ToxM

Thanks for your review, I particularly liked your rounding up of 500 hours on luxury lines, which give everyone a good indication of your experience with cruising.

I think that some of your expectations and experiences were coloured by your 500 hours of experience. A spa is a money trap where the cost of something shifts with quantum realities, I thought everyone knew that regardless of line (or hours spent on them).

I do not know of a cruiseline (apart from Costa?) that will allow you to embark mid itinerary, so that was a request that O was never going to entertain.

Sounds like the embarkation procedure in barbados has not changed that much since my TA last year, that’s down to the port I am afraid. 

Food appears to be suffering on all lines, whether this is cost cutting or supply chain issues, I am sorry it wasn’t up to the standard you expected. 

I don’t really drink so I am glad the price of my cruise isn’t inflated - I am very happy with having soft drinks only. Did you not get the 6 bottle setup in the OS?

I am curious as to how else you felt nickel and dimed as I have never felt like that on O. Am doubly curious as to what the CD did to try and shake the change from you - 😮

You certainly give a certain vibe off in your review and I am interested to hear what else you can add 🙂

Thanks for taking the time to write that comprehensive review!

PS I don’t have white hair, I just turned 50 and I certainly don’t consider that an advanced age and I happen to love the R ships. 

if you have a medical need for some food at a specific time outside of dining hours an email to guest services before you board and a standing order for a snack delivered to your stateroom at a set time of your choosing each night would almost certainly something O would do.

We tried room service for the first time this cruise. Honestly before then we have had so much food the last thing we needed was room service!

Hubby was suffering from man flu and stayed in the cabin last day of our Christmas cruise. I was going to the poker tournament and didn’t feel like eating alone before or after, so he ordered himself the red curry and I asked him to get me the club sandwich and I would eat it when I got back to the cabin after the poker. 

He said it arrived in a very timely manner and his plate was clean so it was clearly warm and tasty and my club sandwich was more than acceptable. 

There is honestly more than enough food at varying times during the day and if you do feel peckish later on (honestly I would be surprised if you did) then the room service is of high quality. if you don’t want it in your room, you could always have it delivered to a lounge 🙂 The buffet area is also open 24/7 for coffee etc, so you could also have it delivered there for that authentic eating experience 🙂

1 minute ago, kml246 said:

Understood, and as mentioned by @ToxM, it is an extensive menu. However, in our 30+ cruises, we have never ordered room service. We prefer to eat outside of our cabin.

 

Kevin 

Whilst it is called room service, you don’t HAVE to have it in your room 🙂 You can call and have it sent anywhere on the ship - not sure they would deliver it to the steam room, but you can try if you need it there 😉 

5 hours ago, ak1004 said:

 

This is not the point. Room service sometimes takes a long time to arrive. On most other lines there is at least one option to have some snacks, pizza etc. after 9pm. Why Oceania cannot do the same? This is pretty basic..

To be fair, the room service options are extensive at this time, and it’s not your basic room service and it’s good. 

6 minutes ago, ShipShapely said:

I found out that it stays open a half hour later on days that are in port vs sailing....says so in the Currents....but could not keep it straight to be honest....in any event - not long enough. 

Its supposed to be til 9 on port days and 9:30 on sea days … currents and the sign on the wall frequently contradicted each other. It was a magical mystery tour. 

It did appear to be a pot luck as to what time the DGR decided it was open for breakfast in the morning and frequently held little in common with what was printed in Currents.

I think the reason they run the same buffet two nights in a row is so that anyone who has a speciality reservation won’t miss out on a special buffet. 

From reading (and experiencing very recent changes) it would appear that FDR Jr is a bit of a new broom who has his eye on the pocketbook. 

As I stated above, I am unsure as to when O made the decision to sail full occupancy again, but from our 23rd December cruise I feel it was quite recently as the staff were struggling. Again as I stated for th most part everyone was their usual lovely self, but a full ship was clearly a very new concept for some.

Either we are ALL resistant to change, or things are very rapidly changing to save as much money as possible. 

I do fear for O as whilst loyal, regulars know what standard they expect. 

45 minutes ago, dancingcgal said:

Oh no. Did it overflow on floor or rug? How long to get fixed & Stink smell out? 

It got stopped up (we didn’t do anything to it) on the night before disembarkation, we just stopped using it tbh. nasty situation - never happened to us before on O - and I have been on deck 7 a few times. 

13 hours ago, dancingcgal said:

Did others on deck 7 going toward midship from you have this Overflow or Stink? 

We were in 7099 and had a blocked loo so it wasn’t just aft. 

Our disembarkation from O last week was terrible. This was down to passenger selfishness and O ineptitude. We always ask for the latest possible disembarkation time as we are generally off to a hotel rather than the airport and thus take our time to get off the ship. 

The CD called all the colours and numbers in quick succession and after waiting a bit as our colour and number had been called we thought it a good idea to make our way to the disembarkation deck. Lines from both sets of lifts circled around the deck, through Martinis and moved really slowly, ,merging in several areas. 

O should have halted calling numbers to allow the queues to go down, we weaved past the GM’s office and she was hiding in there, and we later heard she had evacuated the area due to unhappy passengers. 

I’ve never had such a terrible disembarkation from an O ship, and it was sad because if that’s my last memory from a great trip it’s not good. 

The port itself only had one lift working (it’s a large lift) and they weren’t allowing people to use the stairs or escalators, but this didn’t really hold up as much as the line to get off the actual ship. 

Luggage pickup and taxi line were very efficient. 

The fault in the terrible disembarkation lies squarely at a very poorly thought out disembarkation by O. Maybe this is the first or one of the first times the ship has been full and they weren’t paying attention and just working to rote as they sometimes default to. 

