Regent v Oceania revisited!

[Robyn2]

I know there have been numerous discussions on this but I would value recent opinions.  My query is re service, suites etc. Regent v Oceania. The Caribbean cruise we are looking at works out very good value as we need one single suite, our son who has some disability will join us, single occupancy on Regent is very pricey. O are offering all the following... 3 excursions pp, $300 on board credit, house beverage, one wifi and gratuities. The OBC could be used to upgrade to full drnks package. We are looking at verandah poss concierge if worth it on Riviera? We are committed Regent cruisers, gold level but the pricing on this is very attractive. Will we be disappointed with Riviera, will we get the same great service and enjoy almost the same experience? Would value your opinions.

[DavidTheWonderer]

Indeed, this topic has been discussed a lot. For perspective on what follows, I am a huge Regent fan with about 160 nights and a 120 night world cruise booked; I don't get along with Oceania at all. As always, your mileage may vary.

In any case, when they can Regent prices some cruises way over the top compared to other luxury lines such as Seabourn. The last couple of Regent brochures I've gotten for Caribbean cruises show prices that are definitely in that category.

Edited October 8, 2019 by DavidTheWonderer

[Floridiana]

I like Oceania, especially the Riviera. Give it a try. We have been on so many different lines, they all have pros and cons that may fit your expectations more or less. Unless you sail with them, you won't know. 

[Hambagahle]

We love the Riviera and have cruised on her three times.  (Do not think we would like the R ships though).

 

The food and service on Riviera is extraordinary.  And though it is a larger ship - at least in terms of number of passengers - than Explorer, it never seems crowded and we have never had to queue for anything - not even to get into the Main Dining Room for dinner.

 

That said (and proof I suppose of how good we have found the ship) our last 3 cruises have been on Riviera...which means we have not been on Regent for some time so a really detailed comparison is hard to make.   I would encourage you to try Oceania though.  I have been nothing but impressed with them on our last 3 cruises.

[ronrick1943]

I like Oceania, mainly the 2 bigger ship.  We've cruised them 9 times now.  We did move over to Regent and enjoy this kind of cruising.  After cruising on Regent, we did go back on one of the smaller ship because of the itinerary, service, suite was great-not so on the food.  But that was that trip.  Even so we really like Regent and will most likely be on Regent for a while.

[Travelcat2]

The Riviera is a beautiful ship - we have sailed on her twice.  Her top level suites are stunning but the less expensive staterooms are fairly small compared to Regent.  

 

We tried to make our Oceania cruises as inclusive a possible.  We purchased the premium alcohol package ($69/day/person).  Since you can upgrade for the lesser package with OBC's, that is a good thing.  With or without the package, you need to show your card and sign.

 

Excursions tend to be twice the price of Regent Choice excursions.  We did a head to head test of that.  We did a wonderful excursion in Greece on Oceania that was several hundred dollars.  A year or so later we did the identical excursion with Regent and the cost was about $159/person.

 

There are areas of the ship where passengers that are not in a PH suite or above cannot access.  If you are not in a certain level of suite (not sure what level), you cannot order a hot breakfast through room service (but can get a continental breakfast).

 

The food in the specialty restaurants as about as good as on Regent but their main dining room and buffet restaurant are not.  The food on the buffet looks wonderful (lobster, etc.) but the quality just was not there.  We had a couple of experiences in their buffet restaurants after which we would not eat there.  Since we were in a top suite, we were able to dine in specialty restaurants every night.  

 

Service is about the same as Regent which is a plus.  However, the officers do not mingle with the passengers like they do on Regent.  

 

Bottom line for us is that we would sail Oceania again but only in a top suite, with the alcohol package and two logins for the computer (lovely computer room on the Riviera).  The fact that Oceania is offering so many perks for the Caribbean cruise, that is a good thing, however, I would check and see what type of excursions are offered (they could be on a bus just viewing the area).  

 

Based on your requirements, I would give Oceania a try.   

[Wendy The Wanderer]

If you're thinking a standard verandah on Riviera, it's going to be tight for three people  I believe.  Or are you thinking you can swing two cabins if you do Oceania?

