We have just experienced six weeks cruising on the NCL Star chosen for the itinerary. The refurbished ship is basic, clean. and most staff are friendly. Staterooms are about 1/2 the size of a standard hotel room; comfortable with basic amenities, but not very soundproof. Hopefully your neighbours on all four sides are respectful and considerate of others. The Bliss Lounge is now dark without ...
Background information: We are veteran cruisers with many years of cruising in different parts of the world on different cruise lines (includes Oceania, Disney, RCI, Celebrity, Princess, Holland America, Cunard). This was our 30th cruise, our longest cruise to date, our eighth on Oceania and our first on Sirena. I have done several other cruise reviews on Cruise Critic.
This cruise was ...
The itinerary was perfect for us giving us a chance to see Athens before sailing then 3 days in Israel docked in Haifa. The size of the cabin and Oceania's reputation aided in the decision.
When we planned this we were looking for something going to Israel and the length of time we were going to be there was the most attractive aspect.
Cruising to the Greek islands was an added ...
My husband and I have cruised many, many times on different cruise lines. This was our first Oceania cruise and chose this particular cruise because the Riviera has a good reputation and this 17 Day cruise spent 3 days in Israel - in addition to a number of Greek Islands and a few Italy ports. Oceania claims to have the best food at sea - and I tend to agree with that. Oceania also claims to ...
I’m going to focus on just a few issues and explain our perspective, as that may help you decide how relevant our opinions are to you. This is by far the biggest ship we’ve ever cruised on. Our experience has been with expedition cruises, especially National Geographic Lindblad, and small luxury ships, especially Seadream. Some people might not think Riviera is large, but we do.
We were in a ...
We cruised on the Riviera from 19 April through 29 April for the Sacred Sanctuaries itinerary. We cruised on other lines in the past, but decided to try Oceania for the stop in Israel and the particular stateroom that we selected.
We had a bit of a nightmare getting to Athens to get on the cruise, but that has nothing to do with Oceania. However, we made it! We found the embarkation ...
We did the Europe trip and was very port intense but we had a really good time!
Once on the TA we had time to enjoy ship. We were in Athens for 4 nights prior to cruise explored as much as we could. Embarking and disembarking was smooth as silk. Our cabin stewards great ! Cove Balcony excellent cabin. The serenity area was very nice. My husband and I are scuba divers we went diving in ...
We choose these cruises for the itinerary : Mediterranean and Transatlantic. Overall we thought it was terrific. The ship was beautiful, great expansion of outdoor sitting areas, more subdued, classy decorating and fabulous staff. The live music entertainment was very enjoyable from shows to groups playing around the ship. Our cabin staff and dining room staff were great. I was concerned about ...
We just returned from a back to back cruise. the Carnival Vista is a very beautiful ship. They are still trying to work out some quirks. Our Cabin was beautiful and our cabin steward was excellent and helped with any needs we had. The dining service took some getting used to. Carnival has changed some things up. No more table cloths. Not as much doting, smaller wait staff, and not as much ...
Getting on the ship, a mass of people pushing and shoving and no clear lines to move through in orderly fashion. A disaster in the making.
New ship = confusing directions at each of the elevators (not enough of these), and poorly laid out public space.
People trying to sell you photos/spa services at every turn was annoying.
Food was ok, better on formal nights. No table linens was ...