How does Nautica compare to Riviera?

[titong]

My wife and I took our first Oceania cruise on Riviera and loved it. We are now considering a cruise on Nautica. Is there any difference between Riviera and Nautica in terms of specialty restaurants, buffet quality, and rooms? Do they have a laundry room on each floor? Most important: do they have the grilled lobster every evening in the buffet like they do on Riviera?

[LHT28]

The Nautica & Regatta are half the size of the O Class ships

There are 2 specialty restaurants, Polo & Toscana

cabins are smaller

1 laundry room on deck 7

no grill section in the Terrace

Just some of the differences

if you compare descriptions in the brochures of the O Class ship & the R-class ship you will find other differences

The crew are still very good along with the food (subjective of course)

 

It is a personal preference but both class of ships have their Pro's & Con's

 

Enjoy

 

Lyn

[Mura]

If you started on on Riviera, you *could* be disappointed with the smaller ships.

 

On the other hand, MANY of the long term Oceania fans prefer the smaller ships. Yes, there's not so much of a choice in dining venues and the cabins are smaller. But intimacy has its advantages as well!

 

It's really hard for us to say to someone "you'll love it the same" because -- well, there are no guarantees.

 

DH and I pretty much feel neutral about the differences. There are things we prefer on the bigger ships, other things we prefer on the smaller ships.

 

Others have a definite preference for one or the other.

 

As Lyn has said, only one laundry room, so it can be crowded. But if you choose hours (say, cocktail or dinner hours) you can have the place to yourself. NEVER try to do laundry on a sea day on the smaller ships because you will have LOTS of company!

 

Good luck in deciding!

 

Mura

[Jancruz]

Mura, I agree with you 100% I have been on Marina and 2x on Riviera and am looking forward to going back to the small ships..I miss the size and ability to know almost all of the passengers..I prefer the MDR on the small ships and I miss the library among many more things..so until you have tried them both its hard for us to explain the difference in the feeling on board the R class ships..

Jancruz1

[CAG]

We have been on 11 Oceania cruises. Four of them on the new O class ships. In March we head back to the Nautica. It will be interesting to see if indeed you can "go back" and enjoy it the same way you have in the past. I agree with Jan, that it is much more intimate on the R ships and much easier to meet more of your fellow passengers. I know going in I will miss the laundry room on each floor (this will be a 25 day cruise with a 4 day pre cruise trip), and the extra two speciality restaurants along with La Reserve but I have no doubt we will still love the experience.

 

I will try and come back on the board after we return to give an opinion.

Cenia

[Tansy Mews]

Mura, I agree with you 100% I have been on Marina and 2x on Riviera and am looking forward to going back to the small ships..I miss the size and ability to know almost all of the passengers..I prefer the MDR on the small ships and I miss the library among many more things..so until you have tried them both its hard for us to explain the difference in the feeling on board the R class ships..

Jancruz1

Jancruz, you miss the library? Isn't there a library on Nautica? I thought there was. Is it not as fully stocked? Important to know if you are on a trip with many sea days. On our recent cruise, we made extensive use of the library on Marina.

[LHT28]

Jancruz, you miss the library? Isn't there a library on Nautica?

It is just not the same feeling on the larger ships

I am with Jan on the small ship's library & the cozy feel of the smaller ship's

 

As I said both sizes of ships have Pro's & Con's for us

 

But the itineraries on the larger ships seem to be winning for now ;)

 

Lyn

[Mura]

I was remiss in failing to mention the library on the "R" ships because that is my favorite place on those ships! Yes, there's a library on the "O" ships but it doesn't compare in atmosphere ...

 

Mura

[eddmel]

As much as we loved the library on the R ships, it is perhaps too comfortable. Specifically, some choose it as a place to catch a nap which detracted from the ambiance. The design on the O ships makes it a bit more uncomfortable to sleep which is fine with us.

[Mura]

Your point is well taken but I still prefer the "R" ships' Library ... despite that one cruise where one woman spent a lot of time sleeping in the Library.

 

Did I mention she also snored?

