first Oceania voyage on Riviera, in a couple of weeks and I must admit to being anxious we have made the right choice. We are used to Cunard's Queen's Grill and I find it hard to believe it can equal, muchless top that.

Having booked only last week, we have been unable to book the Select Dining venues, as we simply can't dine at 9.30pm.

Hopefully we'll be blown away, but so far I'm unsure.

Having booked only last week, we have been unable to book the Select Dining venues, as we simply can't dine at 9.30pm.

 

Hopefully we'll be blown away, but so far I'm unsure.

When you get onboard go to the reservations desk on deck 5 & ask if they can seat you earlier for the specialties

Keep checking during the cruise as people sometime will cancel their reservation

Enjoy

So are there times kept back? Thank you.

So are there times kept back? Thank you.

They do keep back some reservations for people that do not book online

You can keep checking online up to 7 days prior incase someone might have cancelled or changed their time slot

You will also get the chance to dine with some very nice people if you're willing to share a four or six top.

On the Seabourn boards there is a thread about comparing Oceania to Seabourn. I will take my first Seabourn cruise this August. I made comments on that board. I have been on all the luxury lines and most mass cruise lines. My favorite is the Riviera. Exceeded my expectations in food and service.

can you book specialty restaurants online prior to the cruise? if so, how nuts is it on the day they open that? i think ours is june 8th.

first come first served?

can you book specialty restaurants online prior to the cruise? if so, how nuts is it on the day they open that? i think ours is june 8th.

first come first served?

Yes you can book them up to 7 days prior to the sailing

You get a date when bookings open for your cabin cat

Different cabin cat get a different time slot to start booking

Just log in to MY ACCOUNT & look for the dining reservations tab

then follow the instructions

got it.....we can reserve on june 8th. will give us time to look at port, excursion etc to make a good decision. i think the main dining room is perfectly fine but it would be fun to sample the specialties.....will give it a go and see what we can reserve.

thanks for the info.

Interesting ... I've wondered how Seabourn compares to Oceania. Any chance you could go into more detail at some point on this board or the Seabourn board?

We have done 1 Oceania cruise & 1 Seabourn cruise, in addition to having cruised on Celebrity & HAL with our children when they were younger. We found O & Seabourn very comparable but what set them apart for me was the level of service. On Seabourn every staff member we interacted with greeted us by name from day #1! They were incredibly friendly, interesting & anxious to please. We had conversations with many about their lives & experiences which we thoroughly enjoyed. I found this level of service & friendliness lacking on Oceania, not that there weren't nice, friendly staff but just not at the same level. We thought the food in the GDR on Seabourn was excellent, but we're not thrilled with Restaurant 2 (not sure why they can't come up with a better name for their specialty restaurant). By contrast, we loved all the specialty restaurants on Oceania but thought the GDR was good, not great. We experienced Seabourn before Oceania and was concerned that, at more than double the number of passengers, we would be unhappy but happily that was not the case. We also did find more passengers to hang around with on O than on Seabourn where people tend to keep to themselv s. If cost was not a factor, we would return to Seabourn. However since it does, we will be returning to the Marina this fall as it is more affordable for us. We are bringing along friends who have only cruised on Celebrity & Royal Caribbean and the mega ships. Hoping to turn them to the other side of cruising [emoji12]

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We are taking our first Oceania voyage on Riviera, in a couple of weeks and I must admit to being anxious we have made the right choice. We are used to Cunard's Queen's Grill and I find it hard to believe it can equal, muchless top that.

 

Having booked only last week, we have been unable to book the Select Dining venues, as we simply can't dine at 9.30pm.

 

Hopefully we'll be blown away, but so far I'm unsure.

Please so not worry too much: there is the Main Dining room along with a variety of four specialty restaurants and in the evening the buffet restaurant does 'serve' off the buffet to your table. Just go the various hosts positioned over the ship and see what openings there are. Often we change our arranged reservations and if there are no two top tables left, you can also share. Enjoy!