HeatherInFlorida

That is such a great point! Way less time for 2. Just we love sharing and have met such nice people that way who we might otherwise not have met.

Regarding the Terrace, we find the food there exceptional and dined there 3 times .... Always on the first and last nights.

Mura, one was the last night and I'm pretty sure the other was the night we set the clocks forward, but not positive.

I agree. 7:30 would be the latest if wanting to make the show. We love 6:30 so never a problem for us😃

Mura, as I posted above, we had 2 shows at 9:30. But people who had 7:30 reservations were late for shows.

These shows were really excellent; a high point. And I have not always loved the shows either. I found myself looking forward to them.

..........

I won't go on as there were many other problems. Did miss the cooking class due to the virus.

Thank you for not sharing all the details although it would certainly be helpful for you to detail your disappointment and experience in your own review. Although I waited awhile outside, too, I believe it was a gorgeous day and not hot at all. But I am sorry you had such a bad embarkation as so many others did. It was, however, an unusual circumstance and from what I heard passengers were not handling it well which is bad for all concerned. It was disappointing they didn't have proper transportation on the pier as promised in St. Maarten. I believe that fault lay with St. Maarten and not Oceania. I cannot walk long distances so I didn't even attempt to go ashore when I saw that the shuttle was not going back and forth as promised. Really hope your next cruise is better.

Heather, were the shows at a standard time every evening? Just wondering what time to book reservations in the specialty restaurants so we don't miss the evening entertainment.

Also thank you for a great review, interesting read and great info shared. Loved your positive attitude ;) We are first timers on Oceania and are really looking forward to this cruise!

DonnaF :)

Yes, the shows were always at 9:45 except one or two nights they were at 9:30. We made all our reservations at 6:30 for that very reason. Perhaps things will improve in the GDR, but we went at 6:30 three nights and didn't finish until 8:30 or 9:00. I hope you have a wonderful cruise!!:)

............

 

Unlike some of the other posters, we aren't the least bit jealous, since we are closer to the ports from Boynton Beach than you are. :D

LOL😊 .... Yes you are! I look forward to hearing about your cruise. I'd especially love to know your impression of the GDR and entertainment. I'm hoping the GDR experience was a fluke and the entertainment wasn't😃

...........Nice to hear about the entertainment .Many past reviews were not so good .Being a smaller ship I wouldn't think they would be able to spend an awful lot for spectacular talent . ..........:p:p

Keep in mind opinions about entertainment are highly subjective and of course we can't expect to see a Las Vegas show on a ship this size as you say. Like you, we don't go expecting anything so it was a low bar. It's a small group ... 5 (or 6?) singers and several dancers ( I can't recall how many). The dancers stood out the most for us. I really felt they were spectacular. I hope you enjoy your April cruise and my fingers are crossed that Noro has gone deep into the sea :).

In a perfect world I would like to see Oceania have a minimum age policy of at least 12 ...

no smoking ships

If drunks become unruly the staff have the right to place them in the brig until they are sober

But the world is not perfect & I do not own the company :D

 

..............

And I hope not from your lips to those who do own the company as far as smoking is concerned. Believe me, no one hates it more than I do but DH smokes a pipe and the day they take his little tiny corner away will be the day we never cruise again:(:(:(.

............

 

Most luxury lines do not cater to small children ..

And let us pray they never do. I also wish that parents would take the hint;). We've been very fortunate on Oceania and the few children we encountered were very well behaved. But I have to confess I always feel a bit sorry for them and they don't seem terribly happy. Yet looking over at the Disney ship last week I saw parents and children having a wonderful time one some sort of water slide inside a tube! That even looked like fun to me :).

One of our favorite vacations is renting a house on Fort Myers Beach ... just the 2 of us and our dog. I remember growing up in New England and my parents renting a house on Cape Cod for all of us and our dogs. I haven't had such a good time since and my memories of those summers are joyous.

We rent the same beach cottage twice a year for 2 weeks eating out almost every night, enjoying the sunsets over the Gulf. We watch so many families spill out onto the beach enjoying the sand, the sun and the water. This is a wonderful vacation for a family. As someone suggested, bringing someone the children love along to keep them entertained, etc., is such a great idea.

As someone said above, a family choosing a luxury cruise with literally nothing for their children to do is pure selfishness. The reason parents make that choice is not that they are trying to introduce their children to a quality vacation experience.

Thanks Heather

 

can I come live with you so I can cruise more often without flying :D:D

I'm with Lyn...can we come live with you?

For a small fee I'm sure we can work something out:D:D:D!

Sure - punish all the parents/grandparents who have taken great pains to raise well-behaved and civil children and who want them to have quality travel experiences.

A "quality travel experience" such as cruising on Oceania is completely wasted on any young person under the age of 18. In some rare cases a young person under 18 might appreciate it, but they would be the exception.

As many have said, there are so many wonderful cruise choices for those with small children. Oceania isn't one of them. They have nothing for a young person to enjoy. So allow those of us who choose Oceania partly because there are not a bunch of screaming children onboard to enjoy our little corner of the market. I love children and babies as much as anyone, but I'm at a point in my life I like to choose when I enjoy them. A cruise is not one of those times unless I'm cruising with family in which case we'll hop on Disney. I say one of their ships in Nassau and it was fabulous.

Short of saying "no kids", Oceania does nothing to encourage people to cruise with children. It's a not so subtle hint that that is not the demographic they cater to.

I have submitted this review to CC for publication, but decided to post it here for anyone who may not read Member Reviews. And who knows ... maybe it's not fit to publish :). It's long; I tend to ramble ...

Titled: "But First ... A Joke"

Not really ..... If you've been on an Oceania ship and Dottie was your CD, you just smiled. Coming here to write this review I made the mistake of clicking on 2 of the most recent Riviera reviews and find myself wishing I could remember one of Dottie's jokes just to lighten the moment.

Oceania, Riviera in particular, has become our favorite way to cruise and boarding Riviera right after the cruise from 'you know where' that we'd been reading about was not the best way to begin. One thing I knew ... we would be boarding the cleanest ship on the seas that day, but little did I know then just how clean.

A word about Noro before I review the cruise itself. Any one of us who has cruised on many lines for many years is aware that there is no such thing as a "sick ship" ... only sick people who get on those ships. Oceania had several cruises since November that were Noro-free so the ship is not "sick". People, generally unknowingly, get on the ship having picked something up on the plane or elsewhere, become sick, and so it begins to spread. And we all know what happens. But anyone who has cruised umpteen times and has never encountered Noro in all that time has been extremely lucky and should play the lottery on a regular basis. Nor virus can happen on any ship, any line, any time. Those who experience that cruise can argue how the staff handled it, but I won't go there. I am not in agreement with those who believe that the passengers should have a moment to moment explanation about what's happening. We, the passengers, only need to know what we ourselves can control. Nothing more.

We learned later in the cruise that once the ship returned to Miami the extensive 'deep clean' began. Every single piece of furniture that wasn't bolted down was removed and taken into the terminal. The linens were all washed 3 times over. Curtains were taken down and cleansed. The entire interior of the ship was cleansed and treated with what I don't know, but it was super clean ... streaky, sticky, but obviously clean. I washed my hands more than I ever have in my entire life. And the sanitizer was a new solution, one that was not easy to absorb into the skin. We were constantly reminded to do use it. Staff was placed outside all dining venues and if a person didn't use the sanitizers they were motioned to do so, but this was rarely needed.

We are a couple in our 70's living in Florida. We have a wonderful retirement here and we cruise the Caribbean for just one reason, to be pampered, waited on, enjoy the sea, the fine cuisine, meet new people and experience a change of scene from our daily lives. The ports mean nothing to us because we've been to each many times often staying on the islands and exploring. So for us the ship and the people on it are the destination.

Captain Gianmario Sanguineti

GM: Edwin Burning

CD: Dottie Kulasa

Sr. Exec. Chef: Alexis Quaretti

Entertainers: Tom Drake "An Attitude With A Tie", Comedian & Jamie Michael Stewart, Singer

The Riviera Production Cast

We were told to expect a delay boarding, but we were fortunate. We left our home at noon and at 2:00 pm we were sitting in Waves having lunch. By 2:30 our deck was called and our suitcases awaited. That was a first for us. However, we learned later the delays piled up and many passengers didn't get their bags or even in their cabins until well after Muster. Obviously many people were extremely annoyed and several did not hold back from expressing themselves. I understand. People save their money, look forward to a cruise, and this isn't what they expect. But patience is an under-rated personality trait because it benefits everyone.

