Riviera Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Loved the cruiseThis was our 90th cruise and we booked 2 more in the next 6 months. The food was outstanding! We ate 4 dinners at the specialty restaurants but I enjoyed the Polo steak restaurant the best.  Either the 20 oz porterhouse or the whole lobster as  good as Ruth Chris. The buffet upstairs was excellent. The authentic french baguette were to die for.The service was outstanding... as good as Silver Shaddow. We stayed in the PH1 suite and it felt spacious.Large walking closet and beautiful bathroom. I wish the veranda was a bit larger but it was fine. Since I fall asleep at 9:30-10pm I missed the entertainment. Not for children or young folks. I am 62 and felt on the young side with this group. Loved the cruise and can't wait to return.

My wife and I enjoyed the 10-Day Carefree Caribbean cruise this past January as our honeymoon. We had planned this trip almost a full year before and have been waiting patiently for the trip. I short - Oceania continues to be the vest value for luxury travel on the water. We have not had the opportunity to try Seaborne or Regent but for the money - Oceania continues to be our 1st choice.

Highlights: Food (always amazing), Ports of Call, Accommodations, Cooking Classes

Lowlights: Entertainment

We took two cooking classes in the Riviera´s Culinary Institute and both were top notch. We also enjoyed one special evening at La Reserve which was really special and in our opinion was easily a two-star Michelin experience.

This was our second cruise on the Riviera and again had a low-keyed wonderful time. We appreciate no loud booming music all day and the fact that there are no \"photo shoots\" for purchase. The food, service and cleanliness were wonderful.

Lots of space and a warm and comfortable environment. Clean and well appointed

Wonderful ship; great staff; fabulous food; Western Caribbean is a so so itinerary, although Key West and Grand Cayman were worth seeing.

The Riviera is a beautiful ship and the size is perfect. Crew to traveler is excellent and one will never feel unattended. Rooms are lovely with the exception of the hard chairs and couch. Wide variety of TV, movies and DVD's available. Room service is excellent. Nice to have water and soft drinks available and included in the price of the cruise. Bars are cozy and friendly. Excursions are on the pricey side but the advantage is the ship takes responsibility for them and that includes waiting if they are late back to the ship. Lovely string quartet but it was placed in an awkward spot which made it hard for them to play and hard to enjoy their work. Food is outstanding and the variety is amazing. Dress is casual and no one has to be formal. Many people enjoyed that. Evening entertainment is average to poor. Take some good books along. There is a terrific library and you can swap books you bring with some that others have brought. Overall, heads above many other lines and they really care. Every detail is observed and taken care of. If they do not notice, tell them your needs and the crew will respond.

Our state room was assigned to 2 different couples, when we asked the reception to give us a different room initially, the rep lied and told us the ship was full. Then other passengers told us the ship was not full as they were offered a discount upgrade at the last minute and they declined. We were offered the same deal over 1 month before the sailing but also declined . We waited for over 45 minutes at the hallway and they couldn't located the couples so how can they remove their belongings? They finally gave us a complementary upgrade after all the commotion but that sour taste is already in our mouths. We have cruised for over 15 times with various lines, and this is the worst experience.they also didn't replace the toiletries daily, you literally have to use your shampoo and conditioner to the last 1/5 and had to ask housekeeping for replacement. The price isn't inexpensive for this line and you expected to be pampered a bit more. Even princess replace their toiletries daily...

The ship is new, modern, well appointed and meticulously maintained.

art instruction listed in the brochure was non-existent activities during days at sea were relaxing, but boring (art auctions, trivia, bingo, making luggage tags and greeting cards, etc)

This is a brand new ship that has no better peer on ANY cruise line. Even though I preferred the 675 passenger ships, the Riviera at 1250 did not feel too big. The quality of everything and the attention to detail made Four Seasons look humble when it comes to the staterooms. The best 10 day vacation I have ever taken in over 50 years of traveling.

the ship is marvelous, the service superb, the staff could not be nicer. Thewy need to improve the butler training and to make better use of their music in the lounges for dancing. Otherwise it was terrific

We had a wonderful time and found something to love in each port. We definitely want to return and explore some of the areas more in the future but we looked at this as a 'sampler platter' for the area and it was exactly what we had hoped it would be! The only real disappointment was the size of the showers in our suite.

You will love 5he food and the service is always excellent.

