On Regatta now

[pinotlover]

3 hours ago, Mrs f. said:

 

What ports is the '24 doing?  We did almost all private excursions.  I try never to take O tours. Had a private guide in Bali for the 2 of us. Excellent. We did the penguins with O because nobody else offered it.  Also an O tour in Burnie because our private tour got cancelled due to vendor getting  covid. The O tour was pretty bad.

We are on the Dec23-Jan 24 circumnavigation. Looks mostly similar to your itinerary. Hopefully they figure out the descaling in advance. A lot of money for additional sea days we don’t want.

 

As always will attempt to avoid Oceania shorex! Would love your information on the guide in Bali!! Was hoping to be there two days with an overnight, but only one unfortunately .

[roberts2005]

3 hours ago, Mrs f. said:

We are in Rockland County so Newark is easier than jfk with 2 bridges. 

We originally were going to fly out on a Sunday  but they wanted a lot of points. Then my hubby looked at Saturday.    They wanted many less. Then he looked at Friday and United wanted even less points. We figured we were using Hilton points for hotel so we grabbed the Friday flights.  For United we booked economy.  Then a pop up appeared asking if we wanted to upgrade to economy plus.  We did. Hubby still asleep....will ask later  how many miles.

 

Cabin on ship? 6093.  Concierge veranda. We were able to get a lot of extra Polo and Toscana reservations once on board.

 

What ports is the '24 doing?  We did almost all private excursions.  I try never to take O tours. Had a private guide in Bali for the 2 of us. Excellent. We did the penguins with O because nobody else offered it.  Also an O tour in Burnie because our private tour got cancelled due to vendor getting  covid. The O tour was pretty bad.

Thank you for taking the time to respond. Next year we start in Sydney and finish in Tahiti, so ports will be different. My main concern is the air.   I know we couldn’t make it all the way in coach,

[Mrs f.]

30 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

We are on the Dec23-Jan 24 circumnavigation. Looks mostly similar to your itinerary. Hopefully they figure out the descaling in advance. A lot of money for additional sea days we don’t want.

 

As always will attempt to avoid Oceania shorex! Would love your information on the guide in Bali!! Was hoping to be there two days with an overnight, but only one unfortunately .

Our guide was Dewa Purwadinata

His email is dgrock1140@ yahoo dot com.      No spaces

 

He picked us up at the port. He and I had emailed back and forth about what we would see. I wanted to go to the monkey sanctuary.  Loved it. We also went to the traditional "must see" places like the rice terraces and traditional family compound.   We paid for monkey sanctuary there($6 u.s.d) using credit card. Also lovely  lunch. The other places he paid in Indonesian money and at end we tallied up everything and gave him U.S. Dollars.  

 

His car is a 5 seater but it was just the 2 of us. I prefer not to have anybody in the middle seat 

 

We were there 2 partial days.

[Mrs f.]

39 minutes ago, roberts2005 said:

Thank you for taking the time to respond. Next year we start in Sydney and finish in Tahiti, so ports will be different. My main concern is the air.   I know we couldn’t make it all the way in coach,

We were in economy plus.

[ronrick1943]

On 1/8/2023 at 7:27 AM, Mrs f. said:

We are in Kangaroo Island. Captain finally came in and cancelled both today and tomorrow. Kangaroo Island and Portland. We already had Thursday Island cancelled. Divers cleaning bottom of the hill. Today and tomorrow.  I can't always understand him.

 

Two nights ago we lost power. We stopped moving. No elevators for several hours. People in Toscana and Polo got through their soup and salad .  We were in Terrace Cafe when all these people really dressed up came in looking for food.  

 

We had private tours for both days planned.

 

 

 

 

Wow, sorry to hear that, you would think “O” would know this if ship’s are checked for safety.  It’s not like this hasn’t happened before.

[Mrs f.]

Just heard from a friend who stayed on Regatta for the next segment...Regatta was supposed to be in Burnie today. Oceania took away Burnie for more hull cleaning and made it another sea day.  

[Zebra Cruiser]

3 hours ago, Mrs f. said:

Just heard from a friend who stayed on Regatta for the next segment...Regatta was supposed to be in Burnie today. Oceania took away Burnie for more hull cleaning and made it another sea day.  

