Review: Regatta May 20-June 10, 2024 Alaska

[poinsettiaplate]

This was a 21-day back-to-back from Anchorage south to Vancouver and then Vancouver north again and back to Seattle.  I chose it for the variety of ports, the opportunity to see some ports twice and to see Hubbard Glacier twice.

 

The ship – Regatta is an old ship, one of the small Renaissance ones from the late 1990s; it has been refurbished nicely with lots of dark woods and muted colors. 

 

Most of my comments about my prior cruise on the Marina apply to this one also:  staff ratio very high (300 for 500 pax); table service drinks in the buffet; food served in buffet; well-stocked library with nice sitting areas and good guest exchange; before cruise, a hard copy book was sent with information on the cruise, the itinerary, the ship, specific to type of cruise amenities and cabin level chosen, excellent detail; printed newspaper digest to cabin each day; no app; old-style check-in; occasional hosted Solo Traveler get-togethers; crafting and chat sessions with needlepoint kits provided on sea days; bridge lessons with resident instructors; an enrichment lecturer on each leg with topics related to itinerary (one was excellent) ; may bring unlimited wine onboard for personal consumption; free 24-hour room service; a guest self-laundry; a separate charge for gratuities (this has almost been eliminated even on the large mass-market lines); no table service dining venue on port days, which made the buffet fairly chaotic.  There were ten desk top computers available for passenger use, 24 hours a day.  The exercise path was unimpeded.  There were only two small areas for smokers, one outside and one in.  The dress code is relaxed and is supposed to be country club casual; it was rarely enforced.  The sight lines in the theater were awful but the sound was good.  The production singers and dancers, and orchestra were very good; the guest entertainers so-so.  The cruise director was excellent; however, his only staff were the singers and dancers.

 

Although I am not disabled, my observation is that this ship is definitely not disability-friendly.  It has heavy wooden doors which took all my strength to open and close; there are no automatic doors on the ship.  The outside doors have the old-style raised lips for which small wooden ramps have been built.  They would be difficult to negotiate even with an automated scooter and to deal with the door at the same time.  The halls were narrow with large service carts blocking them for much of the day.  I only saw one accessible public restroom.

 

The cabin – The cabin was small with very little room to edge around the furniture; the bathroom was tiny and the shower was teeny-tiny.  There was very little counter space in the bathroom.  The cabin service was excellent.  The included free Concierge laundry service was very good.

 

The itinerary and ports – This itinerary was good, with some nice bonuses like Homer, Kodiak and Klawock.  Since it was b2b, there were six duplicate ports.  Shuttles were provided when the towns were not within walking distance.  As far as I was concerned, there were too many ports where we had to tender while other ships were allowed to use the docks.  I did nine shore excursions; four made my top 10 all-time list, two were very good, two were acceptable, one I would not do again.

 

The food – The food was so-so at best.  The best foods were the soups, salads, souffles, ice creams, curries, and the proper preparation of Maine lobster.  There were two specialty restaurants, which were complimentary; Polo was good enough to repeat for some specific foods, Toscana was not.  This was definitely not “the finest cuisine at sea”.  The included package with wine and beer for lunch and dinner worked well, and the wines were drinkable.  The provision of two self-serve coffee makers in Horizons Lounge was a real plus; they made very good coffee.

 

Although I remain interested in cruising on Oceania, I would not go on this class of ship again regardless of how good the itinerary was for several reasons:  small cabin, poor quality food, not enough specialty restaurant choices, low priority for docking space.

[MEFIowa]

Fair enough. Spent 10 nights on Sirena 11/2022 (in a B2) but have 22 more nights on her 8-9/2024.

 

I would, however, like to point out that many of us eat primary in the Terrace Cafe. And I find that buffet to be outstanding. We love to eat under the stars. And we've never eaten in the GDR (including our 30 nights on Riviera since 122021).

 

Given that I don't see any detailed specific discussion of the TC and its food, I don't consider your food thoughts to be of much, if any, value. But that's just me.

 

And I don't think you make any specific detailed discussion of the GDR.

Edited June 14 by MEFIowa
Added a clarifying comment

[Vertygo]

Which excursions made your top 10 & which did you detest?

[ORV]

Thanks for your review. I'm also interested in your excursions, but would like to even more know what you consider to be the finest cuisine at sea. 

[AMHuntFerry]

We were on the May 30 - June 10 portion. Here are some random thoughts:

 

MOST IMPORTANT COMMENT (if there is one): Our cabin steward is the first one in five O cruises to solve the hand soap conundrum to my satisfaction (as I don't like the washcloth under the soap solution). He put the soap on end and pressed down to create a flat edge. Brilliant! Sometimes the solution is so simple, yet missed due to habit.

 

We loved the cruise! Alaska is "our Caribbean" (i.e., vacation, not travel...we want to kick back on a vacation and we want easy travel planning and close to home). Nothing is ever perfect and I think these comments may include more negatives than are deserved, but I won't repeat the common good things about O (great beds, etc.) or the well known things like tiny showers (which I find handy when the ship is rocking). We'll probably book Riviera in Alaska sometime next year (Red Ginger and big bathrooms? It's almost heaven!).

