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  1. I recently wrote a review about our stateroom experience on our Riviera cruise, and I wanted to write a review about our cruise experience overall. This was our third Oceania cruise, so we had some experience and expectations going in. I will try to remain balanced in my review. We just disembarked 9 days ago, so I'm writing this while my memory is fresh. First the positives: 1. The multitude of restaurant options is great. There is something for everybody, and for a 12 day cruise it was nice to be able to eat in a variety of spaces. 2. The ship has a lot of common spaces to enjoy, and none of them felt overly crowded. 3. The Barista's spot makes excellent coffee....the best on the ship in our opinion. We were regulars there. Really fantastic...even staffed by an Italian! 4. The Oceania staff is excellent. They always seem to go above and beyond with limited exceptions (sticking to positives here). 5. The ship was clean everywhere we went, including common area bathrooms. 6. Embarkation went smoothly, and we were in our stateroom quickly. Our luggage showed up fairly quickly. 7. It seemed that the Bridge crew went out of their way to sail in such a manner as to keep the ship's movements minimized as much as possible. 8. We had dinner in Privee 3 times, and two of those times were outstanding (remember, this is the positives)! 9. Our Butler and support staff were top notch, cordial, professional and just outstanding in every way! 10. Fellow passengers all seemed to be well seasoned travelers, with mostly positive attitudes. This is important to us. We hate being around people who are "fun vampires". Ok, now the negatives...which I'm going to be as honest as possible about. I am not piling on here, just telling it like it is: 1. The food has slipped. We noticed this in pretty much every restaurant, with the possible exception of Toscana. However, on our last night , we ate in Toscana, and I ordered a Maine Lobster dish. It was bad...very fishy...as if the lobster was way past it's prime. I returned it immediately and ordered another pasta I had ordered previously, and it was of course excellent. Why did they serve lobster that was unworthy of an Oceania customer? It was really bad! This is my last night on the ship, and it remains a solid memory. Bad form. 2. The wifi. Holy mother of God what in the world is Oceania doing with this wifi? I could hear my old 4400 baud modem clanging away as I tried to log in, but the wifi on the ship was no match for my 4400 bauds! I write a travel blog for fun....and I couldn't even upload a photo without waiting an hour! Fortunately we were near land on occasion and I could use my international plan to do some work, but I'm still a week behind thanks to their "Pony Express" wifi! We had two "at sea" days due to canceled ports of call (coming up on #3), and I can't tell you how many hours I wasted trying to write one blog post! Also, when you are logged in, you get logged out repeatedly.....over and over....never for more than a few hours at a time. It was a constant struggle, almost like they would log you out on purpose! 3. Ok, here is a rant with a conspiracy theory. Our ship pulled into the Faroe Islands, turned around in the harbor about a dozen times, very slowly, and then abruptly left. The Captain said it was due to weather, but it was sunny and calm. We were supposed to be there for two full days, and I had a private excursion planned (for 10 people) that I ended up losing over $2000 on. A week prior to this the Faroe Island populace had a pilot whale hunt where they killed a bunch of them in front of another cruse ship. It's my firm belief that Oceania Corporate told the Captain to pull into harbor, make a big show of the fact we were there, and then depart, sending a political message. The company I was working with on the excursion advised me they had no idea why the Captain didn't dock, as the weather was calmer than usual. If Oceania wants to take a political stance with the Faroe Islands, fine, but don't impact my cruise experience! I was really looking forward to this port! 4. We had a habit of getting iced tea every day at the Waves Bar by the pool. Our last day on the ship, we stopped by the bar and there was nobody there, during their opening hours. We went up to Horizons to see if they could help us. They told us they didn't have iced tea, go back to Waves Bar. When we told them nobody was there, they said "oh well". This was a group of 3 guys at the bar. W T F? This is not the service we have come to expect from Oceania! One of these guys should have said "what is your stateroom number, I'll get some and bring it to you!" I think the fact it was the last day on board lended itself to staff taking a lazy attitude towards the customers...."oh well, they are about gone, I'm done hustling for these guys". I hope that's not the case, but it sure seemed like it. 5. The Grand Dining Room. We ate here for breakfast one time. Once! The food was cold, the coffee was cold, the service was terrible...and it wasn't even crowded! Again, W T F? Why is the service in the main dining establishment on the ship so crappy? How can it be that hard to bring warm eggs from the kitchen to the table? We ended up eating 10 of 12 breakfasts in our suite. 6. The "internet guy". This guy had the worst attitude on the ship. We couldn't get logged into the wifi (not that it was worth logging into) on our first day so we went to see him on our second day. He really doesn't want to be there. After taking care of us he walked away, and there was somebody waiting behind us. We realized his "working hours" had ended at the same time he took care of us, so screw that guy behind you, he can wait until tomorrow. Again, W T F? 7. The Best of Oceania! One of the 3 nights we ate in Privee we picked the "Best of Oceania" dining menu. It was terrible. Every dish was lackluster. It's been too long to remember details at this point, but the entire group of 10 was disappointed. If you do Privee, stick with the Polo and Toscana menus. 8. The "Sommeliers". The wine people on the ship, while they are nice, don't know how to pour wine in equal servings. Now I know pouring one bottle for 10 people is difficult, but this is likely a common occurrence and it should be practiced. We always ended up with one person who had almost twice as much wine as another, and with high end wines and high end enthusiasts, this is not a fun vibe! 9. Dress code. I know the dress code says no jeans to dinner, or around the ship after dinner, but this code is broken so often without consequence that I wonder why it's the dress code? I would prefer to wear jeans every day....just my thing, but I didn't. Kinda weird to see what was accepted in the restaurants in the end. Maybe just allow jeans? I know, you purists out there want us all in tuxedos. 10. Stemware. Ok, this is just going to be me most likely, but stemware matters. Double the amount of decent Pinot Noir glasses you currently carry. Schott Zwiesel makes some excellent Pinot glasses that are actually made with Titanium, and they are super hard to break. I know, these are my daily drinkers at home, and I've barely broken any over the last 15 years! Buy a bunch of these so your high end red wine drinkers are happy. Ok, I think I've mentioned everything here. I'll have my wife review tomorrow....she has the good memory in the family...and will add anything she brings up. Again, thanks for reading!
  2. As noted by another poster in an Allura topic, all ships' itineraries through December 2025 are viewable on the O website with the exception of Riviera that only goes to Septemeber 2025. I didn't get my promo email...need to check my settings! Edit: Oops...only Allura and Vista are through December 2025. The others are through either September, October, or November.
  3. Everyday, I do a search on YouTube.com for NEW video's for Oceania Cruises. Rarely are they posted but every now and again, one comes up. The one I am referring to is about Afternoon Tea on the Riviera. It seems on this video, the afternoon tea had a theme. One was "cheese cake" and the other was "cupcakes". Two things I truly enjoy, rarely allow myself to have because I am allergy to them both. When I have either cheese cake of cupcakes they make my body swell better know as I gain weight. So I save those treats for special occasions like going on a cruise. "There is cheating on a diet and then there is Cheese Cake!!" I had no idea that the teas could or would have a themes and love the idea. Yet the video showed you still could have the famous sandwiches' where the crust was cut off. Afternoon tea is new to me so it is not critical to my experience. It is a novelty. I hope to enjoy my first afternoon tea early on in my cruise. Who knows, I might get hooked on the event. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.
