Currently onboard Riviera 1st-11th June

[Eloise4Ever]

My DH and I are currently onboard Riviera, a 10 night round trip from Southampton to France and Northern Spain. This is our 3rd sailing on Oceania, all on Riviera since March 2022.

Just wanted to share some thoughts and musings on our experience so far as I always enjoy reading onboard posts. Warning, this may be a long and rambling post.

We were very excited to sail on Riviera again and hoped to meet some of the crew that we sailed with before. Indeed, we have had the good fortune to become reacquainted with some of those wonderful people which has been a delight. Sadly, many of them are leaving the ship before the end of this cruise as their contracts have ended. I don't think we've experienced such a big staff turnover mid cruise before. It will be interesting to see how the new crew bed in and hopefully service will not be affected.

Speaking of service, it has generally been very good so far. Staff are very friendly and eager to please and we really enjoy connecting with them.
We certainly have noticed an improvement in wine service in the restaurants which we often found very slow on previous cruises.

The food has been excellent. We ate in the Grand Dining Room on two nights and Polo Grill one night. I felt like I'd died and gone to heaven on night 1 when we had the pleasure of being served by one of our favourite waiters and I got to eat the soufflé I've been dreaming off for months for dessert. It was a definite "aaaah" moment.

Our B2 balcony cabin is in great shape, naturally after the recent refurb. The only issue is that we are at the very back of the ship and the noise and shuddering in the cabin when docking in the morning is quote extraordinary. The ship was anchoring yesterday so I thought we wouldn't be  disturbed but no, even that was very noisy. We generally book aft cabins and haven't experienced that much noise and movement on other  lines.

We cruise more for the ship  than the itinerary so have only gone ashore once so far, in Le Havre. There was a shuttle bus running between the ship and the town centre so we took that. Unfortunately we were abandoned at the end of the day when the last shuttle didn't turn up. It was scheduled for 5:30 and we arrived at the bus stop just after 5. It was an unpleasantly windy spot and there were no taxis passing by. Luckily for us there was another couple there who had the number of a taxi driver they'd used earlier in the and they were able to call him to complaint with Reception on the ship and were told our comments would be escalated to Management. Disappointingly, nobody from Management has reached out to us. Overall it feels like a very "hands off" cruise in terms of Management as we have not seen any officers around the ship. I know officers are generally less visible on Oceania than other lines but here they are completely invisible! Yes, there would have been officers at the Captains Cocktail party but we feel its  important for officers to walk around the ship regularly to make sure everything is in order.

We heard from several sources that the tendering operation in St Malo yesterday was a disorganised mess. The ship didn't prioritise the tendering of guests on Oceania tours so tour departures were delayed (30-45 minutes) with guests sitting on tour buses waiting for other guests to arrive.

Entertainment has been mixed so far. The production show "Lights Camera Action" last night was exceptional in every way. The song choice, performances, choreography and set design were of such a high standard I had a  big silly grin on my face the whole way through and didn't want it to end. The band and pianist are ok. I think there may be issues with the sound in Horizons as the band sound very sharp. The pianist is a great player and plays a good selection but his singing could be improved.

Our biggest issue with the entertainment is the time it ends, i.e. too early! This has been an issue on our two previous O cruises but has reached a new low this time round. The pianist finishes in Martinis at 11pm sharp as opposed to 11:30 in the past. (Even that was still earlier than the published times in Currents.) The bar staff then start cleaning down the bar and guests start to feel unwelcome. The band in Horizons is also scheduled to finish at 11. We knew before we sailed with O the first time that it was not a late night cruise line but 11pm closing is just silly for an adult oriented cruise line. We are in our 50s and enjoy late night music and drinks and with this latest experience we feel we may need to wait until we're older before returning to O. It's a shame as the line has many excellent qualities but we just don't enjoy feeling we're being packed off to bed at 11pm. 

Apologies for the long and rambling post. Happy to answer any questions anybody might have about Riviera.

[Harters]

That's been an interesting read. We had originally planned to take that cruise (after missing last year's version on Sirena?) but had to wait for some things in life to sort themselves out. In the event, by the time that was resolved almost at the last minute, the cruise had become waitlisted, so we booked a different one. Maybe third time lucky if there's a repeat next year.

[ORV]

We'll wave at you as you're getting off next Sunday and we're getting on. Thanks for your review. 

 

Who are the CD and General Manager? Thanks. 

