skinny1

On 1/27/2024 at 4:37 PM, cruiserchuck said:

We were on Riviera last November, and had a great time.  Our only previous O cruise was on Marina about 9 years ago.  We enjoyed our recent cruise more than our first cruise.  We booked the Cape Town to Singapore cruise yesterday.  

Greetings!  I will ask you, as well…do you suggest flying in a day early for this cruise?  I understand that if we do this, the transfers are not included.  Where do people stay pre-cruise?  Thank you!!!

On 1/27/2024 at 3:15 PM, EmsMom said:

We took a cruise from Cape Town to Singapore before covid on Oceania.  It was amazing!   Now we would like to do it again this year and the ship is the Riviera.  The reviews of the Riviera are mixed by leaning toward the negatives be.  I would love some feedback from those who have either done this cruise in 2023 or have recently cruised on the Riviera.  It’s a long cruise so I’m a little worried about the negative reviews.  Thank you!!

Have you booked?  We are looking at this cruise, and wondering if we should fly in a day early, book a hotel room and arrange our own transfers.  What do you suggest?

So today we were in Honnigsvag, the most northern city in Europe. We once again awoke to bright clear skies. We passed on breakfast since our ( ship arranged) excursion left early. There was a glitch with the disembarkation ramp, and we were a little late in leaving. Once we finally got going we met up with our guide and headed off. It was a fantastic tour. If you’re interested in more info let me know.

 

Back to the port by 11:30. There is one tourist shop by the harbor, which everyone frequents, but we found the shop one block, Arctandria, that has the same product but for a little less, much less touristy and more authentic.

 

The rest of the day was casual. Even though we weren’t hungry we grabbed a little lunch and later spent time in the Spa. A nap was totally in order later. Dinner was at Manfredi’s. Once again it was good not great, so we’re going to cancel our last reservation there and stick with The Restaurant.

 

Tonight is the second “Midnight Sun” party but the fog is San Francisco worthy - no sun, midnight or otherwise, will be seen.

 

OH! For the person that asked about San Pellegrino: it is available only in The Restaurant and only by request. Just FYI.

 

I hope you are enjoying these posts. Anything else you want to know please ask!

What tour did you do in Honnigsvag?

Hi Judy,

I think you should be fine taking the taxi from the airport to the terminal. That direction is much more predictable. It's the other way (port to airport) that can be (but doesn't have to be) problematic for reasons discussed above (time of ship's arrival, timing of clearance, congestion in the port and possible long lines for taxis, possible long lines at check in and security at the airport, etc).

But I suspect you are more concerned about the flight's arrival on time and possible flight delays/cancelations and thus possibly missing the ship?

If that is the case, I am pretty sure you would have to be on a red eye as you cannot arrive to Miami in time leaving the same day from Seattle (your ship leaves at 5 PM).

In that case you are likely to arrive sometimes in AM and you should be fine. There is a non-stop AA flight arriving at 6:15 AM. Also there are AS flights arriving at 1:55 or 2:20 PM (via SFO or LAX with enough connecting time) - those could be a closer call. Hopefully you'll be on the AM arriving flights. There are also DL and UA flights arriving in AM (I would avoid connecting in Chicago with UA).

If they put you on a 2:20 PM arriving plane, I would call them and see if that can be changed.

Check out http://matrix.itasoftware.com/ for all possible flights.

Great itinerary! Bon voyage to you and Michael :)

Thanks for the tips, Paul. This trip is just a little getaway from the November gloom! I'll call Oceania and see what they have booked for us. Please greet Marsha for us!

Judy

Yes Lyn - I remember that morning very well.

It obviously is not like that every time but the point is that it cannot be predicted with accuracy.

Flights after 12 or 1 PM should be stress free.

Paul

Hi Paul,

Michael & I are booked on a Miami to Miami Regatta trip through the islands of the eastern Caribbean to Brazil and back, Nov. 10, 2013. Having traveled with you and Marsha, I value your input! We did not take the air deviation, and had planned to take a taxi from the airport to the cruise terminal. We do not yet have our flght itinerary. Are we making a mistake?

Judy