Currently on Riviera Lisbon to Rome

[DENIE]

Clairol - we really enjoyed the same menu in La Reserve.  Our experience in June was exactly as you described.  Later on our cruise, they offered a Moet & Chandon champagne tasting with light "nibbles" that was a lot of fun as well.  We cannot wait to do La Reserve again!.

[ShopperfiendTO]

Could you provide information on what the Covid situation is like onboard for your cruise and whether Covid numbers are being reported?

[clairol]

On 10/18/2022 at 11:46 PM, ShopperfiendTO said:

Could you provide information on what the Covid situation is like onboard for your cruise and whether Covid numbers are being reported?

Hi! No idea. No evidence of any cases. No testing. Nothing reported. Sparse mask wearing. We are wearing masks on buses and other crowded areas. Not everyone schooled to do so. But again no cases shared, reported or evident. Sorry not to have more information to share. 

[jonthomas]

The fact that it is not obvious is good news in itself. If there were huge cases, the information would trickle out. 

[ShopperfiendTO]

3 hours ago, clairol said:

Hi! No idea. No evidence of any cases. No testing. Nothing reported. Sparse mask wearing. We are wearing masks on buses and other crowded areas. Not everyone schooled to do so. But again no cases shared, reported or evident. Sorry not to have more information to share. 

 

Thanks!

 

On our Azamara cruise this past summer, it was the same thing - nothing reported or seemingly evident.  However, a couple of days or so before debarkation, things started to change, including the Terrace Cafe ceasing self-service (which is the normal operation of the Terrace Cafe on Azamara).  When asked why, passengers were simply told that the manager made the change and nothing more.  More people started to wear masks after that.

[JanDom]

We were on the Riviera cruise Barcelona to Lisbon - the ship was fully booked.

 

What I can say after ten days :

it was a normal cruise, like we had in the years 2019 and before. You do not have to wear masks and you can sit near to other guests and talk and meat other travelers. 
Nobody wears masks during time on land, planes, airports and other crowded areas - so what is different on a ship ? 

The ship never felt crowded, even on sea days there were so much free spaces left.

The Tote bags are not on the ship right now, we got that information after arriving in our cabin, because they are waiting for new ones, but they have some problems with the production. Absolutely no problem for us.

Cabin and ship was always clean, food always very good.

 

 

 

[DrHemlock]

3 hours ago, JanDom said:

You do not have to wear masks and you can sit near to other guests and talk and meat other travelers. 

 

 

 

We're currently on the Lisbon-Rome cruise that's the subject of this thread.  It's true that masks are no longer required, but they are encouraged.  Roughly 5-10% of guests (including us) wear them when moving about the ship -- especially on elevators.  About an equal percentage of waiters and bartenders wear them while working.  

 

Are they all just "virtue signaling"?  Maybe.  But now that the vaccination requirement has been rescinded, they just might be unvaccinated and wanting to protect themselves from folks like us who've been vaxxed and boosted but who could be carrying (and shedding) the virus without knowing it.

 

Masked or not, neither service nor social interaction seems adversely affected in any way.  As JanDom writes, it's back to 2019 and before.  I even get to pick up my own yogurt carton in Terrace Cafe!  (Though not my own slice of bread.)  😎

[LHT28]

On 10/20/2022 at 7:39 PM, ShopperfiendTO said:

 

Thanks!

 

On our Azamara cruise this past summer, it was the same thing - nothing reported or seemingly evident.  However, a couple of days or so before debarkation, things started to change, including the Terrace Cafe ceasing self-service (which is the normal operation of the Terrace Cafe on Azamara).  When asked why, passengers were simply told that the manager made the change and nothing more.  More people started to wear masks after that.

Did they change the name of the  Buffet  area on Azamara?

 I thought it was  Windows Cafe 

[ShopperfiendTO]

5 hours ago, LHT28 said:

Did they change the name of the  Buffet  area on Azamara?

