Riveria Sailing and Shore Excursion Review Oct 10-20

[the more ports the better]

Riveria was beautiful as usual and the food was very good in all restaurants, except the lamb chops in the MDR but there is inevitably going to be one miss.  We were in a PH on deck 11.  The stateroom was lovely.  The sailing was sold out so no spare staterooms and unfortunately someone clogged the main plumbing line on a lower deck so we had no WC one day from the time we arrived back onboard around 3:00 until 10:30 in the evening.  I take my 89 year old mom on a trip once a year and this was it.  Not having facilities for half a day was a problem.

 

Since I was with my mom, I decided to try out O excursions as they will soon be included as part of simply more, plus I had never done one with O or any other line in 60 plus cruises except for an occasional small group catamaran sail.  I thought that with my mom, O excursions would be easier.  Big mistake.

 

The entire experience was incredibly confining.  First we were herded into the Riveria lounge where we waited for our tour to be called.  Then we waited for everyone to get situated on the bus, then we waited for everyone to get off the bus and use the facilities, then we followed a person holding a sign while wearing earbuds in some cases.  Then the facilities again…..  Every excursion was the same procedure.  I felt like I was on a school field trip.
 

In Marseille, we saw St Remy and Arles, it took all day, and I mean 10 hours or so.  Last I was there, we rented a car and had a fantastic day just driving around Provence visiting the Palace of the Popes, we drove to St Remy, had lunch in Le Beux, then ended the day with the Van Gogh walk in Arles.  It took about the same amount of time and was 100 times more relaxing.

 

The O tour in Monte Carlo went to Eze.  We were rushed in and out of Eze before the shops even opened but we had all the time in the world at the the next stop, the perfume factory where they gave us a sales pitch and encouraged us to shop for as long as we liked.  It was insulting, I felt like we were on a Carnaval cruise ship.  We were told that the botanical garden in Eze was closed when it was actually opened.  The guide took the group to a view point and said it was the same as the garden which, having been there several time before, I called her on it and let everyone know that there were people walking around in the garden, it was clearly open, and the views were spectacular.  Most people missed the gardens which are by far the most beautiful part of Eze, as the guide said we had to be at the bus in 20 min and the walk down was 10.

 

The rest of the excursions were more of the same and SM or not, I will avoid them.  Private guides cost a little more but are well worth the price and renting a car to take our time and see exactly what we would like is a much more enjoyable vacation.  Even my mom, at 89, said she felt like a child following someone around with a sign all day when we were perfectly capable of exploring on our own.

 

If O gave onboard credit equal to the SM credit, it would be a bit more palatable, it could be spent on drinks, in the spa or shops, but limiting it to shore excursions will make me think twice about booking a sailing under simply more.

 

With the changes in itineraries due to the war in the Israel region and revocation of offered FCC, plus the loss of significant funds if something comes up where you must change your travel dates, cruising is much more burdensome than land trips.  I have a sailing on Riveria in February in Asia in which final payment is due next week.  I think we will cancel and just take a land trip as the sailing ends in Hong Kong and if China starts causing trouble, we will be in the same boat as those sailing through the Red Sea next month.  I can stay twice as long, in fabulous hotels in Thailand and Vietnam, for the cost of the O cruise.

 

In June I have a sailing booked on Marina up the coast of Portugal and France in an OC so that will be a treat but it is the last reservation I have that is not on SM so I guess I will think long and hard about booking another O sailing.  I have been sailing on O for quite some time and I love the O ships which feel like home when onboard but spending an extra $1000-$2000 on non used shore excursion credit that I will just throw away is not a good use of my vacation dollars.

 

Is anyone else in the same boat…..ship?

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ak1004]

Thanks for the review.

 

What was the average group size on O excursions?

[the more ports the better]

About 22, actually, a few excursions were exactly 22 as the guides would count people often.  22 was the number a few times.  Once we had 16.  The busses were never close to being full.

[ak1004]

6 minutes ago, the more ports the better said:

About 22, actually, a few excursions were exactly 22 as the guides would count people often.  22 was the number a few times.  Once we had 16.  The busses were never close to being full.

This is very good actually. On our Riviera cruise in May we had average of 35-38 people on buses.

