Quick Riviera Review from vetran cruiser on other lines

[Bruce4fun]

Hi all, just my 2 cents worth about Riviera and Oceania.

 

Having been on more than 50 cruises and virtually every single cruise line, I wondered if Oceania would live up to the hype about the food, and other items.

Recently returned from the Riviera, it DOES!

 

The food is the best at sea bar none IMHO. Jacques best food on any ship. I can truly say the only cruise line that seasons its food! Most of the time it is very bland for lack of basic seasoning I am sure due to older stomachs lol. The selection of dining options, menus, and courses is outstanding. My only minor fault is the bread selection did not vary in 10 nights except at specialty restaurants.

Our preferred waiter Toni from the Philippines, who we asked for every night after the first in main dining room, was the best waiter I ever had in 50 crusies. He is a gem!

 

Service excellent, cabins fantastic, layout of the ship great. Barrista's coffe really good, library quiet and comfy. Lots of great places to sit near the pool and nearby decks. No annoying announcements, photos, bands outside. Well... there were some announcements but not many.

And the band played perhaps 2 hours in 10 days.

 

The minor dissapointments were shows(lackluster and very amateur), though I was not expecting much. Same company does Silversea and they were same, low quality IMHO. Cruise director was excellent in spite of so so entertainers. The string quartet were excellent, as was the piano player every night.

 

The pool and lido staff were good, but not as good as Crystal. In all fairness I really did not expect them to give quite that extra mile they do with Crystal. Oceania also does not charge as much and has fewer staff per guest.

 

While I usually prefer less port intensive itineraries, this was great in the end as we could make our own "sea days" by coming back to the ship early from smaller ports like Monemvasia.

 

Oceania are fantastic, and now I am a huge fan! Cannot wait to sail with them again.

[Love.II.Cruise]

Thanks for the review. We are sailing for the first time on Oceania very soon.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the review!

[doubledobles]

Thanks for your review. Now you know why we sail Oceania and only Oceania. Once we took our first cruise with Oceania years ago, we never went anywhere else. As far as I'm concerned Oceania has only improved with age, not diminished.

 

Also, the crew is wonderful. We've developed our favorites over the years, but everytime we board, we're welcomed as if we were on board yesterday. It's like "coming home."

[wripro]

Thanks for the review, Bruce. I agree about Jacques. Also love Red Ginger. It's worth booking O just fot those two restaurants.

[globevest]

Thank you for your review. O is our favorite as well.

[FlipperRae]

We came back from our 1st O cruise a few weeks ago and had VERY high expectations going into the trip. O exceeded them in every way! From here on in, it's only O for us. They were incredible!

(and I have no comment on the entertainment because it isn't usually our thing)

[Quality62k]

Bruce; your review is right on target. that is what makes Oceania one of the foremost cruise lines to sail on

[pakitin]

Our favorite ship for many years has been the Crystal Symphony but since the Crystal ships are getting older and the company showed no intention of ordering a new ship we were looking for a replacement cruise line that had the same “home feeling”. A few months ago we were invited to visit Oceania’s Marina at the Port of Miami and we fell in love with the ship. We decided to take our next cruise on the Marina and did the Barcelona to Istanbul sailing.

We knew that in order to have a great cruise besides a beautiful ship we needed to find a good crew, good staff and good fellow cruisers. We were lucky to experience all these elements in the cruise aboard the Marina. From the general manager, restaurants manager, hospitality manager, head chef and cruise director down to the rest of the crew you could feel their desire to make your stay as nice and pleasant as possible.

Like Bruce said the vessel layout is extraordinary with public spaces like the library, the Barista Bar, the Culinary academy and others designed to enjoy a view of the sea, the lounges providing a good view of the shows, six unique restaurants (Jacques is incredible) with excellent food and cabins with bed and linens better than a five star hotel.

The ship has beautiful artworks, Lalique fixtures and elegant furniture.

The shows were not as good as Crystal but the guest performers were good and some like pianist Naki Ataman and comedian Billy Boyle we have watched them perform aboard the Symphony.

We have found our new favorite ship and doubt that we will sail in any other ship for a long time unless is the Oceania’s Riviera.

Paco

[potterhill]

We love Oceania too and in fact, have never sailed on another line. We like the food on O very much but Jacques is only incredible if you order the right thing. And that would not include any "Chef's Daily Special". We lived to regret more than once. The food in Jacques seems to range from barely adequate to outstanding. Strange.

 

We like Red Ginger and recently are really enjoying Toscana, which we didn't care for in the past. I think it is now my favourite. Good thing, as we are next on Nautica for 24 days.

