Regent is a large step down from Oceania

[LindaM]

I was referring to the one HAL ship -- not the whole fleet. Sorry if that was not clear.

 

Regarding the subject I keep backing away from....... I am happy to discuss this subject in person (and have done so with quite a few people) but not on a public forum. Yes -- I could write a short book (or long story) on the subject but do not feel it is appropriate for sharing on CC.

 

Thank you for getting back with me. I do understand why you don't want to discuss this, because it probably would open up a hornet's nest.

[wripro]

TC2,

 

Why do you not feel it's appropriate to discuss why one line is more "luxury" than another on CC? Isn't that what these forums are for? And you certainly don't hesitate to discuss a wide range of other topics here. Please explain.

[Travelcat2]

TC2,

 

Why do you not feel it's appropriate to discuss why one line is more "luxury" than another on CC? Isn't that what these forums are for? And you certainly don't hesitate to discuss a wide range of other topics here. Please explain.

 

You are right. I discuss a wide range of topics on Cruise Critic. There are also quite a number of topics that I do not discuss -- most people just would not notice it - LindaM did:)

Edited February 2, 2014 by Travelcat2

[RachelG]

Ok, just off riviera, so I think I can speak with some authority. We booked a concierge suite. Suite was comfortable enough, but the closet situation was terrible. I will have to pay more attention to that arrangement, rather than just square footage in future.

 

Our room stewardess was pretty clueless. I told her I wanted everything except bottled water and diet coke out of the fridge. She said she could not do that. To her credit, she did keep the bottled water supplied.

 

She also had to be asked every time we needed a new bottle of shampoo or shower gel. These would have been automatically restocked on regent. We had no washcloths the last night, so I showered with a hand towel.

 

Wifi is so slow as to be almost unusable for anything other than getting email. I am not the only one who has complained about this. I tried multiple locations around the ship with no luck. Wifi on regent and silversea is much faster, even when above the arctic circle, which is saying a lot.

 

No on demand movies on Oceania unless you book the most expensive suites.

 

Shower is much smaller in a concierge on Oceania than in any on regent.

 

Even though we bought the all inclusive dirinks package, we were told we couldn't order a bottle of wine for our table or suite. We mentioned is on the is cruise comments, and were told "so sorry, that is the policy.,"

 

Specialty restaurants were good to great but no better than anything on regent, just more options. MDR service was bad. I had heard everyone rave about the food on Oceania, but we much prefer regent, mainly for the much larger salad bar at lunch and better service in CR.

 

You do not get to know the staff nearly as well on Oceania with it being a larger ship. We really miss that.

 

Laundry requires tokens. A big pain in the butt, as you have to have dollar bills to get the tokens. So if you don't have any ones, you have to go downto the front desk to get the dollars, the back up to get the tokens and do laundry. As a result, I am returning home with a suitcase full of dirty clothes, something I would never do on regent.

 

Entertainment on Oceania is probably better of the larger ships, but the theater is not nearly as pretty as that on any of the regent ships, which is weird to me given the real beauty of the rest of Marina.

 

These are just a few things off the top of my head. We do always take the credit for hotel and air, so that is a non issue. The excursions area bso lately the same, just prepaid on regent. Personally, I don't care one way or the other regarding that.

 

My husband refuses to set foot on Oceania again. I would go again if it were the right itinerary (something unique), and if I were traveling alone so the cosetwasn't an issue.

Edited February 2, 2014 by RachelG

[nanaof2]

RachelG

thank you for presenting a different side to the Regent. All the bad reviews and comments have prompted us to consider cancelling our upcoming cruise on the Navigator. Our previous cruises in the Voyager have been great, but we decided to take a step back and re think this cruise. Still debating:confused::(

[WesW]

Hi Rachel (& George) thanks for sharing you candid Oceania views.

