Just off Riviera

[rucruisn2]

We were on the Riviera for a week, short cruise.  In general the cruise was favorable, but a few things ticked us off.  We boarded on Sunday, 12/15 in Miami and parked in the garage at Terminal J, O's Terminal.  Got back this morning and found ourselves left at Terminal E, way the H away for Term. J.  No notice ahead of time that we would return to a different terminal.  No notice on the ship!  Only found out as a very nice porter was wheeling our luggage outside.  I'm in a mobility scooter and could not take the shuttle provided to go back the J.  DH left me with the luggage and found our car and came back for me.  Why couldn't Oceania let us know ahead of time this would happen?  They know a week ahead what is happening.  Did folks getting of today know???  Total lack of concern for O's guests.  Wasted almost an hour with this.

Next, in general I have to say the food has gone down hill on O.  Menus were repeated during the week and the quality of the food was blah.  My DH likes to drink skim milk.  On every day the milk had chunks of who know what in the milk and tasted weird.  After day 3 he gave up and didn't order  it again.  I didn't like the booking of specialty restaurants at all.  I went online as soon as reservations opened to Veranda staterooms and could only get reservations. at 8:30 or 9:00 PM.  on any night and any restaurants.  Yet when we stopped in earlier to see if they could take us, we were turned away, even tho the restaurant was half empty.  Maybe were old farts, but we do not dine that late.  So, we ate in the main dining room every night.  This has to be the first cruise I have ever been on, and we have been on over 50 on various lines, that I lost weight and only and a bite or two at night.  

I will say the staff was super nice and friendly and we enjoyed ourselves very much.   I know many will not agree with what I said, but these are our opinions.  Take them or leave them, but no need to flame me if you don't agree.

[sunlover12]

Sorry to hear of your troubles returning to your car.  That must have been aggravating.  It's not necessarily Oceania's fault, however, because they generally do not have any control over which terminal they will be docking at.  That is the port authority's decision. I don't think O would have known that they'd be returning to a different location a week in advance.

 

When you were booking reservations in the specialty restaurants did you ask for a shared table or a table for two?  It's a bit easier getting the time that you want if you ask for a shared table.

 

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us.

[Classiccruiser777]

22 minutes ago, sunlover12 said:

When you were booking reservations in the specialty restaurants did you ask for a shared table or a table for two?  

Also, the OP could have talked with the waiter at the restaurant reservations desk, available everyday from 8 AM until 5 PM in the lobby to try to get an earlier time.

 

Perhaps the repetition  in the GDR are the selections that are now always on the menu and dinner in Terrace is very nice with the lobster, steaks, lamb chops, fish, prawns always available and many, many other choices.

 

[Paulchili]

Sorry to hear about your poor experience with the specialties and food on O in general.

Specialties often appear “half empty” as the reservations are staggered. If you sail on O again, you can try to change your reservations to an earlier time once onboard as many reservations are saved for onboard booking.

Alternatively, your other cruise line of choice might be a better fit?

[rucruisn2]

We were open to a table for 2 or a shared table, and yes, we did return to both the restaurants and the concierge several times, but to no avail.  I know Terminal J is "O's" terminal as I had spoken to the port director prior to sailing.  Maybe "ship" happened and they had to return to a different terminal, possible.  But then why didn't to ship tell guests that they would be at a different terminal??  Poor communications at the least. When I sail on Royal Caribbean I don't expect much, but go because of our family and grandkids.  When I sail on Oceania I expect more.  We have sailed on O several times in prior years and generally feel they have slipped.

[Paulchili]

4 minutes ago, rucruisn2 said:

When I sail on Royal Caribbean I don't expect much, but go because of our family and grandkids.  When I sail on Oceania I expect more.  We have sailed on O several times in prior years and generally feel they have slipped

You are certainly right in expecting more from Oceania than RCI.

I am sorry to hear that you feel they have slipped.

We have a few cruises booked on O for next year and are anxious to see what our experiences will be.

[rucruisn2]

2 minutes ago, Paulchili said:

You are certainly right in expecting more from Oceania than RCI.

I am sorry to hear that you feel they have slipped.

We have a few cruises booked on O for next year and are anxious to see what our experiences will be.

I'm sure you'll have a good time.  I have a bad habit of dwelling on the negatives and not the positives.  The crew was OUTSTANDING!