Wow!  Sorry for them but glad it wasn’t us!  

[zalusky]

16 hours ago, Mrs f. said:

Just heard from a friend who stayed on Regatta for the next segment...Regatta was supposed to be in Burnie today. Oceania took away Burnie for more hull cleaning and made it another sea day.  

Wow I loved Burnie.  If this is going to be a regular deal. They need to rejigger their itineraries completely and add an initial sea day or something.

[pinotlover]

I have a request for anyone that did the circumnavigation cruise this year. How many total ports did you miss, and how many total sea days did you end up with?

 

Thanks for your efforts!

[Mrs f.]

15 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

I have a request for anyone that did the circumnavigation cruise this year. How many total ports did you miss, and how many total sea days did you end up with?

 

Thanks for your efforts!

We were on it....just pulled my calendar and notes.......missed Thursday Island, Kangaroo Island,  Portland.     They took away 2 days in Brisbane maybe a month before and replaced them with Newcastle and Mooloolaba.   Ended up with 14 sea days.    Also late arrival at some ports...from maybe half hour to a hour or two.    Also when we got on the ship they left a note on our beds that our time in Perth, Busselton, and Albany had been changed.  This meant having to contact our private tour guides and let  them know. 

 

 From the captain (we heard through the grapevine that we changed captains part way through , so I don't remember which one)...."thank you for your understanding ".      No, I don't understand. 

 

 

[pinotlover]

46 minutes ago, Mrs f. said:

We were on it....just pulled my calendar and notes.......missed Thursday Island, Kangaroo Island,  Portland.     They took away 2 days in Brisbane maybe a month before and replaced them with Newcastle and Mooloolaba.   Ended up with 14 sea days.    Also late arrival at some ports...from maybe half hour to a hour or two.    Also when we got on the ship they left a note on our beds that our time in Perth, Busselton, and Albany had been changed.  This meant having to contact our private tour guides and let  them know. 

 

 From the captain (we heard through the grapevine that we changed captains part way through , so I don't remember which one)...."thank you for your understanding ".      No, I don't understand. 

 

 

Thank you!

 

I’m getting very nervous about our booking for this cruise. A lot of money, both ship and airfare, for that many sea days especially on an R ship. The shorten  port times adds insult to injury.

[Mrs f.]

11 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

Thank you!

 

I’m getting very nervous about our booking for this cruise. A lot of money, both ship and airfare, for that many sea days especially on an R ship. The shorten  port times adds insult to injury.

Trust me ..we felt very insulted and disrespected by Oceania. They have offered nothing for the missed ports. Other cruise lines did.  BUT....we had a wonderful time.  Could not have been treated better by the staff. Saw wonderful things. Great private tours. Interesting wineries.  Only you can decide what to do.

[Aussie Gal]

We were on the cruise from Singapore to Sydney that left on November 19th.  We were told at boarding that we were going to miss two ports - Semerang and Surabaya and were to have an overnight in Singapore instead.  No refunds or free drinks, we just had to swallow it.  We could never find out the reason why they were cancelled.  We heard rumours of course such as Covid and the earthquake but nothing substantial. 

 

We had previously been on the Regatta in 2017/2018 on the Round Australia cruise and we missed three ports on that cruise.  Again no compensation or apologies. 

 

This time we were very disappointed with Oceania - it was our 6th cruise with them out of 38 cruises  - as we found the food not up to its usual excellent standard and the entertainment also not as it used to be so we have decided to move on.  We also think the Regatta seems to have a problem with cancelling ports.  When we have cruised on Oceania's other ships, we have never had a problem. 

[zalusky]

Oceania cancelled 3 excursions before we boarded and then two more were cancelled on boarding day.

What we did notice is even though we went below the YWC minimum of 8 they did not take away YWC status and we continued to receive the 25% discount for the one we added.

 

As previously mentioned we also lost two port days with the hull cleaning ironically those were ports that had shore excursions on boarding day.  Makes me wonder if they knew.