  4. We boarded today in Rome. This is our first Oceania cruise. We spent two days in Rome, walking and eating. It allowed us to adjust to the time change. We left our hotel at 1:15, using RomeCab, they were fabulous and we were at the port at 2:30. There was a small line to go through security because there was only one small machine. Checkin was very efficient and we were in our room by 3:15. By 4:15 , our bags had been delivered, we had unpacked and I had showered. Our room, a B 2 verandah on deck 8 is lovely. We fit our suitcases easily under the bed, medium size roll- on, did not need to lift the bed. We utilized all of the various drawers, but everything fit and was put away. We went to Martinis, got two glasses of wine and walked around the ship which is lovely. we got the prestige beverage package. We like to drink wine and decided we did not not to worry about each charge. We had a Soave and Albariño and both were quite good. We had dinner in Toscana which was variable. My filet of sole was fabulous, as was the special spinach tortellini with mushrooms. my husbands veal scallop Marsala was almost inedible. The service was very good.
  5. We will be embarking on the Riviera on 10/20 in Rome. Our first O cruise, just wondering how current passengers are finding the food and the ship in general. Yes, I am more than certain we will enjoy it but curious for current input
  6. Viva La Vista - Roman Rivièra’s July 25th – August 4th. Background This was a special gift for my mother’s birthday. We have been cruising for years. I started cruising with my parents and grandmother many years ago. I also like to cruise with my girlfriend. Our favorite cruise line is Oceania (Insignia, Nautica and 3x Riviera), but we also love Seabourn and did a couple of cruises on Celebrity and Star Clippers. Our last cruise was on Seabourn. My age is 42 so I think I belong in the younger demographic Oceania is aiming for with the new ships Vista and Allura. On Oceania we have always been blessed to cruise in Penthouse Suites and for this trip on the beautiful Vista we also had a PH (PH 11012). Sailing on a brand-new ship and with Oceania’s increased pricing also meant this was our most expensive cruise to date. Oceania now places itself in the price range of Seabourn, Explora Journeys, Ritz Carlton Yacht Collection and sister brand Regent. I had very high expectations for this trip and was keen to compare this to our last cruise on Seabourn and previous Oceania Riviera cruises. This review is long. Very long. Too long maybe. I’m fully aware some points are first world problems and that we are privileged to be able to travel and see the world in such luxury. I like reading comprehensive reviews and I’m trying to return the favor. If you prefer a short version there is a conclusion in the end. So you can fast forward to the end. Booking We live partly in the US and partly in Europe. We had our US based travel advisor Adam book this cruise and he and his assistant Vanessa were extremely helpful and always available. They arranged flowers for my mother’s birthday and a nice bottle of wine was waiting in our suite upon arrival. Really appreciated. Blue Book We never received the pre-cruise booklet with personalized information about our trip and luggage tags. Apparently, Oceania doesn’t send those out anymore, to guest who don’t live in the US permanently. We always got those in the past. Oceania happily sends tons of glossy magazines, brochures, letters with discounts and leaflets to Europe. Those all end up in the trash bin even. We tried to opt out of the mailing list at least 5 times! They keep sending it anyway. Why Oceania cuts down on sending handy luggage tags and a personalized cruise brochure that you keep as a reminder of a great travel experience is a riddle to me? It’s a bad decision. Sending the pre-cruise booklet is a nice touch, gives a good first impression and I planned on wrapping the booklet as a gift for my mother. Penny-wise pound foolish for an upper premium cruise line. Website The Oceania website and guest portal is functional but not the most user friendly. There is no Oceania app for your mobile device and the dated user interface makes for a mediocre online experience. You get multiple emails that show the same messages as in the guest portal. You must do a fair number of clicks to get to the page to select your restaurant reservations or shore excursions. We got the email about the importance of watching the safety video 6 times and that was after clicking the link and watching it. An app could provide guests an easy portal with cruise information, reservations, excursions, ship, and port information et cetera. It’s not a big priority but an ICT overhaul would benefit everyone. Flights We made our own travel arrangements and flew in with KLM from Amsterdam to Rome on the day of Embarkation. I had pre-arranged a private transfer to pick us up from the airport. Always tricky to fly in on embarkation day but we had a short early morning flight and felt confident we would make it. Our flight left on time. Last summer it wass chaos at Schiphol Airport but this year it’s back to normal. The flight was good. Our driver was waiting for us when exited the baggage area and drove us right to the terminal in Civitavecchia. Embarkation On arrival we gave our luggage to a porter who had to first look up our name and stateroom number and then wrote it down on a sticker gave it to us so we could attach it to our suitcases. Those luggage tags from the Blue Book would have been so handy. After that we walked to a second entrance that had different lines for different cabin and stateroom categories. Although we had done the complete online check-in with uploading our passport information and specially took and uploaded photos and CC information, we had to do it all over again at embarkation. So much for the online check-in and Oceania boarding passes in our hands. It seemed that none of the information we provided online was available to the agent checking us in. She wanted to know our nationalities (she had our passport in her hands) and what type of credit card we would be using (the same we provided during the online check in) and she took new pictures of both our passport and our faces before finally handing over our sail and sign cards. There were long lines with people checking in and I understand why. Finally, we were ready to board. The ship is gorgeous. Having sailed on Riviera 3 times you feel right at home on Vista, but the new design is impressive and modern. All public spaces are stunning. It’s not a yacht feel but more that of a floating luxury resort. Tiles, fabrics, carpets, leather, lighting, chairs, and tables; everything is tasteful. I appreciate the touchless doors to the restrooms although the controls need some studying. The library is the most beautiful at sea with an enormous selection of books. No need to schlep books with you. I walked past it multiple times a day just to look at the room. The interiors throughout Vista are impressive Suite The Penthouse Suite is roomy and very elegant. All the colors, fixtures, finishings from wall panels to flooring and furniture are first class. The air-conditioning works perfectly fine and silent. You can even control the direction of the airflow. I like the touchscreen with various options but would have liked to have more options to control the lighting and mood in the suite and to turn announcements on or off. I do think the designers could have utilized the space better. We visited a regular Veranda Stateroom, and the Penthouse Suite is essentially a slightly larger version of that room with some extra furniture and different wall panels. I would have loved to be able to close the curtains between the sleeping and living area. Seabourn has this and I think it works well, especially when somebody is awake early in the morning. It makes the room feel bigger and closing of a part is just a great feature. On Riviera and Marina, the Penthouse Suites had a faux curtain between living and sleeping area, that made it look larger. More importantly they had a proper walk-in closet. On Vista the designers choose for two big glossy grey closets with a big empty space in the middle. A lot of wasted space that could have been used so much better. Not a fan of this layout at all. The bathroom is beautiful and bright, and I love the tiles, smart lighted mirrors that double as a night light and double sinks, but it felt smallish for a suite. The shower is good and temperature and pressure excellent. I do miss the bathtub. For me with busy work schedules it’s a luxury I don’t get to use at home often. I love to take a relaxing bath on vacation. Seabourn has a fantastic layout for the bathrooms in standard Veranda Staterooms with double sinks, a large shower, and a separate bathtub. I know Riviera already removed most bathtubs because many people prefer a large shower, but such a roomy suite could have had both easily. It also makes for a bigger difference between a standard veranda stateroom and the entry level suite. The closet and drawer spaces take up too much room. You can easily pack for a world cruise. The Penthouse Suite has so many drawers. One could even say a few too many. The suite has a very firm sofa and 4 big chairs. 