 

No skipped ports. We couldn't get as close to Hubbard glacier as we did in September, but the close-in water looked very full of ice so it was not an O decision.

 

The Alaskan weather was again much better than expected (didn't need the rain boots, but did wear the coat).

 

Saw some cookies with one bite eaten, but didn't try. The canales were the best and were always stocked while Baristas was open (running out of caneles was a common "problem" last September) which explains the extra weight gain.

 

If you are getting something from the buffet and if you don't have something like a coat or book to leave at your table, please leave your napkin on your chair. I know Emily Post disagrees, but we almost stole a table because the occupants thought that water in the glasses and napkins on the table (on the left, Emily would be so proud) were good indicators of occupancy.

 

Food: With proper expectations (i.e., kitchens cooking for a crowd...I expected farm-to-table on our first cruise which is not possible), most of the meals were good to excellent. We typically eat breakfast and lunch in Terrace and dinner in the GDR; there are exceptions sometimes (not always) such as GDR lunch on sea days, Terrace dinner if a "special" chef's dinner or we are tired, GDR breakfast occasionally. Specialty dinner reservations...I can take or leave them since Polo and Toscana are not exciting to me and I dislike having a set meal time; we went to them this time and enjoyed them. The chef was from England which may explain the better spices used in the Indian foods on this journey.

 

Service: Need more training in Terrace so that I don't have to stand and wave down staff to get a table set or get a water refill. Otherwise, no complaints.

 

I'm sure I missed something important (more important than soap position and caneles?!?) and happy to opine on most subjects though.

[islabahia]

Question for the OP…what is the proper preparation of lobster?  There are so many ways to enjoy lobster I wonder if I am missing something?

[AMHuntFerry]

Thanks to the OP for this thread...I had thought of posting less extensive random thoughts more to attempt to be funny, but you've giving me an alternative to doing the last bit of after-vacation laundry and unpacking (yes, still!). Since the OP and I will probably have some excursions that are different, I went ahead and wrote up some thoughts. I'm not a reviewer and rarely do surveys, so this is a bit of a hack job, but here goes:

 

Ketchikan: Feeling lazy (1st port) so just went into town via the shuttle and went to the local museum. Interesting to me because of pioneer relatives, but I don't think I'd recommend it to anyone except serious history buffs. If we weren't being slugs we would have taken a hike or walked to the NPS totem park.
We did a small group kayak in September but I did not see it offered via O this year; positive: small group, good amount of paddle time, price on par with non-O (actually, this applies to most tours in Alaska, especially when cruise ships are in, so I won't repeat below); negative: a bit slow if not a beginner.

 

Juneau: We did a whale watching tour in September with cooperative whales; positive: lots of whale time plus other marine life (e.g., seals); negative: large group.
We went kayaking this time; positive: a whale joined us so we spent most of the time being entertained by it (also a bald eagle); negative: large group of mostly non-O pax, split into 4 groups but no attempt to discern experience, so again a bit slow for non-beginners.

 

Skagway: Took the bus tour up to the Canadian border in September (had O-Life shorex to kill so no train option); positive: if price is an issue the bus is a good alternative to the train, if you've never seen glacial tundra you need to go. negative: all things equal, a train is almost always my preference to a bus.
This time we did the Goodtime Girls walking tour; positive: they hire theater folks who are good story tellers. negative: the O-tour was earlier than this nightowl prefers and a few bucks more than online.

 

Hubbard Glacier: We signed up for the shorex that goes close to the glacier on a small boat, but it was cancelled a couple of months in advance. We saw it in September and were looking forward to it, but the water was full of ice and inaccessible this time. Later in the year is probably better. O does a poor job of advertising this tour...it's in the shorex pdf but I've never seen it on the website.

 

Sitka: In September we kayaked; positive: small group, better (but still mellow) pace; negative: wear thick raingear to take boat to kayak start.
This time we took a dreaded bus tour because I wanted to go to Fortress of the Bear and I was too lazy to look up DIY transport; positive: the tour went to Fortress of the Bear, the Raptor Center, and the NPS park where we were allowed to leave the tour and walk back to town. Note that in September we tendered but were in town, while this time we were docked but had to take a ~15 minute shuttle between town and the ship (the tour picked us up at the ship and let you finish in town or at the ship); negative: large group bus but people got on and off promptly and the time at the stops was sufficient.

 

Icy Strait Point/Hoonah: We were supposed to kayak but the weather had other ideas (lighting and aluminum paddles on water = no bueno) so it was cancelled. It was priced significantly higher than other kayaking tours. ISP is odd...like an NCL private island but owned by the tribe; very amusement park-like. DIY options are slim to none; I'm not even sure if hiking is allowed except for the trails at the top of the (for a fee)gondola, and those may be more "walk" than "hike". If you like zip lines and rope courses, this is a place you may enjoy. Note: watch for large Tlinglit/Haida gatherings if you want cultural experiences...most were at a large celebration in Juneau during our cruise so things like dancing were sometimes not available (on ISP I heard the live dancing was replaced with a video...cancellation and refunds were popular).

