Just back from The Riviera

[mexicobob]

We were on the April 7 to April 14 cruise on The Riviera from Civitavecchia to Trieste. Our 8th cruise but first on Oceania. We were in cabin 10022, a PH2.
Had a great cruise and were totally blown away by the quality of food and service. Outstanding. The Terrace Grill was the most surprising as was not expecting such great food and service in the "buffet" area. Never made it to the main dining room. The specialty restaurants were all good. Room service breakfast was always good and delivered exactly to the minute when requested.

Thought the ship was in great shape and saw no problems from the recent dry dock. We had no complaints about anything. Had a great time.

 

Appreciate the advice and questions answered on this board. Helped make the cruise more enjoyable. Will be glad to try and answer any questions.

 

A warning about the port in Trieste...........very small. After you collect your luggage with few porters, you are literally put out on the street. In our case a cold, windy, rainy street. We had arranged a private transfer to Venice but had to wait over an hour for them to arrive at the requested time. Assumed there would be a place for us to wait if we got off the ship early. WRONG. There is no place to go. Make sure when you get off the ship your mode of transportation is waiting. There were plenty of taxis waiting but we had already prepaid for the private transfer.

 

Again, a sincere thanks to all that have answered questions and provided advice over the past year while I planned this cruise. 

 

[MEFIowa]

9 hours ago, mexicobob said:

... Had a great cruise and were totally blown away by the quality of food and service. Outstanding. The Terrace Grill was the most surprising as was not expecting such great food and service in the "buffet" area. Never made it to the main dining room. The specialty restaurants were all good. Room service breakfast was always good and delivered exactly to the minute when requested....

That was our exact experience on Riviera 12/2021, our very first cruise ever. And then booked Sirena for 11/2022. And over our 20 nights we've yet to eat at the GDR. We always eat under the stars in the TC, unless we're at a specialty restaurant. Love the grilled items! Doubt we'll make the GDR over our 20 nights on Riviera Oct-Nov '23.

[ORV]

MM-hmm

 

 

[Tyskie]

Thank You!   We'll be on in September - our first time too.

Glad to hear a good report 😀

[Guest]

Thank you so much for your positive review! We will be on the Riviera on June 1st also our first cruise with Oceania. Now I’m even more excited!
 

[cruisingxpert]

11 hours ago, mexicobob said:

The Terrace Grill was the most surprising as was not expecting such great food and service in the "buffet" area. Never made it to the main dining room.

I think your reaction is typical of passengers who have sailed on other lines.  I wouldn't eat dinner in the buffets on any other line but I often eat dinner at the Terrace Buffet rather than the GDR.  I will be on my 20th O cruise next month.

[cruisingxpert]

Question to @mexicobob  Did you have an in person Muster or have they gone back to Virtual?

[jonthomas]

Our experience on the Riviera in Jan was the same. Too bad R is gone to the east.

We are in Alaska and West coast in the fall and then the Marina in Nov.

As long as the food is as good as it has been, I will be happy.

[osandomir]

3 hours ago, MEFIowa said:

That was our exact experience on Riviera 12/2021, our very first cruise ever. And then booked Sirena for 11/2022. And over our 20 nights we've yet to eat at the GDR. We always eat under the stars in the TC, unless we're at a specialty restaurant. Love the grilled items! Doubt we'll make the GDR over our 20 nights on Riviera Oct-Nov '23.

On Sirena now. GDR menu and food quality is much better than the specialty restaurants. Tuscan Steak is the major disappointment. Over 14 cruises we’ve tried them all. First time breakfast in the GDR almost every morning too. Food in the buffet is definitely good…but for each is their own.

[MEFIowa]

17 minutes ago, osandomir said:

On Sirena now. GDR menu and food quality is much better than the specialty restaurants. Tuscan Steak is the major disappointment. Over 14 cruises we’ve tried them all. First time breakfast in the GDR almost every morning too. Food in the buffet is definitely good…but for each is their own.

We did 10 nights on Sirena in 11/2022. No GDR for us. Always the TC instead. Eat under the stars. Prefer Waves for breakfast. We cruise for excursions, so I'm eating breakfast when Waves opens and we're off the ship as early as we can for ports and excursions. Sirena has just 2 specialty restaurants. Wife doesn't like Asian (Red Ginger) so we ate twice in the Tuscan Steak twice (which we both enjoyed).

[osandomir]

23 minutes ago, MEFIowa said:

We did 10 nights on Sirena in 11/2022. No GDR for us. Always the TC instead. Eat under the stars. Prefer Waves for breakfast. We cruise for excursions, so I'm eating breakfast when Waves opens and we're off the ship as early as we can for ports and excursions. Sirena has just 2 specialty restaurants. Wife doesn't like Asian (Red Ginger) so we ate twice in the Tuscan Steak twice (which we both enjoyed).

Great that you’ve found the way to cruise that suit you best. For me “dining under the stars” reminds the time we went camping when we were obviously younger. We don’t enjoy serving the food for ourselves on vacation anymore. One of the reasons we choose to cruise on the Oceania ships. And we also prefer to be active and like to explore the ports. So we can enjoy both the ship and the land.

Edited April 23, 2023 by osandomir

[MEFIowa]

27 minutes ago, osandomir said:

... We don’t enjoy serving the food for ourselves on vacation anymore....

Yes, to each their own.

 

We just find that sitting around waiting and waiting and waiting is hardly the way we want to eat. Wait, eat, wait, eat, wait, eat, wait, eat. While we did enjoy the food in Tuscan Steak, the service times weren't the best (the 2nd visit with the later time, 1930, was the worst of the two, as opposed to the 1830 time for the 1st). And I've heard little positive about the waits and service in the GDR.

