Thoughts on first Oceania Riviera trip from Regent regular

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Hi, David and I have just come back from our first Oceania trip, Barcelona to Miami on Riviera. David's posting separately, as you've probably seen, and I will post my own thoughts here, some of it comparing the two lines.

 

Overall I would say there is very little difference, in my mind, between my experience on Riviera and my experiences on RSSC Voyager and Navigator in terms of service levels, dining, entertainment, amenities. Of course there is the obvious difference in the "à la carte" approach on Oceania, but this has been beaten to death so I won't go there.

 

Food was mostly terrific, but had its ups and downs, as it has on Regent. Don't think it was any better than R, although I think I liked the Terrace buffets better, and loved that you could have a casual snack there for dinner.

 

Riviera is a lovely, expansive ship with some stunningly beautiful public spaces. Great care has gone into the design of these, that's obvious. In some ways perhaps Voyager seems a little dated. The size difference felt palpable to me, in both good ways and bad. The Grand Dining Room and Horizons Observation Lounge are both huge by Regent standards, but they work very well--the GDR in particular exceeds both of the CR's that I have been in--high ceilings and good acoustics accounts for most of that. Horizons is just stunning, my favourite room on the ship I think.

 

The PH we had was as nice as the Voyager PH, although David still likes the latter layout better--to me it's a wash. I did like the O closet a bit better, and the shower may be a titch bigger.

 

Specialty dining was good, although with the usual ups and down. Some special touches in those restaurants were over the top in my opinion, similar to the "un, deux, trois!" lifting of the domed covers of the plates of Signatures. Who needs to choose your chopsticks from a case, with five choices of style and colour? Who needs a menu of olive oils and balsamic vinegar?

 

I liked Red Ginger best, I think, but that was because I had a particularly exquisite meal there. Toscana probably least favourite, because of the "over the top" cutesy add-ons, and the osso bucco was pretty poor, compared to Regent experiences from the past.

 

On subject of the TA crossing, not sure we would do another one, at least not just for the ship experience (i.e., "ship as destination"). I have always loved this concept, but probably would choose a Caribbean trip instead next time, for this purpose (although to be fair, I would love to try a RSSC crossing to compare.) As a way of cutting out air in one direction, a TA can't be beat! I guess I have to look for TA's that don't last 14 days.

 

Will post more thoughts as I gather my wits.

[orchestrapal]

Thanks for your very reasonable and well put thoughts.

We avoid the pretentious "oil and vinegar show" by having Toscana dinners in our suite. Maybe you could try that when and if you return to O.

[Jancruz]

Glad you finally tried out O..I look forward to hearing the rest of your report..

Jancruz1

Edited December 3, 2013 by Jancruz

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Thanks Jan. I will report in dribs and drabs. I got a head cold the last few days, and am still feeling the effects--hope I didn't give it to anyone else on board.

 

I'll try not to just echo what David has said in his reports, but there obviously will be some agreement. It took a little time to get used to being on a bigger ship--the long corridors, the diversity of public spaces. I never did get the hang of the ship, as David can attest--he was constantly steering me around as I exited an elevator, bewildered about where I was.

 

We did La Reserve, the Exploration Menu. Fortunately we did it close to the beginning of our trip so that weren't "fooded out". Although we had had a gourmet Moroccan lunch that day, so I had to be careful to not overindulge with this delicious menu. We would certainly do that again, it was up there with our best-ever dining experiences. Lovely! Be careful if you're not dining with friends--they seat you at in the tables outside on deck, filling the tables as guests arrive, then maintain that seating inside. We had already decided, privately, that we would like to sit elsewhere, but didn't have that choice, and it would have been rude to do otherwise--luckily some nice people that we'd previously met joined us and we had a good time.

 

Jacques was very good. But the food, ultimately, was too rich for me. Next time I would try very hard to pick lighter courses, and skip dessert (or pick the Canyon Ranch dessert--a trick I picked up later on in the cruise.)

 

We went to Polo the first night, and honestly, I hardly remember it. I had very good rack of lamb I think. David had a pretty bad steak.

 

Red Ginger I have mentioned. I found the portions large, and the first visit, should have ordered less--go to the Red Curry Chicken and could barely eat half. Second visit I had the wonderful sea bass, plus a couple of great appetizers--duck and watermelon salad and tuna tataki, my all-time favourite appetizer on the whole ship!

 

The WAVES bar was great too--I liked their burgers quite a lot, although their french fries were just so-so.

