Riverroad

5 hours ago, shepherd really said:

I was addressing this:

"The ship itself was not in a good shape. Rust and broken things on deck. Lamplights in GDR didn't work properly."

 

 

Because facts are stubborn things.  I can actually see the conditions in the public areas.  These areas look just fine.  So no, I'm not going to believe someone I don't know making a claim I can actually observe in real time that is false.    

 

That would be ridiculous. 

 

It also brings into question the other claims made.

Can you tell me the all-over condition of Marina? We are thinking of a last minute booking on the April transatlantic to Barcelona. I know the refurbishment is happening in May and wonder if they are letting things go until then. The first few days of that cruise are in warm weather and would be very upset if the a/c didn’t work. 

19 hours ago, kctwinmommy said:

And I'm guessing the amount of people who are cruising those lines are even less than Viking, so a much smaller voting pool. Which might affect how many reviews they get.

You’re exactly right. It’s the number of reviews. Many more people on Viking so many more votes. Doesn’t mean they’re actually the best.

Look at Oceania to the Caribbean on one of their 4 smaller ships. Few to no kids.

While you certainly can bring glitz for your Oceania cruise if you like, it’s not at all necessary. I bring black pants and a few different tops. Sometimes I bring a simple black dress and change it up with jewelry or scarf. I never waste the luggage space with a cocktail dress. Remember you’re never going to see these people again. When we do cruise with friends I remind myself that they’ve already seen most of my wardrobe!

52 minutes ago, Lois R said:

Hi girls, most of ya'll probably know I went on Medicare last month. I had my first Dr's appointment last month too (on this new plan)........not sure why I thought Medicare would cover the appt and the lab work. I have recently received 2 invoices........now, they did cover a portion of the bills but I guess I didn't realize I would still owe money....such is life. 

Did you get a Medicare supplement plan in addition to your regular Medicare? The supplement or “Medigap” plan pays the 20% that Medicare doesn’t pay. If you have the supplement plan, it’s possible that the dr’s office sent you the invoice before the supplement plan has paid him. Call the dr’s office before you pay the bill.

6 hours ago, LHT28 said:

You can trust the source of the post  😉

 

My TA told me the new policy took effect as of July 1, 2022. We had to cancel after penalty and was hoping we could apply it to the new cruise we booked. Nope.

7 hours ago, Cruisedreamer1 said:

Did you fly into Bridgetown?

We live in NY and have flown into/out of Bridgetown on JetBlue. Took cab to ship. No problems whatsoever. As has been said, many hotels for pre-cruise stay. 

You can request San Pellegrino for your cabin. We’ve gotten it (‘22) but not sure about currently.

2 hours ago, slidergirl said:

I did stay at Hotel des Marrionniers last summer.  Many will like it but I'm just not used to "old classic" places, I think.  It just wasn't my style. I'm more of a modern person.  It is in a great location, the staff was very nice, and that garden patio was a nice addition - kind of like a hidden quiet spot.  I actually could stay there again if I ended up in Paris for the atmosphere and location alone.

I stepped out of my comfort zone this trip and booked mostly little boutique places.  I just have to get used to them, as they are usually in better locations than my usual.  But, since I'm not getting employee discounts anymore, I have to expand my array of hotels 🙂

 

Melody - after that drive, I did have a nice, big glass of 19 Crimes Cali Red! 

We stayed at Les Marrioniers a number of years ago while our daughter was studying in Paris. Great location but the rooms are tiny! The first room they gave us was in the attic, sort of like a garret. Very atmospheric but DH couldn’t stand up in it. The next room was so small that one of us had to get dressed and leave so the other could get dressed. Only way to dry my hair was to take the mirror off the wall and sit on the floor in front of it. Typical tiny Parisian elevator. Lois, don’t take your big luggage if you decide to stay there. True, the garden is lovely and peaceful. One night might be o.k. but not more than that for me.

For those of you just recently off Riviera, what was disembarkation like? I know earlier in this thread jonthomas said it was easy but Woofa had a lengthy wait. Trying to figure out if we can make a 12:15 flight from MIA.

Thanks for your review of the ports. We have the same ones in March. Who did you use for your private San Juan tour?