[Travelcat2]

RachelG

thank you for presenting a different side to the Regent. All the bad reviews and comments have prompted us to consider cancelling our upcoming cruise on the Navigator. Our previous cruises in the Voyager have been great, but we decided to take a step back and re think this cruise. Still debating:confused::(

 

Don't you mean a step down? (Just kidding:-)

[nanaof2]

Don't you mean a step down? (Just kidding:-)

 

No I did not. Reviews of Navigator have been mostly negative in more ways than one and we are taking a step back to consider our position in a less emotional way.:(

[Travelcat2]

No I did not. Reviews of Navigator have been mostly negative in more ways than one and we are taking a step back to consider our position in a less emotional way.:(

 

Have you considered Silversea (the Whisper?) Really a nice ship!

[Travelcat2]

nanaof2: Tried to figure out what sailing you are doing by using a trip calculator but it came out to a date that didn't make sense. Which Navigator sailing are you booked on? If it is the San Francisco to Vancouver (or visa versa - a fabulous itinerary that we have done twice), just for the heck of it, take a look of this:

 

http://www.silversea.com/destinations/plan-voyage/?voyage=3428&year=2014&tab=fares

[nanaof2]

nanaof2: Tried to figure out what sailing you are doing by using a trip calculator but it came out to a date that didn't make sense. Which Navigator sailing are you booked on? If it is the San Francisco to Vancouver (or visa versa - a fabulous itinerary that we have done twice), just for the heck of it, take a look of this:

 

http://www.silversea.com/destinations/plan-voyage/?voyage=3428&year=2014&tab=fares

 

Must admit, I am taken back with your recommendation for Silversea, specially considering your loyalty to Regent.

The cruise we are booked on is from San Francisco to NYC.

[juli2020]

Ok, just off riviera, so I think I can speak with some authority. We booked a concierge suite. Suite was comfortable enough, but the closet situation was terrible. I will have to pay more attention to that arrangement, rather than just square footage in future.

 

Our room stewardess was pretty clueless. I told her I wanted everything except bottled water and diet coke out of the fridge. She said she could not do that. To her credit, she did keep the bottled water supplied.

 

She also had to be asked every time we needed a new bottle of shampoo or shower gel. These would have been automatically restocked on regent. We had no washcloths the last night, so I showered with a hand towel.

 

Wifi is so slow as to be almost unusable for anything other than getting email. I am not the only one who has complained about this. I tried multiple locations around the ship with no luck. Wifi on regent and silversea is much faster, even when above the arctic circle, which is saying a lot.

 

No on demand movies on Oceania unless you book the most expensive suites.

 

Shower is much smaller in a concierge on Oceania than in any on regent.

Even though we bought the all inclusive dirinks package, we were told we couldn't order a bottle of wine for our table or suite. We mentioned is on the is cruise comments, and were told "so sorry, that is the policy.,"

 

Specialty restaurants were good to great but no better than anything on regent, just more options. MDR service was bad. I had heard everyone rave about the food on Oceania, but we much prefer regent, mainly for the much larger salad bar at lunch and better service in CR.

 

You do not get to know the staff nearly as well on Oceania with it being a larger ship. We really miss that.

 

Laundry requires tokens. A big pain in the butt, as you have to have dollar bills to get the tokens. So if you don't have any ones, you have to go downto the front desk to get the dollars, the back up to get the tokens and do laundry. As a result, I am returning home with a suitcase full of dirty clothes, something I would never do on regent.

 

Entertainment on Oceania is probably better of the larger ships, but the theater is not nearly as pretty as that on any of the regent ships, which is weird to me given the real beauty of the rest of Marina.

 

These are just a few things off the top of my head. We do always take the credit for hotel and air, so that is a non issue. The excursions area bso lately the same, just prepaid on regent. Personally, I don't care one way or the other regarding that.

 

My husband refuses to set foot on Oceania again. I would go again if it were the right itinerary (something unique), and if I were traveling alone so the cosetwasn't an issue.

 

Rachel,

I am surprised that you did not book a Penthouse Suite (420 square feet) on the Riviera since you are used to sailing on Regent and Silversea. You would have had a large walk-in closet, a larger shower, a lovely sitting area. Found the Penthouse Suites much nicer on the Riviera/Marina than the Penthouse Suites on the Navigator and the Veranda Suites on Silversea (Silver Shadow/Silver Cloud).

