Riviera Review
Rating by category
Additional details
The boat is beautiful, the service wonderful. The other travelers were terrific. Aside from some issues with the cabin, it was an ideal trip. There were a couple of ports that weren't worth a stop, but maybe they needed to - and the prices of the excursions are prohibitive. We started by just putting a few in the "cart" online and the price was as high as the entire cruise with just a few days worth of excursions, so we emptied the cart! Luckily we found cruise critic and were able to make arrangements with tour providers along with others who were sailing on the same ship. Often we would be on a private tour with just one or two other couples, a tour we would pay $75 pp to take, and see the Oceania tour group while we were out who we know paid $250 pp for the same tour but with a much bigger group and giant bus. Highly recommend the ship, the food was beyond wonderful, the rooms beautiful. Don't pay the crazy amounts for the tours, use TripAdvisor and find recommended tours at a fraction of the price (they know to get you back on time!) The other people on the cruise were fabulous as well - great clientele. We would definitely take another Oceania cruise, but would be sure we got a room that wasn't directly under a deck and be sure we took our own excursions.
Cabin Review
Penthouse Suite
I gave the cabin 3 stars - it was absolutely beautiful and comfortable! The bed, the bathroom, the whole thing was beautiful. There were 2 things that prompted me to give this particular cabin a 3. 1) It is directly under the deck - there is no bedroom above it. We spent nights with pillows over our heads from the noise - people stay up late (one night till after 4 a.m.) partying and are constantly moving chairs around and clunking on the hard deck directly above head. Get a PH1 on 11, but do NOT get this one!!!! 2) It is not cool enough at night. We were in a very hot climate. We had it turned to the coldest possible setting, and I requested engineering come in to make it cooler but it didn't do anything - every time I mentioned to our "butler" who was very nice, he would put his hand in the air and say "it's cool enough" - but we did not agree and were generally up at least once or twice during the night because it was too warm. We should have the choice to make it as cool as we like, people have different tastes when it comes to room temperature while sleeping.
Port Reviews
Cartagena (Spain)
Not much here. Wasn't worth a stop in my opinion.
Florence (Livorno)
Winery and Volterra. Wonderful!
Ah one more thing. There is NO internet!!!! They say there is WiFi, and they charge you for a very expensive package. It virtually never works. I found a few places on the ship where I could get a connection that was so slow it was unusable - so if you actually need to be connected to the world you really cannot take this cruise. It is surprising that in this day and age, people can be totally disconnected from their lives for so many days - though of course you can always use your cell phone (if you have an international package) while in ports.