judi666

8 hours ago, REDSTRIPETYPE said:

So here I am back after being "slagged" for not engaging in all the nonsense and therefore apparently having no credibility.

 

So here are my thoughts now after having read thru all the various comments and by the way I wont be responding again because its not enjoyable.

 

1) Doesn't have to be Red Stripe, I like all kinds of beer and loved that they had local Tahitian beer...Hinano...it was great! (look at that a positive comment)

2) Interesting that I got criticized for saying European accent. I did that to not appear racially motivated especially with the war in Europe.

3) Very happy to see that the people who did comment about the male singer not only agreed but were far more critical the I was. ( hit the nail on the head there!)

4) Funny that most people on these boards think that its mostly complainers and that our opinion should therefore be taken with a grain of salt...if you don't want honest, forthright info then get off the board.

5) My intention was not to say that Celebrity is better or that people should "jump ship" (ha ha) from Oceania, but just to say that the alleged luxury and food experience wasn't enough for us personally to return to Oceania.

6) Incredible the stuff that people choose to slag, like my comment about the early pool chair hogs at 0615...what does the time of sunrise have to do  with that...I didn't make it up it happened!

7) And for the rest  of you naysayers...remember I started with all the good things...I guess my analogy would be this...if you thing that the enormous amount of money you pay for airline business class is worth it than go with Oceania...and although comparing Celebrity with Oceania is like comparing apples and oranges (both fruits but very different) we choose the Celebrity fruit because we can go on two Celebrity cruises for the price of one Oceania cruise.

OVER AND OUT!

 

 

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. 

10 hours ago, TRLD said:

Except that there are 2 other of us from the same cruise with similar comments as well as indications in posts from a person on the next cruise.

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? 

On 4/24/2024 at 2:52 PM, ORV said:

Are you still on board? Saw a lady last night that looked just like your picture. 

No, I debarked on Sat. April 20. 

On 4/23/2024 at 1:37 PM, durberville said:

*sighs. Thanks for the honest review but man o man am I bummed. Have booked our first Oceania cruise on the Regatta for October (25 days). Sounds like it will be a floating nursing home with poor food. I convinced my husband to try this line since we’ve become disillusioned with Celebrity. Full of regret now. 😟

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. 

21 hours ago, TRLD said:

To make it clear we sail for destinations. It is that sone destinations include having a lot of sea days  This 21 itinerary was a good example French Polynesia to LA. Singapore to Cape Town is another.

 

Most port intensive itineraries we have done multiple times. We can do most of those on just about any cruise line.

 

What I stated is not that we sail for sea days, but that we have never minded them in the past, even on much longer cruises.

 

In the past our view on almost every other line we have been on is better to cruise somewhere instead of flying. With Oceania that has changed to in the future if the only way to get somewhere is either Oceania or flying, we will fly. 

 

This cruuse went to FP and Hawaii. We have been to both seversl times including both cruises and land trups in both. Spent 14 days in Bora Bora, Moorea and Papeete last year and we usually fly to Hawaii for two weeks each year.  Thought this would be a good time to check out Oceania. Almost got off in Honolulu to sprnd a few days and fly home instead of spending the last 7 days on board. Several people (I know of atleast 10) did get off there. There was enough interest that they put a notice in the Current giving the cutoff of when anyone deciding to do so had to notify reception.

 

Different people different views.  Glad you enjoy them. 

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

On 4/22/2024 at 5:45 AM, TRLD said:

I have sailed this exact size ship twice nefore, one of the old R class ships though with 2 other lines. In both cases there was plenty to do.  Not so much on this. Let me rephrase that. There were things to do, but pretty much the same thing day to day.  

 

We spend about 100 days per year on cruise ships. Last year we were sailed on 7 different cruise lines from 50 passengers to 5000 passenger ships. We pick primarily by itinerary with no loyalty to any line or any style. From mass market to luxury.  We like many others picked this because of the itinerary. French Polynesia and Hawaii on a ship size we were familiar with, small enough to get into Bora Bora.

 

 We like sea days and have been on much longer cruises, we like classical music and i carry about a thousand books on my phone and read about a book a day. Entertainment is normally not an issue.

