lj77346

About the HS ice cream - was told that the machine they use to make it is broken now, so it’s just a Regatta problem until the machine is repaired.

From our experience, butlers never met us when we were in a penthouse, so maybe the meet and greet is for higher level suites.

In response to your question, the LJ in our user name stands for Larry and Janet.  We hope you continue to find the Regatta very enjoyable.

On the Regatta now and the WAVES menu is now the same as the one offered on the Vista.  The surf and turf now has a wagyu beef patty instead of the pieces of steak, no more teriyaki salmon.  Now there is a cod sandwich, mahi burrito, a shrimp roll and a (sort of) Philly cheese steak.  Also at lunch there was no Humphrey Slocombe ice cream, just vanilla, chocolate, Neapolitan, pistachio and rainbow sherbet.

We got to Canada Place at a little after 11 and there was a huge line, but it was for the Holland America ship. We asked where do we check in for the Regatta and were told to go downstairs where we went through security (there was no line), through U.S. border control where they used facial recognition so everyone moved through quickly. Then we went to the area for the Oceania check in and since they were already processing passengers, we got in line and in a minute or two were at the counter, had our pictures taken, passports checked, answered the health questions and got our key cards.  We arrived at Canada Place a few minutes after 11 and were on the ship around 11:25.

6 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

6 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

LOL--- I guess you are correct.   I understand that the demographics tend to be on the older side.   My only problem is that even though I'm in this demographics I still fell like I'm 35.    We should be easy to find as our photo icon is current.    Also we will be the newbes wandering around in total awe and confusion. 

 

Really looking forward to meeting you.   You definitely will be a wealth of knowledge.

We arrived in Vancouver around 1 p.m. and shortly after getting to our hotel, the rain started.  Tomorrow’s forecast is for showers as well with temperatures in the upper 50’s.  Sure beats the months of temperatures around 100 in Houston.

We will be on the Regatta Sept. 14 cruise as well.  If we have anything to contribute to the discussion, we will join in.  We were on the Regatta's repositioning cruise from San Pedro to Vancouver early this May as well as another Regatta Alaska cruise in late June - early July.  (We're on the other side of the spectrum as we've taken 35+ Oceania Cruises.)

Looking forward to meeting you onboard.  I was going to describe us as being in our early 70's, etc., but realized that would be a good portion of the passengers.   Wishing you safe travels.  Cheers!

The OP is going to be on the Regatta - no concierge lounge.  At the coffee station in Horizons, there is also a milk dispenser (sort of thing), so if you you leave some space in the cup, you can add milk to the hot chocolate.

The Terrace Cafe starts closing around 9 p.m.  However, there is a coffee machine in Horizons where you can make a hot chocolate to take back to your room.  If I remember correctly, there is also a coffee station in the Terrace Cafe (starboard side) that stays open as well.

We booked guarantees on Oceania 3 times.  Twice we received cabin assignments weeks before the cruise in the category we booked.  Once we did not get our cabin assignment until the day before the cruise and on that occasion we received an upgrade from concierge to penthouse.  So from our experience having to wait until fairly close to the cruise for a cabin assignment seems to be par for the course.  It would be nice to get a cabin assignment earlier, but that's the trade off that comes with making a guarantee booking.

You can order something at the Waves Grill and if you are sitting in the Terrace Cafe, a server will bring it to you there.  That makes it convenient if whoever you travel with is planning on eating in the Terrace cafe.

Based on our experience, we found that the best thing to do was book a day room in a hotel in Dubai which gave us a place to relax and leave our luggage.  Then we went sight-seeing for the day and with the interesting malls in Dubai, for something completely different we found one where you can go skiing indoors.  

Then after we ate we went back to the hotel to rest and shower before heading for the airport.  We found that airline lounges only open about 2 hours before flights.

1 hour ago, MKSquared said:

Do you recall if 8130 had an extended veranda? It appears as though it does on the deck plan and, if so, what was the furniture out there different or just additional floor space?

8130 had an extended veranda, but just 2 regular veranda chairs and a small table - no lounge chairs.

There were about 40 passengers aged 20 or less on the cruise. Rarely saw any children and those we saw and/or spoke with were very well behaved. Another observation was that there were very few people using walkers or scooters on this cruise.  In addition, we are the only 2 passengers sailing back-to-back. 
 

The cruise was very enjoyable, smooth sailing and good weather in all the ports (cloudy mornings and sunny afternoons with temperatures around 60). As always service was great and food was very good including 2 chefs Alaskan market nights in the Terrace Cafe.

Jancruz - I passed your message to Jennifer and she sends her regards. She will be on the Regatta until August. She goes to the Vista in September.

There are a number of families with children on this Regatta sailing and the passenger demographic is much younger than the norm on Oceania. The passenger info is from the CD (Carson) and the Oceania future cruise rep (Jennifer).

I’m currently on the Regatta. There are 668 passengers on this cruise. 540 passengers are first time cruisers on Oceania. Another interesting statistic is that of the 668 passengers, 640 are from the USA.

We are in Ketchikan today and the weather currently is 58 and sunny. As this is just a 7-day cruise our only remaining ports are Juneau, Sitka and Victoria.

My recollection from a recent Regatta cruise is that the least expensive massage, the 50 minute Swedish massage is $199 + 20% service fee.  Facials are roughly the same price.  So even if you have the Ocean Club $150 voucher, those services are going to cost you another $90.  You can get haircuts and manicure/pedicures for less than $100.  As others have mentioned, you can't use the voucher to buy products at the spa or on any of the spa specials.  

Carson Turner is currently the CD on the Regatta and is scheduled to be on until July 9.

