makai 7

Wow Sailor Jack- we were just talking about how much we enjoyed your “live from” reports in the past, and still laugh about the “you cheap b****rd, pay $1 more so your wife can have a glass with her beer”!

we just left Riviera on Friday, and overall it was a wonderful time- we noticed many changes from “pre-Covid”, but since this is your first you won’t have expectations that are not met.

Oops, did I say main dining room buffet?  Dinner buffet at the terrace cafe is where you can enjoy sushi, grilled lobster, shrimp etc. at dinner.

we had another excellent dinner at red ginger last night.  The miso glazed sea bass was incredibly light.  It practically melted in my mouth.

We are on this cruise, our third on Riviera.  I am in agreement with kj about there being hits and misses so far.

red ginger was excellent all the way around.  All 6 of us enjoyed the meal and the service was excellent.  Don’t pass up on the rack of lamb, it was outstanding as was the watermelon and duck salad.

service in Jacques was very good but the meal was underwhelming.  The scallops were just ok.  The onion soup varied from person to person, inconsistent amounts of cheese and bread.  The crusty rolls were not to be found.

service in Toscana was second rate.  We too wondered why the oil and vinegar cart was not presented, in the past it always was part of the show.  Our server brought the wrong meal for one of our group.  Their filet with Gorgonzola was very good.  We enjoyed the gnocchi with 4 cheese sauce and the tortoloni.

service in Polo was excellent.  The lobster bisque was very good, and so was the salmon.  I was told that the ribeye was “ok” , and the carpaccio was very good.

the sushi in the main dining room buffet is still very good and so is the grill at lunch.

Main dining room lunch menu is split between items that are available every day, and a small selection that changes daily.  

Our butler has been less than good.  We don’t ask for much, but our few requests had to be made several times because he “forgot”.

we do see some reduction in quality in a few areas such as the complimentary laundry.  In the past it was neatly folded, with paper wrapping and in a basket.  Now it is returned crumpled and badly wrinkled in a laundry bag.  Those of us in penthouse suites did not receive tote bags.

overall, so far we are glad we came back and are having a lovely time.

On 2/25/2022 at 6:12 AM, kjbacon said:

I meant to suggest Wednesday, March 9 and not Thursday the 10th. Sorry for the confusion!!

Hi KJ Bacon 
 

Let’s move this discussion to the roll call for a little bit of privacy… so I can give you my name, etc

Hey there kjbacon- we definitely can meet up somewhere.  We are traveling with two other couples , but have absolutely nothing planned except dinner reservations and maybe some spa appointments 😊

name a date, time and place…. 
and yes, O is all about the food and exceptional services - we find the food to be superior to Regent.

We compare O to Regent every time we cruise on either.  We like both for different reasons and different types of travel… O when we want to just be on a ship and don’t care if we go ashore; Regent when we travel to new places and want to have everything managed for us.  Nothing wrong with making comparisons.

Maybe we we “see you” on our next cruise- (Riviera March 8?) we have cruises booked on both😊

12 hours ago, osandomir said:

You indicated that you are going on your first Oceania cruise. When you come on board you will probably notice that most Oceania cruisers do care how others feel being around them and show respect. 
 

I’m not sure what restaurants you frequent to go for dinner on land, but we don’t see any Crocs in the fine dining venues neither on land nor on the cruise lines we choose to sail, Oceania being one of them.

I am an Oceania ( and Regent) cruiser and just wanted to say that not ALL of us are so judgy and obsessed with what other people wear on their bodies or feet!

Clean, neat, consistent with resort casual is all you need to know.

what gets to me is the people who think it is ok to wander around the ship in their bathrobes wearing nothing but their underwear- and yes I have seen this on multiple Oceania and Regent cruises.  I’m not going to stick my nose up at someone wearing pretty flip flops or crocs.  I don’t care what other people think of my attire.  Orthopedic shoes are not attractive but some people need to wear them- should they be judged for their footwear?

