Feedback requested from Regatta 11/13/2007 Barcelona to Miami

[china addict]

DH and I are booked on this cruise for 2008 and would appreciate feedback from this year's passengers about their experiences. I've seen a few mentions of a terrible storm, with Polo and Toscana closed. We've sailed on Nautica and Regatta before but have never done a TA. What were the sea days like (more activities than a port-intensive cruise?), and what did you think of the ports of call? Any mid-price hotels to recommend in Barcelona? Did you use private guides or Oceania tours? Did you have to pack both cold and warm weather clothes? Any secrets or recommendations to share? We'll be celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary on board and want to make sure our trip is a success. Thanks for your feedback, both positive and negative. I always appreciate the wisdom of Oceania cruisers.

[Keefy]

DH and I are booked on this cruise for 2008 and would appreciate feedback from this year's passengers about their experiences. I've seen a few mentions of a terrible storm, with Polo and Toscana closed. We've sailed on Nautica and Regatta before but have never done a TA. What were the sea days like (more activities than a port-intensive cruise?), and what did you think of the ports of call? Any mid-price hotels to recommend in Barcelona? Did you use private guides or Oceania tours? Did you have to pack both cold and warm weather clothes? Any secrets or recommendations to share? We'll be celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary on board and want to make sure our trip is a success. Thanks for your feedback, both positive and negative. I always appreciate the wisdom of Oceania cruisers.

 

Well, there was a storm and Toscana and Polo were closed. We had a reservation on Toscana that night. We ate at the Grand Dining Room and went to Toscana 2 nights later.

Honestly I loved the storm, never fel threatened but there was a sense of adventure.Martinis stuck to wine or beer but we still got 2 for 1 between 5 and 6. The Roulette wheel was taken away and the stock in the boutiques went all over the place and a grand piano went 'walkabout'. The terrific crew kept everything humming despite various shades of green on certian members of the staff.

 

Due to the storm we only had one Port of Call, Porto Delgado, Azores. We used a private taxi, we had beenthere before but if you read up on the guide books you can get a taxi for 3 hours for 60 Euros as opposed to $130 each for ship guided tours.

 

Sea days were great. Plenty to see and do as the weather was goiod everyday except for the 36 hours of storm. It was never cold. The coat I brought was taken off in Toronto Airport and toted around until my return. I wore shorts most days.

 

We went in our 40th Anniversary year, It was a first for Oceania but wont be the last.

A tip is to reserve a 'private' cabana on Deck 11, double teak day bed, fan for cooling, phone foe constant cabana service.

 

The food was brilliant, the staff exemplary, the whole experience wonderful and the crowd on board extremely couth!

[rettiga]

Keefy's right, the storm was strong, tiring, and gave us all a real sense of humility about the power of wind and water. Many were sick, but my wife and I don't get seasick, so we were able to function passably well during the adventure. While the specialty restaurants were closed, please understand that it was only for one night.

 

Barcelona's a wonderful city, worth at least three days if you haven't been there before. Lots of decent hotels. Check online features and rates as the time draws closer. If possible, stay near the Ramblas and the Barrio Gotic.

 

In the Azores, we just walked into town and enjoyed the sights there, including the large market. Others took cabs for 20 Euros an hour (the going rate) to see the hills and the lakes. Some took ship's tours, but since several of them were cancelled at the last minute, I gather that they weren't all that popular. We didn't get to call at Bermuda because of the storm.

 

We packed too many heavier clothes and not enough lightweight ones. The temperatures were quite mild in Spain and all the way across. Of course, this is a transitional season, so anything can happen. But certainly at least the last half of the crossing should be reasonably warm.

 

There's plenty to do every day. Yes, they put on some good lecturers, but the attraction of a crossing on Oceania is clearly your shipmates. Unless you're a complete introvert you can't help meeting and enjoying some really terrific, smart, funny, well-traveled and altogether interesting people. It is absolutely safe to say that we were entertained most by our fellow passengers. If you haven't sailed this line before, you will understand this when you do. Put simply, you will be sailing with smart, classy people, but not with stuffy people. No one will be wearing baseball caps to dinner, yet the entire atmosphere is delightfully casual and fun.