[Vineyard View]

That is a really impressively low number of people on the excursions. Jammed busses are always one of our big reasons why we rarely take ship excursions.
The other reasons are exactly what the OP describes in their experiences on these excursions. I do not think this is exclusive at all with Oceania. 

[Woofa]

I can only guess but I would think that O started from just adding an excursion in every port, as some other lines do, then made the decision to give the credit allowing people to at least decide within the confines of the offered excursions.  Theoretically this might be more palatable to some (us included) if we could reserve a more expensive (less people) excursion in a single port.  Whether this will be a reasonable option (especially when not staying in an upper level cabin who I believe get first crack) we shall see.

As I and many others have said, if these excursions are not working for someone, best to think of SM as a price increase, skip the excursions completely and then decide if new pricing takes O out of the running for your dollars.

But, as we have also said previously, not as if there are alot of other options out there for less.  Plenty of talk on these forums about quitting O but other than a few cruises on premium or luxury lines, very little about finding cheaper prices on the whole.  Of course, cabin and cruise choice can make a big difference.

My guess, regardless of what seems to be popular here, is that most cruisers will stick with O and pay the difference.  For most people, changing lines can be a costly and difficult process.

Thanks for your review, sorry about the bathroom issue and excursion issue but glad you basically liked the ship and the food.

[osandomir]

25 minutes ago, the more ports the better said:

About 22, actually, a few excursions were exactly 22 as the guides would count people often.  22 was the number a few times.  Once we had 16.  The busses were never close to being full.

These aren’t bad numbers for a group tour. There’s always a compromise when you choose the ship shore excursion vs your private tour. This only indicates that the ship tours are in general not for you. I believe that you knew that even before you tried.

Edited October 30, 2023 by osandomir

[Flatbush Flyer]

55 minutes ago, the more ports the better said:

Riveria was beautiful as usual and the food was very good in all restaurants, except the lamb chops in the MDR but there is inevitably going to be one miss.  We were in a PH on deck 11.  The stateroom was lovely.  The sailing was sold out so no spare staterooms and unfortunately someone clogged the main plumbing line on a lower deck so we had no WC one day from the time we arrived back onboard around 3:00 until 10:30 in the evening.  I take my 89 year old mom on a trip once a year and this was it.  Not having facilities for half a day was a problem.

 

Since I was with my mom, I decided to try out O excursions as they will soon be included as part of simply more, plus I had never done one with O or any other line in 60 plus cruises except for an occasional small group catamaran sail.  I thought that with my mom, O excursions would be easier.  Big mistake.

 

The entire experience was incredibly confining.  First we were herded into the Riveria lounge where we waited for our tour to be called.  Then we waited for everyone to get situated on the bus, then we waited for everyone to get off the bus and use the facilities, then we followed a person holding a sign while wearing earbuds in some cases.  Then the facilities again…..  Every excursion was the same procedure.  I felt like I was on a school field trip.
 

In Marseille, we saw St Remy and Arles, it took all day, and I mean 10 hours or so.  Last I was there, we rented a car and had a fantastic day just driving around Provence visiting the Palace of the Popes, we drove to St Remy, had lunch in Le Beux, then ended the day with the Van Gogh walk in Arles.  It took about the same amount of time and was 100 times more relaxing.

 

The O tour in Monte Carlo went to Eze.  We were rushed in and out of Eze before the shops even opened but we had all the time in the world at the the next stop, the perfume factory where they gave us a sales pitch and encouraged us to shop for as long as we liked.  It was insulting, I felt like we were on a Carnaval cruise ship.  We were told that the botanical garden in Eze was closed when it was actually opened.  The guide took the group to a view point and said it was the same as the garden which, having been there several time before, I called her on it and let everyone know that there were people walking around in the garden, it was clearly open, and the views were spectacular.  Most people missed the gardens which are by far the most beautiful part of Eze, as the guide said we had to be at the bus in 20 min and the walk down was 10.

 

The rest of the excursions were more of the same and SM or not, I will avoid them.  Private guides cost a little more but are well worth the price and renting a car to take our time and see exactly what we would like is a much more enjoyable vacation.  Even my mom, at 89, said she felt like a child following someone around with a sign all day when we were perfectly capable of exploring on our own.

