Regent vs Oceania

[Naper]

We have been on the Voyager 2 times and have loved it. We are considering an Oceania cruise on the Marina in the penthouse category. Has anyone stayed in the Oceania Marina penthouse? How do they pour the drinks? Are they generous or will we spend a fortune on liquor as we like our wine and cocktails? The ports and prices are very similar so that won't determine which line we choose.

[wripro]

I have sailed in a PH on Marina and absolutely loved it. The accommodation is superb. The food in the four specialty restaurants, especially Red Ginger and Jacques, is among the best at sea. But if you drink a significant amount it will add to your onboard account, no doubt. Try to get as much of an OBC from your TA and/or from Oceania as you can.

[AWED23]

We are trying the Marina for 20 days in the Carrabean starting January 13....It just sounds so good from all reports including our travel agent....

[Hambagahle]

Wripro - would appreciate your answering this question!!

 

How much do they charge for a margarita? glass of champagne? "average" bottle of wine (eg "plonk"). just roughly. I have been thinking about trying Oceania but both Ken and I like our drinks before dinner (and lunch sometimes) AND our wine...

 

Do they charge for bottled water and other "soft drinks"? And tea and coffee??

[alexandra cruiser]

we were on Insignia,,,and our bar bill was $400..after 10 days,,had mixed,fancy drinks,,etc..for $7.oo,ea..and wine averaged $20 or more for normal bottle,,not the expensive per se...they charged for soft drinks ,not coffee..unless specialty ones...so can add up and we re not heavy drinkers.

Biggest challenge was excursion prices,,which added up to $1500...so figure on extra $2,000 for cruise,,unless teatotaler,,or no excusions...

I thought regular sized rooms on small side,esp.the bathroom and small closets..plus limited room service...;)

[Travelcat2]

We were dining with out of town friends last night . . . . they called their TA to book another Oceania cruise during dessert (they have been on Regent, Silversea, etc.) They love the decor of the ships but felt the $7 martini's were embarassingly small. The service was good but they demand superior service and are willing to tip upfront for it. Overall, the food was not better or worse than Regent. The main reason they booked Oceania for Christmas, 2012 is the ambience of the ship and how beautiful and festive it is during the holidays.

[Christine Frances]

Azamara is more all inclusive than Oceania - includes wine with lunch and dinner, specialty coffees, pop etc. You only pay for liquor - cocktails, martini's etc:)

[alexandra cruiser]

We were dining with out of town friends last night . . . . they called their TA to book another Oceania cruise during dessert (they have been on Regent, Silversea, etc.) They love the decor of the ships but felt the $7 martini's were embarassingly small. The service was good but they demand superior service and are willing to tip upfront for it. Overall, the food was not better or worse than Regent. The main reason they booked Oceania for Christmas, 2012 is the ambience of the ship and how beautiful and festive it is during the holidays.

 

Oceania DIDN T have Santa Parade,,,nice decorations only,,,

[wripro]

Hambagahie,

 

Drinks average about $9 or so. There are two kinds of martinis on Oceania. The ones served in most of the bars for $8.25 which are gone in two sips. And the one served in Martinis, the bar, which go for $9.75 and are a good size. They come in individual shakers. Most other drinks go for about $8.25 or so.

 

There is no charge for any water, coffees etc. In fact, they even serve Evian and Pellegrino if you request it. All cappucinos, specialty coffees etc are included. And they have a coffee bar called Barristas which is fabulous and is manned by true Italian barristas.

 

I don't remember any decent bottles of wine for less than $50. BUT here is what I did. In the port of embarkation I went to a good wine store and bought a dozen bottles of wine which I brought onboard with me. Then I paid $20 corkage fee for each and had excellent wines for far less than the equivalent would cost onboard (even if they were available.)

 

It's a different mindset being on Oceania from all inclusive lines which I mostly sail. But I believe there are enough compensating elements to make it worthwhile.

[hondorner]

All sodas are also included on Oceania. The only difference of whoch I'm aware between Azamara and Oceania, regarding drinks, is that Azamara will pour a glass of house plonk at lunch and dinner. All other wine and alcohol is paid per drink.