 

You booked a concierge Veranda stateroom....It is not considered a suite.

Seems like Oceania wasn't a good fit for you and your husband.

Edited February 3, 2014 by juli2020

[Travelcat2]

Must admit, I am taken back with your recommendation for Silversea, specially considering your loyalty to Regent.

The cruise we are booked on is from San Francisco to NYC.

 

Regent remains my favorite cruise line, however, I will always be honest with my posts and we have sailed on Silversea three times. The Shadow and Whisper are simply laid out better than the Navigator. The non-balcony suites are smaller than Navigator's (287 sq. ft. vs. 301 sq. ft.). The veranda suites are 16 sq. ft. smaller than the Navigator. With approximately 50 less suites than the Navigator, these two ships have considerably more public areas. Prestige Cruise Holdings did not build the Navigator -- perhaps if they had, it would have be built to hold maybe 450 guests instead of 490 -- even 20 less suites would have made a difference.

 

Unfortunately, Silversea is changing their itinerary from 2013. When the Shadow completes Alaska season, they are heading out to the South Pacific. The Whisper does some East Coast itineraries but not San Francisco to NYC. The cruise I would love to take (but cannot fit in) is Southampton to Montreal at the beginning of September. We have friends on that one (the kind of friends that make a cruise more fun and interesting).

 

We are having difficulty finding another Regent cruise to book (this is the first time we have not had a Regent cruise booked -- after our cruise that ends in April). Hopefully the itineraries coming out later this month will have something to tempt us:)

Edited February 3, 2014 by Travelcat2

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Rachel,

I am surprised that you did not book a Penthouse Suite (420 square feet) on the Riviera since you are used to sailing on Regent and Silversea. You would have had a large walk-in closet, a larger shower, a lovely sitting area. ...

 

I agree the PH on Riviera is very nice. Great closet, nice bathroom. No nicer than a PH on Voyager, however, with regards to layout and roominess. This leads to the issue of stateroom size and demographics.

 

But to bring up something that will upset some people, I'll say it anyways. Perhaps this is partly why Jackie is staying mum. And bear in mind we've had only the one Oceania trip, on Riviera.

 

This larger ship has a broader range of staterooms. We saw a balcony cabin and agreed it would be adequate for us, especially on a port-intensive trip. But it is smaller (and cheaper) than Regent. Going down to the Window cabins and Inside cabins, it gets much cheaper. And then there are the wonderful named suites, of which we also saw several--marvellous and luxurious.

 

So we had a broader demographic of passengers on board than we were used to from Regent. I felt that difference on Riviera. On Regent ships, the passengers have tended to be in a narrower range of, let me say it, income than on Riviera. I can get along with all sorts of people, I am not a snob, and income level means little to me, but I felt the difference when it came to "luxury" ambience. Sorry, but I did.

Edited February 3, 2014 by Wendy The Wanderer

[hondorner]

I agree the PH on Riviera is very nice. Great closet, nice bathroom. No nicer than a PH on Voyager, however, with regards to layout and roominess. This leads to the issue of stateroom size and demographics.

 

But to bring up something that will upset some people, I'll say it anyways. Perhaps this is partly why Jackie is staying mum. And bear in mind we've had only the one Oceania trip, on Riviera.

 

This larger ship has a broader range of staterooms. We saw a balcony cabin and agreed it would be adequate for us, especially on a port-intensive trip. But it is smaller (and cheaper) than Regent. Going down to the Window cabins and Inside cabins, it gets much cheaper. And then there are the wonderful named suites, of which we also saw several--marvellous and luxurious.

 

So we had a broader demographic of passengers on board than we were used to from Regent. I felt that difference on Riviera. On Regent ships, the passengers have tended to be in a narrower range of, let me say it, income than on Riviera. I can get along with all sorts of people, I am not a snob, and income level means little to me, but I felt the difference when it came to "luxury" ambience. Sorry, but I did.

Wendy, what you say won't upset many, especially me, because it's what you honestly felt. It may be because you're used to Regent ambiance.

