Please join us - Spain to the New World on a new ship - LIVE from Oceania Riviera

[sail7seas]

I am guessing it is the "HAL Booster Club" or something like that. But that is just a guess.

 

Thanks, CBR663.

 

Donna

 

There are few cruisers who are more loyal to HAL than I am and have sailed with them dozens and dozens of times. For various reasons, I sailed NCL this summer, a cruise line I had never considered sailing.

 

I wrote rather lengthy comments about it on the HAL forum and NCL and had many comments from loyal cruisers of both lines.

 

It is not the least unusual for any of us to follow a poster we usually see on our 'home forum' to another when they are sailing a different cruise line.

 

Speaking only for myself, I enjoy the comparisons between the lines and comments from people for whom I have a feeling of their usual likes and dislikes are more valuable than comparison comments from someone about whom I know nothing.

 

As it turned out, I was amazed at how much I enjoyed NCL as my late DH and I always teased about the ugly graffiti on their hulls and we could not imagine ourselves sailing that cruise line.

 

I read here because I was interested if I wanted to try "O".

It was worth my time as I have learned I do not wish to try "O" at least not at this time.

 

[gigianne]

I too was on the Riviera - travelling with friends including Kazu. My DH and I are long time HAL cruisers - if there is such a group called HBC we are not members. There is no perfect cruise line or ship! My experience on the Riviera was different then even my husbands and of course we would be comparing cruise lines as others would be as well. Would our experience have been different without NORO - of course it would have been - we would have been 2 days in beautiful Bermuda instead of Nassau. Believe me 1 day in Nassau is quite enough. A lot of other things would have been different as well. I am glad that we stepped out of our comfort zone and tried O - in spite of the hiccups we enjoyed ouselves and were able to stay healthy. BTW on our return to the ship yesterday I asked an officer who was standing at the bottom of the gangway making sure everyone sanitized before boarding why there weren't any sanitizers as we boarded in Barcelona "the CDC does not require us to do so" was his answer. Yes, I do know that sanitizing does not kill all the germs - it sure might have helped!

[kazu]

Good afternoon from what was sunny Fort Lauderdale until the downpour just started!

 

We are happily now in Embassy Suites in FLL and will fly out tomorrow from here.

 

I don't want to be accused of being fussy but there was some grumbling today amongst passengers.

 

We had been told that the robes would be removed from the rooms last night for cleaning which is pretty standard IMO.

 

What happened to some was that their ice buckets disappeared, most towels and bath mats.

 

We kept our ice bucket & bath mat but I discovered this morning that we had only one bath towel for both of us. There was definitely a shortage of towels. Very strange. I know they have to be washed but I would think they are all washed every day so they must have a good supply? We kept our bath mat but only had one towel for the two of us. Haven't seen this one before.

 

Yesterday we ate in the Grand Dining Room for breakfast. I saw something there that I am not used to as well.

 

 

 

 

This is my coffee cup. I didn't see the crack unfortunately until I had some of the coffee. When DH and I examined the cup, the crack was also visible outside. Cracks in cups are great for harbouring germs.

 

Obviously I didn't drink any more coffee until I was able to get our waiter and have the cup and coffee replaced.

[RJB]

AS a long term Oceania fan and customer I have enjoyed reading all your posts and all the great pictures you took and put on line. Seems like a pretty fair assessment of the ship and the service. Especially in such an unusual and trying time. Thank you for taking us along on your trip.

[kazu]

AS a long term Oceania fan and customer I have enjoyed reading all your posts and all the great pictures you took and put on line. Seems like a pretty fair assessment of the ship and the service. Especially in such an unusual and trying time. Thank you for taking us along on your trip.

 

 

thanks very much RJB

[LHT28]

I don't want to be accused of being fussy but there was some grumbling today amongst passengers.

 

We had been told that the robes would be removed from the rooms last night for cleaning which is pretty standard IMO.

 

What happened to some was that their ice buckets disappeared, most towels and bath mats.

 

We kept our ice bucket & bath mat but I discovered this morning that we had only one bath towel for both of us. There was definitely a shortage of towels. Very strange. I know they have to be washed but I would think they are all washed every day so they must have a good supply? We kept our bath mat but only had one towel for the two of us. Haven't seen this one before.

