Riviera - Athens to Barcelona report

[DC0743]

Embarkation:

I have never actually experienced the embarkation process being on the ship itself. When we arrived, we were led onto the ship and into the theater, where we completed the embarkation process. The process was smooth and we were done in about 10 minutes.

 

The Ship:

Being new, the ship was naturally very clean and perfectly maintained. There was elegance to the way the ship is designed and decorated. The wood was darker than on most ships and the paintings and glass artwork were excellent.

 

The Stateroom:

My first impression of out A1 stateroom was that it appeared smaller than the square footage would suggest. This was because Oceania includes the balcony in the overall room size. The room was well appointed, but was a bit short of storage space. One very nice touch was the “soft close” feature on most of the drawers and cupboard doors. This reduces noise considerably coming from adjacent rooms. We either had very quiet neighbors, or there is better sound insulation between rooms than any other ship we have sailed on. We were on deck 11 and you could hear the crew stowing and putting out the deck chairs and if someone was running or wearing high heals on the deck above. Luckily there were no late night activities on deck 12.

The couch was very comfortable and the bed was clearly the most comfortable I have ever experience on any cruise ship (and most hotels).

The bathroom was well appointed and nicely laid out. My only complaint was that the shower was designed for someone that is shorter and thinner than I am (6’ – 205). I have had smaller showers on a ship, but I personally would rather have a larger tub/shower combination than both a shower and a tub/shower.

Overall, I felt the room design on the Celebrity Infinity was better, but the execution (materials, etc) was better on the Riviera.

I don’t think I would do an A1 room again as I did not feel the “perks” over a B class cabin were worth the expense. The concierge room did not offer anything that was not readily available elsewhere on the ship and I never felt we received “priority” anything. I also did not like that we still could not get a hot breakfast in the room.

 

Service:

Overall, the service was outstanding. Ironically, the only service that I felt could have been better was at the guest relations desk. On a previous cruise on Celebrity, I had a possible problem with a credit card charge and the guest relations desk called the CC Company for me and let me check out the possible issue. While on the Riviera, I found my bank put a hold on my ATM card; when I asked at guest relations if they could assist with calling the toll free number, they told me to call from my room and that there would be a $6.95 per minute charge – end of discussion.

Our room attendant was very friendly and extremely efficient. She was like a ninja the way she could swoop in and clean the room in minutes. The wait staff in all the restaurants (except waves – where we had incorrect orders 3 times in a row) were very attentive and accommodating. Once in the Terrace Cafe I was trying to decide on a pasta dish but didn’t see anything that particularly interested me. As I began the walk away the server said “if you don’t see what you want, I’ll make something for you”. He then made a custom white sauce for my pasta that was very good. He even checked with me later to make sure it was OK and if I wanted more.

Several days into the cruise, they provide you with a comment card asking about service, food, etc. I filled this out honestly and mentioned the lousy steak I had in Polo grill. The next day, I received a call from the Maitre d, and the Executive Chief asking about the issue. This is the first time I ever felt that the survey forms were actually read and that they cared about improving things.

 

Food:

Overall, I found the food very good, but I never had a main course I would consider outstanding. The Main dining room had a good selection and the food was very good. The Terrace Café had an excellent selection of very good food. The couple we were traveling with felt the sushi, lamb chops and lobster in the Terrace Cafe were excellent. The baked goods were excellent, always fresh and flaky.

 

I was most disappointed in Polo grill. In the two times my wife and I dinned at Pollo, one of our steaks would be dry. None of the steaks had much flavor. I actually had better steaks on my flights to Athens (American Airlines and Iberia Airlines). Our friends also mentioned feeling the steaks were not up to the hype of Polo Grill. I did enjoy the Osso Buco in the Toscana Restaurant (though Celebrity’s was better). The food in Red Ginger was probably the best of the specialty restaurants (we did not try Jacques). Our friend’s vote would be for the food in Toscana. The service in the specialty restaurants was always excellent as were all our appetizers, side dishes and deserts. The ship also has an excellent wine selection with choices from all over the world. One tip would be to make your specialty restaurant reservations early. I tried 30+ days before the cruise and did not get any of the dates and times I wanted.

