I expected more from Oceania

Riviera Cruise Review to Europe - Eastern Mediterranean

silverhoss

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 3

Helpful Votes: 63

Overall rating:

3.8 out of 5

Verified Review

10 Night Black Sea Brilliance (Istanbul To Athens)

Sail date: July 17, 2022

Ship: Riviera

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 10068

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 2 years ago

Review summary

I expected to love this cruise. I expected more of an upscale experience. The food was very good, but not outstanding. I thought the "O" points that you could earn by participating in activities, then turn in at the end of the cruise for swag was really tacky. Maybe it's ok for a less upscale cruise, but I would have expected something not so tacky on Oceania. I also thought it was in poor taste for Oceania to take us to various merchants on the excursions. On one excursion, they took us to a rug merchant who was selling $10,000.00+ rugs. It was very uncomfortable. Also, one excursion took us to a ceramics shop. I do not appreciate a hard sell, or even a soft sell for objects I do not need. We figured Oceania was probably getting a commission and it was really tacky. I assumed the higher price of an Oceania cruise would insulate us from things I would expect on less expensive tours, but it didn't. On the ship, they were isolating people who caught covid, but did not notify guests of the number of people aboard with covid. Our next-door neighbor was theoretically isolated with covid. We figured that out when they were washing the walls in the hallway. My husband caught covid from them, but never once did they tell us our neighbors had covid. We had to figure it out based on their cleaning process. We felt that was irresponsible on their part not to have informed other passengers of covid aboard the ship. On the last day of the trip, they had to cancel our visit to Mykonos due to excessive wind and rough seas. They added some shipboard activities to compensate for the lost day on Myconos. One thing they added was Bingo. Then they had the audacity to charge passengers to play. I thought this was despicable and really tacky. For an upscale cruiseline to behave like this is inexcusable. Much of our disappointment with the cruise came from decisions like this. We have a very good time. The ship was lovely and the staff was amazing and outstanding, but for the price, we had expected more. Two months prior to the Oceania cruise, we went on a Viking Ocean cruise, which we felt was so much better, including better food. Also, if you choose not to buy a drink package on Viking, you still get free unlimited beer and wine with dinner. On Oceania, if you want beer and wine with dinner, it will cost you $40/day for the package, and if you want it at any time other than mealtime, which will also include spirits, the drink package will cost you $60/day. On Viking, for spirits and drinks at non-mealtimes, it's only $20/day. As travelers, we resent being "nickeled and dimed" every time we turn around