[Redtravel]

The reservation system allowing you to reserve specialty restaurant tables isn’t perfect. Never had a problem getting a reservation at an early time.  We like a table for 2. We also enjoy sharing a larger table.  On most cruises, we get the time we want. It’s much better than other cruises that make you wait until embarkation to reserve a table. Azamara makes you wait until you embark.  Some people in the more expensive cabins do not use all of their allotted seatings.  Toward the end of a cruise, there is usually more tables available. 

[ronrick1943]

4 hours ago, rucruisn2 said:

We were open to a table for 2 or a shared table, and yes, we did return to both the restaurants and the concierge several times, but to no avail.  I know Terminal J is "O's" terminal as I had spoken to the port director prior to sailing.  Maybe "ship" happened and they had to return to a different terminal, possible.  But then why didn't to ship tell guests that they would be at a different terminal??  Poor communications at the least. When I sail on Royal Caribbean I don't expect much, but go because of our family and grandkids.  When I sail on Oceania I expect more.  We have sailed on O several times in prior years and generally feel they have slipped.

I agree about the food on "O", we moved over to Regent--but last December we took an "O" cruise-food over all wasn't good, some just bad.  Maybe "O" isn't for you-it's not for us right now.

[Mura]

Plus if you are on a longer cruise (I'm not talking about the RTW cruise but say something on the order of 25-30 days or more) experienced passengers tend not to try for a specialty reservation every night.  We certainly don't!

 

If you're on a 7-10 day cruise, it can be more difficult.  And higher end accommodations do have an advantage in terms of booking early.

 

As to what Ronrick just posted ahead of me, our last cruise was May 2018 so we aren't exactly current.  We weren't happy with the "adjustments" to the GDR menus back then but we did NOT find food itself was lacking.  I'm not saying those who sailed after we did are wrong!  I'm just saying that back then while I didn't like the reduced menu choices in the GDR, we weren't unhappy with the food itself.  Unfortunately we're not in a position to sail right now so we'll have to wait to see what we think in the future.

 

Mura

[LHT28]

they may not have known  the pier would be changed

We were on the Crystal ship that docked  at J  this morning

what a fiasco it was

they asked the Captain not to pull too far up the dock???

they could not use the jet way to disembark pax so

no one could get off until all the luggage was offloaded & in the terminal  because pax could not walk from the ship to baggage claim while the  front loaders were working

No one got off until after 9:30 am

then the crush to get off & to the taxis

[pinotlover]

12 hours ago, LHT28 said:

they may not have known  the pier would be changed

We were on the Crystal ship that docked  at J  this morning

what a fiasco it was

they asked the Captain not to pull too far up the dock???

they could not use the jet way to disembark pax so

no one could get off until all the luggage was offloaded & in the terminal  because pax could not walk from the ship to baggage claim while the  front loaders were working

No one got off until after 9:30 am

then the crush to get off & to the taxis

We have an 8:00 docking time, I’ve already booked a 10:15 flight departure. Will I be OK?

 

How many repetitive posts of this do we see every month? 😂😂

 

Of course some one will chime in and tell how they were at the airport by 8:45 and through security by 9:00! No sweat!

 

 

[wripro]

pinotlover.

 

Never book a flight before noon when disembarking a ship. You never know what can happen with immigration. If I were you I'd start looking at alternative flights right now. A 10:15 flight means you have to be at the airport by 8:30 or so.

[pinotlover]

Wripro;

 

I was being humorous! Of course one should never book before noon! I was only doubling down on Lyn’s post and all the posters coming here continuing asking that question.

 

Sorry for the lost pretext! 🍷

[LHT28]

2 hours ago, pinotlover said:

We have an 8:00 docking time, I’ve already booked a 10:15 flight departure. Will I be OK?

 

 

yes  I usually book after NOON

some people had booked 11:30 am flights out of FLL..we docked at POM

some  were on their phones changing the flights on the ship

One lady  did the Crystal transfer & thought she would be fine  it was 9:45 as we exited baggage claim/customs

I have a feeling she missed her flight 😉

 

[rucruisn2]

For some reason our number was among the first group called to get off the ship.  Luggage and customs took no time at all.  We got a porter for the luggage.  Even with the terminal problems we were home, about an hour drive, by 10 AM .  You just have to grab a cab and go to the airport.  What airport are you flying out of?  Then again years ago we got off in Miami and it was raining.  Dock workers wouldn't work in the rain.  No one could make flights unless late ones.