[Eloise4Ever]

13 minutes ago, ORV said:

We'll wave at you as you're getting off next Sunday and we're getting on. Thanks for your review. 

 

Who are the CD and General Manager? Thanks. 

Thanks ORV, hope you have a great cruise.

 

The General Manager is Emma Smith and John Clelford is the CD.

[sunlover12]

@Eloise4Ever On a port intensive cruise, many passengers will want to retire to their cabins after dinner if they are going to be getting up early and going on a full-day excursion the next day. There wouldn't be enough business for the bars to stay open late.  If the next day is a sea day, you'll find more passengers around the ship later. Looking at your itinerary, this is a port intensive cruise.

 

Thanks for your review. Enjoy the rest of your cruise. 

[mauibabes]

@Eloise4ever

Don’t give up on O just yet, consider Vista for your next sailing. we had a fantastic time a couple weeks ago and Vista is special. Not Perfect though but certainly the efforts are being made. 
We have found when there are “issues”, a visit with a Destination Supervisor is helpful. If an issue under the purview of the Food and Beverage Director, talk to him or her, they do listen and take action. If no one is listening, talk to the GM. That may not solve your issue but you always have the Final Survey that goes directly to Miami. The mid cruise survey is handled on the ship only and it is my experience issues are normally handled.  They can’t try to fix something if they do not know about it and believe me they do pay attention to the surveys. Don’t let them off the hook. I have even written to VP’s in Miami when we found things “slipping against their standards”. 

I think some of the responses to your post have hit it on the head.  Entertainment has not been a highlight but from what we have recently experienced, it is definitely improving. Yes, many older pax and we don’t all do well with jet lag so an early “turn in” is often on our agenda as opposed to drinks with friends after dinner with music. 
Enjoy your cruise and if Graham Denison and Shuna are the Artists in Residence, tell them Hello from Bonnie and Gerry Esker.

Mauibabes

[basenji56]

How were the cookies?

 

[OleMissSamfordMom]

3 hours ago, Eloise4Ever said:

My DH and I are currently onboard Riviera, a 10 night round trip from Southampton to France and Northern Spain. This is our 3rd sailing on Oceania, all on Riviera since March 2022.

Just wanted to share some thoughts and musings on our experience so far as I always enjoy reading onboard posts. Warning, this may be a long and rambling post.

We were very excited to sail on Riviera again and hoped to meet some of the crew that we sailed with before. Indeed, we have had the good fortune to become reacquainted with some of those wonderful people which has been a delight. Sadly, many of them are leaving the ship before the end of this cruise as their contracts have ended. I don't think we've experienced such a big staff turnover mid cruise before. It will be interesting to see how the new crew bed in and hopefully service will not be affected.

Speaking of service, it has generally been very good so far. Staff are very friendly and eager to please and we really enjoy connecting with them.
We certainly have noticed an improvement in wine service in the restaurants which we often found very slow on previous cruises.

The food has been excellent. We ate in the Grand Dining Room on two nights and Polo Grill one night. I felt like I'd died and gone to heaven on night 1 when we had the pleasure of being served by one of our favourite waiters and I got to eat the soufflé I've been dreaming off for months for dessert. It was a definite "aaaah" moment.

Our B2 balcony cabin is in great shape, naturally after the recent refurb. The only issue is that we are at the very back of the ship and the noise and shuddering in the cabin when docking in the morning is quote extraordinary. The ship was anchoring yesterday so I thought we wouldn't be  disturbed but no, even that was very noisy. We generally book aft cabins and haven't experienced that much noise and movement on other  lines.

We cruise more for the ship  than the itinerary so have only gone ashore once so far, in Le Havre. There was a shuttle bus running between the ship and the town centre so we took that. Unfortunately we were abandoned at the end of the day when the last shuttle didn't turn up. It was scheduled for 5:30 and we arrived at the bus stop just after 5. It was an unpleasantly windy spot and there were no taxis passing by. Luckily for us there was another couple there who had the number of a taxi driver they'd used earlier in the and they were able to call him to complaint with Reception on the ship and were told our comments would be escalated to Management. Disappointingly, nobody from Management has reached out to us. Overall it feels like a very "hands off" cruise in terms of Management as we have not seen any officers around the ship. I know officers are generally less visible on Oceania than other lines but here they are completely invisible! Yes, there would have been officers at the Captains Cocktail party but we feel its  important for officers to walk around the ship regularly to make sure everything is in order.