 

But, while I'm not upset, I have to say I disagree with you. I find the demographic of passengers on Oceania fairly narrow, regardless of the stateroom level. I've met and enjoyed guests from every cabin category (you might recall where we met, as one example) and found them almost universally fine folks. Of course, that may partly be because of my income level -- everything looks up from here ;).

 

My experience is that there are two types of folks with income levels higher than "comfortable". One type has to have the best of everything -- best cruise line, best ship, best suite, etc. Fairly often, they are not the wealthiest, and may be over their heads financially. The other type (I realize I'm generalizing) are the folks who can afford whatever they want, but often choose to minimize their expenditures in order to keep what they have. These folks are likely to sail on either Regent or Oceania because of the level of service, but are more likely to choose a lower category cabin on Oceania because they can get more or less the same service with less expense. I'm reminded of Sam Walton and his old Chevy pickup truck...

 

Most of the folks I've met on Oceania can afford whatever, but choose to pay less for the same food, the same entertainment, the same ship services, the same public areas, etc. etc. I have NOT noticed any appreciable difference based on their cabin category.

 

We, ourselves, have sailed Regent (twice as often as you've sailed Oceania :D:cool:) and found the suites "nice"; have sailed at the penthouse level several times on Oceania (both large and small ships); but have made a conscious decision to choose Ocean View cabins on most of our future cruises. I'm the same person regardless of the cruise line or the cabin category...

[LHT28]

My experience is that there are two types of folks with income levels higher than "comfortable". One type has to have the best of everything -- best cruise line, best ship, best suite, etc. Fairly often, they are not the wealthiest, and may be over their heads financially. The other type (I realize I'm generalizing) are the folks who can afford whatever they want, but often choose to minimize their expenditures in order to keep what they have.

 

Well said

[RachelG]

Rachel,

I am surprised that you did not book a Penthouse Suite (420 square feet) on the Riviera since you are used to sailing on Regent and Silversea. You would have had a large walk-in closet, a larger shower, a lovely sitting area. Found the Penthouse Suites much nicer on the Riviera/Marina than the Penthouse Suites on the Navigator and the Veranda Suites on Silversea (Silver Shadow/Silver Cloud).

 

You booked a concierge Veranda stateroom....It is not considered a suite.

Seems like Oceania wasn't a good fit for you and your husband.

 

You are correct. I was trying save money. The square footage of the regular "suites" on mariner and the concierge "staterooms" on riviera is very similar. The only area where I felt a big difference was the closet and the shower. Had everything else been equal or better on riviera, I would be perfectly content. The stateroom size was definitely not the biggest issue.

 

Ironic that hondorner mentioned Sam Walton, as I am originally from Bentonville. Sam and my dad were good friends and hunting buddies, and I was brought up to be frugal when appropriate.

[hondorner]

...The only area where I felt a big difference was the closet and the shower...

Those are both issues for me, too, and have been since Marina's maiden voyage (Marina and Riviera are nearly identical). I once wrote a semi-humerous post about "how to use Marina's shower". It has since been improved by eliminating a poorly located grab rail, raising the rain shower head a bit and installing a stand-up shower head and glass partition in the tub. The latter is really handy when returning from a late excursion for an early dinner reservation; one can use the shower and the other the shower in the tub.

 

Back when Marina was in the planning stages, Oceania showed mockups of the cabins to a focus group. That group indicated approval of the tub in the bath, only leaving room for such a small shower; and approval of the closet location. In my opinion, that focus groups consisted of borderline idiots. The entire problem is caused by the tub; it forces the bath to be wider, which makes it intrude into the entrance corridor, thus forcing the closet (which is usually across from the bath) to be placed around the corner next to the bed. Thus, although the footage of the cabin is larger, the larger bathroom and the closet placement take up most of the extra room, and the usable space in the cabin is not much greater than the "R" ships. As I indicated earlier, without the tub the shower could have been luxurious.

 

If there is a third "O" class ship, I hope they either leave out the tub, or offer some cabins with a tub/shower only, like Regent Mariner.

 

Did I mention I don't like the tub?