 

We had the premium bevvy package. Next time I think I'd just pay by the drink--or buy some bottles of wine. I found that the package encouraged me to drink too much, so lesson learned. It was nice to be able to ask for the most expensive wine by the glass whenever I wanted it, however.

 

I prefer the all-inclusive drinks approach on Regent. It certainly makes for a more convivial ship. Most convivial bar was definitely Martinis--great place to strike up a conversation, at the bar only, although this is always true, isn't it?

 

Loved the quiet ambience of Horizons in the evening before dinner--the bands were pretty good, and the dancers had a great time (we watched.) I loved that they had ballroom dance classes, although we only made it to one--I wonder if they always have these, or only on crossings?

[pacheco18]

I wish they had ballroom dancing lessons on all the cruises.

 

I need the olive oil choices -- sorry -- LOL

 

I think Wendy's observations are pretty much on par with mine -- always some ups and downs with the food and I love the Terrace -- boarding Riviera on the 12th and I doubt I will go to the GDR.

 

Wendy -- never mind the French fries -- did you have a milkshake? My weakness on O. I always ask for double the ice cream.

 

I did one TA

One was enough.

If I want the ship to be the destination I will pick a ship with more activities.

 

Glad you enjoyed the cruise for the most part.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

I need the olive oil choices -- sorry -- LOL

...

I did one TA

One was enough.

If I want the ship to be the destination I will pick a ship with more activities.

 

Glad you enjoyed the cruise for the most part.

 

I like different olive oils too, but a menu describing oils I don't know is not much use to me. Now a device where they could give us samples of several oils, that would be nice. In fact, they could do an olive oil and balsamic vinegar tasting on the ship--I've done olive oil tasting and it's fun.

 

I really thought the activities were pretty lame, even for a crossing. Baggo, bingo, shuffle board, croquet. Bridge, of course, and lots of it! But no other designated board game times, although apparently there was a game room with boards--who knew, nobody mentioned it. I could have really enjoyed a scrabble tournament, for instance.

 

The lecturers I thought were not very good. The topics offered were, uh, topical for a crossing, ships, pirates, exploration, under sea stuff, but the presenters were pretty dry so we stopped going.

 

The few evening shows that we saw were good, just couldn't make it to more--the "sea lag" of a western TA makes you sleepy at night, what can I say?

 

I had images of spending whole days on my balcony, or lying on the spa deck. The weather belied that--only one warm sunny day. We in fact missed the Azores because the captain was avoiding stormy weather--there were seasick bags out by the elevators several days. Must Madeira was great, so we didn't fell too bad. If there is a next time, perhaps we'll try a more southerly crossing, although ending up in Miami is perfect for us

 

I really did enjoy the ship--it's lovely. So many little places to hide out. People seemed a bit less friendly than R, I'm sure that was just subjective. Officers were true to form, invisible or not approachable.

[alexandra cruiser]

and value your opinions re Riviera,have that one booked.Just got off Regatta and had a great time.

KNow what you mean about the Toscana oil show,after the first time,we just said,,no thanks.

How was the entertainment on Riveira>like the singers and dancers on Regent Mariner and Voyager,but was not impressed with those on Regatta last month.

The inc.drinks USED to be a big thing,but for medical reasons we don t imbibe any longer.I m one of the few that DID like some of the Regent shore excursions,we ended up paying $15oo for them on O.So have to take that into account.

Like to try new ships,lines,itineraries,etc.....not a fan of just one line.

Same with river cruise,like to experience them all.;)

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Still want to try a river cruise, Alexandra. Thinking of Paris to Normandy.

 

Lounge musicians were good, and more varied. On Riviera, they had a string quartet as well as two house bands and a lounge pianist. All were good.

 

On Riviera, they have the Jean Ann Ryan Company, same as Regent, so the nightly shows are about the same, although with the tiny, low-ceilinged stage, they could never do a 'cirque'-style show.

 

I don't like the seating in the Riviera Lounge, and I can understand why the team trivia folk hate having it there--it really belongs in Horizons.

 

I like the idea of booking private excursions and sharing with others. It worked for us in Tangiers (thanks Sherry), and we had one arranged in Azores as well, although we had to cancel because of the port being missed. Then again, in Madeira we took a cab and got a nice tour for $60. I really do wish Regent would drop the included excursions and let us buy our own. (This from someone who always bought ship excursions on R until they were included, never went private.)

Edited December 3, 2013 by Wendy The Wanderer

[pacheco18]

I like different olive oils too, but a menu describing oils I don't know is not much use to me. Now a device where they could give us samples of several oils, that would be nice. In fact, they could do an olive oil and balsamic vinegar tasting on the ship--I've done olive oil tasting and it's fun.