 

Miscellaneous:

Kudos to Oceania for having a reasonable Alcohol Policy! We brought wine and spirits on board a couple of times and they never gave us a second look. Not like most lines where you are treated as public enemy number one. We were able to enjoy a relaxing drink on the balcony each evening without breaking the bank. We still purchased a couple of bottles of wine on board during the cruise for drinking in the restaurants. What you don’t finish, they will hold for you. I was amazed how quickly they would have your bottle of wine at your table when you told them they were holding an open bottle for you.

 

I would have to say that my biggest complaint of the entire cruise was the useless computer in our room and the terrible Internet connection. I purchased a 100 minute package and I spent most of the time restarting the computer in our room. It would consistently loose the ship’s wireless connection. I became so bad, that we were forced to go to the computer center to check our email. Even with that, the connection was so slow as to be almost useless. I used up the 100 minutes to accomplish what should have been completed in 15-20 minutes. Don’t waste your money.

 

Conclusion:

It comes down to “would I cruise on the Riviera again?” In a hear beat. I’m looking forward to trying it when there is a little more down time (read “days at sea”) where we can enjoy the ship more.

[globevest]

Thank you for your detailed and thoughtful review.

[Love.II.Cruise]

Embarkation:

I have never actually experienced the embarkation process being on the ship itself. When we arrived, we were led onto the ship and into the theater, where we completed the embarkation process. The process was smooth and we were done in about 10 minutes.

 

The Ship:

Being new, the ship was naturally very clean and perfectly maintained. There was elegance to the way the ship is designed and decorated. The wood was darker than on most ships and the paintings and glass artwork were excellent.

 

The Stateroom:

My first impression of out A1 stateroom was that it appeared smaller than the square footage would suggest. This was because Oceania includes the balcony in the overall room size. The room was well appointed, but was a bit short of storage space. One very nice touch was the “soft close” feature on most of the drawers and cupboard doors. This reduces noise considerably coming from adjacent rooms. We either had very quiet neighbors, or there is better sound insulation between rooms than any other ship we have sailed on. We were on deck 11 and you could hear the crew stowing and putting out the deck chairs and if someone was running or wearing high heals on the deck above. Luckily there were no late night activities on deck 12.

The couch was very comfortable and the bed was clearly the most comfortable I have ever experience on any cruise ship (and most hotels).

The bathroom was well appointed and nicely laid out. My only complaint was that the shower was designed for someone that is shorter and thinner than I am (6’ – 205). I have had smaller showers on a ship, but I personally would rather have a larger tub/shower combination than both a shower and a tub/shower.

Overall, I felt the room design on the Celebrity Infinity was better, but the execution (materials, etc) was better on the Riviera.

I don’t think I would do an A1 room again as I did not feel the “perks” over a B class cabin were worth the expense. The concierge room did not offer anything that was not readily available elsewhere on the ship and I never felt we received “priority” anything. I also did not like that we still could not get a hot breakfast in the room.

 

Service:

Overall, the service was outstanding. Ironically, the only service that I felt could have been better was at the guest relations desk. On a previous cruise on Celebrity, I had a possible problem with a credit card charge and the guest relations desk called the CC Company for me and let me check out the possible issue. While on the Riviera, I found my bank put a hold on my ATM card; when I asked at guest relations if they could assist with calling the toll free number, they told me to call from my room and that there would be a $6.95 per minute charge – end of discussion.

Our room attendant was very friendly and extremely efficient. She was like a ninja the way she could swoop in and clean the room in minutes. The wait staff in all the restaurants (except waves – where we had incorrect orders 3 times in a row) were very attentive and accommodating. Once in the Terrace Cafe I was trying to decide on a pasta dish but didn’t see anything that particularly interested me. As I began the walk away the server said “if you don’t see what you want, I’ll make something for you”. He then made a custom white sauce for my pasta that was very good. He even checked with me later to make sure it was OK and if I wanted more.

