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What to do on a transpacific cruise on the Regatta from SF to Papeete?


Ken the cruiser
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We are thinking of booking a transpacific cruise on the Regatta in an A category cabin from San Francisco to Papeete that includes 11 days at sea. We have our first Oceania TA booked on the Riviera this coming November, but our experience has been the Riviera has a variety of entertainment options to keep one busy, such as putt-putt golf, paddle ball, croquet, art classes and culinary classes. However, even though we have a few upcoming cruises booked on the R ships, we've have yet to experience one. Some of our questions regarding a transpacific cruise are:

 

How many professional lectures can we expect each day on sea days?

 

How are the evening shows in the main theater?

 

What type of outdoor sporting options are offered other than putt-putt golf and an outdoor walking track?

 

Are there any cooking and/or art classes?

 

Do they offer introductory bridge and/or Mahjong classes?

 

What other entertainment options might they offer on sea days?

 

It's not that we don't know how to keep ourselves entertained on sea days, but are interested as to what options we might expect when cruising on the Regatta across the Pacific Ocean. Any thoughts will be greatly appreciated.

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No cooking classes or artist loft on the Regatta they may have a cooking demo with a couple of the Chefs in the lounge

The shows are low key.. mostly 1 performer or the production team

they have bingo, trivia wine or other tastings for a fee

sometimes they will show a movie in the lounge

some cruises will have a country fair with games

you can borrow movies from reception as well to view in your cabin

usually have Bridge games daily might not have instructors

I am sure there is more to do

I am happy to read a book or 4 & chat to my fellow shipmates

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No cooking classes or artist loft on the Regatta they may have a cooking demo with a couple of the Chefs in the lounge

The shows are low key.. mostly 1 performer or the production team

they have bingo, trivia wine or other tastings for a fee

sometimes they will show a movie in the lounge

some cruises will have a country fair with games

you can borrow movies from reception as well to view in your cabin

usually have Bridge games daily might not have instructors

I am sure there is more to do

I am happy to read a book or 4 & chat to my fellow shipmates

Thanks LHT. What about lecturers? Do they have professional lecturers who get to cruise for free in exchange for providing lectures on sea days?

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We just came off regatta a few weeks ago and had many sea days. Bridge was offered daily and people were playing mahjong often. I believe there were sign up lists in the games room. There were bridge instructors onboard so lessons were offered along with afternoon bridge. We had movies offered a few times in the theatre. There was an evening show each night with guest performers (which actually were quite good) and the ships production team. Usually there was one enrichment lecture per seaday along with someone who was giving Polynesian classes in the culture, dancing, crafts etc. There was always a few activities per day for “o” points such as golf, shuffleboard, trivia, other funny games, shipbuilding contest etc. Also we had a day where they put on the country fair. Anyway even with 10 plus seadays, there was always something to do or just relax and read a book. It was a lovely time. Seadays is always my favorite.... Enjoy

 

 

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We just came off regatta a few weeks ago and had many sea days. Bridge was offered daily and people were playing mahjong often. I believe there were sign up lists in the games room. There were bridge instructors onboard so lessons were offered along with afternoon bridge. We had movies offered a few times in the theatre. There was an evening show each night with guest performers (which actually were quite good) and the ships production team. Usually there was one enrichment lecture per seaday along with someone who was giving Polynesian classes in the culture, dancing, crafts etc. There was always a few activities per day for “o” points such as golf, shuffleboard, trivia, other funny games, shipbuilding contest etc. Also we had a day where they put on the country fair. Anyway even with 10 plus seadays, there was always something to do or just relax and read a book. It was a lovely time. Seadays is always my favorite.... Enjoy

 

 

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Sounds like you had a great time. Thanks for sharing and it sounds like we would have a great time as well. May not read a book, but we'd definitely take along enough Star Trek episodes to fill in the blanks.:D

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Thanks LHT. What about lecturers? Do they have professional lecturers who get to cruise for free in exchange for providing lectures on sea days?

 

No...they pay a small fee to full fare. I was one in 2017,

This cruise is an aesthetic adventure into the discovery of the south pacific... Enjoy it smell the plumeria !! Appreciate the vastness of the ocean. and disconnect from all the techo garbage that clutters lives.....

