How Regent Compares with Oceania

[travgran]

[......where are you going?

 

Thanks for your kind post.

We spend a couple days in Venice, then on Voyager and down the Dalmatian coast, thru the Greek Is., Kusadasi, then Istanbul. Total 2 weeks. Crowds should be very manageable onshore, and lots of room on the ship has led to inexpensive upgrade offers. Our 2nd Regent cruise this year, but we do have an O cruise booked for next year: Amsterdam to Barcelona.

One thing I did not mention that I appreciate about Regent is that status improves by NIGHTS onboard, not the # of cruises (like O), and benefits like free internet, free clothes pressing, priority reservations, etc., accrue very quickly. It's a very slow slog to get anything of value from O for your loyalty, unless you like "pins". ;)

I also like being able to upgrade to business class for substantially less than market rates.

[TPAtravelfan]

Maybe I'm over simplifying things but with over 300 days on Regent and 55 on Oceania, I have a few additional observations:

 

1) Service quality, both in staterooms and public rooms is mostly equal. You can get a comparable experience with the purchase of an Oceania liquor package, not withstanding the necessity of Oceania staff to continually dip your stateroom key and present a check with each drink purchase. Both cruise lines have a great staff. In fact, you will find many have moved between lines.

 

2) Mise en place on Oceania is limited compared to Regent. My guess is that the Oceania kitchens have one quarter to one third fewer cooking ingredients. In support of Oceania, the fewer number of ingredients are still executed well and nicely presented during dinner in the main dining room and various specialty restaurants. Less so at other meals.

 

3) Oceania is aspirational for mainline cruisers from HAL, RCCL and Celebrity. This is evidenced by stateroom key cards worn on a lanyards around some passenger necks. You never see this on Regent since key cards are only used for stateroom access once you've boarded. Regent cruisers tend to be loyal repeat cruisers or come from other luxury lines. My observation is that each line has their own distinct audience.

 

They are, indeed, different products, but I've never been dissatisfied by Regent and find that, despite obvious differences, Oceania is mostly excellent.

[Port 11]

We have been on quite a few Regent cruises and agree with TC2, love the ships, the cabins (especially the Mariner penthouse), the AI and of course the staff - To have the 'O' speciality restaurants on Regent would be wonderful.

 

I also do not understand why they do not have more Lobster on Regent, hot or cold. I too live a good Lobster Thermidor. When we first sailed Regent there were always lots of Crab claws, Giant Prawns etc at lunchtime, now they have to go and find some for you. A cold seafood platter with nice fresh mayonnaise and salad always does it for me!

[SedonaJoel]

All 4 specialty restaurants on O - and the Terrace Cafe (at dinner) serve lobster daily. It is not my favorite dish however. My wife and I really love the sushi served daily (at dinner) in the terrace cafe.

[travgran]

FYI - We just got off a Regent cruise, and there was quit a bit of lobster, including a very frequently featured lobster salad. And if you have a butler, you can have crab claws and large prawns delivered to your suite daily for late afternoon appetizers . We were also delighted to find the signature Red Ginger dish, Miso Sea Bass, on the dinner menu tasting exactly like O with no charges for wine or reservations necessary for a specialty restaurant since it was in the main dining room. :)

[Travelcat2]

FYI - We just got off a Regent cruise, and there was quit a bit of lobster, including a very frequently featured lobster salad. And if you have a butler, you can have crab claws and large prawns delivered to your suite daily for late afternoon appetizers . We were also delighted to find the signature Red Ginger dish, Miso Sea Bass, on the dinner menu tasting exactly like O with no charges for wine or reservations necessary for a specialty restaurant since it was in the main dining room. :)

 

I'm pleasantly shocked! Miso Sea Bass is an amazing dish. We will definitely be looking for it next month on the Voyager. Thank you so much for letting us know.

 

Hope that you had a wonderful cruise. When you have time, please do a review:)

[SedonaJoel]

"O" now serves the miso glazed sea bass in the main dining room as well. I'm glad you had a good voyage.

[travgran]

TravelCat - It was on Voyager. Food was awesome. If you see the Pina Colada cheesecake, get some! To die for...

[Mulege]

Deleted

Edited November 20, 2013 by Mulege

[karska]

We're considering the Baltic in Sept2014 on Regent Voyager. How was the weather. And did you love the ports.

To countflorida

Edited November 20, 2013 by karska

[karska]

I don't read these boards with the regularity I once did, but I'm certainly glad I looked tonight. We're off to Stockholm Tuesday to join the Oceania Marina for a 14 night Baltic cruise ending in London.

 

We've sailed with Oceania just once before, the spring 2011 Miami-Amazon-Manaus-Miami 24 day near-ordeal on the Regatta I think. We found the Amazon less than thrilling, so while the trip up the river was OK, coming back down was a total loss, during which I learned one of my sisters had a relapse with negative prognosis. All in all, a bad trip, and no dope either!

