Regent vs Oceania vs NCL Haven

[VideoTech]

Has anyone here sailed all three? How would you compare them from the luxury standpoint, i.e. NCL Haven vs regular Oceania and regular Regent?

 

I get it that Oceania and Regent are considered "up market" from NCL, and even from NCL Haven. Also that Oceania and Regent are all inclusive whereas NCL is not. We have been loyal NCL Haven cruisers for a long time, but with the cost of the Haven product getting very near the cost of the other two, we are considering switching. We are an older couple, prefer relaxing and doing our own thing on cruises. The Shows and the hairy leg and belly flop contests don't interest us at all. Prefer a quiet luxury cabin, good service, a variety of good dining options.

 

Which line would you move to if you were in our shoes?

Edited August 24, 2017 by VideoTech

[Silver Sweethearts]

Has anyone here sailed all three? How would you compare them from the luxury standpoint, i.e. NCL Haven vs regular Oceania and regular Regent?

 

I get it that Oceania and Regent are considered "up market" from NCL, and even from NCL Haven. Also that Oceania and Regent are all inclusive whereas NCL is not.

 

Do note that Oceania is not billed as a luxury line, nor is it all inclusive.

[VideoTech]

Do note that Oceania is not billed as a luxury line, nor is it all inclusive.

 

Ah, thanks. I thought it was. That pretty much eliminates them.

[Travelcat2]

Although we have yet to sail on NCL, The Haven is a luxury section of a mainstream cruise line. Most of the ship is mainstream.

 

Oceania, as has been said, is not considered a luxury cruise line but rather is premium plus or luxury lite. I would not summarily dismiss Oceania as their two largest ships (only around 1100 passengers ad they do offer packages that include a wine beverage package or included excursion. Many travel agents (not necessarily the same ones that book NCL and other luxury cruise lines, will pay gratuities for their customers. While you can sail on Regent without paying an extra penny, you almost can on Oceania. IMO, it is worth checking them out.

 

Not many Regent cruisers have sailed on NCL hopefully you will find someone that has.

[VideoTech]

Although we have yet to sail on NCL, The Haven is a luxury section of a mainstream cruise line. Most of the ship is mainstream.

 

Oceania, as has been said, is not considered a luxury cruise line but rather is premium plus or luxury lite. I would not summarily dismiss Oceania as their two largest ships (only around 1100 passengers ad they do offer packages that include a wine beverage package or included excursion. Many travel agents (not necessarily the same ones that book NCL and other luxury cruise lines, will pay gratuities for their customers. While you can sail on Regent without paying an extra penny, you almost can on Oceania. IMO, it is worth checking them out.

 

Not many Regent cruisers have sailed on NCL hopefully you will find someone that has.

 

Thanks Travelcat. Since you have cruised Oceania and Regent both, which do you prefer and why? If itinerary and cost were equal (or very close) between the two lines, which line would you pick?

[commodore2010]

Been on all three. You have put them in the correct order in your title.

 

Regent, Oceania, NCL Haven.

 

As noted:

Regent - Luxury

Oceania - Premium

NCL Haven - Mainstream. The haven is nice, but still with 3500 fellow cruisers unless you stay in the Haven for the full cruise. Which I dont recommend.

 

It all depends on what you like and want and can afford. Research.because only you can make that determination.

 

BTW - We do plan on doing another NCL cruise next year. Pride of America Hawaii. Thanks for the Hertz info on your sig.

Edited August 24, 2017 by commodore2010
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[VideoTech]

Been on all three. You have put them in the correct order in your title.

 

Regent, Oceania, NCL Haven.

 

As noted:

Regent - Luxury

Oceania - Premium

NCL Haven - Mainstream. The haven is nice, but still with 3500 fellow cruisers unless you stay in the Haven for the full cruise. Which I dont recommend.

 

It all depends on what you like and want and can afford. Research.because only you can make that determination.

 

BTW - We do plan on doing another NCL cruise next year. Pride of America Hawaii. Thanks for the Hertz info on your sig.

 

Thanks Commodore. In fact this is part of my research...gathering opinions from those who have experience with the other lines.

 

Glad you found the Hertz info helpful. Bear in mind our POA cruise was in 2014, so there may have been changes. We really enjoyed the POA and the way it allowed us to get a feeling for each of the islands. Now we're just gently disagreeing about which island we want to go back to!

[Travelcat2]

Thanks Travelcat. Since you have cruised Oceania and Regent both, which do you prefer and why? If itinerary and cost were equal (or very close) between the two lines, which line would you pick?

