Our first Regatta cruise was our third Oceania sailing, and it was familiar territory. The Regatta is a lovely, small ship, well kept and immaculate, but beginning to show her age in small ways - wood floors were water damaged here and there, a few windows in public areas were discolored, obscuring views, some steel was damaged from the salt air but covered by paint. That said, it didn't diminish the "O" experience.

The food, on which Oceania prides itself, varied from average to excellent, overall very good. Polo was head and shoulders above the other venues on this cruise. Steaks were perfectly prepared aged prime beef, lamb chops were excellent, and the accompanying dishes were well designed, well prepared and well presented. We were lucky enough to eat at Polo six times! Fresh seafood was available in several dining venues several days during the cruise, and it was all wonderful. I would have appreciated a few simpler dishes on the menus as the days went by. The complexity of the food was interesting and fun, but, you know, sometimes a simple but high quality meal is really a pleasure too. The menu also seems to repeat after two weeks - interesting since Oceania offers numerous itineraries over two weeks and has numerous passengers on back-to-back cruises.

Service was excellent, as we have come to expect from Oceania. The executive chef, Farid Oudir, was especially friendly, funny and hospitable - he even rushed down to the Main Dining Room from Polo one night when the fish dish he explained sounded so good, he insisted we just had to taste it. Our cabin was comfortable, and it's hard to beat Oceania's wonderful bed, but one of my few complaints was that it was usually noon or later before the stewards finished servicing the cabin, even though we'd vacated by 8-8:30 A.M. - possibly too many cabins assigned to these hard-working people? Regatta's verandah cabins and baths are not as large as on some other ships, and I found the lateness of the room make-up unpleasant. Read more