Regent vs Oceania

[mumcat]

We have sailed on one Regent cruise having had 4 cancelled and we are hopefully cruising on 2 more Regent cruises this year. I'd like to do more cruising to exotic places in the next few years but I must admit that Regent's prices can be eye-watering especially to the more exotic locations . Oceania cruises tend to be much less costly at first blush but I assume that once the cost of excursions and other excluded items are factored in , the cost can rise considerably. Does anyone have an opinion whether it's better to bite the bullet and pay for Regent's luxury or does Oceania provide a similar experience at a lower overall cost. Thank you.

[papaflamingo]

I'm interested also as we have an Asian cruise set for Jan. 2023 and I'm not optimistic it'll go.  May need an alternative and Regent cruises for 2023 seem pretty full.  

I have looked at Oceana occasionally and want to only caution that you need to compare "apples to apples,"  You can't compare the lowest cost cabin on Oceana to the lowest cost cabin on Regent as they have Inside cabins.

[alidor]

Regent all the way.  By the time you add in everything that Regent provides, and a t a MUCH higher service than Oceania, it can’t be beat.

[UUNetBill]

We've been sailing Regent since 2009 and have yet to find another cruise line that consistently provides as much bang for the buck.  I know people on the boards have posted price comparisons that showed other lines beating Regent price-wise, but I've only run into that personally one or two times.  By the time you figure in airfare (Business Class), excursions, tips, drinks, specialty dining, cabin size, etc. we've found that Regent is usually the best price proposition, at least for the itineraries we shop.

 

I know there are some other players in the game (Ritz-Carlton, Viking, Atlas, Azmara, etc.) but when I price them out against Regent, for us Regent always wins.  As always, YMMV.

[RetiredandTravel]

We've only sailed on Regent but I've researched Oceania quite a bit.  Oceania has some excellent itineraries.  This topic has been discussed extensively in the past so if you search this forum for Oceania you get a ton of information.   If you search the Oceania forum for Regent you will get a more positive spin on Oceania. 

 

Our final decision was that Oceania didn't make sense for us.  Oceania ends up being cheaper but not as much as it appears, for instance we would take the premium drink package on Oceania which is about $120/day.  The Oceania rooms aren't as nicely appointed as Regent and depending on the ship Veranda suites can be much smaller.  You actually have to go to Penthouse to be close to equivalent sq ft.  Penthouse on Oceania also gives more specialty restaurant reservations which we would probably take because several people had poor experiences in the MDR on Oceania.   Peoples comments on the MDR was probably the biggest negative for us.  Momma always said "you get what you pay for".

 

Here's one recent thread, whatever you choose enjoy

 

 

[RachelG]

We have over 200 days on regent.  Have sailed Oceania 3 times.  If you are looking at cost, if you upgrade to a suite on Oceania which is the equivalent of what you would have on regent, add in the drinks package, the tours, etc etc, the cost of Regent is about the same or even less than Oceania.  The reason we sometimes cruise on Oceania is to go with friends who don’t want the larger suite, drinks, etc.

[labonnevie]

We have taken nine cruises on Regent, one on Oceania. And the one on Oceania was a fabulous itinerary in 2011. Never been back. 
‘Nuff said. 

[mumcat]

Thank you everyone for your comments. I'm not surprised that Regent seems to be the preferred cruise line. Before we sailed with  Regent, we had cruised several times with Azamara and we were very happy. However, when we stepped onboard Explorer a few months after she was launched we were blown away!  I will say though that sometimes even factoring the additional cost of shore excursions on Azamara  the price difference between them and Regent cannot be ignored. Their itineries tend to be very similar. I was wondering about Oceania because they are part of the 'family' but maybe we will stick with Regent when we can afford it and if not, Azamara.

[Techno123]

mumcat I see you are in France - do you get the same deals with Regent as we do in the UK? If so, the business class air our American cousins get is only offered to us now and again as a 'special deal' so it's cattle class for us 😜😂 

 

I made a comment to someone who was worried about Seabourn which doesn't add all the extras like flights and excursions but quality is on a par with Regent food, accommodation and service and is still my preferred line but it all depends on what is on offer.

