Regent vs Oceania

[Not a Georgia Peach]

We will be taking our first Regent cruise in January.  Would you please tell me what a salt stick is?  (I understand it is a breadstick, but what makes it so special.)  Thank you.

[labonnevie]

Just it’s taste. Somehow it is addictive 😀

[UUNetBill]

On 9/13/2021 at 4:37 PM, TPAtravelfan said:

And that's assuming you haven't had a bite of you first Salt Stick (please stop offering these delicious, but carb laden breadsticks after two as I am powerless!)

One of my many weaknesses on Regent - our gang has been known to fight over these little beasties.  Well, not physically...well, not TOO physically...well, not to the point of being put ashore...

[Ladys Mom]

29 minutes ago, UUNetBill said:

One of my many weaknesses on Regent - our gang has been known to fight over these little beasties.  Well, not physically...well, not TOO physically...well, not to the point of being put ashore...

Let me just say, they will bring you more if you ask nicely!!

[UUNetBill]

9 minutes ago, Ladys Mom said:

Let me just say, they will bring you more if you ask nicely!!

Unfortunately, we know that all too well.

 

But I still believe it's the salt air on board that makes my clothing shrink on every cruise...

[Pcardad]

1 hour ago, UUNetBill said:

Unfortunately, we know that all too well.

 

But I still believe it's the salt air on board that makes my clothing shrink on every cruise...

It is the super hot water in the commercial laundry machines...🤣

[Emdee]

After a bit of a Crystal break we booked a Regent cruise last year. Unfortunately Covid happened so we were left with an FCC. Just today booked the Explorer over Christmas and New Year. Went on Silversea last month and totally underwhelmed. Hoping to enjoy our Regent trip. 
 

Only 1 trip on Oceania many years ago and hated it. Felt service was poor, menu restrictive and staff were condescending. For example there was a Parmesan wheel in which they had small chunks in the restaurant. The Cruise director who was in front of us drew our attention to the wheel as though I hadn’t seen one. I had to go all hoity toity and point out it was aged a paltry 12 months whereas any parm that I buy is usually at least 24 months and more often 36 months. Never repeated the O experience.

[bitob]

I was a loyal Oceania cruiser.  16 cruises

The line has deteriorated significantly over time -- even the food.  

 

I will never sail on O again. I introduced my Oceania cruising friends to Crystal and they were hooked.  We are all also sailing Silversea and Seabourn.  We are trying our first Regent cruise on Grandeur.

 

Oceania is ok.  Not wonderful.  Even without having sailed on my first Regent cruise, I would recommend Regent over Oceania.

[Pcardad]

27 minutes ago, bitob said:

I was a loyal Oceania cruiser.  16 cruises

The line has deteriorated significantly over time -- even the food.  

 

I will never sail on O again. I introduced my Oceania cruising friends to Crystal and they were hooked.  We are all also sailing Silversea and Seabourn.  We are trying our first Regent cruise on Grandeur.

 

Oceania is ok.  Not wonderful.  Even without having sailed on my first Regent cruise, I would recommend Regent over Oceania.

 

Now that the Pool Deck cheeseburgers on Regent are better, I would agree.

[RetiredandTravel]

14 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

 

Now that the Pool Deck cheeseburgers on Regent are better, I would agree.

 

 

I figured out late on my last cruise that they have a "Conquistador" or "Brontosaurus" ( I forget name) burger at the pool bar which is much larger.  Its awesome.  Speaking of tight clothes.

[azjoy]

A Tale of 2 Guarantee Bookings – Regent vs Oceania

 

We don’t normally book Guarantee cabins but we did on our first Oceania cruise.  Then we waited and waited to be assigned a cabin.  4 days before we departure, we received an email offering us a deal - 1 category upgrade for “only” $300 per person.  We declined and the next day the offer was for $200 per person.  Knowing that we had a guarantee, we told our TA to decline any future offers.  We received our cabin assignment the day before embarking.  Not surprisingly, the cabin was 1 category up from our guarantee!

 

We experienced extremely poor service on Oceania and didn’t find the food to be better than any other cruise line we’ve sailed.  At the time the excursions and Wifi were also quite a bit more than we had ever spent.  So that was also our last Oceania cruise.

 

A year later we booked a Guarantee on Regent.  At least 2 months before departure, they contacted us, apologized, and said there had been no cancellations at all.  They asked if we would agree to switch to the cruise before – which was 4 days longer and accept an upgrade from an H cabin to an F1 at no additional cost.  We agreed and now are hooked on the F or better cabins!

 

I wanted to add that the food on Regent is as good or better than we had on O, there were many more included amenities and the service was excellent!  We have never been ignored or sneered at on Regent or any other cruise line.  

