Australia & New Zealand cruise choices

[FANC6]

I am not sure where to post this question so I will start on this board.

We like Oceania cruise line but only sail the larger ships (Riviera, Marina and Vista) because of the size of the staterooms and the small bathrooms on the R ships.

We are looking to do Australia & New Zealand in 2025 but Oceania only has Regatta doing the itinerary in February.

I have looked at some of the other cruiselines to see what is available (Silversea, Azamara, Regent, Viking) but would like some opinions from others who have done cruises with these lines.

We normally book a PH on Oceania and would like something similar. Also, food is important and we enjoy a variety of good meals.

Thanks for any help and suggestions!

 

[zalusky]

2 hours ago, FANC6 said:

I am not sure where to post this question so I will start on this board.

We like Oceania cruise line but only sail the larger ships (Riviera, Marina and Vista) because of the size of the staterooms and the small bathrooms on the R ships.

We are looking to do Australia & New Zealand in 2025 but Oceania only has Regatta doing the itinerary in February.

I have looked at some of the other cruiselines to see what is available (Silversea, Azamara, Regent, Viking) but would like some opinions from others who have done cruises with these lines.

We normally book a PH on Oceania and would like something similar. Also, food is important and we enjoy a variety of good meals.

Thanks for any help and suggestions!

 

Maybe its 2026 but I thought I read they were switching to a larger ship for Australia at some point and using Regatta for something else.

[Cruise Junky]

I thought Riviera would be in AU for 2025/26.   Wait for the deployments of Rivera after September 25 when she repositions to Asia.  

[LHT28]

try Princess, Cunard. Viking   they might  suit your needs

[zalusky]

3 hours ago, LHT28 said:

try Princess, Cunard. Viking   they might  suit your needs

Except very few do the full circumnavigation.  Princess and Oceania are among the few that do the southern route.

[harbourside]

3 hours ago, zalusky said:

Except very few do the full circumnavigation.  Princess and Oceania are among the few that do the southern route.

Viking Oceans is doing 32 day circumnavigation in January 2025 for the first time.  Have booked for this trip. 

[Astro Flyer]

5 hours ago, zalusky said:

Except very few do the full circumnavigation.  Princess and Oceania are among the few that do the southern route.

And those circumnavigation cruises on Princess quickly sellout.
 

In early April 2023 we immediately booked the March 2025 around Oz as soon as it was available. Within about a month there was little to no availability and when there was availability it was at a considerably higher cruise fare.

 

[FANC6]

Thanks for the responses. I was not looking for a circumnavigation cruise but a cruise that does New Zealand and some Australia(Sydney, Melbourne, Tasmania).

The Oceania cruise is on the Regatta Sydney to Auckland February 10/25 for 14 days. 

I am looking for a similar cruise on another similar cruiseline and was hoping for feedback from others who have been on those ships .Silversea and Viking have cruises at that time. I understand that Regent and Azamara have the same cabins as the Oceania R ships so would have to choose a higher level to get the space we would like.

Thanks again!

[LHT28]

5 hours ago, FANC6 said:

 I understand that Regent and Azamara have the same cabins as the Oceania R ships so would have to choose a higher level to get the space we would like.

Thanks again!

not sure about the cabins on Regent  but yes Azamara are the same  R ship class as Oceania 

[zalusky]

Although the Celebrity world is a bit different today than 2016.   We thoroughly enjoyed a 14 day Celebrity Solstice cruise in 2016.  The excursion that put it over the top was an overnight from Milford sound to Dunedin with the overnight hotel in Queenstown.  While we missed the other sounds that people who stayed on the ship saw, we saw a great transition from glaciers to rolling green hills.

 

Something to look at when you look at the various cruise options.

 

The Oceania circumnavigation cruise we did earlier this year was 14 + 21 + 14 days and it continued to New Zealand.  It was essentially 3 segments:  Northern Route, Southern Route, New Zealand Route.

 

We did the middle southern route.  There were people on the ship continuing onto  New Zealand basically adding that segment.

 

If I had never done Australia / New Zealand before and had the money I would do all 3 segments.