 

I don't drink very much aboard Regent or Oceania, perhpaps one drink per day for Betsy and one every other day for me, and a bottle of wine lasts us two meals (an unfinished bottle of wine can follow you in any restaurant). On Regent, Betsy usually has a bottle of beer at lunch; on either cruise line, I come close to running them out of Diet Coke.

 

On our recent Oceania Alaska 12 day cruise, through a set of circumstances I ended up with $2,500 shipboard credit. That bought all our excursions, all our drinks and wine, a $500 bauble from the boutique, plus $6 worth of laundry tokens. We got $3 change at the end of the cruise so we actually made money :rolleyes:.

[SnoBirdCruiser]

What are laundry tokens?

[hondorner]

What are laundry tokens?

The launderettes on Oceania are not free. One token is required to wash, one to dry. They are $1.50 each, available at the reception desk. We don't normally need them, but on this rip we had been driving across country in our van-based RV, had been on the road for two months, and needed to do two loads, total $6.00.

[SnoBirdCruiser]

Thank you....Sure hope they don't institute this on Regents ships.

[wripro]

Just because Azamara is pouring the wine is no reason to call it house plonk. If Oceania were pouring the exact same wine for free I'm sure it would be referred to as fine wine.

[hondorner]

Just because Azamara is pouring the wine is no reason to call it house plonk. If Oceania were pouring the exact same wine for free I'm sure it would be referred to as fine wine.

Oh, c'mon, get off your high horse. Hambagahie referred to "plonk" in her query to you [How much do they charge for a margarita? glass of champagne? "average" bottle of wine (eg "plonk"). just roughly] and you didn't chide her. I was just responding in kind.

 

And, I've had Oceania's house wine (it was poured freely on Marina's maiden voyage, and is what you get when you trade in your welcome "champagne" for a red or white), and I can assure you it is a young, very much average wine -- eg "plonk". According to reports the free wine on Azamara is no better.

[TheRampantSnail]

I detest snobbery in all its forms and equate it with ignorance. There are, thankfully, very few instances of snobbery on these boards and, indeed, on board the luxury ships themselves. However, this thread has contained two examples of rampant snobbery and I can contain my thoughts no longer.

 

Travelcat2 wrote "they demand superior service and are will to tip upfront fot it." Firstly, this is a gross insult to the professionalism and pride of staff of a ship or wherever. Secondly, what is described is not tipping but is blatant bribery. It is basically saying that I have a lot more money than you, I am buying you and I am therefore demanding preferential treatment to the detriment of other passengers.

 

Hondorner wrote that "Azamara will pour a glass of house plonk with lunch and dinner." This has has obviously never sailed with Azamara as the wines are of a good standard, vary each day and are not restricted to "a glass" but are generously poured. I would say that Azamara wines are of an equal, perhaps slightly better, standard than those poured on Regent. Either way, the wines served on both lines are very acceptable and drinkable (plonk implying the opposite). They are not, however, fine wines. Fine wines served on ships, at considerable cost, are a waste of money as the movement of the ship whilst the wines are stored impairs the quality.

 

Rant over.

[alidor]

We've sailed Azamara twice, Regent once before and have an upcoming Regent booking. The wines were pretty good on Azamara - every day focused on a different country, so there was a wide variety and the pours were generous. There was no question if you got a glass at the end of dinner and took it with you.

[TedC]

Welcome to CC Snail - it's about time you showed up - but we understand!

[wripro]

Oh my God, you mean Azamara does something better than Oceania????

[Travelcat2]

Travelcat2 wrote "they demand superior service and are will to tip upfront fot it." Firstly, this is a gross insult to the professionalism and pride of staff of a ship or wherever. Secondly, what is described is not tipping but is blatant bribery. It is basically saying that I have a lot more money than you, I am buying you and I am therefore demanding preferential treatment to the detriment of other passengers.

 

 

 

Just an add-on to post you quoted. I agree with how you feel about tipping upfront. It is not something we would consider doing. It is not up to me to judge what they do. I shared my friend's experience on Oceania as we have not personally sailed on the line. They also felt that the staff was always standing around waiting for tips. . . . again, their experience.