 

Yesterday we ate in the Grand Dining Room for breakfast. I saw something there that I am not used to as well.

 

 

 

 

This is my coffee cup. I didn't see the crack unfortunately until I had some of the coffee. When DH and I examined the cup, the crack was also visible outside. Cracks in cups are great for harbouring germs.

 

Obviously I didn't drink any more coffee until I was able to get our waiter and have the cup and coffee replaced.

 

You have had a very unusual cruise

They do take the robes but never had them take the towels or the ice buckets before

 

The coffee cup is disgusting I hope you mentioned it to someone onboard

It should have never been put on the table

 

Hope the rain lets up

If you want some good burger try Gilberts in the plaza next door YUMMM

 

Safe trip home

[kazu]

This is NOT a good report so if you don't want to read something bad, I suggest you skip this post.

 

Disembarkation was a mess today to put it mildly.

 

As most of you know, you are required to be out of your cabin by 8:00 a.m. on disembarkation day.

 

We were up on deck 12 by the pool chatting awaiting the calling of the colours.

 

Disembarkation was supposed to start at 8:00 a.m. The announcements were still coming that the ship has not yet been cleared and to please wait.

 

The strange thing is that there were two busloads of passengers who had left the ship. Some thought they were passengers on the B2B but I don't see how they could get off if the ship wasn't cleared unless it really had been and they were simply stalling the disembarkation. I thought it might be the sick people on board being disembarked first and in isolation to help protect the passengers and even the people in the terminal but I really don't know. It's just my best guess but it is the thing that would make the most sense.

 

People kept looking at their watches and the announcements kept coming that the ship wasn't cleared.

 

Actually, I was surprised. I thought they would get the ship emptied as soon as possible with the CDC inspectors coming on board and a deep cleaning needed. Just goes to show you I was wrong ;)

 

Finally way past the time the colours started to be called. I was very glad I did not have an early morning flight and felt badly for anyone that did as I am sure they must have been stressed.

 

When our colour was called we all headed down. ( I was glad I wasn't purple as Ray forgot to call them it seems and they were still there waiting - our colour was the last scheduled to be called.) Unfortunately the gangway/disembarkation deck was on deck 6. What a zoo. People were coming from every direction and because of the location they could. There was no rhyme or any sort of order to it because of that.

 

Even worse, some people were doing the unforgiveable - standing where the lineup was and at the spot where the ribbon comes with their luggage waiting for their colour to be called. So they held up the mob, made it hard to pass through, etc.

 

It seemed that so many were let go through the check out and on to the walkway and then they stopped the next group for a bit. Not sure about this.

 

It didn't seem well organized to me and there weren't many staff at the gangway area and the line up area to make sure that it was.

 

Disembarkation was way behind schedule and a very tiring process.

 

It was a long walk for anyone with physical challenges for sure from deck 6.

 

A note for those that this may be of interest to - roll call members had carry on's only and thought they could do a speedier disembarkation but there is no self disembarkation so they had to wait for their colour to be called. I am still in awe of everything they got in those carry on bags.:eek:

 

Then we had the joy of Customs. Miami had lots of officers on but the issue was that a good number of the passengers were Non U.S. Citizens and they had an equal number of immigration officers for the U.S. citizens and non - U.S.. So the U.S. citizens breezed through while the non U.S. waited and waited and waited.

 

Finally we were out of the Terminal, much later than we thought it would be. In fact one of my travelling companions joked that at the rate we were going we wouldn't need early check in ;)

 

We zipped to Fort Lauderdale in no time and I was SO grateful that I wasn't flying today as my tolerance would have been too low with all of the hurry up and wait and snaking lineups that we had been through.

 

 

It's only mid afternoon and we are all exhausted!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[kazu]

You have had a very unusual cruise

They do take the robes but never had them take the towels or the ice buckets before

 

The coffee cup is disgusting I hope you mentioned it to someone onboard

It should have never been put on the table

 

Hope the rain lets up

If you want some good burger try Gilberts in the plaza next door YUMMM

 

Safe trip home

 

Thanks Lyn - I just might go to Gilberts - haven't been there before! Or, it may be lunch tomorrow ;)

 

I will say that there were a lot of O regulars on board and that some I talked to were not happy and felt that this was not a typical O cruise and they weren't referring to the virus.