 

Mura

[findacruise]

As much as we loved the library on the R ships, it is perhaps too comfortable. Specifically, some choose it as a place to catch a nap which detracted from the ambiance. The design on the O ships makes it a bit more uncomfortable to sleep which is fine with us.

 

On all 3 of our Mairina cruises there were people sleeping in the library and it made it more difficult to get to the books withour disturbing them. We, too, will be going back to an "R" ship in June fter 3 straight cruises on the Marina. I know I will miss the larger bathroom, for sure but i am looking forward to seeing how I feel about the rest. It's just a 7 day cruise wih only 1 sea day, and I do like the intimacy of the R ships. We have the 30 day African cruise scheduled next January on Nautica and that will be a real decider. Time will tell.

[Paulchili]

I agree with much of what has been said above.

Personally, I love the O class ships for the food and R class for just about everything else.

People keep saying the the cabins on the R ships are smaller. In reality they are about the same size (albeit older design) because most, if not all, of the extra sq. footage on O class veranda cabins goes the the bathrooms and not the cabin itself. Of course, the bathrooms on O ships are bigger and nicer but the storage space and the closet design is inferior on O class veranda cabins vs the R ships, IMO.

When talking about the PH and above, O ships win hands down.

YMMV

[hondorner]

We started on Regatta for 26 days and were hooked. We subsequently sailed Insiginia a couple of times and loved it. Then, we sailed Marina for 34 days and were won over. Then, we went back to Regatta and were very happy. After a total of 32 days on Riviera, it's our favorite, hands down. Still, after 14 more days on Riviera in April, we'll be back on Regatta in July.

 

Which is better? They are all Oceania, and it doesn't get any better than that. We don't dine at the Terrace very often and rarely use the grill when we do, so we don't miss it on the R ships. I think I prefer Polo and Toscana on the smaller ships more than the larger ships, and I sort of miss Jacques and Red Ginger, but we prefer the Grand Dining Room on anyof the ships. I do miss a couple of the sandwiches at Waves not available on the R ships.

 

I like the theater better on the larger ships, primarily because of the higher ceiling, better sight lines, larger stage and better accoustics, but I like Oceania's entertainment on either class of ships.

 

Here's a place where I differ from almost everyone else -- I actually prefer the shower in the standard veranda and ocean view R ship bathrooms, despite the clingy curtains! In the R ship penthouse and above, one has to climb over the tub, and in the O class bathrooms the shower is a bit tight. The R ship showers are roomier. The perfect bathroom on the O ships would have no tub and a shower about twice as large, with the extra space given back to the cabin.

 

The pool is nicer on the O ships because of the stairs, and the spa pool on Riviera is the best of any of the ships.

[wristband]

All good points above. One more diff: Riviera has Baristas, a delightfully situated coffee/expresso bar with large windows overlooking the pool deck, a counter to sit and read or talk, along with expertly made Illy coffees. Nautica does not have such a separately designated coffee bar.

[Mexfolkart]

Nautica does indeed have a library like Regatta and Insignia..we are going for 25 days and doubt we could do that without the library..we love it! If people doze off thats OK with us as it just shows they are comfortable!

We are bringing books along and will then leave them on Nautica once read. The library is a huge selling point for us.

Sherry & Kimber

[no fuss travel]

I thought I read somewhere that the Nautica and Regatta were being remodelled. Something about a grill being added and a Baristas. The one thing they could not add was a cooking class. Maybe that is in my imagination.:eek:

[LHT28]

I thought I read somewhere that the Nautica and Regatta were being remodelled. Something about a grill being added and a Baristas. The one thing they could not add was a cooking class. Maybe that is in my imagination.:eek:

Yes FDR did mention about the upgrades in 2014 ...I believe he said they were looking into the GRILL idea

 

It may come down to space constraints

Barristas could be done easily though in the GDR bar area ;)

 

Lyn

[LHT28]

I thought I read somewhere that the Nautica and Regatta were being remodelled. Something about a grill being added and a Baristas.

Here is his post

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=36435526&postcount=14