 

If O gave onboard credit equal to the SM credit, it would be a bit more palatable, it could be spent on drinks, in the spa or shops, but limiting it to shore excursions will make me think twice about booking a sailing under simply more.

 

With the changes in itineraries due to the war in the Israel region and revocation of offered FCC, plus the loss of significant funds if something comes up where you must change your travel dates, cruising is much more burdensome than land trips.  I have a sailing on Riveria in February in Asia in which final payment is due next week.  I think we will cancel and just take a land trip as the sailing ends in Hong Kong and if China starts causing trouble, we will be in the same boat as those sailing through the Red Sea next month.  I can stay twice as long, in fabulous hotels in Thailand and Vietnam, for the cost of the O cruise.

 

In June I have a sailing booked on Marina up the coast of Portugal and France in an OC so that will be a treat but it is the last reservation I have that is not on SM so I guess I will think long and hard about booking another O sailing.  I have been sailing on O for quite some time and I love the O ships which feel like home when onboard but spending an extra $1000-$2000 on non used shore excursion credit that I will just throw away is not a good use of my vacation dollars.

 

Is anyone else in the same boat…..ship?

 

Sounds like you picked some wrong O excursions. It’s easy to avoid those “panoramic” bus ones.

[Queen of DaNile]

We are on Riviera in SE Asia which might be the sailing prior to yours (our final was due 2 months ago?) and are trying the Simply More excursions. Hopefully they will be a bit better than what you experienced in Europe but we know how those rest stops take up a lot of time.

I don't blame you for wanting to avoid ports in China which is why we picked the itinerary we did.

Thanks for the update on Riviera.

[Flatbush Flyer]

46 minutes ago, the more ports the better said:

About 22, actually, a few excursions were exactly 22 as the guides would count people often.  22 was the number a few times.  Once we had 16.  The busses were never close to being full.

And if you use your SM $ to book enough OE ones to qualify for the added 25% discount you’ll never see more that 10 people on the tour.

[ak1004]

1 minute ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

And if you use your SM $ to book enough OE ones to qualify for the added 25% discount you’ll never see more that 10 people on the tour.

 

This is what I was thinking, but I doubt you will have enough SM credit. OE excursions are typically at least $200 I think and the credit is $400 for 10-12 nights cruises, and you need 5 excursions to qualify for the 25% discount. But 22 people is not too far from booking semi private tours (those are typically 15-18 people), so not too bad. But I'm wondering if this typical, or our cruise where we consistently had 35-38 people is closer to typical?

[Vineyard View]

1 minute ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

And if you use your SM $ to book enough OE ones to qualify for the added 25% discount you’ll never see more that 10 people on the tour.

When I first started asking about OE, I had a few responses tell me that they are a maximum of 16 people, but that can be in a van where you are shoulder to shoulder. It was shared that this is no an uncommon occurrence. I was asking because we are looking at a very long day in Tunisia on an OE…we did not book extra excursions for the discount. Your post greatly changes that impression 

[Flatbush Flyer]

1 minute ago, ak1004 said:

 

This is what I was thinking, but I doubt you will have enough SM credit. OE excursions are typically at least $200 I think and the credit is $400 for 10-12 nights cruises, and you need 5 excursions to qualify for the 25% discount. But 22 people is not too far from booking semi private tours (those are typically 15-18 people), so not too bad. But I'm wondering if this typical, or our cruise where we consistently had 35-38 people is closer to typical?

FWIW: we mix ship and private tours based on a variety of criteria. And, for ship tours, we seldom purposefully pick those that we know will see 30+\- participants. It’s really quite easy to come up with the right mix.

[Flatbush Flyer]

2 minutes ago, Vineyard View said:

When I first started asking about OE, I had a few responses tell me that they are a maximum of 16 people, but that can be in a van where you are shoulder to shoulder. It was shared that this is no an uncommon occurrence. I was asking because we are looking at a very long day in Tunisia on an OE…we did not book extra excursions for the discount. Your post greatly changes that impression 

The limit on OE is 10.