1 adjacent to the sofa with a very nice mirror and small table in between. There is a nice marble dining table with 2 chairs but due to a useless row of drawers behind the table it partly blocks the door to the balcony. The table itself blocks the row of drawers so you can’t open them without moving the heavy table so it’s a very strange design choice. Maybe nice on paper but not useful at all. I’m curious how many guests use the drawers tucked away behind the dining table. All the chairs and the position of the table make the space look a little cluttered. On the positive side there is enough furniture to sit on. I would have chosen a warmer color for the LED-lighting for the room. It’s very cool white/blue and you can’t dim the lights to make it softer. The balcony light is so bright that it doesn’t do anything nice at night. Better keep them off and enjoy the world go by in darkness. The reading lights are so bright you can use them to read and light up the entire ship. Did I mention it would be nice to have dimmers? The beds are very comfortable, and linens are soft and crisp. I want to take them home. Oceania beds and bedding are the best. I don’t understand the bar set-up in the room. There is a very nice cabinet with glass doors and lights behind them, but it doesn’t hold anything behind those glass doors. Something like glassware, cutlery, plates, cocktail shaker, napkins, wine opener or anything useful to make a drink or maybe some nice books? Now it’s just empty. I’m curious what the idea behind that lighted cabinet is? The veranda of the Vista Penthouse Suite has very nice and comfortable chairs, but a lounger or at least an ottoman would have been a nice touch for a suite. For such an expensive cabin the difference between the standard veranda stateroom and penthouse suite should be bigger. Should we sail on Oceania Vista again I think I would be just as happy in a standard veranda stateroom with extended balcony. WiFi. The Starlink Wi-Fi is a leap forward but allowing one device online or having to pay a lot extra for a second device is totally outdated. The logging into the system and switching between devices is frustrating and very 2012. Most airlines offer free messaging at 40.000 feet even when flying in economy with multiple devices. Oceania should provide guests with free WIFI. I know the future Simply More pricing will see a change in the policy but that doesn’t benefit any guests now and we are already simply paying more. Food Oceania advertises the Finest Cuisine at Sea and on the 0-website they also call its restaurants culinary masterpieces. Those are big promises. Therefore, I will focus this review on those claims. During my past 6 cruises on Oceania, we felt they did offer the finest cuisine at sea. This voyage the food was excellent in some places (Red Ginger and Polo) and hit and miss in others (Toscana, Terrace, Aquamar, Ember and Waves). In general, I found the quality of the food had declined and the variety more limited than before. It’s still good but not as spectacular as in the past. I’m all for cutting down on the use of plastics and in theory the Vero water system on Oceania is great. The problem is it’s mostly served lukewarm, getting ice is a hassle and I’m not very fond of the taste. But I know first world problem. Toscana The new design of Toscana is beautiful. I love what they did with the space. Since Toscana was our favorite in the past, I booked it for our first night. Our table for two at the stern would have been fabulous but there was a problem with one of the floor to ceiling windows and it had protective white sticker/tarp glued on it covering the entire window. We were placed right behind that window. So much for the nice view. Our friendly waiter took our orders, and we asked him to take it very slow. It was our first night and we like to take time with dinner. For us it is the main event of the evening. Our waiter responded that he would take care of it and even joked we didn’t have anywhere else to go that evening. And then we had starter, main course and dessert served within 45 minutes and were out of Toscana in under an hour. We felt rushed. Food itself was a little mixed. The fried calamari were good as was the octopus carpaccio but the Aragosta Fra Diavolo (pasta with lobster) was mediocre. Pasta had been in the water way too long. Soft and with no taste. Lobster was a good size but chewy. Also cooked too long and lacking flavor. My mother had the Linguine Cioppino (pasta with shrimp, clams, and mussels) The dish had lots of bland tomato sauce on it and little seafood. All-in all the food was a little bland. Tiramisu was fine. I think they changed the recipe to less mascarpone and that made it a little less rich and flavorful. After my initial complaint we had a second dinner that was much better. Service was fantastic. Food still hit and miss. Artichoke salad bland, carpaccio nothing spectacular. My mother’s beef requested medium rare came out very well done. On the other hand, my veal was excellent. I looked up pictures from previous cruises and the plating at Toscana from a few years ago looked so much more elegant. The carpaccio was a feast for the eye with a beautiful crispy Parmesan tower filled with arugula. They used to offer a fantastic Vitello Tonnato. Toscana on Vista is a beautiful restaurant but the kitchen needs attention. They still offer the best breadbasket at sea with the oven roasted garlic and the olive and balsamic vinegar menu. Red Ginger Again a very beautiful restaurant. There is a dark and a light side. I preferred the elegance from the dark side of the restaurant but the brightly lit other area was also pretty. Just put a dimmer on those big chandeliers to give the room a little more atmosphere. I’m not in the dentist office. Service was excellent. Our waiter Anthony just got it. Great personality and the time between courses was perfect. The food was also the best we had on the ship. The spicy duck and watermelon, seared salmon and scallop ceviche, veggie spring rolls, caramelized tiger prawns, Bulgogi beef, fried soft-shell crab, noodles and fried rice. Everything tasted delicious with the right amount of spice. We loved our dinner at Red Ginger. That was the quality and preparation we remembered. Polo Grill Again Oceania and the design team did great work on Polo Grill on Vista. The spaces, tables, lights, tableware, and design touches are all wonderful. It’s a visual picknick. Our servers were knowledgeable, attentive and knew how to not rush. Timing was perfect and the food was exactly as we remembered, maybe even better. We ordered Foie Gras, pork belly, lobster bisque, onion soup and steamed lobster with a side of creamed spinach and a side of lobster Mac and cheese. Everything was delicious. Portions perfect. At the end of the meal the waiters came out with a special cake and sang happy birthday for my mom. They didn’t overdo it. It wasn’t awkward. It truly was a special night. Ember Although the atmosphere and interior design of Ember is nice, we don’t think it’s a worthy successor to Jacques. I think that a French restaurant is better suited for a cruise line that says it serves ‘the finest cuisine at sea’ and even trademarked this slogan. Ember has a menu reminiscing a simplified menu of a nicely decorated upscale US chain restaurant. It’s just not fine dining. Oceania already has Terrace Cafe and Waves and Aquamar for casual food. I would have not visited Ember a second time and they need to seriously look at the acoustics. It’s loud and not in a fun way. The layout like Red Ginger also has a smaller more intimate side and a larger brighter room. This has the open kitchen in it and due to the design with lots of glass the bright lights from the kitchen shines into the large room of the restaurant. It takes away some of the atmosphere. Service was super friendly and accommodating. We didn’t feel rushed and time between courses very good. The food was okay with some good and some not so good. Portion sizes very nice and small so you can try lots of what’s on the menu. The warm bread was fantastic. Spinach and Artichoke dip wasn’t hot, and the dip was pretty tasteless. Classic New England Lobster Roll was good. I would load a little more on top just to make it look richer, but taste was good. Thai Barbecue Pork Ribs were very good and the pickled veggies excellent. Lobster Mac & Cheese looked beautiful with lots of lobster. I missed cheese in the dish and that’s a big part of a Mac & Cheese. The name says it all. This was macaroni in a thick seafood broth with chunks of lobster. Tuscan Kale & Rotisserie Chicken Salad wasn’t our taste. Nicely plated but we didn’t like the dressing. Acidity and to much salt. Aquamar Kitchen The Aquamar Kitchen looks great and has a hip Ibiza vibe with healthy options. But looks can be a little deceiving. The healthy juices aren’t healthy green juices with ingredients like fresh kale, cucumber, celery, lime and ginger. The so-called healthy juices tasted like they use pre-made orange or mango juice from concentrate as a basis. They have the equipment, but