I found this for platinum card holders…

https://www.americanexpress.com/ca/en/benefits/the-platinum-card/cruise-privileges-and-discounts.html

We cruised on Riviera in one of the Oceania Suites in 2019 (pre Covid).  We really loved the spaces and comfort, and dining in our cabin from all the restaurants.

if you have any cabin or amenity questions I would be happy to answer them if I can!

There is very detailed date, ship and port specific information in the page titled “Travel and entry requirements“

It seems very specific and clear to me.  I will enjoy my cruise regardless, it’s no different than what I do every day, wearing a mask indoors where strangers are present.

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/sites/default/files/2021-12/Travel-Requirements-December-January-Insigna-Sierna-Marina-Riviera.pdf

We have cruised many times on both lines, and there are positives and negatives for each.  everything is subjective, and you have to pick and choose what matters the most to you.

we prefer the food on O.  It is superior, in our opinion…. If we want a getaway where we don’t care about shore excursions, we pick O- for example the Caribbean itineraries.  This way we are not paying for included excursions we won’t use.  We like to relax on the ship and maybe do something in just one or two ports, on our own.  We don’t take their air or O-life.

we did a TA in 2019 on Regent, with an extension to Rome.  our only issues were truly first world problems, mostly with other passengers behaviors and the fallout of reduced services due to an outbreak of Norovirus.
 

 Dolebludger is incorrect, alcohol is not included at lunch and dinner on O.  Only non alcoholic drinks and specialty coffees are included, unless something changed recently.
Both Oceania and regent have old and new ships.  We haven’t been on Splendor but are looking forward to being on the Explorer in 2023.  We have been on the R ships and the new ships on Oceania, and will be on the riviera in 2022.  Crew are wonderful on both lines.

if we are going overseas to exotic locations (2020 Bali to Sydney) we prefer Regent- this way we don’t have to worry once we are at the airport, it is all in their hands, and we don’t have to do too much excursion research and planning.  Food is good, not exceptional, and  on our last regent cruise the head chef had a bit of an attitude.  We have been very satisfied with most of the flights in business class.

I think you won’t be disappointed- have a wonderful time.

if you have a specific question I am happy to help.

We stayed at the Conrad thru Regent prior to a transatlantic cruise in 2019.  it was a terrible hotel, the location was not ideal.  The room was dirty and in disrepair.  The pool is above the street over a parking area and was leaking into the street below.  We only found the pool because we were looking for a place to get a coffee and there was a cafe there.

The one hotel restaurant did have a decent happy hour with half priced appetizers and a nice vibe.  This is the only positive memory we have of the hotel.

We would never choose to stay here.  We found the Kimpton Epic they used for a previous cruise much nicer and a better location (we are staying there by choice before an Oceania cruise next March).

Hi gabelle 

She is docked at the Port of Fernandina Beach (Florida).  It is just north of the Marina.  A short walk from downtown. 

Our local shipping port is now home to the Regent Explorer for the next few months.

We have a really good view from my community across the icw. 

https://www.fbnewsleader.com/local-news/cruising-nowherefor-now

Too bad they don't stop  here or cruise from here.   It's a great little town and less than 40 minutes from JIA.

15 hours ago, flossie009 said:

Surprised and disappointed that you had such a bad experience on Navigator.

We sailed on her twice last year, once after the refurbishment, and found Navigator to be in good order.

Looking forward to your review; recent reviews on CC don’t mention the serious issues you have raised.

What was the reaction of staff members on board to your complaints about the offensive smell?

Sorry, a bit busy right now.  It will be a few more days before I have time to summarize the trip.

I just want to clarify that it was NOT a bad experience overall,  just that the smell was quite detrimental to our enjoyment of other aspects of the cruise.  The interior is in good order.  The exterior is falling apart,  and so are the tenders.

We didn't discuss the odor with senior staff,  it is an issue with their hvac and air intake locations and there is nothing to be done to rectify. 

Just got back from 20 days on the navigator Bali to Sydney.   Will post more details later, but my 2 cents...

