CintiPam Posted August 14, 2013 #26 Share Posted August 14, 2013 I have two voyages planned on Riviera during the first five months of 2014. I sailed on Marina in 2011 and enjoyed the experience immensely, although there were some areas which I felt could use improvement, including the service experience and the comfort level of the furniture in the public spaces. I mentioned those in my extensive comments on my comment card. Therefore, I have read this thread and very much appreciate the lovely photos. But I do not recall ever reading such consistently snarky photo captions/comments. Perhaps there was something you enjoyed on your cruise which you may choose to share with us?? So far, all you have mentioned about your onboard experience are the negatives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Caroldoll Posted August 14, 2013 #27 Share Posted August 14, 2013 whereas I am from lowly Newport Beach, California which has some very fine dining. I found that the Riviera met or exceeded my specifications. I felt that food on The Riviera was one of its strong suits. Perhaps Mr. Baychilla eats somewhat differently than I or my DH. We loved the food. We did breakfast in The Terrace and the poached eggs were always perfect. I must say that I never ate in the GDR and I don't like any GDR food. The specialty restaurants cook fresh food as ordered, not mass cooked food for loads of people. That may be the difference. That being said, I am loving this post and would like to thank Baychilla for doing such a good job. Please continue to entertain us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hypercafe Posted August 14, 2013 #28 Share Posted August 14, 2013 As all I like your pictures, I have sailed on the Riviera and was impressed by both the food and décor, sorry to see you are not. Since all of this could not of been a total surprise, WHY ARE YOU TAKING THIS TRIP? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emperor Norton Posted August 14, 2013 Author #29 Share Posted August 14, 2013 As all I like your pictures, I have sailed on the Riviera and was impressed by both the food and décor, sorry to see you are not. Since all of this could not of been a total surprise, WHY ARE YOU TAKING THIS TRIP? The food and some of their employees did take me by total surprise. Also this trip is over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Condocat Posted August 14, 2013 #30 Share Posted August 14, 2013 Hope you enjoyed something about your trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orchestrapal Posted August 14, 2013 #31 Share Posted August 14, 2013 Also this trip is over. That's a relief! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emperor Norton Posted August 14, 2013 Author #32 Share Posted August 14, 2013 Koper, Slovenia An interesting mix of an old town with a central shop lined street with a modern new waterfront filled with seafood restaurants and cafes. It was a relatively quick walk from the ship to the old town. A sign you're headed in the right direction towards old town Welcome to the large square in old town There's also a nice tower to let you know you're there It was probably one of the least crowded towns we'd see The main drag in old town I will post what I really did like (when I come to it) but I'm posting this in chronological order and at this point I was underwhelmed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emperor Norton Posted August 14, 2013 Author #33 Share Posted August 14, 2013 Koper, Slovenia If you took a side street You could wind up at a not quite dead end A midst some cafes Or perhaps in a more residential area Continuing down you see that copyright laws aren't strongly enforced And that the locals train their parrots to sharpen knives Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emperor Norton Posted August 14, 2013 Author #34 Share Posted August 14, 2013 Upon reaching the waterfront, you see about what you'd expect There was a little shaded area with benches surrounding this interesting dandelion looking fountain Video of fountain (goes to 1080) Then it was back to the ship where you got a good view of the newer residential section of town On the ship I had my first Sam Adams via Israel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emperor Norton Posted August 14, 2013 Author #35 Share Posted August 14, 2013 Koper, Slovenia Lunch today started with a chorizo and cheese quesadilla. The surprising thing was that the chorizo had some heat to it, usually cruise food is bland; so that was a nice surprise The tortilla soup was decent, aside from not having real tortillas in it:confused: The entree was roasted pork with BBQ sauce, onion rings and mashed potatoes. This onion rings were good, the pork cooked correctly and the mashed potatoes nice (but not Francks). The BBQ sauce tasted like Kraft which let the dish down. Dessert was a chocolate safari which I thought was good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vrogers Posted August 14, 2013 #36 Share Posted August 14, 2013 Thanks baychilla for the photos and of course your commentary, enjoying both! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emperor Norton Posted August 14, 2013 Author #37 Share Posted August 14, 2013 Koper, Slovenia Penthouse suites and above come with a butler. One of the butlers jobs was to deliver the early evening canapes. Overall these were unimpressive, too cold/stale - we ended up skipping them after the 4th day or so. My biggest disappointment with them were the "Texas wings" that came cold and without a hint of spice (contrast these with the wings they serve at the returning cruiser reception which a. were warm and b. had a wee bit of heat - those were good). Dinner that night started with Maui Red Onion Soup - which was nice if not overly laced with olive oil Followed by Iberco pork ragout (blasphemy, all you could taste was the wine rather than let that amazing pork shine through) The entree was listed on the menu with the undercooked warning (eg: you should be able to order it how you like it - same as steak) so I tried to order it rare. No dice. It seems the chefs on this ship were not trusting enough in their duck supplier or simply lacked the skill to properly cook a duck. Taking a chance I went with their version of duck a l'orange. Dry dead, yet the skin was flabby. Great.:rolleyes: The croquettes however were quite nice. For contrast read this article - note the duck is cooked medium rare http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/05/making-a-true-duck-a-lorange/?