Edited September 18, 2021 by azjoy
Add last paragraph

[Ken the cruiser]

On 9/11/2021 at 7:30 AM, alidor said:

I have to comment here…. We have been on Oceania 3 time and 3 times on Regent and hands down, Regent is best.  I had a legitimate problem with Oceania on our last trip and they ended up basically called me a liar.  I am also a travel agent and occasionally people on Oceania had problems and Oceania was horrible in dealing with them.  They just are very uncooperative and In one passenger’s case, we’re threatening.  Never had any such problems with Regent.  Cruising on Oceania is fine and you will enjoy it, but if you have a problem, watch out!  They are horrible to deal with…

Thank you for sharing your "negative" thoughts about Oceania and you're not alone. We have had our share of negative encounters with their HQ staff in Miami multiple times. I won't go into details, but suffice it to say we will probably never sail with O again. 

[ronrick1943]

I agree with above comments, however I do believe Oceania has nicer suite’s than Regent—We’ve cruised about 8 times no Oceania, moved to Regent for a few years and now will be on Silversea for the next cruise.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

20 hours ago, ronrick1943 said:

I agree with above comments, however I do believe Oceania has nicer suite’s than Regent—We’ve cruised about 8 times no Oceania, moved to Regent for a few years and now will be on Silversea for the next cruise.

Not sure what you mean by "suites", since Regent calls all of its cabins "suites".  But I've been on the R ships (not O), and I've been on Riviera.  The PH was about the same size but inferior to a standard Voyager stateroom.  And the standard cabins on the R ships are small.

If you mean the "Named Suites" then perhaps you're right.

[ronrick1943]

2 hours ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

Not sure what you mean by "suites", since Regent calls all of its cabins "suites".  But I've been on the R ships (not O), and I've been on Riviera.  The PH was about the same size but inferior to a standard Voyager stateroom.  And the standard cabins on the R ships are small.

If you mean the "Named Suites" then perhaps you're right.

Named suites, mainly then Ownersuite.

[col2or]

It has been very interesting reading thoughts regarding Regent and Oceania.  I'm definitely a NCL company fan and have sailed on NCL Haven on Pride of America (2014), Spirit (2016), Escape (2017), Bliss (2018) & Breakaway (2020) and Oceania Marina (2011 Veranda) and Riviera (2016 PH1).  I thought the Haven Restaurant & specialty dining on each NCL ship was superior to the Oceania offerings, plus NCL Broadway shows have been great.  We have both Oceania and Regent itineraries planned for 2022, so we'll compare.  When considering future cruises, we look at the itinerary--where we feel we can self-guide at most of the ports (W. Europe, Med or Caribbean), we look to NCL or Oceania.  Where we need more pampering or safety/security (N. Europe, Mid-East, Asia), I opted Regent.  Each line has something to offer so variety is appreciated.  The service on NCL and Oceania were very good so I have no complaints there!  I guess the operative phrase could be, "it depends."

[esther e]

We've sailed on both lines.  On O, only the old R ships because the newer ones weren't built then.  I have to be honest and say every time on O I ended up in the infirmary  with breathing problems.  I'm sure it was something with the air conditioner, but don't quote me.

 

As far as Regent, our first cruise on Regent was the inaugural on the Navigator.  After than we were on the Diamond several times.  Miss that ship.

 

I had my choice this time.  And chose Regent.  They just do it right.  I love that line and guess I'm a cheerleader for them.  Having said that, we also sailed HAL and Celebrity and were happy with them.

 

 

[ysolde]

On 10/22/2021 at 6:47 PM, col2or said:

It has been very interesting reading thoughts regarding Regent and Oceania.  I'm definitely a NCL company fan and have sailed on NCL Haven on Pride of America (2014), Spirit (2016), Escape (2017), Bliss (2018) & Breakaway (2020) and Oceania Marina (2011 Veranda) and Riviera (2016 PH1).  I thought the Haven Restaurant & specialty dining on each NCL ship was superior to the Oceania offerings, plus NCL Broadway shows have been great.  We have both Oceania and Regent itineraries planned for 2022, so we'll compare.  When considering future cruises, we look at the itinerary--where we feel we can self-guide at most of the ports (W. Europe, Med or Caribbean), we look to NCL or Oceania.  Where we need more pampering or safety/security (N. Europe, Mid-East, Asia), I opted Regent.  Each line has something to offer so variety is appreciated.  The service on NCL and Oceania were very good so I have no complaints there!  I guess the operative phrase could be, "it depends."

Interesting.  We may have some similarities.  We are booked on a Caribbean cruise on Regent this winter, just because we wanted to check out Regent, finally.  Then fall 2022, we have are booked on NCL Escape, on a TA that starts out as a very port intensive Mediterranean cruise.  We are also booked on Norwegian Prima's fall 2022 TA voyage.  We love a TA.  In 2023, we are celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary, so we booked a TA on Regent.  And another on Oceania later in the year.  We are quite curious, by then, to see how the two lines compare.