Nov. 15 Riviera Transatlantic Review

[Love.II.Cruise]

Nov. 20, 2012, Continued

 

After Timanfaya National Park, we headed towards the northern part of the island and its two cave attractions. Along the way we stopped to take pictures at a beautiful spot from which you could see the island of La Graciosa in the distance.

 

 

 

After that we continued to the first of the island’s two popular cave attractions, The Cave of Los Verdes. Our cab driver dropped us off at the ticket window and waited while we took the walking tour of the cave system. In all, the tour took about an hour. The cave is magnificent in its strangeness and well worth the price of admission, 8€ /person. With its wall’s curvatures and textures, there are times when you feel as though you’re not underground, but on a lunar surface. Among our favorite features were the concert hall and the optical illusion (I don’t want to spoil it, but if you go, you’ll find out what it is).

 

 

 

 

After The Cave of Los Verdes, it was a short trip over to Jameos del Agua. When we found out it would be another hour-long tour, we decided to pass, found our cab driver and he admitted that they were similar, the only difference being Jameos del Agua had albino crabs. Instead we opted to get back to the ship. I think the park made us both mentally and physically exhausted.

 

We really enjoyed seeing Lanzarote by cab as it allowed us to spend as much or as little time at each attraction as we wanted. Being able to see the island at our own pace and having the privacy of it just being me and my DH was well worth it.

 

Back on the ship, we relaxed and slowly got ready for dinner. Our typical ritual was a cocktail and canapés that were delivered daily; however, today we didn’t get our afternoon canapés, which are typically delivered between 5pm - 6pm. When 6pm came and went, we decided to not call and question about the canapés since we had dinner reservations at 6:30pm. I’m not sure if someone lost our card, someone else got our canapés, or if our butler forgot to deliver them.

 

Tonight we had reservations at Red Ginger, an event we were all looking forward to. My DH and I love tea and we were impressed with their tea selection. But then we were presented with something we had never seen in any restaurant we have been to: when asked if we would like chopsticks and were presented with a case of about half a dozen different styles of chopsticks to choose from. What a treat! When we eat out at asian restaurants at home, we always use chopsticks and this was a really nice touch to be able to pick from different styles. (If you’re not sure which ones are right for you, ask your server and they will explain which ones are easier or more difficult to use.)

 

Another neat detail at Red Ginger is the steamed towel they provide just after you place your order. It is similar to getting a steamed towel on an airplane, but the presentation ceremony is distinctly different: the towel is compressed to the point it looks like a half-inch thick quarter and is rehydrated table-side with hot water poured from a tea kettle.

 

For an amuse bouche, everyone at the table was given a bowl of steamed edamame sprinkled with sea salt. For an appetizer my DH ordered the beef carpaccio and I ordered the spicy duck and watermelon salad. Then for our entrees, my DH ordered the miso-glazed sea bass and I ordered the red curry chicken.

 

The watermelon salad and the sea bass are some of the best dishes we’ve ever eaten. The watermelon was perfect - as if they only used watermelon hearts in the dish - and the duck was perfectly crisp, giving a wonderful salty texture. The miso-glazed sea bass is billed as Red Ginger’s best dish and rightfully so. The sea bass was perfectly cooked - firm and flaky, but still juicy and tender - and the miso glaze added a beautifully complimenting sweetness; the dish made a full circle around the table as everyone tried and loved it. My DH thought the beef carpaccio was really good. The curry chicken was ok - but that is probably because we are a bit picky about curry. We like very spicy curry dishes and we both felt this dish lacked spice of any kind.

 

We all decided we wanted to go back to Red Ginger and I asked my mom to make the request to our butler. (All four penthouse suites at the rear of deck 7 have the same butler.)

[Baby Hughy]

Glad you are enjoying the review!

 

 

 

I can't believe we leave for St. Maarten in a week!!! :eek: I need to finish this review. We are very much looking forward to going on Wind Surf. It is also our first time trying Windstar. Hope to see you as well! I should see if there is any activity on the roll call.

I was wondering if you could let us know what you think of Windstar when you return? I just recieved their brocheure and was looking at the Surf for a Meditrainean cruise.

 

Thanks

Bill Keith

patbillkeith@sympatico.com

[Love.II.Cruise]

I was wondering if you could let us know what you think of Windstar when you return? I just recieved their brocheure and was looking at the Surf for a Meditrainean cruise.

 

Thanks

Bill Keith

patbillkeith@sympatico.com

 

Absolutely! I plan to do a review similar to this with pictures. ;) I'll post it in the Windstar board.