_r=0 Dessert again was good What I learned tonight by watching others in the GDR is this - there are no dress codes. At least the staff can't be bothered to enforce them. Jeans, t-shirts, Tevas, shorts, it's all ok. Dining rooms like to make random substitutions to plates, what the menu says you'll be getting may not conform to what you actually get. On a bright side, Oceania does something that I haven't seen on any other cruise line that I thought was a great idea. Our CD Leslie Jon did trivia twice a day. Once in the early afternoon and once around 2030. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emperor Norton Posted August 14, 2013 Author #38 Share Posted August 14, 2013 Dubrovnik, Croatia Breakfast was a croissant and an omelet. After having seen too many poached eggs sacraficed at the altar of hard boiled I tried the omelet. This was the most consistently (and correctly) cooked breakfast item and would become my go-to. In the name of science I tried to dissect a hash brown puck but I think it had sentience and ran away. We got into port around 12pm which I wasn't thrilled with (hottest part of the day, everyone should be up and about at that time). There was an interesting little housing area directly across from the cruise terminal We were docked closer than the Silversea ship The port offered a small collection of shops for crew that weren't allowed to leave the port area Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emperor Norton Posted August 14, 2013 Author #39 Share Posted August 14, 2013 Dubrovnik, Croatia After taking the Oceania supplied bus into the old town I get off and what do I see... More buses:eek: Maybe I should look the other way. Much better Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoungRestlessOne Posted August 14, 2013 #40 Share Posted August 14, 2013 I am really enjoying your pictures, and am extremely interested in your commentary on the itinerary in general and the individual ports specifically. We are on the Paths of the Byzantines cruise in October, and it will be our first Oceania cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emperor Norton Posted August 14, 2013 Author #41 Share Posted August 14, 2013 Dubrovnik, Croatia Welcome ' If you need water you can use one of the communal fountains Shade could be found under awnings Or between buildings Or an iron gate if you're small enough I assume this was the morning farmers market that they were still setting up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emperor Norton Posted August 14, 2013 Author #42 Share Posted August 14, 2013 Dubrovnik, Croatia The easiest way to escape the crowds? Go up! Vendors were very good at creating shade This area looked relatively empty I'm not sure what the point of the knocked over columns was Not quite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emperor Norton Posted August 14, 2013 Author #43 Share Posted August 14, 2013 Dubrovnik, Croatia After wandering the walls for a bit it was time to head back down Into the crowds To pet his nose (look at the wear marks) Before filling up Counting birds while waiting for a bus Must be time to go Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emperor Norton Posted August 14, 2013 Author #44 Share Posted August 14, 2013 Dubrovnik, Croatia Red Ginger The amuse bouche here were edamame beans I found more interesting They did have a tea menu unique to Red Ginger, as well as some Asian beers and Sakes not available elsewhere on the ship (who knew Sapporo, Tsing-tao, etc... were so hard to come by). The downside being the beers and sakes couldn't be purchased using the alcohol package. The Red Ginger carpaccio - this was a pleasant surprise and tasted of more than just tweaked traditional carpaccio The spicy shrimp - the shrimp were beyond their expiry date the first segment and fine the second. This was my favorite dish here (when the shrimp were good) The lemongrass/chicken soup was the same as you can get in any Thai restaurant. The watermelon duck salad while interesting isn't something I'd order again (though I'd recommend ordering it once to try - you may just like it) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emperor Norton Posted August 14, 2013 Author #45 Share Posted August 14, 2013 Dubrovnik, Croatia Red Ginger A curry chicken dish that I'd ask them to put the spurs on. Instead of making the base curry hotter they dumped a few tbsp of weak chili oil on top What can this be? The Miso Glazed seabass. This was cooked to perfection, however the glaze was all you could taste:( A side of fried rice with geometric peas Full Gallery for Dubrovnik: Full Gallery for Koper: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emperor Norton Posted August 14, 2013 Author #46 Share Posted August 14, 2013 Kotor, Montenegro Sail in was beautiful, though I don't recall them mentioning it in Currents. We were followed in by HAL. Some nice beach front property Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emperor Norton Posted August 14, 2013 Author #47 Share Posted August 14, 2013 Kotor, Montenegro That's an interesting wall, what is it protecting? A Church and (out of view - Beer garden) A nice little river that runs lazily through Otherwise this probably wouldn't be able to grow From struggles To relaxation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emperor Norton Posted August 14, 2013 Author #48 Share Posted August 14, 2013 Kotor, Montenegro This thing seems to stalk me around Europe Not a bad view while swimming Even with low tide it doesn't appear that it will fit under the bridge Yo! MTv Raps! What does love taste like in coke? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emperor Norton Posted August 14, 2013 Author #49 Share Posted August 14, 2013 Kotor, Montenegro Lunch was pasta and meatballs Followed by a crispy (cold) onion string burger Sail away was even nicer to look at that sail in Dinner tonight was supposed to be prime rib -this looked more like sirloin Full Kotor gallery: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floridiana Posted August 14, 2013 #50 Share Posted August 14, 2013 Very nice photos. I believe you are ready to hire your own yacht, chef, and bartender. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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