 

Mo

[NicoleAbbate]

Thank you for the review, we are sailing Oceania for the first time and very excited, we have heard really great things so far.

[hondorner]

Thanks for the review, Bruce. I agree about Jacques. Also love Red Ginger. It's worth booking O just fot those two restaurants.

Did just that for this December. Actually, for all 7 retaurants (not doing La Reserve or Privee' this time), including Waves. Will lilely not get off the ship for more than an hour; been there, done that, at all the ports. Just want a nice, relaxing cruise with great food and entertainment every night (we LIKE Oceania entertainment), and a chance to see old friends. Getting the premium drink packages instead of excursions or a fancy stateroom.

 

We are in love with Riviera!

[digtexas]

Our favorite ship for many years has been the Crystal Symphony but since the Crystal ships are getting older and the company showed no intention of ordering a new ship we were looking for a replacement cruise line that had the same “home feeling”. A few months ago we were invited to visit Oceania’s Marina at the Port of Miami and we fell in love with the ship. We decided to take our next cruise on the Marina and did the Barcelona to Istanbul sailing.

We knew that in order to have a great cruise besides a beautiful ship we needed to find a good crew, good staff and good fellow cruisers. We were lucky to experience all these elements in the cruise aboard the Marina. From the general manager, restaurants manager, hospitality manager, head chef and cruise director down to the rest of the crew you could feel their desire to make your stay as nice and pleasant as possible.

Like Bruce said the vessel layout is extraordinary with public spaces like the library, the Barista Bar, the Culinary academy and others designed to enjoy a view of the sea, the lounges providing a good view of the shows, six unique restaurants (Jacques is incredible) with excellent food and cabins with bed and linens better than a five star hotel.

The ship has beautiful artworks, Lalique fixtures and elegant furniture.

The shows were not as good as Crystal but the guest performers were good and some like pianist Naki Ataman and comedian Billy Boyle we have watched them perform aboard the Symphony.

We have found our new favorite ship and doubt that we will sail in any other ship for a long time unless is the Oceania’s Riviera.

Paco

 

Paco,

Mi amigo, thank you for the detailed review. Nancy and I, along with our friends Steve and Sally, who you met on our unfortunate Seabourn sampler, will be joining us for our first O cruise on the Riviera Jan. 3. Knowing you and your cruising experience, makes us very much look forward to our upcoming O cruise.

 

Take care and regards to your lovely wife.

[cruising5253]

Paco,

We second Danny's comments. We are really looking forward to join he and Nancy out of Miami on the Riviera. So glad you have "endorsed" it.

 

Steve and Sally

[Mura]

We've sailed only once on Marina (never on Riviera, not yet) although we have two Marina cruises booked for the future. We've sailed many times on the "R" ships, both with Renaissance and Oceania.

 

I'm just commenting to those people who love the library on the new ships ...

 

If you haven't sailed on the "R" ships, you don't know what a wonderful library is! Those of us who have tend to be disappointed with the library on the new ships.

 

Just saying ... I'm not trying to convert anyone from the "O" ships to the "R" ships ... I love them, too. Just not the library! The library is my favorite space on the "R" ships, not so on the "O" ships.

 

Mura

[doubledobles]

We've sailed only once on Marina (never on Riviera, not yet) although we have two Marina cruises booked for the future. We've sailed many times on the "R" ships, both with Renaissance and Oceania.

 

I'm just commenting to those people who love the library on the new ships ...

 

If you haven't sailed on the "R" ships, you don't know what a wonderful library is! Those of us who have tend to be disappointed with the library on the new ships.

 

Just saying ... I'm not trying to convert anyone from the "O" ships to the "R" ships ... I love them, too. Just not the library! The library is my favorite space on the "R" ships, not so on the "O" ships.

 

Mura

 

Mura, I agree with you. I am someonw who loves to read and the libraries on the Marina and Riviera are pretty but not functional. Not enough seating room, doors opening and shutting, Barristas nearby with noise and the lighting is not optimal for reading. The library on the R ships are fabulous. I love to cozy up in a chair there, read a good book and sometimes, doze.

[potterhill]

Whereas I love the library on Marina. I think it is great use of space.

 

Very comfy chairs. In fact, we have had one of the same chairs in our house for a few years. It is always the first choice!

 

I also find there are fewer sleeping bodies in the new library which can only be a good thing. Nothing more unattractive than sprawling bodies with lolling heads, mouth hanging open, snoring loudly. There's a place for that and it isn't the library.

 

Also great to have Baristas so handy.