don’t serve the healthy juices I would love. Service is spotty. The tuna tacos were simple but tasty with guacamole and spicy mayonnaise. The Thai Mood salad had little to make it taste Thai. A few pieces of chicken breast with quinoa some fruit and veggies but no Thai flavors. The pita with chicken was fine, as was the tuna burger. The food is nice but not spectacular. If O seriously wants to attract a younger audience, they must make it look and taste sexy, exotic and healthy. Aquamar Kitchen is open for breakfast and lunch, but it would be ideal as an extra Mediterranean restaurant at night. I imagine small tapas dishes maybe a paella night. Okay I’m not part of the O culinary advisory board but it’s such a nice spot they can do more with it. Terrace Cafe Our favorite is to dine al fresco so you can enjoy being on a ship and hear the sea. The best place with the best view on Vista is the Terrace Café all the way aft. The buffet has something for everyone. The grill serves made to order lobster, lamb, and steaks. The grill masters work so hard and stay friendly even to those fellow guests barking their orders. I felt ashamed for how badly people behave towards the friendly staff. There is a pasta station, carving station, sushi, sashimi, salad bar. It’s very well executed. The outside terrace isn’t very large so O places a lot of tables there so it can get packed and slightly challenging to navigate. They serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner. In the evenings they have tablecloths on the tables, and it all looks very pretty. The chairs outside are a little dull compared to the rest of the lovely decor. The food is (almost) the same as in the main dining room. We loved our dinners on the aft deck watching the wake. The offerings are however repetitive. It’s summer and we are in the Mediterranean, so you have all sorts of fruits in season. I found the same 3 types of melon offered every single day. Dinner was very good but repetitieve. The same seafood salad, mussels, sushi, sashimi (not real raw salmon and tuna but that’s probably a health and safety issue?) night after night. The lobster is pre-cooked and sometimes cooked way too long, so it became hard to cut even with a steak knife. Such a shame. With so many good chefs and ingredients the buffet could have been more creative. The grill has the same 4 sauces every night. Go wild with a daily special like mushroom sauce, truffle or red wine sauce?! I need to mention the French themed evening. It was a fantastic display of French cuisine. Ratatouille, Steak Tartare, Foie Gras, Bouillabaisse, French cheeses. It was a feast. They even had a Mille-Feuille station (French puff pastry filled with vanilla pastry cream). It was delicious. The buffet closes at 9 pm and that is early. Waves Grill The spot to get your burgers, hotdogs, and ice cream. Burgers are excellent and made to order. The wagyu burger is very good. They have daily specials. It’s a very nice-looking space with beautiful tables. But the number of big chairs and tables make the space in between tight and there is little airflow. Same with Aquamar Kitchen. Both are heavy traffic areas for people walking from the pool to the Terrace Cafe or aft elevators and stairs. On a warm day it gets hot and stuffy sitting under the deck above. Baristas & The Bakery Barista’s is expanded on Vista with a very nice and perfectly executed bakery. Great croissants, chouquette, canelé, madeleines, beignets and other typical French pastries. Excellent all the way. Coffee in Barista’s is also good. I preferred the beautiful coffee machine on Riviera but this one is probably more efficient and the coffee is good. Real strong espresso made with Illy or Lavazza (I prefer Illy) coffee just like being in Italy. The barista’s Paulo and Fabrizio quickly learned our preference and were a joy every morning. Grand Dining Room The room is magnificent, but we choose to have our dinners at the Terrace Cafe. Same menu but buffet style and you can sit outsides. Pool The pool deck is nice. I wouldn’t have chosen the green tiles in the pool, but overall, it’s a beautiful area. There is one big problem. It gets crowded and there isn’t enough shade. The new design makes the pool look larger, but it also makes the area for sun beds smaller. Loungers are stacked next to each other. It gets packed. Not enough spots in the shade. The beds in the shade are covered by the deck above and it get hot with little airflow. As mentioned on this cruise chair hogs were very active, and crew didn’t enforce or dare to enforce the policy. People constantly wandering around to find a lounger doesn’t breathe luxury or upper premium. Pool service was nonexistent on most days. It’s not a big problem to walk to the pool bar to get a drink but with these temperatures keeping guests hydrated should be a priority. I think they were somewhat understaffed. Aquamar Spa I’m repeating myself but again very pretty design. I took a deep tissue massage, and it was fantastic. My therapist Maylin was very good and funny and nice. The pricing however is out of this world. The Spa at the JW Marriott or Ritz are bargains compared to Aquamar Spar on Oceania. The Spa has a circular layout with a relaxation room in the middle and therapy rooms surrounding it. There is sauna, steam room, showers, and a dedicated spa terrace with loungers, jacuzzies and a small pool. Aquamar Spa Terrace The spa deck is beautiful and expanded on Vista. Although it’s only accessible to concierge and suite guests they don’t behave accordingly. Guests made a mess of the serene area and that was frustrating to watch. It’s not a place for full plates of food left on loungers and pool towels used as napkins. It’s sad but Oceania should enforce a strict no food and alcohol policy on the Aquamar Spa Terrace. The area itself lacks shade so on a sunny and warm summer cruise you can only go there is you want to slowly roast yourself. There is too little sun protection on the outside decks, and it should be addressed quickly. Fellow Guests This brings me to my fellow cruisers. We had a very eclectic mix of guests. Many guests were an absolute delight, but a frightening number of people lacked manners. Being rude to the staff, chair hogs, people not having the decency to put used pool towels in one of the 6000 laundry bins around the various decks. Not helping an elderly woman push her husband’s scooter when the battery died a couple of feet from the ship. They just walked past them. Disgraceful. Sitting in the pool on the Aquamar Spa Terrace with wine and then due to way too much alcohol intake letting the half full acrylic glass drop in the pool and laughing and then leaving with the wine glass still in the pool. Yes, I retrieved the glass from the little pool. It wasn’t hard. At times it felt like guest from a Carnival Fun Ship had accidentally walked on an Oceania Cruise. Nothing wrong with people sailing on Carnival it’s just not the vibe I’m looking for. Bathing suits and bare feet in the restaurants during lunch and even some people at night at the Terrace Cafe. Leaving soda cans and towels on the ground or in the public showers after showering. Juk! Watching YouTube and TikTok clips with full volume on in the pool area. Keeping multiple loungers occupied and not using them for hours. As an example, I noticed one of the few shaded daybeds on deck 14 reserved by somebody who put a book from the O-library on it and then vanished. After noticing the spot not being occupied for over an hour, I placed my towel and myself on it and enjoyed the lounger. Another hour and a half passed when the lady came back to her now taken daybed. She was angry and demanded her daybed back. She left it unoccupied for 2.5 hours and was mad at me. The most distasteful behavior was a young woman smoking a cigarette in the jacuzzi when we sailed out of the bay of St Tropez. Dress code Dress code on O is country club casual but the word casual is taken very loosely. I love not having to wear a suit or tuxedo and I don’t mind dressing casual but on such a beautiful ship with already a very relaxed dress code a lot of fellow guests pushed elegant casual to the very limit. Stained t-shirts, swimwear, cargo shorts and flipflops. It’s just not appropriate for dinner not even in the terrace cafe. Oceania isn’t NCL and let’s keep the brands separated. Elegant casual or country club casual isn’t that hard. Sea Day This cruise had one sea day and that’s when you could clearly see the crew being totally overwhelmed. To many people for the ship to function properly. Crowds everywhere. Pool, Aquamar Terrace, Terrace Cafe, Waves and Aquamar Kitchen packed inside and out. Tables not cleared, waiters confused, not able te get service. It was chaotic especially during lunch time. We felt so sad for the hard-working crew. It was just too much for them. Vista Lounge I can’t comment on the shows. We didn’t see any. The Vista lounge is also the designated room to wait for tenders. This is the only area that didn’t impress me. The purple fabric on the seats is an acquired taste. The carpets grayish. I’m not sure what the intention of the interior designer of the theatre was? It had a wow-factor but not a positive one. Yes, that’s my opinion, other people love purple. Tender operations We had a couple of ports where we tendered into town. I prefer tendering to docking in an industrial port. Oceania had a system in place where guests without Oceania tours first go to the Vista Lounge to get tender tickets. You wait in the lounge until enough guests have gathered. 