 I thought it was  Windows Cafe 

 

You're right, it's (still) called the Windows Cafe on Azamara.  😅

[knitstrumread]

On 10/16/2022 at 3:47 PM, Travel2Learn said:

Trying O for the first time and not sure whether to book a B veranda or concierge.  Does the B veranda breakfast room service menu include eggs?  

We were also on the Riviera with you for this trip. Great photos!

 

We had a veranda room, which we liked very much. The differences I heard about or saw is that a concierge room has a chaise lounge on its larger terrace, while the veranda room has chairs; bath salts are included for the concierge rooms, and they also have access to the separate hot tub and lounge area in the spa. The rooms themselves were the same size, I think. While we liked having a terrace very much, especially while watching docking or departing, we tended to spend more time lounging in the shade on the pool deck. 

On 10/20/2022 at 4:23 PM, clairol said:

Hi! No idea. No evidence of any cases. No testing. Nothing reported. Sparse mask wearing. We are wearing masks on buses and other crowded areas. Not everyone schooled to do so. But again no cases shared, reported or evident. Sorry not to have more information to share. 

 

While in the spa area I overheard another passenger refer to a friend being in "covid prison", i.e. confined to a cabin after testing positive. This was the only mention I heard about covid while onboard. One of my in-laws spent a week in a hotel after testing positive mid-cruise over the summer, after being very careful to mask everywhere except while eating. You do what you can...

[LHT28]

7 minutes ago, knitstrumread said:

We had a veranda room, which we liked very much. The differences I heard about or saw is that a concierge room has a chaise lounge on its larger terrace, while the veranda room has chairs;

 

The lounges would be in the B3 extended cabins on deck 7 

no room for them on the regular balconies in either A or B cabins

 

 

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

Hi.  Just in case you have been to the following cities on your cruise, I'd love to know if a shuttle to center city was offered by Oceania or the port:  In Portugal, Lisbon (if you had a full day there, not embarking/disembarking).  I know public transportation is nearby, and have taken it before (easy) but would love to know if a shuttle is offered, and is so, where it went.  Also in Portugal: Leixoes (port for Porto), Vilagarcia (port for Santiago de Compostela), and Portimao.  Spain: Gijon, Santander, Bilbao. France - St-Jean-de-Luz (Biarritz area).  And I know there's a separate thread on CC for shuttles, but nobody has reported info for the cities I've listed, except perhaps for Lisbon.....

Thank you!

[pinotlover]

16 hours ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

Hi.  Just in case you have been to the following cities on your cruise, I'd love to know if a shuttle to center city was offered by Oceania or the port:  In Portugal, Lisbon (if you had a full day there, not embarking/disembarking).  I know public transportation is nearby, and have taken it before (easy) but would love to know if a shuttle is offered, and is so, where it went.  Also in Portugal: Leixoes (port for Porto), Vilagarcia (port for Santiago de Compostela), and Portimao.  Spain: Gijon, Santander, Bilbao. France - St-Jean-de-Luz (Biarritz area).  And I know there's a separate thread on CC for shuttles, but nobody has reported info for the cities I've listed, except perhaps for Lisbon.....

Thank you!

Currently on the Sirena having departed Lisbon yesterday. There were shuttles in Gijon, Portimao, and Lisbon into town. Due to weather, we missed the other listed ports unfortunately.

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

3 hours ago, pinotlover said:

Currently on the Sirena having departed Lisbon yesterday. There were shuttles in Gijon, Portimao, and Lisbon into town. Due to weather, we missed the other listed ports unfortunately.

Ouch.  But thank you for the info.

 

[ClafoutisFoodie]

