DENIE

Agree that food is SO subjective. On the Riviera in June 2022, we enjoyed all of them. However, one of us had our only real "miss" in Jacques when a request for medium rare prime rib was served well done and tough (it was swapped for something else). Everything else there was fine (I had the dover sole). We thoroughly enjoyed Red Giner (2x!), Toscana and Polo. An aside - We were just on a MX Riviera cruise last week on HAL with a bunch of friends, and my wife and I agreed that Oceania's MDR FAR exceeded HAL's in quality and service.

Couldn't agree more. We just sailed with Oceania (I know, different market, different concept), but once you bought the upgraded package, there were no limits and no slips. Even our most recent Celebrity cruises were that way as well.

I will! We typically enjoy a couple mimosas for breakfast (we are on vacation, after all), and a couple lattes. Add a couple of Diet Cokes, and some waters (we drink a lot of water), and half the package could be used up before you even start having glasses of wine. I guess we will be drinking the free water and bringing large empty water bottles. FWIW, we just sailed on Oceania in June and had their premium beverage package. No counts at all. But, I understand, different market, different price point for sure.

This seems to be noted in a couple prior posts. This is from the website regarding the Elite Beverage Package: "A stunning array of premium spirits, cocktails, and wines $15 or under, including Dale DeGroff’s Original Cocktails and all the benefits of Signature & Quench. 15-drink daily limit, unlimited non-alcoholic beverages." It still seems confusing as to whether alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages are split apart when counting the total. Seems like it should not be confusing. It sounds like if I want 20 lattes each day, they don't count towards the 15-drink daily limit. Not that I want to, but can I get 15 alcoholic beverages plus any number of lattes that I want? I guess we will find out on our Koningsdam 12/3 cruise in a few days. We do plan to upgrade to the Elite package as we typically enjoy the wines more in that price range. We haven't sailed HAL recently, so honestly don't know...

Thank you! Great review! Enjoyed it very much.

Oooohhhhhh, what a fun post!! 😃 1. Favorite Place - The Mediterranean (pretty much anywhere) 2. Favorite foods - Miso glazed sea bass (Red Ginger, Oceania), Escargot (HAL, Celebrity, Oceania), Filet Mignon (Pinnacle Grill on HAL, Polo Grill on Oceania), Chateaubriand at Murano on Celebrity. Boarding Koningsdam this Saturday 12/3, so maybe will have a new dish to add??? 3. Not really sparkly, but do dress up. I will bring a coat to use some evenings, and my wife will bring a nice dress. Love reading the responses! 🙂

You might want to contact tour TA (if you have one) in the next day or two if you don't receive. I asked the same question and was advised about 14 days out. We board the Koningsdam on 12/3, and on queue, we got ours right at 14 days. If you do not have a TA, you might call HAL direct.

Thanks for your very objective post. I second that of others who recommend sailing on the Marina or Riviera. We just completed our first O cruise (Riviera), and the bathroom was a generous size. This was before the refurb where they are removing the tubs in many rooms.

Never booked a guarantee, but I have seen so many negative experiences that I think I just prefer to select our own room. I get the possible savings, but...

Yes! Exactly! Makes getting up early worth it! ☺️

It isn't a game-changer, but we stayed on deck 9 on the Riviera, and was just a walk down the hall to the Concierge Lounge. It was what others described. I typically did a quick walk down first thing in the morning to grab a latte. It's machine-made, and not as good as Baristas, but closer and quicker to get our morning started. Pastry was nice before heading to the Grand Dining Room or Terrace Grill for breakfast.

Loved sailing her in June. Hope to see what she looks like at some point in the future! 🙂

FWIW, I forgot to clarify - we will be on the Koningsdam. But really appreciated your thoughts, as I know a lot of the features of the ship are the same. 🙂

Thanks for the review! We are back on HAL (Koningsdam) in December. Our last prior cruise on HAL was on the Oosterdam in 2010, which we really enjoyed. We've been mostly on Celebrity in recent pre-Covid years, and finally our first Oceania (Riviera) cruise this past June. We loved it! But i is a bit different product. Will be interesting to see what this one brings. It is the Mexican Riviera out of San Diego.

That's a good point! I will get theirs and see if our TA can do that. It would certainly help! 🙂

Good point! We will! 🙂

Thanks! Good to know!

I am "following" this post as there is so much good information! Our cruise on Koningsdam departs on 12/3. We have no status (this is our 2nd HAL cruise), and too early to have our boarding time appear. We are traveling with another couple, one of whom has mobility issues, but is not in a wheelchair (uses a cane). Fortunately, we have a 2-bedroom suite reserved across the street at the Springhill/Renaissance by Marriott. Hopefully we can get the same check-in time as we may need to help with his luggage. At least we should have a comfy lobby to wait and ample opportunity for a good breakfast! Fortunately, all of us are very familiar with downtown San Diego.

Yes, there was a quartet on the Riviera on our June Mediterranean cruise. They played mostly in the Grand Bar and Horizons during tea. On embarkation, they were playing just above the lobby (outside Martinis), so the sound was wafting down. What a great first moment of the cruise!

Riviera was consistently open all day long, and food items/snacks were self-serve. This was in June. Didn't try to go in the middle of the night, but it looked like it would be accessible.

True! We had a great experience with fellow passengers. The crowd can be a bit "rough" on the Cruise Critic site, but also found a lot of helpful advice.

Thanks for the information! We are on the 12/3/2022 Koningsdam cruise and driving over from Scottsdale, AZ and staying at a Marriott property directly across the street. Looks like we will just be sleeping in and enjoying a LONG leisurely breakfast at the hotel before walking across the street! 🙂

Hi! We loved the food, much smaller size (1,200 passengers at full capacity - on Riviera, Sirena is smaller). The crew was great. Don't want to hijack this thread. I posted a Riviera review in July. Do check that out, as well as the Oceania Cruise Critic pages. 🙂

There is another thread where the issue of reservations came up. Others have also noted only Toscana and Polo for early reservations. Likewise, we have a PH on a January 2024 Vista cruise and observed the same thing. The information communicated in that thread is that Oceania has "not made a determination" as to whether Ember or Red Ginger will offer early reservations. Not sure how that information was determined, but that is what was stated.

I agree with others. Stayed close to a stairwell on the Riviera (sister ship), never heard hall/stair/elevator noise at all.