My Regatta Experience 11/28/14 to 12/5/14

[JVNYC]

Thank you Heather and Mura for "setting the scene" on the R ships. I think I will definitely give them a try. I'm not too worried about losing the extra 2 restaurants or the culinary center (I cook enough at home). I do like how the R ships have a little bit of a lower outside promenade deck. That is something I do miss on Riviera/Marina.

 

Yes, I do live and work in Manhattan and it's certainly a great city! I love being here and at the same time I love getting away from here. :)

Edited December 12, 2014 by JVNYC

[Baybear]

Heather...

 

I just went back and read (looked at) your Jan 2013 Rivieria Cruise review and noticed that in your pictures of the MDR (?) it seemed that all the men were wearing sports jackets at dinner.

 

And yet on these boards when people discuss dining at night on Oceania, they almost all say "hardly anyone wear jackets" and Oceania makes a big deal of saying "country club casual" in all their descriptions. (Also... no formal nights). Also, many said "we didn't bring jackets" (the men). can you tell me if you think jackets are "normal" for dining on Oceania?

 

Were they prevalent on your Oceania cruises at dinner?

 

Thanks,

Edited December 12, 2014 by Baybear

[Mura]

Interrupting here ... sports jackets are NOT necessary. If you want to wear one, fine. On all of our Oceania cruises, more gentlemen have not been wearing jackets than did.

 

Mura

[HeatherInFlorida]

I have to say that in the specialty restaurants I saw more jackets than not… Definitely. In fact, DH was a little concerned that he hadn't worn one in Toscana and wore one to both Polo and of course our captains dinner in the GDR. Certainly it's not required. That being said, they are sport jackets, no tie, just a sportshirt. And he did seem to me in the grand dining room I saw a lot of jackets on Regatta. Keep in mind that in most country clubs, a jacket is very standard at dinner, but not necessary.

 

In the Terrace, I saw very casual clothing. From my perspective, way too casual at dinner even for there. I do not understand blue jeans on a cruise in the Caribbean. I even saw overalls. I know this is a very touchy subject with people because jeans are so acceptable and I did wear white denim's which is a very different thing.

Edited December 12, 2014 by HeatherInFlorida

[Hambagahle]

Thank you Heather - not only for a great review as I have been wondering what it would be like to be on an "R" ship but also because I have wondered what happened to John McNeil! And now i know. We have sailed with him twice, on Regent, and he is a total delight!! And super to know he is still around.

 

Happy travels!

Gerry

[HeatherInFlorida]

Gerry, I'm not sure where he'll be next. He said he'd be home for Christmas… In England. I asked if he'd be on the Regatta in April when we sail again and he said you never know, but doubtful. He had just gotten on when we did (11/28).

[CintiPam]

Thanks for taking the time to write and post your very balanced review, Heather.

 

Although I am several decades away from my 11 years living at 86th and York, both children now live in Northern New Jersey, so it only has been two weeks since I walked the sidewalks of Manhattan! :D

[HeatherInFlorida]

Thanks for taking the time to write and post your very balanced review, Heather.

 

Although I am several decades away from my 11 years living at 86th and York, both children now live in Northern New Jersey, so it only has been two weeks since I walked the sidewalks of Manhattan! :D

 

Pam, when I lived in Manhattan, believe it or not I would ride my bike up to 86th and York where friends had an apartment. That was sometime in the 70's. I know the area well!

[edgee]

Hi, Mo :). I'm not sure I see where your experience was that different except you have a few complaints that I do not. But as I mentioned at the beginning of my experience, someone would come on and wonder if they were on the same cruise. No two experiences can possibly be the same.

 

I didn't feel Dottie's announcements were intrusive; you only hear them if you're in public areas and if I recall they were twice during the day at most and I didn't really pay attention. Humor is, of course, subjective and I thought Tom was just so funny. However, he was much funnier the first night than the 2nd. The first night I had tears rolling down my face ... not so much the second. But I still thought he was very funny and related to so much of what he said.

 

As I mentioned one of the things I liked about Captain McNeill was he was so accessible and easy to talk to. We've cruised about 25 times on several cruise lines and there was only one other Captain in all those years who I found as friendly and accessible. As it happens, in our conversations Captain McNeill mentioned this man who had been our Captain on a Prinsendam cruise many years ago. They're good friends and I wasn't surprised. DH and I were very fortunate to have had the opportunity to spend time with him on the Bridge and, of course, dinner was extra special.

 

Several people felt the Terrace has the best food on the ship and I would agree it's pretty darned good. If I were being critical I would have to say that as good as I felt the food was in all venues (except Toscana) on this cruise, it was better on the Riviera. We'll see how I feel after our next cruise on Regatta.

 

So while you began your post saying we have very different opinions, I have to confess reading your comments just didn't give me that impression. You had a few issues with the cruise as did I, but overall it sounds like you had a really good time. Sorry we didn't meet up; we had dinner several nights with our northern friends and it would have been nice to meet you as well.

