Riviera - Venice to Rome 6-14 November - comments from on board

Boarding for us was a snap. We showed up at 1500 and there was no one waiting in line. Checked in, got key cards in well under 5 minutes and then went on to the ship. Spotted one of our suitcases AHEAD of us in the hallway, making its way to our suite. Asked the deliverer of same to have a look for the second one and was told he had it. Before we could hang up our coats - two suitcases were there! An all time first.

Suite - Vista on deck 9 - is lovely and we like it better than the Owners Suite on 8 we had last time. Especially like the huge terrace which wraps around. Negative about that is of course we have to have the curtains closed at night and furniture is lashed down when we are sailing. But since we will be in port every day this isn't a real issue.

Cuisine - perfect! So far we have eaten at Polo, Jacques and la Réserve. All meals were great. Special mentions for Jacques Filet of Beef Rossini which is to die for and of course for the Odyssey Menu at la Réserve. On Tuesday there was a Mexican lunch in the Terrace café and the goat cheese quesadillas were heaven!

Cruise Critic get together - we had this on Tuesday and had 42 on our list, almost all of whom showed up as did the Cruise Director Peter. Special thanks - huge thanks in fact - to Cool Chilis (Linda) for all the work she did to organise the meeting and also shift it when it became evident that a couple of large (one over 150 people) groups on board had pre-empted us from using Horizons for our meeting. We have a great group of CCers on board and 8 of us were at la Réserve last night.

Weather - horrid in Venice where it rained all day Monday and Tuesday. Those who went on tours reported walking in deep puddles and returned looking like soaked rats! OK yesterday in Zadar (lovely town, BTW) in that it did not rain! Today in Kotor the sun is shining, we are docked for the day right next to the old town and hopefully we can take advantage of the sunshine!!

More as it comes, so to speak!

Thank you for your review. We are going on the same itinerary next August. Would like to hear more about the ports and OLife excursions offered.

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Boarding for us was a snap. We showed up at 1500 and there was no one waiting in line. Checked in, got key cards in well under 5 minutes and then went on to the ship. Spotted one of our suitcases AHEAD of us in the hallway, making its way to our suite. Asked the deliverer of same to have a look for the second one and was told he had it. Before we could hang up our coats - two suitcases were there! An all time first.

 

Suite - Vista on deck 9 - is lovely and we like it better than the Owners Suite on 8 we had last time. Especially like the huge terrace which wraps around. Negative about that is of course we have to have the curtains closed at night and furniture is lashed down when we are sailing. But since we will be in port every day this isn't a real issue.

 

Cuisine - perfect! So far we have eaten at Polo, Jacques and la Réserve. All meals were great. Special mentions for Jacques Filet of Beef Rossini which is to die for and of course for the Odyssey Menu at la Réserve. On Tuesday there was a Mexican lunch in the Terrace café and the goat cheese quesadillas were heaven!

 

Cruise Critic get together - we had this on Tuesday and had 42 on our list, almost all of whom showed up as did the Cruise Director Peter. Special thanks - huge thanks in fact - to Cool Chilis (Linda) for all the work she did to organise the meeting and also shift it when it became evident that a couple of large (one over 150 people) groups on board had pre-empted us from using Horizons for our meeting. We have a great group of CCers on board and 8 of us were at la Réserve last night.

 

Weather - horrid in Venice where it rained all day Monday and Tuesday. Those who went on tours reported walking in deep puddles and returned looking like soaked rats! OK yesterday in Zadar (lovely town, BTW) in that it did not rain! Today in Kotor the sun is shining, we are docked for the day right next to the old town and hopefully we can take advantage of the sunshine!!

 

More as it comes, so to speak!

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Thanks so much for this positive report! We are on the next cruise and looking forward to being on Marina. How is the internet speed? I have been reading that it's very slow but you managed to post this report?

Thanks again!

The internet is slow but with patience it works. But my post is not about Marina - it is about Riviera!

Ports so far - from our experience only!

Venice - a washout. We didn't leave the ship but we know Venice very well and had a limited agenda there so no problem!

Zadar - lovely small city, very walkable once you get off the shuttle bus in town. We took an amazing walking tour offered by Simi of Art & Nature Travel in Zadar. 90 mins of fascinating history and culture. It cost €14 pp which was a bargain. He is a lovely person too. I shall be reviewing this on Trip Advisor which is where I found out about it.