[Love.II.Cruise]

Nov. 21, 2012, Santa Cruz de la Palma, Spain

 

Today we docked at 8am and all aboard was 1:30pm, so we took it easy with just waling around and stopping for a couple of beers at some local cafes. There are some interesting shops in this city. We saw a couple antique shops and a jewelry store, Lava Cristina, that made jewelry out of volcanic rocks, where I purchased a necklace.

 

Below are a few pictures of the city, and pictures of Riviera from the back, along with a zoomed in shot of our balcony with our loungers facing aft.

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we got back onboard (during lunch time), a huge storm was approaching and unfortunately, a couple tables outside turned over at Terrace Cafe, causing a fair bit of chaos. Dishes and glasses broke as waiters scrambled to try to bring people inside and get the umbrellas down. We got inside in the nick of time and had a nice lunch at Terrace. After lunch, we relaxed on the balcony and enjoyed watching land drift away, realizing it would be 7 days until we saw land again.

 

That evening we had dinner at Toscana. Yet again we were surprised by something we’ve never seen in a restaurant before: An Olive Oil and Vinegar menu. There were several extra virgin olive oils, infused oils and balsamic vinegars to choose from. Because of my love for spice, the hot pepper and red chili infused oils immediately jumped out to me. Gianni was our olive oil and balsamic vinegar server. When he arrived to the table he was quite loud and overbearing. I asked him which of the two oils was spicier and he said one had garlic even though neither’s description mentioned garlic. It turned out he was clueless as to what he was serving.

 

Regardless, we each enjoyed our olive oil with balsamic vinegar choices with bread. My DH ordered the Carpaccio di Manzo (aged parmigiano reggiano and arugula crowned with thinly sliced prime beef tenderloin drizzled with lemon infused extra virgin olive oil), zucchini and fava bean risotto with burrata and black truffle, and the free range chicken breast cooked in creamy parmesan sauce and served with rustic rosemary roasted potatoes. I had the Trio Toscana (tortelloni di ricotta e spinaci, fettuccine freshe alla carbonara and risotto all/aragosta), and dover sole sautéed in lemon, parsley and butter with steamed potatoes (I know I ordered something else, but don’t recall). My DH enjoyed the risotto most of all he ordered; the rest wasn’t bad, but not exactly memorable. Out of the Trio Toscana, my favorite was the carbonara. The dover sole was served off the bone table side and was excellent.

 

After dinner, we retired to our room to read. This evening we turned our clocks back one hour.

[Love.II.Cruise]

Nov. 22, 2012, En Route to Miami, U.S.A

 

Today was laundry day for us and actually it was the second time we used the facility. We did laundry on the second day of the cruise to clean the clothes we wore in Barcelona. The laundry facility is very clean, easy to use, and functional.

 

While our clothes were washing we decided to try out Baristas. Gianni from the evening before was serving. I asked for a hot chocolate and he said they didn’t have any. I then asked if they had any flavored syrups. Nope, no luck. Gianni simply pointed to a container of products to sweeten your drink. It seems the only thing they serve is espresso and cappuccinos for drinks - boring. We ordered our drinks and while we were waiting a crew member (officer) showed up in their white dress uniform and ordered a drink. We watched Gianni proceed to say to the officer “It is a pleasure to serve you. It is always such a pleasure to make your coffee. ...” We haven’t seen that much *ss kissing in a long time. Who does Gianni work for, the guests or the crew? We got our cappuccinos and went back to the laundry room.

 

While our clothes were in the dryer we went to the reception desk to purchase the drink package for the rest of the cruise. We made sure before doing this purchase that we understood what we were buying. Louis at the Grand Bar was very helpful explaining it to us. The one thing that bothered my DH was that Guinness wasn’t included in the drink package because it is not on the standard bar list, but he was willing to accept it (instead he drank Perrier-Jouet).

 

Below are the details of the drink packaged at $49.95 per day (per person).

 

Selected wines by the glass only

Includes drinks form the standard bar list

Package excludes the Polo single malt list

Package excludes minibar

Package excludes Louis XIII

Package excludes Wine, Martini & Scotch Tastings & Bon Appetite “Wine Bar” Events

Package excludes Sake from the Red Ginger menu

Guests are kindly requested to show their World Card before ordering drinks

 

Package is Non Refundable.

 

While we were getting this drink package at the Reception desk, I did ask if Baristas serves hot chocolate. The receptionist said she thought they did and should be able to. I told her I was curious because they had told me they couldn’t this morning. She said they should have been able to. We thanked her for the information and getting us squared away with the drink package and went to finish our laundry.