 

When the coffee cup was removed and yes, I did mention it, no one even apologized. I just wish I had noticed it before I had a bit of coffee!

[LHT28]

KAZU That is the same experience we had when the ship had E. Coli outbreak a few years ago

they did not start calling colours until 9:30 am then when we finally got off the ship the taxis were few & far between ..we almost missed our 12:30 flight out of MIA

 

The chaos at deck 6 with people hovering around the exit only makes it worse & the pushing & shoving of otherwise nice people is something else

 

They need to block off the other entries to lines so you just funnel into the one line exiting

[kazu]

KAZU That is the same experience we had when the ship had E. Coli outbreak a few years ago

they did not start calling colours until 9:30 am then when we finally got off the ship the taxis were few & far between ..we almost missed our 12:30 flight out of MIA

 

The chaos at deck 6 with people hovering around the exit only makes it worse & the pushing & shoving of otherwise nice people is something else

 

They need to block off the other entries to lines so you just funnel into the one line exiting

 

 

Exactly LHT28, if they blocked off the other entries and had to funnel, it would at least be more civilized. I'm surprised they haven't thought of it.

 

It would really help.

[Mura]

Sorry to hear the disembarkation process was such a mess. It sounds very much like what we encountered when leaving Marina in Rio two years ago -- and we didn't have the excuse of a Noro outbreak. We DID have people blocking all doors and exits! It took an inordinate amount of time to leave the ship.

 

Your description of customs hit home for me because of a flight we had to Charles de Gaulle a couple of years ago where we had a tight connection. In our case there were only two people on duty to stamp passports and they only deal with EU passengers. The rest of us stood and waited quite a while before ONE of these guys switched over to us.

 

Very frustrating when that happens!

 

Thanks for your reports, Kazu. I thought you've been very fair in your assessments and comments.

 

Mura

[LHT28]

I take it non US citizens just cleared Customs/immigration in the terminal is that correct?

 

In the past we have had to go to the lounge on the ship to clear

 

 

We had the same problem at PE last month getting off the ship then someone decided they liked my suitcase better than their own & we spent 1/2 hr looking for it & suddenly DH saw someone put a suitcase back in the baggage area ...guess what it was ours

[kazu]

I take it non US citizens just cleared Customs/immigration in the terminal is that correct?

 

In the past we have had to go to the lounge on the ship to clear

 

 

We had the same problem at PE last month getting off the ship then someone decided they liked my suitcase better than their own & we spent 1/2 hr looking for it & suddenly DH saw someone put a suitcase back in the baggage area ...guess what it was ours

 

 

yes, absolutely correct. It was done in the terminal. I thought it might be done on board after what I had read on the O boards, but that was not the case. I suspect Noro impacted it maybe? One customs officer told one roll call member he was "called in".

 

OMG - on the suit case - We have had that happen and thankfully caught up with it in time.

[RJB]

yes, absolutely correct. It was done in the terminal. I thought it might be done on board after what I had read on the O boards, but that was not the case. I suspect Noro impacted it maybe? One customs officer told one roll call member he was "called in".

 

OMG - on the suit case - We have had that happen and thankfully caught up with it in time.

 

Sorry to hear about the added problems you had. Do you know if they had Global Entry at Immigration and Customs? Things go faster when they have. Thanks in advance for your answer

[kazu]

Sorry to hear about the added problems you had. Do you know if they had Global Entry at Immigration and Customs? Things go faster when they have. Thanks in advance for your answer

 

 

no Global Entry (or Nexus for Cdns reading). It's all the old fashioned way. I am quite sure that is true at most cruise ports.

 

I did see them fingerprinting and taking photos of some people though?

 

It's not a quick process although once we got there ours was pretty painless.

Edited December 2, 2015 by kazu

[LHT28]

yes, absolutely correct. It was done in the terminal. I thought it might be done on board after what I had read on the O boards, but that was not the case. I suspect Noro impacted it maybe? One customs officer told one roll call member he was "called in".