We were on the same cruise and noted the same details as you. Though it was wonderful to be cruising again and to revisit Riviera, we couldn't help but notice the details suggesting that it's time for refurb. We too were in a penthouse suite and the sheer curtains had many rips in them, which was surprising. We had a wonderful room steward, but had to ask for shampoo and conditioner refills, as well as bath salts. This was our first time having a butler (had Concierge level veranda suites in previous cruises) and we weren't sure how to best use their services. Though he was very pleasant, we found no added value in having a butler...we were travelling with our son who happens to love Coca-Cola. Our fridge was never refilled with it and we often went to the Concierge lounge to get it ourselves. No big deal, but in the context of having a butler...We placed an order for canapés once or twice and while they were delicious, we found them to be too filling before dinner. So when we didn't place an order, he still brought them, presuming we had forgotten. Nice gesture, but when we explained to him that we found them too filling before a meal, he doubled up on them the next day. He was eager to please, but communication was clearly an issue and in the end, we were finding the privilege of a butler more intrusive than anything. The only request we made was to have one more dinner at Jacques and he offered up a table at Toscana at a shared table. At the end of the day, we found that the added space and walk-in closet of the penthouse suite is not worth the extra money and additional gratuities compared to a Concierge level veranda. That is just for us, obviously. 
We ran into an issue with shore excursions. We had booked excursions directly on the Oceania website before our trip, but for some unexplained reason, our reservations had vanished by the time we boarded. Destination services was not very helpful (our first encounter was actually met with laughter and indifference, never experienced on O) and unfortunately this translated into some of our excursions being full and unavailable. Notably, we had looked forward to Casablanca and Gibraltar and were gutted when nothing was available. We now understand that we didn't miss much with Casablanca, but the whole mechanical issue causing a delayed departure from Casablanca and missing Gibraltar was disappointing...

Anyway at the end of the day we had a wonderful cruise and met lovely people. It was great to travel and to experience the O Life again!

 

[ORV]

1 hour ago, ClafoutisFoodie said:

We were on the same cruise and noted the same details as you. Though it was wonderful to be cruising again and to revisit Riviera, we couldn't help but notice the details suggesting that it's time for refurb. We too were in a penthouse suite and the sheer curtains had many rips in them, which was surprising. We had a wonderful room steward, but had to ask for shampoo and conditioner refills, as well as bath salts. This was our first time having a butler (had Concierge level veranda suites in previous cruises) and we weren't sure how to best use their services. Though he was very pleasant, we found no added value in having a butler...we were travelling with our son who happens to love Coca-Cola. Our fridge was never refilled with it and we often went to the Concierge lounge to get it ourselves. No big deal, but in the context of having a butler...We placed an order for canapés once or twice and while they were delicious, we found them to be too filling before dinner. So when we didn't place an order, he still brought them, presuming we had forgotten. Nice gesture, but when we explained to him that we found them too filling before a meal, he doubled up on them the next day. He was eager to please, but communication was clearly an issue and in the end, we were finding the privilege of a butler more intrusive than anything. The only request we made was to have one more dinner at Jacques and he offered up a table at Toscana at a shared table. At the end of the day, we found that the added space and walk-in closet of the penthouse suite is not worth the extra money and additional gratuities compared to a Concierge level veranda. That is just for us, obviously. 
We ran into an issue with shore excursions. We had booked excursions directly on the Oceania website before our trip, but for some unexplained reason, our reservations had vanished by the time we boarded. Destination services was not very helpful (our first encounter was actually met with laughter and indifference, never experienced on O) and unfortunately this translated into some of our excursions being full and unavailable. Notably, we had looked forward to Casablanca and Gibraltar and were gutted when nothing was available. We now understand that we didn't miss much with Casablanca, but the whole mechanical issue causing a delayed departure from Casablanca and missing Gibraltar was disappointing...

Anyway at the end of the day we had a wonderful cruise and met lovely people. It was great to travel and to experience the O Life again!

 

Sounds like you got an inexperienced Butler and room steward. Not following simple requests is either communication issues or passive aggressive behavior. Either way it's unfortunate you had them. 

 

Were your tours on your Final Cruise summary? I always take that with me in print and email. Sounds like you didn't sweat the small stuff and had a good time. 

