gbits

Paying it forward with great appreciation for those who were kind enough to post about their cruises on Riviera since January. Thanks to their reports, we were encouraged to go on ours and I am so glad we did. Embarkation today was seamless, even with the extra steps due to Covid. We opted to board later in the afternoon and there was literally no one else around in the tent, in the terminal etc. The Covid test was quick & easy and we had our results in 10 minutes and we’re on our way. Our luggage was waiting for us at our door. 
 

We had a small Meet & Greet on the Patio, Deck 14. O had chairs and tables with snacks and a waiter to get drinks from Horizons for those who wanted to partake. It was happy hour, an added bonus! Was great to meet some of the people who have been active on the roll call. Sail away was beautiful.

There are 591 passengers on board and 725 crew. Everyone is happy to be here, masks and all. The entertainment team is out & about and the casino is open.

Only one change to our itinerary so far, Antigua instead of Guadeloupe, which has been expected for months. Fingers crossed that is the only change as we are really looking forward to the rest of the ports. 
 

Happy to answer any questions you have. 😊

4 hours ago, gardenbunny said:

I know why St Barts was removed for Sirena itinerary moved to Marina - ship is too large - only small passenger ships like Sirena allowed.

So I will try again next year….

Not true. Riviera, Marina’s sister ship, is scheduled to be there on the 2/7 cruise itinerary.

9 hours ago, catgirl411 said:

We will be waiting anxiously to see how your itinerary gets revised. I was feeling so optimistic about our 28/1 sailing but now I must say i’m a bit worried. 

+1 for 2/7 cruise

16 minutes ago, jazznruby said:

From Sail SAFE FAQ...If I test positive for COVID-19 during a cruise and have to quarantine, will I receive a full refund? Guests who test positive for COVID-19 during their cruise and are required to quarantine will receive a pro-rated cash refund or a pro-rated Future Cruise Credit. 

Thank you, I did not see that!

10 hours ago, thilton said:

Thanks for starting this post. I am not on this cruise, but my mother in law and friend are. Her friend tested positive on Monday and they are both quarantined for the remainder of the cruise.  She has not tested positive yet, but she needs to quarantine with her room mate. My Mother in law suspected it was from the casino, as they heard many of the casino staff were positive. Just a speculation though.  I'm so sad for them. I'm going to try to send something via the cruise line to their room. 

Hoping your MIL and her friend are doing ok. By any chance did O offer to give them anything to compensate for having to spend the majority of their cruise quarantined in their cabin?

57 minutes ago, pilgrimage said:

 

 

Dust. Wind. Dude.

 

Theme song for my 7th grade dance 😁 Always struck me as a weird song for a dance lol

4 hours ago, Nymich said:

"Carry on my wayward Son"

Kansas. Released in 1976 (without the "my") and was their first top 40 hit.  Bringing me back to my youth 🙂

22 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

Folks that see empty cabins and say "why can't they upgrade folks" entirely miss out on the concept of brand standards and price integrity.  If wholesale upgrading becomes the norm, then there goes any hopes of actually selling cabins at their designated price point.

 

Not what the consumer wants to hear.....but it's what the accountants want to hear.

I get it and yes, we booked where we are happy to be, but given the number of people who appear to be bailing on my and other cruises, it would be wonderful to be "rewarded" for not taking the FCC and rescheduling to next year. If its not happening, we will be happy in our chosen cabin and sailing again.  Was just wondering if that has been the case on the cruises that have sailed at 50% capacity during a pandemic.

With the ships sailing at less than 50% capacity, has anyone whose been on a cruise in the last few months been offered an upgrade or upsell?  Seems like it would be a good PR move for O to move people up in category, especially to suites where the gratuities are higher and the staff will make more.  We have been fortunate to have gotten upsell offers on a couple of cruises pre-covid and hoping we might get one on our 2/7 cruise for braving it out. 😁

10 hours ago, mjox32 said:

 

Hi Gina.

San Juan is off the itinerary and we are having an extra sea day that day.   They also cancelled Guadeloupe and we are now going to St. John's, Antigua.  Martinique has been replaces with St. Kitts.  

 

600 guests with 774 crew

 

Check in went smooth it was 40 minutes from the time we walked into the tent to be tested until we were in our room dropping off our carry-on luggage.   No one checked your pre arrival antigen/pcr test.  You need to show your vaccine certificate and only write down the date of your last dose (not your booster date - that was confusing for a few)   They e-mailed the results to you almost as fast as it showed up on the monitor.  In fact the man in front of us had his results e-mailed and his number was not on the monitor for another few minutes.   Not sure if check in continued to run smoothly because we were at the tent at 11:30am.  

 

I read on another post that you also had Calabaza snorkel cruise booked in Barbados.   Ours got cancelled 4 days ago.  Just a heads up in case yours gets cancelled too.  

 

Margo (from our French Polynesian cruise)

 

Margo, thanks so much for the update! If there are are changes to your itinerary please let us know. Our cruise is not scheduled for Martinique but we are supposed to go to Guadeloupe but I’m guessing we will also wind up going to Antigua instead as Catherine heard from a tour provider that Guadeloupe is closed to all cruise ships for the season.

We also received a cancellation notice from Calabazza. At this point I’m hesitant to make any plans in any port because who knows what will happen. If you find something good to do in Barbados to replace the Calabazza sail please let me know.

Hope you have a great cruise!

