Loved the itinerary - many locations we had not visited. However a horrible cruise overall. Booked our flight through Oceania as part of the cruise package and arrived at the airport to find out that our flight was cancelled the day before. No notice received from airline(Austrian Air) or Oceania - frustrating way to start a vacation. Thank goodness we arived early at the airport and was able to find a substatute flight. Booked a Penthouse suite and expected suite service. We entered our suite after the 10th floor suites were released to find out our bathroom had not been cleaned. Towels were changed but shower was littered with previous guest used ammenities and toilet was plugged. Butler service was all smiles and no service. With all the advertising bosting the "finest cuisine at sea" and endorcement by Master Chief Jacques Pepin, cuisine in main dining room was very ordinary and the specialty dining venues were not much better. Tuscan Steak house and Jacques are not worth going to, Polo Grill was just OK and the best cuisine was at the Red Ginger. The Terrace Cafe had the most consistant reasonablly good cuisine. On the last night in the main dining room I had a Ceasar Salad only to find a "fingernail" inbedded within the salad. I complained to the Mater'd who notified the chief. The chief had a "it happens" attitude and was upset that he was asked to make an appearance, suggesting the foreign object was a piece of plastic! Entertainment was non- existent. Would not recommend Oceania to a friend! Read Less

This was a honeymoon cruise and expectations were high. On the third night of the cruise our shower lost pressure only to regain pressure while gushing hot thick brown water. Thank God my wife was not in the shower, otherwise her being covered in thick brown water would have ruined our honeymoon. I was told by reception we would have a plumber address the situation right away only to have our cleaning person assure us that a "water test" had been conducted. This attempt at a solution was insulting. I asked reception if we could have access to any available shower to sanitize only to be told that there was nothing they could do. A plumber left an indecipherable message confirming a leak the next day, but at that point I had already sanitized myself with a cold shower and hand sanitizer (...and slightly regained my wife's confidence that I wasn't completely defiled by sewage). We were apologized to with a cheap bottle (also insulting since we don't drink). Providing a shower would have resolved the problem. Instantaneously being told no when asked for showering options was disappointing. We tried to enjoy the remainder of the cruise, however the open berating of staff by management, the repeated errors made by the Destination Staff and wait staff, and the chaotic disembarkation force us to consider other options for future cruising. We avoided the entertainment (lack of interest) and specialty restaurants. We had booked all the specialty restaurants but cancelled after Red Ginger staff consistently got our order wrong. Read Less

We selected this cruise for the itinerary and specific ports. We believed Oceania was in the luxury category, and the Riveria would be a lovely ship with excellent food and service, even though the entertainment would be limited to that of larger cruise lines. We arrived at the cruise terminal and check in went quickly. However, there was a considerable walk to the ship over gravel with carry on luggage. We had no idea it would be a small hike to the ship, as we have never experienced this with any of out other cruises. The ship looks tired and in need of renovation, including cabin. The pool area is very small. The food was awful, unappealing, warning signs of undercooked meat everywhere, wait staff, with the exception of two, were unpleasant, boarding on rude, and in the buffet, would swoop down to clear your plates without even asking if you were done, and while your other guest was still eating .. They would start to turn off lights while people were still eating and room was still full so the could shut the buffet down. There was no personal service the entire trip, with the exception of the 2 wait staff and our steward. Destination services rude and unhelpful and advised an excursion was cancelled. Port cancelled due to weather and they could not get us into another port so we had to rock at sea for 24 hours. So disappointed by the entire Oceania experience and would never go on their cruise line again or refer them to anyone. Read Less

