Polynesian Dreams on the Oceania Regatta
7/29/2025 to 8/18/2025

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Page 1 – Pre-Trip in Honolulu, Embarkation, Ship
Page 2 – Ship (Continued), Cabin, Activities, Entertainment
Page 3 - Ports of Call: Nawiliwili, Kauai; Kailua-Kona, Hawaii
Page 4 - Ports of Call:    Nuka Hiva, French Polynesia; Rangiroa, French Polynesia; Raiatea, French Polynesia; Bora Bora, French Polynesia
Page 5 - Ports of Call:   Bora Bora, French Polynesia - Day 2; Papeete, Tahiti

Ship - Continued

Entertainment -

Regatta Lounge – Located at the front of deck 5, this is the main venue for activities needing a large seating area. It was also used for the evening shows. I liked the corridor into the lounge. There is of course a large bar at the back of the theater.

This lounge is my least favorite area on this class of ship, because the seating is not that good for watching a show. With there being no incline to the floor, the people’s heads in front of you block your view of the show. I realize there isn’t anything that can be done about it, since it is a small ship; but it bothers me. On the positive side though, you are always close to the performers because the lounge is relatively small.

If you are sitting behind several rows of seats, it is most difficult to get a decent view of the stage

One other drawback on the Nautica Lounge is that there is only a single stall rest room on that end of the ship. Otherwise, you have to go all the way back to the main dining area at the other end of the ship.

Casino – The small casino is located just in front of Martinis on deck 5.

Other -

The other venues are listed in order of the deck they are list on starting on deck 4 and moving up the ship.

Reception Hall – This is the area on deck 4 at the base of the ornate staircase. There is a nice sitting area, which is pretty quiet since not many people hang out on deck 4. The Concierge, Reception Desk and Destination Services are also close by. This is the area where we entered the ship in Honolulu and exited the ship in Papeete. All other entry and exits were done on deck 3, either using the tender or dock.

The staircase is probably the most recognized feature of the all the R Class ships. It does make one feel like they are cruising on an old classic ocean liner.

The staircase has also been modernized when upgraded. This is what it looked like in 2014.

Reception Desk – Being right at the base of the staircase, it is easy to find the Reception Desk. The reception team was very friendly and helpful.

Destination Services – Located in the center of the ship on deck 4. This is where you can buy excursions or get questions answered about what to do in the ports. Oceania is known for having expensive excursions. We prefer to book private excursions when we can, but it made sense to use the ship excursions on some of these small islands. Oceania has a feature where if you purchase 6 excursions, you will get the World Collection pricing for them that is 25% lower. This makes their pricing much more reasonable. The number of excursions needed to get the World Collection pricing varies by cruise depending on the number of ports you visit.

Concierge – On the starboard side of the reception hall is the Concierge desk.

Boutiques – There are only two shops on the Regatta, both located on deck 5. One is mainly a clothes store with logo items and miscellaneous goods. Tables would regularly be put out in front of the boutiques offering special items.

The other is mainly a jewelry shop that also carries a few cosmetic and perfume items.

Upper Hall – Located on deck 5 in the middle of the ship, it is also a lovely area of the ship, since it is at the top end of the staircase. The whole area is quite elegant. The string duet also played there regularly, which added to the elegance.

The person to request additional specialty restaurant dining reservations was located at the back of the upper hall on the starboard side at a desk in front of the Grand Bar and Grand Dining Room.

Laundry – The Laundry Room is located midship on the port side of deck 7. It is a nice size room with four washers and four dryers, two each on opposite sides of the room. Irons and ironing boards are also available. It is very busy, especially at the beginning and end of the cruise.

There is no charge to use the machines, and soap is provided for free by pushing a button on the soap dispenser at the right time for your individual washer. I was glad that they no longer charge $2.00 to use each of the machines as they did in 2014.

Aquamar Spa – The Regatta has a very nicely decorated spa area on deck nine. It seemed to be quite popular with passengers; since people were waiting for their services whenever I passed by.

The styling salon appeared to be well equipped.

The massage therapy rooms looked very nice and had a waiting area outside of them.

Even the dressing rooms were first class.

Close by was a steam room and showers.

At the very front of the spa area is the Spa Terrace. This area is only accessible by Concierge level and Suite guests. It is a lovely sunning area with a private hot tub.

Fitness Center – The Fitness Center is located on the front of deck nine on the starboard side next to the Canyon Ranch Spa. The equipment looked good; but even though I work out regularly when home, I just never went back after taking photos. They did have a lot of classes that could be participated in for a price.

Board Room – The Regatta has a very comfortable Card Room. It is located on the port side of deck 9 next to the Canyon Ranch Spa at the front of the ship.

Oceania at Sea – This is the computer/internet area located on the port side of deck 9 next to the Canyon Ranch Spa at the front of the ship behind the board room. Since there were no classes or activities related to computers, the room was rarely used.

Pool – The Pool area located midship on deck 9 is nicely arranged with very comfortable padded lounge chairs. It is a small pool, but adequate size for the number of swimmers on this cruise.

There are spas located on each side of the pool.

The loungers in the shaded areas stayed full most of the time.

There is a small outdoor smoking area on the starboard side at the front of the pool area next to Waves Bar. There is a ping pong table located port side at the front of the pool area next to Waves Bar.

The Patio – On deck 9 there was a comfortable sitting area that was between the buffet and pool areas. It was quite popular since the weather was so pleasant, and it was shaded.

Fitness Track – On deck ten above the pool area was a walking/running track. It was also a great place to view sail away and the ports.

Library – The deck ten English style Library is a very attractive and comfortable room. The dark woods, fancy carpets, plush furniture and fireplace make for quite an opulent room.