Edited October 9, 2023 by zalusky

[CurlerRob]

14 hours ago, FANC6 said:

I understand that Regent and Azamara have the same cabins as the Oceania R ships so would have to choose a higher level to get the space we would like.

Thanks again!

 

I cannot speak for the entire O or Regent fleet, but we sailed a repositioning trip on O Insignia (R Class) in November/22 in an A3 Concierge Veranda, then a TA on Regent SS Mariner in September/23 in a E Concierge Suite. Both were essentially what I'd think of as a "standard balcony cabin".

 

The Regent cabin was dramatically more spacious than O's, with a walk-in closet and an actual bathroom/shower. It appeared to sacrifice a bit of balcony depth, but the trade-off was well thought out. No comparison, the Regent cabin wins hands down.

 

Interestingly enough, the per-day cost was only a fraction more for Regent, even before normalizing for drinks, excursions, etc. 🍺🥌

[Tsunami74]

16 hours ago, CurlerRob said:

 

Interestingly enough, the per-day cost was only a fraction more for Regent, even before normalizing for drinks, excursions, etc. 🍺🥌

And taking into account that Regent's included airfare is business class while Oceania is economy, we choose Regent when going that far.

When we add business upgrade to an Oceania or Viking trip, Regent always comes in actually less expensive and is totally all inclusive.

[edgee]

3 hours ago, Tsunami74 said:

And taking into account that Regent's included airfare is business class while Oceania is economy, we choose Regent when going that far.

When we add business upgrade to an Oceania or Viking trip, Regent always comes in actually less expensive and is totally all inclusive.

And Regent has no cabins as tiny as R ships especially the ridiculous bathroom/shower size. No worries there. 

[FANC6]

Thanks everyone for the replies.  It sounds like Regent might be a good fit for us. 

[lelak]

We did the Sydney to Auckland two week trip many years ago on Crystal (usually Melbourne, Hobart in NZ, then a bunch of ports plus Milford Sound (incredible place) in NZ).  Doing it again to introduce some friends who have never been to Oz or NZ on Silversea over Christmas and New Years 24/25.

 

Since no one so far mentioned Silversea, just a few words.  Their standard cabin is equivalent in size

and amenities to PH on Oceania.  Weather-wise, the right time to visit Down Under is November through January, although most times of the year are pretty mild except for mid-to-late their summer when it can get quite hot (like 40C).

 

Hard to directly compare Silversea to Oceania--it competes more with Regent and Seabourn.  Food can be pretty good, sometimes as good as Oceania at its best, although variety on O better, and strangely they charge extra for two of their specialty restaurants.  Two of their larger ships (but large

here is like half the size of Marina in terms of number of passengers, although actual physical ship size almost the same) Silver Muse and Silver Nova are doing the Aus-NZ routes.

 

Their pricing can be confusing and their are lots of "specials" these days.  A wide variety of excursions are included in the pricing as are all beverages. etc.  If you care about butlers, all cabins have butler service.  Entertainment weaker in recent years than Oceania--although had recovered a bit on the last Silversea cruise we took last year.

 

Anyway, I would consider Silversea over Azamara or Viking.  If you use their "Port-to-Port" fare--only available on the standard suites (all cabins are suites), then considerably cheaper than Regent.

 

We've done close to 10 on Oceania, Regent, and Silversea and we did choose Silversea for this itinerary.  If one of the larger Oceania ships were on the same itinerary we'd probably choose Oceania for the hugely better pricing on Owners or Vista suites compared to the highest end cabins on the other lines.  But for a PH equivalent size suite (and the standard veranda cabin on SS is actually closer to a true suite than a PH on Oceania), is your choice I would choose SS right now.

 

Anyway that's my humble opinion right now.

[FANC6]

lelak thank you for that detailed description comparing the different lines. I appreciate all the info on the cabin size and will look into Silversea!😊

[Torquer]

Our two favorite cruise lines are Oceania and Holland America.  We just did a 14-day cruise of New Zealand and Australia in February 2023 on HAL's Noordam and were very please with the experience.  Depending on the ship, a Signature or Neptune Suite would be roughly equivalent to PH on O.