And this was an unusual circumstance. From my perspective we were so fortunate to be on the 2/22 cruise rather than the 2/12 that I was willing to accept the barren appearance of the ship. By that I mean there were none of the little extras we come to expect in the cabin. It felt empty without the bucket of ice, the stationery, the booklets and menus, etc. The tables in Waves and Terrace were washed down and wet with cards on them telling us when we could use the table. There was no familiar place setting, stem glasses, salt & pepper, sugar, etc. And the crew smiled and tried to be positive, but they were exhausted and knew they had at least 3 more days of extra hours, endless scrubbing, washing down of walls, tables, hand rails, etc. My heart went out to them and for me it was really a small price to pay.

I've reviewed Riviera before. I don't need to tell you about the beautiful public rooms, the friendly crew and staff, the feeling that everyone was there only to make our life onboard wonderful for the little time we had. The coffee in Barista's is such a treat and I loved going there to have a cappuccino and sit overlooking the pool, the sky and the sea. We saw the ugly drips the disinfectant solution left behind on the elevator doors, every surface of our cabins, the tables ... but I tend to look beyond that knowing that Oceania was doing this not only to preserve their own reputation which is crucial, but to preserve my impression of who they are and what they are; that they are that notch or two up from the guy behind even in their not so finest hour.

We did not miss one night of entertainment and it was the high point of the cruise for both of us. Usually it's the food and a word about that later, but this time it was the entertainment. First, the Riviera Orchestra is so fabulous ... best on the sea, I think, and I've heard many. We've cruised with Tom Drake before and he makes me laugh so hard I cry. Jamie was new to us and I would hope to cruise with him again. What a glorious voice; simply extraordinary. You may remember him from Love Board; he sang the title song and he didn't disappoint us his first night when he belted out the familiar words and melody. Great memories of a lighthearted, long ago time.

Above all we were so impressed with the Riviera Production Cast. Generally I will often skip the nights that it's simply the onboard entertainers because while they've always been "okay", this group of men and women knocked it out of the park. The dancing was so good that I began arriving early just to be in the front row and feel we were an actual part of it. I never yawned once and for this early-to-bedder that is high praise.

On past Oceania cruises I felt the food was equally good in the GDR as in the specialty restaurants. My order of choice for the specialties is #1) Jacques, #2) Polo, #3) Red Ginger and #4) Toscana. That's been true on all our cruises. On this occasion my meal in Toscana (Dover Sole) was delicious, but the treatment we received from the Maitre D' was inexcusable enough that I went the next day to complain to the Restaurant Manager. He literally shoved us around like cattle from table to table and it was all due to his poor planning with reservations. No need to go into the whole mess; it's over and done. But it did put a damper on our experience that night even though the food was so good. My greatest disappointment was the GDR where not only did I detest my entree all 3 nights we ate there, but the service was abominable through no fault of the servers. They were working as hard and as fast as they could, but we sat endlessly between courses and even longer for coffee and dessert. I hope this is not the way it's going to be and this was perhaps a one time blip. Keep in mind I love a long dinner 'hour' so if I say it was slow, it was sloooooow.

We went on only one tour: The Lobster and Catamaran Cruise in Antigua. We did this 2 years ago and loved it so much I booked it again. We weren't disappointed. I highly recommend this tour.

The Spa. I'm a low maintenance gal; always have been. But on our first Oceania cruise I discovered a massage called Sole Rejuvenation and there was no going back for me. I've had it several times on both Regatta and Riviera and I recommend it to everyone. This time I added the T-zone Massage and that was sheer heaven as well. I don't want to be pummeled all over, but these two massages do it for me.