 

Today was also the beginning of the Officer’s Big “O” Challenge at the pool. Fashioned after the Olympics, the event features multiple events (Ping Pong, Golf Putting, and Shuffleboard) in which cruisers challenge the M/S Riviera’s Officers to win Big “O” points. Prior to the Captain giving his Games Commencement speech, he and his officers paraded around the upper and lower levels, much like the athletes in the Olympics. The best part of the athlete’s parade was Natalie, the social hostess, running, skipping, and jumping the whole way. She is nothing if not extremely engaging!

 

Big “O” Points can be earned in several ways while onboard, mostly through participating in group activities like Team Trivia, the Officer’s Big “O” Challenge, and various sport tournaments (Ping Pong, Croquet, Shuffleboard, etc.). At any time, you can trade Big “O” points for Oceania/Riviera paraphernalia.

 

Since today was Thanksgiving (USA) we ate at the Terrace Cafe for dinner, which featured a Thanksgiving feast, complete with all the trimmings. Afterwards, we went to Horizons to watch Karaoke starting at 10:45pm. It started out really slow, but eventually people trickled in once the show was over in the lounge. Natalie, once again, saved the day when it looked as though the evening was coming to a premature end. She sang and danced to several songs, one of which was “U Can’t Touch This” by MC Hammer. It was hilarious! She had the moves and all.

[Love.II.Cruise]

Nov. 23, 2012, En Route to Miami, U.S.A

 

According to the Currents, sunrise was 7:03am and sunset was 5:54pm.

 

Today we had our cooking class “Oceania Favorites: Toscana.” This is an adult only venue and persons under the age of 18 may not participate. Another restriction stated “Passengers who have communicable disease and symptoms cannot participate in this event.”

 

A few days prior to the class, a few forms were delivered to our stateroom that we were required to fill out before we would be allowed to participate, one of which was the Health and Safety Agreement. There were all sorts of things in the Health and Safety Agreement that you had to agree to, but were not enforced once we arrived in the classroom. For example, “To prevent the potential for spread of illnesses, thorough hand washing is required of all individuals entering and leaving the Bon Appetit Culinary Center. Therefore, you will be required to thoroughly wash your hands upon entering and before leaving the area. Correct hand washing procedures will be demonstrated upon you[r] arrival into the Bon Appetit Culinary Center.” The head chef mentioned that all participants needed to wash their hands prior to choosing a workstation, but there was no demonstration of hand washing, and we saw people go straight to a station without washing their hands.

 

Another stipulation in the in this agreement stated “Guests will be required to wear clean clothes, hair restraint and single use gloves while in the Bon Appetit Culinary Center. Participants with allergies to latex should inform the ship’s personnel so that alternate gloves may be provided.” I would hardly say a cooking hat could be considered a hair restraint. My DH put his shoulder-length hair up in a pony tail (even though he said it looked silly with the paper hat on), but there were several ladies in the classroom that did nothing; there were even a handful of people who refused to wear the hat at all.

 

In addition to hand-washing and hair restraint guidelines that were not enforced, no gloves were given out, either. Obviously, other things on this agreement make more sense, but the example requirements I give were not adhered to - at least not for our class. Maybe others have had a different experience.

 

The Oceania brochure states “In the Bon Appetit Culinary Center, you will learn to prepare a variety of exquisite dishes at your own workstation in a state-of-the-art culinary studio.” Perhaps we read this wrong, but we thought we would each be at our own station. The truth is that it is two students per station, which makes communication and coordination a must because you end up having to agree on who’s doing what. Some people were paired up with strangers since they either signed up alone or, as was the case of one lady we talked to, their spouse backed out and decided not to participate. We were told to have one partner do one thing while the other did something else. No doubt this helped speed the class along, but made the process seem disjointed.

 

We began the class with a demonstration on making a basic red sauce using San Marzano tomatoes. Chef Barille built the sauce to the point of it needing to simmer and then transitioned to showing us how to make eggplant involtini alla parmigiana (more on that in just a second). We actually have made this sauce since our cruise and absolutely love it. In the future we plan on using it for our eggplant parmesan, pizza sauce, lasagna, vegetable pasta toss, and homemade meat spaghetti. I think you could even blend it longer, making it closer to a soup and use it to dip grilled cheese sandwiches in. It’s a great sauce.

 

In the class we used it on two dishes: eggplant involtini alla parmigiana and simply topped pasta. When we made the eggplant involtini alla parmigiana, I cracked an egg and combined it with ground veal, parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, milk, and whatever my DH chopped (an example of the coordination I spoke about earlier). Once we built two involtinis, we topped each with a slice of lovely smoked mozzarella and gave them to the kitchen staff to bake off in the oven.

