Riviera Review

4.5 / 5.0
782 reviews

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Review for Transatlantic Cruise on Riviera
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Artruro
6-10 Cruises • Age 50s

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Sail Date: Nov 2015
Cabin: Concierge Level

Very disappointed in this cruise. The ship is wonderful, the crew was very effective - if not the best I have ever seen, but I was very disappointed in being turned away from Bemuda due to a "norovirus" outbreak. No compensation was ever offered for the extra time at sea, even upon request. It turns out that 70 passengers and 10 crew were sick....but does that mean they had norovirus, or were just seasick or had weak systems? (Age may be a factor here). At any rate, this issue caused us to negotiate the ship carefully due to the cleaning slime that was swabbed everywhere; tables, doorknobs, walls, rails, etc. The food, or course, had to be well cooked - which put a new twist on fine dining. Also disappointed in the array of clothing worn by gentlemen to the dining room - crocs, zip-off pants, shoddy shirts; I think the return to the "jacket required" rule would solve the issue. In spite of this preventable disaster, we enjoyed the entertainment, but will likely return to other cruise lines with a younger demographic in the future.

In spite of the bad experiences as noted, the ship is very nice. There are some amenities missing, it seems to be built for a crowd that goes to bed a 10 pm. The Horizons lounge did have dancing every night, and was well attended - probably 50 people each night. The shows were excellent, and the "house" entertainers were very good. NCL trains them well at their boot camp for the whole NCL group, including Oceania. The fitness facility was the smallest I have seen on a cruise ship, and the most crowded. I think they need to re-think the use of the facility and make it bigger. Sometimes it seemed more like a physio clinic than a gym, but it was well used. Embarkation and disembarkation were very efficient, which is probably typical for a small ship. To summarize, Beautiful ship, awesome crew, great entertainment, but a really bad experience with a very elderly crowd and a virus. This will likely be my first and last cruise on Oceania, so: My advice - save your money and go to an all-inclusive.

Cabin Review

Concierge Level

Cabin was wonderfully appointed, the best I have seen in 5 cruises. The bathroom was really large.

Port Reviews

Barcelona

Awesome port of call

Cartagena (Colombia)

Unbelievable, and a nice small city. We docked right at the marina.

Malaga

Amazing city. Very walkable. Lovely. Nice cruise terminal, very walkable.

Madeira (Funchal)

Amazing city. Took the cable car for the view. We want to go back. A gem in the Atlantic.

Nassau

Typical Caribbean. One day is enough. Sun was wonderful.

Miami

Crowded. Busy. Big. Good place to end a cruise and head home.

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