We are 4 time cruisers on Oceania, 3 times on Riviera and 1 time on Marina. We LOVED Oceania! But this cruise was a huge disappointment!! First up was the food.. they advertise that its for foodies of which we are.. we did love their food and thought is was truly the best of all the lines we travelled on. On the first day (embarkation) at the Terrace Buffet (one of my favourite places to dine on the ship) I noticed that instead of having 4 choices on the main buffet they had 4 of the same thing.. the service was unorganized in the Terrace, some of the servers just wandering around and not even looking to see if you are trying to call them (their were other servers at the other dining venues that were really great) I racked it up to first day embarkation but it was just the start of a bad situation.. don’t get me wrong the food is not bad.. but it has really really gone down hill since last year. I heard they were bought by Norwegian so maybe this is why?? I find it hard to believe that any of the wonderful french chefs are still aboard this ship... the food and presentation at most dining locations was mediocre.. Then there was NOROVIRUS!! We got sick on the 3rd day but pretty sure it was not from Noro, we felt it was food poisoning, we were sick just once and the runs for a few hours and then we were ok. Our cabin attendant found it necessary to report us to the ships infirmary on Tues, they took away our guest cards, basically locking us in the room for the next 48 hours (coming in with masks, rubber gloves, food was brought into us on paper plates, plastic knives and forks, plastic cups and the food was alway served cold, they fumigated our whole cabin, bed and all) Don’t get me wrong I understand the need to quarantine people that have NORO, but we were not diagnosed with NOGO. The “nurse” only came in the day later, we had no temperature taken, a couple of questions as to how we were, a bottle of immmodium and another pill for the nausea and she was gone, we never saw anyone from the infirmary again. We were treated as if we had leprosy..even fellow passengers were not admitting to anyone if they were part of the sick group or not, other passengers commented that we must have lied on our declaration at the airport and really were sick. For me, if you have NORO the last thing you would want to do or could do is fly and travel.. I realized now that a ship is the last place you want to be if you are sick, it’s a dictatorship and you have no rights. Now, we were on the list of sick people along with others that “maybe" had Noro. Once we were out of quarantine and given back our cards we were still on this list and could not get off in the first 3 ports.. of course the cruise line blamed it on the ports and did not take any responsibility for the outbreak or even our situation. Talking to officers on board the comment was “well some tourists must have been sick and brought it on the ship”. Just remember that this was the 3 sailing since Dec that Riviera had an outbreak. We were not notified by our travel agent or Oceania prior to sailing that this had taken place. When we asked Oceania what compensation we could be given the answer was NONE... When we asked out travel agent why they didn’t tell us, they claimed they didn’t know and they said when they called Oceania, they were also unaware there had been any outbreak before this, or even on this cruise... Like really??? I won’t bother to mention what others have on reviews before me.. the crew washing down walls, elevator buttons, railings, door handles, basically everything was wet and sticky. The Library was closed, the artists loft was closed, the cooking classes were cancelled.. and this is not a reasonably priced cruise, I would consider it fairly expensive compared to other lines, so the bar was high. Frank Del Rio and the others that envisioned Oceania as a wonderful Lux Lite line with amazing food must be so disappointed...Never again...... Read Less

We received a email one day before cruise that our boarding would be delayed 1 hour because the ship had experienced the norovirus on the previous cruise and they were going to sanitize the ship. After two days a sea, the ship had 119 passengers and 3 crew members sick. The cruise was scheduled for 10 days but we were informed on the 7th day that the ship would return to Miami for a more extensive sanitizing. During the 8 painful days of cruising: 1. We were subjected to constant sanitizing of all surfaces on the ship including tables, chairs, railing, elevators, elevator buttons. 2. With so many crew members sanitizing, dinning and bar service was terrible. Meals came late and not all people at the table were served at the same time. 3. We had delays at ports due to the port authorities issues with a contaminated ship at their port. 4. With so many people quarantined in their room, you had to show your room key to enter the dinning room. This ship should have never left port. Oceania's response, 25% off the cruise with an additional 25% off the next cruise. We should have received more. Additionally, the staff on the ship was rude and impatience to hear any complaints. Read Less