However, I also chose something called Hair & Scalp Treatment which was a complete and total ripoff. It was one of the worst experiences I've ever paid for. It was supposed to last 80 minutes for $150 and include a head massage which, if you've ever had one in a salon, is heavenly. He was 15 minutes late taking me and the only good that came from it was my hair has been soft and nicely conditioned ever since. But truth is I can rub some oil in my head, wrap a damp towel around it, wash it out and blowout my hair for $0.00. And the blowout!!!! I wish I had a photo. I told him flat out I hated it. He said "perhaps a little teasing?" Hmmmm.....no. I don't think "a little teasing" is going to do it. I told him I'd fix it myself. I should have complained to the Spa manager, but in a surprisingly meek moment, I didn't. He charged me $120 for the approximate 45 minutes I was there and I got out as fast as I could. Ripoff! At least I used shipboard credit.

Imagine our excitement on the 3rd day at precisely the 72 hour mark we went off Code Red. The lightness in the air, the joy on the crew's faces, I swear you felt as though they'd sent up fireworks to celebrate the moment. Such a joy to walk to a table in Waves and see the familiar woven placements, cloth napkins, stemware. So wonderful to experience once again eating in Terrace with tablecloths, napkins, etc. The ship gradually began to literally shine again and the lustre we knew to be Riviera slowly returned.

And finally time to disembark. Why is everyone in such a hurry to get off the ship? They couldn't wait to get on; they can't wait to get off. Oceania is very efficient and all will be off within 30 to 45 minutes so why crowd the door? But crowd they did. Admittedly, because I have walking problems we had gone to Deck 6 at 8:00 to avoid doing a lot of walking at one time. But you would think they were giving $100 to the first 100 off the ship. Still, it went smoothly as always and we quickly found our bags and zipped through Customs. We headed home, picked up our dog at our friend's house and were back in our home at 11:00. This is one of the reasons we moved to Florida ... to be able to cruise so easily.

We have cruised since 1982. We began on Cunard and Royal Viking Line. We continued with Seawind, Regent, NCL, Holland America, Celebrity, Wind Star. So we've been on many different lines and of them all Oceania comes up as the cream of the crop. More expensive, absolutely. But we get what we pay for and I believe that Oceania is worth the extra cost. I'd rather cruise less on Oceania than more on some other cruise line. I've said it before and I'm happy to say again ... Oceania forever.

..........The travel agents did not get notified so their clients arrived with no prior warning. It was a big miscommunication lapse on Oceania's part and they should have told us what to expect for the 3 days. ..............

It was so great meeting and spending time with you both on this cruise. Had it not been for Noro, I'm not sure we all would have met up. But there was a bonding between many of us just days before the cruise! Wish you were going to be on our cruise next year, but I can't win 'em all!

I'm not sure we should blame Oceania for the miscommunication. After all, my TA got the letter from Oceania and forwarded it to me so there was a letter. It was sent to all TA's who had passengers on that sailing.

I ran into another one in our group who contacted her TA asking why they never received the letter. The TA mysteriously found it ... seemed to have gotten lost along the way. So maybe we should blame the TA's and not Oceania:) ... maybe some of them are too busy taking bookings and not busy enough serving those who already booked!!!

I've written a real review of the cruise itself and submitted to CC. I'm going to copy and paste in a new thread for anyone who might not read the Member Reviews.

I'm with Mura. And for the life of me I can't imagine why anyone would choose Jacques as a place to decorate the table and bring a 2 year old to celebrate whatever they were celebrating. It's about the last restaurant on Riviera I would choose for that sort of thing.

Guess we were lucky; there were no children on our cruise except for one adorable and sweet little boy, the son of one of the Chefs I believe.

Worthless poll because of the CC limitation and too many variables.

Why even comment then? If it's worthless to you, pass on by:).

Mentioning "DH" these days doesn't necessarily mean you are a female!

 

John

You are correct, John. My mistake. Personally I like people to identify themselves, have a name in their signature, post a photo. I have no need to be completely anonymous so as you can see I'm very open. Of course, I could be a 25 year old guy just posting under an assumed name. One never knows;).

Funny! And I had a pretty good hint that you were female. :D

 

I also used to follow you on HAL, and then we were on Celebrity, and now here we are on Oceania. :) Not to change the subject, but is HAL really become that awful? I miss some of the HAL traditions. Started cruising with them because of my parents. Some of the best cruises, food, service and memories!

 

Our 2/12 cruise was said to be an average age of 72. Not sure where that come from, but heard it on the ship.