We heard from several sources that the tendering operation in St Malo yesterday was a disorganised mess. The ship didn't prioritise the tendering of guests on Oceania tours so tour departures were delayed (30-45 minutes) with guests sitting on tour buses waiting for other guests to arrive.

Entertainment has been mixed so far. The production show "Lights Camera Action" last night was exceptional in every way. The song choice, performances, choreography and set design were of such a high standard I had a  big silly grin on my face the whole way through and didn't want it to end. The band and pianist are ok. I think there may be issues with the sound in Horizons as the band sound very sharp. The pianist is a great player and plays a good selection but his singing could be improved.

Our biggest issue with the entertainment is the time it ends, i.e. too early! This has been an issue on our two previous O cruises but has reached a new low this time round. The pianist finishes in Martinis at 11pm sharp as opposed to 11:30 in the past. (Even that was still earlier than the published times in Currents.) The bar staff then start cleaning down the bar and guests start to feel unwelcome. The band in Horizons is also scheduled to finish at 11. We knew before we sailed with O the first time that it was not a late night cruise line but 11pm closing is just silly for an adult oriented cruise line. We are in our 50s and enjoy late night music and drinks and with this latest experience we feel we may need to wait until we're older before returning to O. It's a shame as the line has many excellent qualities but we just don't enjoy feeling we're being packed off to bed at 11pm. 

Apologies for the long and rambling post. Happy to answer any questions anybody might have about Riviera.

I'm happy to hear how much you enjoyed the "Lights Camera Action" show last night, as my daughter is one of the Riviera singers, and she loves that show too! It's definitely a challenging one,

since she tells me she has 10 wig/costume changes in the 40 minutes! She'll be so excited to hear you loved it! My husband and I are looking forward to seeing them all when we sail on Riviera this fall. Those kids certainly work hard! I hope you enjoy the rest of your cruise!

[YourWorldWithBill]

3 hours ago, basenji56 said:

How were the cookies?

 

I just read the cookie thread, so this is important info! 😃

[YourWorldWithBill]

7 hours ago, Eloise4Ever said:

Unfortunately we were abandoned at the end of the day when the last shuttle didn't turn up. It was scheduled for 5:30 and we arrived at the bus stop just after 5.  Disappointingly, nobody from Management has reached out to us.

We heard from several sources that the tendering operation in St Malo yesterday was a disorganised mess. The ship didn't prioritise the tendering of guests on Oceania tours so tour departures were delayed (30-45 minutes) with guests sitting on tour buses waiting for other guests to arrive.

Thanks for the info, so that we are prepared for our November cruise on Riviera, which is very port intensive. We've booked several O excursions, so I'm steeling myself...

[ak1004]

We were on the cruise prior to yours, I posted a review - https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=700631

 

Our third time on the Riviera, had a great time despite some missed ports. The food and the service were excellent as usual, we noticed a slight improvement in the entertainment, but still not great. No surprises here, and the ship is still sleepy after 10pm.

 

Excursions were the biggest disappointment for us, and we will try booking private tours on our next O cruise when possible.

[Eloise4Ever]

16 hours ago, sunlover12 said:

@Eloise4Ever On a port intensive cruise, many passengers will want to retire to their cabins after dinner if they are going to be getting up early and going on a full-day excursion the next day. There wouldn't be enough business for the bars to stay open late.  If the next day is a sea day, you'll find more passengers around the ship later. Looking at your itinerary, this is a port intensive cruise.

 

Thanks for commenting sunlover. This is indeed a port intensive cruise but funnily enough, there are more guests in Martinis at 11pm each night than we saw on our last two Riviera cruises which were transatlantic crossings with many sea days! At a rough count last night there were 30 guests in the bar at 11. Some left when the pianist finished at 11 but many remained. Perhaps the passengers on this particular sailing are behaving differently on this port intensive sailing to others. But I always dislike generalisations and believe that each customers preferences should be accommodated wherever possible. And in the case of a ship with plenty of staff available, they should be able to keep the bar open for guests who wish to stay up past 11pm. I spoke to a Senior Bar Manager about this on our first O cruise and he told me that the bars should stay open until the last guest leaves. But that's not what happens in practice. Now, the bar did have to stay open last night as there were so many guests present and some even arrived after 11! But with no music playing, there was no atmosphere. O needs to read the room better on this sailing. They also shouldn't schedule bar staff breaks for the same time as the main show ends. We had to wait 15 minutes for drinks when we arrived last night as one of the bar tenders was on break.