[wripro]

I will be doing the reverse crossing from Rio to Barcelona in March and am really looking forward to it. I agree that fellow shipmates are always the best entertainment on a crossing. And I always bring a couple of good books. Those and twelve meals a day leave little time for anything else!!!!

[LHT28]

. Those and twelve meals a day leave little time for anything else!!!!

 

Twelve meals ...Darn I must have missed some :rolleyes:

[Al-Bren]

We can only echo what those above have said. Many of us thoroughly enjoyed the storm, being able to see the Atlantic in all it's moods and we didn't get seasick at all, although it was a little tricky walking and sleeping (if you tend to sleep on your side, like I do). Loved every minute of it, though!

 

It was nice meeting people on this CC site first, and then getting to know them on the cruise!

 

This was our first cruise so we were a little disappointed in the Oceania tours. We arrived in Barcelona 3 days early and stayed in one of Oceania's hotels, so we were entitled to a 4 hour city tour of Barcelona. After double checking with Oceania, who told us the tour would be on the Sunday and after receiving confirmation of that on their booking documentation, we booked a private driver, Paco (he's terrific!), through Barcelona Tours, to go to Montserrat on Monday. Saturday night we found out that the city tour was Monday, not Sunday, so we missed it. The full day tour we had selected for the Azores was cancelled because not enough people booked it so we were scrambling the night before to make other arrangements. We ended up with a half day tour which was great but it meant we missed some of the sights we'd wanted to see. Then we missed Bermuda altogether because of the storm. So, we've learned not to pin our hopes on the ports of call and Oceania tours. If they happen, great, but if not, just enjoy the rest of the cruise. There's lots to enjoy!!! We weren't interested in a port intensive cruise anyway; we wanted mainly sea days and relaxation.

 

We booked a Cabana for the entire trip and found that a great spot to relax. The sides and top blocked some of the wind and sun, making it great on the cooler days, although you can open up the top if you'd like to sunbathe. As Keefy mentioned, there was a fan in it for the warm days. The staff take such good care of you. There's a phone where you can phone for food service or just wait for them to make their regular rounds.

 

Like the others above, we packed too many warm clothes. I think the coldest it got was 18 C / 68 F (or thereabouts), and much warmer as we got closer to Miami. We heeded too many people's poor advice and my husband didn't pack any of his dressier clothes (suits / sports jackets), which he wished he'd had for the evening dinners.

 

All in all, it was a fabulous cruise and we'd love to do it again!!!

[raffeer]

>We heeded too many people's poor advice and my husband didn't pack any of >his dressier clothes (suits / sports jackets), which he wished he'd had for the >evening dinners.

 

No! NO! Tell me it isn't true. Dressing for dinner on Oceania? Men were feeling UNDERdressed without a jacker or (horror of horrors) a suit????

What has happened to the standards?

[rettiga]

>We heeded too many people's poor advice and my husband didn't pack any of >his dressier clothes (suits / sports jackets), which he wished he'd had for the >evening dinners.

 

No! NO! Tell me it isn't true. Dressing for dinner on Oceania? Men were feeling UNDERdressed without a jacker or (horror of horrors) a suit????

What has happened to the standards?

 

You're kidding, right? I'm a man and I never felt UNDERdressed. I took my usual one sportcoat (which I wore maybe two or three times), and didn't feel out of place at all. If I hadn't taken even the one sportcoat it wouldn't have made any difference. No one is turned away for wearing decent slacks and a collared shirt. Did you feel that you were being looked down upon? Really? It's never a snobby crowd on O, and I think you'll agree that nobody got snooty with anybody about dress. We were having too much fun.

