Sticky Buns Everyday; Riviera

We're currently on Riviera, have been since the 15th. They have served sticky buns every day in the buffet for breakfast. My wife says it's almost too much of a good thing and takes away the anticipation for them.

The Cruise Director is Andy Heath, he is a new cruise director for Oceania. We feel he does a very good job. For those interested he is supposed to be the CD for the Insignia World Cruise.

As usual the Riviera is great. The last cruise and this one to an extent have many more families and children than normal. More younger and middle aged people also.

We're currently on Riviera, have been since the 15th. They have served sticky buns every day in the buffet for breakfast. My wife says it's almost too much of a good thing and takes away the anticipation for them.

As usual the Riviera is great. The last cruise and this one to an extent have many more families and children than normal. More younger and middle aged people also.

Glad your enjoying. As for your wife's problem there is a simple answer, switch to chocolate croissants. :D

We're currently on Riviera, have been since the 15th. They have served sticky buns every day in the buffet for breakfast. My wife says it's almost too much of a good thing and takes away the anticipation for them.

 

The Cruise Director is Andy Heath, he is a new cruise director for Oceania. We feel he does a very good job. For those interested he is supposed to be the CD for the Insignia World Cruise.

 

As usual the Riviera is great. The last cruise and this one to an extent have many more families and children than normal. More younger and middle aged people also.

Lucky you with 17days. Nice meeting you on the 7 day cruise.

We are on the Insignia on Nov 11th Miami to San Juan. Do you know if Andy will have moved over by then? We thought he was very personable.

Catherine

Did not care for the sticky buns ..whenever we have had them they are soggy

I am more partial to croissants and baguette. :D

Yum to both sticky buns and chocolate croissants!

Yum to almost EVERYTHING on the O ships! :)

I found myself going nuts on Sushi on our last cruise for lunch AND breakfast... I was trying very hard to not gain the "freshman 15"... Well, that attempt failed by day 5 as I figured "what the heck?" There's just too much good food. And truth be told, they make some great bacon for breakfast... Scrambled eggs, not so much...

Ironically my biggest weakness is the little sandwiches they put out in Baristas. I spend a lot of time in the library/computer/coffee area working on my travel blog, etc. on O class ships and those little yummy bites are just TOO "handy" and quite plentiful (favorite is the tuna salad)!!! :rolleyes:

DH would not walk from the pool area to the elevators on the port side just because those milkshakes are way too tempting! We all have our vices I guess. :)

Point of the story - you paid for it - enjoy it. We always go on a strict low cal diet and double our exercise for a month post-cruise. So easy to put it on, so hard to take it off!

Yeah, just got off Insignia, and there were a LOT of sticky buns to compete with the chocolate croissants! Choices, choices! If they started having Cinnabons I'd be in BIG trouble!

Oh, and they had mini chocolate croissants at Baristas too! Aargh....

We're in Palma De Mallorca today. Insignia was parked beside us. They just left port at 3:15pm.

One note on Blvgari products in Balcony rooms. They are not the bottles with the green tops. The shampoo is a combination shampoo/shower gel in a clear bottle with clear top. On our last cruise in Concierge on Regatta we had the separate ones with a green top.

The gift sets for the upper suites have a red top in a red box which is different than the ones with the green top that we got in the OC last time on Riviera. Not really sure of the difference.

Also, re drink packages. I was able to get the drink package with 4 days left on a 10 day cruise. They are still advertising it in today's (3 days left) Currents.

Vat charge of 22% in the boutiques and Spa products but none on beverages. All ports on this cruise are in the EU.

Still curious about the infamous Spanish VAT tax. For the spa and gift boutique purchases, are you saying that the 22% VAT tax was collected throughout the whole cruise, or only when docked in a Spanish port, or what? I find that whole Spanish VAT thing very confusing. We started out in Lisbon and jumped around a bit in and out of the EU, so tax had to be collected on drinks on days we were in Spain (except Canary Islands, which are exempt). I'm not sure about the spa and boutique products as I didn't purchase anything there. I wish Spain would find another way to increase their coffers, and I hope other Euro countries don't start imposing VAT on cruisers! I'm sure the cruise lines are as unhappy as some of their passengers are about having extra paperwork and tax.

I'm currently on the Riviera as well:)... I found those sticky buns on day 4 and I love them...but after reading this I just realized I have not found the coffee bar or had a milkshake yet....I'm currently in that 4-6pm slot where it's hard to find food!

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I'm currently on the Riviera as well:)... I found those sticky buns on day 4 and I love them...but after reading this I just realized I have not found the coffee bar or had a milkshake yet....I'm currently in that 4-6pm slot where it's hard to find food!

 

 

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Isn't tea served at 4 on all ships large and small? They have little bits of food. And isn't Waves still open at 4 (not sure)? As for Baristas, on the R ships, it does not go on all day, as it turns into a bar at night; not sure when they close on either size of ship. Of course, room service is 24/7, so I doubt you'll starve between 4 and 6!

Mango smoothies at Waves are refreshingly good!

I'm currently on the Riviera as well:)... I found those sticky buns on day 4 and I love them...but after reading this I just realized I have not found the coffee bar or had a milkshake yet....I'm currently in that 4-6pm slot where it's hard to find food!