10/20 minutes on average. You then proceed to the tender platform and inside the tender. Seated you wait for more people to show up. That’s the tricky part. Tenders aren’t the most comfortable boats to wait in and they sometimes let us bounce around for 10 to 15 minutes. People slowly turning a pale color of green. Same on the way back. My free advice is to first gather enough guests than put them in the tender and depart asap. Shore Excursions We don’t use shore excursions organized by Oceania. Way to expensive and we like to explore on our own schedule. We arranged a private transfer to get us to Taormina and back to the ship. It was cheaper and more comfortable than the Oceania ‘explore Taormina on your own’ tour. Same with airport transfers. Naples is fine to explore on your own. St Tropez and Monaco are great to wander around. Livorno was our least favorite port only good for excursions. It’s an industrial port and nothing to see especially on a Sunday when everything is closed. Marseille was also an industrial port (smelly) and docked together with other cruise ships and ferries. Palma de Mallorca is a nice port with good shuttle buses. The old town is wonderful to explore. Butler As a guest in Penthouse Suites and above you get a butler. It’s a bit like Downton Abbey at sea. It’s nice but unnecessary for us. Our Oceania butlers have always treated us like VIPS, but we just don’t use their services, the best a butler can do for us is obtaining an extra restaurant reservation or something special in our suite. Our butler on this voyage was very friendly but almost invisible. There was a mix-up when we first arrived in our suite. They had the wrong names on the TV-screen and papers and shore excursion tickets that weren’t ours. The fridge also had all sorts of soda’s we never drink or requested. We told the butler about the mix-up. He apologized but insisted the sodas were on our preference list. They weren’t. We never drink Dr Pepper. The TV-screen was eventually changed to feature our names and papers and tickets removed but the soda’s stayed. We finally took them out as a hint. Another example after our first night our butler asked about our night in Toscana. We told him about our less than stellar experience. He told us he would make sure to mentioned it to the Maître d’ and get a new reservation. Never heard anything back. After I filled out the mid cruise questionnaire the executive chef called us the next day to apologized and he made sure we got a second reservation. On my mother’s birthday our room attendants decorated the room with a few balloons after I put up all sorts of decorations, but the butler didn’t show himself. He doesn’t have to sing or get a cake, but a simple congratulations or card would have been nice. T Our butler promised to look into extra reservations at the restaurants but again we never heard back. He never came to our suite, and we didn’t see him in the hallway often. He didn’t make the trip extra special in any way. On our last evening while packing we found a card with extra reservations, he apparently made but never told us about. It was between the laundry and garment pressing cards. Same size. Never noticed it. What a disappointment. Normally you get a reminder card from each restaurant on the day of your reservation next to your suite door. We got none of those on the days of the extra reservations so we didn’t know we had them. We or other guests could have enjoyed those tables. Very frustrating that we could have had all these wonderful reservations but never knew. Also felt sorry for our butler who put in the effort. Our suite attendants Henrietta and especially her assistant were very nice and friendly and kept the room perfectly clean and provided us with enough shower gel, body lotion and shampoo. They were the sweetest and most hard-working people. Conclusion There is a lot to love about Oceania and the Vista is a stunning ship. She looks modern, the attention to detail is impressive and the variety of restaurants truly unique. The interior, artwork, light fixtures, and deck design with wood panels is stunning. Every time we walked around the ship, we noticed beautiful details. Staff is wonderful and they work so incredibly hard. The long hours they make every day are insane. The great crew throughout the ship is what makes Oceania stand out. I missed Jacques and don’t think Ember is a worthy successor at all. Food quality, ingredients, taste, and preparation have declined compared to our previous cruises on O. Service needs improvement. You must look and ask for the wine stewards, or for water with ice. The Vero bottles were mostly lukewarm. The crew is very friendly but needs more training. The wine stewards are overwhelmed and don’t know enough about wines and how to serve them. The ship sailed at full capacity, and it felt crowded almost all the time. Only time it was relaxed was on port days with lots of excursions departing in the early morning. There is a big lack of shaded spots to relax by the pool, spa or on the various decks. Reserving chairs / chair hogging was out of control. Oceania has increased its pricing and places itself in the league of luxury lines and they need to deliver more to keep loyal guests returning. Vista looks luxury but doesn’t provide the little touches that we got on Seabourn. Service was good but it didn’t feel personal. I understand this is difficult with so many people on board but still a little personal note or semi-automated ‘personal’ thank you for sailing with us is a simple nice touch.A little note from the butler. A tiny little surprise gift left on the pillow. The small things tend to make a lasting impression. Due to her size Vista docks in larger industrial ports like the big and huge cruise ships. They need to make sure guests get comfortable shuttle buses and take good care of the less mobile guests on board. Tender operations can be more efficient and comfortable. Don’t let guest sit in the tender bouncing around for 15 minutes. I so wanted to love Vista but I felt disappointed. This was our most expensive cruise to date but not the best. Seabourn standard veranda cabins offer a better layout than the Penthouse Suites on Vista. I miss the walk-in closet, a living area you can divide with a curtain and a bathroom with double sinks, a tub, and a large separate shower. The Penthouse Suite on Vista is very pretty but somehow felt smaller than the same suite on Riviera. We have a cruise booked and deposit paid for a cruise on Vista in July 2024. I’m seriously considering switching to a different cruise line. The newly introduced obligatory Simply More pricing isn’t for us. We never use organized Oceania tours, and our alcohol intake is very low. I want to spend onboard credit on what I like and not on excursions I don’t need or want. After our sailing on Vista, we know we feel more at home on a cruise with more of a personalized yacht feel and with less crowds, no chair hogs and a higher service level. This review may seem overly negative, but we enjoyed every day of our cruise. We feel privileged to be able to take these wonderful voyages. The bar was set high due to the new higher Oceania pricing, being the first new Oceania ship since Riviera launched in 2012 and still promising the finest cuisine at sea. Vista is a beautiful ship but didn’t exceed our expectations. There is room for improvement and if the head office in Miami listens to the loyal fan base Vista can become what the marketing materials promise. Thank you for taking the time to read this review.
  7. Hello! We are seasoned cruisers and are considering a first trip with Oceania for our 30th wedding anniversary. The itinerary (Athens to Barcelona) and the cuisine are what is tempting us, however, for such raves about the food, there seem to be just as many pans of the food here on the forums. Our cruise experiences have been Cunard (not the Grille classes), Disney Concierge, and Celebrity suite (lowest suite category). Can anyone give me an idea how Oceania compares? Thanks!!
  8. Noticed a week missing (September 21-28, 2024) on the Riviera schedule. Both on Oceania site and Cruisemapper. Charter or maintenance? Any knowledgeable answers? Considering the prior sailing.
  9. We are aiming to book our first cruise with Oceania, we have been on a number of cruises over the years so know what we like/prefer when it comes to cabin choices. We would appreciate any suggestions as to which deck/ cabin you would recommend. Many thanks in advance.
  10. We are experience, satisfied Viking cruisers here who are looking for some fresh itineraries. Oceania sounds like a good fit, and I have found a western Mediterranean cruise on Riviera and a northern European cruise on Sirena that both are tempting. Any advice about choosing based on the ship?
