Parents are back from Regatta Dover to Rome 9/14

[CruiseIsGood]

I'm just going to copy and email I sent to a friend. If you have any questions I'd be glad to ask them and reply. Their only complaint was internet cost. Other than that they were thrilled with both the ship and service.

 

 

They returned Wednesday night and kept me up till 3 AM talking about it! Then more talking the next night. They had a wonderful time. They went on Oceania's Regatta (used to be Renaissance) from Dover to Rome, with stops in Barcelona, Lisbon, three France stops, Gibraltar, Monaco, Livorno, and I forget where else. Oceania is very port intensive, which they loved. They missed St. Malo due to bad weather, so they had three sea days in a row and didn't like that so much. It was 14 nights total. It's expensive. They paid $**** each for a balcony room. They said they didn't use the balcony all that much but it was nice to have the big windows instead of a porthole.

 

The ships are smaller with about 600 passengers and about 300 crew! They had wonderful service. They said the food was fantastic. They're not dessert people, they never order dessert in restaurants, but they never missed it on the ship. They said they were too gorgeous to pass up. Regatta has two specialty dining rooms that are free, but they ask that you only use each one once. But near the end of the cruise my mom asked if they had any availability and they did, so they got to go three times. They're not crazy about Italian food but they said the Italian specialty one was their favorite. Totally not spaghetti. :) Renaissance used to be known for their food and Oceania is continuing it. They had every breakfast at the buffet and said that was great, with the biggest blueberries my mom had ever seen, and my dad liked the scrambled eggs--they weren't powdered or runny. They had eggs benedict at the buffet (my fave!) with hollandaise separately so they weren't soggy.

 

They said the entertainment was good, nothing like a big ship with big numbers, but a comedian, magician, pianist, four singers, etc. They offered computer classes on sea days and my mom took 4 PhotoShop classes. They had wine tasting classes and a port tasting class. All verandahs are non-smoking, and very few public areas are smoking. Even though I'm a smoker I know that can be a problem on some European cruises.

 

They took the ship's bus tours in each port. They liked them all except Marseille, where they were bussed to a cathedral that you had to climb 100 steps to get to. Half the people just didn't. (My mom has a heart valve problem and couldn't.)

 

But in the other ports they had great tour guides and, after talking to people who went independently, felt they got much more info about the areas and the history. Their favorite port, they both said, which is strange enough in itself that they agreed, was Gibraltar. They liked the monkeys and limestone caverns and history. Their second favorite was Monaco. It was over-the-top ritzy and they got to stay until 11 PM and see the city lights.

 

None of the bus tours were more than 4 1/2 hours, so they never ate at any of the ports. They had the option in some ports of doing more than one tour, but with as port-intensive as it was, they thought one in each was perfect. They did say that Oceania should have taken advantage of the trains to get to destinations quicker than busses.

 

Oceania is all casual. No dressing up for dinner. But they said they saw a lot of people all decked out for the past guest party. Other than that there were no other parties--no Captain's cocktail party or anything.

[Jancruz]

I love the review with the exception of the mention of Renaissance..this cruise line has nothing to do with the old Ren and I thought their food was possibly the worst I had ever eaten..I remember the last night on one of the cruises (2000) 16 of us were having dinner and every one sent back their meal without exception!!

Jan

*****

[CruiseIsGood]

I had read years ago that their food was a highlight. And with the old Ren ships and FDR I thought it was just a restart of Ren. Sorry! :D

[Mura]

I never like to disagree with Jan but we always thought the food on Ren was excellent. Maybe we were lucky! I don't deny that it's better on Oceania!

 

A lot of us who sailed on these ships when they were Renaissance ships tend to think of Oceania as being "the same", but of course it isn't. They are using the same ships, but that's about it.

 

At the same time, for a lot of us we might not be with Oceania NOW if we hadn't been with Ren THEN.

[jfb128]

A couple of comments on your review of your parent's experience. My wife and I were on the same cruise. First of all there was a Captain's party on I believe the third night out of Dover. That day had been preceded by a rather rough day at sea and the attendance was lighter than usual but still substantial. It is too bad your parents somehow missed the announcement but it was in the Currents publication.

 

We had the same experience with the specialty restaurants. Towards the end of the cruise there was more availability and we were able to get in at the last minute at Polo due to cancellations.

 

As to the ship's tours not all tours were of the half day variety. In Bordeaux we took a full day tour out to St. Emilion where the Jurade de St. Emilion was occurring. That is the day where the new wine judges are brought into the Jurade and occurs the day prior to the beginning of the major grape harvest. A small processional thru St. Emilion took place . Our guide, Marie was exceptional and helped us in getting the right view of the parade and then we had a lovely French luncheon with wine and later a tour of a chateau with a wine tasting.

 

In Marseilles we joined with two other couples and took a private tour with Catherine (Provence Travel ) of areas in Provence. More specifically we toured Avignon and the Palace of the Popes, St. Remy de Provence and the hospital where Van Gogh spent some of his last year and then Les Baux and Les Appilles. Catherine did a great job and we all thoroughly enjoyed this tour.

 

In Barcelona having visited there previously we decided to sign up for the Antonio Gaudi tour. This was also a truly pleasant surprise. Park Guell and Casa Batllo were things not to miss and yet most everyone focuses on La Sangrada Familia which is interesting but at least the former are two landmarks that Gaudi finished. In fact most everyone agreed that Park Guell was the biggest surprise of the cruise.

 

The free Port wine seminar was very good and reintroduced many of us to port wine. The first day sold out quickly and a second seminar was added. The person from Portugal who did the demonstration was very knowledgeable.

 

Finally I would be remiss without mentioning Leslie John who returned a s cruise director aboard Regatta. When we sailed out of Bordeaux, Lisbon and Marseilles Leslie gave a commentary that was both informative and interesting. He is one outstanding cruise director.

[carolhat]

Do you have contact info for Catherine at Provence Travel?

[tapawingo]

Is the Leslie to whom you referred the same Leslie who was Cruise Director last year on Oceania?

[jfb128]

Leslie Jon has been the cruise director on three of our five Oceania cruises. He is really outstanding and just a fun person to be around.

[jfb128]

Catherine's email:

 

tour.designer@provence-travel.com

 

 

http://www.provence-travel.com