Nov. 15 Riviera Transatlantic Review

[aZ4me]

Love.II.Cruise-- This was such an enjoyable review. Thank you so much for taking the time. We're going on Riviera's TA from Barcelona to Miami next November, so this served as a great preview. I truly enjoyed it.

[Barrheadlass]

Can't wait to read a Windstar review too.

[Love.II.Cruise]

Love.II.Cruise-- This was such an enjoyable review. Thank you so much for taking the time. We're going on Riviera's TA from Barcelona to Miami next November, so this served as a great preview. I truly enjoyed it.

 

I'm glad you liked the review. I have no doubt you will have an enjoyable cruise! It's very relaxing with all the sea days - as long as you like sea days like we do. We met a couple on this cruise that actually booked the next TA because they enjoyed this cruise so much!

[Love.II.Cruise]

error in post

[Aussie Gal]

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.

 

Don't hold your breath to much re Easter Island. We did a cruise from Tahiti to Port Lauderdale via South America and Easter Island as well as Pitcairn in 2010 and when we arrived at Easter Island, even though the water around the ship was calm, the Captain decided that the water closer to shore was too rough to tender in so we missed out. We were on the last voyage of the Royal Princess and I think the Captain nearly had a mutiny on his hands, as we were all ready to board the tenders and were just waiting to hear the announcement that they were about to commence servicing the passengers! It was a huge disappointment as you can imagine.

 

You will love Machu Picchu and the Galapagos Islands. We did that back in 2006 when we went down to Antarctica. We were away for over 7 weeks, a fantastic trip with lots of wonderful memories.

 

Jennie

[Riana]

Thank you for your wonderful review, Love.II.Cruise! DS & I are considering a TA on Riviera this April & really appreciate all the information you provided. Your photos of Barcelona are among the best we've seen on these boards. We can also relate to your "butler troubles", as we experienced much the same on our recent Celebrity Alaska cruise.

[fairbourne]

Love.II.cruise

 

Thank you so much for the time you took to do this review - we will be following in your footsteps later this year and you've really whetted our appetite literally!

 

Apparently the full moon would affect the tide, but out at sea you wouldn't notice it - according to the oracle that is my DH! ;)

 

I love your photos of the night and the moon - how romantic to be strolling the decks under those skies! :D

 

You simply must make plans for South Africa - once you get Africa in your blood, you will fall in love!

 

Thanks again!:)

[surfcitygirl]

Love II Cruise, want to ditto previous post. We did South Africa last year and it was amazing and absolutely unforgettable. We met several South Africans on the Riviera, they were all fun to talk to. See you on the Wind Surf.

[Details39]

I am bit concerned that an employee would be entrusted with a stack of passports, including mine, to be delivered to the cabins. Who knows what information could be gleaned from a packet of those documents. Preferably they be maintained securely to be picked up by the owners at reception, at their leisure. We are in cabin 7135 on March 4 and I do hope the butler problem has been resolved.

[TKS]

Loved your review and your photos. I can't wait until the Papeete-Lima cruise, which is our next opportunity to enjoy O. We'll see you onboard!

 

Have a great Windstar experience.:)

 

Kay

[Love.II.Cruise]

Don't hold your breath to much re Easter Island. We did a cruise from Tahiti to Port Lauderdale via South America and Easter Island as well as Pitcairn in 2010 and when we arrived at Easter Island, even though the water around the ship was calm, the Captain decided that the water closer to shore was too rough to tender in so we missed out. We were on the last voyage of the Royal Princess and I think the Captain nearly had a mutiny on his hands, as we were all ready to board the tenders and were just waiting to hear the announcement that they were about to commence servicing the passengers! It was a huge disappointment as you can imagine.

 

You will love Machu Picchu and the Galapagos Islands. We did that back in 2006 when we went down to Antarctica. We were away for over 7 weeks, a fantastic trip with lots of wonderful memories.

 

Jennie

 

I could definitely see how that would be a real bummer.

 

Thank you for your wonderful review, Love.II.Cruise! DS & I are considering a TA on Riviera this April & really appreciate all the information you provided. Your photos of Barcelona are among the best we've seen on these boards. We can also relate to your "butler troubles", as we experienced much the same on our recent Celebrity Alaska cruise.

