Review of Oceania Riviera

[Animalgirl27]

We just returned back from the Gondolas to Gaudi Mediterranean cruise aboard the Riviera. This is my 12th cruise, but first time on Oceania. Here is my review of the sailing.

 

Positives:

-The specialty restaurants are complimentary and the food is superior. There are many options and the food is always good.

-The bedding, amenities, and sizes of the rooms are generous.

-Oceania provides many free port shuttles.

-Soda and any non-alcoholic drinks are complimentary.

-There is no longer norovirus on the ship.

-The ship is beautiful and the crew is very friendly. Many of the crew will remember your name.

-There is no fixed dinning time. You may make reservations for a certain time in the specialty restaurants.

-There is no nickel and diming aboard the ship. There are no photographers or "gold by the yard" type sales.

-The cruise director was very friendly and did not make too many announcements.

-The spa facilities were free to use (sauna, steam room, etc.).

-There was complimentary internet included in the booking.

 

 

Negatives:

-You can not service yourself at the buffet.

-I constantly felt that I had to eat quickly and was afraid to put my fork down because someone would be coming to take my plate away while I was still eating.

-Even if they ask if you are still eating, some of them will still try to take your plate away.

-We had any poor experiences with the shore excursions. On a few excursions, if the tour guide was not wearing a microphone, you could not hear him at all. On one excursion, we missed THREE places because our tour guide was quick to rush us back to the ship 30 minutes before we were supposed to arrive back. Oceania discredited our claim and did not give us any credit. Extremely poor customer service on their part.

-Expect for the production shows and Emmanuel, the entertainment was not good and the ship lacked many activities. There was not much to do.

-The art is somewhat offensive on the ship. For example, there is a painting of someone holding a gun to someone's head. Another painting is two naked woman making love. There's an ugly blow up head every time you leave and come back on the ship.

-Oceania flew us back on a low cost carrier. There were no tvs on the back of the seats, no usb chargers, and no complimentary alcohol offered on the transatlantic flight like most airlines offer.

 

Overall we had a fantastic time. We will definitely sail Oceania again. You definitely get what you pay for. Hopefully they will build newer, slightly bigger ships in the future. Please let me know if you have any questions about the ship and I will be more than willing to answer them.

[LEESRE]

Thanks for your review. We sail next week

[LHT28]

Negatives:

-You can not service yourself at the buffet.

 

This is a positive IMO

 

Thanks for your opinions though ;)

[Noxequifans]

No self service in the Terrace cafe is an important plus for us.

[Glenndale]

 

 

Negatives:

-You can not service yourself at the buffet

 

For me that is a big plus

 

Hopefully they will build newer, slightly bigger ships in the future.

 

There are plenty of monster ships out there for those of you who enjoy them. Many of us prefer the smaller ships.

 

 

Glad you enjoyed your experience overall.

[JPR]

I also take issue with your complaint about no self-service in the Terrace Cafe. That is essential to reduce the risk of norovirus and other bacterial infections onboard.

I would love to be able to serve myself too, but the rule makes very good sense.

[ORV]

This is a positive IMO

 

Thanks for your opinions though ;)

 

Lyn, on the Marina they have added full length glass to some of the stations like you've mentioned before.

[LHT28]

Lyn, on the Marina they have added full length glass to some of the stations like you've mentioned before.

good news

Maybe someone is listening :D

[Flatbush Flyer]

This is a positive IMO

 

Thanks for your opinions though ;)

 

 

Amen! Not letting folks touch the food service is one of the most positive things any cruise line can do.

[golfguyhhi]

AnimalGirl:

 

"Oceania flew us back on a low cost carrier."

 

May I ask which airline? And, were you in coach?

[Travelcat2]

I enjoyed reading the review and agree with some your comments - both positive and negative. The biggest disagreement is that I hope that Oceania does not build ships any larger than the Riviera (which is borderline too big for many customers).

 

P.S. To those of you that like being served in the Terrace Cafe and believe that this is keeping you safe somehow, it seems that Oceania had more illness issues in the past year that their sister cruise lines combined. Serving yourself vs. self-serve did not protect Oceania's guests IMHO.

[JVNYC]

I enjoyed reading the review and agree with some your comments - both positive and negative. The biggest disagreement is that I hope that Oceania does not build ships any larger than the Riviera (which is borderline too big for many customers).

 

P.S. To those of you that like being served in the Terrace Cafe and believe that this is keeping you safe somehow, it seems that Oceania had more illness issues in the past year that their sister cruise lines combined. Serving yourself vs. self-serve did not protect Oceania's guests IMHO.

 

Not to bring up the horrid Riviera norovirus thread again (boy that was tiring), I tend to disagree with your statement. I'm not a gambler but I would bet that most of the passengers are the ones that brought the virus on board. Oceania is not doing anything different than it always does. I am beyond glad Oceania is serving me at Terrace, I don't want to touch those utensils after stupid people that don't wash their hands have been touching them. Eeek! Yes, I believe that is keeping me safe.

[golfguyhhi]

JVNYC:

 

AMEN to that!!!!!!

[Classiccruiser777]

Amen! Not letting folks touch the food service is one of the most positive things any cruise line can do.

I agree. Far too many times I have witnessed men using the restroom without washing their hands on the way out. On other lines I have also seen passengers handling food then putting it back. If I had to attribute the source of norovirus to a segment I would place the source on the passengers.