 

We also had a engine failure for 5 hours around dinner time.  Basically lost propulsion and the no hot water for a while.  The Terrace kept working but I think I heard that people in the specialties had issues.

 

The staff treated us pretty well but the ship is a little too tired for my tastes.

 

This was my first Oceania cruise and I enjoyed the socializing with other passengers a lot but I plan to check out the competition to see where to land.  Seabourn hits a lot of the ports I liked here and I might try them next time if I go down under.

 

I would be interested to hear from Miriam as a more experienced Oceania cruiser a little more on the insulted and disrespected comments to put them in a appropriate place in our experience.

IE what did Oceania do previously that they did not do here.

[carld]

2 hours ago, Mrs f. said:

Trust me ..we felt very insulted and disrespected by Oceania. They have offered nothing for the missed ports. Other cruise lines did.  BUT....we had a wonderful time.  Could not have been treated better by the staff. Saw wonderful things. Great private tours. Interesting wineries.  Only you can decide what to do.

 

Just now, zalusky said:

Oceania cancelled 3 excursions before we boarded and then two more were cancelled on boarding day.

What we did notice is even though we went below the YWC minimum of 8 they did not take away YWC status and we continued to receive the 25% discount for the one we added.

 

As previously mentioned we also lost two port days with the hull cleaning ironically those were ports that had shore excursions on boarding day.  Makes me wonder if they knew.

 

We also had a engine failure for 5 hours around dinner time.  Basically lost propulsion and the no hot water for a while.  The Terrace kept working but I think I heard that people in the specialties had issues.

 

The staff treated us pretty well but the ship is a little too tired for my tastes.

 

This was my first Oceania cruise and I enjoyed the socializing with other passengers a lot but I plan to check out the competition to see where to land.  Seabourn hits a lot of the ports I liked here and I might try them next time if I go down under.

 

I would be interested to hear from Miriam as a more experienced Oceania cruiser a little more on the insulted and disrespected comments to put them in a appropriate place in our experience.

IE what did Oceania do previously that they did not do here.

We only did the leg from Bali to Sydney but we missed the 2 ports and endured the 3 hours drifting with no power.  I complained we should at the very least get some onboard credit or future cruise critic. (they gave free drinks on the night of the captains party when the drinks were already free)  The response was that cruise credit was a decision for headquarters in Miami to make and they obviously decided against it.  VERY Disappointed in the way we were treated.  Not much we can do except next time try Viking cruises.  Have been on 2 Viking Ocean cruises and we were treated with respect which Oceania did not do on this cruise.  

[Zebra Cruiser]

I’m in agreement with Mrs. F.  The crew was great, the itinerary that we got to see was great and I happen to love the Regatta and her sister ships.  The missed ports were not only not compensated but not even acknowledged aside from the one “thanks for understanding” statement.  Communication was basically nonexistent.

  

[zalusky]

45 minutes ago, carld said:

 

We only did the leg from Bali to Sydney but we missed the 2 ports and endured the 3 hours drifting with no power.  I complained we should at the very least get some onboard credit or future cruise critic. (they gave free drinks on the night of the captains party when the drinks were already free)  The response was that cruise credit was a decision for headquarters in Miami to make and they obviously decided against it.  VERY Disappointed in the way we were treated.  Not much we can do except next time try Viking cruises.  Have been on 2 Viking Ocean cruises and we were treated with respect which Oceania did not do on this cruise.  

 

39 minutes ago, Zebra Cruiser said:

I’m in agreement with Mrs. F.  The crew was great, the itinerary that we got to see was great and I happen to love the Regatta and her sister ships.  The missed ports were not only not compensated but not even acknowledged aside from the one “thanks for understanding” statement.  Communication was basically nonexistent.

  

We also were only on the Bali to Sydney leg and di not experience the issues on the first leg but as I mentioned I am curious of experience on other Oceania cruises of examples showing why Oceania is so loved.  Was this a complete anomaly or normal for Post Covid.  I know the shore excursion people talked a lot about losing a lot of tour operators post covid so I won't fault them there.  I am more curious about food differences pre and post Covid and whaqt they did for trip interruptions on other sailings.