  11. It's been a few weeks now since our 30 days on Riviera through Scandinavia and Greenland/Iceland. We had cruised mostly Celebrity in the past, and upgraded to O pre-pandemic to try a bit more upscale and potentially better food and service. We do three things on a ship: sleep, eat, and get off to see ports. We've had a version of this cruise booked for 4 years, and finally was able to get onboard. Positives: I was immediately impressed with the crew. Well trained to greet you in the hallway, as you got off and on the ship, and it seemed many genuinely wanted to be there and were happy with their work (not so much on our HAL cruise a few months back). I thought the ship in good repair and pleasant . PH2 was a nice size. Comfortable beds, liked the room for table and chairs. We didn't know what to do with a butler so much, but his main job was to keep our fridge stocked with sugar-free soda. He excelled in this. Very good cabin stewards, again very friendly. We started to really take advantage of having the butler bring us what we wanted from the specialty restaraunts (see more below). Ordered from the room service menu a few times. Limited selection but we liked the quality of the food that arrived. Kind of odd you have to talk to a butler for room service. I really liked the cheese plate, that became my preference as a warm up to dinner. (their pre-dinner canapes weren't really that good and often cold) We had OLife shore excursions (8 of them each). They were all as expected, even though a few were a pretty basic city tour. I'm starting to dislike the hassle (and worry) of planning my own things for every port, and also to the point where I can't be as adventuresome as I used to be (although I still try). Most of the bus tours had enough open seats my wife and I could take our own rows. We ended up taking 7 shore excursions through O (more on that below). All our O excursions were on the first half of the trip mostly in Norway. I probably had a Reuben sandwich about 8 times in the 30 days--lots of meat, especially when you ask for extra! Service in specialty restaraunts was great. Best items: lobster mac & cheese in Polo, my wife liked the tempura sole in Ginger. Jacques was a bit too French for us, but did like the mushroom lobster. Overall food quality was above average. Nice quality rib eye (not prime, but still good). Yes, lobster is frozen as I've seen them dump many still stuck together out of a bag. Still, had no problem with it. Ice cream was good. Henry Slocombe ice cream mostly wasn't our thing except fudge fernet and peanut butter. Although often they'd be out of both when they were on the menu! Terrace often did not serve the flavor they said they would. Mostly had chocolate ice cream, but dulce de leche and a few other flavors were good (not really a sorbet person). Below expectations: Missed 4 ports with 1 substitution. I won't comment on whether this was justified or not, just disappointing, especially missing our ATV trip at the North Cape--one of the main reasons for booking this cruise. Limited and unpredictable meal times. Often we'd get back onboard after 2pm in port. Only thing open then is Waves (until 4) or room service. Terrace cafe hours were 12-2, although sometimes they'd open at 11:30 and other times stay open past 2. We didn't know how to predict it. Great when they had the extended hours (unless you just got on when 3 other O tours ended at the same time). Service in the main dining room was mostly sloooooow. We often skip appetizer and might only do main + dessert = still an experience over 90 minutes (well over 90 minutes for a lunch!). Gave up after our third try. As we gave up on MDR, we spent more time in Terrace cafe for dinner. I like that most things on the MDR menu are also served there, albiet under heat lamps. However, Terrace became a very frustrating part of our cruise, and I vacation to avoid frustrations. People would line up at 11:45 for lunch. There would soon be no open tables. If you came in later, it would be impossible to tell if a table were empty. Often they would clear off the tables or leave a few dishes and not reset the service. Wait staff were just as confused as we were. A few times had to specifically push aside the dirty dishes (not mine!) or the dirty tablecloth that wasn't changed. I would eat rib eye every night as it looks better than many things they serve, but there was often a long line to order and a large group of people waiting for their orders. Wish they would give you a number and bring out your food like Waves did. Terrace seemed understaffed, and sometimes it took patience to get someone's attention, and then remind the server who really was next. Some nights Terrace would almost be empty, and others it would be packed. Seems the staff couldn't predict it any better than I could. Sometimes it seemed as if the managers were doing more clearing of plates than the staff, and other times they were absent (and maybe that's when service dropped?). If you get the OLife excursions (or whatever they call it now), if a port is skipped and your excursion is canceled, all you can do is book something else. Our first skipped port day I scrambled to cancel a private tour and replace it with an O tour just to use the excursion. Later in the day they did decide to give $100 credit for each missed excursion. However, later in the cruise they went back to the old policy, unless perhaps you were lucky enough to talk to one specific person at the destination desk. In the end we did get one credit for one missed excursion. That should just be O policy--if the excursion is canceled, you get $100 room credit. AND, why not let us apply that $100 to a more expensive excursion? On the second half of the cruise we were in small ports with few excursions available. I overheard many complain that they got the "included" excursions, but then there was nothing available, or mostly nothing that was interesting that the credit could be used for. There seemed to be many first-time O travelers, and they didn't understand how the excursions worked. In the end, O began running as many as 5 or more of some excursions in these ports. That also meant the experience for some was poor. Heard many comments that their guides told them nothing, or they left halfway through, etc. These were mostly in Greenland ports where there were not established tour companies. While the food quality was good, we ended up having a hard time finding something we wanted (except for ice cream and any chocolate dessert). I overheard one person describe it as "bland". Menus mostly repeated after 15 days (not unexpected). While we originally cruised O for better food, we've now determined that cruising for food is a poor choice for us. Part of it is trying to eat healthier (even on vacation), part is the food wasn't overly exciting. Asia, Mexican, ethnic, and even Pizza were pretty bland. Towards the end of the cruise we warned our butler we were going to order more from the specialty restaraunts in our cabin. I didn't necessarily ever feel comfortable doing that, but at least we could find something we liked and avoid the frustration of the possible crowds and the long waits. Internet was the worst. In port, you might as well just turn your phone on. 2am in the morning seemed to be the best time, although that was still painfully slow. Overheard one gentleman tell me he had paid for 2 connections, which just gave them 2 connections that neither of them could use (btw, suites should automatically come with 2 connections, not just 1). Much of the internet problem was the location at the top of the world--either in the open sea with no satellite overhead or in port with the fjords blocking the line of sight to the signal?). I did still manage to buy a car from the middle of the ocean--a first for me! Overall, we enjoyed the cruise, especially the destinations and having 30 full days to relax and enjoy being together. While frustrating, the "crowding" we experienced at times would not prevent us from sailing O again. However, we chose O and paid a premium for the food, which we are finding is less important to us. We have one more O cruise coming up, but in the future we will probably choose more on price than on reputation of food (destination is always the first choice of who we sail with). Our opinions, for what they're worth.
  12. We’ll be on Riviera at the end of October, and I’ll be making our dinner reservations this week. I’m interested in seeing the entertainment schedule so I can time the dinners to take advantage of pre-dinner dancing in Horizons. On previous sailings (our last O cruise was February 2020), the band played from 7-7:45 or thereabouts, but of course that may have changed. If anyone has more current information, I’d appreciate your sharing it. Thanks.