We chose this cruise for the itinerary. Before we booked, we already weren't impressed about Oceana but our "personal concierge" booking agent as they call it, reassured us that this ship was the finest quality of luxury, dining, etc. He was so friendly and “call me anytime attitude”, until we called and asked for a refund and wanted to cancel the cruise because they cut out half of our ports, then he was cold, indifferent and rude. It was a 10 day cruise. My husband and I chose this line, because it would have given us 4 more new countries. We were supposed to see UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman. A week before the cruise, they told us they were cutting out the last two ports and used the excuse of the "Israeli war". Total excuse. They just wanted to save money. As soon as we boarded, we were met by a lady and her husband who said they were already on the ship for I think 20 days and quickly confirmed that they "baited and switched" her itinerary also. She was 9 days "at sea" because the captain refused to go to port. When concerned customers tried to talk with the manger about this, they were told the manager was too busy to speak to them. She also told us that another couple demanded to speak with the Captain to ask why their itinerary had been changed and when finally granted an audience with the Captain, he essentially said, shut up or get off my ship, so they got off. The lady also told me that the Captain had told her that he would remove her from the ship if she kept talking to guests about the “bait and switch”. Seriously. From our experience, I can confirm the management was impatient, rude and unhelpful when asked about anything. The staff was pleasant, but they were very annoying and wanted to “overserve” and were very “hovering”. I couldn’t get coffee by myself and walk to a quiet nook to sip it to wake up without being assaulted by at least 10 staff insisting they carry my coffee. The ship was NOT elegant. It was frumpy. Our AC in our room never worked properly so the room was stuffy and hot the entire time. The bed was saggy and uncomfortable. The food was DEFINITELY NOT “fine dining”. It was subpar, tasteless cafeteria food. I could barely find anything to eat that was edible. They even served “mashed potatoes” that were rehydrated flakes and overly watered down. Disgusting. Their “desserts” were inedible. Nasty quite frankly. I am 57 and my husband is 61 and we were almost the youngest people on the ship. Most of the cliental were in their 80s. The “activities” were crossword puzzles, shuffle board, mahjong. When I attempted to use the fitness room to stretch and do Pilates, I was rudely told that I had to leave because they were about to start a “seminar”. Two old ladies showed up because they were bored. The ship has been hawking antiaging pain management “seminars” to get them to buy their crap. One lady told me she had to pay $90 for a bottle of supplements. Can you imagine? You’ve got a captive audience that is 90 percent very elderly people and you try to rip them off by promising “anti aging benefits”. It was such a horrible cruise, that my husband and I decided to get off early and return home for Christmas.

The specialty restaurants were very nice with a wide selection of food, the ship was nicely decorated for Christmas which was nice for people spending it onboard, the computer assistant was very knowledgeable, They gave us the wrong departure time and we missed our flight and had to buy new tickets for $2800 that left us very unhappy ! Oceania owes us for those tickets. It resulted in 2 days to get home, an overnight in London at our own expense. Horrible!!

Overall it was a good cruise but we have had better experiences on other lines. They don’t put a lot into the excursions, other than getting you on the proper bus or group. Port information was supposed to be on the TV, but there were issues from Day2 and many features on the TV didn’t work. Limited shows to watch.

Oceania cruises remains one of my favorite cruise lines. We like that the ship isn't massive. While we like kids (and we spotted a few), the cruise line doesn't cater to families. The kids we were around were all very well behaved. The crew is so accommodating and pleasant. The ship is spotless. The food is delicious! I appreciate that Oceania no longer hands out bottled water at each port. Instead, an aluminum water bottle is in each cabin to fill with their filtered water. This is more eco friendly. Dinner portions aren't huge, so there's less food waste. There's a wide variety of foods to satisfy anyone's palate. The spa is lovely-- serene and spotless. The crew that handles the tenders are efficient and pay special attention to passengers with disabilities (I'm one of them). We will definitely return on one of their ships again!

My wife and I have not been big cruisers. However, we both hope that is about to change as we have just retired. Over the past 30 years this was just our seventh cruise. We have sailed on everything from Carnival to Crystal. We both agree that Oceana hit that sweet spot. The size of the ship was perfect ,the people on the ship both other passengers and crew were great. And the food? Wonderful. That being said, there are always some Sour Puss you find anywhere. And cruising is no exception.Ran into a few entitled people but the VAST majority of people were just like us. Happy and feeling blessed that we are on such a special cruise line.We had a very happy 10 days. Before getting off the ship we booked another cruise on Oceana. This one it’s two years from today on the Marina to Antarctica!! I can’t believe I just typed that. Antarctica? Well, when you find the ship you are comfortable with and made great memories on, we both said let’s go for it! Should be fun. Come join us!

Great ports and wonderful staff aboard the Riviera made this a very fun vacation and so much to see and do. A great blend of activities and fun aboard the ship made for a great time! So great to unpack your bags and the sit back and enjoy.

Exceeded our first time cruise expectations by miles. Awesome ship, amazing crew and fantastic independent excursions.