CRUISE ON THE OCEANIA RIVERIA DEPARING FEB 22, 2016. CABIN 7122 I have waited some time to reflect on this cruise, calm down and get over my disappointment and disgust. This was to be my first luxury cruise. As it turned out it was the cruise from hell for the reasons listed below. Because of the reasons listed below it will also be my last on an Oceania cruise ship. 1. No notification that the prior cruise came in early due to norovirus, which had we known, we would have cancelled so that we would not be exposed to any lingering effects of the virus. 2. Long delay until we were able to get the room/more staff should have been on hand to handle the backlog that you knew would occur. Also water and snacks could have been served. 3. Bad crew attitude/unresponsive/little English 4. Our cabin was quite dirty with stained carpets and severe sweat stains on the chaise lounge chairs. We were told that the stains were due to the cleaner used to sanitize the carpets. No so. My boyfriend took a wet rag and black dirt readily came out of the carpet. This condition existed because the crew overlooked the dirt. Not what one would expect from a "luxury ship". We spoke with an individual who was able to get the carpets and chaise lounge seats cleaned while we were in Nassau. While it was better it was far from perfect. 5. Frayed robes 6. The common area carpets could use replacing-as could all the ships carpet and the comments thought the furniture looked aged. This ship is only 4 years old but looks 20. 7. What’s up with the thrusters?? We cruise a lot (9 in 14 months) and we have NEVER been so shaken awake at 8 am on 2 mornings as from the severe vibration when pushing into a dock. 8. Staff should clear prime window tables so others may use them. The dining room had a habit of saying none available instead of cleaning them right away—everyone wants a window seat so prepare for cleaning. 9.Wine menu expensive and not that good-We had a $55 bottle of Red Zin and it got worse as it breathed. Thought it was me but the guy next to me smelled it and didn’t even want to taste it. 10. We were the only couple told to finish eating and leave the buffet because it was closing while there were still people in the buffet line waiting to get food. There were some positives. The breakfast menu in the dining room is the best ever. The Red Ginger restaurant is superb. There were several crew members/servers who provided outstanding service. But the negatives still out way any positive. We have been on 9 cruises/3 different cruise lines in the last year and have enjoyed every one of them. Oceania is definitely not included in this group.They breached their contract to furnish a superior upgraded “luxury “ cruise failing to do so in many ways. It is sad to say that we have never wanted to leave a ship as much as we did when we hit the gangway to get off in Miami. We would have left in Nassau were we able to get our money back. Read Less