 

I really thought the activities were pretty lame, even for a crossing. Baggo, bingo, shuffle board, croquet. Bridge, of course, and lots of it! But no other designated board game times, although apparently there was a game room with boards--who knew, nobody mentioned it. I could have really enjoyed a scrabble tournament, for instance.

 

The lecturers I thought were not very good. The topics offered were, uh, topical for a crossing, ships, pirates, exploration, under sea stuff, but the presenters were pretty dry so we stopped going.

 

The few evening shows that we saw were good, just couldn't make it to more--the "sea lag" of a western TA makes you sleepy at night, what can I say?

 

I had images of spending whole days on my balcony, or lying on the spa deck. The weather belied that--only one warm sunny day. We in fact missed the Azores because the captain was avoiding stormy weather--there were seasick bags out by the elevators several days. Must Madeira was great, so we didn't fell too bad. If there is a next time, perhaps we'll try a more southerly crossing, although ending up in Miami is perfect for us

 

I really did enjoy the ship--it's lovely. So many little places to hide out. People seemed a bit less friendly than R, I'm sure that was just subjective. Officers were true to form, invisible or not approachable.

 

I think the activities on Oceania are a weak point. I was just on Azamara and there was much more to do and more diverse activities -- and it was port intensive.

 

Lecturers are a crap shoot. We had fabulous lecturers on our Middle East cruise. That was a rarity.

 

As for the friendliness of fellow cruisers, I do believe the demographic on a TA is not your typical O crowd for a variety of reasons.

 

I am not a fan of the O ships (no news there) but I am sailing on Riviera on Dec 12 (because my TA MADE ME LOL). I like the intimacy of the R ships and once they are redone and I can have my lobster tails in the Terrace all will be right with the world.

 

Before you make a final judgment about O, you might want to try another cruise. No two cruises are alike.

[fairbourne]

I think the activities on Oceania are a weak point. I was just on Azamara and there was much more to do and more diverse activities -- and it was port intensive.

 

Lecturers are a crap shoot. We had fabulous lecturers on our Middle East cruise. That was a rarity.

 

As for the friendliness of fellow cruisers, I do believe the demographic on a TA is not your typical O crowd for a variety of reasons.

 

I am not a fan of the O ships (no news there) but I am sailing on Riviera on Dec 12 (because my TA MADE ME LOL). I like the intimacy of the R ships and once they are redone and I can have my lobster tails in the Terrace all will be right with the world.

 

Before you make a final judgment about O, you might want to try another cruise. No two cruises are alike.

 

We've just come off this cruise also - my thoughts will follow when we get home. But I am always reading that TAs are not a typical O crowd, our Alaska cruise was deemed to be not a typical O crowd, so am curious to know what a typical O crowd actually is?

 

BTW, I thought the crowd on the Riviera, on the whole, were much friendlier and had much, much better manners, than on the Alaska cruise on Regatta.

But, there were, of course, some exceptions!

 

 

Wendy - hope you're feeling much better and it was our pleasure to meet you both as well. :D

[LHT28]

Wendy

Thanks for sharing your thought & impressions

 

Hope you feel better soon

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Laraine, sooner or later I'd like to try an R ship, whether O or A. Not judging O harshly at all, I would cruise on Riviera in a minute, just not sure about a crossing, and not sure about cruising right now in our future. At the moment our 5th PG cruise is all we have booked.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

One thing that was annoying. We have had a butler twice before, and as before, we hardly ever used the butler.

 

Halfway through the cruise, he started getting worried, and trying to find things to do for us. He got an extra restaurant ressie for us and our friends, without being asked. That I found presumptuous, although it worked out fine, so we took it. But then he started in on how he was worried about his evaluation because we weren't using him. I jokingly promised to have room service, and then he asked about it when we didn't. I even joked about getting our shoes shined to make him feel better.

 

On the night before, he came and reminded us that our evaluation was very important, and not to check any "neutral" box. To make matters worse, there was no "N/A" box to check on the form, so I left lots of lines blank, and marked everything else excellent. I can understand why they feel anxious, but they should not lay this on the passengers, and their jobs should not depend on our use of their services! I heard of one other butler also doing this. No names, wouldn't want to jeopardize anyone's job.

 

Personally, if I want to book a PH suite, I'd like the choice to forego the butler, after this experience.

Edited December 3, 2013 by Wendy The Wanderer

[globevest]

"Personally, if I want to book a PH suite, I'd like the choice to forego the butler, after this experience."

