FWIW, not about Riviera but our upcoming trip on Sirena. I had basically an identical thought on that boat. Most of the "ship" reviews on CruiseCritic slanted negative, but if you read them with critical thinking & reading skills applied - the comment above are all spot on. IMHO many had unrealistic expectations, and unhappy people are more likely to go to the trouble of writing a review. I also thought many of them had a "why did you pick Oceania then" aspect. Different cruise lines have different things they try to differentiate on. Oceania seems to be focused on smaller ships + port intensive itineraries. If that’s not your thing, probably better served to choose another company…