This is indeed a port intensive cruise but funnily enough, there are more people in Martinis at 11pm each night than we saw on our last two Riviera cruises which were transatlantic crossings with many sea days! At a rough count last night there were 30 guests in the bar at 11. Some left when the pianist finished at 11 but many remained. Perhaps the passengers on this particular sailing are behaving differently on this port intensive sailing to others. But I always dislike generalisations and believe that each passengers preferences should be accommodated wherever possible. And in the case of a ship with plenty of staff available, they should be able to keep the bar open for guests who wish to stay up past 11pm. I spoke to a Senior Bar Manager about this on our first O cruise and he told me that the bars should stay open until the last guest leaves. But that's not what happens in practice. Now, the bar did have to stay open last night as there were so many guests present and some even arrived after 11! But with no music playing, there was no atmosphere. O needs to read the room better on this sailing. They also shouldn't schedule bar staff breaks for the same time as the main show ends. We had to wait 15 minutes for drinks when we arrived last night as one of the bar tenders was on break.

[LHT28]

Have you spoken to the  GM ?

 

[Eloise4Ever]

20 hours ago, mauibabes said:

@Eloise4ever

Don’t give up on O just yet, consider Vista for your next sailing. we had a fantastic time a couple weeks ago and Vista is special. Not Perfect though but certainly the efforts are being made. 
We have found when there are “issues”, a visit with a Destination Supervisor is helpful. If an issue under the purview of the Food and Beverage Director, talk to him or her, they do listen and take action...

 

Thanks mauibabes. Vista does look interesting and I enjoyed your posts about her so thank you for that.

 

I hear what you're saying about speaking to Management and we did find them to be responsive when we raised issues on our first O cruise. But in regard to the early closing times of entertainment and bars, I feel it's just too hard to change this culture which is ingrained on Oceania. I don't want to have to spend my energy fighting that battle while I'm trying to relax on vacation from a very busy and stressful job. That's why we're thinking we may have to book on other cruise lines for the foreseeable future.

 

Graham Denison is the Artist in Residence so I will pass on your message if I bump into him. 

Edited June 5, 2023 by Eloise4Ever

[ak1004]

@Eloise4Ever Oceania has a lot to offer, but entertainment and activities are not among their strongest selling points. Personally we feel that on a port intensive cruise, those areas are really less important. We enjoy the food, the service, the lack of lines and crowds etc.

 

btw, on our last SS cruise we felt that entertainment and activities are not any better. I'm curious which lines would you consider as substitute to O?

[Eloise4Ever]

19 hours ago, OleMissSamfordMom said:

I'm happy to hear how much you enjoyed the "Lights Camera Action" show last night, as my daughter is one of the Riviera singers...

 

That is amazing! You must be so proud of her. You won't believe your eyes when you see how brilliant it is. Amazing to hear about 10 wig and costume changes but not surprising as you can feel that level of detail while watching the show. 

 

I was thrilled to come across a group of the performers in the hall last night so I could tell them in person how much I enjoyed the show. They are doing Broadway in Concert tonight so I'm in a state of excited anticipation for that. 

 

Last night we watched an English comedian called Jeff Stevenson and we enjoyed him.  His material was "modernised old- school" (I just coined that phrase 😀). Fast paced and good fun. He certainly had most of the audience chuckling. We watch a lot of live comedy and have found some of the younger English comedians on O to be very forced and cheesy. This guy was a natural.

[Eloise4Ever]

19 hours ago, basenji56 said:

How were the cookies?

 

 

My answer today is different to the answer I would have given yesterday! I had two cookies from Baristas which I found moist and tasty, possibly containing macadamia nuts but they weren't labelled. Today I got one that looked very prim and proper and tasted exactly like that. Dry and flavourless. Matches the description from the "Cookies" thread. I did see cookies that looked like this impostor on the buffet at lunchtime and they were labelled sugar free so maybe that's the issue. I will continue to report my findings on this important matter 😀.

[Eloise4Ever]

1 hour ago, LHT28 said:

Have you spoken to the  GM ?

 

 

No, as per my reply to mauibabes, I don't think there's much point going into battle on an issue which is of concern to us but is part of O culture.