 

While we waited for the involtinis to cook, Chef Barille gave us a demonstration on how to make fresh pasta and then we were sent back to our stations to cook up a batch. The point of this exercise was to learn how to salt your water for cooking your pasta and, as such, everyone was asked to taste their water. Chef Barille came around and tasted the water, as well, usually adding more salt. Basically, it should taste as salty as the ocean. Once we finished the pasta, we were provided with a bit of sauce, tossed both together, and commenced to tasting. Very simple and very delicious!

 

Soon after we finished our pasta, the involtinis were done and distributed back to us and dug into those with a tasting of a paired wine. It, too, was delicious, but we didn’t get too much time to enjoy it as we were soon called back up to the front of the classroom to observe Chef Barille start her risotto al funghi di porcini, before being sent back to our station to make our own.

 

Unfortunately, this part got to be a real drag and kinda boring. I think part of the problem was they either proportioned out too much dry risotto, or not enough broth to go in. It seemed like 75% of the class needed more broth than was already given out. I think they actually ran out of broth, because at one point the chef had people add water instead of broth. It seemed we just stood there and stirred for 20 minutes (the only time it was convenient to have someone else at the station, to which you could pass off stirring duties). Unfortunately, the stirring was so uneventful, both my DH and I polished off the wine we were supposed to pair with the risotto. Oops.

 

Eventually, Chef Barille instructed one person from each station to continue working on the risotto while the other person went up to the front of the room to make their tiramisu. The soaking syrup was already prepared along with the mascarpone cream in a piping bag. You basically piped the mascarpone cream into a cup, dipped a lady finger in the soaking syrup, and garnished with a raspberry and a little cocoa powder. I recall the Chef saying how easy it was to do and I thought to myself “It sure is...when all the prep work has been done for you.” It was very light and very tasty, but we haven’t attempted to make this at home yet. If I could make it in a couple minutes like we did, it would be great, but directions for this recipe take up a full page. Not to mention it actually recommends to refrigerate for 2 hours, preferable overnight.

 

We both felt as though we were rushed out at the end of the class. My DH had gone to make his dessert before me while I stirred the risotto. Then I went to make my dessert while my DH plated the risotto. We were a couple bites into the risotto and being told goodbye. We ate a few more bites and switched to dessert. The risotto was awesome and we plan to make it in the future.

 

As I mentioned earlier, this class also came with 2 wine pairings. We weren’t sure what to expect, but we each got a full glass of water and two samplings of wine (about 25% of a typical glass of wine) with no refills. Granted we were at sea and handling knives, but we admit it would have been nice to have some more wine.

 

Today a beautiful brunch was served in the Grand Dining Room, but we had just eaten in our cooking class and were not hungry, so we did a walk-through. Everything looked very appetizing and nicely laid out. You could tell that a lot of thought had gone into the preparation and display. I have to admit having the shrimp kept on the ice sculpture was a nice touch.

 

That evening we ordered room service for dinner off the 24 hour room service menu. We paged our butler and it took over an hour to get a call back. The next morning we mentioned it to my parents and discovered they too had the same issues earlier in the cruise with long wait times for a call back. Eventually they were told if someone doesn’t call back within 5 minutes to call the reception desk and let them know and they will have someone call you back quickly. We don’t know how their paging system works, but it seems there is room for improvement in this department.

[Love.II.Cruise]

Nov. 24, 2012, En Route to Miami, U.S.A

 

 

Today was the Riviera Country Fair! This morning it was a little chilly. My DH and I were up early due to the time change (we turned our clocks back another hour the previous night) so we we decided to try Baristas again because I wanted a hot chocolate. They were busier this time and Gianni was working with someone else. I decided to approach the other gentleman to try to get hot chocolate. He opened up a drawer, picked up a hot chocolate pouch and poured it into a small carafe with milk, steamed it all together and frothed it up! :D I don’t know if steaming and frothing up the milk together with the chocolate pouch made it better, but that was a great hot chocolate.

 

We picked out two loungers on the upper deck and watched the crew prepare for the fair while we read our books and enjoyed our hot drinks.

 

The County Fair was from 10:30 - 11:30 am at the Pool Deck. They started the games with a blowing of the ship’s horn. There were several entertaining games around the pool like fishing for fish in the spa, guessing the location of a popular destination in a picture, smelling different spices and naming them, or smelling different liquors and naming them, etc. It’s a fun event and we had a great time. How well you do at each event will determine how many raffle tickets you receive. At the end of the fair there was a prize drawing using the numbers on the tickets distributed.