[Al-Bren]

You're kidding, right? I'm a man and I never felt UNDERdressed. I took my usual one sportcoat (which I wore maybe two or three times), and didn't feel out of place at all. If I hadn't taken even the one sportcoat it wouldn't have made any difference. No one is turned away for wearing decent slacks and a collared shirt. Did you feel that you were being looked down upon? Really? It's never a snobby crowd on O, and I think you'll agree that nobody got snooty with anybody about dress. We were having too much fun.

 

For the most part the people aren't snobby but you can't make a blanket statement and say that nobody is snooty because there are people who are. It happens. We sat with some on a couple of nights, until we devised a strategy of looking at the people in the line-ups with us as we walked into the Grand Dining room before requesting a table for 2 versus sitting with a group. A certain few people we learned to avoid and others (the majority) we were very pleased to meet. Until people get to know you, they judge you by appearance and if you're dressed in country club casual and they're dressed more formally, there is a difference in how you're perceived. We especially noticed this on nights when we went to the Polo Grill and Toscana restaurants where people tended to dress up even more.

 

The staff never treat you any differently, though! They're all warm and friendly.

[travelfirst]

Rettiga, I seen on one post you had said you went to Toledo on a day trip from Barcelona.

 

I am going on the Insignia next November from Barcelona to Lisbon and was interested on going to Toledo if I had time.

 

How did you get there and back in one day and what are the best things to see there?

[digby]

"Until people get to know you, they judge you by appearance and if you're dressed in country club casual and they're dressed more formally, there is a difference in how you're perceived."

 

I've never run into this on any of my 3 "O" cruises, and I never once put on the jacket I carried with me on the first two trips. I'm not one who cares how others 'percieve' me in the first place. After all, it's very unlikely you'll ever see them again after the cruise.

[cruiserfromohio]

This was our first cruise on Oceania and couldn't have wanted a better experience. Yes, the weather was bad a couple of days and rough weather caused us to miss Bermuda, but that's life.

 

In general, I echo the comments above, but must say the temperature was cooler than I expected -- except for the last two days. Also, from reading this board, I expected to see few suits and sport coats, but never felt that under-dressed when I had on a just a shirt and slacks. I did wear a sport coat and tie on two evenings, and didn't feel over dressed.

 

I can only underscored the quality of the staff and their always pleasant, friendly and helpful nature. No matter what the issue they always treated with with a smile, a "Yes Sir" and took care of it right away.

[rettiga]

Rettiga, I seen on one post you had said you went to Toledo on a day trip from Barcelona.

 

I am going on the Insignia next November from Barcelona to Lisbon and was interested on going to Toledo if I had time.

 

How did you get there and back in one day and what are the best things to see there?

 

My bad. I did say that, but I think in a later post I corrected it. Obviously, you can't do it on a day trip from Barcelona. On a previous cruise that ended in Barcelona, we stayed there for a few days, then took the overnight train to Madrid and stayed there for a few more days. It was from Madrid that we took the day trip to Toledo.

 

Sorry for the goof.

[travelfirst]

My bad. I did say that, but I think in a later post I corrected it. Obviously, you can't do it on a day trip from Barcelona. On a previous cruise that ended in Barcelona, we stayed there for a few days, then took the overnight train to Madrid and stayed there for a few more days. It was from Madrid that we took the day trip to Toledo.

 

Sorry for the goof.

 

Thanks for the reply. Guess I would have to stay longer in Barcelona if I wanted to go to Toledo.

[topmast]

You're kidding, right? I'm a man and I never felt UNDERdressed. I took my usual one sportcoat (which I wore maybe two or three times), and didn't feel out of place at all. If I hadn't taken even the one sportcoat it wouldn't have made any difference. No one is turned away for wearing decent slacks and a collared shirt. Did you feel that you were being looked down upon? Really? It's never a snobby crowd on O, and I think you'll agree that nobody got snooty with anybody about dress. We were having too much fun.