 

OMG - on the suit case - We have had that happen and thankfully caught up with it in time.

 

Our last cruise out of MIA we also cleared in the terminal which was a 1st for us ...maybe it is better for the officials

 

DH was not going to leave without the bag ..I told him if we did not find it in the next 20 mins they could send it or keep the dirty clothes

Bad thing it was a black bag but long ago I put red duct tape on the sides to spot it better at the airport ...guess the person who took it noticed :)

 

My other bag was blue & much nicer glad they did not take that one :D

[RJB]

no Global Entry (or Nexus for Cdns reading). It's all the old fashioned way. I am quite sure that is true at most cruise ports.

 

I did see them fingerprinting and taking photos of some people though?

 

It's not a quick process although once we got there ours was pretty painless.

 

Thanks, Too bad. They spent a lot of money putting in this system (one of the few things that the government does that really works) Makes coming back into the country much more stress free.

[Barrheadlass]

I've enjoyed all your posts, too, Kazu. We sailed on O last year after about 60 days on HAL and decided never to go back to HAL. We just loved O and felt it beat HAL in every way...except price. I felt your review was balanced although negativity reined after the noro outbreak...very understandable! I'm now eating my words...am returning to HAL for the voyage of the Vikings next summer. Hope you have a safe trip home!

[kazu]

I've enjoyed all your posts, too, Kazu. We sailed on O last year after about 60 days on HAL and decided never to go back to HAL. We just loved O and felt it beat HAL in every way...except price. I felt your review was balanced although negativity reined after the noro outbreak...very understandable! I'm now eating my words...am returning to HAL for the voyage of the Vikings next summer. Hope you have a safe trip home!

 

 

thank you. Voyage of the Vikings is supposed to be a good one. I hope you really enjoy it.

[SusieKIslandGirl]

no Global Entry (or Nexus for Cdns reading). It's all the old fashioned way. I am quite sure that is true at most cruise ports.

 

QUOTE]

 

In April getting off the Carnival ship in Fort Lauderdale we waited in several long lines. As we got very close to the Customs lanes there was a small sign for Global Entry. I asked if our Nexus card would have gotten us through and the answer was yes-next question was why wasn't the sign back where the line began? Grrrr-now I know to look for the sign before I get in line.

[sppunk]

Thanks for your reports, my friend. Sorry things were amiss. :/

[kazu]

Sorry to hear the disembarkation process was such a mess. It sounds very much like what we encountered when leaving Marina in Rio two years ago -- and we didn't have the excuse of a Noro outbreak. We DID have people blocking all doors and exits! It took an inordinate amount of time to leave the ship.

 

 

 

Your description of customs hit home for me because of a flight we had to Charles de Gaulle a couple of years ago where we had a tight connection. In our case there were only two people on duty to stamp passports and they only deal with EU passengers. The rest of us stood and waited quite a while before ONE of these guys switched over to us.

 

 

 

Very frustrating when that happens!

 

 

 

Thanks for your reports, Kazu. I thought you've been very fair in your assessments and comments.

 

 

 

Mura

 

 

I hear your pain on that one!

 

Thank you Mura & thank you for all the help on the boards while I was researching. It was very appreciated.

[Skipper's Mom]

Disembarkation in Miami was nothing to write home about. It is very similar in Fort Lauderdale. Once you disembark, it is no longer O's problem but a bureaucratic situation. We cleared and then proceeded to wait for the Avis shuttle for over an hour. That is not O's problem.

 

By the way, the Riviera is just now setting sail from Miami. See the webcam.

[cruisun]

Sorry that your first O cruise was not up to par! Sounds like everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Must be very disappointing

[ORV]

Home safe and sound, and well. I was having nightmares of coming down with the NV on the way home while flying. Enjoying meeting many from our roll call. Ours was a good cruise until IT happened. I'll post some thoughts on my thread in the next day or so.

 

Hope our friends we met that are staying on for the next leg stay well. We got off and to the airport with no issues. Disembarkation seemed fairly normal for us.

 

Jacqui, enjoyed meeting you and your husband Jose. Enjoy the rest of your vacation.