Reporting from Riviera

[clo]

7 minutes ago, Paulchili said:

I agree. As foie gras was not available in CA, I got a few cans of it on our last visit there (as I just recently did again in France + some rillettes. 😀)

I've never bought it in a can.  I understand it's already cooked.  I've only bought whole, fresh lobes from Hudson Valley.  I need to get more.  

Edited November 22, 2019 by clo

[DeanoNorthPerth]

On 11/21/2019 at 10:13 AM, ORV said:

 

As many of you know the new interactive tv system is in place. Better than the old system. I think the carpets are new and different in staterooms. 
 

 

I've lost track of the Next upgrade schedule. Has Riviera had hers?

[ORV]

2 hours ago, DeanoNorthPerth said:

I've lost track of the Next upgrade schedule. Has Riviera had hers?

I think so. Also the waiters in the GDR are using IPad type devices to take orders on. I think that this has definitely speeded things up. 

[ORV]

18 hours ago, TexEm said:

Please let us know how your port day in St. Bart’s is.  We’re on Riviera in late December/early January and haven’t figured out anything to do there on our last port day.  We haven’t been there before.  

It was nice, we've been there before. Mostly high end shopping at the port area. No DI or related stores. Teresa finally succumbed to the siren song of LV. 

[TexEm]

Thanks, Clo for the link to the Travel & Leisure article. We’re eating at a specialty restaurant aboard Riviera the night of our St. Bart visit, so Maya’s on the Go sounds like someplace to pick up some light early snacks.

 

ORV, I’m glad to hear no Diamonds International.  I finally figured out what LV is, not too many of those here near Fort Worth TX.  Have you ever taken a taxi for a tour around the island?  I’m getting the feeling there aren’t tour vendors waiting for us at the port.

[jeanine]

On St. Bart’s we rented a car to drive around the island to a beautiful beach, Was well worth it. 

[babysteps]

We've been there just 2x on a port stop, each time we walked over to Shell Beach, did some swimming & then enjoyed the restaurant there for lunch.  It can be helpful to walk over (when they open) to make a reservation for slightly later.  This is not the best food on the island, but it's quite good and is hard to beat the view combined with a glass of rose, and (depending on your table) your toes in the sand.  Hamptons-like prices, not quite "Paris + export" but ymmv (and some St. Barts restos defintely are $$$$$, not just $$$). 

 

Definitely fun window shopping on the way there and back.

Edited November 22, 2019 by babysteps

[UDSpud]

To LHT28 (Lyn?) re: posting 11/21/2019 at 3:04.

 

Based upon recent comments on this board (if not this topic), you may have all  ready had your last "Oceania plastic straws".  

 

By the way, my middle name is Lynn, sorry if I took one of your "n's

[LHT28]

3 hours ago, UDSpud said:

To LHT28 (Lyn?) re: posting 11/21/2019 at 3:04.

 

Based upon recent comments on this board (if not this topic), you may have all  ready had your last "Oceania plastic straws".  

 

By the way, my middle name is Lynn, sorry if I took one of your "n's

 

In April on the  cruise  we had the paper/cardboard straws

 

many places here also have the paper straws ..some are better than others ..

 

PS you can have the "N"   my name is Lynda  ..Lyn is shorter to type LOL

 

[clo]

27 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

 

In April on the  cruise  we had the paper/cardboard straws

 

many places here also have the paper straws ..some are better than others ..

 

PS you can have the "N"   my name is Lynda  ..Lyn is shorter to type LOL

 

The newer ones are bamboo.  Hard to tell them from plastic.

[ORV]

16 hours ago, TexEm said:

Thanks, Clo for the link to the Travel & Leisure article. We’re eating at a specialty restaurant aboard Riviera the night of our St. Bart visit, so Maya’s on the Go sounds like someplace to pick up some light early snacks.

 

ORV, I’m glad to hear no Diamonds International.  I finally figured out what LV is, not too many of those here near Fort Worth TX.  Have you ever taken a taxi for a tour around the island?  I’m getting the feeling there aren’t tour vendors waiting for us at the port.

No, we haven’t gone on a tour around the island. I’ve heard it’s worthwhile. All kinds of vendors in St Lucia & Antigua wanting to take you on tours. 

7 hours ago, clo said:

The newer ones are bamboo.  Hard to tell them from plastic.

Oceania didn’t get that memo. 

[ORV]

I believe I mentioned on our last cruise on Marina that they did not use the little cloths on the floor at night. They are still using them here on Riviera. 

 

Lot's of folks running around sad today, tommorrow is disembarkation for most on board. We're on for the next one. The boutiques were pretty active last night. I expect the will be today also. 

 

Have I mentioned the food has been really good? 

 

One thing I've noticed is that there is a reduction in the quality and varieties of spirits with the Prestige package. Best rum available at Waves bar is Bacardi White or Mt Gay. Really? Only about 3 single Malts available, but the Macallan Quest is pretty good. Still a good selection of Tequilas & Vodkas. 

[LHT28]

56 minutes ago, ORV said:

Have I mentioned the food has been really good? 

