Regatta Penthouse or Veranda

[dst]

Hi - we are experienced cruisers but this will be our first time on Oceania - doing the Papeete 10 day trip in 2025.  Can someone guide us if the cost is worth the difference in cabins, what are the perks.  We love the retreat on Celebrity and our favorite cabin on Royal is the Crown Loft, just to give you an idea....

 

How is this ship, any tips appreciated 🙂   

[GeezerCouple]

50 minutes ago, dst said:

Hi - we are experienced cruisers but this will be our first time on Oceania - doing the Papeete 10 day trip in 2025.  Can someone guide us if the cost is worth the difference in cabins, what are the perks.  We love the retreat on Celebrity and our favorite cabin on Royal is the Crown Loft, just to give you an idea....

 

How is this ship, any tips appreciated 🙂   

I haven't been on either ship.

The "Crown Loft" doesn't sound like a tiny cabin.  What size it is (and its bathroom)?

 

We are very unlikely to sail on any of the smaller Oceania ships unless there was some extraordinary itinerary, and that could happen.  However, in that case, we'd only go if we could get a Vista suite.

On Oceania's Riviera, we get a PH, but the PH on the smaller ships is nothing like that.

Even the regular veranda cabins on the smaller ships are nothing like the regular veranda type cabins on the larger O ships.

 

Just check the space and setup carefully, especially if you haven't cruised in small cabins before!

 

GC

[EJL2023]

1 hour ago, dst said:

Hi - we are experienced cruisers but this will be our first time on Oceania - doing the Papeete 10 day trip in 2025.  Can someone guide us if the cost is worth the difference in cabins, what are the perks.  We love the retreat on Celebrity and our favorite cabin on Royal is the Crown Loft, just to give you an idea....

 

How is this ship, any tips appreciated 🙂   

Well first would be the overall size. PH has butler service, can make reservations for dinner earlier, get more reservations at specialty restaurants and if veranda is not concierge you would get access spa for free with PH.  But based upon comments here probably the biggest advantage for PH would be the larger bathroom and especially the shower, which is a dealbreaker for many. 

[dst]

12 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said:

I haven't been on either ship.

The "Crown Loft" doesn't sound like a tiny cabin.  What size it is (and its bathroom)?

 

We are very unlikely to sail on any of the smaller Oceania ships unless there was some extraordinary itinerary, and that could happen.  However, in that case, we'd only go if we could get a Vista suite.

On Oceania's Riviera, we get a PH, but the PH on the smaller ships is nothing like that.

Even the regular veranda cabins on the smaller ships are nothing like the regular veranda type cabins on the larger O ships.

 

Just check the space and setup carefully, especially if you haven't cruised in small cabins before!

 

GC

Thanks for your response, the crown loft is an up/down stairs cabin with 1 1/2 bathrooms - 545 sf and balcony is 115 sf - we love them (going on Symphony in January again).  Sounds like the PH suite is about the size of the jr suite on Royal - 

 

Can you tell me what perks come with the PH - from what I am reading, wine is included (would beer be included) and alcohol is not included. Specialty dining is included

 

am i missing anything?

[dst]

5 minutes ago, EJL2023 said:

Well first would be the overall size. PH has butler service, can make reservations for dinner earlier, get more reservations at specialty restaurants and if veranda is not concierge you would get access spa for free with PH.  But based upon comments here probably the biggest advantage for PH would be the larger bathroom and especially the shower, which is a dealbreaker for many. 

Thank you - we do like the larger bathrooms - if we wanted to eat in the specialty restaurant every night, could we?

[EJL2023]

13 minutes ago, dst said:

Thank you - we do like the larger bathrooms - if we wanted to eat in the specialty restaurant every night, could we?

Not every night. For example on a 10 night cruise we will get 2 nights at each of the two specialty restaurants for a total of 4.  Usually your butler can get you some also, really depends on how full the ship is and all.  Also, another perk of PH is you can have dinners from specialty restaurants in your room served by your butler. 

[dst]

2 minutes ago, EJL2023 said:

Not every night. For example on a 10 night cruise we will get 2 nights at each of the two specialty restaurants for a total of 4.  Usually your butler can get you some also, really depends on how full the ship is and all.  Also, another perk of PH is you can have dinners from specialty restaurants in your room served by your butler. 

