Riviera January 3 - It's the (Old) Girls Gone "Wild" cruise!

[travelglobetrotter]

brought back memories of my sessions with him last May on Insignia. Best massages ever, and my chronic sciatica problems were a thing of the past, at least for 5 or 6 months. Enjoy your time rehabbing your shoulder and healing so you can enjoy your snorkeling etc. Marlene

[bennyblanco]

On the Riviera in less than 3 weeks, holy moly Lee, thanks for giving us such a delightful feedback on the Riviera, after all those grumpies complaining about everything the last several months, so fun to read! Keep us updated and have a wild one!

[kazu]

Great posts. :)

 

So happy that things are going as they should. Great to hear.

 

And it sounds like you are having lots of fun :)

[TrulyBlonde]

Lee, I am Happy to read Happy. Now you can see what we enjoy about cruising on O.

[Iamthesea]

LeeAnne - Enjoying your refreshing review! :)

 

Everything sounds wonderful and so much better than I have been reading about the Riviera lately. :rolleyes: I am especially pleased to hear about the massage/physical therapist onboard. Hope he is still there in mid February. Maybe he can fix my shoulder, too. :D

 

Could you do me a favor? We are staying in 7111 when we cruise next month. Do you think you could get a photo of the balcony from your balcony and post it here when you return?

[SellaVee]

You're doing the right thing taking the chance of those massages. Keep us posted with how you get on.

 

Sounds like you're having a great time.

[potterhill]

Ask you room steward about a second mattress. Ours volunteered it and it made all the difference.

 

Enjoy your cruise. Sounds like you are off to a good start.

 

Mo

[mpfund]

I, too, have shoulder problems and would love it if Siddhu could solve them! Do you know if he can be booked by name, or do you get whoever is on duty? Also, what is the charge? Finally, I am not really big on massages, do you know if he can just work on my shoulder?

 

I'm loving reading your reports! We're on the same ship this Feb.

 

Thanks for any info you can give me.

[Iamthesea]

I, too, have shoulder problems and would love it if Siddhu could solve them! Do you know if he can be booked by name, or do you get whoever is on duty? Also, what is the charge? Finally, I am not really big on massages, do you know if he can just work on my shoulder?

 

 

Hey! I called dibs on Siddhu first! :D :D He is going to wonder where all the refs came from when we ask for him. :)

[cruisingxpert]

LeeAnne - Enjoying your refreshing review! :)

 

 

 

Everything sounds wonderful and so much better than I have been reading about the Riviera lately. :rolleyes: I am especially pleased to hear about the massage/physical therapist onboard. Hope he is still there in mid February. Maybe he can fix my shoulder, too. :D

 

 

 

Could you do me a favor? We are staying in 7111 when we cruise next month. Do you think you could get a photo of the balcony from your balcony and post it here when you return?

 

 

Not Lee but here are some pics of 7111 or 7108 someone posted in an earlier post.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[canuck.qc]

These are my pics of cabin 7111. I absolutely recommend this cabin!

You will enjoy the extra space and the open side of the balcony.

Bon voyage:)

[cruisingxpert]

These are my pics of cabin 7111. I absolutely recommend this cabin!

You will enjoy the extra space and the open side of the balcony.

Bon voyage:)

 

Hope you don't mind me stealing them:D I thought they were really good pictures so I saved them. I have friends in 7111 and 7108 on an October cruise.

 

One thing I did notice last year when someone invited me to see their cabin - 7111 - was that the crew now seemed to be giving the less comfortable plastic slatted lounge chairs.

 

Catherine

[Iamthesea]

Thanks Catherine ...canuck.qc has shared his photos with me before. Thought it would be neat to see the veranda from above, though. ;)

[cruisingxpert]

Thanks Catherine ...canuck.qc has shared his photos with me before. Thought it would be neat to see the veranda from above, though. ;)

 

Lee Anne won't be able to take a picture of 7111 or 7108 from her balcony because she is at front of ship and those cabins are closer to the back of the ship. She might be able to see 7008 or 7009 which are the same type of cabin near the front.