 

 

Barristas are open until 6 & have small sandwiches/cookies just above the pool deck aft

Afternoon tea in Horizons daily from 4-5PM serving sandwiches, scones, pastries etc..

How could you miss them:eek:

Of course the room service is available 24/7...

Not sure how one would go hungry on an O ship ;)

Still curious about the infamous Spanish VAT tax. For the spa and gift boutique purchases, are you saying that the 22% VAT tax was collected throughout the whole cruise, or only when docked in a Spanish port, or what? I find that whole Spanish VAT thing very confusing. We started out in Lisbon and jumped around a bit in and out of the EU, so tax had to be collected on drinks on days we were in Spain (except Canary Islands, which are exempt). I'm not sure about the spa and boutique products as I didn't purchase anything there. I wish Spain would find another way to increase their coffers, and I hope other Euro countries don't start imposing VAT on cruisers! I'm sure the cruise lines are as unhappy as some of their passengers are about having extra paperwork and tax.

Whole cruise, pretty sure this is not about Spain.

I'm currently on the Riviera as well:)... I found those sticky buns on day 4 and I love them...but after reading this I just realized I have not found the coffee bar or had a milkshake yet....I'm currently in that 4-6pm slot where it's hard to find food!

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Oops looks like it posted twice...the internet connection comes n goes:( yes tea is at 4 and it is absolutely wonderful but I wouldn't go there hot n sweaty after reboarding from port...Waves closes at 4...we did find some lovely petite sandwiches in the concierge lounge yesterday. I still have not tried a milkshake or found the barista but on my agenda today. The coffee in horizons today was delicious...stumbled on that since I overslept Bkfst:)

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Whole cruise, pretty sure this is not about Spain.

Oh, I think it is. I managed to find (on Cruise Critic) a link to a document issued by an American accounting/consulting firm which explains some, but not all, of the Spanish VAT tax law. I also found a translation of the Spanish legislation, but it's such legal gobbly d gook (and lacks specificity) that I gave up trying to understand it. Other cruise lines besides Oceania have charged the Spanish tax for "products" and liquor, and one line even charged in Italy!

My wife says it's almost too much of a good thing and takes away the anticipation for them.

I hope that the sticky buns being available too much doesn't spoil your cruise experience. :D Glad you are having a wonderful cruise. We are so looking forward to cruising on Riviera in December. Say hi to Teresa for us.

I hope that the sticky buns being available too much doesn't spoil your cruise experience. :D Glad you are having a wonderful cruise. We are so looking forward to cruising on Riviera in December. Say hi to Teresa for us.

Oh, we'll manage. Will do, say hi to Carol also.

Oh, I think it is. I managed to find (on Cruise Critic) a link to a document issued by an American accounting/consulting firm which explains some, but not all, of the Spanish VAT tax law. I also found a translation of the Spanish legislation, but it's such legal gobbly d gook (and lacks specificity) that I gave up trying to understand it. Other cruise lines besides Oceania have charged the Spanish tax for "products" and liquor, and one line even charged in Italy!

Okay, but the sign in the boutique says Italian vat tax.

The coffee in horizons today was delicious...stumbled on that since I overslept Bkfst:)

 

 

You can get breakfast at WAVES until 11 am it is more than just buns & coffee

Check the back page of CURRENTS for opening/closing times of restaurants & bars

 

Okay, but the sign in the boutique says Italian vat tax.

Sounds like Itally saw that Spain had a good thing going so has jumped on the VAT wagon

As for the Vat tax...I spent $330 in the boutique...was told that I could get custom stamp and refund at the airport which I did...I only rec'd $33 back so clearly not the entire 22%. It was pretty simple to do though and only took 5 minutes or so.

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As for the Vat tax...I spent $330 in the boutique...was told that I could get custom stamp and refund at the airport which I did...I only rec'd $33 back so clearly not the entire 22%. It was pretty simple to do though and only took 5 minutes or so.

 

 

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They told us that we would only get around 11 or 12% back. I think the rest is considered "processing fees" I believe Oceania or the boutique company would be keeping that part.

When it was time to get the money back at the airport, Global Blue, the company that handles the refund, claimed their computer was down and could not give out any cash refunds there. The only way to get a refund was to give them a credit card number and they would credit it to that. While it sounded like a stall to me we did give them the number and to their credit we got the refund on the card within 5 or 6 days. We didn't make the purchase with the card as it was OBC. I don't know what someone that doesn't have a credit card would do. Maybe get a refund by mail?

Sounds like Itally saw that Spain had a good thing going so has jumped on the VAT wagon

Yes, other threads on Cruise Critic indicate that Italy has jumped on the bandwagon, too! Hope the rest of Europe doesn't, as cruisers are used to getting certain things tax-free on cruise ships!

Here's a recent thread that talks about VAT tax:http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2086651&highlight=spain+vat+tax

Earlier I read something in a write up by an American accounting firm that explains (a little, anyway) the VAT tax. I vaguely remember that there was something about the refund process, and the fact that only part of it would be refunded. I don't think the cruise line gets to keep the difference between what was charged and what's refunded, but I can't remember for sure. I can't really imagine the countries would allow a cruise line to keep that much, but who knows? The whole thing is quite confusing to me. I'm glad we didn't purchase much while on our recent cruise, and that when we did, it was not in Spain.