[meg1021]

1 hour ago, ClafoutisFoodie said:

We were on the same cruise and noted the same details as you. Though it was wonderful to be cruising again and to revisit Riviera, we couldn't help but notice the details suggesting that it's time for refurb. We too were in a penthouse suite and the sheer curtains had many rips in them, which was surprising. We had a wonderful room steward, but had to ask for shampoo and conditioner refills, as well as bath salts. This was our first time having a butler (had Concierge level veranda suites in previous cruises) and we weren't sure how to best use their services. Though he was very pleasant, we found no added value in having a butler...we were travelling with our son who happens to love Coca-Cola. Our fridge was never refilled with it and we often went to the Concierge lounge to get it ourselves. No big deal, but in the context of having a butler...We placed an order for canapés once or twice and while they were delicious, we found them to be too filling before dinner. So when we didn't place an order, he still brought them, presuming we had forgotten. Nice gesture, but when we explained to him that we found them too filling before a meal, he doubled up on them the next day. He was eager to please, but communication was clearly an issue and in the end, we were finding the privilege of a butler more intrusive than anything. The only request we made was to have one more dinner at Jacques and he offered up a table at Toscana at a shared table. At the end of the day, we found that the added space and walk-in closet of the penthouse suite is not worth the extra money and additional gratuities compared to a Concierge level veranda. That is just for us, obviously. 
We ran into an issue with shore excursions. We had booked excursions directly on the Oceania website before our trip, but for some unexplained reason, our reservations had vanished by the time we boarded. Destination services was not very helpful (our first encounter was actually met with laughter and indifference, never experienced on O) and unfortunately this translated into some of our excursions being full and unavailable. Notably, we had looked forward to Casablanca and Gibraltar and were gutted when nothing was available. We now understand that we didn't miss much with Casablanca, but the whole mechanical issue causing a delayed departure from Casablanca and missing Gibraltar was disappointing...

Anyway at the end of the day we had a wonderful cruise and met lovely people. It was great to travel and to experience the O Life again!

 

Regarding your difficulty with your shore excursions that were booked online, did you ever figure out what the problem was?  We are first time Oceania cruisers on the Insignia for 48 days this Jan/Feb, and my plan was to book our shore excursions online. Do you think that it would be better to actually call Oceania, book over the phone, and have them send us some sort of confirmation?  The TA already booked 2 overland tours for us on this itinerary, but I would prefer to take the time to look through all options, and book the other excursions myself.  Also, how far in advance do you recommend booking excursions?  Thanks for any information!

[pinotlover]

The problem may not have been your butler , but the timing. The Specialties only do between 100-125, depending upon venue, diners per evening total.

 

All passengers have a guarantee of at least one visit to each of the Specialties. The top suites get what they want when they want. They pay dearly for that privilege. It’s altogether possible the timing of your request was poor and Jacques, typically the most sought after reservation, was already fully booked for the time and/or date you requested.

 

I do believe the butler should have explained the situation for you.

[GeezerCouple]

39 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

The problem may not have been your butler , but the timing. The Specialties only do between 100-125, depending upon venue, diners per evening total.

 

All passengers have a guarantee of at least one visit to each of the Specialties. The top suites get what they want when they want. They pay dearly for that privilege. It’s altogether possible the timing of your request was poor and Jacques, typically the most sought after reservation, was already fully booked for the time and/or date you requested.

 

I do believe the butler should have explained the situation for you.

 

One of the important (to us) perks of a PH on Riviera (or other Oceania ships) is that if a Specialty of choice is booked all evening - or if we are exhausted after an active day - we'll ask our Butler to serve us in our suite from a Specialty.  Although we usually enjoy the ambiance of those restaurants, there are times we'd just prefer to lounge around if we are tired, while not missing out on some food favorites.

 

Also, we always give our Butler a short, bullet item "greeting" letter.  It is as short as possible, but includes the important things.  First of all, food allergies!  Then we mention a few other things, including snacks.

We usually enjoy breakfast served, so we alert them to that, too.

 

And we let them know that we are almost always very flexible with respect to times, so if we have a request that conflicts with some other passenger requests, just let us know and we can almost definitely change our requested timing.

 

The Butler (on Oceania and other cruise lines) takes the letter upon first meeting, at which point we say something like, "We know you are very busy now.  Please read this later for a bit more information about us."  They almost always come back later that evening or the next morning, with the letter in hand, along with a pen, and ask us a few additional questions, and thank us for writing it all down.