 

Seabourn has some very attractive pricing in the Caribbean right now, btw.  If we weren't going on a WC in 2021, we'd be thinking of doing one of these since we like their product very much, and their standard cabins are a very nice size.

[makai 7]

It depends.......  We feel that Regent is a better value when we are traveling internationally  - we cannot purchase business class seats for the price they offer when you don't use their air, and we can set and forget...not worry about anything once we get to the airport.  Maybe it is lazy, but in exotic places we like to stick with their excursions. 

We can easily get to Miami on our own so we like the value of "cruise only" fares on Oceania for Carribean cruises.  We usually don't get off the ship so we also aren't interested in excursions.   

We find the food is better ( our taste, our opinion) on Oceania.   We will be soon making a fresh comparison of the Regent Voyager (March 2019) against Oceania Riviera. 

Many times we have done a side by side comparison for $$,  and when you add in flights, excursions, gratuities, our wine and drink consumption, the costs are comparable.   The suites depend upon the ship (age and time since refurbishment).  Service was excellent on both lines.

[Robyn2]

Thank you all for your advice and thoughts on my query. We are now very much inclined to spread our wings and give it a try. I know the 'less expensive' suites are quite small at least compared to Regent. We would be taking 2 suites, 1 single occupancy so will have a bit more space for storage etc. I will have a look at Seabourne too as the single fare with Oceania is now almost the same as for 2 people....ouch! A little more homework to do this evening, decisions decisions!

[travelwell]

Having  cruised on Oceania and Regent and I would give same advice as Travelcat. If you are into spreading wings to other cruise lines you might want to consider Seabourn. We cruised the Caribbean two weeks last winter on Seabourn . We got a great deal on the cruise and it included two “Cavier in the Surf” beach days. We just got a flyer in the mail with really good prices for next year. Like, Wendy we would have considered it if we did it have big upcoming cruise on Regent 2021 that has ruined our travel budget for next year.

[Caroldoll]

I agree almost completely with TC.  I will say, I will not eat in the MDR on Oceania.  On Regent I prefer the MDR.  Oceania has a fabulous steak house.  We almost eat there entirely.  I like on Regent that tours are included.  We seldom do much in the way of touring, but when we do it is good.  We do not go on Oceania tours as we use a private company.

 

We have enjoyed the same butler for 12 years, TC too, and I miss that he is no longer Butlering!  It will never be the same.  He made the trip wonderful for us.

 

Compare the cost and pick the ship, you can't go wrong.  I only like Marina and Riviera on Oceania though.  The older ships don't cut it.  On Regent, Voyager and Explorer are the choice.  Have not been lucky to book Splendour.

 

Have a fabulous time either day.

[Hambagahle]

17 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

 

Quoting from TravelCat 2 and commenting...

 

Excursions tend to be twice the price of Regent Choice excursions.  We did a head to head test of that.  We did a wonderful excursion in Greece on Oceania that was several hundred dollars.  A year or so later we did the identical excursion with Regent and the cost was about $159/person.

 

There is a good reason for this.  Regent INCLUDES normal excursions, so you have already paid for those.  Oceania does not include any excursions so they run at "the full whack" with no hypothetical deduction for the amount in your fare that covers excursions.  So "upgraded" exursions on Regent are not charged at full price...they are on Oceania.  (Personally I rarely take Oceania excursions because we prefer to see things at our own pace with our own guide and driver...and I have money left over in my budget to do this myself because I am not paying "upfront" for the ship's excursions...

 

 

There are areas of the ship where passengers that are not in a PH suite or above cannot access.  If you are not in a certain level of suite (not sure what level), you cannot order a hot breakfast through room service (but can get a continental breakfast).

 

Not true that people in "lower" suites cannot access certain areas of the ship.  What IS true is that they are charged $25 to access the spa, health club etc (unless of course they are getting treatments etc there.  Upper suites have free and unlimited access to the spa, spa pool etc. 

Breakfast comment - Absolutely true.  In "normal suites" you cannot order a cooked breakfast.

