I've never been on such a disappointing cruise. And the shame is that since I was in a concierge floor veranda stateroom and didn't want to share a room, I paid almost $20,000 for two weeks of over-the-top mediocrity. The best things were the steward on my floor, the mostly prompt room service and the organization at meals which is a good thing because on Riviera you eat from the buffet for all meals unless you make a reservation at one of the restaurants or go to the Grand Dining Room which isn't anything to write home about. After a week the buffet food was very boring although I have to say that I don't have a very sophisticated palate and I don't like a lot of different foods so other people might have felt differently. However, I did eat an awful lot of beef on this trip. I recommend the hamburgers. Otherwise, three times a day you have to serve yourself. And on sea days if you're a little bit late to meals you might not find any place to sit.

The tours were also rather disappointing. For one thing they were very crowded - usually a full busload of people. And in general there was quite a bit of disorganization. There was so much waiting around. Disembarking was sometimes a problem. One day the platform had to be transferred to the other side of the boat. On another day a few of the tenders weren't working and had to be repaired. On another day there was ice on the platform. We spent considerable amounts of time waiting in the lounge to disembark while these problems were resolved.

And on top of all that I lost an expensive sweater which was not turned in to Reception. The reason I mention this is that in my opinion it reflects on the the caliber of the other passengers or on the character of the crew.