 

Now might be the perfect time to discuss smoking on Oceania. We are nonsmokers and smoke really does bother us. We select cruise lines that have more strict smoking policies for a reason. I wasn’t sure if people would follow the no smoking on balconies or not. Only once did we smell smoke on our balcony from somewhere else during the entire cruise and it lasted less than 5 minutes. We were very impressed with how respectful of the policy smoking passengers were.

 

So remember how I had my mom ask the butler for an additional reservation at Red Ginger? She asked him the morning of Nov. 21 and he never got back to her. Two full days was long enough; this cruise was going to end and how many reservations could be left? We went down to the desk ourselves on Nov. 23 and got a reservation for this evening.

 

We did try different teas and different chopsticks during our second visit, but one of us each had the watermelon salad and the seabass again, while we tried other new dishes.

 

Tonight we turned our clocks back one hour. I’ll leave this day with a few pictures of artwork, crystal and other pieces that we liked on the ship. It truly is one of the most beautiful ships we have seen.

 

 

 

 

I wonder how many people look closely at the vase below?

 

 

[Mura]

Today we had our cooking class “Oceania Favorites: Toscana.” This is an adult only venue and persons under the age of 18 may not participate. Another restriction stated “Passengers who have communicable disease and symptoms cannot participate in this event.”

 

 

There was a thread here a while back -- I don't remember the title -- which created quite a bit of dissension because one passenger thought it would be fabulous for her 9 year old daughter to take part in one of the culinary classes.

 

Other passengers were outraged, but this woman wouldn't listen to anyone or consider their opinions. As I recall (I might be wrong here) she claimed to have contacted Oceania and said that she'd been told there was no age limit. In response to that, some posters commented that a 9 year old might not be tall enough to see over the counter.

 

So it's interesting to see that the rules seem to have been beefed up. The consensus did appear to be that a child should not take up a space that an adult could have, especially since this seems to be an adult activity.

 

I agree that the policy regarding hand washing should be strictly enforced especially since Riviera did have a problem with illness on board a month or two ago. That problem may have been after your cruise, I'm not sure about the timing.

 

Mura

[Love.II.Cruise]

There was a thread here a while back -- I don't remember the title -- which created quite a bit of dissension because one passenger thought it would be fabulous for her 9 year old daughter to take part in one of the culinary classes.

 

Other passengers were outraged, but this woman wouldn't listen to anyone or consider their opinions. As I recall (I might be wrong here) she claimed to have contacted Oceania and said that she'd been told there was no age limit. In response to that, some posters commented that a 9 year old might not be tall enough to see over the counter.

 

So it's interesting to see that the rules seem to have been beefed up. The consensus did appear to be that a child should not take up a space that an adult could have, especially since this seems to be an adult activity.

 

I agree that the policy regarding hand washing should be strictly enforced especially since Riviera did have a problem with illness on board a month or two ago. That problem may have been after your cruise, I'm not sure about the timing.

 

Mura

 

Mura,

 

That is exactly why I posted about the letter stating the age restriction... because of that thread a while back.

 

And it was our cruise where the captain announced over the loud speaker about a gastrointestinal illness, which I'll discuss soon.

 

You have a good memory.

[Mura]

LoveII,

 

When I saw the date of your cruise I thought that it might well have been the one that had the problems!

 

And my memory was only so good because I was struck by that mother's refusal to consider anyone else's opinion. Her child was perfect (maybe she is!), so no one else got to vote on her taking part in the activity.

 

It's one thing to permit children to participate in the handicraft options, and entirely another (IMO) for them to participate in the culinary classes. If I wanted to take cooking lessons, it wouldn't be on the 9 year old level!

 

By the way, thanks for understanding about my previous post about guest lecturers.

 

Mura

[Love.II.Cruise]

Nov. 25, 2012, En Route to Miami, U.S.A

 

 

At this point in the cruise something occurred to us. On one of the first days of the cruise there was a woman who was in line in front of us at Waves Grill (the open air eating area by the pool). She tried to order a hot dog and the person taking orders told her she needed a table number. This woman was very confused and the person taking orders told her she had to find a table and come back with the number on the table and then place her order. She left dazed, and I wish I would have helped her.

 

It wasn’t until later in the cruise, when we were just people-watching did we realize this cruise was really different compared with Princess, Royal Caribbean, and Celebrity. With the occasional ice cream cone, people didn’t eat by the pool at all. People didn’t order food from the Waves Grill and take it to a pool lounger. Since they needed a table first, they ordered their food and gave a table number, then waited for their food. In the Terrace area (also on the pool level), there was no rolled silverware that you could grab after getting a plate of food (at least that we noticed) on your way to the pool. It is our opinion that Oceania discourages eating by the pool, which, honestly, we didn’t mind.