  13. I would like to share my covid experience on our current B2B Cruises. We are doing B2B cruises on the Rivera. We left Oslo on the 5th August for the first leg - then on the Wednesday 23rd departing Portsmouth for the second cruise. The first was most enjoyable and went with out a hitch but when the new passengers boarded in Portsmouth it was a different story. The ship was full and it was obvious to my husband and I that many boarded with sniffles and coughs. We would move seats to avoid them and joked about it being “Covid Central”. The main problem was no one seem to cover their mouths when coughing or sneezing We witnessed on several occasions people blowing their noses on the cloth serviettes in the Terrace Cafe. It would seem that all the lessons we were taught during covid have gone out the window. The day before and after embarkation were sea days and the second cruise day was at the port of Newcastle. I awoke on the third day (Saturday) feeling unwell and doing the right thing decided to do one of the Rapid Antigen Tests (RAT) we had bought from home. It was positive. My husband and I went on the Oceania site and Googled in search of up to date Covid protocol on board and found nothing. I decided I needed to report this as there are a lot of elderly passengers on board and we should do the right thing. We had an appointment with the medical teem that confirmed I was positive but my husband was negative and we were told we had to isolate until the 1st September - the day before we disembarked. I asked how many others had reported in and they said none. We believe there are people with symptoms among the passengers on this ship that have continued to go out and about and that time will tell a different story. My husband and I are not terribly social especially since Covid . We dine at a table for 2. We might chat to the couple at the next table but pretty much keep to our selves. The only time we mixed with others was the night we left Portsmouth when we went to the Riviera lounge for the show. We move seats twice to get away from the coughing. And the following night at the Captains cocktails in Horizons where we joked about Covid Central and left after 1 drink. As I write this I feel back to normal but we still have 3 more days of isolation only to come out in time to pack our bags and leave the ship. My husband is still negative but he has missed the cruise but for 1 port also. I can’t confirm where I got this from - only have strong suspicions. Yes -we do sanitise and wash our hands at every opportunity. No - we did not wear masks but would avoid crowded situations. Yes - we are 5x vaccinated What would we do next time : Wear a mask in crowded venues. Always carry RATs with us and test if symptoms appear. If positive stay in our cabin until symptom free - then wear a mask when out of our room. To our fellow passenger and future passengers - Please, Please, Please -cover you mouths when coughing and sneezing. Wash your hands. Use the sanitising stations. Wear a mask if you have suspicious symptoms then test yourself and take appropriate precautions to not spread this to others. Nobody wants to miss a cruise due to illness but it is so incredibly selfish to ignore your symptoms and infect others. Serviettes are not for blowing your nose. The advantages of reporting the positive covid test are - all our O tours were refunded and documents are supplied to claim on insurance. I was prescribed antiviral and antibiotic meds. The medical team are great and check in daily. Could Oceania do anything differently? I think they could be proactively offering masks again and check on people who are showing symptoms. I would like to hear daily announcements on the importance of hygiene with specific instruction on health care and recommended procedures for those feeling unwell. Covid is still out there so please take precautions and be mindful of others.
  14. Of course this can be a PSA for any ship or any cruiseline and since we disembarked the Riviera today I have been inspired to write this. My DH and I have been on a lot of cruises since mid 2021. I like to think of myself as a considerate person. I just experienced a cough fest cruise. Started out ok on July 21 but as the cruise progressed, so did the coughing. Hardly anyone wore masks, even though the sneezing and coughing increased. It could be colds, flu, covid, I don’t know. The thing I do know it is common courtesy to cover one’s mouth and nose when sneezing and coughing, especially in a lift. A balled fist, lamely placed in the region of the mouth/nose is not covering. On the close quarters of tour motorcoaches, please cover your mouth and nose. My Mum always told me this starting as a child. Its not hard to do. For whatever reason we found the group of passengers on this cruise especially rude and inconsiderate of their fellow passengers. incidents of being pushed and shoved as people jostled to get the attention of a buffet server. Credit where due, the servers would usually, say, “This person was before you”. People apparently have forgotten the words, please, thank you and pardon me. Overhearing a table next to us in Red Ginger, a man said to his lovely server, “ Get me another beer”. No please, just a demand. The wait staff are not servants and one should ask for something with a please and a thank you. In any case, again this can happen anywhere but it just seemed the % of inconsiderate and downright rude and entitled people were pretty high on this cruise. I do hope nobody contracted Covid, a cold or the flu due to the cough fest cruise. Actually saw more masks during disembarkation today then ever before. At least that is something as the coughing in the transfer to OSL was non stop. My DH and I just kept shaking our heads. Healthy and safe cruising to all.
  15. We are booked into a category B3 for b2b in Asia (23 days total). Last night while viewing videos of the cabin we noticed the small size of the closet. If you have done a cruise more than 14 days in a B3 was the closet size an issue for you?
  16. Has a "meet & mingle" been planned for the Sept. 26th Riviera cruise from Amsterdam to Barcelona?
  17. Just wondering if we can leave earlier then 8 am if the ship is docked overnight in Amsterdam. I know it’s only 30 minutes to airport by taxi but would like to get there earlier if possible.
  18. Just wondering how much noise from elevators, if anyone has been in this cabin
  19. Prior to asking this question, I did every search I knew how to do. I want to say that upfront because I know how many feel about asking the same question over and over that has been covered. I respect everyone on this board and wanted you to know that. Any assistance would be appreciated. I have just secured the Vista Suite on the Oceania Riviera #12001 for a 10-day Mediterranean Cruise in November 2023. It is clear that the Vista Suites square footage is a range of 1200 to 1500 / 111 -- 139 veranda. It seems clear that this Vista Suite would be on the smaller end of the square footage which is just fine. Has anyone on this board stayed in this suite (12000 or 12001) and if so can you provide me with some input. I am aware of the location and that the bridge is below and the Outdoor Area of the Spa is above. I get what that means. It is the layout of the actual room and balcony differences I am hoping to uncover. Thank everyone in advance for your feedback and input. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.
  20. We got off Riviera 5 days ago in Reykjavik, so I felt it was time to give the Owners Suite a review. First off, I have to say I expected to be blown away, and the view upon first entering the suite was indeed incredible. However, after a few days, we started to realize how much wasted space there was in the suite, as well as other issues. Here are my details: 1. The central space with the piano and the bar are silly. There is a table with a huge pot of orchids, and they block a lot of the view. There are two chairs behind this table that are basically unusable. Why are they there? There is a spotlight you can shine on the piano....for some reason. The piano can play music without a player, but it's not a real player piano....it has speakers under the lid...crappy ones. This is lame...like really stupidly lame. They do make real player pianos...just saying. The bar is super small and the refrigerator is just as small. This is the Owners Suite! Make the frig double the size, or add a second one on the right side of the existing one. You have the space! 2. The lighting system takes a degree from MIT to figure out. Can you label them so they make sense? Can we get a nightlight in the bathroom? Why does it take 9 days into a 12 day cruise to get the jist of it? Just stop it and make it easier for us. 3. In the lounge area (is that what they call it), the drapes to the deck block out about a third of the window space. The key to the Owners Suite is the view outside....why block it with shades that won't open all the way? We ended up using bungee cords we brought along (for luggage) to keep them open. It was funny that the staff took them off once....but when I put them back on, they stopped. They looked like crap, but it was better than blocking a third of the outdoor view. 4. We had heard there was a hot tub on the starboard side of the deck. Nope! 5. When the ship is coming into or out of port the stern thrusters practically knocked the fillings out of my teeth. If California ever wants to set up an "earthquake research center" I suggest the Owners Suite. 6. It appears you get free beer in the suite, but it's next to impossible to get the beer you want. I asked for a specific beer they had on the ship, but could never get it in the tiny fridge. We had the best butler on the ship, but this beer was just unobtainable (Newcastle Brown Ale). Don't get me wrong, our butler was awesome! He did great things for us, but snagging a few bottles of a specific beer was just a mountain too high to climb. 7. The toilet in the Master Bathroom is too close to the wall to use appropriately. I'm not even that tall, but I can't imagine if I were. Fortunately the guest bathroom toilet is much better situated, so we pretty much used that one exclusively. 8. If the ship has an announcement to make, it never comes into the Owners Suite. You don't need to know. 9. The deck is laid out as if you are expecting a huge crowd to suddenly appear in your room. I think there were 10 chairs, 4 tables and 2 chaise lounges. The chaise lounges were designed to trip you and send you to the ships doctor, which we avoided thankfully. We moved the lounges aside twice to remove the tripping obstacle, and it took both times for the rearrangement to stick. Not sure why they put them where they did in the first place....just as stupid as the chairs in the bar area. I know, first world problems personified.....but *****, if you are spending this kind of money, why can't they design something that makes a lot more sense, and works well for the passengers. We visited an Oceania Suite our friends were staying in, and frankly, thought it was much better. We won't be doing an Owners Suite again. Rant mode off...thanks for reading if you made it this far!
