Oceania or Regent - Dubai to Capetown 2014

[spikemom]

We want to do this amazing itinerary - both Oceania and Regent leave Dubai same date and arrive Capetown 30 days later (guess one will scare the pirates away while the other runs?)

We have not done this type or length of cruising before. Does one offer better value than the other? Hard for me to tell because Regent includes more.....but is it worth it? Shore visits? etc?

 

Also, any feeling of when it should be booked? Thanks!:)

[JimandStan]

Without knowing more about you and your preferences, there isn't any way that we can offer any kind of cogent advice, but this might help:

 

In order to do an apples to apples comparison between the two Lines, you'd need to use the Penthouse Category on Oceania, and then decide if the "extras" which are included in the Regent fares (the included Shore Excursions, Open Bar, etc) are items that you will take advantage of.

[LHT28]

I think it also depends on if you like everything taken care of for you or if you like to venture off on your own

A lot of O cruises will do private tours keeping the numbers low so you are not on a bus with 30 + of your closest friends

 

You need to look at all the options of each line & decide which options that are or are not included that you would use

 

It really is a personal choice

[kuldalai]

Go for OCEANIA over Regent albeit Regent should be the better product .

 

Regent is vanilla bland and boring, grossly overpriced with all its claimed free inclusions which are not in fact free at all, rather included in their high fares.

 

OCEANIA is a very good product with quality on all key fronts . Also OCEANIA has a real personality about it whereas Regent is boring . OCEANIA offers real value and best of all there are no annoying ships photographers shoving their cameras in your face at every hour of the day and night .

[findacruise]

Without knowing more about you and your preferences, there isn't any way that we can offer any kind of cogent advice, but this might help:

 

In order to do an apples to apples comparison between the two Lines, you'd need to use the Penthouse Category on Oceania, and then decide if the "extras" which are included in the Regent fares (the included Shore Excursions, Open Bar, etc) are items that you will take advantage of.

 

And keep in mind that the Nautica PH still does not stack up to the regular suite on Regent Voyager. We have done both and the Regent is the better cabin in this comparison - part of the reason we chose Regent for this cruise.

[Hawaiidan]

Ok, both ships are 0f the same size about 700 pax

 

Regent offers much larger cabins, dining options and amenities as opposed to the R class ship.

 

In comparing the two Regent for a 30 day cruise offers the better value in comfort, variety and experience ..and would for me plus the shore tours

 

Now if Oceania put in Riviera of Marina, all that changes to advantage Oceania in not on a R class ship

[JTor]

Perhaps I can help. We recently did 2 long cruises - 3 weeks on one of the Princess small ships (Ocean princess) and 5 weeks on Crystal. Neither of these lines are what you are considering, but having also been on Regent and Oceania in the past, I would say Crystal and Regent are quite similar animals. Oceania is upscale of Princess but not as much as you might think for these specific ships (former sister ships in fact). All 4 ships we are discussing are similar size (650-1000 passengers).

 

There was a huge price differential between our 2 cruises, but the experiences were both fantastic. Whichever you choose, I'm sure you'll have a fantastic time. So if money is at all a consideration, don't hesitate to take what you can afford (it's important to have the money you want to spend in the ports & for extras). I think the additional things to consider are: 1) how much alcohol do you drink? Regent is all inclusive, so if you don't drink much the "value for money" is much less; 2) who do you want to cruise with? on a long cruise like this you will be with an older crowd on either line, but there is likely to be more diversity (age, background, financial situation etc) on Oceania; 3) how much "private" space do you need? Regent has very large standard cabins and as others have mentioned, you will need to go "up cabin" a lot to get same space on Oceania. I find I don't spend much time in my cabin anyway. 4) How much do you want to be "entertained" vs do your own thing? One big advantage of Crystal (and Regent is similar, if perhaps a tiny step down) is that there is a lot of very high quality entertainment, from fabulous lecture series, a full movie theatre with new releases every night, lots of shows including cabaret acts that get on and off during the sailings, pilates & yoga teachers on board, etc - Oceania will probably have a bit less of all this stuff, but if what you really like to do is find a deck chair with a book, make friends with fellow passengers and enjoy the ports, you may not need it. On the other hand, you are on board for a long time so you may want more to do.

 

If someone else was paying for me I'd certainly go for Regent but if I was footing the bill I'd choose Oceania. However, I don't drink much, enjoy meeting a wide variety of people, don't spend much time in my cabin and don't attend most of the entertainment so you can see why I choose thusly!

[findacruise]

You may also want to read the posts on the Regent site about this cruise. One item I failed to mention is you would have free Internet evenif this is your first cruise with them , since it is 21 days or over. May not be important to you but worth mentioning.