The navigator is sorely showing her age in the places where you normally don't consider - like the life boats used for tendering.

Our biggest issue however, was a nasty odor of "head" (poop) in almost all the public areas, the worst being in the aft port side of the compass rose dining room.  It was so offensive we couldn't eat in there after a few meals.

Yes, rssc has been silent.  I did not receive the email others mention regarding corona virus.   I am not particularly concerned,  don't have any desire to cancel, just surprised about the sound of crickets...

Heading to Bali!

Received our docs a few weeks ago in a grey case with the included grey luggage tags, plus all the usual stuff.  This was inside a grey non-woven bag with a pull-string closure.  We have quite a few of these and use them for our tablets when traveling.  My first one was brown- it is worn out and heading to the trash.

If you want a boutique hotel, check out the Pillars.  We always stay there before cruises leaving from fll or Miami. 

Oceania does this too.  You can't save a cruise if you are not logged in.  Since you are logged in, they have all your data.

And because you can book with the cruise line and transfer the booking to your TA for them to get the commission,  they don't think there is an issue.

To stop them from bothering me, I just bookmark the cruises on my browser and I no longer save them in my account.  I also blocked their number in my phone. 

18 hours ago, clo said:

The trash container under the towels is for the hand towels.

Yes, but the one in the middle of the counter between the sinks is labeled TRASH and often had towels in it.

We were on this cruise and also received the "gift" of that cold, finally getting over it now.

I had the same pet peeve about the hand towels.  People do not read.  Maybe we should be happy that they washed their hands!

If anyone has questions about the Oceania suites I will be happy to answer them.

It depends.......  We feel that Regent is a better value when we are traveling internationally  - we cannot purchase business class seats for the price they offer when you don't use their air, and we can set and forget...not worry about anything once we get to the airport.  Maybe it is lazy, but in exotic places we like to stick with their excursions. 

We can easily get to Miami on our own so we like the value of "cruise only" fares on Oceania for Carribean cruises.  We usually don't get off the ship so we also aren't interested in excursions.   

We find the food is better ( our taste, our opinion) on Oceania.   We will be soon making a fresh comparison of the Regent Voyager (March 2019) against Oceania Riviera. 

Many times we have done a side by side comparison for $$,  and when you add in flights, excursions, gratuities, our wine and drink consumption, the costs are comparable.   The suites depend upon the ship (age and time since refurbishment).  Service was excellent on both lines.

Definitely some food for thought.  Thank you FlyerTalker - real data appeals to me!  I was referring to hubs as the airlines define them too...

It would be nice to get an official explanation from Regent.

UunetBill:  I  prefer to pay the "non-gateway" fee and have a 20 minute trip to the JAX airport, vs. A 3.5 hour drive to Orlando or a 2.5 hour ride to Savannah.   The additional costs for driving and long term parking would never make it worthwhile - plus all the additional travel time!

We book our own flights for domestic departures or drive a rental car to Miami and drop it off, but for international trips we prefer to let Regent manage everything- less stress and they have to deal with potential issues.

In 2016 we cruised 35 days on Oceania from Hong Kong to Istanbul; and the itinerary was changed to end in Athens due to political unrest.  Fortunately we used Oceania air so we didn't have to deal with flight changes.  Of course this was back when they offered upgrades to business class...

I am trying to find some semblance of logic in the selection of Gateway airports.

It cannot be based on the number of passengers, the local population density, or whether the airport is a hub.

Why do I ask?

Jacksonville Florida is not a gateway, but Savannah Georgia is??

JAX served 6,460,253 passengers in 2018, where Savannah served 2,799,526.

JAX has about 68,000 commercial flights per year, Savannah has about 26,600

I would like to know why I have to pay extra fees to fly out of Jacksonville.   I certainly will not drive to Orlando or Savannah just to be routed to Atlanta anyway for a connection on an international flight.

I think it is time that Regent reevaluates their customer base and selection of gateway airports.