It's official, I'm absolutley exhausted! I've just got back from a day trip to the Oceania ship Regatta, where I was treated to a tour of the ship and given a free lunch- It's a hard job but I supose someones got to do it.
I breifly discussed Oceania yesterday, they're an American brand that pitch themselves as five star plus, but actualy end up getting rated by passengers as six star. Check out some reviews, they have a repeat business number of 40%, and we all know cruisers vote with their feet.
They're all about attention to luxurious detail onboard, from the large cabins, to the 700 thread Egyptian cotton sheets, (soon to be replaced by 1000 thread cotton sheets - that doesn't mean much to me but I felt the bedding and man was it comfy!), to the 28 day dry aged beef served at dinner.
I expected to find the ship quite stuffy and formal, not from what I had heard from past passengers but just from my own preconceptions of six star cruise liners, but they were anything but.
The best way to describe it is country club casual, elegant but relaxed,informal but still luxurious.
But enough of me going on, we all know a picture tells a thousand words so let me know what you think..............
Again ignore the dates on the photos, I still haven't figured out how to change the date on my camera.
Again ignore the dates on the photos, I still haven't figured out how to change the date on my camera.
The theme of leather and dark wood is one that you will see repeated right throufg out the ship, not to everyones taste but somethin I absolutley love.
I couldn't find any aspect of the decor of the ship that didn't seemly blend from one section to the next, again tastefully done in dark wood.
The pool deck, hopefully the weather will be a bit nicer when you get onboard.
Aveiw of the pools from the other side of the deck, note the two hot tubs to relax in.
Hmmm, I need to get a new camera 5 mega pixels I dont think. This was one of the speciality resteraunts for which passengers dont have to pay a cover charge for. All guests get to use them at least once per sailing for free. By the way all your soft drinks are also included for free, only alcholic drinks have to be paid for.
An example of one of the finley laid tables -they'll get better once we hit the main dining room.
All the speciality resteraunts have an abundance of tables of two, with romantic sea views.
You can see that the theme of a relaxed country club atmosphere is continued in all sections of the ship.
I love these tables next to the sloped window and can only imagine how amazing it would be to enjoy an intimate dinner with the blinds pulled back and the stars shining down on you.
Some of the decor in another of the speciality resteraunts.
One of the many bars scattered throughout the ship.
Another good example of the relaxed and comfatable furniture featured in all the bars and resteraunts.
The main staircase, just opposite the lifts. Trust me take the stairs, you'll need the extra excersice to burn of all the delicous food you'll be treated to.
Oh my god, I love this room.....
When I win the lottery........
This is how I'm going to be redecorating my house......
It's the libary aboard ship and reminds me very much........
Of an 18th century, upper class Gentlemans club. And lets face it if anyone knows luxury, those guys did!
I have so got to get myself a full length cruise on this ship.
It's th little features like this that really make a room I think.
An outside cafe/grill where they make the burgers from the same 28 day dry aged beef used for the main meals. I also have it on good authority that our marketing manager, last time he did an Oceania cruise, was in the habit of having two of these burgers evey day for lunch.
The main pool deck with sun loungers.
Egyptian cotton toweling, extremley comfatable!
did you notice these in the last but one picture? These fans are above every sun lounger for use on a hot day. You've got to love that kind of attention to comfort, haven't you?
A state of the art gym to help burn off all those steaks you'll be eating, although I'm told attendence at the gym isn't compulsory.
The internet cafe with wi-fi access charged at 95cents a minute, or if you want to check your emails every day you can purchase packages.
A balcony cabin. The inside and outside cabins looked the same in terms of size and decor, just minus a balcony or window depending.
For anyone thats really interested, the toilet in the cabins, there's a large shower just off shot.
Not massivley interesting, I just really liked the floor tiles in this corridor.
A chill out area in the center of the ship where you can stop and listen to a ......
string quartet. I stopped and listened for awhile and they're actualy very good. No Abba tribute acts here............which is always a bonus.
The casino, where you can blow all your hard earned money on roulette.......
Black Jack.........
or you can just see the gamblers in the background.
Tha main theatre - very spacious and comfortable, no feeling of overcrowding that I've felt in some theatres at sea.
One of the corridors leading down the ship. I've included it just so you can see how tasteful the decor is, whilst still leaving a light and airy feeling to the ship.
Now were getting to my favourite bit of the day - Lunch. By the way the tour of the ship took about 45mins/an hour, we were in the main dining room fo 2 and a half hours. You'll see why in a minute, and it wasn't because the service was slow.
This is the waiting area for guests to relax in whilst they wait to be seated.
The ceiling was decorated waith a Greco/Roman murial but without lying flat out on the floor it was quite hard to take a picture of.
Hmmmm, don't think it turned out to bad.
The Cruise.co.uk posse I traveled down with. From left to right, Kimberley, Drew, Kate, Richard and yours truly. By the way, just for the record, Drew stopped at my house the night before and he really, really sucks at Guitar Hero.
300 Euro Versace plates. Security confiscated mine leaving the ship.
And now we come to it
Dinner
ALl six courses of it!
Warm crushed baby potato with chives and Caviar
Polenta Souffle with Black Truffle
Porcini and morel mushroom sauuce
Risotto All' Aragosta
Lobster risotto with meat jus glace
Spiced tenderloin of black angus beef with vidalia onion and sun-dried tomato sauce
Maxime potato and glazed vegtables with rosemary jus
Warm Valrhona choclate bouchon
Filled with passion fruit lava
Pastry Chefs selection of petit fours and macaroons
So, in summary, no kids facilities to speak of, (thats not to say children and families aren't welcome, quite the opposite, it's just not a market Oceanias chasing), a relaxed an informal country club atmosphere with amazing attention to detail and food that has to be tried to be believed.
Especialy with their 2011 sale now on this is one six star luxury liner I'm going to be recomending to everyone.
Follow the link here to check out their amazing Winter 2011 deals.
Happy cruising
No, No, No I can't resist it. You've brought back all the fabulous memories of our first cruise on Insignia.
ReplyDeleteIt is a fantastic experience and I've been afraid to try another cruise line as I doubt they'll match up to this one.
As they're not huge ships they get into smaller ports than the humongous ones so you get more choice of places to visit.
You mentioned the bedlinen, I can say the beds were fabulous, so comfortable, the pillows too. The food was absolutely delicious, so much choice. Lots of people liked the Grand Dining Room where you could get huge steaks but I especially liked the buffet as you could eat outside and there were never any queues. They had a chocolate fountain every night with gorgeous fresh fruit and the home made ice cream available all day was wonderful. As a non meat eater I've never had so much choice anywhere.
My only criticism was the pool, it was far too small to swim in. They should get a Swimex machine like Fred Olsen but it's a minor criticism!
Just off to check your link to the prices for next year!
Don't think I'll be booking a cruise with someone that tries to steal the €300 Versace chargers.....
ReplyDeleteHmmmm! Hi anonymous. I thought it was clear from the tone but that was obviously a joke. At no point did I ever try to steal anything from the Regatta.
ReplyDelete