 

We prefer the luxury lines because of the all-inclusivity and the fact that, for the most part, people who sail on Regent and Silversea (have not sailed Seabourn) are very down to earth. Based on what I have read on the luxury lines threads, my friends are not the only customers who tip up front. . . . even when tipping is not expected. I feel that a donation to the crew fund is the best way to thank the crew for their spectacular service.

[hondorner]

I detest snobbery in all its forms and equate it with ignorance. There are, thankfully, very few instances of snobbery on these boards and, indeed, on board the luxury ships themselves. However, this thread has contained two examples of rampant snobbery and I can contain my thoughts no longer...

 

 

Hondorner wrote that "Azamara will pour a glass of house plonk with lunch and dinner." This has has obviously never sailed with Azamara as the wines are of a good standard, vary each day and are not restricted to "a glass" but are generously poured. I would say that Azamara wines are of an equal, perhaps slightly better, standard than those poured on Regent. Either way, the wines served on both lines are very acceptable and drinkable (plonk implying the opposite). They are not, however, fine wines. Fine wines served on ships, at considerable cost, are a waste of money as the movement of the ship whilst the wines are stored impairs the quality.

 

Rant over.

You apparently failed to read the query with generated my reply. Hambagahie asked about wines of average quality, which she humorously referred to as "plonk". I responded in like manner. Even worse than snobs are those with no sense of humor. As a hick from Okeechobee, Florida, I'm about as far from a snob as one can get.

[count florida]

We cruised on the Regatta from Miami up the Amazon to Manaus and return in a Penthouse this past spring. The suite was large enough, but the bath had only a tub with shower. In a similar sized standard Regent suite (D and lower) on Voyager or Navigator, you would have the tub with a separate shower, and on the Mariner, either a terrible French tub or a nice walk-in shower – your choice. The layout of the Oceania penthouse was not to our liking either. It is a somewhat square, single space, vs. the rectangular divided space (sitting and sleeping) in standard Regent suites. The misses tends to go to bed earlier while I stay up, check the e-mail and otherwise see what is going on in the world. She gets up earlier, has coffee, and reads or watches the news. Opposites attract.

 

Oceania has a reputation for superior food and service, and for the most part we found the service fine but the food was, in our opinion, nothing special, in general not quite as good as Regent. Also, special orders are not accepted in the Oceania dining room; you can’t even get a shrimp cocktail or onion soup although both are always available from the better room service menu PH guests have access to via your butler. I've never had a problem getting a room service item served to me in the dining room before, even on Princess or Holland American. Strange policy!

 

For those traveling in PH suites, a word to the wise: Oceania has contracted out management of its guest (and probably staff-in-house) computers and Internet access, and is providing laptop computers in PH staterooms. The charges (starts at $0.95 cents a minute) are atrocious, even when you buy one of the discounted packages. But wait, it gets worse! Any use of the computer requires you to “log in”, at which point the .95¢ meter starts ticking. So you can’t read or draft e-mails off line, or play Solitaire, or make any use of the thing without paying through the nose. The real killer: I haven’t experienced such poor response since I was using a first generation PC-XT to access bulletin boards using a 1200 baud modem back in the mid-1980s. This is, of course, to Oceania’s (or their contractor’s) great advantage; THEY ARE CHARGING BY THE MINUTE, so the slower the response the longer it takes and more you are charged! A total rip-off and the raison d'être we will never again cruise with Oceania while this policy is in place. In this uber-connected era, a decent connection at reasonable cost is a minimum expectation of most travelers. Not so at Oceania. For me, it is a sine qua non! On land, we refuse to book any hotel which does not include complementary Internet access or charges a resort fee, unless it is the only place available, and even then if we can we alter or cancel the trip rather than pay these fees. Enough is enough!