This was a follow on cruise from two previous cruises affected by Noro virus. This was my 15th cruise on a variety of cruise lines but my first on Oceania. We took this cruise on the recommendation of a relative who had previous experience with Oceania and liked the line a lot. Their recommendation said " while " pricier than others the food is spectacular". Sad to say this was the worst of our 15 cruises and the so called great service does not compare with our trips on Regent, Celebrity and even Holland America. While some reviewers act as apologists for Oceania by claiming "nor virus can happen on any cruise"; there is no doubt that poor handling and communications of the crisis worsened the experience for almost ever objective traveller. To start with the communications were terrible. There was no advance notice from Oceania staff at our hotel who acted as if all was well. Next on arrival at the ship there was a major delay in boarding as the company provided busses to a shopping centre to pass time. When asked what the problem was we were told "there are issues". This was a lame attempt to diffuse the issue in spite of the fact that a letter had been sent to travel agents a few days earlier. Upon boarding there were further delays as the staterooms were not available for hours. When rooms were finally available they were not made up fully, lacked soap, shampoo another items. The room had not been properly vacuumed or cleaned. It was clear that am major undertaking under CDC supervision had taken place to ensure the trip was not cancelled.This ship should not have left port until it was fully scrubbed and cleared instead of doing it on the fly. Clearly a decision that put revenue ahead of customer satisfaction and value fro the price paid. It took four days to get the ship cleaned. It appeared that 15 % if the crew wandered around with disinfectant wiping down anything that did not move. This only made the task of customer service more difficult for the depleted crew members still doing their job. The sticky surfaces on tables, chairs and anything else made it very difficult to even think that the food was great. It took five days before the restrictions were lifted and salt shakers could appear on the tables. Compared to Regent ( Higher price but all inclusive) or Celebrity Aqua class ( priced a lot lower) the food was average to poor and the service average. The crew was clearly stressed and we saw numerous disagreements and testy interchanges amongst crew members. The captain appeared to go AWOL as he was not seen or heard except for the daily noon update and the special dinners with multi trip Oceania Alumni. As an example of how poorly they handled the crisis when the ship had to divert to disembark a passenger with a serious health issue no announcement was made that it had nothing to do with the Noro problem. This led to significant speculation that the ship was in trouble again. While we did not come down with the virus we did experience sickness and stomach issue fro most of the cruise. I suspect it was caused by the chemicals use because as the second day after we left the ship the pains disappeared. The crew tried to do their best under difficult circumstances but there were very few smiles and a lot of complaining. The specialty restaurants were hit and miss. Some were good and others poor. Food was average and service hit and miss. On cruises we usually choose to sit at tables with others so we can meet new people and share experiences. After five days we chose to eat most of our meals alone because we could no longer take the negativity. The cruise line tried to satisfy the anger by holding an open bar for 2 hours as an apology gift. This was far short of what they should have done and needed to do. Most people on board agreed that the cruise ship never should have left the port. A refund of 50% of the value should have been returned to all passengers because this was not the service or the quality people had paid for and expected. The company should appreciate that they have damaged their brand with not only the passengers on board who felt cheated but also with their hundreds of friends to whom the story and experience was shared with upon return. ( For example my email to friends asking how our vacation went had the headline : CRUISE FROM HELL ... WORST VACATION EVER) It is highly unlikely that most new cruisers, or first time cruisers will ever give Oceania another try. Shore excursions were compatible with other lines but somewhat pricier. Some excursions were missed because of stomach issue noted above from the chemicals on the tables. In St parts when my wife bought goods at a local store the sales lady commented : "Oh you are from the sick ship": Clearly she had heard the horror stories as well. The entertainment varied from very good to amateurish. The comedian was truly outstanding and offered a good escape from the terrible experience on the ship. The singer soloist who had appeared in the "love Boat " series many years ago was ver good and a pleasant surprise. The cast of dancers paying tributes to broadway and tribute to the music of was amateurish and singing off key most of the time. In fact I heard a passenger chiding his wife that they should have taken an aisle seat so they could escape. Another passenger was heard to sat he "heard better singing from drunken salarymen in a Japanese Karaoke bar." Needless to say we did not go to their other shows. Disembarkation was confused and hectic. I suspect that was because people could not wait to leave the ship and head home. I found it ironic that passengers paid hefty prices for a vacation cruise that did not meet the promises and or their expectations were anxious to go home and rest. Summary: All in all a terrible experience that left a bad taste. A feeling that profit and revenue took precedence over service and value for the fare paid. Read Less

I was very disappointed with the Riviera,Oceania. First let me say my husband and I have traveled on several cruise lines and had great experiences on Crystal Cruises. The Good - Our Oceania Suite was modern and beautiful and very spacious. You get what you $$$ paid for there. The Speciality Restaurants were outstanding. The Bad - There was not energy on this boat. The staff was perfunctory and really didn't go out of their way to be friendly with the guests. The age group on this boat was geriatric. They played chamber music in the bar areas. No music by the pool. Impossible to get a drink by the pool, Spa didn't have quality people working there. Didn't even go for a blow dry. Afternoon Tea was the highlight of the day??? Yikes!!! The entertainment was poor and was directed toward 70 and 80 year old people. The excursions were o.k. nothing special. I spoke with several other couples and they felt disappointed too with this cruise line. This was ship is perfect for people who just want to snooze on their cruise. I couldn't wait to get off the ship by the time we reached Barcelona. Read Less