 

The food in the specialty restaurants as about as good as on Regent but their main dining room and buffet restaurant are not.  The food on the buffet looks wonderful (lobster, etc.) but the quality just was not there.  We had a couple of experiences in their buffet restaurants after which we would not eat there.  Since we were in a top suite, we were able to dine in specialty restaurants every night.  

Here I disagree totally.  We have had excellent to wonderful meals in the MDR on Riviera - a châteaubriand with béarnaise sauce jumps to mind!  And we love the Terrace (self service) restaurant for breakfast or lunch and occasionally for dinner too.  I find it SO much more sanitary than Regent - you are not allowed to serve yourself.  The food is great, varies a lot and the grill area is perfect.  I do understand that on Explorer they also have a grill in la Veranda ?  

 

Based on your requirements, I would give Oceania a try.   

Totally agree with this too!!   But if 3 are sharing a room - take a larger suite!  PH at least.

 

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Interested to hear from Regent people who have been on Oceania fairly recently and their assessment of food, since there's been a lot of chatter recently over on the Oceania board about the decline in food quality.

[wripro]

I agree completely with Caroldoll. I would never eat in the MDR on Oceania.. Fist of all the room reminds of a catering hall and the food and service is no better than many mainstream lines. The specialty restaurants are a whole different story though which is why you need to be at least a penthouse to get in as often as possible.

[RachelG]

I agree with everything Travelcat said.  If we sail on Oceania, we always get one of the penthouse suites.  We learned this the hard way on our first Oceania cruise.  I also agree about the MDR on Oceania--we try to eat in the specialty restaurants as often as possible.  We hate the buffet on Oceania (really don't like buffets much in general, but La Veranda at lunch is usually ok). I experienced the slowest computer of my life on our first Oceania cruise, and that was in the Caribbean so it wasn't due to the location on the earth, but that seems to be better now.

[Travelcat2]

19 minutes ago, drib said:

Thursday Throwback Wednesday (TTW), from March 2016 ...

 

 

Really funny!

[Jlhalldc]

We took our first Regent cruise (Voyager Med) September 2018 -- loved the inclusive perks and food. We returned to Oceania this summer (Marina Baltic/Norway) and liked it but not loved it.  Frankly, we liked the food better on Regent, but the specialty restaurants are very nice on Oceania. And we feel Regent does a better job of entertaining it's passengers throughout the day, even with it's smaller ships.  We were in a Concierge cabin on Oceania and really missed the walk-in closet and spacious bathroom. Overall, Oceania is quite nice, good service and good food. But we both agreed that we like Regent better. At least in today's iteration of either cruise line. That being said, we still enjoy Celebrity ships, but only in a Suite to take advantage of all inclusive perks, Luminae restaurant and a larger room. 

Edited October 9, 2019 by Jlhalldc
wrong date

[Hambagahle]

Reading the above posts - I am more than ever eager to sail on the Splendor (hooray - got the spelling right twice!) and to then be able to compare Regent to Oceania in my posts.   The ONLY reason we have chosen this itinerary with Regent on the Splendor is for the itinerary...   So we will see what else it brings.  Frankly had Oceania had Riviera or Marina on the same itinerary - we would have gone with O.  But they didn't - it was Nautica or Sirena and we cannot imagine sailing on the "R" ships with their 1960's decor and lack of space.  So we will see...and report back.  I have a very open mind...

[Silver Sweethearts]

1 hour ago, Hambagahle said:

The ONLY reason we have chosen this itinerary with Regent on the Splendor is for the itinerary...

 

So you have no interest in the Splendor itself??

[Robyn2]

So I have taken in all the pros and cons and thank you all for taking the trouble to respond. We have as a result booked with Oceania and now cant wait to check it out. Will report back after the cruise, hoping it will be mostly positive comments!

[Hambagahle]

15 hours ago, Silver Sweethearts said:

 

So you have no interest in the Splendor itself??