 

 

 

Thanks for your fine review. We were on the same cruise and agree with nearly all of it. Really the only place where we differ is on the subject of Dottie's announcements. We indeed found them verbose, too frequent and too intrusive. You say that they are only made for public areas is technically true, but practically the noise from the speakers in the hallways woke us up from a "sleep in" sea day morning and disturbed the tranquility of massages for both my DW and myself.

 

In the strong agreement area was our enjoyment of Dottie's husband comedian Tom Drake.

 

 

Ed

[HeatherInFlorida]

Ed, I must have just have been in the right place during her announcements. I never heard them! I would not have been happy if I'd heard one of them when I was in a euphoric zone during a massage:)

 

I'm actually surprised about it because I don't remember those 'updates' on our last 2 cruises. We just had the Captain at noon and that was it!

[Mura]

We weren't on this cruise, but Dottie and Tom were on our Black Sea cruise on Regatta in August '12 and we were very impressed with both. I certainly wasn't bothered by her PA announcements (although this was more than 2 years ago and she has had a serious illness, so certainly things could have changed since our cruise with them).

 

We weren't going to go to Tom's show but friends on the cruise encouraged us to join them because they thought he was so funny. We liked him so much that we went to a second show as well. (I did think at the time that given his emphasis on his New Jersey background that his routines could appeal more to people from the NY/NJ area.)

 

Plus c'est change, plus c'est la meme chose ... or in my translation, none of us feels the same way about everything!

 

Mura

[G&G]

I posted a tread several weeks ago concerning our first experience on the smaller ship; Regatta.

 

We have only sailed on Riviera and we also thought the bathrooms were not only small but the smallest we had ever seen.

 

The tread I posted asked the question why pay the same price per day on the Regatta/Riviera for similar cruises if you get 30% more cabin space on the Riviera.

[StanandJim]

The tread I posted asked the question why pay the same price per day on the Regatta/Riviera for similar cruises if you get 30% more cabin space on the Riviera.

 

The short answer is that many, many people so prize the, increasingly rare, ambience of sailing on a 685 passenger ship, that they are willing to pay similar rates for a smaller cabin and bath.

 

Do a search in this forum for "R ship" and you will see examples of what I mean.

[globevest]

Heather thank you very much for your well documented review and photo album. After checking out your avatar (and feet shots in the photo album) I am jealous not to have had the opportunity of a little kiss like the Captain ......lol I may have to break out my uniform.....just teasing......

 

I was keen to get back to an R ship (last week Insignia after refit) to compare the R ship experience with our more recent cruises on Marina and Riviera. We were not disappointed. I really enjoyed the opportunity of the daily Red Ginger entrees in the MDR.....the Miso Sea Bass was delightful and the Maitre D was happy. If you have not had the Dover Sole in Toscana please try it....even better than the Miso Sea Bass. Of course that could be just my taste.

 

Many thanks for your comments on a couple of my posts on the thread about the Insignia problems in St. Lucia. Barry

[rallydave]

I posted a tread several weeks ago concerning our first experience on the smaller ship; Regatta.

 

We have only sailed on Riviera and we also thought the bathrooms were not only small but the smallest we had ever seen.

 

The tread I posted asked the question why pay the same price per day on the Regatta/Riviera for similar cruises if you get 30% more cabin space on the Riviera.

 

Did you take the tread off of one of your tires and post it on a telephone pole??? Just kidding over the spelling. These are threads :D:D

[HeatherInFlorida]

I posted a tread several weeks ago concerning our first experience on the smaller ship; Regatta.

 

We have only sailed on Riviera and we also thought the bathrooms were not only small but the smallest we had ever seen.

 

The tread I posted asked the question why pay the same price per day on the Regatta/Riviera for similar cruises if you get 30% more cabin space on the Riviera.

 

I would agree with StanandJim's comment. The price of a cabin (for me) is not based on the size but what you are receiving overall on the cruise. There is no question in my mind that when sailing on the smaller ships, the level of service is greater if for no other reason than there are simply less people and it feels far more personal.

 

We can get a much larger cabin on another cruise line for less money. It's really not about size:)

 

Heather thank you very much for your well documented review and photo album. After checking out your avatar (and feet shots in the photo album) I am jealous not to have had the opportunity of a little kiss like the Captain ......lol I may have to break out my uniform.....just teasing......

 

I was keen to get back to an R ship (last week Insignia after refit) to compare the R ship experience with our more recent cruises on Marina and Riviera. We were not disappointed. I really enjoyed the opportunity of the daily Red Ginger entrees in the MDR.....the Miso Sea Bass was delightful and the Maitre D was happy. If you have not had the Dover Sole in Toscana please try it....even better than the Miso Sea Bass. Of course that could be just my taste.

 

Many thanks for your comments on a couple of my posts on the thread about the Insignia problems in St. Lucia. Barry

 

Barry, I blush :). You made my day. I asked the waiter in Toscana whether I should have the Sea Bass or the Dover sole and he recommended the bass. I had the Dover Sole at Jacques on Riviera and it was SO amazing. When we're on Regatta in April I will try the sole :).