 

Speaking of Waves Grill... time to talk about their menu. The Grilled Reuben Sandwich, all beef hot dogs, and Texan Burger were all good. My DH didn’t care for the Kobe Burger and I didn’t like the choice of pickles used on the Cuban Sandwich. Having read so much about the cole slaw and many people liking it, we were hopeful, but we did not care for it. It just goes to show you how subjective food is and one just needs to try it for themselves.

 

At 10:15am today we had a General Guest & Crew Drill. This lasted quite a bit longer than our drill before leaving Barcelona, over an hour. We had to wait in our muster stations until the crew completed whatever they were required to do and then we went through every muster station being called and walked outside (typically closed to passengers during a cruise) directly next to the life boats. The life boats were open and crew were there as if we would be boarding. We walked through and exited this walkway through another door and then we were released from the drill.

 

This afternoon was the Elegant Dansant Tea Time from 4:00pm - 5:00pm. We hadn’t been to tea yet, and made a point to make it to this one. Get there early because the place fills up! In fact, they keep the doors closed until they are ready to let everyone in. I think we got spoiled with the teas at Red Ginger, so when we saw a selection featuring run of the mill teas, we were a little bummed. But, there was an easy fix! We ordered Perrier-Jouet and talked with some new friends. :-) Oceania does a great job of making this special. Similar to the Grand Brunch, attention to detail was at the top of the Riviera’s staff. There were all sorts of canapés and small bite sized desserts, as well as made-to-order Crêpe Suzette.

 

Our new friends were also in a penthouse suite and we discussed the letter we got in our stateroom the day before regarding the return of our passports. It stated that our butler would deliver our passport to our suite between 4:30 - 5:30pm and that “For security reasons we require you to sign for receipt of your passport in the presence of your Butler.” Well, we weren’t going to “wait” for our butler after having to wait for him to call us back when we paged him and waiting an hour for canapés that never came. Our new friends felt the same and ignored the letter. They felt the butler should wait on them, not the other way around. When we did get back to our cabin, our passports were on the table. We never had to sign for them.

 

I’ll leave this day with a couple more pictures of artwork, crystal and other pieces that we liked on the ship.

 

 

 

[Mura]

A couple of comments ...

 

I'm puzzled about needing the table number to order for Waves. We've never needed one! Now, we don't sit out by the pool, we sit at a table. Might that be the difference?

 

We were on Marina a little over a year ago and we did have some lunches in Waves (on tour days). The staff always knew where we were sitting.

 

As to the passports -- we had the same notice about having to sign for them on our last two cruises (Marina in October 2011 and Regatta in August 2012). Both times the butler showed up with a huge stack of passports, and if we asked if we had to sign for them, he said not to bother.

 

I can see where the ship would feel a security need to make sure that the right person gets the right passport, but when you have a butler that really isn't necessary.

 

In the "old" days, even when we had butlers, we had to go to pick them up personally, and we signed for them at that time. But since butlers have been distributing them to the suite passengers, we haven't needed to do so.

 

Maybe we were lucky!

 

Mura

[Love.II.Cruise]

A couple of comments ...

 

I'm puzzled about needing the table number to order for Waves. We've never needed one! Now, we don't sit out by the pool, we sit at a table. Might that be the difference?

 

We were on Marina a little over a year ago and we did have some lunches in Waves (on tour days). The staff always knew where we were sitting.

 

As to the passports -- we had the same notice about having to sign for them on our last two cruises (Marina in October 2011 and Regatta in August 2012). Both times the butler showed up with a huge stack of passports, and if we asked if we had to sign for them, he said not to bother.

 

I can see where the ship would feel a security need to make sure that the right person gets the right passport, but when you have a butler that really isn't necessary.

 

In the "old" days, even when we had butlers, we had to go to pick them up personally, and we signed for them at that time. But since butlers have been distributing them to the suite passengers, we haven't needed to do so.

 

Maybe we were lucky!

 

Mura

 

All the tables had clearly labeled table numbers. We would claim a table either by waiting to order drinks (those drinks then being the marker that the table was occupied) or place our books on the table then go order.

 

There are a lot of tables, so I can see that when it is busy that this would be a good system. Maybe we only went when they were really busy.

 

I'm not sure why they tell you that your butler will arrive during a specified time and you have to sign for your passports if they don't actually require the signature. Again, we were done waiting on our butler. :rolleyes:

[Love.II.Cruise]

Nov. 26, 2012, En Route to Miami, U.S.A

 

Today we read by the pool and took it easy. We also spent lots of time on this cruise with Louis, the bartender at the Grand Bar. He is from South Africa and we were lucky to talk with him alone a couple times. He gave us many tips and areas to travel to in South Africa. One of these days we will have to make the trek. (Today, Louis should be on the Marina.)