[LHT28]

4 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

The limit on OE is 10.

in some cases  it is 16

Oceania Exclusive - the Walls and Souks of Taroudant (AGA-003OE)

April 12, 2024

Port: Agadir

"Designed for travelers who prefer an added measure of intimacy and flexibility, our new Oceania Exclusive tours limit group size to just 16 guests maximum. The Oceania Exclusive format is available on specially selected shore excursions in nearly every port we visit, around the world."

[Vineyard View]

Well I may be comple

5 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

The limit on OE is 10.

Just looked at my OE reservation. It said minimum of 10….maximum of 16. Maybe something has recently changed?

[Flatbush Flyer]

1 minute ago, Vineyard View said:

Well I may be comple

Just looked at my OE reservation. It said minimum of 10….maximum of 16. Maybe something has recently changed?

No. Mea Culpa. Senior Moment. I too rechecked it and it is “minimum 10 and maximum 16.” 

[Tranquility Base]

As the Amenities are per stateroom, with a couple booked under SM can just one person in the stateroom use all of the shorex SBC ?

 

[Queen of DaNile]

6 hours ago, Tranquility Base said:

As the Amenities are per stateroom, with a couple booked under SM can just one person in the stateroom use all of the shorex SBC ?

 

Don't think so. The Shore Excursion credit is reflected on your statement per person. 

[ak1004]

9 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

FWIW: we mix ship and private tours based on a variety of criteria. And, for ship tours, we seldom purposefully pick those that we know will see 30+\- participants. It’s really quite easy to come up with the right mix.

 

We do the same, but how do you know which excursions will be 30+ participants? 

[EJL2023]

10 hours ago, ak1004 said:

 

This is what I was thinking, but I doubt you will have enough SM credit. OE excursions are typically at least $200 I think and the credit is $400 for 10-12 nights cruises, and you need 5 excursions to qualify for the 25% discount. But 22 people is not too far from booking semi private tours (those are typically 15-18 people), so not too bad. But I'm wondering if this typical, or our cruise where we consistently had 35-38 people is closer to typical?

Our magic number on Vista in May was 27….seemed to be the number the guide counted out on most of our non OE excursions. 

[Bobbyjimbob]

Whatever level of excursion , the facilities stop is important to many

and maybe even most ! The tour guide can make or break the excursion . Those who sightsee on their own are taking in the what they see and are likely not interested in the history lesson a guide adds. We attended the site of the first Olympic Games. The sites were awe inspiring but the historical details provided made it so much more enjoyable and exciting. It comes down to personal preference I think.

[ak1004]

1 minute ago, Bobbyjimbob said:

Whatever level of excursion , the facilities stop is important to many

and maybe even most ! The tour guide can make or break the excursion . Those who sightsee on their own are taking in the what they see and are likely not interested in the history lesson a guide adds. We attended the site of the first Olympic Games. The sites were awe inspiring but the historical details provided made it so much more enjoyable and exciting. It comes down to personal preference I think.

 

And facilities stop happen on semi private tours too. The only way to control them is taking a 100% private tour, but this would be in a different price category. So the comparison should be between the ships tours and semi private tours that have 15-18 people typically. 

[Flatbush Flyer]

2 hours ago, ak1004 said:

 

We do the same, but how do you know which excursions will be 30+ participants? 

Anytime the description says “Panoramic,” it’s usually a bus of 30+\-.

“OE” is 10 to 16.

The “strenuous” icon in the description can usually affect the number as well (I.e., 3 figures will have less folks).

[cruisemom42]

1 hour ago, Bobbyjimbob said:

The tour guide can make or break the excursion . Those who sightsee on their own are taking in the what they see and are likely not interested in the history lesson a guide adds.

 

Not true for everyone. I always do extensive research and reading as part of my planning for any new destinations (and sometimes for new things I want to visit in familiar ones, like Rome). It is quite possible to learn as much or more about a site on your own with suitable preparation as with a guide, particularly with the kind of average guide one usually gets on shore excursions. 

 

I do spring for private tours with truly good guides in some places, but in my long career of cruising I can say that I have often caught tour guides in falsehoods, exaggerations, or providing old interpretations that have been superseded by newer research and publications.

 

I'd rather have facts than story telling.

 

One memorable guide on a shorex (not O) told her busload of passengers, "I could tell you all the history about X, but you'll all just forget it anyway."  I was shocked, but I think she just voiced what a lot of guides think.