Boarding the Riviera - Dec. 13, 2021

[lj77346]

It appears that Oceania worked the kinks out of the Covid testing and boarding process.  Our veranda overlooked the testing tent and we never saw a line up throughout the day.

 

We had an 11 a.m. check-in time and arrived at the terminal around 10:45 a.m. We were directed to the testing tent which is to the left of Terminal J and we’re checked in by Eurofins immediately. Within 2 minutes the nasal swabs were taken and we went to the waiting area for our numbers to be displayed on the board indicating a negative test result. While waiting we filled out the health questions and someone came to collect the forms and record our Covid vaccine information. By that time our numbers were on the board and we were sent to a desk to get our bracelets showing we completed the testing process. Our time in the testing tent was less than 20 minutes.

 

We then went to the terminal where we showed our passports and boarding pass and we’re sent upstairs to go through security where we had no lines. We then went to the check-in desk where our passports were photographed and we received our room key cards - the time in the terminal was probably less than 10 minutes. We were then allowed to board the ship and were in the Terrace Cafe at 11:15 a.m. It was a great way to start the cruise.

[Host Jazzbeau]

This is great news.  Thanks!  Hope it continues to work this smoothly for us in January.

[Queen of DaNile]

Glad to hear they worked things out. We arrived at our scheduled boarding time on 12/3 and the process took every bit of 2 hours.

[Nymich]

43 minutes ago, lj77346 said:

It appears that Oceania worked the kinks out of the Covid testing and boarding process.  Our veranda overlooked the testing tent and we never saw a line up throughout the day.

 

We had an 11 a.m. check-in time and arrived at the terminal around 10:45 a.m. We were directed to the testing tent which is to the left of Terminal J and we’re checked in by Eurofins immediately. Within 2 minutes the nasal swabs were taken and we went to the waiting area for our numbers to be displayed on the board indicating a negative test result. While waiting we filled out the health questions and someone came to collect the forms and record our Covid vaccine information. By that time our numbers were on the board and we were sent to a desk to get our bracelets showing we completed the testing process. Our time in the testing tent was less than 20 minutes.

 

We then went to the terminal where we showed our passports and boarding pass and we’re sent upstairs to go through security where we had no lines. We then went to the check-in desk where our passports were photographed and we received our room key cards - the time in the terminal was probably less than 10 minutes. We were then allowed to board the ship and were in the Terrace Cafe at 11:15 a.m. It was a great way to start the cruise.

Finally after reading all the speculation and all the opinions we have FACTS!  Thank you for helping us be informed to what's REALLY going on.

Edited December 13, 2021 by Nymich

[shans]

If anyone onboard is still following this thread, can you please tell me if you think it is possible to drop our luggage, go return our rental car and then come back for the covid test and check in process?

Wasn't sure if you had to keep all your luggage with you until you are cleared.

Thanks

[zteamtwo]

shans---This is just speculation on my part, but, when we checked in on Dec 3, we immediately dropped off our luggage with porter and then went to Covid tent. Never saw our luggage until it was at our cabin door a few hours later.  PERHAPS, what they do is wait until you get a negative test and then go find your luggage in the same area where you pick up your luggage at end of cruise  (easy to do) and remove it.  So, it might be ok to do what you want to do. OR, drive to rental car place and then take Uber to ship.

[Jockocruiser]

13 hours ago, shans said:

If anyone onboard is still following this thread, can you please tell me if you think it is possible to drop our luggage, go return our rental car and then come back for the covid test and check in process?

Wasn't sure if you had to keep all your luggage with you until you are cleared.

Thanks

 

13 hours ago, shans said:

That has been a process we follow in Miami.  But leave companion with the luggage, return the car, and by the time you get back, the companion likely has dropped off the luggage and made it down the line.  Easy communication with smart phones. 

Edited December 14, 2021 by Jockocruiser

[shans]

7 hours ago, zteamtwo said:

shans---This is just speculation on my part, but, when we checked in on Dec 3, we immediately dropped off our luggage with porter and then went to Covid tent. Never saw our luggage until it was at our cabin door a few hours later.  PERHAPS, what they do is wait until you get a negative test and then go find your luggage in the same area where you pick up your luggage at end of cruise  (easy to do) and remove it.  So, it might be ok to do what you want to do. OR, drive to rental car place and then take Uber to ship.

Thank you.

We dropped luggage for a crystal cruise in November without a problem and came back later for the testing/boarding.

The testing process for Oceania sounds like it is handled differently than what we experienced for Crystal.

Thanks for taking the time to post.

Thank you also to Jockocruiser for your reply.

[artlee]

So glad they fixed it from our 12/3 sailing. Enjoy the great cruise

art

 

[Noxequifans]

Thanks much!!!!!

[ronrick1943]

On 12/13/2021 at 2:33 PM, lj77346 said:

It appears that Oceania worked the kinks out of the Covid testing and boarding process.  Our veranda overlooked the testing tent and we never saw a line up throughout the day.

 

We had an 11 a.m. check-in time and arrived at the terminal around 10:45 a.m. We were directed to the testing tent which is to the left of Terminal J and we’re checked in by Eurofins immediately. Within 2 minutes the nasal swabs were taken and we went to the waiting area for our numbers to be displayed on the board indicating a negative test result. While waiting we filled out the health questions and someone came to collect the forms and record our Covid vaccine information. By that time our numbers were on the board and we were sent to a desk to get our bracelets showing we completed the testing process. Our time in the testing tent was less than 20 minutes.

 

We then went to the terminal where we showed our passports and boarding pass and we’re sent upstairs to go through security where we had no lines. We then went to the check-in desk where our passports were photographed and we received our room key cards - the time in the terminal was probably less than 10 minutes. We were then allowed to board the ship and were in the Terrace Cafe at 11:15 a.m. It was a great way to start the cruise.