Kotor - we just walked around the old town because we have been here before. Last time we took a great excursion to two islands in the Bay. But that was on Regent and not Oceania. O. probably has something similar.

That is as far as we are at the moment...I have to say though I prefer walking tours to bus tours!

G,

Thanks for the reporting. We are doing a similar cruise on Marina next year (late Oct/Nov) - so I appreciate your posts about the ports. Jacques is my favorite on Marina.

Enjoy the rest of your cruise.

Thanks for the kudos on the Meet & Greet organizing, Hambagahle. Indeed it was a challenge to find out from the executive concierge on boarding in Venice that there were two large groups on board and Horizons was out for our Cruise Critic get-together. I must say though that he (Randall) and the Cruise Director, Peter, did so much for me to help make it the success it was.

I couldn't have done it without Paulo at Reception. He helped me get either surnames or cabin numbers so I could call everyone and tell them of the forced change in location.

Although all of this took most of Day 2 in Venice, it was worth it. What a great bunch of cruise critters we have. Plus, as you've read, the weather in Venice was crazy wet.

We are on the next leg from Rome to Miami and so are the groups, I'm told. CruisingExpert (Catherine) is the M&G organizer for that sailing and I am meeting with the CD to try to help make sure the plans for that one in Horizons don't change. :)

Linda

Thanks for the kudos on the Meet & Greet organizing, Hambagahle. Indeed it was a challenge to find out from the executive concierge on boarding in Venice that there were two large groups on board and Horizons was out for our Cruise Critic get-together. I must say though that he (Randall) and the Cruise Director, Peter, did so much for me to help make it the success it was.

I couldn't have done it without Paulo at Reception. He helped me get either surnames or cabin numbers so I could call everyone and tell them of the forced change in location.

Although all of this took most of Day 2 in Venice, it was worth it. What a great bunch of cruise critters we have. Plus, as you've read, the weather in Venice was crazy wet.

We are on the next leg from Rome to Miami and so are the groups, I'm told. CruisingExpert (Catherine) is the M&G organizer for that sailing and I am meeting with the CD to try to help make sure the plans for that one in Horizons don't change. :)

Linda

Thanks for doing that Linda. We are travelling with Catherine (cruiseExpert) and after all the work she has done re: this M&G hope the big groups don't infringe on our time.

Enjoy your cruise...see you on Tuesday. "all my bags are packed and ready to go"

Thanks for the kudos on the Meet & Greet organizing, Hambagahle. Indeed it was a challenge to find out from the executive concierge on boarding in Venice that there were two large groups on board and Horizons was out for our Cruise Critic get-together. I must say though that he (Randall) and the Cruise Director, Peter, did so much for me to help make it the success it was.

Where did they move the M&G to, CoolChile? Curious about alternate venues for 40

. "all my bags are packed and ready to go"

There should be a song like that :D

Deb - have a great cruise!

There should be a song like that :D

Deb - have a great cruise!

Thanks Paul wish we were sailing with you and Marsha

There should be a song like that :D

Deb - have a great cruise!

Thanks Paul. Hope to sail with you soon

Thanks Paul wish we were sailing with you and Marsha

Maybe some day our paths will cross again :)

Where did they move the M&G to, CoolChile? Curious about alternate venues for 40

I think we probably ticked off a few non-Cruise Critic critters as they tried to make their way through the horde but there were more than a few of those 'hordes' with all the groups present on this sailing.

For anyone interested in the outcome of next sailing's M&G location, I met with the Exec Concierge, Randall, this morning and got confirmation that the one Catherine (CruisingExpert) has arranged on departure from Rome Nov 14 will remain as she planned . . in Horizons. She tells me we should have around ninety attending. Wow.

~ Linda

Yesterday we were in Corfu. Ken and I had a private walking tour with a lovely Corfu woman, Nausika, through Corfu Walking tours. (Will be reviewing the tours on Trip Advisor) We learnt a LOT about the history of the island and architecture etc etc.

Today we will arrive at Valetta, Malta at noon. Again a private tour planned - this time with car as well since we shall be going to Mdina. The forecast had been for lovely warm weather and we decided to postpone our dinner at Jacques till Sunday and have dinner "in" on our terrace...only thing is, after a VERY rocky night (more so because we are in the bow and the ship was crashing down in the waves!) the weather this morning is nowhere near as good as forecast so dinner in will probably be in the suite and not on the terrace!