22 minutes ago, kitty9 said:

The new CD for Riviera is new to Oceania.  Paul told me he’s coming over from Princess and is a high tech guy.  Paul said his trivia games will be via PowerPoint, and he plans other changes. Paul and the new guy will overlap their duties as a training experience. 

We’ll be on Riviera in March and that sounds dreadful! I can’t imagine trivia via PowerPoint. 

On 1/15/2023 at 4:39 PM, Ilovesailaway said:

I have not used SAS to get to a FLL flight after a POM cruise. In those cases I have shared a taxi.

And Btw I would have no worries making a 1:20 flight 

Can we make a 12:10 flight from FLL after a POM cruise? This is on Sunday, March 12 with 8 ships at POM. We would do this to avoid the anticipated crush at MIA. If so would you recommend SAS or Uber or taxi?

2 hours ago, Woofa said:

I may take this in pieces as we work our way home.  Regarding shore excursions I am afraid we did very little.  New to cruising and to keep our costs down we did cruise only fair and had basically decided to just get off the ship at each port.  However we were very fortunate to meet up with @CaptainR on our roll call and he and his wife invited us to spend our first stop, St Kitts, at a beautiful Hyatt resort.  It was about a 30 minute cab ride and felt like a completely different island.  We had a nice private cabana well shaded and access to the private beach and huge pool.  Some food and drinks were included and the poolside bar was available for anything additional.  It was a beautiful day and the resort was very private and quiet.  We made good friends that day and they kept a good eye on us throughout our first cruise.  Helping with the little things experienced cruisers learn.  In fact we were fortunate to make numerous friends throughout our cruise and ended up exchanging contact information with multiple people.  

Regarding the five other stops we basically just walked off the ship into the local town for an hour or two and then back on the ship for lunch.  Overall we found lots of jewelry stores, liquor stores and cheap souvenirs.  St bars of course had much more expensive stores but even there we really did not find anything to buy like nice local art or crafts in a nice but reasonable price range (low hundreds of dollars.). Now this was partially our fault as we really did no research and did not feel like exploring too far.

A note here on the tender for St Barts.  This was by far the worst part of our trip.  My guess is that we were very close to not being allowed to go to shore at all.  I don't know exactly what I thought the tender process would be like but sitting in a cramped lifeboat with fifty other people was not fun or luxurious.  Getting on and off was in my opinion dangerous as the step on/off often moved up or down by six or more inches as you took it.  The crew was very good about getting everyone on and of safely but I would not be surprised if people get injured regularly.  I don't have any easy solution for this and others let us know this is not always so difficult but we did let Oceania know our concerns.  

We docked everywhere else and getting on/off was quick and easy.

Another quick note is that on this cruise at least, we found it difficult, if not impossible to get shaded chaise lounges by the Pool deck, even on port days.  Very early on these were all taken and rarely emptied even when people went to lunch as they left their stuff.  Now we were not in a bad spot as we had an extended balcony with our own private chaise lounges.  Additionally I was not able to just sit in a direct sun lounger as I did not have enough of a tan.  I also really don't have a great plan for this either except add some additional shade on deck 14 over looking the pool.  this is probably not as big an issue on non Caribbean cruises.  It would not surprise me if the majority of people never got off the ship which added to this being an issue.

More to come...

Do you know how your friend made arrangements to spend the day at the Hyatt in St. Kitts? We would like to do the same when we are in St. Kitts in March.   

How long is the ride from POM to Palm Beach airport? We will be disembarking Oceania’s Riviera on Sunday, March 12. The flight from PBI is around 3:00.

1 hour ago, MEFIowa said:

Though anyone who wants the "royal treatment" waits until near the last minute to return to the ship. Seems like most O cruises who go into ports return at least an hour before scheduled departure. But if you wait till near the end, they'll likely have a bus or jeep or golf cart or something where the tourist area meets the pier/terminal. I made sure to be the last person back for 4 ports in a row while on Sirena last month. At Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, for example, the terminal manager was in a large golf-cart like conveyance at the end of the pier to drive me to the ship. When he saw me he said, "They're waiting for you. Hop on."

What did you do in Puerto Plata? We will be there on Riviera in March and looking for excursion ideas.