 

However, faced with next year's World Cruise, in an effort to save some $$$ from our upcoming NYC/London cruise on Marina we switched our booking from a PH3 to a C Oceanview (laid out like the Veranda cabins but without the balcony), saving $3,800! That will cover the wine bill on the WC...;)

Edited February 4, 2014 by hondorner

[RachelG]

Hondorner, you have explained the situation eloquently! You are exactly right. We actually prefer the shower only suites. That gives enough room for a great shower and a great closet. If you eliminated the tub, you could make the closet a proper walkin and have enough room for a truly comfortable shower.

[bento2744]

If you expect true luxury as you describe it, you will have to pay upwards of $30K to $40K pp for 15-20 days cruise on Regent or any other luxury cruise-ships! Regent offers the largest cabins in the industry at around 351 sqf at the bottom end. You can expect to pay $750 pp per day which includes meals, all alcohol you can consume, entertainment and most excursions. You pack/unpack once, room service, cabin service twice a day and anything you can think of done for you. Best of all, you don't have to decide what and where to dine daily. So, all this will set you back $1500 per day for both of you. I am sure if you stay at the Ritz, Four Season or any other properties in a style you are accustom to and dine 3 meals a day, you will exceed this amount and rooms are much larger.

So, in conclusion, after all I've mentioned as all inclusive luxury cruise package, you should stay on land, cruising is not for you?

[bento2744]

Wrong thread!

[Travelcat2]

Wow - this thread threw me for a moment ....... then I realized that it is a year old. Since posting a year ago, we have booked three Regent cruises (all on the Mariner). Silversea seems to have issues regarding the upgrading of their ships. They keep buying "new" (actually old ships that they refurbish) ships and pay less attention to the ships they already have. We have no plans on booking Silversea.

 

Since this thread was started, we took another Oceania cruise - staying in a Vista Suite on the Riviera. The suite was absolutely amazing. The food and service was pretty much the same as I described a long time ago. We loved the cruise but have returned to Regent. While nothing is for certain, at the moment, we have no plans on sailing on any other cruise line.

[Emperor Norton]

Just got back from the Sydney to Auckland cruise on Seven Seas Voyager and found the experience disappointing. After 2 excellent recent cruises on Oceania's Riviera we expected Regent to be a step up - in fact it was a large step down.

 

Food was OK but nothing like the terrific cuisine on Oceania. Food preparation was sloppy - lots of bones left in a Dover Sole, an olive stone in mashed potato, fruit not very well trimmed at breakfast.

 

Service was haphazard to say the least. The wrong items were brought on several occasions. Wine was forgotten. Coffee was forgotten.

 

Simple things like eggs ordered over easy appeared rock hard, and on one occasion the waiter apologised for the chef, saying "He can't cook"!

 

Not the experience we expected and we won't be cruising with them again.

 

What I find amusing about this is that I could apply the same sentiments to O and Regent. Oops. I'm not defending Regent, but at least in my time on Regent they could poach an egg. On Oceania the waiter would stare at you until you cut into the egg to make sure the chef that 'couldnt cook' had figured out how to poach an egg rather than hard boil it.

 

Perhaps Frankie is moving problem children between lines now rather than firing them.

[Travelcat2]

What I find amusing about this is that I could apply the same sentiments to O and Regent. Oops. I'm not defending Regent, but at least in my time on Regent they could poach an egg. On Oceania the waiter would stare at you until you cut into the egg to make sure the chef that 'couldnt cook' had figured out how to poach an egg rather than hard boil it.

 

Perhaps Frankie is moving problem children between lines now rather than firing them.

 

Really trying to figure out where you are coming from. You post on a thread that states that "Regent is a large step down from Oceania" and then post on the Oceania board - bashing Oceania (see post #6 http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2170526 ) So, should one assume that you dislike both cruise lines?

[petlover]

Jackie - Frank Galzy came from Oceania to Regent. His first cruise with Regent was the first after the last big dry dock

 

We first met Franck in 2005 on Radisson before it became Regent. At the time I think he was Assistant F & B manager.