DENIE

We were on the Riviera in June, and the pianist in Martinis was excellent. He had various theme nights where he played/sang different genres. He also took requests. We loved it. This is where we hung out most nights.

We thought we had settled in with Celebrity cruises after several in a row, but then when Covid cancelled 2 cruises, we decided to try O based on information from friends. We completed our first O cruise (Oceania Riviera) in June and really loved it. So many little touches - staff knowing you by name, specialty dining all included, no photographers, no art sales, etc. On a port-intensive cruise, it is great. On long cruises with sea days, you may notice there aren't as many entertainment options. That was not an issue for us as we always found something, especially the pianist in Martinis.

My recollection as well from 2010 Oosterdam cruise. Just kind of "going against the grain" on the way back. Very smooth on the way down. That said, it wasn't unpleasant in any way, just a bit more movement.

What A Market - From your Scottsdale, AZ neighbor, loved the story about your daughter. Just wow! Enjoying your posts and look forward to more!

Following...enjoy! 🙂

On Riviera in June (Mediterranean), some wore jackets, some did not. I did bring one and wore about 4 nights out of 10, including the wine dinner in La Reserve and then a Moet & Chandon champagne tasting. It was never required but felt good to go a little further on some nights. Other nights I was perfectly fine with nice slacks and a button-down/polo with collar.

On our July Riviera cruise, the food was amazing. We really only had one "miss" the entire cruise, and everything else was quite good to amazing. Although we booked another cruise on Vista in 2024, we have one coming up on HAL. I know HAL folks often rave about the food, but I have a feeling it won't be of the same caliber (we are sailing with a bunch of friends who selected this cruise). We were former Celebrity cruisers, and I felt the food on Oceania was definitely a step up. Our bottom line is that there will always be good food, and would rather be ON a cruise ship than OFF. 😁

British Airways left one of our two bags behind on our connection to Rome in June. LHR was total chaos. Sure glad we booked 2 days in Rome as our bag didn't make it to the hotel until 10:30 p.m. the night before we embarked on our cruise. Yes, this summer was crazy!

Thanks all! We have the Anytime Dining option, but wanted to book reservations for Pinnacle Grill with another couple that would work with the showtimes. Sounds like an early reservation might work best for us. Appreciate the fast responses! 🙂

Thanks! Yeah, was wondering if they might fluctuate. This is a Mexican Riviera cruise in December, if that matters.

Hi! I tried a couple of searches, but wasn't finding anything specific (although I am sure there is something somewhere). Just a simple question. What time are the showtimes in the World Stage on the Koningsdam? Trying to figure out specialty dining reservations around the time. Thanks in advance! 🙂

We enjoyed mimosa's for breakfast in both the Grand Dining Room and Terrace cafe. One of the joys of being on a cruise. We never had to wait long... Also, as others have said, there are probably some top-shelf brands that are not covered. However everything we ordered (wines, martinis, or mixed drinks) were covered under the premium beverage package. As to special wine events, in addition to the scheduled pairings in La Reserve, our cruise featured an additional event that we only found out about on board. It was a Moet and Chandon champagne tasting. There were 3 different champagnes paired with small bites. It wasn't enough to be a meal, but it was fun! They did use the La Reserve room. We do recommend the wine dinners and pairings, as it was an excellent experience! Very elegant and leisurely pace. Seven courses with 7 wines.

We knew we wanted to upgrade, so the first thing we did on board was go to the Customer Service desk. At the moment whe were not busy (maybe we were lucky). They had our package upgraded and new key cards issued in about 5 minutes.

Yes, that was pretty much our experience on the group tours. We got combined, cancelled, and one appeared to have "merged" us with a land-based tour as we made two other stops to pick up people at hotels. Our San Gimignano/Volterra all day small group tour was cancelled, but we scrambled and went back on board and Oceania had a mid-afternoon 4 hour tour to Lucca. It was fine, but not as much time as we would have liked to spend (no free time to wander).

Oops....I should have clarified. The private tours went as planned, but we did have issues with some of the smaller group tours (to be fair, they were also by a different 3rd party company). They were typically the same tours offered by Oceania, but smaller in size and not as expensive. It was Tours by Locals that went as planned, and we had the comfort of email our personal guide right up until we departed for Europe.

No, that was Celebrity. They did not issue room keys, of course, but simply put a sticker on your existing room key. That works, but the new room key with the code already printed does look nicer.

I do understand that. We just cruised on the Riviera in June (Rome to Barcelona). None of the private tours we booked were cancelled or altered. They were amazing.

Yes, they issued new key cards.

True, and we were sailing with just 800 guests. There was no line when we took care of this. I have been on cruises where any bartender or waitstaff could take care of this (and they got the commission). Yes, it would help speed things up. 🙂

Agree - we do drink and find value in the beverage package. Also agree on the excursions. We have shifted from doing ship-sponsored excursions to private. Our experience is you can frequently find better private options that may cost a little more, but the overall experience is much better than boarding a bus. Being whisked off in a private car or small van is so much better. Agree with Robjame that you might have some luck sharing tours with folks on your roll call.

Test our beverage package and make sure that it works! In June on the Riviera (Martinis), it worked great right from the get go! 🤣

We did this on June on the Riviera. It only took about 5 quick minutes and our new cards were issued. Very efficient.

We used Woodwind a few years ago and concur. They are amazing, especially if you are snorkeling newbies.

Well, we are lucky there. Our San Diego friends have a boat in the Marriott Marina downtown, and that comes with a parking space at the hotel (we stay on the boat often). They don't need the space since they are on the cruise with us. Kind of a unique circumstance but works for us in this instance! 😁

Agree. We go to San Diego often, but December will only be our 2nd cruise from there. Love the convenience and things to do! We are actually driving there as well for our December cruise and have a place to keep our SUV so we don't have to pay for parking! We have done Long Beach 3 times, and don't care for that port at all.