 

The problem is not what was  going on any given day it is that nothing changes between days. A kind of sea going ground hog day movie. Live music started at 4 with tea and the string quartet. Playing pretty much the same background music every day. No interaction with guests  no talking, just classical.background music. Then at 5 it was happy hour with the show band. Basically the same thing. Background music, same thing day to day, no interaction. 

 

There was also a Piano player during happy hour in Martinis that atleast spoke,  After leaving the tea the quartet would play in the upper hall where they would atleast announce what they were playing and vary it to some degree, but there was only about 8 or 10 chairs in the area.

 

So lots of live music, mostly playing a very curated background to tea or happy hour. 

 

Like being in one of my old board meeting cocktail hours for days.

 

On the surface it would seem to be something  we would like. In practice it got old very quickly 

 

About the only variation was in the one show each night. A couple were very good (one piano player did 2 excellent shows, one piano player did 2 ok shows, the comedian not so good  2 different vocalists did 2 shows each, one was good one not so much). The 4 production shows were OK.

 

As far as food goes. There were some nice features such as the grill to order in the Terrace Cafe and the sushi selection. But in general the food did not really impress. The problem there was also the lack of variety.  Again a very curated menu. Very consistent, but as far as quality goes nothing special. Not bad, but pretty much in line with other lines. It lacked the customization of the luxury lines, though did have some unique features compared to mass market lines.

 

The long time Oceania cruisers seemed to like it, the 200+ first timers not so much.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

On 4/21/2024 at 7:40 PM, TRLD said:

There were 200 first timers on the 21 day cruise out of the 600 on board.

 

I suspect that many are one and done. The first timers included  those coming up from the adult mass market lines (HAL, Princess, Celebrity) as well as those that normally sail higher end lines such as Regent, Crystal, Seabourn and Silver Sea.

 

The itinerary is what attracted many to try Oceania starting in French Polynesia and ending in LA.

 

For me the issue was extreme lack of variation. The sea day schedule pretty much the same with the 3 music options, string quartet, show band and piano player doing basically the same routines each day. Mostly playing background music for tea, happy hour, etc. Little variation  little change in what was being played, little interaction with passengers. Basically playing their curated list.

 

In many ways a waste of live music  They could use canned music for background on some days and then have a concert type show with the freed up time where they could be more interactive with the audience on both type of music and maybe even requests.

 

If you take away the grill to order lobster, and steaks, as well as the sushi, the food did really not seem any better than food available on other lines, including HAL  Celebrity, and Princess, with less variation. Basically in talking with the Chef the menus are also curated by HQ and must be followed exactly as HQ indicates.

 

The pool area was mostly full. But not so much by people saving seats and not being there, but instead by people that basically spent all day there when weather allowed. The number one activity seemed to be sleeping on the lounges near the pool 

 

I have been on some sedate cruises in the past, but this cruise was more sedated.

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)
 

8 hours ago, jondfk said:

Okay, I’ll comment here too.  The portion of our sailing in FP was really quite calm including the day long run north to Nuku Hiva.  Thereafter however the 5 day run to Honolulu was quite rocky with seas of 20 ft plus for several days which caused the captain to slow the ship which in turn caused us to arrive about 7 hours late into Honolulu.  DW suffers in rough seas and this leg was challenging for her (though she has agreed to do it again next year so….).  Again I wouldn’t expect any of that on your FP sailing, but just so you know.

 

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.

22 hours ago, Sailnsurf said:

As we are on Regatta for a 10 day Polynesian cruise in August 25 any comments on this section of your itinerary, such as what was good and what not would be very interesting to read as well.

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.  

4 hours ago, Cliff-FLL said:

@judi666 FWIW, I think it's terrible the way you've been treated on this thread by a few posters/Oceania cheerleaders.  I consider them the Oceania monkeys - hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil.  Anything that says or implies Oceania is less than perfect is heresy and the villain must be challenged and electronically pilloried.  Some people forget that the purpose this board is to provide personal insights of their cruising experience, not to be an adjunct to the marketing department of their favourite cruise line.  Despite these unfortunate interactions, I hope you'll continue to share your perspectives with the rest of us.

Thank you!

On 4/14/2024 at 12:39 PM, jondfk said:

Aloha to those onboard Regatta, very much enjoying the live from reports.  With 5 sea days ahead I hope you might share any particularly noteworthy crew members be they wait staff, bar staff or others.  We board in Los Angeles on Saturday and always like to look towards staff who have demonstrated great service.