Great info - thanks 

[EJL2023]

26 minutes ago, dst said:

Thanks for your response, the crown loft is an up/down stairs cabin with 1 1/2 bathrooms - 545 sf and balcony is 115 sf - we love them (going on Symphony in January again).  Sounds like the PH suite is about the size of the jr suite on Royal - 

 

Can you tell me what perks come with the PH - from what I am reading, wine is included (would beer be included) and alcohol is not included. Specialty dining is included

 

am i missing anything?

Under SIMPLY MORE you would get wine, champagne and beer included at lunch and dinner with both room options. No spirits included. For that you would have to upgrade your beverage package to Prestige level. 

[dst]

1 minute ago, EJL2023 said:

Under SIMPLY MORE you would get wine, champagne and beer included at lunch and dinner with both room options. No spirits included. For that you would have to upgrade your beverage package to Prestige level. 

Great 

thank you! 

[ToxM]

You won’t need to eat in the specialities every night, the GDR and buffet restaurant are a huge step up from what you will be used to 🙂

[FetaCheese]

The bathroom on Regatta, concierge veranda, and below cabins is tiny, tiny. Did I say small?  The shower is is even smaller.  

 

I did a live from on Regatta, 07 Sept.  I posted pics of the concierge veranda cabin, including the micro shower compartment, if you're interested.

 

[LHT28]

16 hours ago, dst said:

Hi - we are experienced cruisers but this will be our first time on Oceania - doing the Papeete 10 day trip in 2025.  Can someone guide us if the cost is worth the difference in cabins, what are the perks.  We love the retreat on Celebrity and our favorite cabin on Royal is the Crown Loft, just to give you an idea....

 

How is this ship, any tips appreciated 🙂   

sounds  like  you should be looking  at  a VS or OS  suite

The PH on the R ships  are only 322 sq ft  including the balcony

[Redtravel]

Regatta and all R ships have small cabins.  A suite is about 50% larger.  Suite bathroom is ok.  The veranda cabin bathrooms give new meaning to compact. 

[Clutj]

A small PH perk is if both of you also  have Prestige Bev package, then your butler will stock beers in your fridge.  Maybe cabin steward in lower rooms will do that as well, but I don’t know.  The room service from Polo and Toscana can be a big perk for those who like to dine in their room.  We definitely prefer the bigger PH on the larger Oceania ships but found the size was okay (even the shower) on the R class, and I am a big 260 lb guy. 

[dst]

1 hour ago, Clutj said:

A small PH perk is if both of you also  have Prestige Bev package, then your butler will stock beers in your fridge.  Maybe cabin steward in lower rooms will do that as well, but I don’t know.  The room service from Polo and Toscana can be a big perk for those who like to dine in their room.  We definitely prefer the bigger PH on the larger Oceania ships but found the size was okay (even the shower) on the R class, and I am a big 260 lb guy. 

Great info 

thank you 

[dst]

10 hours ago, Redtravel said:

Regatta and all R ships have small cabins.  A suite is about 50% larger.  Suite bathroom is ok.  The veranda cabin bathrooms give new meaning to compact. 

Thank you - I’m assuming the bathrooms are similar to older ships 

[Mura]

I have been very late checking in here, mostly because we aren't planning on traveling soon. BUT for the record, we prefer PH to regular veranda.  We like the extra room.  When the budget allows we will upgrade to an Oceania Suite (not available on the "R" ships).

 

We like the extra room and the extra perks, but that doesn't mean you can't have a lovely cruise at a lower level.  A few years ago we accepted a "downsell" from our booked PH to a B1 cabin.This was on an "R" ship. I had bad memories from the bathroom (and especially the shower) from early days on Renaissance and then Oceania, but wasn't bothered at all on this cruise,  I did miss the full breakfast brought to the room in the morning but didn't fuss about having to go to Terrace for a real breakfast! Taking the downsell on this cruise meant that the refund we received paid for a cruise a couple of months later in a VS, also on an "R" ship ... so it was worth it.

 

Specialty dining every night? Highly unlikely but it can depend on how many passengers are on board.  Higher cabins get more priority but that doesn't mean someone in a lower live cannot get a reservation.  You can check with the concierge daily to see if there are extra reservations available.

 

An advantage to being in a PH or above is that you can order dinner in your cabin, served by your butler ... Is that reason to book a higher cabin?  I wouldn't say so BUT ... it's a calculation for your budget,

 

Mura