 

You're welcome for the review and thank you for the compliments on the photos of Barcelona.

[Love.II.Cruise]

Love.II.cruise

 

Thank you so much for the time you took to do this review - we will be following in your footsteps later this year and you've really whetted our appetite literally!

 

Apparently the full moon would affect the tide, but out at sea you wouldn't notice it - according to the oracle that is my DH! ;)

 

I love your photos of the night and the moon - how romantic to be strolling the decks under those skies! :D

 

You simply must make plans for South Africa - once you get Africa in your blood, you will fall in love!

 

Thanks again!:)

 

Love II Cruise, want to ditto previous post. We did South Africa last year and it was amazing and absolutely unforgettable. We met several South Africans on the Riviera, they were all fun to talk to. See you on the Wind Surf.

 

Looks like we really need to look into a trip to South Africa. :)

[Love.II.Cruise]

I am bit concerned that an employee would be entrusted with a stack of passports, including mine, to be delivered to the cabins. Who knows what information could be gleaned from a packet of those documents. Preferably they be maintained securely to be picked up by the owners at reception, at their leisure. We are in cabin 7135 on March 4 and I do hope the butler problem has been resolved.

 

I hope you enjoy the cabin; we certainly did!

 

Loved your review and your photos. I can't wait until the Papeete-Lima cruise, which is our next opportunity to enjoy O. We'll see you onboard!

 

Have a great Windstar experience.:)

 

Kay

 

Thank you

[Starlaker]

Enjoyed your review and pictures so much. Now my mouth is watering for the Prime Rib. The Prime Rib we had on Oceania was the best we had ever had anywhere. We loved Oceania on our Amazon cruise and hope to do another cruise with them in the future. Best food of any cruise we have done.

[Love.II.Cruise]

Enjoyed your review and pictures so much. Now my mouth is watering for the Prime Rib. The Prime Rib we had on Oceania was the best we had ever had anywhere. We loved Oceania on our Amazon cruise and hope to do another cruise with them in the future. Best food of any cruise we have done.

 

So glad you enjoyed the review. The Prime Rib is excellent and it was worth the wait! :)

[jfgdbg]

Very nice review. Thank you!

 

One question......how long did it take to get to the top of the mountain on the train? Oh, and one more, did the train run continuously while you were there?

[Details39]

We are looking forward to occupying 7135, particularly after your detailed pictures of the cabin and deck! Appreciated the commentary.

[Love.II.Cruise]

Very nice review. Thank you!

 

One question......how long did it take to get to the top of the mountain on the train? Oh, and one more, did the train run continuously while you were there?

 

I'm assuming you are talking about the Santa Cova Funicular Railway at Montserrat. Below is a link to their schedule and pricing.

 

http://www.cremallerademontserrat.com/website_cremallera/eng/funicular_santacova_horaris.asp

 

I'd guess the ride itself is 5-7 minutes.

[wristband]

I emphasize with your unhappiness with Mahesh. We unfortunately had him Venice - Barca and he was not good. Your recitation of his failures to call back or follow through on basic requests or just dumping the passports off sums it up well.

 

On the Barca - Miami leg, our "new" butler was terrific - total opposite of Mahesh. Unfortunately, you and your mother had Mahesh moved to deck 7 while we had a star. While we have little need for a butler, the very few times we did (such as reservations at the specialty restaurants) Mahesh was worthless. Like you, we went down and did it ourselves and quit asking as it was hopeless.

 

We slashed his gratuity so the head of the butlers called to ask why. We shared exactly why were displeased but also commended the butler who replaced M - he was considerate, prompt and anticipated our needs. Like as putting out new wine glasses after we used them the night before (we had a case of wine in the cabin).

 

You know, paying attention to the most basic simple things.

[jfgdbg]

I'm assuming you are talking about the Santa Cova Funicular Railway at Montserrat. Below is a link to their schedule and pricing.

 

http://www.cremallerademontserrat.com/website_cremallera/eng/funicular_santacova_horaris.asp

 

I'd guess the ride itself is 5-7 minutes.

 

Yes, I was. Thanks for the info.