 

Aloha and mahalo,

 

Jon

 

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.

2 hours ago, Catboatcouple said:

No, it’s still there but only 4 washers and 4 dryers are a bit of a stretch for the entire ship…. Gets a bit competitive in there at times.

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.

3 hours ago, TRLD said:

From what I saw during the days when the weather was good the lounges were mostly occupied, few unoccupied and saved for long periods. Some empty and saved but it seemed only for short periods.

 

 

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

5 hours ago, ORV said:

I've cruised with English John before, I think his last name is Clelford, or something like that. I do hope he's done at the end of this cruise. I'd almost rather have Dottie. When we last cruised with him he had a tendency to have the speaker system turned up so loud it would literally knock you out of your seat when he did the announcements. 

 

Oddly enough I have never, in 15 years of cruising on Oceania, not seen the CD run the daily Trivia team games. Including when I cruised with him before. I'm wondering if maybe he might have something and not be able to interact up close with the public. 

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

1 hour ago, ronrick1943 said:

Have they stopped the lounge hogs yet?😁  You really cares, some people are just cheap and that will never change---it's just like gratuities are included.

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.

3 hours ago, zalusky said:

It's not our responsibility to play cop here.  Whether it be clothing or alcohol or ....  It's up to Oceania to decide if it's a problem.  This is so minor in the big picture.

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! 

 

6 hours ago, palakika said:

Judi666..  thanks for your comments.  I'm also boarding on Sat in LA and wondering who is serving as cruise director?  Thanks.

Francie

 

 

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. 

7 hours ago, ronrick1943 said:

It really shouldn't be allowed, if you're cruising you should be able to follow the rules.  Taking a glass of wine into dinner is wrong--as well as taking one out of a restaurant.  Why be petty to save a few dollars.  If you want to drink around the ship, buy the drink package.

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.

4 hours ago, TRLD said:

on Kuaui we were at dock 3 because there was supposed to be a Carnival ship at dock 2. it was ahead of us then stopped. We went in and docked, then the Carnival ship just left. 

 

If they would have canceled earlier it would have been nicer to dock at the normal dock 2 which is a shorter walk.

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

3 hours ago, ronrick1943 said:

Thank you for your posting, enjoying reading.  The corkage charge I really don't understand.  If you don't drink "O's" wine and drink your own--they are saving money.  I could understand if you we're paying for a glass of wine.

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.

5 hours ago, Clutj said:

What port did they cut?  I did this trip in 2022 and almost did it again this year. 

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. 

16 hours ago, tine-tine said:

I agree with most of what @judi666 has said and I am a long time O cruiser with one shortly in the offing. . The attack on her personal views with a desire to prove her wrong do you no favours, you may not agree with her comments but she has the right, the same as you, to express her opinion. Interestingly, regarding the wine lists, when she has shown evidence to back up her comments that she was right regarding the wine choices for SM, no-one has the decency to acknowledge she was correct and they were simply defending their right to be right!

 

Oceania, in my opinion, has definitely deteriorated over the years but still is a reasonable option for a cruise, if the price is right, this is based on the ships more or less being in good order with high end interior design and acceptable food and, despite the comments towards fellow cruisers on this board would have you believe, when onboard your travelling companions are generally excellent company and not quite so argumentative!!!

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.

Just now, TRLD said:

Except now you cannot purchase a fare without simply more. It is the new base fare.

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

7 hours ago, Clutj said:

That is a dramatically shorter Waves BTG wine list.  Disappointing.  I am used to that list maybe dropping 2-3 of the wines from each category vs GDR list.  It shouldn’t be this way, but the other 6-8 wines of each color are probably available for the asking and maybe a 5 minute wait.  If you have problems, I’d ask to talk to the manager (I forget all the titles on various cruise lines) and there should be a head Somm/beverage person for the ship. You should have easy access to all BTG wines.  (BTW, they are the same for the basic and upgraded package; no new included wines, you just get them outside meals, plus alcohol drinks…)

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. 

1 hour ago, Vallesan said:

That’s really disappointing!
 

What have they done with my Albariño? I can only see one wine that I would enjoy from that menu!

 

SimplyMore, in this case really does look like SimplyLess!

 

Are there other wines available with the upgraded package?

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.