I have a future cruise cert burning a hole in my pocket, I hope these are good or else I am back to waiting for the late ‘25 itins to come out. 

Just for the record, I didn’t go to any of the meet and greets or CC meals - we were tired from travelling.

Also one thing I just remembered - we didn’t get a Sunday Brunch on our sea day - it was Xmas Day, but I notice that Regent got a Sunday Brunch for NYD. 

I know at least 8 people had no bags til at least Puerto Rico. 

9 minutes ago, Acrusa said:

Do you know how full the ship was or do you have your own estimate?

Just curious. 

I think it was a full sailing, which may also account for some of the staff struggling. 

There may have been a few who missed embarkation due to weather, and I believe a few had to embark in Tortola. 

I concur with most of the above - our toilet on deck 7 also was blocked on the last night. 

No clock in our room - I was waiting for it to arrive maybe as part of the refill at Miami but it never turned up. 

breakfast times were a law unto themselves in the GDR and as stated above bore no reflection on the times stated in Currents. 

CD gave a very welcome BRIEF précis in the morning and the evening. 

Casino was very very kind to me - a royal flush for 2000 dollars on video poker on the last night and 2 chops for first, a second and a third in the poker tournaments which were well attended and good fun. 

Pizzas at Waves are very good, and slowly got busier as the cruise went on. 

We both caught a nasty respiratory bug (not covid, we tested 3x each with home bought tests) and my first aid kit came in very handy and twice daily visits to the sauna and steam room fixed me up quicker than hubby who decided to take bed rest., 

Crew on the whole excellent, a couple of surly staff (Eastern Europeans who generally aren’t the happiest crew anyway). There does seem to be a bit of going through the motions and inflexibility creeping in - we arrived one night for dinner in The Terrace at 8:30 and a lot of the tables had been stripped and in fact there wasn’t a laid one for us, I had to ask for them to find us a table and I was made to feel very uncomfortable for asking - a new feeling on O for me. 

The refit to the cabin is great - our B3 felt airy and much larger and the bathroom is a mini tardis. Rainwater shower needs a pressure increase. 

I appreciated the talk and slides on the refit being on the TV and enjoyed watching it. 

Jacques Pepin being on the cruise was a wonderful surprise - his book signings clashed with my poker so we didn’t attend, but I caught him having a sing in Martinis one night. 

Had a few lovely chats with staff in the smoking areas (they initiated the chats before anyone is upset at me!).

Baristas in the evening is pretty much always empty and we enjoyed an after dinner coffee in there and occasionally a pre dinner coffee there with nibbles. 

We had maybe two or three drinks all week so I didn’t pay any attention to the menus and price changes. 

Toscana needs a re jog into something better or a whole new type of restaurant - definitely the weakest speciality now. Jacques and Red Ginger still excellent. 

We stayed precruise at the Intercontinental and it was lovely - definitely amazing to look ours the window and see the ship. Post cruise we stayed at The Betsy which was decadent wonderfulness. 

I bought a future cruise cert again and am waiting for the rest of 2025 to come out. 

A good cruise!

6 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

 do you mean Waves Grill ?

In the past it closed at 4pm  & did not open for dinner   have they changed the hours now ?

Yups, on Riv they have installed a pizza oven and they have a complete menu in the evening and it is very nice. 

Just now, shepherd really said:

I thought ginger ale was just ale but with a red head?  😁

Lol 

Grill has breakfast and lunch and if I remember correctly closes about 4:30 and then reopens 6;30 til 9:30 to offer very very nice pizza. 

1 minute ago, shepherd really said:

Did the waiter not actually know what root beer was?

No, I explained what it was an likened it to Ginger Ale where the Ale part is just the name. 

Root Beer isn’t known all over. 

4 minutes ago, jescott54 said:

I disagree. I’m sure he is contracted out just as every other employee is and is gracious enough to fill in when everyone else wants to go home for the holidays. It is by no means easy getting performers on ships these days of when young folks have the pick of jobs. 

Maybe thats why they keep him 

I didn’t even notice the new drinks and prices, I think we had 2 maybe 3 drinks this cruise. 

We were in Jacque’s and asked for a nice dessert wine and the only one offered by the Somelier was a Sauternes which we were surprised about, I would prefer to have been given a few options. 

I do think O should do the decent thing and honour the price for those who are actually on board and had the lower price. 

Also interestingly I was challenged by a waiter about my Root Beer (which I had requested as a fridge drink) as it “Was a beer that they don’t offer” so clearly they are instructed to challenge about drinks purchased from outside drunk outside one’s cabin. All quite correct, I just thought it was an interesting exchange. 

We disembarked yesterday after a lovely cruise. Have to say disembarkation was a bloody mess. Worst we have had with O. We always ask for latest time and never rush to get off the ship. I’m this case the line snaked 4 ways through martinis and the via the lifts and it took us 40 minutes or so to disembark. The colour codings and number system was disregarded by the crew I think as it would have been obvious to anyone with a brain that they needed to wait to let the queues subside. Terrible in O’s part. 
 

We had a fabulous cruise and a lovely night pre cruise at the intercontinental tap and an amazing post cruise stay at The Betsy  

We had 4 poker tournaments. I chopped first place twice, third once and second once and on the final evening I got a royal flush on Video Poker for 2000 bucks! 
 

Riviera is looking beautiful, there was some teething problems with a full sailing but it was all fine and just one crew member was a bit surly. 
 

overall a great cruise!

21 minutes ago, jonthomas said:

 

 

is the pizza different in Waves than the Terrace...I dont like it in the Terrace...it looks good but isnt...

Yeah its good and it has a proper pizza oven 

I mentioned an issue I had with certain tours O is offering in the mid cruise comment card and got a nice letter back saying they are going to raise my concerns with Head Office.