This is our first cruise aboard an Oceania flagged ship- the Regatta. We were encouraged to try this ship from our friends (60-ish) whom cruised on this same ship last year (2010) on the Eastern Caribbean run. They encouraged us (mid-50's) to join them this year for the Western Carribean leg, so we did. We have previously sailed aboard Carnival, Princess, & RCCL over the last 20 years.

We did research on this cruise line prior to booking. Regatta carries about 650 passeners at full capacity, and the ship is a little over 600' in length, so this is definently a small-ship experience. The ship is not set up for views of your world going by- most of the ship is exterior balconies and other areas of non-public access.

We knew that it would be an older crowd with subdued interests. We weren't suprised in that regard. After boarding, we heard that the average age of passengers was 72. As such, this cruise was tailored to that age-group. There were no ship's photographer aboard, no ice carvings, no late-night buffet, or talent contests. Evening dining ended at 9:30pm, and by then, the majority of passengers simply went to bed. There was one show per evening- 9:25-10:30pm, usually sparsely attended, and after that ended, The ship became what we started calling a "ghost ship"-there were only a handful of passengers to be found in the public areas after showtime. There was a good pianist most evenings in the martini bar. For being a carribbean cruise, very little carribean music was ever played-mostly the Lawrence Welk stuff you would expect. Read more