judi666

I’m amazed at the nasty, negative comments I received on my “Live from Regatta” thread. I have been a CC member for a couple of decades and never imagined getting the awful, demeaning comments I got. I was careful to point out the good things and say my opinions were subjective from the POV of being an older person, who doesn’t eat many of the meat dishes in the restaurant.etc etc. We have been on 3 cruises post covid and I have felt none of the lines are living up to the pre Covid standards. So much so, I think it might be better for us to concentrate on land based vacations. Once again that is my personal opinion.

Yes, I only debarked on Sat 4-20. So I guess those of us who have commented are not to be believed? I wrote several follow-ups on 2 threads. It wasn’t the worst cruise, I ever took. But the value just wasn’t there. It’s an opinion, not something that needs to be defended. People were basically calling me a liar, when I posted the wine by the glass list from the menus on the ship. I really don’t understand. Aren’t these boards here to help people decide what cruise might be best for them, not to defend something you haven’t experienced yourself?

No, I debarked on Sat. April 20.

The food was actually fine to very good. The service is excellant. If you have a veranda room, you may be shocked at the bathroom size, but it’s good for an amusing story, it will work out.

I strongly considered flying back from Kauai. I only wish I had followed gut feeling.

I have been on at least 10 Oceania cruises and did not like this one at all, except for the itinerary. It was a snoozefest. It’s a good thing I enjoy reading.

So true. I’m in my late 70’s and it was like a rest home for 90 plus. Absolutely no energy. The one country fair thing actually got people up and having fun. That was an hour out of 21 days. Everyday the same boring stuff. Initially I dissed the food, but feel like it got better after we were in the Islands and there was more fresh fish and fruit. We canceled all specialty reservation after going to each 2 times. Nothing special in food or service to recommend. Menu never changes. Every pasta dish was pretty bad. I don’t eat red meat and the specialties are heavy on those dishes. To call Toscana Italian food is a joke. If you want to lose weight, this cruise was a winner. I lost 5 pounds. i mention in another post, the SM wine by the glass was very limited and half of those were gone 8 or so days into the cruise. I did find one or two that made it thru to the end that were ok. We had nostalgia for several R class cruises we took around 15 years ago. Two were when it was Renaissance, so maybe longer. The ship is still beautiful and great condition, spotlessly clean. I think we forgot how small the veranda cabins are. Our previous Oceania cruises in the last 10 years or so were in PH. There were none left when we booked and I thought the veranda would be fine. It would have been ok for 7 days but really got old after 21. The bathroom works fine, but it is not fun or luxury by any stretch of the imagination. The included excursions were fine, if typical with a long stop at some store. For the price of the cruises you would think they didn’t have to be subsidized by forcing you into a retail outlet. The worst of the whole experience was the huge number of obviously sick people by the end of the cruise. No venue was safe ( the ship is really small) People coughing and sneezing nonstop. I got very sick and still am. It wasn’t Covid, but very bad upper respiratory illness. There were a several pros, which have been mentioned, but not enough to go on another R ship, even in a bigger cabin. The vibe is just so sedate and low energy. The Islands themselves are spectacular ( our fourth time) but the long very rough condition on the 10 sea days held little in the way of fun . It was difficult to move about the ship or engage any any activity. ( I’m old)

Agreed. If you suffer from rough seas this may not be the right cruise for you. I would do the FP islands again but not this particular itinerary. I did not anticipate how unenjoyable it would be to move about the ship or do activities. This is somewhat age related. I’m getting a knee replacement next month.

This was our third time on the FP itinerary. This one was much longer, going to Hawaii and on to LA. I love the shorter itinerary, but would never do this longer one again. Very subjective, but just too many sea days with little in the way of activities that I have interest in. We have been on several trans Atlantics on bigger ships and the ride was not as rough ( may better stabilization). It just isn’t much fun to walk the track or even use the gym when I am feeling unbalanced. So much to do in FP. Snorkeling or diving are fabulous. We rented a car in Moorea ( stayed 5 days pre cruise) and Bora Bora. It’s fun and not too expensive.

Thank you!

Out cabin stewards, Putu and Ravi are just the best. The servers in the Waves grill are very nice. I don’t recall any particular names. A real standout for me was the reallly great tender crew. We had a lot of tender ports and they handled everything perfectly. The service in thd GDR had been excellant. We have been seated in different areas, so not the same server. We have noticed in the past, that a meal might take a long time with the various courses. In the dining venues on Regatta the food comes with little wait time, the temperature of servings has been good.

We found the 3 times laundry service that came with the Concierge Ver. Has worked well. Since we were in Moorea a week before embarkation, we handed over the first bag of 20 items at the beginning. Just did the last bag yesterday. The clothes are clean and folded, but not on hangers, pressed etc. They seem to be offering the same service in the currents for $24.99. Our last cruise 1 year ago on a different line had the same offer, but the clothes came back pressed and on hangers. It is nice not to have to use the laudrette or go home with dirty clothes. I’m really not seeing much In the way of concierge benefits, except the laundry. We also got a bottle of champagne, which we have not used. I believe you could select the dates of your specialty restaurants a little earlier. We ended up canceling several of the specialty reservations. Once is good, but the menus never change. I’m sure this would be more of a perk, on the bigger ships with more specialty restaurants.

We sure don’t have to worry about it today! It’s a bit of a rough ride.

We were only at the trivia once. So he could have been other times.