3 hours ago, macaroni said:

Just thought I would start this for anyone who wants to contribute information as you have time. I will only do as I have time, but others may like to….

Thank you Macaroni. We are on the 2/7 cruise which stops at several of the same ports as yours. Anxious to hear if any ports deny you entry and what O port(s) substitutes in their place. Hoping embarkation went smoothly for all.

@Nymichbefore you sign off on this thread, would you mind telling us if the 1/14 itinerary has been revised and, if it has been, what was changed?

4 hours ago, catgirl411 said:

I think Oceania could give us all some piece of mind but at least letting us know that their preference would be to allow quarantined passenger to stay in the cabin they booked, if at all possible. I understand that circumstances may change but a statement of their preferred intention would be very welcome.  We are booked on the Jan 28th sailing and have been wavering back and forth about cancelling. Even though it seems that a number of people have been able to cancel and get future cruise credits, it very likely means that the cruise you apply the credits to will e more expensive. So for us the choice is a) cancel and receive FCCs (hopefully), foregoing  a trip we’ve been pining for and pay more to replace it or B) risk a positive test and a quarantine. Hence knowing as much as possible about quarantine is a key decision point.

+1

5 hours ago, Nymich said:I wanted to do this thread because of the CDC thing that came down. I thought some may be interested or concerned.  Obviously 26k views later in one week, that proved to be an accurate assessment. My goal has been and will be the next 3 days to be non political and just share what O is doing and communicating.

 

I would like to add my thanks to @Nymichfor taking the time to share his onboard experience with everyone. It has definitely helped ease my anxiety about not canceling our February 7th cruise (even though most of our friends & family think we are crazy to go). We have not been to any of the scheduled ports on our cruise and I’m not sure I would be thrilled with 12 sea days so I am hopeful that someone else on the January 14th and January 28th cruises can keep us apprised of itinerary changes, COVID outbreaks etc. Four weeks is a long time ~ hopefully things will continue to get better. @Nymich enjoy the rest of your trip!

On 11/3/2021 at 12:34 PM, marieps said:

Well, those factors were well known to the analysts who set the earnings bar where they did.    I've made my final on Riviera in February well ahead of deadline, hoping to help the cause!  

Me too!

No matter where one plans to go and no matter what cruise line on which one plans to sail, in these times it is essential to be both patient & flexible. If you cannot, reconsider travel until the world gets back to normal ….

On 9/16/2021 at 3:11 PM, RJB said:

We were there in Feb. a few years ago and the weather was great.  Guess you just have to get lucky.  Would go back if Vista was going.

We went in February, 2019 and also had great weather. I read a lot of posts beforehand about it being rainy season and seriously considered cancelling but O doesn’t sail there except at that time of year so decided to stick with it and was very happy I did! 

We stayed at the Sheraton for 2 nights pre-cruise in 2017 and thought it was terrific. Nice accommodations, great location, good service and reasonably priced.

Each Amex card has different offers AND each customer gets different offers based upon what the Amex people decide to offer you. I know this because I called a couple of years ago to find out how I could get an offer that my friend got, both of us having platinum cards and that’s what I was told. Seems quite unfair to me as the majority of the offers on my card are for things I will never use. I have gotten cruise offers, but only for Celebrity & Silversea. Oceania would be one I could actually use….

On 10/15/2021 at 5:49 AM, VMax1700 said:

What are your interests and how long is your port day?

Would you prefer organised tours or diy or maybe car rental?

Also, most importantly do you dock in Cobh or Ringaskiddy?  

 

(responses may be slow as we are currently on a Med cruise 😁)

VMaxx 1700, we are in port from 9~6 and dock in Ringaskiddy. Definitely not car rental but open to either DIY or an organized tour. What do you recommend?

Booked on an Oceania cruise in September 2020, cancelled and rebooked for September, 2021, cancelled again and rebooked for September, 2022. Although it is substantially the same cruise, some ports are new, one of which is Cork. I’ve been researching the other ports for 2+ years so kinda nice to have something new to research. Anyone have any recommendations of what not to miss? Tour or DIY? Thanks for any assistance.

We will be in this port on October 7, 2022. We are beach people ~ what is the best beach to visit and how would we get there? Are there chairs available for rent? Will it be too cool at that time of year to enjoy the beach? If so, other recommendations of what to do & see in this port?

I am guessing that the current COVID situation is having an affect on things. Even though a year out, O has no way of knowing where we will be with the pandemic. Since cruises are being rum at reduced capacity, I would imagine that cabins have been blocked to keep to those reductions. If/when we get past this mess and they can run at full capacity I am guessing cabins will be released in the different categories. Just a guess …

10 hours ago, pinotlover said:

If one wants to actually visit Venice, a cruise ship is quickly becoming an inconvenient way of doing so. But, isn’t that the plan anyway?

Agreed. However, if the ship starts or ends there, you can do a few days on land.  But if I fly to Venice to spend a few days prior and then have to get to someplace else to embark, that is a bummer and just another thing for me to manage whenever that decision is made.  Hopefully this is resolved in some manner before May, 2023 🙂

On 8/27/2021 at 2:04 PM, njhorseman said:

No. She exceeds both the maximum length and gross tonnage limits. 

What is perplexing to me is the new Bista, which does not sail until Spring, 2023, has itineraries starting & ending in Venice (one on which I am booked). There must be something in the works that will allow O to go into or near Venice? Otherwise why not list Trieste to begin with? What am I missing here?