 

One thing I've noticed is that there is a reduction in the quality and varieties of spirits with the Prestige package. Best rum available at Waves bar is Bacardi White or Mt Gay. Really? Only about 3 single Malts available, but the Macallan Quest is pretty good. Still a good selection of Tequilas & Vodkas. 

I hate those  floor things

we would just put them on the table when returning to the cabin ..I tried  to get housekeeping to stop leaving them but the staff are on auto pilot & just leave them anyway

 

That is not sounding very good

Maybe  they are losing money on the top brands  being in the package with people ordering doubles & triples

 

Enjoy

[Mura]

I'm not so sure they are on auto pilot -- it may be that they are required to do so by their supervisors.  I've mentioned before how when we once asked for the sheets NOT to be tucked in the cabin steward said her supervisor would find fault with her if she did so.  On later cruises, though, policy seemed to have changed because they did leave them "untucked".

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, Mura said:

I'm not so sure they are on auto pilot -- it may be that they are required to do so by their supervisors.  I've mentioned before how when we once asked for the sheets NOT to be tucked in the cabin steward said her supervisor would find fault with her if she did so.  On later cruises, though, policy seemed to have changed because they did leave them "untucked".

We asked her not to leave the mats  she said her supervisor would object

We had the supervisor  come to the cabin (we did not ask for her)  one day & she OK'd the  mats to be left out of our cabin  worked for  a day or 2 then the mats appeared again

We just made a joke with the stewardess  about them & she said sorry it is just automatic with them  ..they have a system & it is hard to deviate LOL

[Mura]

Well, that's certainly credible.  If the standard is to leave those things on the floor by the bed, and they have x-number of rooms to prepare, then it can be easy to forget the one cabin that asked you NOT to do so ...

[Benita]

Thanks for the updates, Orv. My husband and I are joining you tomorrow and staying on until December 15.

[ORV]

A bit chilly here in Miami today. Experienced cruisers that we are, my wife and I sillily forgot to set the clocks back last night. They only mention it in the Currents and no card on the bed anymore(at least not on this cruise) .So we were up around 5 am walking around the track, thinking it was 6. I first said, "boy it's sure dark this morning, and for disembarkation day there's hardly anyone out"

 

 

[dcsam]

It may be too much to ask. And it may be too late.  But if you’re out and about and happen to go by cabin 7087 or 7084, could you snap a few pics of the interior and balcony?  There are no online photos (and I’ve searched a lot).  I thought it might be easy to do since it’s a turnaround day. No worries if it doesn’t happen.   Thanks so much!

[travelingTW]

I’m sorry. I saw this too late. 

[RJB]

5 hours ago, ORV said:

A bit chilly here in Miami today. Experienced cruisers that we are, my wife and I sillily forgot to set the clocks back last night. They only mention it in the Currents and no card on the bed anymore(at least not on this cruise) .So we were up around 5 am walking around the track, thinking it was 6. I first said, "boy it's sure dark this morning, and for disembarkation day there's hardly anyone out"

 

 

Card on my bed last night.    Thing we did not have was hard copy of end of cruise survey. They want us to do it on line.  Not too easy to find it.  How cheap can they get.   I bet most people did not fill it out.   Maybe theyn did not want to know the answers.   We had a great time.  All was well even the production shows were very good/ 

[pinotlover]

37 minutes ago, RJB said:

Card on my bed last night.    Thing we did not have was hard copy of end of cruise survey. They want us to do it on line.  Not too easy to find it.  How cheap can they get.   I bet most people did not fill it out.   Maybe theyn did not want to know the answers.   We had a great time.  All was well even the production shows were very good/ 

In August our CD announced the new format starting a couple days prior to disembarkment. I believe the survey can only be done online and while still aboard the ship. Having WiFi long enough to complete the survey was an issue and I had very few comments!

[RJB]

3 hours ago, pinotlover said:

In August our CD announced the new format starting a couple days prior to disembarkment. I believe the survey can only be done online and while still aboard the ship. Having WiFi long enough to complete the survey was an issue and I had very few comments!

If they really want our comments they need to go back to old system.  I am sure many people do not have laptops or i pads.  A lot are older and do not know how to use them anyway. 

[ORV]

14 hours ago, RJB said:

If they really want our comments they need to go back to old system.  I am sure many people do not have laptops or i pads.  A lot are older and do not know how to use them anyway. 

It’s for the good of the environment. 😑  Now if we could only do something about the daily barrage of papers left on the bed each night. I guess we only care about the environment when it’s a convenient money saving excuse. Sad 

 

Kind of like the “enhancements”to the O club.
 

I’m curious if the dinner with senior officers is also only on milestone cruises like the tote bag.  I’m starting to think they need to rethink the “loyalty” part of the name. 

[Rob the Cruiser]

15 hours ago, RJB said:

If they really want our comments they need to go back to old system.  I am sure many people do not have laptops or i pads.  A lot are older and do not know how to use them anyway. 

 

Many people do have laptops or iPads but they prefer to enjoy the cruise rather than surfing the internet.