 

Mo

[TKS]

Mo, I agree. The library is beautiful and well organized to find books, but not a place to really relax and get comfy, like Regatta/Nautica. But I love being able to run in, browse a bit, maybe find the right book, and then stop by to get a quick "pick-me-up" and enjoy visiting for a few minutes in Baristas (which is my favorite place aboard Marina/Riviera). We haven't been aboard Marina since her maiden voyage, when the outdoor Baristas spaces weren't finished, so I'm expecting to really appreciate the additional outdoor space on our next cruise in the South Pacific.

 

Kay

[yorkiemomjn]

Thanks for your review. Now you know why we sail Oceania and only Oceania. Once we took our first cruise with Oceania years ago, we never went anywhere else. As far as I'm concerned Oceania has only improved with age, not diminished.

 

Also, the crew is wonderful. We've developed our favorites over the years, but everytime we board, we're welcomed as if we were on board yesterday. It's like "coming home."

 

We did the same. Once we took our first O cruise, we were 'hooked'. Have no desire to sail on other lines. We love the country club casual atmosphere, the very limited smoking and of course THE FOOD!!!

[vrogers]

I too agree with everyone here. Have just completed a cruise on QM2 and in comparison food on O to another level. We ate in Todd English on 2 occasions on QM2 (paid supplement) food was good, one meal great and the other so so, on O the bonus is no supplement for specialty dining. Shows on O are in my opinion the only area that needs improvement. Needless to say will be booking O cruise next year. Gave the others a go and am back to O....

[2SeaAll]

We love Oceania too and in fact, have never sailed on another line. We like the food on O very much but Jacques is only incredible if you order the right thing. And that would not include any "Chef's Daily Special". We lived to regret more than once. The food in Jacques seems to range from barely adequate to outstanding. Strange.

 

We like Red Ginger and recently are really enjoying Toscana, which we didn't care for in the past. I think it is now my favourite. Good thing, as we are next on Nautica for 24 days.

 

Mo

 

We're looking forward to our first Riviera/Marina Class cruise. Could you please briefly list your key "Do Not Order:eek:" and "Must Order:)" dishes in Jacques, fully recognizing that food is very much a matter of personal taste. A great meal does a lot to top off the day and we would like to make the most of the opportunity.

 

Many thanks.

[traveler916]

We're looking forward to our first Riviera/Marina Class cruise. Could you please briefly list your key "Do Not Order:eek:" and "Must Order:)" dishes in Jacques, fully recognizing that food is very much a matter of personal taste. A great meal does a lot to top off the day and we would like to make the most of the opportunity.

 

Many thanks.

 

A great meal, with no extra charge, is even better IMHO.

 

I seem to recall beign very hungry, wanting to order, and the server brought bread and butter right away.

 

I almost always order chicken but had the shrimp and salmon dishes and both were superb.

 

Everyone at rhe table enjoyed everything as I recall, but Polo was definitely my favorite restaurant...I am sure you will enjoy as well.

 

I don't have a single do not order. None.

[potterhill]

The first night we ate in Jacques they had a chef special. Bouillabaisse. We had had this dish in the GDR and loved it, and it is a fav of ours. We both ordered it and it was awful. Should have sent it back.

 

Next up we ordered Cassoulet, the traditional French bean dish made with confit duck, among other meats. I have made this myself, confited the duck myself and eaten it all over France. Guess what? It was practically inedible. Every tiny cafe in Paris can make it better. Should have sent it back.

 

On our last cruise we ate there only once and I ordered the rotisserie pork that was the subject of such great debate here on CC that FDR himself weighed in. It was ok but overcooked for my liking. I had requested to have it cooked medium, to about 155 degrees, ( pork is now commonly served this way in Canada and is so much better when still showing some pink), however I was told it had to be well done and that is likely why I didn't care for it. Should have ordered something else at that point.

 

I understand the roast beef is great as is the lobster thermidor. I did eat foie gras at every opportunity and it was yummy. Tried to order mussels and was told every time that they were not available as they did not meets Chef's standards. If this is the case they should be taken off the menu and served as a special when they are available.

 

Our next cruise is 25 days on Nautica. I will miss Red Ginger more than Jacques.

 

Mo

[digtexas]

How is the Dover Sole at Jaques?

[potterhill]

I personally have never had it but the fish is very good on Oceania. I don't care much for the regular sea bass but that's my personal preference.

 

I grew up on the coast, eating lots of FRESH fish so I know whereof I speak when it comes to fish. My husband insisted he didn't like fish when we met, and that lasted until I took him home and he had my Mom's fresh pan fried haddock. :)

 

Mo