On 12/17/2022 at 7:08 PM, schmerl said:

 

I am on that roll call as well and I think you and I are the only ones who have posted in the past couple weeks! 

We are on the March 2 cruise on Riviera. I’ll go join the roll call.

3 hours ago, caribcruzr said:

Like asked about bringing it with me. Told against NJ board of regulations. If someone could check on brands used in salon my hairdresser will give me formula. 

Why can’t you just go to a beauty supply store and buy it yourself?

3 hours ago, cruisinqt said:

Is there a sight I can go to that compares all of the train options? I’m not sure where to start. We want one that has comfy seats with windows so we can see the views but nothing too exorbitantly expensive. Which one would you recommend?

Go to The Man in Seat 61. He has everything you need to know about train travel in Europe. The section on Spain will give you all the options on Madrid-Barcelona travel. We took the more expensive option because my husband wanted to be comfortable but I wouldn’t call it exorbitant.

2 hours ago, cruisinqt said:

I’ve been using skyscanner and kayak to compare multiple sites. We are now thinking about flying into Madrid and doing a little sightseeing then taking a train from there into Barcelona. It’s only about 2 1/2 to 3 hours via train and I hear the view is gorgeous. 

Definitely stay in Madrid for at least a day, preferably 2. Then take the train to Barcelona. We just did it in April and it’s easy, peasy and a great trip. As has already been explained, there are several train lines to choose from including one very cheap one. I would never fly between those two cities.

31 minutes ago, caribcruzr said:

Could someone on the Riviera find out what brands of hair color they use?  We are going. Mid January and I would like to ask my hair style for the formula to request. 

Why not just get it from your stylist and bring it with you? She/he can give you the proportions.

Medicare doesn’t cover you outside of the country. Plan F covers medical expenses outside of the US with a $250 deductible. I believe you pay the costs you incur, submit the bill to your plan and they reimburse you minus the deductible. There’s a lifetime limit which I don’t remember off hand. I still think you need trip insurance with good medical coverage in case of a real disaster while traveling.

1 hour ago, Lois R said:

Hi Kat, thanks for the reply. I appreciate it😃

 

I decided to get a cornish hen for Thanksgiving. Much easier for 1 person, that is for sure.  Will make a sweet potato and some veggies and I will make some Stove Top stuffing too😃.

 

Anyway,  I will do more research on the part D/drug plan too..........

Lois, unless you are covered by your previous employer, you’ll need a Medicare supplement plan too, also called Medigap. It’s not cheap but it covers everything plain Medicare doesn’t. I’ve had both hips and a knee replaced and it hasn’t cost us a penny. We chose Plan F which is pricier than some of the others but it covers medical costs overseas after a $250 deductible. Be very careful if you are looking at an Advantage Plan, the ones that are heavily advertising now. They’re not all that the ads promise. The worst part is that your doctor of choice could be in the plan this year and then not next. Keep doing your research.

1 hour ago, daleandrews said:

 

We are scheduled on Marina November 1 for 19 days.  We are in PH and had no trouble reserving all of our allotted specialty reservations on the first day reservations opened.  We added two friends, travelling Concierge for each dinner, even though their reservation opening date had not yet occurred.  The system allowed us to add them as guests for each of our reservations even though their total number of guaranteed reservations was less than ours.

In July, I had no trouble adding 2 friends to our reservation when we were in PH and they were in Concierge. What I couldn’t do was add another couple, also Concierge, for a total of 6. The system wouldn’t allow it and 3 O reps couldn’t do it either. No explanation provided but I was told it was not Covid rules.

For our cruise in July I was unable to make specialty restaurant reservations for 6 online. We were in a PH and I tried at 12:01 on the day reservations opened for PH. Everyone was paid in full. I could do 4 but not 6. I called O 3 times and none of the reps I spoke to could do it either. I thought it might be Covid rules but they said that wasn’t it. I gave up and decided to wait til we boarded. The minute we got on the ship in NY, I raced to the reservation desk which was outside the GDR. We were now 7. In 5 minutes, the woman at the desk got us reservations for the days and times we wanted, maybe because we were in a PH. There was a complicated reason why I couldn’t ask my TA to do it so perhaps she could have.

Bottom line, unless O has fixed their system, you can’t make reservations for 6 online.