(I can't imagine how anyone could remember what we tell them in the rush of newly arriving passengers, never mind if several others are also "telling them" things about any preferences or making requests at that time.  Personally, I can't imagine remembering any/all requests on the run; that's not one of my current strengths, to put it mildly.)

 

We'll also leave any other requests in written form, unless it's something fleeting, and we'll either leave it in a specific place or hand it to them if we happen to see them at the right time.

Having it written means less chance for misunderstanding or forgetting, plus if there are any language issues, they have a chance to ask a colleague for some help.

 

We do the same for the steward, but that's a lot simpler.  It's mostly about general preference of timing for servicing our suite, plus requesting that there always be extra bath linens in our suite.

 

Ah... we miss the Riviera... 😞 

(We love that large therapy pool in the spa area.  And everything else!)

 

GC

[LHT28]

3 hours ago, ClafoutisFoodie said:

We were on the same cruise and noted the same details as you. Though it was wonderful to be cruising again and to revisit Riviera, we couldn't help but notice the details suggesting that it's time for refurb. We too were in a penthouse suite and the sheer curtains had many rips in them, which was surprising. We had a wonderful room steward, but had to ask for shampoo and conditioner refills, as well as bath salts. This was our first time having a butler (had Concierge level veranda suites in previous cruises) and we weren't sure how to best use their services. Though he was very pleasant, we found no added value in having a butler...we were travelling with our son who happens to love Coca-Cola. Our fridge was never refilled with it and we often went to the Concierge lounge to get it ourselves. No big deal, but in the context of having a butler...We placed an order for canapés once or twice and while they were delicious, we found them to be too filling before dinner. So when we didn't place an order, he still brought them, presuming we had forgotten. Nice gesture, but when we explained to him that we found them too filling before a meal, he doubled up on them the next day. He was eager to please, but communication was clearly an issue and in the end, we were finding the privilege of a butler more intrusive than anything. The only request we made was to have one more dinner at Jacques and he offered up a table at Toscana at a shared table. At the end of the day, we found that the added space and walk-in closet of the penthouse suite is not worth the extra money and additional gratuities compared to a Concierge level veranda. That is just for us, obviously. 
We ran into an issue with shore excursions. We had booked excursions directly on the Oceania website before our trip, but for some unexplained reason, our reservations had vanished by the time we boarded. Destination services was not very helpful (our first encounter was actually met with laughter and indifference, never experienced on O) and unfortunately this translated into some of our excursions being full and unavailable. Notably, we had looked forward to Casablanca and Gibraltar and were gutted when nothing was available. We now understand that we didn't miss much with Casablanca, but the whole mechanical issue causing a delayed departure from Casablanca and missing Gibraltar was disappointing...

Anyway at the end of the day we had a wonderful cruise and met lovely people. It was great to travel and to experience the O Life again!

 

Ok  so I did not read the whole post

Paragraphs  would help next time

Did you request  the fridge be restocked  when it was not done automatically?

 

Did you speak to the GM or Concierge about the poor service ?

 

Why would you go to the Concierge lounge  when you are in a PH  the Executive lounge is for PH & above

 

[ORV]

1 hour ago, pinotlover said:

The problem may not have been your butler

I don't know, you tell them the canapes are making you too full as it's too close to dinner and they bring you double. Seems like there is a problem....................

[LHT28]

7 minutes ago, ORV said:

I don't know, you tell them the canapes are making you too full as it's too close to dinner and they bring you double. Seems like there is a problem....................

Then the PAX needs to speak to the GM  so they can explain to the Butler  if it is  a language issue

Or  KIS  method just  say "No Canapes  thank you "  😉

 

If management does not know there is a problem  then they cannot fix it

 

JMO

[EEB_Ott]

On 10/25/2022 at 1:40 PM, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

Hi.  Just in case you have been to the following cities on your cruise, I'd love to know if a shuttle to center city was offered by Oceania or the port:  In Portugal, Lisbon (if you had a full day there, not embarking/disembarking).  I know public transportation is nearby, and have taken it before (easy) but would love to know if a shuttle is offered, and is so, where it went.  Also in Portugal: Leixoes (port for Porto), Vilagarcia (port for Santiago de Compostela), and Portimao.  Spain: Gijon, Santander, Bilbao. France - St-Jean-de-Luz (Biarritz area).  And I know there's a separate thread on CC for shuttles, but nobody has reported info for the cities I've listed, except perhaps for Lisbon.....

