CruisingCleo

Jacques:

Poached scallop gnocchi with lobster in a white wine sauce

Red Ginger:

Spicy duck and watermelon salad

Avocado lobster salad

Imperial spring rolls

La Reserve Discovery menu:

Cream of Porcini with sauteed duck foie gras bites

Bay scallops on jamon Iberica over Tarbais bean cream

72 hour slowbraised short rib with gnocchi au jus

The whole menu in La Reserve was excellent, but these 3 dishes were outstanding! And the wine pairings were beautiful.

Sorry but quote wasn't working for me (grrrr)

 

I checked out the library and I didn't see any magazines of any sort there at all when I looked.

 

There are some magazines in the executive/concierge lounge but they are basically printed off copies of select articles from magazines.

 

This seems to be the limit of the magazines on board from what I can see so your DH may want to bring a few of his own or pick up a few in ports.

 

hope this helps :)

Thank you, Jacqui!

I will tell him to buy some at AMS Airport when we fly to Miami, they have a wonderful selection. I loved your library pictures. Looks the perfect place for DH for a nap while pretending to read a scientific magazine :D

Mirjam

 

We have extra enrichment lectures today, I think I'll have extra rations of rum instead.

Extra rations of rum: must be the best way to kill the virus :D

Tomorrow was supposed to be our Bermuda day - actually two days with a lovely overnight.

 

The captain has come on to announce that we have been refused entry to Bermuda by their Ministry of Health.

 

So our 5 days at sea has now turned into 7 days at sea and instead of one day in Nassau we will have two days in Nassau.

 

Nassau? Not worth two days IMO but there isn't much we can do about it.

 

I suspect there are a lot of unhapy campers on board. I know I am disappointed. We had a lovely catamaran tour planned for the roll call and now it is by the way side.

 

Now I will RANT about the Noro precautions on board. I don't understand why they shut down the laundry when they are leaving the rest of the stuff open which is much more high risk - the pool, hot tubs, casino, library, salt and pepper shakers still on the tables for everyone to touch, etc.

 

<sigh> at least we are still healthy and so are most that we know - so that is a good thing.

 

But, I was looking forward to Bermuda.....

 

I am so sorry for you that you are not going to Bermuda. After so many sea days I can only imagine how much you must have been looking forward to this stop, especially with the catamaran tour planned... :(

But you sound like a 'glass half full' kind of person so I'm sure you will still enjoy the rest of the cruise, together with he 1850 passengers and crew who are not ill.

Mirjam

There are a lot of magazines in the Executive/Concierge Lounge. DH was enjoying them the other day.

 

I don't recall seeing them in the library but I will do a double check to see and let you know.

 

I am sure the ship will be deep cleaned before you get on, but by all means wash your hands, use the sanitizers and use your knuckle to press the elevator buttons. ;)

Jacqui, Thank you so much for taking all that trouble, you are very kind! Don't forget you are on holiday! :)

Regards, Mirjam

We both had a G.I. illness at the end of summer, so I hope we are immune when we board next week!:p

Another question. DH loves reading magazines. Are there any on offer in he library? He likes most scientific, psychology and magazines like Times.

Or do we have to bring some with us?

Enjoy the rest of your cruise and stay healthy!

Love your blog! We are already excited to be starting our first cruise on the Rivier on 12/2 but your blog is making us super excited! Only 6 more nights....

Enjoy the remainder of your TA. Are you staying on for the next trip?

Thank you so much for the pictures of the Terrace Cafe, it all looks delicious! Keep up the good work! :)

Beautiful pictures! Looks like a very nice port stop.

We can't wait to board the Riviera next week for our Carribean cruise, but you rare whetting my apetite for a Transatlantic! Maybe in April 2017 when I turn 60, to celebrate?;)

It will be a point of discussion during our upcoming cruise!

I also really look forward to your comments and pictures of the ship and the food!

Have fun and a safe crossing!

Mirjam

We will board the Riviera when she arrives in Miami on Dec. 2 for our first cruise ever, so we will be avidly reading about your experiences. We are interested in any subject about the ship!

Wishing you a very pleasant trip!

Mirjam

Go there early (and often) for best selection.

Enjoy your cruise :)

Thank you, I'm sure we will!:)

all so much for your replies. We will definitely have to pack a European power strip as we will bring way too much electronical gadgets with us., but cannot live without them anymore.... :D

I'm looking forward to browse in the library. We probably won't need more information on our destination, but I love thrillers and detectives, so hope there will be some books in that genre.

Thanks again, Mirjam.

DH and myself are booked on the Riviera for the Caribbean Escapade, 2-22 December.

This forum has been an incredible source of information for us and we are really looking forward to our first ever cruise and getting more excited every day.

We still have a few practical questions and we hope someone on the forum will be able to answer them.

1. How many European 220 volt electrical outlets are there in a B4 cabin? And where are they located?

2. Are there any washcloths in the bathroom of the cabin or only towels?

3. Which type of books can you find in the library? Non-fiction, fiction, scientific, romance, travelbooks, travel stories?

4. This one is for the ladies: I understood it can be quite cold in the restaurants in the evening. Do you advise to wear closed toe shoes or can I wear open toed shoes?

That is it for now, but I will probably have some more in the upcoming weeks.

Thank you for your assistance,

Kind regards,

Mirjam

Mmmm, it looked worse from the other side of the window...

I will show your picture to DH and see what he says now. He was quite adamant that he preferred the smaller balconies:rolleyes:.....

We thought the enlarged balconies gave a tunnel like effect. Of course we did not view the. from a cabin but from outside, but they gave that impression.

Yesterday Marina was in the harbour of Amsterdam. As we will be cruising on the Riviera in December , we thought this a good opportunity to take a close look at her sister. We decided not to take an enlarged balcony cabin. We hope you like the pictures.

Mirjam

SellaVee, is that the same price as published by Oceania on their website, I mean the promotional fare?

Mirjam

Reading the Oceania forum, it seems that for US passengers airfare, even from the US to Europe or Asia, is included in the cruise fare. Is it also the other way around? For European passenger who want to cruise in the Caribbean, leaving from Miami? I can not find anything about that on the Oceania website and the Dutch TA's that offer Oceania do not have the air included in the fare.

Thanks in advance for the information,

Mirjam

Thanks to all of you for your kind replies. You've certainly given us enough food for thought about the way to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary :D!

It is on the day the Riviera will dock in St. Maarten (7th december), so we could also choose to dine in a restaurant on the island.

But we think that the ship offers enough opportunity to have a wonderful evening!

We will probably have many more questions, so we will be back on this forum.

For now best regard and thank you!

Mirjam

Goodmorning! We are looking at Riviera for a cruise in December 2015 in the Carribean. This will be our first 'real' cruise, before we have had some holidays on small sailing ships, but this will be completely different I suppose. During the cruise we will be celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary. Can you put in a request for a special meal (not in the private room as there will only be the two of us) but in one of the restaurants. How does Oceania handle this? Has any one experience with this?

Thank you, your advice is much appreciated! :)