We selected the Oceania Riviera Sept 18 - 30, 2017 Barcelona to Venice because of the itinerary and the desire to try another cruise line. We have cruised with Holland America, Celebrity and Viking previously. The draw to Oceania was the supposedly upscale travel and food raves by previous cruisers. It barely lived up to either.

The Oceania excursions are expensive and the poorest quality we have ever experienced. Typical excursion was a drive to a location, a very brief, inadequate description of the location, little background/history, followed by - "I'll meet you here in an hour." We had a wonderful guide in Rome and that was it. We had purchased an excursion from Oceania in every port. The folks who did Hop on Hop Off buses or hired taxis in ports had much better tours than we had for half the cost or less.

The food was off and on even in the fine dining restaurants. I was looking forward to the Polo Grill because others said how wonderful it was. My filet was suppose to be medium rare, it was served closer to medium. Called the waiter over, next try closer to medium rare but still over cooked. I gave up and ate it. Others found better meals in the Terrace Cafe than the main dining room. Usually main dining room was pretty good for us. Read more