Oceania/Regatta

[prettyflowers]

Cruised on the Oceania/Regatta May 9 - 19 to the Mediterrean. After all the hype about the smaller ship being much better than the so called mega ships, personally I did not find it to be so. I found the food to be no better than the larger ships. I did enjoy the open seating, however, you lose the personal service from the wait staff in the dining room. The tips are all pooled so there is really no incentive to "bend over backwards" and service is what the cruise ships are all about. One definite plus was disembarking at the various ports. At the most, there was a 10 minute wait. The cabins were nice size. I had a room with a large picture window. The beds, pillows, etc. were luxurious ... they were everything the brochure said they would be. On this particular itinerary, it would have been nice to eliminate Sardinia. There is really nothing to do at this port. Time would have been much better spent if we were in either Florence or Sorrento for an extra day. There is so much to see and do in these two ports, one day in each was not enought time. We did not take any of the ships excursions. They were all through private tour guides/drivers and one was better than the next. They were all found through cruisecritic and I will post them within the next day or two.

[CruiseLiz]

Does that mean that you wouldn't cruise with Oceania again in the future?

 

Wow. My experience on the Regatta was very different than yours.

We did the wine tasting tour in Sardinia and that was really fun - I can see that if you did not do a tour that port would be boring.

I did feel that the food was better than on mainstream lines - but I did not frequent the main dining room b/c we did it one night and concluded that Tapas on the Terrace was more tasty (so I agree with you 100% on the dining room food.) I loved the Polo Grill - I'm still dreaming about that crab cake. I also felt the service was stellar.

 

Anyway, I guess that just goes to show that experiences vary quite a bit from person to person.

 

 

I hope you enjoyed your cruise :)

[neepawa]

We have sailed twice on the Regatta and had personal service with the same wait staff on each occasion. On each cruise, on the first night we asked for a specific table. On subsequent nights, we simply asked the Maitre d' for the same table. It worked with no delay in being seated.

 

Don

[Ask4Jay]

prettyflowers -

Your post points out again that every cruiser has different criteria as to the enjoyment of a cruise. DW and I love these little ships, whether they belong to Oceania or Azamara. We want to sail on a small, intimate ship, not on a floating hotel with 3,000 other guests. We prefer open ocean cruising, which does not lend itself to lots of sightseeing. So shore excursions are a non-issue for us.

I agree with CruiseLiz about the food. Sushi almost every night at Tapas on the Terrace. How much better can it get? Those times when we ate in the GDR, we always found something to our liking. And the service was consistently friendly and efficient. No, not necessarily the 'bending-over-backwards' kind, but that kind you don't necessarily get either when you do tip.

I need to ask: Since this is your first post on this board, have you cruised before on other lines, or was this your first cruise (with higher expectations)? Not trying to be sarcastic, just curious.

[TERRIER1]

We will be cruising next May on the Insignia and stop in Sardinia - I think it's Olbia. I heard the beaches in Costa Esmeralda are beautiful. Is there anyway to get to the beach without renting a car or taking a taxi? Thanks.

[glenneagle]

We were on the same cruise. loved it. Found the staff and food excellent.We did the ships tour in Sardinia. Great tour. We usually do private tours but on this trip did 3 ships tours and all were great.Plenty of room on the bus and

not packed to capacity.looking forward to our next O cruise to egypt next year.

[ChatKat in Ca.]

We each have our own value system for rating what we expect from a cruise. I am just off Regatta yesterday and I found the food and service beyond expectations. I love the small ship experience. That said, Oceania is considered a step down from Regent, where I have almost 100 days of sailing but I find it quite comparable and a great value. I thought it was a terrific experience with the only area lacking was in the entertainment.

[Jana]

Kathy,

 

Welcome back! I followed most of your trip with the bow-cam; it looked like you had fab weather except for one day?

 

But... where were you berthed in St. Petersberg? It looked pretty industrial from the bow, and I've never been there. I have a month to go before it's my turn.

 

Tell us about your trip!

 

Jana

[ChatKat in Ca.]

We had the weather gods with us on last Regatta Cruise - only a bit of minor drizzles. Nothing to keep us away from touring. Regatta docks in the city in St. Petersburg in the best location (docks are not usually in the very best parts of town) but in Copenhagen they have a public bus (the 26) that is perfect for cruise passengers and takes you right to the Tivoli (don't waste you money there - it's a tourist trap!)

[Mike073]

Terri - there are boats that will take you to the Emerald coast. I do not remember the details, but a search of this forum should produce something for you.

[Nana4x]

We were at the same table in Toscana as Chat Kat on the Regatta.

And at the next table in Polo. The service in Polo was NOT up to snuff in our opinion. We waited nearly 25 minutes for the waiter to take our order. I found my steak to be tough and David thought the flavor of his filet mignon was not what one should expect from a specialty venue.

 

All I can say is David and I prefer the Grand Dining Room. We had better service there (we asked for a table for our group of 8 to 10 persons) in the same section every night. The menu was varied and we really enjoyed the food and service. Not everything was perfect each night - but that is the same in dining out back home.

 

All in all the food on Oceania is very good. Now to see if HAL can live up to Oceania in Aug. when we cruise to Alaska.

[Gail C]

Why can't I find the Dec., 2009 Oceania (Regatta) schedules? It doesn't seem to be in the brochure or on their site.

Thanks for any help...

[hondorner]

The sailings for the Winter of 2009/2010 will not be released until some time in August. Keep an eye out here in the forum -- Jancruz will usually alert us when they are about to be released.

[Gail C]

Thanks, I'll keep checking here. It's odd because the site shows Jan-Nov, 2009, but not Dec.

[hondorner]

The Winter season starts with the repositioning cruises in late November (such as transAtlantic for Regatta and Insignia, and Mediterranean/Asia for Nautica), and runs through the repositioning cruises in March/April when the ships all head back to Europe. In the Winter, Regatta is based in Miami and sails the Caribbean, Panama and Amazon sailings, Insignia is based in South America and sails generally to/from Rio to Valparaiso, Chile, and Nautica sails in Asia and Australia.

 

The cruises are roughly the same each year, and you can get a general idea of the schedule by looking at this year's schedule. The itineraries do vary a little from year to year, so you can't really count on 2009 being exactly the same as 2008.

 

The exact itineraries will be released a week or so ahead of the date when bookings open. If you have a rough idea of when and where you want to go, you should be in touch with your travel agent even before the itineraries are released, and ask them to notify you with the exact schedules as soon as they are released.

[ChatKat in Ca.]

The night we ate in Toscana together was the first night of the cruise and the room was nearly empty. The night at Polo, we were the last seating time of 8:15. We had perfect service.

 

I found that the early service times strained the staff but the later time of 8 was perfect service and the food was better too. Just like when I travel, I prefer off times somewhat. Better service and minimal crowds.

 

We were at the same table in Toscana as Chat Kat on the Regatta.

And at the next table in Polo. The service in Polo was NOT up to snuff in our opinion. We waited nearly 25 minutes for the waiter to take our order. I found my steak to be tough and David thought the flavor of his filet mignon was not what one should expect from a specialty venue.

 

All I can say is David and I prefer the Grand Dining Room. We had better service there (we asked for a table for our group of 8 to 10 persons) in the same section every night. The menu was varied and we really enjoyed the food and service. Not everything was perfect each night - but that is the same in dining out back home.

 

All in all the food on Oceania is very good. Now to see if HAL can live up to Oceania in Aug. when we cruise to Alaska.

[Gail C]

Hondorner (AKA Don Horner),

 

Thanks so much for the info. It all makes sense now. We will follow your advice in hopes of grabbing a suite. I understand they go first and fast.

 

Gail

[CruiseLiz]

All in all the food on Oceania is very good. Now to see if HAL can live up to Oceania in Aug. when we cruise to Alaska.

 

Bobbie & David - What Volendam cruise are you on? We are also on the Volendam in August - the B2B starting on Aug 24th. You'll find that the food on HAL is not up to the same standard as Oceania, particularly in the casual buffets. But, IMO the food in the dining room is better on HAL. The specialty restaurant on HAL is similar to Polo Grill, though I hope you find the cuts of beef to be more to your liking :)

[prettyflowers]

We have sailed twice on the Regatta and had personal service with the same wait staff on each occasion. On each cruise, on the first night we asked for a specific table. On subsequent nights, we simply asked the Maitre d' for the same table. It worked with no delay in being seated.

 

Don

 

After reading your response, if I sailed on a small ship again, I would definitely ask the the same table when dining. Thx. for the tip.

[prettyflowers]

In response to your question, I have cruised many times, however, usually on a larger ship, i.e., the Celebrity and Royal Caribbean. :D

[Ask4Jay]

Wow, this thread has been dormant for over a month. Thanks for answering my question, prettyflowers. I can see where you might be disappointed, having moved down to a smaller ship. As I mentioned in my first post, we don't care much for shore excursions, but we really enjoyed the little town of Mahon on Minorca. Azamara Quest docked smack dab in the middle of downtown. Only a small ship could enter that harbor. And Mahon, as a former British Naval Base, features prominently in Pat O'Brian's seafaring books of the Napoleonic Wars with Captain Aubry. That visit prompted me to start re-reading the entire series.

Juergen (& Helen)