 

Catherine

Edited January 5, 2016 by cruisingxpert

[GeezerCouple]

Lee Anne won't be able to take a picture of 7111 or 7108 from her balcony because she is at front of ship and those cabins are closer to the back of the ship. She might be able to see 7008 or 7009 which are the same type of cabin near the front.

 

Catherine

 

She'll probably have a terrific view of those after extended balcony cabins.

 

We just got off the Riviera (a WONDERFUL cruise!) and we were just a few suites beyond where she is.

 

Of course, we did have a slightly better view of the extended balconies that were near the front, but we could see that aft extended balcony perfectly and the two deck chairs that were positioned to look out where we were headed (or perhaps at the Bridge, with or without flashing thoughts...:eek:).

 

One concern mentioned previously is the wind while under way.

Perhaps someone can comment on this: if one is seated back from the exposed area, is there still a lot of wind (perhaps reflected off the side wall of the balcony)?

If not, this seems to be an amazing "best of both worlds" balcony :)

 

Lee Anne: Who is your Butler?

We had Xavier, who was terrific, and made a big difference in our trip, although the ship itself was the best part.

 

(And as we've written before, NO PROBLEMS WITH NORO or even Noro precautions. It turned out to be a total "non-issue", except for our worrying in advance, and also the packing space wasted taking some Noro-appropriate wipes. But we were delighted NOT to need them, of course.

If we hadn't been reading CC, we would have been wonderfully naive about even the possibility.

However, we'd also prefer to "know" than not to know - and to have the chance to be prepared for <whatever>.)

[harryw]

We're also onboard and concur with LeeAnne that this is a fantabulous trip (as Van Morrison would sing). We were concerned about past posts of O lapsing, but so far all is well, measuring up to our past 7 Oceania cruises. Ship staff are well motivated and have great dispositions. Embarkation went smoothly, service in the Terrace Cafe, MDR, and Waves has been attentive, the food delicious...and the huevos rancheros special at Waves breakfast was a treat. Found a well informed driver at the dock that gave a great tour of Grand Turk today. With 3 ships in dock, we had concerns, but enjoyed ourselves. Having a wonderful time! And we gad a nice CC meet and great yesterday at 3 pm in Horizons....

 

Harry and Carol

Edited January 5, 2016 by harryw

[Iamthesea]

Lee Anne won't be able to take a picture of 7111 or 7108 from her balcony because she is at front of ship and those cabins are closer to the back of the ship. She might be able to see 7008 or 7009 which are the same type of cabin near the front.

 

Catherine

 

OK, just going on what LeeAnne posted here:

we were booked in one of the extended balcony cabins on deck 7 (7111). I can see those balconies below us, and yes they are very nice and big!

 

GeezerCouple - LeeAnne posted earlier that he Butler was Rosario. ;)

 

Can someone tell me if a bathing suit cover-up can be worn in the Café over the suit?

Edited January 5, 2016 by Iamthesea

[cruisingxpert]

OK, just going on what LeeAnne posted

/QUOTE]

 

She is looking down on the forward extended balconies. Dec 7 has extended balconies on forward cabins and aft cabins - 7111 being near the aft. If she does take a picture it will give you a good idea of what people see but 7009 would be open facing toward back of ship. Some people say they prefer ones at the front because the wind will blow past your protected side rather than into your open side on the aft ones.

 

Catherine

[ORV]

Can someone tell me if a bathing suit cover-up can be worn in the Café over the suit?

 

I'm pretty sure the answer is no. Have you checked the O website. Maybe someone knows for sure. I have seen men without shirts asked to put one on in Waves. Are you talking Waves or the Terrace?

[buggins0402]

Can you describe your cover-up? Mine is sleeveless shift that hits a couple inches above the knee and is not see through ( think cover-up a nun might wear) so I could probably get into dinner there ( wouldn't do it though).

