The cruise from Hell

Riviera Cruise Review to Caribbean

Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Reviews: 5
Helpful Votes: 219

Overall rating:

2.2 out of 5
Verified Review
Riviera

14 Night Sunny Getaways (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: March 20, 2016

Ship: Riviera

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 10106

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 8 years ago

Review summary

Horrible cruise/infected with norovirus from the 2nd night out. Found out Riviera has been subjected to 6 outbreaks of norovirus since Nov.: 3 reported to CDC because of percentage level and 3 unreported.  No forewarning of this situation and no apology from captain all during the 14 days of infection.  Venues (library, guest laundry, fitness center, culinary center and Artists Loft) all closed due to

contamination; however never closed casino as that is a money maker.  Ship was

negligent in not properly disinfecting the premises and not accepting responsibility for this outbreak.  Sanitation processes while onboard were a joke: crew running around with buckets of disinfectant which apparently was not working because people kept getting sick.  Over 200 "reported" cases of the virus and many more not reported because people were so disgusted with the response from crew.  Service and food quality blatantly inferior to previous cruises and attributable to new management under Prestige Holding which has also taken over NCL....and brought Oceania down to level of NCL with lousy food and inferior service/noticeable from day one.  Will never sail on Oceania again and had originally intended to book a cruise to Alaska...not with you!!

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

1 out of 5
Went from the level of Ruth Chris' s last year to Steak n Shake (no offense to them)

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5
Most venues closed due to norovirus. Did not spend $10,000 to play bingo and shuffleboard.

Entertainment

3 out of 5
Needs improvement. Musical numbers are amateurish and not as advertised.

Children's Programs

no programs

Service and Staff

1 out of 5
Below the usual stellar service; and upper management indifferent to comfort of passengers and the suffering endured with the norovirus....no apology given at any time

Ship Quality

1 out of 5
Obviously not clean if this was the 6th outbreak of norovirus on same ship since November.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
Cabin was as expected based on same level as booked on last cruise.

Ship tip

Don't book any future cruises on Riviera nor on Oceania Lines. Quality of food and service has diminished since takeover. If you want this type of cruise, then book on Carnival or NCL. Will never take another Oceania Cruise again...this was supposed to be a 14 day dream cruise which turned into

Ports of call

Miami, Florida

3 out of 5

Santa Marta, Colombia

1 out of 5
don't go there: a dump

Oranjestad, Aruba

1 out of 5
Never docked at Aruba: ship was denied docking privileges due to norovirus epidemic.

Kralendijk, Bonaire

1 out of 5
Did not get to disembark due to norovirus.

Margarita (Isla De Margarita), Venezuela

1 out of 5
This port was cancelled.

St. George's, Grenada

1 out of 5
Never got to see Granada: quarantined due to norovirus

Fort-De-France, Martinique

3 out of 5

Pointe-A-Pitre, Guadeloupe

5 out of 5
Finally a port to see! Lovely island.

Basseterre, St. Kitts

5 out of 5
Small island but clean and picturesue.

Gustavia, St. Barthelemy Did not visit port

Did not disembark due to results of norovirus
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6 Comments

BDRebel    8 years ago

Although this (by the title only) appeared to be the type of review I would ignore, you very succinctly stated your case on the reason for your opinion.

Thank you for the well written review, and I hope your next cruise is everything this one was not.

askeegan    8 years ago

I have heard tell of this happening before.  I am truly sorry for your horrible experience.  I sincerely hope this does not sway you from cruising again.

Bubba54    8 years ago

Thanks for the review. So sad you had such a terrible experience. 

JusMe    8 years ago

Thank you for your review.   I have not heard of a ship being denied porting due to Norovirus before.  (learn something new here all the time).

 

Best wishes that your next cruise is all you want it to be.

noname111    8 years ago

Wow... so sorry you had such a horrid experience. 

Cern    8 years ago

Same experience 

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