Several days into the cruise, they provide you with a comment card asking about service, food, etc. I filled this out honestly and mentioned the lousy steak I had in Polo grill. The next day, I received a call from the Maitre d, and the Executive Chief asking about the issue. This is the first time I ever felt that the survey forms were actually read and that they cared about improving things.

 

Food:

Overall, I found the food very good, but I never had a main course I would consider outstanding. The Main dining room had a good selection and the food was very good. The Terrace Café had an excellent selection of very good food. The couple we were traveling with felt the sushi, lamb chops and lobster in the Terrace Cafe were excellent. The baked goods were excellent, always fresh and flaky.

 

I was most disappointed in Polo grill. In the two times my wife and I dinned at Pollo, one of our steaks would be dry. None of the steaks had much flavor. I actually had better steaks on my flights to Athens (American Airlines and Iberia Airlines). Our friends also mentioned feeling the steaks were not up to the hype of Polo Grill. I did enjoy the Osso Buco in the Toscana Restaurant (though Celebrity’s was better). The food in Red Ginger was probably the best of the specialty restaurants (we did not try Jacques). Our friend’s vote would be for the food in Toscana. The service in the specialty restaurants was always excellent as were all our appetizers, side dishes and deserts. The ship also has an excellent wine selection with choices from all over the world. One tip would be to make your specialty restaurant reservations early. I tried 30+ days before the cruise and did not get any of the dates and times I wanted.

 

Miscellaneous:

Kudos to Oceania for having a reasonable Alcohol Policy! We brought wine and spirits on board a couple of times and they never gave us a second look. Not like most lines where you are treated as public enemy number one. We were able to enjoy a relaxing drink on the balcony each evening without breaking the bank. We still purchased a couple of bottles of wine on board during the cruise for drinking in the restaurants. What you don’t finish, they will hold for you. I was amazed how quickly they would have your bottle of wine at your table when you told them they were holding an open bottle for you.

 

I would have to say that my biggest complaint of the entire cruise was the useless computer in our room and the terrible Internet connection. I purchased a 100 minute package and I spent most of the time restarting the computer in our room. It would consistently loose the ship’s wireless connection. I became so bad, that we were forced to go to the computer center to check our email. Even with that, the connection was so slow as to be almost useless. I used up the 100 minutes to accomplish what should have been completed in 15-20 minutes. Don’t waste your money.

 

Conclusion:

It comes down to “would I cruise on the Riviera again?” In a hear beat. I’m looking forward to trying it when there is a little more down time (read “days at sea”) where we can enjoy the ship more.

 

Thank you for taking the time to post a review. On Regent we did the embarkation process on board. Actually, it could have been a complete disaster. We were walking on the pier near the bow towards the crew waiting for us to board, when I had a Marilyn Monroe moment... my skirt flew up in the air and while I was trying to recompose myself I dropped our passports and boarding info... which started tumbling in the wind towards the ocean. :eek:

 

I dropped my carry-on which contained my laptop with my dissertation (I know... could this get any worse???)... and started running full speed towards our passports and sailing documents. The crew saw it all and started running full speed towards us to help! Fortunately we caught everything before it tumbled into the ocean. ;)

 

We loved the onboard embarkation. I recall us getting a glass of champagne as a welcome aboard... a very nice touch on Regent! ;)

 

What happened to you about your CC company is horrible. Our company has done stops on us in ports, and the store we are in (like jewelry) has always contacted the CC company for us. Now we always tell our CC company when and where we are traveling and we've never had any issues.

 

I'm glad you wrote a review and we enjoyed it. Thanks for posting.

[john2003]

It is worrying that you still had Internet problems after they apparently spent a lot of money to avaoid a repeat of the Marina problems.

[Aruba]

I dropped my carry-on which contained my laptop with my dissertation (I know... could this get any worse???)... and started running full speed towards our passports and sailing documents. Fortunately we caught everything before it tumbled into the ocean. ;)

 

We loved the onboard embarkation. I recall us getting a glass of champagne as a welcome aboard

I think I would have need something a lot stronger than a glass of champagne if that had happened to me. :eek: