Regatta - Amazon shore excursion questions

Greetings, new to the Oceania forum.

I am looking at an Amazon River trip and comparing Holland America Prinsendam with Oceania Regatta for this trip - similar price and size of ship and superficial amenities, at least from the online brochures.

Wondering now what the shore excursions are like on Oceania which is new for me - there is a nice package offer from Oceania right now with airfare so I am down to seeing what the differences between the two ships might be since we have long been Holland America cruisers, but mainly on their larger 1200 passenger ships.

Anyone who is willing compare the Prinsendam and the Regatta as to style, size of cabins, dining, enrichment lectures and over all "feeling"? Thanks.

Greetings, new to the Oceania forum.

 

I am looking at an Amazon River trip and comparing Holland America Prinsendam with Oceania Regatta for this trip - similar price and size of ship and superficial amenities, at least from the online brochures.

 

Wondering now what the shore excursions are like on Oceania which is new for me - there is a nice package offer from Oceania right now with airfare so I am down to seeing what the differences between the two ships might be since we have long been Holland America cruisers, but mainly on their larger 1200 passenger ships.

 

Anyone who is willing compare the Prinsendam and the Regatta as to style, size of cabins, dining, enrichment lectures and over all "feeling"? Thanks.

The Prinsendam has the Regatta beaten, hands down, insofar as the size of her staterooms and their adjoining bathrooms are concerned. She was, after all, built for very long super luxurious cruises by Royal Viking when they were THE ultra ultra Cruise Line. Every Prinsendam inside cabin, for example, has a regulation sized bathtub.

The Enrichment lectures on Oceania can be hit and miss, but HAL does not do a much better job of it anymore, either.

In all other areas, service, ambiance, style and most particularly food, Oceania is the clear winner.

It breaks our heart to say so, but after nearly sixty cruises on HAL we ventured back to our "old stomping grounds" only once since we discovered Oceania, and we found that the food had deteriorated dramatically. Too Bland AND too salty......how do they do it?

The Prinsendam has the Regatta beaten, hands down, insofar as the size of her staterooms and their adjoining bathrooms are concerned. She was, after all, built for very long super luxurious cruises by Royal Viking when they were THE ultra ultra Cruise Line. Every Prinsendam inside cabin, for example, has a regulation sized bathtub.

 

The Enrichment lectures on Oceania can be hit and miss, but HAL does not do a much better job of it anymore, either.

 

In all other areas, service, ambiance, style and most particularly food, Oceania is the clear winner.

 

It breaks our heart to say so, but after nearly sixty cruises on HAL we ventured back to our "old stomping grounds" only once since we discovered Oceania, and we found that the food had deteriorated dramatically. Too Bland AND too salty......how do they do it?

I cant believe you were on Hal for 60 cruises..we were on for 10 and gave up..the only thing I really liked was the bread pudding..did you ever get the recipe??? I lost mine!!

Jancruz1

We took the Amazon cruise last spring on Oceania Regatta. We loved every minute of it. If you have never sailed Oceania, you are in for a nice surprise.

The Prinsendam has the Regatta beaten, hands down, insofar as the size of her staterooms and their adjoining bathrooms are concerned. She was, after all, built for very long super luxurious cruises by Royal Viking when they were THE ultra ultra Cruise Line. Every Prinsendam inside cabin, for example, has a regulation sized bathtub.

 

The Enrichment lectures on Oceania can be hit and miss, but HAL does not do a much better job of it anymore, either.

 

In all other areas, service, ambiance, style and most particularly food, Oceania is the clear winner.

 

It breaks our heart to say so, but after nearly sixty cruises on HAL we ventured back to our "old stomping grounds" only once since we discovered Oceania, and we found that the food had deteriorated dramatically. Too Bland AND too salty......how do they do it?

Thanks for this feedback. I was concerned about the much smaller Oceania Regatta cabins and storage space for this long of a cruise compared to the Prinsendam.

Agree, overall food quality on HAL has been slipping (yes somehow they do salty and bland at the same time though they still do have many winners in their dining offerings - no one does their fresh baked breads better IMHO), but wondered if the smaller HAL Prinsendam kicked the dining quality up a notch than what is now found on their larger ships.

Still there are things we do like a lot about HAL ships overall for mainstream cruising needs - price alone and the value for price we think they still offer for their always enticing and more off beat itineraries.

But in this case when putting the smaller Prinsendam head to head with the Regatta, price difference is no longer a factor. Losing those cruise days for the HAL loyalty program is also a consideration for us too unless we thought we would be getting really superior value choosing Regatta.

Nice problem to have, eh? :confused: We have sailed Crystal several times so we know what extra money can buy when it comes to cruising, but also what it cannot buy. So our choice of HAL is that for not stepping down too far in terms of overall cruise ship basics, we get to take far more cruises. In this situation however, going head to head price-wise would Oceania or Prinsendam be closer to the more refined Crystal experience?

Can't compare it to Crystal, but the last time we looked at Prinsemdam, everything looked good but we rejected it for one thing -- their smoking policy. Unless it has become a lot more restrictive, it's a deal breaker for us.

We took Regatta from Miami to Manaus and back, 26 days, in 2006 -- also our first cruise on Oceania, and also the longest cruise we had taken up to that point. We cam back thoroughly sold on Oceania and have mostly stuck wit it since (a couple on sister line Regent, one on Celebrity when Oceania was not going to Alaska, one of Carnival with family because our Grandkids love it, and one on NCL because it was so cheap they almost paid us to go).

The Amazon cruise is a winner. It stopped at several Caribbean islands on the way to the Amazon, and Devil's Islands and a new set of Caribbean islands on the way home. On the Amazon itself, Santarem was interesting, Manaus should be seen once, Boca de Valeria (the Indian village) was a winner, and Parentims, don't miss the Bumba show. Most of the other cruise lines doing the Amazon make the same stops, so there's probably not much difference between Prinsemdam and Regatta. The stops are what they are, all thge cruise lines use the same tour providers and I suspect there's not much difference in that area.

The Amazon itself is a bit disappointing as it is so wide in the lower regions, the shores are pretty far away and there's not much variation. Still, it's worth checking off the bucket list.

no one does their fresh baked breads better IMHO), but wondered if the smaller HAL Prinsendam kicked the dining quality up a notch than what is now found on their larger ships.

Now I really am not a PR agent for O but you may change your mind about the baked breads once you cruise with O ... We think those are one of the best things on the ship, and we love a lot. (Not everything!) But the fresh baked bread, rolls, sweet rolls, etc., and just TOO GOOD.

You have a difficult decision!

Mura

Don't neglect the croissants at breakfast. Best since Paris.

We have done one HAL cruise, the St. Laurence, and although it was nice, the smoking policy alone was enough to have us forgo future cruises. We also found the loud music in most areas (Gee are we getting old??) anoying and missed the quieter times on Oceania.

For us Oceania wins hands down as long as both cruises are going in the same general direction.

We have just come back from the Oceania Regatta's four week Amazon cruise. In spring, we did the four week Panama cruise with HAL's Statendam. There were very good and less good things on both ships.

The single main difference was the food: excellent on Regatta, bland on the Statendam. On the second leg of the Statendam cruise, we had a cough and therfore avoided the long drawn-out meals in the dining room for the sake of our tablemates.

Statendam's buffet got boring very fast. Same bland pasta sauce every day. Same boring desserts every day. The buffet on the Regatta has MUCH more variety and is MUCH more delicious. The food in the restaurants is MUCH better as well.

On the Statendam, there were plenty of passengers who like bland food. One tablemate sent back anything that might have been seasoned properly.

As to shore excurions, they should be the same. There aren't many operators on shore. As to their quality, I don't agree with the above statements.

We were aboard Regatta for its Amazon cruise this past spring. See my Cruise Critic review dated March 11. In many ways, we had a fascinating time, and I highly recommend an Amazon cruise. But Oceania experienced an assortment of problems. They never did respond to my letter of complaint. Based on problems they've had on other cruises, which I've read about in reviews since returning home, I would not recommend booking the line. Oceania has been changing for the worse. How unfortunate.

You will not be unhappy with Regatta compared to HAL. HAL is okay, but Oceania is much better.

I cant believe you were on Hal for 60 cruises..we were on for 10 and gave up..the only thing I really liked was the bread pudding..did you ever get the recipe??? I lost mine!!

Jancruz1

LOL, we're pulling those cruises from all the way back into the 1960's Jan,

Jims' MARINER number only has 5 digits :eek:

I'll send you the Bread Pudding Recipe.....but we make the version from the old Nieuw Amsterdam.

The "Caramel with a Raspberry Sauce" version ;)

LittelRedJohn,

despite your warnings, we had a fabulous Amazon cruise with Oceania and booked with them again.

LittelRedJohn, after a smalll number of Oceania cruises (5) my observation is, u can either judge the line by headoffice (Miami) or on board (ships). These are two very different experiences in my opinion. Headoffice is a disaster but one will get by its difficiencies and board where the ships are wonderful. It appears they have no tracking system for correspondence so it is a matter of luck should one get a reply. I have not experienced this luck!

For what it is worth, I judge them by the onboard experience but I am really surprised that problems at HQ still continue. Maybe it is a question of where the resources are allocated.

We booked an Amazon River cruise on the Oceania Regatta for Nov. 2012. This will be our first time on Oceania. We'll miss our frequent cruise status on Princess, but liked the Oceania itinerary better. Any advice on excursions will be much appreciated. Also, we're unclear on the tipping policy on Oceania. Can we opt out from their highly inflated pre-paid tipping schedule, and if so, do we need to pay in advance?

Can we opt out from their highly inflated pre-paid tipping schedule, and if so, do we need to pay in advance?

The gratuities are added to your onboard account at the end of the cruise

I am sure you could opt out but why would you want deprive the hard working crew of the tips??

We booked an Amazon River cruise on the Oceania Regatta for Nov. 2012. This will be our first time on Oceania. We'll miss our frequent cruise status on Princess, but liked the Oceania itinerary better. Any advice on excursions will be much appreciated. Also, we're unclear on the tipping policy on Oceania. Can we opt out from their highly inflated pre-paid tipping schedule, and if so, do we need to pay in advance?

You do not have to opt out entirely. You can go to the purser and adjust the daily gratuity added to your account to the amount you feel comfortable with and then if you are inclined to tip extra in cash to those crew members that provide special service you think is worthy you may do that at your discretion.

Remember though because on Oceania there is open dinning not assigned as on Princess, and more venues to dine at at no cost to you that the tip pool covers most of the crew that provide services to the passengers. The level of service is of high standard and why would anyone want to deprive an emplyee from a benifit just because they did a service which benifitted the client but was not in personal contact.

Bill

The gratuities are added to your onboard account at the end of the cruise

 

I am sure you could opt out but why would you want deprive the hard working crew of the tips??

We don't want to deprive the crew of tips for service, we just feel that the amount they automatically add is unusually high. We would like to adjust the amount.

You do not have to opt out entirely. You can go to the purser and adjust the daily gratuity added to your account to the amount you feel comfortable with and then if you are inclined to tip extra in cash to those crew members that provide special service you think is worthy you may do that at your discretion.

Remember though because on Oceania there is open dinning not assigned as on Princess, and more venues to dine at at no cost to you that the tip pool covers most of the crew that provide services to the passengers. The level of service is of high standard and why would anyone want to deprive an emplyee from a benifit just because they did a service which benifitted the client but was not in personal contact.

Bill

Adjusting the rate sounds right to us. We certainly did not mean that we would opt out entirely. Thanks for your clarification.

We don't want to deprive the crew of tips for service, we just feel that the amount they automatically add is unusually high. We would like to adjust the amount.

You can adjust them as you see fit but remember this is not Princess

You can adjust them as you see fit but remember this is not Princess

Well said. The staff certainly earns what they make form our gratuities and more.:)

Our very first cruise with Oceania was on the Regatta to the Amazon. We live in Florida so there was no air travel for us and that was the deal MAKER. As of today we have 4 more Oceania cruises booked and have taken 4 since the Amazon. No comparison to HAL which is a preview of "The Home"/

~Doris~

LOL, we're pulling those cruises from all the way back into the 1960's Jan,

Jims' MARINER number only has 5 digits :eek:

I'll send you the Bread Pudding Recipe.....but we make the version from the old Nieuw Amsterdam.

The "Caramel with a Raspberry Sauce" version ;)

Hi,

I would love to get the recipe for the bread pudding.

My email: ruefabre@hotmail.com

You would make a happy husband.

Many thanks,

Dani