 

Leave all distractions to the trip at home.... you can play star wars on your VCR with a beer at home... Your on a cruise enjoy that its what you paid for. isn't it?

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Thanks you everyone for your positive thoughts! We just booked an aft-facing cabin on the Regatta for both the San Francisco to Papeete cruise as well as the subsequent Australian circumnavigation cruise for a total of 65 days! Sure glad we had our O PCC all primed and ready to go first thing this morning as there is only one A aft-cabin left spanning both cruises as of an hour ago that is still available.

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No...they pay a small fee to full fare. I was one in 2017,

This cruise is an aesthetic adventure into the discovery of the south pacific... Enjoy it smell the plumeria !! Appreciate the vastness of the ocean. and disconnect from all the techo garbage that clutters lives.....

 

Leave all distractions to the trip at home.... you can play star wars on your VCR with a beer at home... Your on a cruise enjoy that its what you paid for. isn't it?

Actually, we cruise to have fun and see the world along with being entertained while on the ship. We realize Oceania is not Celebrity or Crystal, who always have plenty of things to do on sea days, so we bring self-entertainment options along for those times we're not going to a lecture, an evening show, playing trivia or eating their wonderful food.

 

For us bringing a tv series, like Star Trek or one of its spinoffs, to play on the dvd player during down times besides sitting on the balcony and watching the waves go by is something we enjoy doing together.

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One of the nice things about R ships is that because of their small size you get to know your fellow passengers and staff a little better and thus have more opportunities to interact with them and get to know them a little better.

It does make for a more convivial and pleasant atmosphere for us.

Be friendly and nice (as I am sure that you are) and your friendliness and kindness will be rewarded :)

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One of the nice things about R ships is that because of their small size you get to know your fellow passengers and staff a little better and thus have more opportunities to interact with them and get to know them a little better.

It does make for a more convivial and pleasant atmosphere for us.

Be friendly and nice (as I am sure that you are) and your friendliness and kindness will be rewarded :)

I'm sure we'll have a great time and meet some wonderful people and create some great memories. I have to admit we are excited about getting the aft-facing cabin. I tell ya, this cruising stuff can get addicting! :D:D

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I have to admit we are excited about getting the aft-facing cabin. I tell ya, this cruising stuff can get addicting! :D:D

 

This board is infested with addicts who, incidentally, have no interest in rehab. You can count me in that number! :cool:

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Just off the Regatta Honolulu to Miami, so maybe a tad longer than what the OP just booked.

 

For me, I would never do this again. The average age 78-80 of passengers for my cruise, we lost 5 passengers to medavacs between Hawaii and Costa Rica, one which required us to turn around, lose 28 hours to sail back to hawaiin waters after a woman was air lifted off the ship.

 

To start, the ship arrived in Honolulu under a Code Red for the previous week and remained in Code Red for our first 5 days. Due to the airlift, we shipped two great ports, Cabo and Guatemala, three other ports we arrived a day late and length in ports were shortened.

 

So everyone should really like sea days if doing a long crossing with an older group as I think the potential likelihood goes up that your itinerary may change.

 

Communication was pretty bad on the Regatta. No one wanted to admit the CDC Code Red restrictions were "noro" but rather a GI Incident.

 

But to answer your questions, YES, there are lectures, pretty interesting topics, in addition to port topics. They were just about daily. We had two lecturers on board, Larry and Harry. Older gentlemen. They knew their topics, but were honest if they didn't have first hand knowledge of a location or topic.

 

Wine tastings were very expensive. we had the basic beverage package (wine//beer with lunch or dinner). The wine was okay. You order by the glass. There were two opportunities for 2 for 1 happy hour. 5-6 and 10:30pm 0 11:30. Not too many went up to Horizons after the show.

 

We had good entertainment the first half of the cruise Honolulu to San Diego, but I didn't care for the Harpest or female singer on the back end. We had a vegas style singer Mark, excellent; an electric violinist (think jazz or celtic), excellent and a very funny comic Noodles. the back end enjoyed a ventriloquist. some of the singers from the entertainment were very good, Crystal and Daniel. Amy and Mervin were just okay but both got sick the second end of the cruise. BTW, my cruise was 24 nights. So there was a lot of switching around or cancellation of shows. The cruise Director Shawn also sang and was high energy - good CD.