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, osandomir said:

Great that you’ve found the way to cruise that suit you best. For me “dining under the stars” reminds the time we went camping when we were obviously younger.

I agree we like being served at the table & not jumping up/down to get the next course 😉

not much fun eating outside in the cooler weather  either 😲

[mexicobob]

11 hours ago, cruisingxpert said:

Question to @mexicobob  Did you have an in person Muster or have they gone back to Virtual?

We were requested to watch a safety video at home before we boarded. After stepping on the ship we were escorted by a crew member to our muster station. The person there scanned our boarding passes, and I think, pointed to a life jacket and that was it. We were the only passengers present. Took 20 seconds. After arriving to our cabin we had to watch a 6 minute safety video on the TV (or at least have it on) before the TV would do anything else. No way to bypass this. 

[Kindley]

About to board her today for the first time in Barcelona! Happy to hear you had such a wonderful time😊

[tvmovielover]

Our first O cruise many years ago was in the South Pacific.  We had good weather the whole time and ate many meals in Terrace (though only some "under the stars").  None of our cruises since have been just right weather wise to make Terrace the choice it was on that cruise-too windy, too cold, etc. Still when the weather is right and you can beat the crowds, it is the best dining venue.

[MEFIowa]

2 hours ago, tvmovielover said:

... None of our cruises since have been just right weather wise to make Terrace the choice it was on that cruise--too windy, too cold, etc....

Not sure where and when you're cruising, but if you're always cruising and can't enjoy dinner under the stars at the TC, you're either going to some unusual places or traveling at the most off-peak times.

[tvmovielover]

Did you read my whole post?  We are not always cruising nor are we the cheapskates you imply only able to cruise at the most off-peak times.  I was remembering a favorite cruise and saying at the end that "TC" was the best venue when conditions were right.

Edited April 24, 2023 by tvmovielover
Previous post annoyed me

[MEFIowa]

16 minutes ago, tvmovielover said:

Did you read my whole post?  We are not always cruising nor are we the cheapskates you imply only able to cruise at the most off-peak times.  I was remembering a favorite cruise and saying at the end that "TC" was the best venue when conditions were right.

I quoted your exact words: "None of our cruises since have been just right weather wise to make Terrace the choice it was on that cruise-too windy, too cold, etc."  You wrote NONE. None means none. Means not a one.

[MnDAL]

On 4/22/2023 at 10:02 PM, mexicobob said:

 

A warning about the port in Trieste...........very small. After you collect your luggage with few porters, you are literally put out on the street. In our case a cold, windy, rainy street. We had arranged a private transfer to Venice but had to wait over an hour for them to arrive at the requested time. Assumed there would be a place for us to wait if we got off the ship early. WRONG. There is no place to go. Make sure when you get off the ship your mode of transportation is waiting. There were plenty of taxis waiting but we had already prepaid for the private transfer.

 

 

 

GREAT input. Will be in Trieste in October. To set transfers....about how long was the debarkation process from your assigned (or selected) time to being "kicked to the curb"? Is there an obvious pickup point for private transfers?

[YoPhilly]

Sometimes I cringe when I read snarky comments.  What purpose do they serve?

 

There is so much great information on these boards.  Thanks, mexicobob, for the review.

[mexicobob]

7 hours ago, MnDAL said:

GREAT input. Will be in Trieste in October. To set transfers....about how long was the debarkation process from your assigned (or selected) time to being "kicked to the curb"? Is there an obvious pickup point for private transfers?

The debarkation process was a piece of cake. Basically, just walked off the ship. We left the ship about an hour AFTER our assigned time. We were in zone 3, I assume because we were in a Penthouse Suite. There were still a few people leaving the ship after us. 

 

There is a very obvious pickup point for private transfers, taxis, etc. Very close to the dock. This is a very small port so no problem there at all. Probably the smallest, and easiest port I have ever been to. Just no place to wait inside. Next time I would request a transfer about an hour after debarkation.

[doghouse2]

I’ll add my 2 cents to the comment about Trieste disembarkation.  We were on the same cruise as original poster but sailed from Miami to Trieste.  The ship side went smoothly as noted.  Baggage pickup fairly easy as a young women asked if we wanted help, found our luggage and brought it to us.  Luggage was roped off so you could not get it yourself.  Then things got a little more difficult.  I ask for a porter and young woman told somewhere else and we were told to wait.  No porter, no luggage trolleys. Finally managed to snag two trolleys and used them to take luggage up and down a couple/three loading dock “driveways” to awaiting transportation.  If you don’t have much luggage or don’t have any mobility limitations to push luggage trolleys then it’s fairly easy but I would guess for some it might be a chore.  Comparing this to Barcelona, Civitavecchia, Lisbon I’d say it was a bit more difficult.  They are flat with carts or porters more available.

[alibaba1]

On 4/23/2023 at 9:41 AM, Guest said:

Thank you so much for your positive review! We will be on the Riviera on June 1st also our first cruise with Oceania. Now I’m even more excited!
 

 

 

Take a peek at this review, complete with photos and menus.
Get a big cup of coffee or glass of wine and enjoy!
We'll be on the Vista in Dec 2023 and Feb 2024.
Love the Oceania line; hope that you will too. Enjoy!

 

https://www.thepreismans.com/riviera_mayan.htm

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, alibaba1 said:

 

 

Take a peek at this review, complete with photos and menus.
Get a big cup of coffee or glass of wine and enjoy!
We'll be on the Vista in Dec 2023 and Feb 2024.
Love the Oceania line; hope that you will too. Enjoy!

 

https://www.thepreismans.com/riviera_mayan.htm

The Riviera  will be even nicer now  since her makeover

 

Mike does a great job  taking photos of everything  😄