 

I prefer the all-inclusivity of Regent. For instance, excursions on Oceania are very expensive while the identical excursions on Regent are either included or 1/3 the price of Oceania. I like the suite sizes more on Regent. I prefer the food on Regent (except for the specialty restaurants on Oceania). I like that tips are included on Regent and that there isn't a $25 corkage fee if you wish to bring your own wine onboard.

 

For the money, if you don't drink much (drinks on Oceania are very expensive and the pours are minuscule) and can have a suite the size that you get on Regent, Oceania is a great alternative.

 

To be honest, although the Marina and Riviera ships on Oceania are gorgeous, Regent is a better fit for us. The crew is friendlier and the passengers more laid back. I still think that Oceania is a great first step for passengers that are used to sailing on mainstream cruise lines. I'm not sure that I would sail on Oceania again but I never say never. If the itinerary were right, we'd go back.

[VideoTech]

I prefer the all-inclusivity of Regent. For instance, excursions on Oceania are very expensive while the identical excursions on Regent are either included or 1/3 the price of Oceania. I like the suite sizes more on Regent. I prefer the food on Regent (except for the specialty restaurants on Oceania). I like that tips are included on Regent and that there isn't a $25 corkage fee if you wish to bring your own wine onboard.

 

For the money, if you don't drink much (drinks on Oceania are very expensive and the pours are minuscule) and can have a suite the size that you get on Regent, Oceania is a great alternative.

 

To be honest, although the Marina and Riviera ships on Oceania are gorgeous, Regent is a better fit for us. The crew is friendlier and the passengers more laid back. I still think that Oceania is a great first step for passengers that are used to sailing on mainstream cruise lines. I'm not sure that I would sail on Oceania again but I never say never. If the itinerary were right, we'd go back.

 

Thanks again, Travelcat.

[iamheisenberg]

Marry, Boff, Kill?

 

Oceania, Regent, NCL.

[DavidTheWonderer]

I can't comment on NCL.

 

Regarding Regent compared to Oceania, it really depends on what is important to you.

 

If a great social ambience with lots of people out and about at all hours in the bars and lounges is important to you, then Regent is the clear winner. If that is not important to you, then Oceania has lots of things to recommend it. But the beautiful lounges on Oceania are essentially deserted after 10 PM. That is not only my observation from my one Oceania experience, a trans-Atlantic, but has been repeatedly confirmed by other posters on various boards.

 

I found Azamara, which the OP didn't ask about, to be much closer to Regent in terms of this factor.

 

The good news is that all the cruise lines are in a cut-throat competition with all the other lines. So the distinctions between the different lines seem to be getting increasingly blurred. They all want you to (1) come back, and (2) tell your friends how great it was.

 

So I would consider Oceania again if the itinerary and price were really really good. But failing that, I'll stick to Regent, Azamara, and of course the Paul Gauguin. I'm also following with interest the Regent/Viking thread on this board, and Viking looks pretty tempting.

 

Aren't we lucky to have such great choices?

[Caroldoll]

I have done all three and I do like NCL (Haven). Also on Pride if you have a top suite you are very well taken care of. The fare is less so if you pay for alcohol and their specialty restaurants they are still less expensive.

 

I love Regent Explorer, but it is EXPENSIVE.

 

We also have many, many cruises on Oceania, but their tours cost over the moon so if you want tours do DIY.

 

Each line has its benefits.

[warburg]

Greetings from South Beach. My husband and I have sailed on all three, Haven, Penthouses on Oceania and Regent. The Haven is at the top in NCL, but like Dante's Inferno, you have to go down for many reasons.

On Regent and Oceania there is only one community. No matter where you go on the ship, you feel part of it. By contrast, to me, Haven felt like a ship atop a ship. Various Haven perks often reduce the crowd effect that is part of the below stairs environment.

 

The main reason we left NCL was the size of the vessels. We weren't fond of the flood of passengers pouring out at every port. We prefer the smaller Regent and Oceania ships.

Mary

[BarbarianPaul]

I have done all three and I do like NCL (Haven). Also on Pride if you have a top suite you are very well taken care of. The fare is less so if you pay for alcohol and their specialty restaurants they are still less expensive.

 

 

 

I love Regent Explorer, but it is EXPENSIVE.

 

 

 

We also have many, many cruises on Oceania, but their tours cost over the moon so if you want tours do DIY.

 

 

 

Each line has its benefits.

 

 

 

Carol--

Can you elaborate on your Haven experience? Are all the specialty restaurants included? Can you walk into them at any time? What about the perks, service and cabins? Is it really a similar experience to Regent?

Though I doubt I'd ever sail on such a ginormous ship, with a class system that reminds me of the Titanic, I am totally curious about the experience!