 

They will have triva at 3 and 4:45 different locations. In the 3 + weeks, they showed two movies in the lounge. You will have 3 TV stations that show recent movies, 1 TV channel that shows old movies like Rainman, Pretty Woman, things like that. they have quite a few indoor games, shuffleboard (more like air hockey), top toss, indoor golf, needlepoint and chat, card games, bingo of course, all for big o points that you redeem.

 

We were only "entitled" to make 4 specialty dining reservations before boarding. However, you can stop at the Terrace Cafe any morning and request a reservation for that night. Sometimes they will tell you then if you can get in, or later in the day will drop off the reservation card on your door if you got in. I believe we had gotten in an additional 5 or 6 times.

 

The wait staff is incredible. within a couple of days, they greeted me by name and knew my cabin number. They will enter your cabin number in the eating venues (except the terrace).

 

Have fun whatever you do and I do hope you make it to all your ports.

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Just off the Regatta Honolulu to Miami, so maybe a tad longer than what the OP just booked.

 

For me, I would never do this again. The average age 78-80 of passengers for my cruise, we lost 5 passengers to medavacs between Hawaii and Costa Rica, one which required us to turn around, lose 28 hours to sail back to hawaiin waters after a woman was air lifted off the ship.

 

To start, the ship arrived in Honolulu under a Code Red for the previous week and remained in Code Red for our first 5 days. Due to the airlift, we shipped two great ports, Cabo and Guatemala, three other ports we arrived a day late and length in ports were shortened.

 

So everyone should really like sea days if doing a long crossing with an older group as I think the potential likelihood goes up that your itinerary may change.

 

Communication was pretty bad on the Regatta. No one wanted to admit the CDC Code Red restrictions were "noro" but rather a GI Incident.

 

But to answer your questions, YES, there are lectures, pretty interesting topics, in addition to port topics. They were just about daily. We had two lecturers on board, Larry and Harry. Older gentlemen. They knew their topics, but were honest if they didn't have first hand knowledge of a location or topic.

 

Wine tastings were very expensive. we had the basic beverage package (wine//beer with lunch or dinner). The wine was okay. You order by the glass. There were two opportunities for 2 for 1 happy hour. 5-6 and 10:30pm 0 11:30. Not too many went up to Horizons after the show.

 

We had good entertainment the first half of the cruise Honolulu to San Diego, but I didn't care for the Harpest or female singer on the back end. We had a vegas style singer Mark, excellent; an electric violinist (think jazz or celtic), excellent and a very funny comic Noodles. the back end enjoyed a ventriloquist. some of the singers from the entertainment were very good, Crystal and Daniel. Amy and Mervin were just okay but both got sick the second end of the cruise. BTW, my cruise was 24 nights. So there was a lot of switching around or cancellation of shows. The cruise Director Shawn also sang and was high energy - good CD.

 

They will have triva at 3 and 4:45 different locations. In the 3 + weeks, they showed two movies in the lounge. You will have 3 TV stations that show recent movies, 1 TV channel that shows old movies like Rainman, Pretty Woman, things like that. they have quite a few indoor games, shuffleboard (more like air hockey), top toss, indoor golf, needlepoint and chat, card games, bingo of course, all for big o points that you redeem.

 

We were only "entitled" to make 4 specialty dining reservations before boarding. However, you can stop at the Terrace Cafe any morning and request a reservation for that night. Sometimes they will tell you then if you can get in, or later in the day will drop off the reservation card on your door if you got in. I believe we had gotten in an additional 5 or 6 times.

 

The wait staff is incredible. within a couple of days, they greeted me by name and knew my cabin number. They will enter your cabin number in the eating venues (except the terrace).

 

Have fun whatever you do and I do hope you make it to all your ports.

Thanks Linda for your in-depth review. Glad to hear they had quite a few lectures on your cruise as well as a variety of entertainers.

 

We wound up booking both the SF to Sydney GV along with the GV around Australia for a total of 65 days on the Regatta. So I'm sure we'll have quite a few experiences to share as well once we're back home.

Edited by Ken the cruiser
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Great information. My wife and I are thinking of doing this cruise next year. We were wondering what we would do with all the sea days. We are pretty good at entertaining ourselves, but it still nice to hear we have other options.

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