 

Another great crew member who deserves recognition is a drink server from Jamaica named Gregory. He always took great care of us and spotted us in different venues with a grand smile, ready to take our order.

 

As you can see in the picture below, we also spent time on our balcony today. We weren’t looking forward to giving this up soon.

 

 

A full moon was upon us soon and Mahesh, our butler, unintentionally scared my mom. He told her that when it is a full moon, the wave heights are at their highest and that they may see waves as high as their balcony! He described the waves coming onto their balcony during the full moon. My parents later thought he was afraid to be out on the open ocean.

 

That evening was our second time at Polo Grill... back again at 6:30pm. If you recall, the first time we went was at 6:30pm and they were out of Queen’s and King’s cut Prime Rib. Well, the Maitre’D kept his word and we did have medium rare prime rib. My DH and I split the 32 oz King’s Cut Prime Rib. It came with au jus and horseradish, was perfectly roasted and well worth the wait of the entire cruise. I did overhear another table next to us try to order prime rib and they were told they were out, which is early in the evening. Perhaps this was unique to just this cruise, but we still found it surprising to run out of an item in such a short amount of time. Maybe there were just to many people trying to order the prime rib...

 

I know this picture doesn’t do it justice, but it is the 32 oz King’s Cut.

 

[john2003]

Just a comment about Waves as it is differenct than on the R ships, or at least how they used to be. If u sit in the eating area by Waves you need a table number. However if you sit in the Terrace they give you a number which you give to the Terrace waitstaff and magically your order will be delivered to your table in Terrace. A great system.

[Love.II.Cruise]

Nov. 27, 2012, En Route to Miami, U.S.A

 

Last night we turned our clocks back an hour, so we were up early once again. In the morning, we spent time as a family playing Phase 10 (card game) and shuffleboard. During shuffleboard, there was an announcement by the captain about a gastrointestinal illness onboard the ship. Not that we weren’t already washing our hands often and using tissues to open public restrooms when leaving, but we were certainly more alert and cautious after his announcement.

 

One thing I’d like to make sure I mention are the different types of furniture on this ship and how comfortable it can be. The entire ship, but primarily Martini’s and Horizons, has many different chairs that accommodate different body sizes, shapes, and styles. You just have to play musical chairs until you find what you like. The ship is also filled with little nooks and crannies with great chairs to read on this ship. Aside from our balcony, we enjoyed finding cozy reading spots all over the ship.

 

As much as we liked the seating in most of the common areas, we were equally disappointed in the seating in the Riviera Lounge. Those seats are tight, straight, and have an odd slope to the bottom cushion that makes it hard to get out. Honestly, they are worse than airline seats, especially if you have someone sitting next to you on either side. They should consider ripping those out, putting in long couches or love seats with arm rests that continue in a long sweep across the room and small heavy weight cocktail tables in front. I know they want to pack in as many guests as possible for a show, but perhaps doing an early and a late show would be better.

 

The full moon was upon us and we tried to take a couple pictures. We are still learning how to master night shots, but we tried to take a few shots before turing back our clocks another hour and retiring for the evening.

 

 

[Love.II.Cruise]

Just a comment about Waves as it is differenct than on the R ships, or at least how they used to be. If u sit in the eating area by Waves you need a table number. However if you sit in the Terrace they give you a number which you give to the Terrace waitstaff and magically your order will be delivered to your table in Terrace. A great system.

 

Now that we never did, but we did see people eating something from Waves in Terrace a couple times and wondered how they worked that out. Instead we did the opposite. We sometimes got something small on the salad bar side of Terrance and brought it to the Waves eating area - the salad area at Terrace and Waves is not necessarily the same.

[Mura]

Quoting Love.II.Cruise

 

All the tables had clearly labeled table numbers. We would claim a table either by waiting to order drinks (those drinks then being the marker that the table was occupied) or place our books on the table then go order. [/i]

 

No doubt. We just never noticed. And I just checked my diary from our Marina cruise and it appears that we may not have ever had lunch at Waves on that cruise -- we did several times on Regatta last August. So the reason I'm not remembering such things on Marina may be that we didn't do the burger route on that cruise. When we came back early from a tour we seem to have had lunch in Terrace. I know we had Smoothies on that cruise, because I love them so much, but that's different from actually having lunch there.

 

 

There are a lot of tables, so I can see that when it is busy that this would be a good system. Maybe we only went when they were really busy.

 

Whether we had lunch at Waves on our Marina cruise or not, we do tend to be there very late, after the other venues have closed.