 

 

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[Silver Sweethearts]

I have done all three and I do like NCL (Haven). Also on Pride if you have a top suite you are very well taken care of. The fare is less so if you pay for alcohol and their specialty restaurants they are still less expensive.

 

We are curious here. You refer to "NCL Haven" and "Pride". NCL does have the Pride of America, if that is what you mean, but it has no Haven. Are the top suites on the POA really anything special? What did they do to make sure you were "very well taken care of"?

[VideoTech]

Greetings from South Beach. My husband and I have sailed on all three, Haven, Penthouses on Oceania and Regent. The Haven is at the top in NCL, but like Dante's Inferno, you have to go down for many reasons.

On Regent and Oceania there is only one community. No matter where you go on the ship, you feel part of it. By contrast, to me, Haven felt like a ship atop a ship. Various Haven perks often reduce the crowd effect that is part of the below stairs environment.

 

The main reason we left NCL was the size of the vessels. We weren't fond of the flood of passengers pouring out at every port. We prefer the smaller Regent and Oceania ships.

Mary

 

Thanks Warburg. Our preference is for the smaller ships as well, which is another reason we're looking at Regent.

[VideoTech]

Carol--

Can you elaborate on your Haven experience? Are all the specialty restaurants included? Can you walk into them at any time? What about the perks, service and cabins? Is it really a similar experience to Regent?

Though I doubt I'd ever sail on such a ginormous ship, with a class system that reminds me of the Titanic, I am totally curious about the experience!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

Since we've been steady NCL Haven cruisers for a while, maybe I can answer some of your questions.

 

The Haven (suites) experience on NCL: IMO, NCL is the best of all the mass market cruise lines at doing the "suites" experience. Service is excellent and attentive, with dedicated suites butlers and a concierge or two. In addition to everything the butlers normally they can also serve food from any of the specialty restaurants in your suite.

 

On the larger ships (Breakaway, Escape, and Epic classes) there is a private restaurant for Haven guests. Food in this restaurant is excellent, equal to or better than the specialty restaurants. About the only negative is that the menu does not change over the course of 7 days. There is enough variety that this isn't a problem if your tastes aren't too narrow.

 

The smaller NCL ships use one of the specialty restaurants for suite passenger's breakfast and lunch. There is no dedicated restaurant for dinner.

 

Specialty restaurants used to be very easy to get into..until NCL put a "Specialty Dining Package" into effect, which offered 3 nights of free specialty restaurants to almost all cruisers. This created a much heavier demand for specialty restaurant seating, and advance reservations began to be required for the more popular dining hours. None the less, Haven customers can go through the concierge and typically don't have any problem getting in on short notice. Up until our last cruise, we never made advance reservations for specialty restaurants; we simply went to the concierge and booked as we needed to.

 

I can't compare the perks, service and cabins to Regent as we haven't done a Regent cruise..this is one of the reasons I posted the original question. I will say that the NCL suites are very comfortable, and on average seem to be a little larger than what I've been reading about on Regent.

[VideoTech]

We are curious here. You refer to "NCL Haven" and "Pride". NCL does have the Pride of America, if that is what you mean, but it has no Haven. Are the top suites on the POA really anything special? What did they do to make sure you were "very well taken care of"?

 

Although the POA does not have a Haven, the top suites on the ship are very luxurious. We did our POA cruise in an Owner's Suite. This suite has a spacious living area with a dining table, desk, wet bar and half bath. It has a separate bedroom, a walk-in closet, and large bathroom. The balcony was enormous by cruise ship standards, with a hot tub, another dining area, and several lounge chairs.

 

"Well taken care of" by NCL suite standards, includes the services of a butler in all suites, a concierge, and usually a dedicated restaurant for suite passenger's breakfast and lunch - or on the larger ships, a restaurant & lounge dedicated to the suite customers for all meals. Perks include priority embarkation at the start of the cruise, priority disembarkation (and tendering where required) in all ports, dedicated seating at shows, in-cabin dining from any specialty restaurant, and so on.

[Travelcat2]

Wow - I'm learning more about mainstream cruise lines than I ever wanted to know. Actually, I do know a few people that have cruised on NCL and quite a few people that sail on Celebrity (not a mainstream cruise line). It isn't surprising that the top suites are much larger than on Regent since the ships are dramatically larger.

 

As people that know me can attest, "special privileges" such as priority embarkation, priority tendering and even getting the front row on a bus which I hear happens on at least one cruise line, is upsetting to me. This is a huge reason why we sail on luxury cruise lines. Yes - inside of your suite you get lots of special benefits/goodies and are treated royally. However, once you step foot outside of your suite, everyone is treated the same (or at least the benefits are invisible to other guests)..