 

It's a tough call between the Regatta and the Riviera for me. We really loved both ... of course it was on Riviera that I fell in love with Oceania. But we both really loved the ambiance of the smaller ship.

Edited December 16, 2014 by HeatherInFlorida

[G&G]

Did you take the tread off of one of your tires and post it on a telephone pole??? Just kidding over the spelling. These are threads :D:D

 

RallyDave

 

I either had a senior moment or I was thinking about on my spare Dunlop around the waist when writing the post :D.

[dorisis]

I have been reading the postings on this thread started by Heather. We,too, are Oceania boosters. especially the Regatta. The size and the decor seem to fit us perfectly. We started on that class back in Renaissance days and have tried the Princess as well as the Azamara versions, but always come back to Oceania.

 

We will be cruising on her again for our 62nd Anniversary in April.

 

Heather; my parents were from Edinburgh.

[HeatherInFlorida]

I have been reading the postings on this thread started by Heather. We,too, are Oceania boosters. especially the Regatta. The size and the decor seem to fit us perfectly. We started on that class back in Renaissance days and have tried the Princess as well as the Azamara versions, but always come back to Oceania.

 

We will be cruising on her again for our 62nd Anniversary in April.

 

Heather; my parents were from Edinburgh.

 

My heritage goes back several generations, Doris :), but I'm no less proud of my Scottish roots which mostly comes from my father's side. My Mom was a mix of Scottish, Irish and English ... but still the British Isles!

 

Are you on "our" cruise 4/11? I think I may have seen your name on the roll call. We'll be celebrating our 30th anniversary, but we started late so doubtful we'll make our 50th. So we've decided to make this the equivalent.

[CHUCKIE50]

We too were on the Nov 28 Regatta cruise and loved it. I haven't posted this until now but my wife was the sweepstakes winner for a free O cruise and this was the sailing. We love O and are sailing on the Marina in Jan 2015.

My only tiny minor complaint is that while very, very lucky to have won a free cruise we didn't get to dine with the Captain like Heather did :)

[globevest]

We too were on the Nov 28 Regatta cruise and loved it. I haven't posted this until now but my wife was the sweepstakes winner for a free O cruise and this was the sailing. We love O and are sailing on the Marina in Jan 2015.

My only tiny minor complaint is that while very, very lucky to have won a free cruise we didn't get to dine with the Captain like Heather did :)

 

Yes and I am sure that you noticed that Heather rubbed it in that she got a kiss from the captain.......:rolleyes:.......lol

[thunderbird56]

Yes and I am sure that you noticed that Heather rubbed it in that she got a kiss from the captain.......:rolleyes:.......lol

 

I suspect the Captain rubbed it in with the crew that HE got a kiss from Heather!!:)

[HeatherInFlorida]

I suspect the Captain rubbed it in with the crew that HE got a kiss from Heather!!:)

 

We too were on the Nov 28 Regatta cruise and loved it. I haven't posted this until now but my wife was the sweepstakes winner for a free O cruise and this was the sailing. We love O and are sailing on the Marina in Jan 2015.

My only tiny minor complaint is that while very, very lucky to have won a free cruise we didn't get to dine with the Captain like Heather did :)

 

LOL LOL!!!:) I can only do 2 quotes at a time, but this is for Globevest, too. You have no idea how funny this is and how good it makes me feel. At 72 I don't think there's anyone other than my husband who is very excited about getting a kiss from me!!! But deep inside I'm still the girl I once was so it's all fun for me and you can carry this on as long as you want!!:) Joy will never go out of me no matter how old I get.

 

There really was a reason for our invite to the Bridge and to dinner with the Captain, but I'm not telling;). We've only cruised twice before with Oceania. I will say that it was such a nice gesture and I am so grateful to Kunal Kamlani for arranging it. I was so sad to come home to the news that he is no longer with Oceania :(.

[LibraryDiva]

Heather, you really covered it all in your review. I ,too was on the Regatta with all of you. I am on a quest for someone on the cruise. Her name is Lauren and she is from NJ and what makes her stand out is that she cruised with her friend Judy who sold her beautiful semi-precious jewelry in one of the shops. Did anyone buy anything from Judy and possibly got her email? Or maybe you met Lauren. My email is vlampach at gmail dot com If anyone can help me I would really appreciate it.

 

Thank you,

Viviane

[HeatherInFlorida]

Heather, you really covered it all in your review. I ,too was on the Regatta with all of you. I am on a quest for someone on the cruise. Her name is Lauren and she is from NJ and what makes her stand out is that she cruised with her friend Judy who sold her beautiful semi-precious jewelry in one of the shops. Did anyone buy anything from Judy and possibly got her email? Or maybe you met Lauren. My email is vlampach at gmail dot com If anyone can help me I would really appreciate it.

 

Thank you,

Viviane

 

Hopefully someone will see this and be able to help you. I do know who you mean, but did not buy any jewelry from Judy. And I didn't meet Lauren. I wonder if you could try to find Judy through Oceania if you're not successful here? Good luck!