 

When you finish paying for all the extras (e.g., excursions, alcoholic drinks, phone service if you need it -I did- and the hugely expensive internet access) I believe Regent is actually less costly, you get much more, and we find Regent significantly better, more pleasant. Of course, we’ve been sailing with RSSC (Radisson and Regent) for over 10 years, and although it’s changed not always for the better, particularly under Apollo, it remains our preferred cruise line. But we’ve also tried Cunard (both First and Grille classes), Silversea, Crystal, Holland American and Princess, and we cruised on one of the R-ships (Regatta, Nautica and the Azamara ships) when they were operated by Renaissance, so we do have a good frame of reference.

 

We’re not huge fans of Regent’s “all-inclusive” approach either, we don’t want to be ‘nickeled and dimed’ for every little thing, but we’d prefer to pay separately for excursions and wish Regent would go back to a “wine with dinner included” approach and charge for the rest. Normally we don’t drink all that much, and when Radisson was considering what to do about including drinks, lobbied them long and hard to charge a nominal price for the in-room set-ups for those that wanted them, substituting a cocktail hour before dinner for all guests in their place. Think about it, on a typical 7-10 day cruise there will be at least three and more likely four or five cocktail parties: sail-away, Captain’s Welcome, Seven Seas Society, American Express, Virtuoso, Crew Capers, Farewell, it goes on and on, and frankly, we both drink too much because (1) we don’t have to drive, and (2) it’s free! We also prefer to go on the dock, find a cab driver with whom we can communicate who suggests a nice-sounding tour, and go off by ourselves or better, with another couple or two. So we don't make out too well on these particular 'all-inclusive' items.

 

That's my opinion and I'm sticking with it. Good luck.

[Travelcat2]

Thank you for your insight into Oceania. I have done the math (Regent and Oceania -- similar itineraries) in Penthouse suites and found Oceania approximately the same price as Regent (before adding on excursions and alcohol). Oceania has made some dramatic price decreases so my comparison of three months ago may not longer be valid. What sent the cost of Oceania over the top was Business Class air to Europe. On a European itinerary, the round-trip airfare for two was over $7,000. The same itinerary on Regent would be $4,000 . . .. or, if you are booked in a Penthouse or higher suite, it was included.

 

What are your thoughts on Asamara? Do you consider it equal to Oceania?

[TahoeTraveler]

We cruised on the Regatta from Miami up the Amazon to Manaus and return in a Penthouse this past spring. The suite was large enough, but the bath had only a tub with shower. In a similar sized standard Regent suite (D and lower) on Voyager or Navigator, you would have the tub with a separate shower, and on the Mariner, either a terrible French tub or a nice walk-in shower – your choice. The layout of the Oceania penthouse was not to our liking either. It is a somewhat square, single space, vs. the rectangular divided space (sitting and sleeping) in standard Regent suites. The misses tends to go to bed earlier while I stay up, check the e-mail and otherwise see what is going on in the world. She gets up earlier, has coffee, and reads or watches the news. Opposites attract.

 

Oceania has a reputation for superior food and service, and for the most part we found the service fine but the food was, in our opinion, nothing special, in general not quite as good as Regent. Also, special orders are not accepted in the Oceania dining room; you can’t even get a shrimp cocktail or onion soup although both are always available from the better room service menu PH guests have access to via your butler. I've never had a problem getting a room service item served to me in the dining room before, even on Princess or Holland American. Strange policy!

 

For those traveling in PH suites, a word to the wise: Oceania has contracted out management of its guest (and probably staff-in-house) computers and Internet access, and is providing laptop computers in PH staterooms. The charges (starts at $0.95 cents a minute) are atrocious, even when you buy one of the discounted packages. But wait, it gets worse! Any use of the computer requires you to “log in”, at which point the .95¢ meter starts ticking. So you can’t read or draft e-mails off line, or play Solitaire, or make any use of the thing without paying through the nose. The real killer: I haven’t experienced such poor response since I was using a first generation PC-XT to access bulletin boards using a 1200 baud modem back in the mid-1980s. This is, of course, to Oceania’s (or their contractor’s) great advantage; THEY ARE CHARGING BY THE MINUTE, so the slower the response the longer it takes and more you are charged! A total rip-off and the raison d'être we will never again cruise with Oceania while this policy is in place. In this uber-connected era, a decent connection at reasonable cost is a minimum expectation of most travelers. Not so at Oceania. For me, it is a sine qua non! On land, we refuse to book any hotel which does not include complementary Internet access or charges a resort fee, unless it is the only place available, and even then if we can we alter or cancel the trip rather than pay these fees. Enough is enough!