 

There are no areas on Regent ships that are not open to every passengers onboard (unlike Oceania) - no special restaurants, lounges or anywhere else. As I say many times, no one knows or cares what suite you are in. You do not have to present your room cards except when you board or disembark the ship (or purchase something in the Boutique).

 

There is something fairly new on Regent that makes it appear that they care about your suite category. They ask your suite number when you are dining in the restaurants. Even I couldn't figure out why they wanted this information so I asked. In order to use passengers names more often, after you check in at CR (for instance), they plug in your suite number and a small piece of paper prints out with your names. That paper is handed over to your server. So much for my conspiracy theories:halo:

 

When NCLH purchased Regent, I did spend some time on the NCL board. The big issue at the time was paying for room service - something one does not even consider on a luxury line (but this is a consideration on Oceania ...... you don't pay for room service but lower category cabins do not receive "hot" breakfasts). Another issue was passengers putting their dirty dishes on the floor outside of their cabin which was making the ship look trashy as well as making it difficult for wheelchairs and walkers to pass by. I have no idea if any of this has changed but it is certainly not an issue you will see discussed on Regent (or even Oceania).

 

IMO, the best way to figure out whether to move up to Oceania or Regent is to read the boards (which you are doing) and ask specific questions.

 

Thanks for sharing information regarding NCL. If I'm ever in the same place as a NCL ship, I'd love to take a tour!

[ronrick1943]

I agree with TC on this. I think you'll have a great cruise no matter which line you pick. I think it really depends on size of ship you want to cruise on and if you want all the stuff that goes with it. I like a smaller ship without the mall feel, but that's me-for those that want a lot of places to go on the ship go for the large ship. I like a few choice's were to eat, I don't need a lot of service, nor do I need to be in front of the line. In fact I like no lines----and with a smaller ship (I do like a large suite, because we spend time in it) it seems like the lines are small. If I have to wait to get a table, no big deal-what else do we have to do. So one should pick the cruise that fits them, your the only one that matters and you know your likes and dislikes. Then forget about what others like and enjoy your cruise. Rick

[VideoTech]

I agree with TC on this. I think you'll have a great cruise no matter which line you pick. I think it really depends on size of ship you want to cruise on and if you want all the stuff that goes with it. I like a smaller ship without the mall feel, but that's me-for those that want a lot of places to go on the ship go for the large ship. I like a few choice's were to eat, I don't need a lot of service, nor do I need to be in front of the line. In fact I like no lines----and with a smaller ship (I do like a large suite, because we spend time in it) it seems like the lines are small. If I have to wait to get a table, no big deal-what else do we have to do. So one should pick the cruise that fits them, your the only one that matters and you know your likes and dislikes. Then forget about what others like and enjoy your cruise. Rick

 

Thanks to all the replied, I've learned a lot. I will say that I've never felt that the "class" system on NCL was heavy handed or Titanic-like. On the smaller NCL ships (which we prefer) the suites passengers are mostly out in the general population and sharing the same facilities (sounds like a prison, huh? :D) . On the larger ships, there's perhaps more awareness of it, in as much as there are sections of the ship reserved only for suites customers, and the priority services do allow some fairly prominent line dodging by suites customers.

 

I will also say that I'd prefer the scenario TravelCat has described.

 

In any case, I didn't mean to hijack the Regent boards with lengthy descriptions of NCL. I think we'll be doing a Regent cruise before long, and then we'll know for sure how they compare.

[Dolebludger]

If you take the NCL Haven, make sure you are on one of their ships (larger ones) will full Haven benefits. A couple of years back, we were on one of their smaller "Jewell Class" ships in The Haven. It was a music cruise and we liked the bands. Otherwise, we wouldn't have set foot on NCL. Our Suite was huge, but that's where the good things ended. No separate restaurant with open seating anytime. If we didn't want to go to the MDR, we had to have the butler bring our dinner to our room (which we did). There was no separate all inclusive lounge, though we had a restocked bar in our suite. I understand that NCL's larger ships do have separate Haven dining room and lounge. But you are still on NCL with it's "state fair" atmosphere on most of the ship, "service charges" added to the bill, and suggestions that the butler needed a tip!

 

If you want to go on a mass market ship and stay in a "premium" area, I'd recommend the MSC Yacht Club, which they have on their larger ships. Much more inclusive in the Yacht Club. All that was missing was hot meal room service. And the rest of the ship is more upscale than NCL. We were in the MSC Yacht Club for another music cruise. And given the fact that the cost difference between Regent and the MSC Yacht Club continues to become greater, MSC may well see us again.