I believe it has gotten that bad. So sad because we loved HAL. I spoke with s few people on this cruise who also once loved it and won't cruise on HAL anymore. Last year I had a weak moment and booked a week in an SA. I thought we could dine in specialty restaurants and maybe it would be comparable to Oceania. And then HAL canceled!!! They had a charter. They gave me a 3 month window to book beyond our original sailing with a perk of some kind. I said forget it and canceled. Never again.

I think to keep prices down, they've lowered too many standards. Such a shame; once such a great line.

I can see the average age being lower than what I said because there are some passengers in 50's, even younger. But definitely an older crowd. I never feel old😊

I'm a girl😃😃😃. But, Iamthesea, for the longest time reading your posts I thought you were male. Don't know why! Then you mentioned DH.

Judging from our cruises in the Caribbean, I'd guess the demographic to average 65 to 85.

SO glad that you had another positive experience ...thank you for your posts! (But I'm glad that you now have Immodium in your travel kit...a good precaution to take anywhere!)

I think it has a 2 year expiration ... I hope it expires:D.

Heather, I just want to add my voice to the chorus of thanks for all your reporting (give that girl a Pulitzer!) We haven't been on a cruise since Disney's Big Red Boat in 1991, so we might as well be newbies. We're booked aboard the Riviera from Venice to Barcelona in May, and yes, it's a long way off, but it's still our ship, and we're watching all this with interest.

 

We have learned so much from your posts about the ambience, the restaurants, the activities, the beds(!), the crew, and so much more. The noro was part of it too, and it was a very grave situation for those aboard, but your posts helped us keep it all in perspective. We are really excited about our trip, and I just want to say thanks for your positive attitude throughout a difficult time.

You made my day! Thank you :). I am going to write a review of our cruise for CC. If they publish it, I'll link it here on the forum.

Thank you all for such kind words. Reading CC days before, it was a little hard to stay positive and upbeat approaching our cruise; after all, stuff can go as wrong for me as it can for anyone else. I felt our cruise would be sort of a test run.

Don't worry about the crew! I've never seen people bounce back so quickly from adversity. And while I know this was their job and as in any job we all take the good with the bad, this entire mess way way harder on the staff and crew on Oceania than it was on the passengers as a whole.

I meant to mention that our Butler, Rathesh, spoke so highly about Oceania. He said they pay better than any other cruise line. He said he was happy to step up to work the extra hours to do his part to bring Riviera back. He admitted that not all crew members were as supportive during this period of time, but I got the sense that most of them were happy to go the extra mile for an employer who they felt very positive about overall.

Funny story ... my husband encountered one steward washing down probably the gizillionith table the morning of the 3rd day muttering under his breath "F*#, F*@, F*$#....." and so on:D. I can't say I blame him and it cracked Ray up. Sometimes you just have to let it go and vent!

Just to clarify any confusion, I am reporting on the cruise from 2/22 to 3/3. This was the first cruise following the Noro outbreak that forced the Riviera to return to Miami two days early. I had posted from my cruise and promised that I would provide more details upon my return.

It is my hope that my report does not begin yet another discussion about the past. We've pretty much done that to death here lately. This report was written to ease any concerns or worries of those boarding Riviera in the next couple of months.

A fellow CC'er suggested staying off CC at least a week before embarking on my Riviera cruise and looking back that might have been a good idea. On the other hand, forewarned is forearmed and I'm not sorry I boarded Riviera with my Immodium in hand:). But it was sort of like a $16 insurance policy; we never needed it:D

Otherwise the starkness that greeted me would have come as a shock. This was our 5th cruise on Oceania in 3 years and there was something missing almost immediately. We were one of the lucky ones and by 2:00 pm we were sitting in Waves having lunch. By 2:30 they announced Deck 11 suites were ready and for the first time ever our bags awaited us. Others weren't so lucky boarding much later than hoped and some not receiving their bags until after 7:00. I didn't go to Reception to observe the mayhem, but from what I heard it was not a pretty sight ... one woman evidently took to screaming into her cell phone to her attorney son. Not sure the outcome of that.