Similarly, we have only sailed once with Oceania and very much enjoyed it so would definitely sail with them again using that 'it depends' caveat 😁 For the UK market (unsure re other countries) air fare and transfers were included, they offer the O Life choice so you can choose cruise credits, a certain number of excursions or a drinks package (soft drinks, tea, speciality coffees, mocktails are all included anyway). Sometimes you get all of them as part of O Life ultimate. Gratuities are sometimes included and sometimes not - depends on the offer. So in summary, it would depend on the deal offered and the itinerary and whether you can be bothered doing the comparison. 

[honumaui]

Have been on Regent 3 times, Oceania once. Concierge level.  Comfort, service and food were comparable.  If you factor in the cost of business air , drinks and tours Regent wins by far. If you prefer to do your own air and not interested in a tour every day,  Oceania would be a more economical choice. For example, we have booked Regent for our next European trip and Oceania for the Caribbean as we have free air miles for Miami and have been to the islands many times..Oceania's OBC will pay for most of our beverages.

[seasickphil]

7 hours ago, Techno123 said:

mumcat I see you are in France - do you get the same deals with Regent as we do in the UK? If so, the business class air our American cousins get is only offered to us now and again as a 'special deal' so it's cattle class for us 😜😂 

 

I made a comment to someone who was worried about Seabourn which doesn't add all the extras like flights and excursions but quality is on a par with Regent food, accommodation and service and is still my preferred line but it all depends on what is on offer.

Similarly, we have only sailed once with Oceania and very much enjoyed it so would definitely sail with them again using that 'it depends' caveat 😁 For the UK market (unsure re other countries) air fare and transfers were included, they offer the O Life choice so you can choose cruise credits, a certain number of excursions or a drinks package (soft drinks, tea, speciality coffees, mocktails are all included anyway). Sometimes you get all of them as part of O Life ultimate. Gratuities are sometimes included and sometimes not - depends on the offer. So in summary, it would depend on the deal offered and the itinerary and whether you can be bothered doing the comparison. 

I have to agree with much of what you say, here in the UK the prices for Regent are now getting out of our comfort zone. Prices are now difficult to find at under £500 a night pp and many cruises rising to a very considerable £700/800 pp and this is for the lowest grade cabins. You may not always be able to compare everything like for like with other cruise lines but there comes a point when, unless you are millionaires you have to look at what you are getting for your money and on our cruise on Voyager last month i don't consider that we did.

[ronrick1943]

We’ve been on both many times.  Just an opinion but Regent has better food, and best of all you aren’t pulling out your key all the time to settle tabs.  However I do believe Oceania has better and nicer suites.

[mumcat]

18 hours ago, Techno123 said:

mumcat I see you are in France - do you get the same deals with Regent as we do in the UK? If so, the business class air our American cousins get is only offered to us now and again as a 'special deal' so it's cattle class for us 😜😂 

 

I made a comment to someone who was worried about Seabourn which doesn't add all the extras like flights and excursions but quality is on a par with Regent food, accommodation and service and is still my preferred line but it all depends on what is on offer.

Similarly, we have only sailed once with Oceania and very much enjoyed it so would definitely sail with them again using that 'it depends' caveat 😁 For the UK market (unsure re other countries) air fare and transfers were included, they offer the O Life choice so you can choose cruise credits, a certain number of excursions or a drinks package (soft drinks, tea, speciality coffees, mocktails are all included anyway). Sometimes you get all of them as part of O Life ultimate. Gratuities are sometimes included and sometimes not - depends on the offer. So in summary, it would depend on the deal offered and the itinerary and whether you can be bothered doing the comparison. 

I book directly with Regent and for whatever reason, they do not offer flights to us in France so I arrange my own. Overall I believe that those of us not in the USA are not treated so favourably. Specifically the cancellation starts at 20% of the total cost as soon as we book compared to a starting point of  $100 for the USA / Canada. I think this is really unreasonable and have had a few 'discussions' with Regent about it but they say that's just the rules in the UK /EU although it seems that Germany have initial at 100Euro - go figure. So, we refuse to book anything with Regent too far in advance but that means we often lose out on the itinery we want, hence we are more likely to book with Azamara whose terms and conditions are much more favourable and their itineries are frequently identical to Regent's.  I have done the maths on a specific itinery with Regent vs Azamara and after factoring in the cost of tours with AZ, the overall cost is much less with them and it's hard to justify the extra to sail with Regent just to get the extra 'wow' effect.