 

Wendy, I'm enjoying your reports. Your above comment hit home for me. We always have a PH....it is just the size we want (and cost) but I could get along very well without the butler. I know others have a totally different view, but that is just how we feel. Thanks again.

[pacheco18]

One thing that was annoying. We have had a butler twice before, and as before, we hardly ever used the butler.

 

Halfway through the cruise, he started getting worried, and trying to find things to do for us. He got an extra restaurant ressie for us and our friends, without being asked. That I found presumptuous, although it worked out fine, so we took it. But then he started in on how he was worried about his evaluation because we weren't using him. I jokingly promised to have room service, and then he asked about it when we didn't. I even joked about getting our shoes shined to make him feel better.

 

On the night before, he came and reminded us that our evaluation was very important, and not to check any "neutral" box. To make matters worse, there was no "N/A" box to check on the form, so I left lots of lines blank, and marked everything else excellent. I can understand why they feel anxious, but they should not lay this on the passengers, and their jobs should not depend on our use of their services! I heard of one other butler also doing this. No names, wouldn't want to jeopardize anyone's job.

 

Personally, if I want to book a PH suite, I'd like the choice to forego the butler, after this experience.

 

Very bad form. That should not happen

 

Ah. The pg. nothing like it.

[fairbourne]

One thing that was annoying. We have had a butler twice before, and as before, we hardly ever used the butler.

 

Halfway through the cruise, he started getting worried, and trying to find things to do for us. He got an extra restaurant ressie for us and our friends, without being asked. That I found presumptuous, although it worked out fine, so we took it. But then he started in on how he was worried about his evaluation because we weren't using him. I jokingly promised to have room service, and then he asked about it when we didn't. I even joked about getting our shoes shined to make him feel better.

 

On the night before, he came and reminded us that our evaluation was very important, and not to check any "neutral" box. To make matters worse, there was no "N/A" box to check on the form, so I left lots of lines blank, and marked everything else excellent. I can understand why they feel anxious, but they should not lay this on the passengers, and their jobs should not depend on our use of their services! I heard of one other butler also doing this. No names, wouldn't want to jeopardize anyone's job.

 

Personally, if I want to book a PH suite, I'd like the choice to forego the butler, after this experience.

 

Wendy, I'm afraid David has referred where your stateroom was located, so would not take much to work out who was your butler!

 

I just wanted to add here as we are discussing butlers, we had the most fabulous butler - Xavier - I happily and readily name him as he is a true professional and a great ambassador for Oceania. He looked after us without being intrusive and would do tasks with great aplomb, including escorting us and our guests to dinner at Privee. We did not ask him to do this, he offered and it was truly appreciated. He was a butler in the true sense of the word, anticipating our needs and ensuring we had everything we needed before we even thought we needed it ourselves.

 

I also know he arranged a private gathering which we attended, and although he was off duty when it took place, he telephoned the host to ensure everything was being done as required.

 

He even brought me my breakfast tea, made the proper way in a teapot! :D

[RachelG]

It is really too bad that the butler has had to resort to beg for excellent ratings.

 

Unfortunately, this is true in the medical field as well. We at my hospital were just required to take a course in how to get patients to rate us as excellent in every category. Good is not adequate apparently. Anything less than excellent is unsatisfactory, and we will be properly admonished. We are told to tell patients to give only excellent ratings. I find this dishonest and refuse to do it. But it is apparently what is required.

Edited December 4, 2013 by RachelG

[alexandra cruiser]

Still want to try a river cruise, Alexandra. Thinking of Paris to Normandy.

 

Lounge musicians were good, and more varied. On Riviera, they had a string quartet as well as two house bands and a lounge pianist. All were good.

 

On Riviera, they have the Jean Ann Ryan Company, same as Regent, so the nightly shows are about the same, although with the tiny, low-ceilinged stage, they could never do a 'cirque'-style show.

 

I don't like the seating in the Riviera Lounge, and I can understand why the team trivia folk hate having it there--it really belongs in Horizons.

 

I like the idea of booking private excursions and sharing with others. It worked for us in Tangiers (thanks Sherry), and we had one arranged in Azores as well, although we had to cancel because of the port being missed. Then again, in Madeira we took a cab and got a nice tour for $60. I really do wish Regent would drop the included excursions and let us buy our own. (This from someone who always bought ship excursions on R until they were included, never went private.)