Sounds like a solid plan on “O’s” part.  Have a great cruise, looking forward to reading more about your trip.

[lj77346]

We had smooth seas sailing from Miami to Cozumel. It’s in the low 80’s and partly cloudy in Cozumel today.

 

Except for all the crew members wearing masks, everything else on the Riviera seems like pre-pandemic cruising. The ship is nicely decorated for Christmas. All the usual activities are taking place - games, trivia, etc. and are well attended. A notable change in trivia is that teams score their own papers, which cuts down on the amount of time it takes to complete the game.

 

Not sure of the number of passengers, but think I heard the cruise director say about 700. Masks for passengers are optional and we only wear them when an activity is crowded or on an elevator with others which seems to be a process others are following as well.

 

It’s great to be onboard again - the staff are doing their usual great job and we’re enjoying the food (nice to have someone else cooking for us). Last night was the welcome aboard cocktail party and drinks were readily available in all bars from 6 to 8.  Time to get back outside - will post again in a few days.

[Nymich]

Appreciate the updates.  While we have done 3 other cruises on other lines since October its nice to know what is going on with O.  We'll be onboard soon!

 

[ak1004]

We are back on the Riviera after 3 years and 3 cancelled Oceania cruises.

 

Things are as we remember them. Food and service are fantastic. No lines anywhere. Entertainment is pretty good, better than 3 years ago, at least so far. Internet still poor. Not too many activities during the day. No lectures at all so far. Service in the MDR seems much faster. Maybe because the ship is half empty. Afternoon tea is fantastic. 

 

Overall a great experience and it's fantastic to be back after 2 years of no cruising.

[Nymich]

6 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

 

 

Overall a great experience and it's fantastic to be back after 2 years of no cruising.

I know that feeling! Thanks for helping us know what to expect. Enjoy your trip!

[pilgrimage]

If anyone is on board Riviera now and could post the room service menu for non-suite staterooms, we would love to see that!  We're going to be on the next cruise starting 12/23.  Curious to see what's available now that they've added hot breakfast for those of us in steerage 😉

[lj77346]

On 12/15/2021 at 6:48 PM, pilgrimage said:

If anyone is on board Riviera now and could post the room service menu for non-suite staterooms, we would love to see that!  We're going to be on the next cruise starting 12/23.  Curious to see what's available now that they've added hot breakfast for those of us in steerage 😉

Room service breakfast is available from 6:30 to 10. Besides the usual continental breakfast items, you can order scrambled eggs, fried eggs and omelettes as well as pancakes and French toast.

Can’t post a picture of the menu because the internet is so bad that the picture would never load. 
 

On the regular room service menu, it looks like omelettes are available all day as well.

[pilgrimage]

12 minutes ago, lj77346 said:

Room service breakfast is available from 6:30 to 10. Besides the usual continental breakfast items, you can order scrambled eggs, fried eggs and omelettes as well as pancakes and French toast.

Can’t post a picture of the menu because the internet is so bad that the picture would never load. 
 

On the regular room service menu, it looks like omelettes are available all day as well.

 

Thanks for the room service info!  Not excited to hear about the bad internet - I hope my t-mobile "high speed" will be good on port days at least.  Hope you're enjoying your trip.

[zteamtwo]

For those of you on board now--your TV has every menu available for all venues.  Just take a picture of that menu and send it.

[ak1004]

 

[lj77346]

The Riviera is at Harvest Caye today. After a cloudy arrival, the weather cleared and it is bright and sunny now. However, due to windy conditions this morning, we could not dock so we are anchored and need to ride a tender to get ashore.

[ak1004]

More than halfway through this cruise.

 

Food and service remain the highlights. Food is probably slightly better than Crystal and few degrees better than all other lines we sailed on. Afternoon tea is fantastic. 

 

Evening entertainment improved significantly compared to our Riviera cruise 3 years ago.

 

Daily activities are still the weak spot. No single guest lecture. No enrichment activities. Basically nothing to do till 6pm.

 

Internet still pretty bad.

 

Excursions very well organized. Small groups.

 

If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask.

[ak1004]

As a side note, while we are enjoying our cruise very much, lack of activities is a bit disappointing. It was not an issue on our previous cruise on the Riviera in Europe because it was very port intensive and we usually returned to the ship just in time for dinner. But on the Caribbean cruise, we would prefer to have more activities.

 

Can someone share some experience (or maybe links to previous posts) with line like Seabourn? We tried Crystal and loved it - the problem is that Crystal has only 2 ships, so the options are relatively limited. So we are looking for more options and are willing to try other lines that might have a similar level of food and service, but more activities.

 

Any tips would be appreciated.

[Queen of DaNile]

We were on the previous cruise and found enough things to do during the day but then again, we did the activities for BIG O points including trivia. We had one guest lecturer who did 5 enrichment presentations. We will be going on Seabourn next year for the Panama Canal because they did an outstanding job with enrichment when we were on Ovation on the Middle East. We had two excellent lecturers (on a ship with 1/2 the number of passengers as Riviera) who were available on deck as we transited the Suez. I don't recall an abundance of daytime activities but the food is definitely comparable to Oceania and service is excellent. You'll probably have the same issues with Internet😏

[ak1004]

As our cruise comes to an end, it's time for some final thoughts. 

 

Great cruise overall with a few negatives.

 

First time after 15 cruises there was no single guest lecture and no show on the last night.

 

Entertainment not bad but not great. Daily activities very poor. Cruise director basically invisible. 

 

Otherwise a great experience. Fantastic food and service as expected.

 

Will be posting a full review when we are vack.

Edited December 22, 2021 by ak1004