Have cruised many times on many different lines. This was our first on Oceania and this Eastern/Southern Caribbean cruise makes a good argument for being the best ever. We were 12 nights on the Riviera....beautiful ship, fantastic service and awesome food. The Riviera is not a big ship so easy to navigate, very clean, great pool area, nice public spaces and small quiet niches. We were in cabin 8087, balcony mid-ship, great location. Larger than average sized cabin, dark wood paneling, lots of storage space, very comfortable bed with good reading lights, LARGE bathroom actually large enough for two people at the same time with separate shower and tub/shower.

Dining is what might put this line over the top. We ate in the Terrace Cafe or Waves Grill for breakfast and lunch....excellent buffet with grill for omelets, pancakes, waffles and eggs. All serving is by the staff which we greatly appreciated. You can either dine inside or outside on the patio overlooking the stern of the ship (Waves is all open air dining). Service is fantastic and staff are available and almost insist on carrying your plate to your table.

Dinner was either in the Polo Grill (steakhouse), French, Italian, Asian, Dining room or the Terrace Grill. Reservations, but no extra charge, is required for all restaurants except the Dining Room or the Terrace Grill. All venues are really good and we determined that this is by far the finest dining we've experienced on a cruise. No one restaurant was better than the next, but we enjoyed dining outside in the Terrace Cafe. The dinner buffet was great with very good variety, carving stations and a grill with lobster, shrimp, salmon, chicken and steaks. We liked seeing what we got and got as much or little as we wanted and found that we could get more variety here and it was very nice dining under the stars. I should also mention that the desserts were to die for. Baristas coffee bar was a favorite early morning hang out. A very nice perk is the smoothy/ice cream/milkshake/malt bar at the Waves Grill. Read more