 

When you finish paying for all the extras (e.g., excursions, alcoholic drinks, phone service if you need it -I did- and the hugely expensive internet access) I believe Regent is actually less costly, you get much more, and we find Regent significantly better, more pleasant. Of course, we’ve been sailing with RSSC (Radisson and Regent) for over 10 years, and although it’s changed not always for the better, particularly under Apollo, it remains our preferred cruise line. But we’ve also tried Cunard (both First and Grille classes), Silversea, Crystal, Holland American and Princess, and we cruised on one of the R-ships (Regatta, Nautica and the Azamara ships) when they were operated by Renaissance, so we do have a good frame of reference.

 

We’re not huge fans of Regent’s “all-inclusive” approach either, we don’t want to be ‘nickeled and dimed’ for every little thing, but we’d prefer to pay separately for excursions and wish Regent would go back to a “wine with dinner included” approach and charge for the rest. Normally we don’t drink all that much, and when Radisson was considering what to do about including drinks, lobbied them long and hard to charge a nominal price for the in-room set-ups for those that wanted them, substituting a cocktail hour before dinner for all guests in their place. Think about it, on a typical 7-10 day cruise there will be at least three and more likely four or five cocktail parties: sail-away, Captain’s Welcome, Seven Seas Society, American Express, Virtuoso, Crew Capers, Farewell, it goes on and on, and frankly, we both drink too much because (1) we don’t have to drive, and (2) it’s free! We also prefer to go on the dock, find a cab driver with whom we can communicate who suggests a nice-sounding tour, and go off by ourselves or better, with another couple or two. So we don't make out too well on these particular 'all-inclusive' items.

 

That's my opinion and I'm sticking with it. Good luck.

Count, a very detailed, yet concise explanation...thank you. I have to ask, though...are you still joining us on the 3 April Navigator cruise up the east coast to Bermuda? If so, I hope to meet you onboard!!

[count florida]

T-cat, I haven't tried Azamara so can't comment. We were going to try it shortly after Celebrity announced the new line, but I read a negative piece by someone I knew and respected and dropped the idea. We were planning on trying Seaborne and Silversea about the time, anyway; still haven’t gotten to Seaborne. Given the right opportunity, cost and itinerary, we’ll probably try each of them. Do you know how (and what) Azamara charges for internet access? After getting whammed by what I consider to be excessive charges at two relatively high-cost ‘luxury’ hotels, we will not stay where they gouge any longer; end of story!

 

Example: Recently we stayed, not in a standard (kind of tight) room in the luxury hotel where the wedding reception was held, but rather in a two-room suite at nearby mid-priced long-term stay motor inn with breakfast, internet and self-parking included. The rate was about 2/3s of the luxury place’s, and they also charged for each of those three ‘extras’, excessively in my opinion. We did have to carry (wheel) our own bags from car to room and back out, and walk about a block and a half each way to the reception, but our room was larger and nicer, we had two good-size TVs, a big well-lighted desk with excellent internet access, convenient self-parking, and our total bill was less than half one of my siblings at the other place! And they went out to breakfast after the $47.+ charge the first morning! Don’t get me started!

 

TT, our plans are in flux at the moment – age, illness and uncertainty are all confronting us simultaneously. When I booked and pushed for that east coast – Bermuda cruise to be FUN III, I didn’t stop to think we would be calling in a couple of the most desirable ports, Charleston and Savannah, on our CANADA to FLL cruise on the Navigator next month. But Pat and I both love Bermuda (we honeymooned there 46+ years ago) and would like to go back again. At this point, we have nothing else scheduled, except loads of doctor visits, tests and treatments, from the end of October to the beginning of next July. We’ll see; we’d enjoy meeting you as well.