We have not had to worry about chair hogs, as it has rained quite a bit on sea days. On the nice days, chair hogging was in full effect. That seems to happen on land and sea. Just have to except it and plan accordingly.

Couldn’t agree more. I don’t care what people do. It’s not my issue and up to the staff to deal with. Whatever “rules” may be in place, I have seen zero enforcement of clothing or anything else. May be partly because of the very casual clothing needed on this itinerary. It has been very hot and humid most of the time. Even the nicest thing would look like a wet rag after wearing. Oddly, there is one person wearing the same thing, no matter by the pool, on a tour, or at dinner. It is sort of a stand out piece of clothing, so have noticed. They must have packed very lightly. Do I care, absolutely not!

His first name is John, he is British. Have not seen him around much. He gives a morning report on the TV. Introduces the shows. I don’t see him at the bingo or trivia. He may be doing other things I’m not aware of.

It does seem that may be the case. I see it after lunch and after dinner. One guy was cradling 3 bottles of beer and balancing a glass of wine to boot. That would make sense that some may be doing the SM to go. I didn’t think the SM would actually make much difference. But in reality, I’m not fond of it all. We did enjoy all our O included excursions. Several people were complaining about theirs. I think this is partly because of the rainy conditions the past several days. They seemed to use one tour company for most of the tours in Hawaii. The guides were also the bus drivers. They all were funny and had good information. The buses were nice and had a bathroom. I know more about Captain Cook than I ever did before!😃 Most lines seem to have the option to include some drink package, a few tours etc. The two we took post Covid, drinks up to a certain price were included. If you wanted something or a higher brand of spirits you paid the full price. That seemed like a better option, as you could have something at any bar and not limited to certain times of the day. Generally, the food has been ok to very good. After a week or so, we both agree the food in the GDR is preferable to the specialty restaurants. We tried Toscana 3 times and canceled our remaining 2. The pasta was usually overdone and the sauce was always the same, although described in different ways. The menu never changes. Both venues are very meat heavy. Since I don’t eat red meat, I may be missing on the best dishes.

The docking seemed to take a long time.Perhaps we are lucky we got to dock at all.

The corkage charge is only if you take your wine to a dining venue. It’s not applied if you drink in your cabin. After or before dinner we are seeing people carrying glasses of wine and bottles of beer all over the ship, elevators lounges etc. In 20 years of cruising this has not been the norm. It would be usual that drinking would happen in the bars, your cabin or a dining venue. Has this become the thing to do on Oceania? We have not been on another Oceania cruise for 5 years, before this one.

Lahaina. They had 8 months to find another port and only showed the port was gone ( obviously ) and changed the schedule about 2 months ago. Making 6 sea days to San Pedro, instead of 5. Not that big of a deal, but it seemed they could have found something else.

Thank you. I have been a cc member for over 20 years and was a bit incredulous at the very negative posts I received. A cruise is certainly not just about wine, cocktails and food. The itineraries are the most important to me, as well as the ease of traveling in my late 70’s. This is wonderful itinerary(although I wish they had not cut out a port day, in an already sea heavy cruise). We have been on 3 other lines since Covid and have noticed a deterioration of food etc in all. The general crew seems very young, but do a terrific job. As I said before, Regatta is in near perfect condition, for an older ship. Fellow passengers are great as usual.

I am aware of this. I’m not being a whiny baby over this. I just feel the value is not there.

Bad news tonite in Toscana. The bigger wine list by the glass ( about 20) in the dining venues, is about half gone. I’m sorry I haven’t posted that list. We were informed that all the Italian and French wines are gone, along with my beloved Alberino and a Wente red are gone. They don’t plan to restock until San Pedro. So 9 more days. I wonder how much smaller the list will be by the time we get there. So much for Simply More. I though it sounded ok and payed about 1.5 k more. This was mostly for the included wine and beer and a big issue for us was needing WiFi for 2 devices. At the time we booked it was $600 more. Shortly after they changed policy to include two devices for everyone. I thought, ok, we do get some excursions added in, to make it a good value. ( we usually do a mix of ship and private tours). The included excursions so far have been fine. But I may have gone for something different, without the usual merchant stop, that I have little interest in. Oh well live and learn…. We do have some wine we brought on board, so will pay the corkage and go from there We usually just did the cruise only, so sorry that option is gone. There was nothing I read that indicated the basic package was only on the WBG menu. That’s probably on me. I would not do it again, unless something changed. On another note the cruise had been really great and enjoyable. We did have an issue with our room being very cold, but it was so hot out, it was ok. Last night we mentioned for the third time the thermostat was not working. Some one did come by and fix it. Im sort of thinking I might be getting too old to enjoy cruising as much as I used to.

They do have the very nice Alberino in the dining room as part of simply more. I have had it most nights. So you can still look forward to it! Yes, lots of wines available by the bottle. The wine server tonight, mentioned the wines by the glass listed ( and there are about 19 in the dining room) are available, but the many others are only by the bottle. Its all a little confusing for passengers and servers. In my opinion it was badly thought out and implemented. Of course you can order what you like and pay for it extra. The upgraded package would have been almost $2500 on this long cruise. We didn’t think we would make it worthwhile for us. However, the server told me today, you can upgrade at any point in the cruise. I’m not a completely sure that’s the case, but one can hope. I will try to post the wines by the glass in the dining room, forgot this evening.