 

I've heard so many good things about the new Oceania ships I thought we should give them another try. Your comprehensive comparative review gave us a timely heads-up on what to expect and where to eat for sure. We were going to take the liquor package, but the need for an extended antibiotic treatment put the kibosh on that, and in retrospect, we don't really drink that much any more, so we'll save a few bucks to spend on laundry, another thing we won't get for free on Oceania.

 

I think you worry about some things some people say, too much. Just ignore the off-the-wall stuff. You know, some people do it just to see if they can get a rise out of others. Thanks for all the tips.

 

What was the weather. Doing Regent Voyager 9/18/14

[nana541]

Well I see you have asked variations of this same questions on many many threads.... You are persistent !!

 

So let me tell you about out First Regent cruise taken late Aug - first week of Sept 2008. Stockholm to Copenhagen by way of St Petersburg, Helsinki, Estonia and places I forget about :0

 

Weather even late August was everywhere from beautiful, Stockholm and Copenhagen, to cold wet and not so great everywhere else! It was an 8 day itinerary with no sea days and exhausting and wonderful. We wished for better weather but that never slowed us down and can only say that after our latest cruise we have almost 40 days sailing Regent.

 

Weather is a crap shoot, expect bad and likely it will be better than that. The Regent experience is wonderful and I can't wait to board Mariner (our favorite) again.

 

Book that trip, no matter the weather you won't regret it!

 

Happy planning, enjoy the journey!

 

PS we like Deck 8, cabins forward of the Artruim. Great location on either Mariner or Voyager. Unless you get a fabulous upsell (fairy does not call often) not worth paying the big bucks on a Baltic cruise. JMHO

Edited November 20, 2013 by nana541

[karska]

Well I see you have asked variations of this same questions on many many threads.... You are persistent !!

 

So let me tell you about out First Regent cruise taken late Aug - first week of Sept 2008. Stockholm to Copenhagen by way of St Petersburg, Helsinki, Estonia and places I forget about :0

 

Weather even late August was everywhere from beautiful, Stockholm and Copenhagen, to cold wet and not so great everywhere else! It was an 8 day itinerary with no sea days and exhausting and wonderful. We wished for better weather but that never slowed us down and can only say that after our latest cruise we have almost 40 days sailing Regent.

 

Weather is a crap shoot, expect bad and likely it will be better than that. The Regent experience is wonderful and I can't wait to board Mariner (our favorite) again.

 

Book that trip, no matter the weather you won't regret it!

 

Happy planning, enjoy the journey!

 

PS we like Deck 8, cabins forward of the Artruim. Great location on either Mariner or Voyager. Unless you get a fabulous upsell (fairy does not call often) not worth paying the big bucks on a Baltic cruise. JMHO

 

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I've posted a lot but no one that's done mid Sept has answered. You've helped. And this cruise has two days at sea even though we might not be able to enjoy the deck.

[nana541]

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I've posted a lot but no one that's done mid Sept has answered. You've helped. And this cruise has two days at sea even though we might not be able to enjoy the deck.

 

Oh but you WILL enjoy the ship and also have a chance to sleep in and actually get a great breakfast at a leisurely pace. The resting up and enjoying the ship is so wonderful. As I recall on that trip, the sail out of Stockholm thru the Archipelago was magical. A real wow!

 

We never had really awful weather, just cool, and lite rain. We were too busy to slow down.... The whole trip was go go go. We try not to take trips that don't have sea days any more. I'm on a cruise, I want to sleep in, have room service and enjoy the ship and a good book.

 

We have been to Europe many times in Sept and October and just know that it can be glorious, but I always plan for a variety and pack accordingly.

 

Regent will make it wonderful no matter the weather! Enjoy

Edited November 20, 2013 by nana541

[karska]

Oh but you WILL enjoy the ship and also have a chance to sleep in and actually get a great breakfast at a leisurely pace. The resting up and enjoying the ship is so wonderful. As I recall on that trip, the sail out of Stockholm thru the Archipelago was magical. A real wow!

 

We never had really awful weather, just cool, and lite rain. We were too busy to slow down.... The whole trip was go go go. We try not to take trips that don't have sea days any more. I'm on a cruise, I want to sleep in, have room service and enjoy the ship and a good book.

 

We have been to Europe many times in Sept and October and just know that it can be glorious, but I always plan for a variety and pack accordingly.

 

Regent will make it wonderful no matter the weather! Enjoy

 

We've also traveled to Europe inSept Oct ,both cruise and driving on our own. The weather has been beautiful. St Petersburg could be either good or not so much. But as was commented pack accordingly. We love sea days as well, to relax and spa. We are considering Ph B, inc business class. Will be our first time on Regent.