Edited December 23, 2019 by rucruisn2
add something

[RJB]

4 hours ago, pinotlover said:

We have an 8:00 docking time, I’ve already booked a 10:15 flight departure. Will I be OK?

 

How many repetitive posts of this do we see every month? 😂😂

 

Of course some one will chime in and tell how they were at the airport by 8:45 and through security by 9:00! No sweat!

 

 

Not a good idea.  Could be very tight or you could miss your flight. 

[clo]

10 minutes ago, RJB said:

Not a good idea.  Could be very tight or you could miss your flight. 

Oh sigh. They've already said this was (evidently) a feeble attempt at humor.

[rucruisn2]

We're docking at 8 am,  think a 7 am flight should not be a problem, do you??????????

[RJB]

2 minutes ago, rucruisn2 said:

We're docking at 8 am,  think a 7 am flight should not be a problem, do you??????????

No problem the following morning. 

[ruthnlarry]

We were also on this Riviera cruise that disembarked on Sunday.  We booked our specialty restaurants as soon as reservations opened for veranda cabins.  We were able to get reservations at 7:30 sharing a table for 3 of the restaurants, and met some very nice people.  For Jacques, we got a table for 2 at 6:30. 

We do agree that the quality of some of the food is slipping in the specialty restaurants.  At Jacques, both of us had the dover sole, and thought that it was too salty.  This may have been due to the capers.  Our best meal was at Toscana.

We had 3 dinners at Terraces, and had no complaint.  Food was very good as usual, especially the grilled lamb chops, lobster tails, and freshly prepared pasta.  Our breakfasts and lunches were also very good in Terraces. 

Edited December 24, 2019 by ruthnlarry

[Paulchili]

12 hours ago, LHT28 said:

we docked at POM

some  were on their phones changing the flights on the ship

As you know, this is often easier said than done (especially this time of the year) - not to mention the extra cost involved.

[Shawnino]

Sorry for OP's issues.

Oceania's specialty restaurant reservation system really feels to me like the worst-of-all-worlds. I really couldn't care less that they are "included" in the fare--I'd happily pay $30/head to get in when/if I wanted. I'd happily accept pre-assignment by someone at head office if I could get vague criteria met ("sea days, kind of early"). As it is I need to stay up til 1am for them to open my cabin class online to try to get something close to useful times.

 

When we were on Riviera last year neither the desk on 5 nor our concierge (my goodness he was useless--"no" to everything, not just dining) ever had any extra slots. Why the desk on 5 was even staffed was beyond me. Funny though: twice we lined up at the MDR and the Maitre d' kindly asked us if we'd like to go to a specialty of our choice on-the-spot, as her dining room was overrun. 

 

I guess it all works out if you have a PH+/Butler, but we don't, and we find the current system inconvenient/inefficient. 

[edgee]

38 minutes ago, Shawnino said:

Sorry for OP's issues.

Oceania's specialty restaurant reservation system really feels to me like the worst-of-all-worlds. I really couldn't care less that they are "included" in the fare--I'd happily pay $30/head to get in when/if I wanted. I'd happily accept pre-assignment by someone at head office if I could get vague criteria met ("sea days, kind of early"). As it is I need to stay up til 1am for them to open my cabin class online to try to get something close to useful times.

 

When we were on Riviera last year neither the desk on 5 nor our concierge (my goodness he was useless--"no" to everything, not just dining) ever had any extra slots. Why the desk on 5 was even staffed was beyond me. Funny though: twice we lined up at the MDR and the Maitre d' kindly asked us if we'd like to go to a specialty of our choice on-the-spot, as her dining room was overrun. 

 

I guess it all works out if you have a PH+/Butler, but we don't, and we find the current system inconvenient/inefficient. 

Since we have always booked Concierge class, we feel that we are paying a sort of fee to eat (at reasonable times at a two top) in specialty restaurants. Of course we get the other benefits(earlier access to cabins, the lounge, the spa deck, etc.) but specialty restaurant access is a major factor in choosing Concierge class, for us). 

[LHT28]

I have not usually had a problem booking 6:30  time slots for 2 ..it may not always be the day we would like 

we usually are in a "B"