 

Klawock: We were the third cruise ship to visit, and Regatta's first visit so there was a ceremony (I didn't see it). We went whale watching. The boat/crew were out of ISP and this is a new area for them so they had a local fisherman onboard. Great whale watching! We were the only boat near at least 5 whales. There would often be 2 near each other and one time there were 3. There was also some minor breaching (not the full vertical body), but I have the worst sense of where to look so had to believe everyone who saw.

 

DIY in June or September:
Wrangell: museum (really good small museum even if your relatives aren't there 😉 ), "John Muir" hike, petroglyphs (can be difficult to spot on your own.

Ketchikan: Salmon Walk using walking tour map from the visitor center

Juneau: State history museum, walking tour (there are three on the map I have), State Capitol building (again, family ties so maybe not thrilling to most), walk/hike up the flume trail (this may be on the walking tour map...memory fades).

Skagway: The NPS museum(s) are worth a stop. There is also a walking tour map. We saw the "Days of 98" show...silly fun.

Prince Rupert: There are shoreline walks in both directions; we went "left"...nice walk. There are also some close-in hikes. If you stop for coffee at Cowpuccino's, go into the bathroom to see a well-known TV/movie star's autographed photo (my spouse made me go take a photo since I had my phone).

 

Edited June 15 by AMHuntFerry

[bbqoug]

@AMHuntFerry I'm glad you enjoyed your whale watching tour in Klawock. We are taking this tour in September on our Regatta cruise & hope to have the same luck.

[ronrick1943]

Great reviews, thanks for taking the time--We'll be on this cruise next year Seattle to Tokyo.  We've been to Alaska several times, we enjoy the view and ease of getting around as we like to just enjoy the time on the ship doing not much if nothing at all.

[poinsettiaplate]

Re my review:  I waited until those who wanted had time to comment and will try to answer all questions at one go:

 

MEFlowa - I didn't give a great deal of detail for two reasons:  1) It would have made the review too long.  It already had too many paragraphs to qualify as concise writing.  2) As we always say on the forums, food is subjective.  In all venues, those items that were crafted by the chefs were the best, i.e. sauces, dressings, soups, curries; and the fruits and vegetables which were properly stored for freshness.  Those that were less satisfying to me were mostly due to provisioning in the U.S.  On the Marina last July, we provisioned in Europe and many items were better (except for those such as beef that were shipped from the U.S.)

 

Vertygo - My best excursions were as follows:  1) Whale Watching & Wildlife Quest in Juneau on May 26. Caveat - whether this one is good at any given time depends on the whales.  The orcas were out in big pods and really showing off on May 26; and the captain made a special trip out to a big rock island with lots of sea lions, which rarely happens.  2) Sitka Culinary Adventure on May 27.  Fantastic food and drink in a number of venues and a knowledgeable guide.  Caveat - a lot of this is outside and weather would play a part in whether it is excellent or cold and soggy.  3)Hump Island Oyster Farm in Ketchikan on May 28.  Good guides, including the owner's son, interesting farming method, bus ride and boat ride.  Excellent oyster tasting with the opportunity to buy more.  4)Taste of Klawock & Totem Park on June 7.  Fantastic food and wine pairings, four tasting courses in a forest setting with the chefs and sommeliers explaining each; Tlingit guides at the Totem Park who explained a great deal about the totems.

 

ORV - No chef makes everything well; however, most don't have the registered trademark that says they do.  That being said, it would have been a lot finer if they had bought the finest meats, cheeses and butter.

 

Islabahia - Properly cooked lobster is tender and tasty.  To their credit on the Regatta, it was done that way in every venue; not mushy or a hockey puck.

 

Next year, I will be on the Riviera about the same time from Tokyo to Vancouver b2b Vancouver to Whittier.  We will see if a bigger ship and provisioning in Japan will make a difference.  I am certainly looking forward to Red Ginger and a bigger cabin and expect all the good things about this cruise and the prior one on Marina to be the same on Riviera.

[chrismch]

On 6/14/2024 at 1:12 PM, poinsettiaplate said:

nice bonuses like Homer, Kodiak and Klawock. 

We're doing those ports and others in our spring cruise next year. What excursions did you do in those ports?

[poinsettiaplate]

Hello Chrismch:  I did not do a shore excursion in Homer but wished I had; not a lot of interesting things to do otherwise.  There is a shuttle to town. 

 

In Kodiak, no shore excursion but you might want to consider one if it is your first time.  The town is within walking distance and has interesting museums, a new mall with a bookstore and native crafts store.  Try Henry's Restaurant if you want excellent local scallops and good dark beer.

 

In Klawock, I did Taste of Klawock and Totem Park -- excellent:  four taster courses with wine pairings in a nice forest setting near a river, in covered tents; excellent curation by chefs and sommelier.  Guides at Totem Park who explained them.  There is also a shuttle that goes to Klawock (800 people) to a small craft market and to Craig (1100 people) to a craft market and to walk around the town.  This is their first year as a cruise line destination and we were the third ship in port; hope they don't lose their enthusiasm by the time you get there.