Regatta - Alaska, July 22, 2013

[huskerdan25]

Hi everyone. As you can see from my signature, I have been a Princess loyalist and have only cruised on Princess. I have gone to Alaska twice in the last two years, with the latest being just two weeks ago on the Sapphire Princess. I love the Princess product and of course, Alaska, but with this latest trip, I have hit pretty much the same locations in Alaska twice now. The cruises have been based on glacier cruising and I have really enjoyed viewing the glaciers and saw a lot of calving on the Majorie glacier in Glacier Bay this past cruise.

 

My wife and I have decided that we want to cruise Alaska every summer (or ever other summer) and thought that this third time might be a good time to try another cruise line and focus on some different Alaska towns. Looking at the itineraries for 2013, seems most of the mainline cruise lines cruise to the same ports with maybe one exception. We have talked about trying Oceania and so I decided to look to see if Oceania had any Alaska cruises scheduled for 2013. Indeed, the Regatta is cruising Alaska and the itinerary has the cruises starting/ending in Seattle and Vancouver while going to Sitka, Wrangell and Ketchikan. This itinerary intrigues me because we have never been to Sitka, Wrangell, Seattle or Tracy Arm, so the only repeats for us would be Ketchikan and Vancouver.

 

We have decided to book the Regatta for Alaska next summer and are excited to try a new cruise line and specifically, Oceania. I am looking forward to the improvement in food quality (for us, food is a critical part of enjoying our travels) and to the smaller sized ship. Also excited about the lack of formal nights (I don't mind dressing up but I am more comfortable with the country casual dress).

 

I will probably have quite a few questions for you but I tend to do a lot of research and can find out a lot by myself. I am a pretty regular contributor to the Princess forums and the port of call forums providing advice on excursions. I do have a couple of questions to begin with and will most likely have more as we get closer to the cruise itself.

 

First, we plan to book an inside as we would prefer to spend our money on the expensive excursions in Alaska. We have been in inside, outside and balconies on Princess and have enjoyed sailing in any of them. So, with booking an inside, what opportunities will we have to dine in the specialty restaurants?

 

Second, we are used to using the Princess cruise personalizer to provide information for our cruise contract and to sign up in advance for ship excursions and spa appointments. With the Oceania website, what are you allowed to do there prior to the cruise? Can you sign up for dinner in a specialty restaurant there or pre-purchase anything? Are cruise documents available to download from there when you get within a certain number of days prior to the cruise or are they mailed to you? If we book a guarantee inside, when should we expect to have a cabin assignment? We are used to booking a specific cabin but will be booking a guarantee this time.

 

I will leave my questions at that for now and I am sure as I get answers, I will have more questions. I look forward to getting familiar with the Oceania product and those that enjoy it. I don't plan to try to compare our previous experiences with Princess to Oceania but look forward to the different experience.

 

Dan

[cruzmaven]

Some quick answers to some of your questions:

 

First, we plan to book an inside as we would prefer to spend our money on the expensive excursions in Alaska. We have been in inside, outside and balconies on Princess and have enjoyed sailing in any of them. So, with booking an inside, what opportunities will we have to dine in the specialty restaurants?

 

You will get one guaranteed reservation to each of the two Specialty Restaurants, Polo and Toscana. Other reservations are possible but not guaranteed.

 

 

Second, we are used to using the Princess cruise personalizer to provide information for our cruise contract and to sign up in advance for ship excursions and spa appointments. With the Oceania website, what are you allowed to do there prior to the cruise? Can you sign up for dinner in a specialty restaurant there or pre-purchase anything?

 

Yes, excursions and spa appointments should be available to be booked on line about 120 days or so before your sailing date.

 

In your room category, specialty restaurant reservations may be made on line 45-15 days prior to sailing.

 

 

Are cruise documents available to download from there when you get within a certain number of days prior to the cruise or are they mailed to you? If we book a guarantee inside, when should we expect to have a cabin assignment? We are used to booking a specific cabin but will be booking a guarantee this time.

 

Cruise documents will be sent to your TA about 3 weeks prior to sailing. If no TA, then directly to you.

 

I can't help you with cabin assignments.

 

Here's a link to Oceania's FAQ page:

 

http://www.oceaniacruises.com/guestservices/faq.aspx?Cat=Reservations

 

 

I'm sure you'll love your Oceania experience. Welcome aboard.

 

FYI: One of the things Oceania is known for and one of the reasons for its popularity, IMO, is the lack of small children on board as O does not provide any supervised activities for children.

 

For next year on the Regatta for selected Alaska itineraries, O is introducing a supervised children's program which will, presumably, encourage more people to bring children. Depending on your tolerance of other people's children, you might want to inquire whether your itinerary is one with this program being offered.

[indigosails]

You'll love Oceania.

 

You may book the same specialty restaurants as the other staterooms. You may book them online 45 days in advance of sailing (the suite cabins get to book earlier). If memory serves, you can dine in each one once per week.

 

I can not speak to when they will assign your room as it varies greatly.

 

Have a great cruise.

[huskerdan25]

Thanks for the information. I have no doubts that we will love Oceania and we are very much looking forward to sailing on the Regatta.