Riviera Review
If you are under the age of 75, please read before you book with Oceania
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We were excited to travel on Oceania with our family of 5 and booked 2 staterooms for my husband, myself and our three sons in a separate stateroom. We were told by our Oceania travel representative and also confirmed with Oceania's website that there would be a Teen Club on board, a game room and a basketball / sports court on the top of the ship of which there was none of the above mentioned things for our teenage sons. There was NOTHING for my boys to do on this ship. The only game room is a casino and you must be 21 to enter. The sports court was in fact, miniature tennis (elderly sport) or shuffleboard. The food was okay at best. Red Ginger and Jacques were both very good and Toscana was above average. Polo Grill was terrible, truly terrible. The Grand Dining room was sub par as well and the Terrace Restaurant was a slightly upscale version of a Luby's cafeteria. The shore excursions were okay but one at Alicante, Spain to a beach at El Campello was terrible. We were literally dropped off a bus (after circling the block a few times) and pointed to the beach and then the bus drove away. It was supposed to be a resort beach but it was just a beach, no chairs, no umbrellas, no water sports, no bars, no nothing. We called to be picked back up and two hours later, we finally made it to a real beach to explore on our own. When we asked for a refund, we were offered 50% back only and told it was an outside company that does the excursions separate from Oceania and that is all they would refund. Unacceptable! The entertainment was all targeted to the over 75 crowd and was frankly bad. During the cruise one night, our stateroom toilet began to flush on its own and water began to pour over the top. I didn't see the drain in the floor so I was very concerned that water would begin to flow on to the carpet in our stateroom. I called the front desk and was told someone would come and take a look. After three minutes and no one coming, I called back as I was worried about the water and the receptionist literally scolded me and said "YOU CALLED ME 3 MINUTES AGO!". She was very rude. After the amount of money we spent, it was a sorely disappointing experience. I would not recommend Oceania nor will I ever travel with them again.
Cabin Review
Verandah Stateroom
Our cabin attendant was very good and very sweet. The cabin was spacious and well laid out. It was comfortable. The outside deck was tiny and not really big enough for two adults to sit out there comfortably. The bathroom was very nice and roomy.
Port Reviews
Toulon
Not sure why we docked in such an industrial port that was pretty far from all the excursion options. We spent over an hour and a half each way on a bus to the town of Marseille. The weather was rainy and the majority of our time in Marseille was spent creeping very slowly up a big hill in a bus that was too big to be dropped at a cathedral with beautiful views but due to the rain, there was no view. We then slowly made our way down said hill to only be given 45 minutes to explore Marseille on our own which was not even enough time to eat lunch.
Saint-Tropez
Loved Saint-Tropez and highly recommend exploring it on your own. Loved that the ship was anchored close to the main part of town so it was convenient to walk everywhere. We spent our time exploring the town and then enjoying the afternoon pool side on the top deck of the Hotel de Paris.
Alicante
Covered this earlier but we were dropped off on a deserted beach with no chairs, umbrellas, nothing to do, etc. We were finally picked back up and two hours later we were on our own on a nicer beach and in the town. We asked for a refund and were given 50% back which was also unacceptable.
Malaga
Loved Malaga and our group of 8 did a City Segway Tour on our own and it was GREAT!
Lisbon
Good location at the port to walk on our own. Our group did a Tuk Tuk tour and dinner out on our own that night. Our three teen sons were finally able to go out and enjoy some European night life away from Oceania.