When we originally booked this cruise it was for 2019 (last March) on the Explorer.  Then we thought we would put it off for a year because we had other things to do here at home.  So we were due to sail on the Explorer next March.  Regent swopped the Splendor for the Explorer - we were asked if that would be OK for us - and we switched our booking from Miami to LA to LA to Miami so we could be on the cruise with TravelCat2 and Bellagio Cruisers.  So now we are on the Splendor, San Diego (port change from LA) in mid March.

All of which to say - no -- we had not intended the cruise to be on the Splendor.  Our interest was purely the itinerary.  The fact that we are going to be on the Splendor, in the suite we want (Grand Suite aft on 7) is "gravy" so to speak.   Of course we are interested to see how the Splendor is, but that is not the reason we chose the cruise.

 

Someone else said above that entertainment on Regent is better than on Oceania.  I absolutely agree - at least when it comes to lecturers.   Regent has consistently good and interesting lecturers and several per voyage.  Oceania does far less and they are not as impressive.   This became very clear to us when on a TA on Oceania.  Previous TA had been on Regent and our minds were kept well engaged!!

[commodore2010]

On 10/9/2019 at 3:32 PM, Hambagahle said:

Reading the above posts - I am more than ever eager to sail on the Splendor (hooray - got the spelling right twice!) and to then be able to compare Regent to Oceania in my posts.   The ONLY reason we have chosen this itinerary with Regent on the Splendor is for the itinerary...   So we will see what else it brings.  Frankly had Oceania had Riviera or Marina on the same itinerary - we would have gone with O.  But they didn't - it was Nautica or Sirena and we cannot imagine sailing on the "R" ships with their 1960's decor and lack of space.  So we will see...and report back.  I have a very open mind...

 

Have you looked at the R ships that have gone thru the recent refurbishment?  The ships look beautiful from the pictures I have seen. Far from old worn out decor that they had.   We are planning an Asia cruise on the Regatta for Nov 2020. Looking forward to trying one of the smaller ships for the first time. 

[Cruisemonty]

We have not sailed on Regent, but we were on a Mediterranean cruise on the Oceania Riviera in August 2017. I chose the ship in part based on CruiseCritic posts, which gushed about the large Oceania ships. Due to concerns about small staterooms, we booked a  penthouse. Frankly, I was very disappointed. The passengers were unsophisticated and the vibe on the ship lacked energy. The stateroom was nice (the large walk in closet was a highlight), but not worth the extra money. The internet did not work most of the time. The food in the main dining room was weak. The specialty restaurants were good, but they were not "foodie" destinations by any stretch of the imagination. Oceania gave seating priority by cabin type (we always got a window table), but we couldn't get extra specialty reservations.  I would be reluctant to sail Oceania again.  

[Travelcat2]

On 10/9/2019 at 12:32 PM, Hambagahle said:

Reading the above posts - I am more than ever eager to sail on the Splendor (hooray - got the spelling right twice!) and to then be able to compare Regent to Oceania in my posts.   The ONLY reason we have chosen this itinerary with Regent on the Splendor is for the itinerary...   So we will see what else it brings.  Frankly had Oceania had Riviera or Marina on the same itinerary - we would have gone with O.  But they didn't - it was Nautica or Sirena and we cannot imagine sailing on the "R" ships with their 1960's decor and lack of space.  So we will see...and report back.  I have a very open mind...

 

Gerry, in an earlier post when I said that there are some areas on Oceania that passengers in lower categories cannot access, I am referring to the Executive Lounge and the one (forgot the name and I am currently in Reno without access to the information) for PH guests.  They have windowed doors where people that cannot go in can look to see what is going on but cannot enter.  All that is in there are two computers, a rather poor selection of snacks, coffee, etc.  I found these two places quite offputting.

[Silver Sweethearts]

1 hour ago, Travelcat2 said:

... (forgot the name and I am currently in Reno without access to the information) ... 

 

TC - A bit off topic just for a minute, but believe you mentioned on another thread a while ago that you and Dennis are going to have a (somewhat untraditional) vow renewal in Reno this month for your 40th wedding anniversary.  If so, congratulations and best wishes!!