[UUNetBill]

The only thing I've been able to find reliably in comparisons between Regent and Oceania is:

• Regent has better food
• Oceania has better food
• Regent has better cabins
• Oceania has better cabins
• Regent has better service
• Oceania has better service
• Regent is the better bang for the buck
• Oceania is the better bang for the buck

Amiright?

[Gpilon]

12 minutes ago, UUNetBill said:

The only thing I've been able to find reliably in comparisons between Regent and Oceania is:

• Regent has better food
• Oceania has better food
• Regent has better cabins
• Oceania has better cabins
• Regent has better service
• Oceania has better service
• Regent is the better bang for the buck
• Oceania is the better bang for the buck

Amiright?

So your recommendation would then be......????

[honumaui]

My recommendation: Book a cruise on Regent. After that book a cruise on Oceania. Then book another cruise on Regent. Then book another on Oceania.  Repeat until you are too old (or broke) to cruise any more,

[alainciao]

We have 62 days on O and gold on Regent.  I have always considered O to be Regent a la carte as I found the service, food and atmosphere comparable.  If you don't drink alcohol and do your own excursions O is probably for you.  Having said that there are big differences in ships and cabins. We spent 24 days in a veranda cabin on Nautica, 175 SF balcony 40SF.  We were younger then! I knew all the ships bathrooms since the one in the cabin was VERY small.  The newer ships are totally different.  Cabins bigger but you have to research the differences.  The new ships have beautiful art (and more passengers).  DW will never do O again as we do drink alcohol and she hates the chit.  We enjoyed all our cruises on both lines. Love the F cabins on R's new ships. As to cost, you have to do the numbers for each cruise. O can be less....or more.

[UUNetBill]

On 5/12/2022 at 10:50 AM, Gpilon said:

So your recommendation would then be......????

Either Regiana or Ocaenent - can't go wrong!

[cotto22]

We have sailed on both and even with all the additions of drink packages, excursions and, in some cases, gratuities, Oceania is probably cheaper than Regent even in a Ph category, which you would really need to get for space purposes to compare apples to apples. 

  Is one better than the other? On the Regent board, the opinion seems to favor Regent. Hardly a surprise! There are so many variables that go into making a cruise a successful one that I personally cannot say that one line is better than another. Some have better bars, some have better coffee areas, and some have better main dining rooms. Oceania does have great bread...

  We have been on the smaller both Insignia and Riviera and found Riviera to be too large for us, although we loved our cabin with the wraparound balcony. We are looking forward to our first cruise on Navigator, having only been on the larger Regent ships. 

  I don't think you can go wrong with either cruise if it is the itinerary you want.

[RetiredandTravel]

46 minutes ago, cotto22 said:

Oceania is probably cheaper than Regent even in a Ph category, which you would really need to get for space purposes to compare apples to apples. 

 

 

When I've  compared pricing between the two Oceania always comes out cheaper, the differential seems to change by geography.  When I compared Australia cruises a while back they were close.

 

My TA sends me marketing material from Oceania and Regent and again Oceania has some great itineraries. 

 

I just compared Oceania with Regent for December 2023 Christmas cruises in South America (Lima => Buenos Aires).  The Oceania cruise is longer at 24 days and Regent 21 because the Oceania cruise takes a detour to Antarctica (nice!!).   We make our own air arrangements so I back out air , include premium drink package for two @ $120 a day ($2900) and I figure excursions will cost $400 a day so that adds $4400 to the Oceania cruise.  Oceania is on the Marina and Regent the Splendor.  Oceania costs $25k for a Concierge  (284 sq ft), 30K for a Penthouse (420 sq ft & double specialty resos) and Regent costs 32k for a Superior (332 sq ft).  Oceania also gives an additional $400 OBC. 

 

So Oceania is quite a bit cheaper for a longer and more interesting cruise.

 

I'm probably still going with Regent although I'd also like to try Silversea.  Regent & SS are basically the same cost but SS only stops at 9 ports.