Riviera Review

4.5 / 5.0
782 reviews

Islands and Icons.Istanbul to Venice.5th-15th August

Review for the Eastern Mediterranean Cruise on Riviera
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Sigaco
2-5 Cruises • Age 50s

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Sail Date: Aug 2014
Cabin: Verandah Stateroom

Just back from the most amazing cruise. The embarkation in Istanbul was very smooth and the welcome aboard was great. The ship is a work of art and certainly the best looking ship I have ever seen. Then you are treated to the many pieces of art aboard such as the eight Picasso's in the Casino Bar. Our stateroom was a B1 veranda and was very spacious with lots of wardrobe space and places to put everything. The bathroom was all granite and marble with a bath and shower. I was travelling with my mother so we had twin beds and they were luxurious. The food was outstanding as were all the staff who were all so friendly and remembered our names. I really can't choose a favourite restaurant as they were all fantastic and so different. I thought I would be one of the youngest on board, being 48, as I had read other reviews. I was surprised to see a lot of children on board and they were all very well behaved. There were so many different nationalities as well and everyone got on so well.

The entertainment was excellent and run very well by Andy Heath our cruise director.We loved the shows starring the Jean Ann Ryan Company, especially the lead singer Elias Hendricks. Being a smoker I was pleased to see that we had two great places to smoke. One being on the pool deck and one at the entrance to Horizons which was inside but far enough away from others so it wouldn't bother them. We had tenders into Santorini and Zakynthos which were regular and we never had to queue and also shuttles into Corfu and Dubrovnik organised by the Port Authorities which were also regular and once again no queues. We had to miss one port of call,Durres in Albania due to the clearance underneath the ship on entering being only 6.5 metres and not the required 8 metres so we ran a risk of grounding. We went straight onto Kotor and nearly everyone was really happy to spend two days there as it is such a beautiful place. We loved the afternoon tea in Horizons,the captains cocktail party where the champagne flowed and my mother enjoyed the putting green and her afternoons playing bridge. Our Captain was Gunnar Romtveit and I had many a chat with him. All the officers and staff were friendly and made you feel special.Disembarkation in Venice was quick and efficient and was a very sad moment. It was awful having to say goodbye to so many many wonderful people such as W Andre Allen who was the artist from the Artist Loft who I became good friends with. Truly a fantastic experience and can't wait to Cruise on the Riviera again.

Cabin Review

Verandah Stateroom

Cabin B1

Large stateroom.lots of wardrobe space and draws.great balcony. lovely sofa and table and also large bathroom with bath and shower and lots of storage space. No noise and didn't feel any movement of the ship.

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