 

At the risk of pounding this topic into the ground, I think the fact that you felt it necessary to wear your sportcoat two or three times underlines the fact that obviously us guys would feel more comfortable, at least on the more formal nights and in certain restaurants if we had one. Thanks for the heads up. I'll be packing one for my first O cruise. I'd rather be over dressed (or equally dressed) than under dressed. I gather from the posts that lots of guys were wearing them and I'd rather blend in.

[rettiga]

Sometimes you do things for yourself, not to blend in. In my case I wore the sportcoat on my birthday and on Thanksgiving because I chose to do so. I never felt it "necessary" to do it at all.

 

I adhere to the following personal standards for dress when cruising on any line:

 

1. Out of respect for fellow passengers, follow the line's published dress code.

 

2. If you wish to exceed the requested dress, go for it. If you don't, don't.

 

Parenthetically, after more than 20 cruises and three crossings it has been my experience that people tend to be a little dressier on crossings. Long days of running around port after port tend to make people dress down a bit more on port-intensive itineraries.

[happy cruzer]

At the risk of pounding this topic into the ground, I think the fact that you felt it necessary to wear your sportcoat two or three times underlines the fact that obviously us guys would feel more comfortable, at least on the more formal nights and in certain restaurants if we had one. Thanks for the heads up. I'll be packing one for my first O cruise. I'd rather be over dressed (or equally dressed) than under dressed. I gather from the posts that lots of guys were wearing them and I'd rather blend in.

 

Dh feels the same as you do. I hardly ever post about attire but one thing I do share is:

 

Online we see lots of folks flaming about others being underdressed. Onboard I have never seen or heard anyone comment to another cruiser about their being underdressed. However, DH has on 2 different cruises been "belittled" for following the suggested attire. Comments to our face like "I see you let the cruise lines push you around." and " you must be dieing from heat in the monkey suit, I won't let them make me wear that." kinda of strange.... Don't people think that each of us is a grown-up and can decide for ourselves what we like? DH is going to leave the suit and tux at home on O but I bet a jacket will be cruising with us; simply because he likes to wear it.

[LHT28]

However, DH has on 2 different cruises been "belittled" for following the suggested attire. Comments to our face like "I see you let the cruise lines push you around." and " you must be dieing from heat in the monkey suit, I won't let them make me wear that." kinda of strange.... Don't people think that each of us is a grown-up and can decide for ourselves what we like? DH is going to leave the suit and tux at home on O but I bet a jacket will be cruising with us; simply because he likes to wear it.

 

Since we are way off topic (again)

Were these comments on an O cruise??

 

I think as long as you don't show up to dinner in shorts, T's, sweatpants & baseball caps it will not be a problem on Oceania....save the sweats for NCL :D

 

DH wears a blazer to Polo or Toscana only because he feels more comfortable with it.

[happy cruzer]

Since we are way off topic (again)

Were these comments on an O cruise??

 

I think as long as you don't show up to dinner in shorts, T's, sweatpants & baseball caps it will not be a problem on Oceania....save the sweats for NCL :D

 

DH wears a blazer to Polo or Toscana only because he feels more comfortable with it.

Nope the comments were not made on O, as I stated he will leave the suit/tux at home on our cruise coming up. I was just commenting that most of the sarcastic remarks (including a couple in this thread) are often targetted at folks that choose to wear more formal attire and to let one person who posted know that others felt the same as they do.

 

Sorry to digress! Back OT - where there chairs or longers on the promenade deck? Were they readially available?

[rettiga]

Happy Cruzer--

 

I'm sure your husband had plenty of good answers to the idiots who tried to put him down for being a gentleman. . .

 

"I'll bet that baseball cap restricts the blood flow to your brain."

 

But that would be lowering oneself to their level, and that's not nice.

 

Like LHT28, I hope those ridiculous comments didn't come from Ocenaia passengers. I'm sure anything's possible, but I doubt that most O passengers would never say (or think) anything of the kind.

 

I've always been an informal person by nature. Even so, since I retired and since cruise lines have moved more and more away from formaility, I must say that I miss jumping into my monkey suit once in a while. It signifies something special, and it has always appealed to my wife in gratifying ways.