 

I'm not sure why they tell you that your butler will arrive during a specified time and you have to sign for your passports if they don't actually require the signature. Again, we were done waiting on our butler. :rolleyes:

 

But it's not a worry, is it? I think they are just covering their you-know-whats.

 

Mura

[Mura]

I do love that King's Cut prime rib ... I never thought of sharing it with DH since I like my meat rare and he doesn't! But that would probably be a good idea if we could meet at medium rare ...

 

I've never on all my Oceania cruises (not all that many but I think we're at #9) have run into a situation where prime rib isn't available. Not even on a transatlantic ... but given that you WERE on a transatlantic, maybe that's the answer. If not enough meat was delivered in Barcelona or at one of the later ports, and if lots of people are prime rib lovers as I am ... it could happen.

 

I'll have to see what the situation is on our November 2013 Barcelona-Rio cruise! Maybe I should bring on my own prime rib along with some liquor ...

 

That photo did me in. I'm lusting for another king's cut dinner, and considering that we just had a chateaubriand for dinner (leftovers, but still, it's filet) I really shouldn't be so blood thirsty!

 

Mura

[Love.II.Cruise]

Nov. 28, 2012, En Route to Miami, U.S.A

 

So we all know the term jet lag... but I think we got cruise lag! Our bodies were not adjusting to the time change and we kept getting up earlier and earlier. But we were still happy to have the extra hours on the cruise.

 

Today my DH was reading furiously trying to finish a book he borrowed from the library (a great library by the way). While he read, I ordered champagne for us and started to pack. Someone put our luggage on our bed, and while I appreciate that, it could have caused a disastrous mess. We had two bottles of olive oil and a bottle of truffle oil from Barcelona that were not bubbled wrapped yet and were just hanging out, laid down in our luggage for the cruise. I won’t do that again. Next time we will completely empty our luggage. This is just a warning to any cruiser in general because I think this could happen on any cruise if they take your luggage out for you.

 

 

For our last dinner we ate at Jacques and it did not disappoint. Originally we had this planned for Thanksgiving, but all decided to have this moved to this date since we wanted to do the traditional turkey feast in Terrace Cafe.

[Love.II.Cruise]

Nov. 29, 2012, Miami, U.S.A - Disembarkation

 

We were up before 4am... I call that cruise lag! :D It was a great trip and we really enjoyed it. We recommend that Louis, bartender, and, Gregory, bar server, get promotions. Natalie, social hostess, should be a cruise director. If she doesn’t have the management skills then she should be properly trained and promoted.

 

Will we travel Oceania again? Yes, but not in the near future. We are going to venture off the beaten path and try some other cruise lines (up next Windstar - in less than a week). We have a cruise booked on Princess more for the literary than anything - lots of pre-cruise Italy along with relaxing sea days. We also really want to do a Galapagos cruise on a small yacht with a visit to Machu Picchu overnight. And somewhere in there we need to do that trip that Louis talked about in South Africa.

 

I hope you all enjoyed the review, despite its’ length. I tried to provide a review that was fair and showed all aspects of our experience aboard Oceania’s Riviera. It was my intent to give a review with clear facts and easy to read when I gave opinions. Thanks for all of the questions; I’ll do what I can to answer those that come in over the next few days before our upcoming trip!

 

I’ll finish the review with a night-time picture of the famous “O” on the side of the ship and the chart of the cruise.

 

 

[hondorner]

Well done. Thank you.

[Love.II.Cruise]

Well done. Thank you.

 

Thanks and you're welcome. This turned out to be a little longer than I wanted it to be.

[Aussie Gal]

Loved reading your review. We cruised on Oceania back in 2008 and after reading your review I can now remember what we have been missing out on by cruising mainly with Princess, so we are hoping to once again cruise with them in January 2015 and hopefully we will do the Capetown to Singapore trip.

 

Jennie

[Love.II.Cruise]

Loved reading your review. We cruised on Oceania back in 2008 and after reading your review I can now remember what we have been missing out on by cruising mainly with Princess, so we are hoping to once again cruise with them in January 2015 and hopefully we will do the Capetown to Singapore trip.

 

Jennie

 

Thank you! We were scheduled for the 2014 Papeete to Lima cruise (17 nights ), but we've been to several tahitian islands in the past (via Regent) and knew we wanted to stay a couple nights before the cruise in Moorea and then a couple nights in Machu Picchu - this would have resulted in me taking too much time off work.

 

We are holding out for a Galapagos cruise and will do Machu Picchu at that time. But gosh - I hope to see Easter Island one day like on that Oceania cruise we had to cancel.