[RedneckBob]

Good review with pros and cons.

 

I agree about quality of shows and lack of entertainment. Thank goodness for the daily putt putt tournament or I don't know what I would do.

 

As far as buffet, I like being served; don't take very long because their are a lot of servers. Beats having someone put there hands on the food.

 

And one more thing. I will be on the Riviera in Feb17. Can you give me the exact location of the painting that shows two naked ladies making love :D

 

RedneckBob, I'm out.

[globevest]

Thank you for your review. Like other O regulars I prefer being served in the Terrace Café.

[Travelcat2]

There is no need to touch the utensils unless you want to. Using a napkin to handle utensils works fine. If anyone were to see a passenger "touching" the food, I assume they would report it. The Terrace Café issues are not a huge deal to me as we are not fond of the food in this dining venue. While it looks wonderful (lobster, steak, sushi, etc.), we find the quality less than what we are used to and the space (on the Riviera) crowded. Additionally, it seems as if the training area for new crew members is in the Terrace Café.

 

The bottom line for us is that we would rather not eat (or order room service) than dine in the Terrace Café. On the other hand, we have no problem ordering food from Waves and having it delivered to us in the Terrace Café. Love the food in Waves (as well as in the specialty restaurants).

[Animalgirl27]

AnimalGirl:

 

"Oceania flew us back on a low cost carrier."

 

May I ask which airline? And, were you in coach?

 

They flew us back on Air Canada Rouge. We were in coach. There were no tvs, chargers, or complimentary alcohol that most international flights offer. The seats were very tight as well. I know many of you do not like larger ships. I am not saying Oceania should build a Harmony of the Seas, but something a little bigger with more entertainment would be fabulous. There is not too much to do on Oceania and the entertainment is not very exciting on many nights. I do plan on giving Celebrity a try. I can see why many of you enjoy someone serving you at the buffet for safety reasons.

 

I forgot to mention that they were letting people wear jeans in Toscana! Shame on Oceania.

Edited August 13, 2016 by Animalgirl27

[LHT28]

They flew us back on Air Canada Rouge.

:eek:

I would be upset as well

we have flown to FLL on Rouge but glad I had paid for the Bus class seats

Edited August 13, 2016 by LHT28

[golfguyhhi]

They flew us back on Air Canada Rouge.

 

From what I've read about AC Rouge on Tripadvisor's Air Travel boards, I have to say I'm very disappointed to hear that Oceania used that line to fly you back to the US.

 

If word got out that it was one of Oceania's regular "air included" airlines, it might push more people to pay the deviation fee and choose different flights. Could be a pretty good little revenue generator for the company.

 

Of course, that could never happen, could it?

[LHT28]

From what I've read about AC Rouge on Tripadvisor's Air Travel boards, I have to say I'm very disappointed to hear that Oceania used that line to fly you back to the US.

 

Could be their contract with Air Canada includes flights on Rouge, Jazz

 

Some routes are Rouge only no A/C regular flights

 

I had booked A/C to FLL last yr a month or so before they switched the flight to Rouge ..at that point the prices on other carriers were more than I paid or not convenient so we stuck with the Rouge flight

Like I posted above glad I was in Bus class ..it was fine

[Sabbycat]

AC Rouge has a terrible reputation among Canadians.

 

We have our Oceania trip next year out of Barcelona. AC Rouge is the only type of flight to fly direct from Toronto or Montreal to Barclona. And so we will either book in "rouge business class" or more likely take a route on regular AC that takes us via Frankfurt so that we get true business class.

 

Be aware Air Canada no longer flies their regular aircraft to a lot of vacation destinations, but rather their low-cost rouge.

[globevest]

Sabbycat......On July 3rd we flew Barcelona to Toronto on Rouge after disembarking from Riviera. I had never heard of Rouge until my TA, a few weeks earlier, told us our seats were Air Canada Rouge 4 C & E. We had paid $199 each for 'Premier' seating which I thought was just a extra few inches of legroom in economy. A little research on 'seat guru' showed that we were in the forward cabin which seated 24 passengers.

 

What a very pleasant surprise when we boarded. The seat spacing was similar to first class seating 20-25 years ago. A drink, free of charge, was offered before take off. Can you imagine my amazement when a table cloth was placed on your drop down table before serving dinner on china and utensils were stainless steel. After dinner I stretched out (reasonable recline on the seat) and slept 3 hours:D Alcohol was served throughout the flight.

 

More research, when I got home, showed me that the $199 extra was clearly an O subsidized extra. However as best I can tell the real price for Economy Rouge Extra (not sure if that is exactly the term) was nearer $400 pp.....well worth the service provided compared with the price of business class on AA, United. Delta etc.

 

As we live in central Ohio Canada Rouge is now on my list of flights to be checked when traveling to Europe.

[LHT28]

Sabbycat......On July 3rd we flew Barcelona to Toronto on Rouge after disembarking from Riviera. I had never heard of Rouge until my TA, a few weeks earlier, told us our seats were Air Canada Rouge 4 C & E. We had paid $199 each for 'Premier' seating which I thought was just a extra few inches of legroom in economy.

 

sounds like the same experience on our FLL flight

Premium Rouge is very much like A/C Business except the meals are better on regular A/C flights

 

If you have to fly Rouge ...upgrade :D

[JPR]

Rouge Alert!!!