Someone asked about internet - it is really painfully slow. Drives me crazy in fact especially because the Trip Advisor site is also slow and I get around 30-40 messages a day on that. Surely one day ships will get better internet. They have to!

Food - uniformly excellent. We had our second meal at Polo last night - filet mignon with Béarnaise and the meat melted in the mouth. I think I have gained 3kg since boarding on Monday!! Red Ginger the other night was super too...we just ordered appetisers, sort of a dim sum meal.

Cooking class - FAR better than previous ones. Chef Kellie Evans is a gem.

More news as it comes...

A comment about breakast in the Terrace Café -- I think they need to organise things a bit better. You queue to get a hot breakfast and then you queue again to get an English muffin by which time your hot breakfast is getting cool! The toaster takes for ever to only partially toast a muffin or bread and if you like it nicely browned it has to be run through again.

My suggestion - pre-toast some muffins and bread and just run them through quickly to re-heat and brown.

Since the last time we were on the Riviera I think the coffee has gone downhill! I don't normally drink "American" coffee but last time it was drinkable. This time - one sip and I sent it back and asked for a double espresso, which also takes time.

That is about the only gripe I have about the ship!!

Malta yesterday was lovely. Cool and cloudy but no rain. Our tour guide was excellent and we were really impressed with both Valetta (elegant yellow stone buildings) and Mdina. Again a very complicated history explained well by our guide. This morning we are in Catania. Sea overnight was calmer than the night before (whew! It was really shaking then). We are taking our one and only Oceania excursion - Taormina on your own - this morning. Oceania is really OTT with their tour pricing. We have had superb private guides for far less than the cost of a bus tour with Oceania.

Gerry are they using something other than ILLY coffee now?

Gerry are they using something other than ILLY coffee now?

Thy are using Illy in Baristas and I assume in the espresso machines. The "normal" coffee is nowhere near as good as it used to be though and we stopped drinking that after the first sip!

Naples was as wet as Venice today but just before it got dark it looked as though a front was moving through so perhaps from tomorrow on the weather will be better. We had a bit of a contre-temps in Naples - our private guide did not show up. The company were very upset and offered to scramble to get us another guide and car but as it was pouring I told them that I would really rather spend the day on board and stay dry than wander around Herculaneum in the deluge. They then offered to give us a tour in any other Italian city of our choice - or another one for free later in the year. I found this remarkable (we had not made any down payment) and since we will probably come back down here for a few days next spring I shall take them up on it. Apparently - or at least they say - something happened in their computer system and instead of confirming our tour it cancelled it! C'est la vie!

I am sorry to say goodbye to the Riviera and to our new friends on board. It has been a lovely week but only goes to underscore the fact that an 8 day cruise is too short! I hope those sailing on the TA tomorrow have a great time, lots of sunshine and calm seas!! Will post a review once I get back to Switzerland.

Gerry:)

For. Breakfast in terrace, you order your English muffin then get the rest of your food and go back for your muffin.

Thy are using Illy in Baristas and I assume in the espresso machines. The "normal" coffee is nowhere near as good as it used to be though and we stopped drinking that after the first sip!

Perhaps it was the person making the regular coffee that was the problem

I will just go to Barristas :halo:

It has been a lovely week but only goes to underscore the fact that an 8 day cruise is too short!

We did a 7 day and I was sure it would seem like we were arriving as we were leaving. Not at all! We quite enjoyed it and would do again. Although my preference is for longer....but not an ATW, that would be more than I would want.

Mo

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We did a 7 day and I was sure it would seem like we were arriving as we were leaving. Not at all! We quite enjoyed it and would do again. Although my preference is for longer....but not an ATW, that would be more than I would want.

 

Mo

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It depends on the cruise.

I wouldn't mind a 7 day cruise out of San Francisco or LA but not if I have to fly 11 hours to Europe :)

It depends on the cruise.

I wouldn't mind a 7 day cruise out of San Francisco or LA but not if I have to fly 11 hours to Europe :)

True dat. But perhaps as a portion of a longer vacation with a land component as well. Cruises are all well and good but do have limitations.

Mo

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Did you hear anything about the plumbing issues another poster reported? I think you were in the front of the ship and they were in the aft. Just curious as we board in less than 3 weeks.