[LHT28]

I wear a sundress over my suit or slip on some shorts & top

Depends on the cover -up ..lacey see through may not be accepted

 

If your suit is damp they do not want you sitting in the cloth chairs in the Terrace

I do not see a problem in Waves with a cover up that is shorter but never tried to sit there

[GeezerCouple]

OK, just going on what LeeAnne posted here:

 

 

GeezerCouple - LeeAnne posted earlier that he Butler was Rosario. ;)

 

Can someone tell me if a bathing suit cover-up can be worn in the Café over the suit?

 

Thanks - I missed that (obviously! :o)

 

I'm not sure how many suites each Butler has (or where they draw the dividing line... or whether it changes from cruise to cruise, perhaps depending upon vacancies - our cruise, over the holidays, apparently was completely full).

We were just a few suites away, and I think Xavier might be on Deck 12 now, but not sure. He was wonderful, but I assume most Butlers are, or they wouldn't be in that position.

 

As for a cover-up, I'm not sure about the "rules".

 

We saw a few women in Terrace (lunch time, not dinner, but we weren't specifically looking for such) in swimsuits with, how to put this... very flimsy "cover parts up" that didn't do much of anything other than perhaps fulfill some requirement (if there was one).

I wouldn't have felt comfortable in something like those.

On the other hand, there were women who pretty obviously had swimsuits on under coverups that really were "cover ups", but didn't seem out of place (in our minds, obviously).

 

The dinner 'set up' at Terrace Cafe was a bit less casual, and in general so was the attire.

However, we were only there at dinner time a few times.

At either time, there was quite a wide variety in attire.

(We weren't there for breakfast.)

 

At Waves, it is all next to, and completely open to, the pool area, so other than being seated at a "table" instead of a lounge chair, there isn't anything that draws a line at where Waves begins and the pool area ends.

I'd expect a lot more flexibility in "dress code" (formal code or not) in Waves, given that someone could come out of the swimming pool and walk a few steps over to waves for some refreshment.

 

At the Terrace cafe, it is quite different. It is obvious that one has just entered a dining venue.

 

BTW, we found that the meats (sliced when one orders) at Terrace cafe were often excellent, a nice surprise.

[m1k2s3]

While we're waiting for LeeAnne to update us, I thought I'd wade in on the cover up issue. The Oceania website indicates casual, resort wear at dinner - it doesn't mention anything else. Resorts typically allow cover ups during lunch. So IMO, I would say if your wearing a cover up that isn't transparent and isn't too short, then you'd be ok wearing it to Waves for lunch - but I wouldn't wear it in the Terrace Cafe.

[Iamthesea]

I'm pretty sure the answer is no. Have you checked the O website. Maybe someone knows for sure. I have seen men without shirts asked to put one on in Waves. Are you talking Waves or the Terrace?

 

All the website says is no swimsuits and bare feet.

 

I would think that the Terrace Café is similar to Celebrity (and other cruiselines) casual lunch buffet venue where bathing suits w/cover-ups, and sandals are excepted and usually the norm in dress for a nice day at sea. I am really surprised that men are asked to put on shirts at Waves.

 

I have 3 types of cover-ups. A longer hooded, thick t-shirt material. A chambray shirt type. And I have a nylon open weave. All 3 hit at or just above the knee.

Edited January 6, 2016 by Iamthesea

[ORV]

While we're waiting for LeeAnne to update us, I thought I'd wade in on the cover up issue. The Oceania website indicates casual, resort wear at dinner - it doesn't mention anything else. Resorts typically allow cover ups during lunch. So IMO, I would say if your wearing a cover up that isn't transparent and isn't too short, then you'd be ok wearing it to Waves for lunch - but I wouldn't wear it in the Terrace Cafe.

 

Hope Leeanne comes back soon, otherwise no telling where we'll hijack her thread to.

 

One thing to keep in mind is that there are additional instructions in Currents concerning dress in dining venues that you don't see on the website. I think this might be where I read the thing about cover ups, but I might have dreamed it also.

 

There are some things mentioned that are not appropriate in any dining venues at any time. Doesn't mean it doesn't happen.