  21. Riviera Oceania Suites on deck 12 - our butler back in Feb was Madhan. Going in August in the same cabin area. Anyone know if he is still assigned to those Oceania Suite cabins on deck 12 and thank you.
  22. My DH and I are currently onboard Riviera, a 10 night round trip from Southampton to France and Northern Spain. This is our 3rd sailing on Oceania, all on Riviera since March 2022. Just wanted to share some thoughts and musings on our experience so far as I always enjoy reading onboard posts. Warning, this may be a long and rambling post. We were very excited to sail on Riviera again and hoped to meet some of the crew that we sailed with before. Indeed, we have had the good fortune to become reacquainted with some of those wonderful people which has been a delight. Sadly, many of them are leaving the ship before the end of this cruise as their contracts have ended. I don't think we've experienced such a big staff turnover mid cruise before. It will be interesting to see how the new crew bed in and hopefully service will not be affected. Speaking of service, it has generally been very good so far. Staff are very friendly and eager to please and we really enjoy connecting with them. We certainly have noticed an improvement in wine service in the restaurants which we often found very slow on previous cruises. The food has been excellent. We ate in the Grand Dining Room on two nights and Polo Grill one night. I felt like I'd died and gone to heaven on night 1 when we had the pleasure of being served by one of our favourite waiters and I got to eat the soufflé I've been dreaming off for months for dessert. It was a definite "aaaah" moment. Our B2 balcony cabin is in great shape, naturally after the recent refurb. The only issue is that we are at the very back of the ship and the noise and shuddering in the cabin when docking in the morning is quote extraordinary. The ship was anchoring yesterday so I thought we wouldn't be disturbed but no, even that was very noisy. We generally book aft cabins and haven't experienced that much noise and movement on other lines. We cruise more for the ship than the itinerary so have only gone ashore once so far, in Le Havre. There was a shuttle bus running between the ship and the town centre so we took that. Unfortunately we were abandoned at the end of the day when the last shuttle didn't turn up. It was scheduled for 5:30 and we arrived at the bus stop just after 5. It was an unpleasantly windy spot and there were no taxis passing by. Luckily for us there was another couple there who had the number of a taxi driver they'd used earlier in the and they were able to call him to complaint with Reception on the ship and were told our comments would be escalated to Management. Disappointingly, nobody from Management has reached out to us. Overall it feels like a very "hands off" cruise in terms of Management as we have not seen any officers around the ship. I know officers are generally less visible on Oceania than other lines but here they are completely invisible! Yes, there would have been officers at the Captains Cocktail party but we feel its important for officers to walk around the ship regularly to make sure everything is in order. We heard from several sources that the tendering operation in St Malo yesterday was a disorganised mess. The ship didn't prioritise the tendering of guests on Oceania tours so tour departures were delayed (30-45 minutes) with guests sitting on tour buses waiting for other guests to arrive. Entertainment has been mixed so far. The production show "Lights Camera Action" last night was exceptional in every way. The song choice, performances, choreography and set design were of such a high standard I had a big silly grin on my face the whole way through and didn't want it to end. The band and pianist are ok. I think there may be issues with the sound in Horizons as the band sound very sharp. The pianist is a great player and plays a good selection but his singing could be improved. Our biggest issue with the entertainment is the time it ends, i.e. too early! This has been an issue on our two previous O cruises but has reached a new low this time round. The pianist finishes in Martinis at 11pm sharp as opposed to 11:30 in the past. (Even that was still earlier than the published times in Currents.) The bar staff then start cleaning down the bar and guests start to feel unwelcome. The band in Horizons is also scheduled to finish at 11. We knew before we sailed with O the first time that it was not a late night cruise line but 11pm closing is just silly for an adult oriented cruise line. We are in our 50s and enjoy late night music and drinks and with this latest experience we feel we may need to wait until we're older before returning to O. It's a shame as the line has many excellent qualities but we just don't enjoy feeling we're being packed off to bed at 11pm. Apologies for the long and rambling post. Happy to answer any questions anybody might have about Riviera.
  23. Greetings from onboard Riviera. If my title doesn’t make any sense it’s because it’s a little joke, those that know me will get it. Anyway, we’re off to a good start. I don’t do typical live from posts, more just random thoughts and observations. So don’t expect many pictures, especially of food, as I’m usually too busy eating it. First, I broke one of the cardinal rules you see posted so many times on all of the boards here. I flew in on the day of the cruise, or at least the night before. I had reasons why, I don’t need to go into, but it all worked fine, which I feel is the rule, rather than the exception. We flew from DFW to LHR by way of Toronto. This was my first time in YYZ and if I can help it my last. The complainers about it are right. But, other than an hour and half delay out of DFW everything was fine. We had premium economy on AC and it was ok. We used the Oceania air for this. Upon arrival at LHR at 6:30 am we were greeted by Oceania reps and taken to the Sofitel hotel at the airport and had an excellent breakfast. After that we waited a bit in a lounge and then bused to the port. We got there around 11 or so and had the smoothest check in of any Oceania cruise ever. They had 20 seated reps(yes I counted them) and various others walking around. We were on the ship in 5 to 10 minutes. We were directed to the obligatory check in at your muster station and then off for fun. After lunch we killed a little time, got specialty rez readjusted, then were able to go to our room. So far this doesn’t seem like a normal Oceania makeup. There are at least 4 alumni groups onboard. I noticed many folks in the 40-60 age range, which is what Oceania needs for their future. I’ve also noticed quite a few multi generational families. We had dinner in Toscana and it was excellent, as usual one of my favorites. I had the lasagna app and Osso Bucco main. The biggest downside to coming in the day of is lack of sleep. After the big meal we hit the bed and slept in till about 7:30, which is real rare for us. We have a sea day in front of us, which the Captain didn’t skip. My only complaint is that team trivia is at 10:30am in Martinis. I usually have a drink at trivia, but this is a tad early. At 11 is the future cruise presentation, which I like to go to, but may have to skip. Tonight is Captain’s Welcome, which I definitely won’t skip. For those that keep up with such things, the CD is John Clelford, and the GM is Emma Smith, I’ve never been on a cruise with either. So for a libation, yesterday I had a glass of wine with dinner, today I plan on increasing that consumption. For an insight, which is a stupid one and many won’t care, nor apply to. Who designed and installed the urinals in the mens public restrooms? I’m almost 6’2” and they are too high for me. What were they thinking? Any questions please ask, I may or may not know the answer, but I’ll try to find out. FYI, I’m not a cheerleader, I just call it the way I see it. I’m just happy to be here, enjoying a vacation. Ps the Riviera still looks great, we were just on it in March. We have an inside room, our second ever in 25 years of cruising. I’ll talk more about it later. So far it’s extremely smooth sailing.
  24. Hi! Can anyone tell me how the bar setup choice works in the Oceania Suites? Thanks!
  25. Has anyone stayed in this suite? It supposedly has a deeper balcony. Does this cause the room to be smaller for any reason? Any negatives you can think of? Thank you!
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