2 hours ago, pinotlover said:

 We are often amazed at the starving souls lined up by 6:15 at the Specialties. The purpose of being so early is what? A two top or sharing is predetermined. The doors open at 6:30. One can arrive at 6:40 and still stand in line. It’s like mini Boardamania . While we do always attempt to arrive at the specified time, it typically means standing in line, especially for the 6:30 dining time. While we have never been hungry, at any time, on an Oceania cruise, all those lining up so early must have different experiences.

For individuals with mobility problems who need to use an elevator, getting to the speciality restaurants before 6:30 is being polite to other cruisers.  With only 2 elevators aft, getting space on an elevator with a walker or scooter at prime meal time is an issue.  Perhaps people are waiting in line not because they are hungry, but because they are being thoughtful and don't want to inconvenience others.

On a recent cruise we had a large onboard credit in addition to the Simply More shore excursion credit.  There was nothing of interest to buy in the boutiques, but my wife found that you could use the onboard credits to buy products in the Aquamar Spa and they could ship them to your home address for a reasonable shipping fee ($8.95 in the U.S.).  The Aquamar Spa has a facility in the U.S. that takes care of orders that are shipped to your home.

We have had no problem using onboard credits at the spa even in combination with our Oceania Club $150 spa credits - just can't use the Oceania Club credits on spa special sales.

Currently on the Vista and I agree with the OP that something needs to be done with the shore excursion portion of Simply More. On this cruise (3/16-3/27), we missed the first day in Bermuda and the day in Norfolk and I was also on the previous cruise (3/9-3/16) and we missed Costa Maya which was the last port of the cruise. At Costa Maya I had a $349 excursion booked which would have used my $300 Simply More excursion credit plus some of my regular onboard credit. The regular onboard credit went back to my onboard account, but the Simply More excursion credit became Simply Nothing for me. The same is happening on the current cruise as missed shore excursions in Bermuda and Norfolk result in Simply More shore excursion credits that are Simply Worthless. I feel that Oceania needs a plan B so that there would be some value (at least some onboard credit) to passengers for Simply More shore excursions cancelled because of missed ports.

Prior to Simply More I had 25 Oceania cruises under OLife and missed shore excursions always resulted in an onboard credit for the value of the missed excursions.  The port cancellations on my current Vista cruises were clearly good decisions because of weather conditions, but in any case value to me was lost because the Simply More shore excursion credits became worthless as they could be used for nothing else,

Since December 2023 I’ve taken 5 Vista cruises and have been in 8130 (concierge veranda), 7077 (French veranda), and 9123 (concierge veranda) and have not noticed the noise being any different than on the other Oceania ships. Occasionally I might hear the TV from an adjacent room or voices, but nothing more than usual. I think a lot depends on your neighbors and how loud they are.

9 minutes ago, mamaclark said:

Thank you, I  realize for every bad review there are many good ones unwritten. I am agonizing over whether to pull the trigger on this rather expensive cruise when the list clears, which undoubtedly it will. All I can do is compare prior experiences. I never had a bad bite of food on Oceania, never. Were you on the Regatta?

I was on the Regatta's repositioning cruise from Vancouver to San Pedro last September and I also found many meals on that cruise to be subpar.  I requested a meeting with the GM and Food & Beverage manager on that cruise to find out what the problem was as I was also on the Regatta in July and the food was good.  They listened to my concerns but were at a loss to explain how the quality of food declined so much in two months time.  Perhaps it was a one off occurrence.

Since then I've sailed on the Vista 3 times and the food was at the standards I expect from Oceania - very good in all venues.  So hopefully all will be well on the Regatta this year as I will be sailing on her for 23 days in April and May.  You can't get a hit everytime you go to bat, so I hope the Regatta isn't in a prolonged slump.

I also was on the Vista in December and I don't think the end of cruise survey was even mentioned in Currents.

Chair hogging can be viewed as sort of a "tragedy of the commons" issue.  In the context of deck chairs, if a number of people enjoy unconstrained access to a finite resource, such as deck chairs, they will tend to over use it and destroy its value altogether.  To exercise voluntary constraint for individuals desiring to use deck chairs is not a rational choice because if they did, other individuals would use the deck chairs and take spaces that they desire.  Thus the predictable result is a problem or at least an inconvenience for everyone.

Empirically, the tragedy of the commons relative to deck chairs can be observed on a cruise.  On the first day of a cruise some individuals "reserve" deck chairs by placing items on them.  Other individuals see this behavior and decide that the only way to get deck chairs in a favorable location is to "reserve" deck chairs for themselves - the problem snowballs.  As the cruise progresses, this behavior becomes widespread until demand exceeds capacity.  This occurs because the benefits of chair hogging accrue to individuals who are motivated to use deck chairs to the point that they become reliant on it (even if they plan to use the chairs for a limited time).  However, the cost of this behavior is borne by everyone who wants to use a deck chair.

Absent some response by Oceania to curb this behavior, the problem will persist because there is no cost associated with "reserving" a deck chair.  So, while you might expect people who pay thousands of dollars for a cruise to have some class and play nicely with others, it won't happen voluntarily as there is no consequence for selfish behavior.

(Wow, I really am boring.  I guess that happens to economists who try to rationalize behavior.)

3 hours ago, harryw said:

Good point about clustering at disembarkation. What’s the rush? 

An issue with Oceania is that it requests you vacate your room by 8 a.m.  In general people do, but there is limited space to sit and wait, so lines start.  Add to that the almost complete lack of anyone in authority being visible during disembarkation so that's like giving tacit permission to line up anytime you want as no one is checking to see if your tag color was called yet. I find a good solution is to eat breakfast in the GDR and plan to finish eating at 8:30 or later and that eliminates some of the cluster problems.