Thank you!

We were on Riviera when it docked in front of the Santa Apolonia train station for a full day/overnight on Oct. 12th.  A free shuttle to the Restauradores area in the city centre was offered.  Our friends thought the shuttle was great since it gave them a bit of a city tour on the way. We just wandered the nearby area and liked that too. The view of Lisbon from the ship is stunning. There are a number of options for cruise terminals in Lisbon, you can't be sure which will be assigned.

[GrammieK]

4 hours ago, ClafoutisFoodie said:

We were on the same cruise and noted the same details as you. Though it was wonderful to be cruising again and to revisit Riviera, we couldn't help but notice the details suggesting that it's time for refurb. We too were in a penthouse suite and the sheer curtains had many rips in them, which was surprising. We had a wonderful room steward, but had to ask for shampoo and conditioner refills, as well as bath salts. This was our first time having a butler (had Concierge level veranda suites in previous cruises) and we weren't sure how to best use their services. Though he was very pleasant, we found no added value in having a butler...we were travelling with our son who happens to love Coca-Cola. Our fridge was never refilled with it and we often went to the Concierge lounge to get it ourselves. No big deal, but in the context of having a butler...We placed an order for canapés once or twice and while they were delicious, we found them to be too filling before dinner. So when we didn't place an order, he still brought them, presuming we had forgotten. Nice gesture, but when we explained to him that we found them too filling before a meal, he doubled up on them the next day. He was eager to please, but communication was clearly an issue and in the end, we were finding the privilege of a butler more intrusive than anything. The only request we made was to have one more dinner at Jacques and he offered up a table at Toscana at a shared table. At the end of the day, we found that the added space and walk-in closet of the penthouse suite is not worth the extra money and additional gratuities compared to a Concierge level veranda. That is just for us, obviously. 
We ran into an issue with shore excursions. We had booked excursions directly on the Oceania website before our trip, but for some unexplained reason, our reservations had vanished by the time we boarded. Destination services was not very helpful (our first encounter was actually met with laughter and indifference, never experienced on O) and unfortunately this translated into some of our excursions being full and unavailable. Notably, we had looked forward to Casablanca and Gibraltar and were gutted when nothing was available. We now understand that we didn't miss much with Casablanca, but the whole mechanical issue causing a delayed departure from Casablanca and missing Gibraltar was disappointing...

Anyway at the end of the day we had a wonderful cruise and met lovely people. It was great to travel and to experience the O Life again!

 

Did you receive the credit for those excursions?

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

8 hours ago, EEB_Ott said:

We were on Riviera when it docked in front of the Santa Apolonia train station for a full day/overnight on Oct. 12th.  A free shuttle to the Restauradores area in the city centre was offered.  Our friends thought the shuttle was great since it gave them a bit of a city tour on the way. We just wandered the nearby area and liked that too. The view of Lisbon from the ship is stunning. There are a number of options for cruise terminals in Lisbon, you can't be sure which will be assigned.

Thank you, that's very helpful.  I've been to Lisbon before, but it was for disembarkation, so there wasn't a shuttle.  But if the shuttle goes to Restauradores area, that will be very helpful with lots of options for getting elsewhere.  And just about any cruise ship that has visited Lisbon for the past few months has docked in the same place, beneath Alfama or in the case of Sirena recently (3 ships in that day), stretching up north a little more.  So I'm familiar with that area. And yes, I love the sail in views from the ship, especially in early morning light.   Lisbon is a beautiful city. 

 

If you happen to remember any information about where the shuttles in Gijon or Portimao dropped/picked up, I'd love to hear about it. 

Edited October 27, 2022 by IWantToLiveOverTheSea