 

on.The Seine from Paris to Normandy with Scenic.2014 will be the first yr.they re doing that,an d I m booked up till 2015 right now.BUt these sell out FAST,over 1 yr in advance.For $250 pp you can put HOLD and cabin will be avail when new schedule comes out.(SOLD out for 2014 already).

So just a heads up.We re trying this line in June,Budapest to Bucharest,because its considerd LUXURY and has the 2 balcony cabin.None of the other lines has this on Seine.But if not a big deal for you, my next favorite in AMA(and I ve been on 10 different cruises,so far).

 

Yes, I remember those Regent dancers/singers and enjoyed them.Glad to hear on Riviera.

 

Re/shore excursions,every port is different,check ea .alternative and also do private or go on own.But,often,take inc.bus to tour site and then go on own.So it varies with ea.itinerary.WE WERE going to take the Holiday cruise with Regent to S.caribbean,but they cancelled it for next yr.That s why we booked with Oceania.

[Hambagahle]

Wendy - I had forgotten you were on this TA! And was overjoyed to read your remarks!

 

I don't suppose people could be allowed to opt out of having a butler... it would be really confusing and most people who take butler suites expect to have one. We had the most amazing butler on our Riviera cruise. A gentleman by the name of Churchill (!!) who was incredible. he spoiled us rotten and we loved every minute.

 

Take a look at a Danube cruise. I haven't cruised on the Seine but the Danube was so incredibly fascinating from the excursions point of view. I would do that again if I could!

 

get over the cold!

Gerry

[Emdee]

Wendy,

We are planning the Danube 2015 August - Budapest to Nuremberg. This will be immediately following the 7 day Croatia repeaters cruise on tere Moana. I think going forward once we make the flight to europe we will just do a couple of things. the flights are getting tiring and tedious.

 

I love the TA as a way to fly one way only.....

[Wendy The Wanderer]

...

Take a look at a Danube cruise. I haven't cruised on the Seine but the Danube was so incredibly fascinating from the excursions point of view. I would do that again if I could!

...

 

Wendy,

We are planning the Danube 2015 August - Budapest to Nuremberg. This will be immediately following the 7 day Croatia repeaters cruise on tere Moana. I think going forward once we make the flight to europe we will just do a couple of things. the flights are getting tiring and tedious.

 

I love the TA as a way to fly one way only.....

 

Yes, the flying only one way is a dream come true! We would be walking around Barcelona or Girona and suddenly look at each other and say, "we're not flying again!" It made it easy to buy olive oil in Spain. (And of course because we were driving home from Miami, we weren't worried about airports or TSA regs at all.)

 

We looked seriously at the Danube but chose the crossing instead. I have sentimental reasons for doing the Normandy trip--my ancestors come from that area and I know there are beautiful medieval towns up there that are not so touristy as some. Plus David's never been to Paris and I've never really had much fun there--so thought we'd at least look in that direction. We got to thinking about all the great art galleries of Europe and which ones we either haven't been to at all, or haven't been for years. Certainly Paris is in there. Flying Premium Economy makes the trip more feasible to us (god knows what we're going to do for air on the PG, Emdee--shudder to think about that.)

Edited December 4, 2013 by Wendy The Wanderer

[wiks]

I can happily confirm the recent post regarding Xavier, the butler. He is absolutely wonderful and professional and a joy to experience.

 

Wiks

[pacheco18]

Y (god knows what we're going to do for air on the PG, Emdee--shudder to think about that.)

 

Wendy -- we are fortunate to have lots of miles and always fly business class for free. BUT when we sailed on the PG we just took the free air and flew coach. We survived. We could have upgraded for 800 pp each way (3200) but decided not to -- for that $3200 I got some amazing Tahitian pearls from Tahia. I think you might agree that knowing you are going back on the PG could make any fight palatable.

[ORV]

Re the surveys/evaluations. I always mark them according to what I experienced. I had no problems marking the butler excellent and the casino poor, because that was my experience on our recent cruise.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Wendy -- we are fortunate to have lots of miles and always fly business class for free. BUT when we sailed on the PG we just took the free air and flew coach. We survived. We could have upgraded for 800 pp each way (3200) but decided not to -- for that $3200 I got some amazing Tahitian pearls from Tahia. I think you might agree that knowing you are going back on the PG could make any fight palatable.

 

Well Laraine, that's the $64 question, isn't it? Pondering that this week. Can do Premium Economy on Air France for about $1500 extra each, but still have to fly Toronto to LA in Coach (unless Aeroplan comes up with some great points deals like it did last year for our Alaskan trip.) Then if AF, we have to spend a bunch of extra nights in FP (boo hoo, but still $$).