Regatta Review
The Coral Sea Crossing on Oceania's Regatta was great!
Rating by category
Additional details
We have sailed with Oceania before, but this was our first time on their Regatta ship. We chose this cruise because of its itinerary which included ports of call in New Zealand, the west coast of Australia, Komodo Island, and ended in Bali. Most of the other cruise lines visit just the ports in New Zealand and Sydney resulting in a shorter cruise. Oceania's 24 day cruise was worth our while to endure the long flights to and from our home in Vancouver, BC. Other incentives to buy this cruise included: free air, free unlimited internet usage, plus another discount of our choice from excursions/beverage package/onboard ocean credit. Other credits from Oceania and our travel agent covered the tips and a couple of bottles of wine resulting in few additional charges at the end of the trip.
Oceania booked their customers into Auckland's luxurious Sofitel Hotel located just a few blocks from the port where Regatta would be docked. We arrived at the hotel at 7:30am and had to wait for a room - not the best thing to hear after a red-eye flight! Other than that inconvenience, I would highly recommend this luxurious modern hotel. Our room was not the ordinary hotel room due to the finishes, the coffee/tea bar, the large bathroom with separate deep tub and roomy shower, the floor to ceiling windows along one wall, the fluffy bathrobe and slippers, and crisp bedding on a very comfortable bed that even had a number of decorator pillows on it. The difference between this lovely hotel room/hotel and our veranda stateroom on Regatta was noticeable on the first day aboard the ship, but we quickly adjusted to the confined space. Our room, the bathroom, public areas of the ship and dining areas were what we expected from our previous cruises on Oceania.
Embarkation in Auckland was not a quick process. We had to stand in line in the cruise terminal for over an hour as the limited crew slowly processed the crowd of people who had turned up from several bus transfers all at the same time. Other than that day, Oceania handled our entrances and exits very well.
Cabin Review
Veranda Stateroom
The room is comfortable for 2 people with sufficient closet space and a seating area. The space is as expected/pictured in the brochure. The TV was mounted on the wall cupboard freeing up desk space. One side of the desk had an undercounter fridge stocked with canned drinks and water - all free. Large bottles of water and ice bucket were also placed on the desk. The 2-3 electrical outlets on the desk didn't need adapters for our American made products. The desk had a large mirror above it and the room also had a floor to ceiling mirror on the wall opposite the bed. The bed was comfortable and linens changed very frequently keeping the bed looking well made. The room's overall navy and maroon color scheme was brightened with these white bed linens.The bathroom had enough room just for 1 person and came with a shower stall, sink, and hair dryer over the toilet. Shelves here provided storage for bathroom things. Towels were plentiful and thick. Terry bathrobes and disposable slippers were also provided. The veranda had 2 mesh chairs which could be adjusted at various inclines and a small low table to place drinks or other items. The room was serviced efficiently twice a day. The room was appointed as expected. This room has a good location as it is on the same end as the dining areas - 1 floor down to the Grand Dining room and 3 floors up to the Terrace Cafe and pool area. Although close to the hall exit for the elevators, there never was a problem with noise from that area.
Port Reviews
Komodo Island
An expensive 2 hour tour which mainly was a guided walk on a pathwalk through the rainforest followed by a quick view of 4-5 dozy Komodo dragons corralled in a watering spot. We had lots of time to take pictures of these animals, but only saw those these few. The market place at the exit of the trail was well supplied with T-shirts, pearl necklaces, and wood carvings of Komodo Dragons. Only way to get on the island was with a ship's excursion or to show the Destination crew an invoice from an independent operator. I thought the excursion was extremely expensive for what we got.