The tables were the first shock ... sterile blank canvasses staring up at us that generally would be set with the familiar woven placemats, white cotton napkins, silverware and stemmed glasses. It helped that I knew why. Once a table had been used, a steward quickly descended to swab it down with a solution that had to be left to dry for 5 minutes ... the time was written on the card. This continued for 3 days in Waves and Terrace. Everything everywhere was sticky including my hands because the new sanitizer was different than the past...took forever to absorb. I was fine with that.

In the rooms ... nothing. No ice, no champagne set up, no stationery, no books, catalogs ... cold, unwelcoming. But I knew why so it was okay. So happy this wasn't our first cruise. And the bright spot was the soft, yummy, Oceania bed was just as always and I could look forward to resting my weary bones after our endless hour long drive from West Palm Beach;).

The crew, so overworked, so obviously exhausted and trying to keep bright smiling faces. All, and I mean ALL, were working at least 14 hour days. Our Butler told us this was a top to bottom effort on the part of the entire staff and crew. Walls and all surfaces were continuously washed down. Our Butler did not come as quickly as usual to greet us, but assured me that all was going to be well and he was sure in a few days the restrictions, at least for the most part, would be lifted .... "if".

"If" no one gets Noro. So that hung over us like a pall, but it was hard not to enjoy ourselves because everyone put on the brightest face they could. And 72 hours later, at 2:00 in the afternoon as I looked down from my balcony at the dock in San Juan, I saw them remove the horrid spray and the gallons of it sitting nearby and this was replaced by the familiar sanitizer dispenser. Sure enough ... our Butler said we were AOK and good to go. Such relief ... so happy to see the white tablecloths returned to the Terrace with all the splendid place settings and stemware. And once again we had salt & pepper, butter, bread placed on the table. Ahhhhh.....

This is not a review of our cruise. But I did want to let you all know how much work Oceania put into cleansing the entire ship. The Riviera is not, as some have said, a "sick ship". If it were there would not have been cruises between November and February with no Noro outbreaks at all. Yet there were. So Noro is brought on by guests and it's no one's fault ... not Oceania and not the guests. We can argue that it is spread by people not doing what they should, but there is only so much Oceania can do about that.

I learned they brought in about 200 additional workers to aid in the effort from that fateful Saturday night when the Riviera returned early until we boarded on Monday. They removed every single piece of furniture that wasn't bolted down and it was taken into the terminal where it was cleaned. Can you imagine? The linens were all washed 3 times over. Curtains were taken down and cleaned. The entire interior of the ship was cleansed and treated with what I don't know, but it was super clean. Knowing I'd be embarking on a cleanest ship on the planet that day, I didn't even bring sanitizing wipes. But I sure did wash my hands more than I ever have in my entire life. We were constantly reminded to do this. Staff was placed outside all dining venues and Riviera Lounge. If a person didn't use the sanitizers they were motioned to do so, but this was rarely needed.

We had to divert to Grand Turk to let someone off the ship for medical reasons. Of course everyone worried, but we were told it was not a gastro problem. Later into the cruise a couple of people got sick and they were quickly quarantined (and not happy), but from what I heard there was no case of Noro.

While I can't speak to anything that happened on prior cruises, from the time Oceania returned early to Miami I don't think anyone could ask them to do any more than they did. On day 3 we were so happy to have our beautiful Riviera back and thrilled to see our crew truly and honestly happy when Code Red was removed. I spoke to many of them in the following days and they were all so excited to be polishing everything to bring our beautiful ship back to its original splendor instead of seeing streaks of dried antiseptic wash dripping down elevator doors and walls.

To thank us for our patience and for the difficulties some faced during embarkation, they offered an open bar one night toward the end of the cruise. It was very popular and they were giving away the really good stuff!

I applaud the crew, I applaud the staff, I love Oceania. I thank them all for working so hard. I realize they did this to retain the deserved reputation they have worked so long to achieve. To lose that would be so sad, but we their guests reap the reward of their hard work. I wish everyone cruising on Riviera in coming months a Bon Voyage and I so hope all will continue to be well.

Oceania is my cruise line ... now and forever.

Heather - Glad you had a good cruise and enjoyed the entertainment. Did you have Linda Gentille, the piano player? She is wonderful! We have heard her on a couple of Celebrity cruises and were surprised to see her on Oceania after hearing that entertainment was not a strong suite.