[Aussie Gal]

3 minutes ago, zalusky said:

 

We also were only on the Bali to Sydney leg and di not experience the issues on the first leg but as I mentioned I am curious of experience on other Oceania cruises of examples showing why Oceania is so loved.  Was this a complete anomaly or normal for Post Covid.  I know the shore excursion people talked a lot about losing a lot of tour operators post covid so I won't fault them there.  I am more curious about food differences pre and post Covid and whaqt they did for trip interruptions on other sailings.

As I mentioned in my post above (113), we were on an earlier sailing and we were disappointed with the food. In fact when I filled out the comments form after 10 days of cruising, I mentioned this and the Head Chef came to see me.  First of all we found the menus were very limited so different to pre Covid and then the actual food was nothing like we were used to on cruises before Covid. Polo was still good but after our first night in Toscano, we cancelled our other bookings. We did not eat up on the Terrace so cannot comment on that. We found the food was over salted on a number of occasions and twice I just couldn't eat my main course. I am not a picky eater and usually enjoy all my meals. We have always held up Oceania as the best food we have eaten while cruising but we have changed our minds since this cruise and after cruising with Princess in July we feel that their food was just as tasty plus their fares are so much more competitive.  We are trying Regent next and are hoping for an happier outcome.

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, zalusky said:

 

We also were only on the Bali to Sydney leg and di not experience the issues on the first leg but as I mentioned I am curious of experience on other Oceania cruises of examples showing why Oceania is so loved.  Was this a complete anomaly or normal for Post Covid.  I know the shore excursion people talked a lot about losing a lot of tour operators post covid so I won't fault them there.  I am more curious about food differences pre and post Covid and whaqt they did for trip interruptions on other sailings.

Have not cruised post covid  but pre covid  the food  was usually top notch  some misses  but it sounds like  a lot of supply issues

& staffing issues 

Untrained cooks  for North American standards

 

Maybe some crew are just not coming back  maybe they found other means to sustain them during the time  the ships were not sailing

 

In the pasted when ports were missed   sometimes you would get the open bar for a few hours  but never an OBC/refund

so to say Oceania & their communication skills are lacking ..they have always been that way  IME

but the onboard staff & the food usually make up for that

just my opinion

[bajalin]

Azamara Quest also missed Milford Sound, Akaroa and Bay of Islands.

[Mrs f.]

6 hours ago, bajalin said:

Azamara Quest also missed Milford Sound, Akaroa and Bay of Islands.

Wondering if Azamara will compensate 

[jonthomas]

We are on the Regatta in Sept to Alaska. It was refitted in 2019. Dont like to hear that she looks tired as we just got off  Riviera and have now seen what a newly  refitted ship looks like. Seems like we will be on tired looking ships for a while. Riviera now goes to Asia. We are only on Regatta and Marina, that are not scheduled for any refits.

 

But alas have booked a couple of Vista options. 

[Cape Hernlopen]

Dear Regatta Cruisers:

 

We were on the Regatta cruise from Papeete to Darwin (Oct.20-Nov. 10 2022) on had a wonderful experience. This was the replacement cruise for a Southeast Asia (end in Japan) cruise.  We were compensated for the change.  We missed several ports and numerous other changes during the cruise without any compensation.  The staff and service were outstanding. By the second day everyone addressed us by name. The food and restaurant service were up to Oceania standards.  The Head Chef was always visiting different restaurants and was very approachable. The HS ice cream which we missed on our last cruise (Marina February 2020) was a treat.  The ship facilities and FF&E were in good maintenance.  While on the ship we booked another cruise.

Joel Barry

[Flatbush Flyer]

1 hour ago, jonthomas said:

We are on the Regatta in Sept to Alaska. It was refitted in 2019. Dont like to hear that she looks tired as we just got off  Riviera and have now seen what a newly  refitted ship looks like. Seems like we will be on tired looking ships for a while. Riviera now goes to Asia. We are only on Regatta and Marina, that are not scheduled for any refits.

 

But alas have booked a couple of Vista options. 

Regatta (and the other R ships) all had their NEXT redo within the past several years - hardly “tired looking.”

[jonthomas]

it was in 2019. that is 4 to 5 years ago....that is a lot of wear and tear....