[Eloise4Ever]

Apologies for the double post above and also I may to be having problems with font size. I am posting from my phone and the small screen makes it hard to judge how it looks in the real world. 

[mauibabes]

@Eloise4Ever

You definitely have to connect with Graham. This many days into your cruise it is probably too late to join a class but it is great fun. My DW sits in on a class every time we sail with he and Shuna.  I bring the 2 for 1 glass of wine to the table for her just so she does not miss Happy Hour. Sometimes I even bring a glass for them as well. They are wonderfully, delightful people and he is an amazing talent. 
Have a fabulous cruise and don’t let the lack of the perfect cookie get you down. Try a non sugar free cookie in Horizon’s at Tea time, sometimes they have been OK. Like was mentioned a few posts back, a few Double Stuff Oreos would really ease my sweet tooth’s craving, but then that isn’t fitting on O. Keep searching for the chocolate chunk cookies, they are good. Peanut Butter were dry but were OK. 
Enjoy,

Mauibabes

[Eloise4Ever]

13 hours ago, ak1004 said:

We were on the cruise prior to yours, I posted a review - https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=700631

 

Our third time on the Riviera, had a great time despite some missed ports. The food and the service were excellent as usual, we noticed a slight improvement in the entertainment, but still not great. No surprises here, and the ship is still sleepy after 10pm.

 

Excursions were the biggest disappointment for us, and we will try booking private tours on our next O cruise when possible.

 

Thanks for your comments and your review. 

[Eloise4Ever]

1 hour ago, ak1004 said:

@Eloise4Ever Oceania has a lot to offer, but entertainment and activities are not among their strongest selling points. Personally we feel that on a port intensive cruise, those areas are really less important. We enjoy the food, the service, the lack of lines and crowds etc.

 

btw, on our last SS cruise we felt that entertainment and activities are not any better. I'm curious which lines would you consider as substitute to O?

 

Thanks for your comments. Because we live in Europe we are not focussed on going ashore in ports we have visited before either on a cruise or a land trip. So this cruise is not "port intensive" in our case. O should not assume anything about their customers behaviour.

 

As to what other cruise lines we may consider as an alternative, that's the million dollar question. We like Azamara and they do have good nightlife. Even Viking, which has low-key entertainment, has a very nice, dedicated night club. Of the cruise lines we've already sailed and would sail again, Celebrity and Azamara would be tops for entertainment. Of those we haven't sailed, from what I've heard, Crystal may fit the bill. 

[LHT28]

2 hours ago, Eloise4Ever said:

 

No, as per my reply to mauibabes, I don't think there's much point going into battle on an issue which is of concern to us but is part of O culture.

No need to go into battle 

A simple  comment  in person or in writing  mentioning the state of the cookies  devoid of flavour   will either  help  them re access their recipe or not

 

If people say nothing ...nothing will change

JMO

[LHT28]

55 minutes ago, Eloise4Ever said:

As to what other cruise lines we may consider as an alternative, that's the million dollar question. We like Azamara and they do have good nightlife. Even Viking, which has low-key entertainment, has a very nice, dedicated night club. Of the cruise lines we've already sailed and would sail again, Celebrity and Azamara would be tops for entertainment. Of those we haven't sailed, from what I've heard, Crystal may fit the bill. 

Cruising is  not a "one size  fits all"

 Try different  lines  then choose the one that works bests for your need & wants

 

Happy sailing

[OleMissSamfordMom]

2 hours ago, Eloise4Ever said:

 

That is amazing! You must be so proud of her. You won't believe your eyes when you see how brilliant it is. Amazing to hear about 10 wig and costume changes but not surprising as you can feel that level of detail while watching the show. 

 

I was thrilled to come across a group of the performers in the hall last night so I could tell them in person how much I enjoyed the show. They are doing Broadway in Concert tonight so I'm in a state of excited anticipation for that. 

 

Last night we watched an English comedian called Jeff Stevenson and we enjoyed him.  His material was "modernised old- school" (I just coined that phrase 😀). Fast paced and good fun. He certainly had most of the audience chuckling. We watch a lot of live comedy and have found some of the younger English comedians on O to be very forced and cheesy. This guy was a natural.

Thank you so much for your lovely response. I hope you enjoy tonight's show, as well as the 2 remaining production shows. And yes, I am so very proud of her! What an amazing job...getting to travel the world doing what you love to do!