 

But now it hangs in the closet, a relic from the days when "black tie" didn't mean whining and whimpering about having to dress, but the excitement of looking forward to a special evening. I guess the sad thing today is that there are fewer and fewer "special" things.

 

Heck, I even remember the day when getting on an airplane was fun. How's that for ancient history?

[garykool81]

We heeded too many people's poor advice and my husband didn't pack any of his dressier clothes (suits / sports jackets), which he wished he'd had for the evening dinners.

 

I have to second the dressy statement -- Oceania was much dressier this time around than they were during our previous crossing in 2005. Back then, it was out of the ordinary for men to wear a jacket to dinner. This time, I would say about 60% - 70% of men wore jackets. That was fine with me, and I was glad that I packed both of my jackets "just in case."

[LHT28]

I have to second the dressy statement -- Oceania was much dressier this time around than they were during our previous crossing in 2005. Back then, it was out of the ordinary for men to wear a jacket to dinner. This time, I would say about 60% - 70% of men wore jackets. That was fine with me, and I was glad that I packed both of my jackets "just in case."

 

I wonder if it is more of the "1st timers" that tend to dress up a bit more???

On the Panama cruise this year there was a group on from a university and many of them dressed up more. Long gowns & suits, they did look nice but sort of out of sync with the rest of the passengers.

Maybe they did not know Oceania is not as formal as other lines.

[happy cruzer]

Got It! Thanks.

 

The ball caps worn sideways and backwards are interesting too. Do they mean something? I don't know.

 

And i was wondering about chairs and "loungers". Not sure what a longer is??

 

Cheers.

[garykool81]

Long gowns & suits, they did look nice but sort of out of sync with the rest of the passengers.

Maybe they did not know Oceania is not as formal as other lines.

 

I will say that I saw *very* few suits. I believe I counted less than one or two each evening. Most men simply wore jackets over their shirts, the same as you might if you were going to a really nice restaurant in NYC or DC. Didn't see many ties at all.

 

To be honest, the only reason we even brought our jackets was to fill in some extra space in the luggage. We found it necessary to just barely spill into a large, checked bag for our trip rather than the two carry-ons that we are used to bringing. Ian and I didn't want to fill a huge suitcase with only a few shirts and pants, so we threw in some jackets to help minimize the movement of the other items in the bag.

 

That being said, I was rather glad that we brought them after seeing so many jackets at dinner.

 

Still, I prefer a nice shirt and slacks on most cruises....jackets are only good for one thing -- taking up more room in my bag :-)

 

I'll try not to whine about my upcoming cruises on X and Cunard that require jackets, ties, suits, etc. I know what I am getting into well before I put any money down, which means I don't get to complain.

[china addict]

It's always interesting to read different perceptions of the same cruise and different interpretations of Oceania's "country club casual" dress code. This thread wandered off topic a bit, but I appreciate hearing from everyone. DH always packs a blazer for Polo and Toscana but most often goes without them, and never takes a tie. When we make new friends on board and arrange to dine with them, we usually agree to the dress code in advance, i.e. Tommy Bahama night vs. all spiffed up. I'm the casual type and IMO it looks odd to pair up passengers from opposite extremes of the dress code. I appreciated the info on taxi prices from Miami dock to airport. That's definitely what we'll do. And I agree that 99% of Oceania passengers are fascinating people and we have met some jewels. We still keep in touch with wonderful folks we met on Nautica and Regatta, however on both of our previous cruises we have encountered "put down artists" who evidently thought they owned the ship. I think the ones with the superior attitude are probably deeply unhappy inside, so DH and I give them a wide berth and refuse to let them suck the fun out of our vacation. Question about wine: Was it still easy to stock up in Barcelona to enjoy wines on your own balcony, and is corkage still $20? Does anyone know of a wine merchant in BCN who will deliver to the ship? Thanks again, China Addict