[Love.II.Cruise]

I emphasize with your unhappiness with Mahesh. We unfortunately had him Venice - Barca and he was not good. Your recitation of his failures to call back or follow through on basic requests or just dumping the passports off sums it up well.

 

On the Barca - Miami leg, our "new" butler was terrific - total opposite of Mahesh. Unfortunately, you and your mother had Mahesh moved to deck 7 while we had a star. While we have little need for a butler, the very few times we did (such as reservations at the specialty restaurants) Mahesh was worthless. Like you, we went down and did it ourselves and quit asking as it was hopeless.

 

We slashed his gratuity so the head of the butlers called to ask why. We shared exactly why were displeased but also commended the butler who replaced M - he was considerate, prompt and anticipated our needs. Like as putting out new wine glasses after we used them the night before (we had a case of wine in the cabin).

 

You know, paying attention to the most basic simple things.

 

My husband and I were extremely close to cutting part of his tips (and we NEVER do this on any cruise) since we did not believe he earned them. After much debate, we left the full tip on, as did my parents (who stayed on the other side of the ship in 7130). It is our opinion that Mahesh needs to be retrained as a butler or moved to something else he can handle better.

 

There were items I didn't even discuss about Mahesh, such as needing to call after a couple days and ask to refill sodas in our fridge when Mahesh said on the first day he would automatically do it. I agree, what is the point of having a butler when they can't handle the most basic of simple things?

[Baby Hughy]

My husband and I were extremely close to cutting part of his tips (and we NEVER do this on any cruise) since we did not believe he earned them. After much debate, we left the full tip on, as did my parents (who stayed on the other side of the ship in 7130). It is our opinion that Mahesh needs to be retrained as a butler or moved to something else he can handle better.

 

There were items I didn't even discuss about Mahesh, such as needing to call after a couple days and ask to refill sodas in our fridge when Mahesh said on the first day he would automatically do it. I agree, what is the point of having a butler when they can't handle the most basic of simple things?

It must have been a problem in more than one Buttler because we had the same quality of lack of service from our Buttler on deck 10.

Bill

[wristband]

We cut the tip big time precisely because we wanted to telegraph a message. We have NEVER done that on a cruise - always the requested amount. But our negative remarks on the mid-cruise comment card failed to elicit a response. So, lousy service + disinterested management = lousy tip in hopes of getting someone's attention. And it did.

 

We tipped more than suggested amounts for our second leg butler and cabin stewards. As for retraining Mahesh, I strongly urged that to the head of the butler service when he called about our anemic tip. I told him that was exactly why we cut Mahesh's tip big time. More management oversight & retraining would improve the situation for everyone.

 

I don't need - nor did I like - afternoon penthouse Butler delivered snacks. No big deal for us, we just didn't order again. But when we needed something, we had to call & call...then give up and do it ourselves.

[Di Princess]

I'm assuming you are talking about the Santa Cova Funicular Railway at Montserrat. Below is a link to their schedule and pricing.

 

http://www.cremallerademontserrat.com/website_cremallera/eng/funicular_santacova_horaris.asp

 

I'd guess the ride itself is 5-7 minutes.

 

Love: Thank you so much for this great review and all the time you have put into it. I have looked at every photo and I must complement you and DH for your photography expertise. Very enjoyable.

 

I have navigated the Montserrat link you gave us and I have a question:

Which ticket did you get, the 26.60 Euro or the 42.65 Euro?

Do you know what the difference is?

Thanks for your help.

Donna I.

[Love.II.Cruise]

Love: Thank you so much for this great review and all the time you have put into it. I have looked at every photo and I must complement you and DH for your photography expertise. Very enjoyable.

 

I have navigated the Montserrat link you gave us and I have a question:

Which ticket did you get, the 26.60 Euro or the 42.65 Euro?

Do you know what the difference is?

Thanks for your help.

Donna I.

 

Sorry it took me so long to reply. We just got off a cruise today and I'm catching up. Thanks for the compliments on the photography; it's a hobby that we love.

 

To answer your question about Montserrat, we only took the the funicular posted in the picture in post 12 (http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=36479296&postcount=12), which ascended from Montserrat. From what we recall it was about 11 Euro's a person.

 

But there is a funicular that descends from Montserrat, but we didn't ride that one.