We had Ievgenni at the Piano and it was lovely whenever I passed through. The Riviera Orchestra is amazing, but what truly amazed me was the Riviera Production Cast. They worked unbelievably hard and we thought they were truly entertaining. Loved every show. I still love Tom Drake (Dottie's husband :) ) and I'm in love with Jamie Michael Stewart who's voice is simple amazing.

We're on board right now and everything is great. Spotless ship and no health problems, knock on wood.

I am so jealous and happy for you. Have a wonderful cruise! I so hope Riviera has kissed all her ills goodbye. I'll write in more detail in a separate post what they went through to cleanse the ship and it is beyond anything you can imagine.

We have returned today from the 2/22 Riviera cruise and will comment in next few days. All was well and everyone seemed to have a wonderful time. A couple cabins were quarantined in an abundance of caution but to my knowledge it was not Noro. There was a sprinkler system break affecting an Oceania Suite above us, but just a wet floor in hall on Deck 11. Felt bad the guests in the OS had to be moved to Concierge level.

My favorite part of the cruise this time was a surprise to me....the entertainment.

Contrary to previous post, the seas have been quite calm though some didn't like the unusual motion the other day ... and not only has no one "seemed" ill with Noro, they haven't been. That's why they lifted all restrictions. We've had beautiful weather.

I won't update again here unless there is some change, but highly doubt there will be. The crew is so happy; I've never seen such a change in people. They're laughing, smiling, they tell us we can't know how good it feels. So I hope this continues for all upcoming cruises.

we are in Antigo today and DH and I are looking forward to our lobster and catamaran cruise. Have a great day. 😃😃😃

All of my life I was encouraged to look at the bright side & accept the status quo...but I don't do that so much anymore. My stomach doesn't hurt all the time now, the way it used to, either!

 

It ISN'T OK with me at this point in my life to spend my vacation in a venue that is constantly being swabbed down with disinfectant that leaves great wet bubbles on tabletops the way it was on the last days of my O cruise that ended February 12 in Miami. That's NOT the way things are supposed to be in a 5 star venue, full stop.

 

Check out the boards on Azamara, Seabourn, Crystal, etc. Are they full of this sort of chatter? No, they are not.

 

So please demand more, so that you get what you have paid for.

I give up. Seriously. Come back to the bright side. Life is so much better here. The other cruise line forums light up like Christmas trees when Noro hits. And believe me it does. I can understand first timers being disgruntled if this happens on a cruise. But if you've felt positive about Oceania for years, suddenly you say game over because things didn't go well once?

What an entitled world we live in where the sun always shines and flowers are forever in bloom. No wonder there's so much divorce. Life is full of difficult times and what brings us a good life is how we handle them.

Anyone who wants smooth sailing all the time should stay home. But you might slip and fall in the bathtub and that can hurt. Plus you won't get to see what I'm seeing now from my chair in Horizons on a quiet morning approaching St Bart's, having a cup of coffee and looking out over the bow onto a calm and peaceful Caribbean Sea.

LRob, let me try to relieve your worry a bit more. I'm all tucked in my cozy bed. These beds are heaven. Had a delicious dinner and a fun show. Talked to several people and you can sense the relief since we knew this could last the whole cruise. I learned that Oceania brought in 200 or so extra workers those two days in Miami. They brought all furniture out of the rooms, whatever wasn't nailed down, to do almost a fumigation of the rooms. Many cabins were bare bones (no bed skirts, etc. we had no books, pens, pads etc. this was an unbelievable effort on Oceania's part. Remember this is more important to Oceania than any of us. We can cruise other lines.

Oceania and every ship at sea is at the mercy of every person who boards a plane. But they have done the very best they can and as much as I really didn't enjoy our first couple of days, I just can't blame them. But people who are sick have no business getting on a plane and/or lying on a form asking if they've been ill.

But right now I think your mother has less of a chance to get sick on this ship than any other. And bless you for wanting your Mom to have enjoy this treat. Try not to worry. I hope she has a fabulous cruise. This is such a beautiful ship, wonderful staff and really nice people onboard every Oceania cruise we've taken.

Good night😊💤💤