Am interested in knowing what's included/not included....

They have a couple of great itineraries in Spring of '08 that we are looking at

Tina - No drinks are included, be it alcoholic or non, including bottled water. Obviously shore excrusions, gratuities, wine, etc are not included. On the positive side, they have open seating, with 4 different restaurants, small ship environment, and personal service. If you are in a PH or above, you also have a Butler. You can bring whatever you want to drink onboard for your cabin, and you can take wine into the dining room, although there is a corkage fee.

We very much enjoyed our Oceania caribbean cruise a couple of years ago and would do O again and will with the right itinerary and right time of year.

I think you would be pleasantly surprised. IMHO.

Hi JoAnne,
We am looking forward to our Australia/New Zealaand Oceania in January!!
Jan

Thanks JoAnn for info - have only talked to three couples that cruised Oceania - all were happy but none as happy as we have been on Regent - sounds, to me, based on their experiences, like upscale mass market - has a niche...and definite following - thank goodness we have choices

Oceania is a wonderful experience if you don't mind signing for a drink although you can happily bring alcohol on board for in room consumption. Not worth it to bring alcohol into the dining room and pay corkage because their wines are reasonably priced.

Dining - some of the chefs and staff are from Regent. I like the food slightly better on Regent. Open seating and alternate restaurants are lovely.

No question for me it's a step down, but that said on a budget issue we got two weeks for the price of one and comparible cabin so if your 10% difference in food quality and included drinks are worth that....plus for me the smoking policy is HUGE...I booked Oceania's Baltic cruise over Regent's - two weeks for the price of one...still get B&K service - and the Country Club Casual/Open Seating tip the scales.

I love Regent, would stick completely with her, but some of the prices, especially for European itineraries are just getting out of sight. Until now as well, the itineraries have mostly been too short (although I see they are changing that, more 10-day cruises I believe.)

So we may very well try Oceania in the future. Or, we will stick to doing land in Europe, until we can't drive or walk well, then try Oceania! ;) And continue to have the Regent experience either in the Caribbean, or perhaps Alaska, and of course FP. Not thinking about Asia or South America yet, too busy working, but O has some amazing itineraries there too.

Wendy -

I completely agree about Regent pricing for Med. We did a Med itin October 2006 for $2000 less than what it is today. We paid $3,500 incl port taxes and insurance and at that time did not even get a past psgr discount. Now, the same cruise is over $5,000 with taxes and insurance. Wanted to do a 7 day Med in 2008 but just priced way too high.

Will get B & K to book us an Oceania trip soon.

Happy that there might be some LCTers onboard.

Tina

Tina,

The thing about the O cruises is that they sell out so fast you really do have to book WAY in advance.

One other thing I liked - the passengers are a little younger and the entertainment on board was directed to broader appeal...

Yeh, I was watching closely last winter for the 2008 itineraries to post. And it seemed like the whole Oceania CC board was waiting to pounce. It sounded like hype to me, but it's true. When I actually considered a booking for early summer 2008 (and that was this June), there were only a couple of cabins left in the category I wanted. Decided to hold out for the PG instead, but will probably go through the same dance again soon when the 2009 scheds come out. Maybe we can book something together!

I really hadn't considered Oceania until now. What level cabin would be equivalent to a mid-ship E category on Voyager? I drink an awful lot of water, so it might end up costing me more than on Regent. Lee

Lee -

I'm trying to talk my mom into this. She's not so keen on signing for water, soft drinks, etc. even though she doesn't drink much alcohol.

We're still talking ....

Tina

Tina,

We never signed for water. We asked the butler and stateroom attendant to see that we always had a supply of water bottles in the room and we always had 5-6 right there.

Was that because you were in a Butler suite because over on CC they state that bottled water is not included.

Thanks

Tina,

We paid for it - they just put it on the minibar tab...

Tina, we are booked on two of the O cruises for next year - China and Japan and one med cruise. The pricing and the country club casual were the chief factors. Now I dont know if my daughter will be coming along though I have booked for her as well.

Tina: I've been considering the Med cruise at the end of September - the itinerary looks good. I'm just trying to do the 'maths' as to have an identical cabin to Voyager means we'd have a butler and that is something I'm sure we do not need. I just want to compare 'apples to apples'. I do like the sound of a more casual atmosphere though. I wonder if signing for everything, especially water, would spoil things. Lee

Miriam and Lee -

We are still talking about what to do. Things are booking up so we'll have to book soon if we decide to go this route.

Miriam -which Med cruise did you book?

Tina

Tallships,we booked Rome to Venice in October.
Frankly dont even know whether I am going on that one but I just booked it and shall decide closer to that time. Got one of those nice back balconies on this trip.
We are definitely going on the China and Japan one though.

Miriam -

I'd like to send you an email. Could you send me a PM with an email address so I could contact you.

Thanks,

Tina

We just returned from O trip Istanbul to Venice. We love Regent but overall the cost and itineraries O offers are very appealing. We had a wonderful time. The casual dress is a real plus. We had a PH so we bought a case of water in istanbul and kept them in the refrig, also had bulter keep it stocked with diet coke & sprite we brought our own liquor on with us so that we had cocktails in the room prior to going to dinner and they dont have any program with you doing this as long as you dont walk around with the cocktails. You have to get use to signing for soda and water but in the overall picture the longer itineraries are appealing. The 2 specialty restaurants are as good if not better than Regent the Main dining room doesnt compare to Compass Rose. They do book up rather quickly so if you want a certain room you should book it.
Penny

Penny,

Glad to hear you liked your O cruise. I just heard they are re-doing all the Penthouse bathrooms on the Nautica.

I think your assessment was right on too. Love to hear more about Istanbul to Venice.

Chat Kat:
I will try to put an assessment of our trip together this weekend. I am back to work and the flight is catching up with me.
But we did love this trip and would take O again.

Tina:
If you have any questions you can email me and I will try to help you out.
Penny