But the highlight is the illuminated domed ceiling. It is designed to appear to be the view from an English greenhouse.

Sun Deck - Most of the decks on the Regatta are well maintained teak wood, which look lovely and are just a pleasure to walk on. One of these is deck 11, called the Sun Deck. It is a large expanse of deck with lounge chairs. Since there are only a few chairs, people can move them around to get the best exposure for a tan. It is also a great place to be during sail away and port arrival, since it is at the top front of the ship.

Putting Green – At the very front of the ship on the deck 10 sun deck is a small putting green area. There used to be cabanas for rent in this area along with a single green. I always intend to try it out, but in all my cruises, I never have. Maybe on the next one.

Shuffleboard – At the front of the ship on the deck 10 sun deck behind the putting green on the port side is a shuffleboard area.

Equipment for the putting green and shuffleboard is in two bins close by.

Cornhole - At the front of the ship on the deck 10 sun deck behind the putting green on the starboard side is a shuffleboard area. There used to be a golf driving cage there. I think cornhole is probably more popular, but I never went up to the sun deck after taking photos.

Cabin

We had midship penthouse suite 8030 located on the port side of the ship. On this older class of ship, most of the cabins are smaller than on the newer ships. The penthouse suite is 322 square feet. where the other veranda cabins are only 216 square feet. On the newer Oceania ships the penthouse suites are 440 square feet and the other verandas 291 square feet. A significant difference. Our cabin was very comfortable with plenty of seating space.

The main closet was very functional, along with a separate one that had a safe and drawers.

The cabin had a very large TV and plenty of desk/counter space, which was appreciated. However, the TV did not move to aim toward the bed.

Under the counter was a refrigerator stocked with sodas and a bottle of prosecco.

On either side of the bed was a nightstand with US and European electric outlets along with a USB-A port.

The bathroom was on the small side, but functional. The lack of counter space was offset with medicine cabinets on either side of the sink. There was also some cabinet space under the sink that was most helpful.

The veranda wasn’t deep, but it was very wide. The view down was mostly unobstructed, as were the fore and aft views.

Being in a penthouse suite, we had a butler, Dilip. We never used him for anything, since we don’t eat in our cabin or didn’t want canapés. When on the newer Oceania ships with four specialty restaurants, we normally use the butler to get additional reservations.

Sabas and Ruth were our housekeeping team. They did a very good job for us. We rarely saw either of them, since they always managed to make up our room when we were away. We did get to say hi to them in the hallway on some days.

Entertainment

We had a very good Cruise Director, Beven Addinsall. He was a television sensation in Australia on the show Young Talent Time for five years from the age of 11 to 16. He has been involved in the entertainment business ever since. He was involved in so many things during the cruise, including being the MC for all the evening shows and many of the activities. We hope to have him as a Cruise Director again on future Oceania or Regent cruises.

Performers –

We were very pleased with the guest performers. It was a nice variety of enjoyable talent.

David Williamson – David is an amazing magician. He put on two evening shows and a magic class on one of the sea days to share how to do some tricks. He is a very nice guy. This is his website: https://davidwilliamson.com

Craig Richard – He was titled as a universal instrumentalist in the daily program. He did two shows for us. He is much more than that. He is also a keynote speaker and world class athlete. Craig was a finalist on American Ninja Warrior, which is no easy feat. He has quite a fascinating story that he shared with the audience. This info was on his website: https://www.craigrichard.com

His extraordinary rock-climbing story was featured on the popular Travel Channel TV show “Got Home Alive,” where he overcame a devastating accident against all odds. One year after shattering his leg, he reached the 3,000 ft summit of El Capitan, one of the most difficult rock climbs in the world.

Sonia Selbie – We previously saw Sonia on the Oceania Vista in 2023. We were so glad to get to see her again. Sonia is a very good high energy singer. She sings almost every genre of music during her shows. She loves performing and gave us two excellent shows. Below is her website with a sample of her performance.
https://www.soniaselbie.com

Rachel Zimmerman – She is one of the members of the production staff that put on her own show.

Beven Addinsall – Our Cruise Director put on a very entertaining show for us one of the evenings. He sang along to his younger version that sang the same song, How Great Thou Art, 40 years earlier. Here is a link to his website: https://www.beven.com.au

Here Ori Folkloric Troup – This was a large local group that came on board our last night in Bora Bora. They performed local songs and dances. It was quite a show. It is a shame that we didn’t have a larger stage for them to spread out on.

Production Shows –

With the Regatta being a small ship, our expectations were low for the production shows, but we would enjoy them anyway. We were pleasantly surprised. All the shows were better than expected despite the small cast size, 4 singers and just 2 dancers. Most of the casts have 4 singers, but more dancers even on the smaller ships. I always enjoy the dance routines and disappointed when there were only 2 dancers. But those two were very good and I enjoyed them thoroughly. Additionally, the band only had 4 members. The saxophonist could not be on the cruise for some reason to accompany the regular and bass guitars, pianist and drummer. In 2014 the band had eight members. They also played 30 minutes of dance music in the theater before the show for those that wanted to dance. The shows were:

Showdown – This was a mock singing competition featuring Motown favorites.

Good Lovin’ – This show was a tribute to the Motown classics

Broadway in Concert – By the title you can tell that it was a collection of Broadway tunes.

Debonaire – This was described as a fresh take on the music of the Rat Pack, the Great American Songbook and more.

Activities

The ship had many activities during our five sea days, including bridge lessons, trivia, bingo and other fun games. Below are just a few of those.

Cruise Critic Meet and Greet (www.cruisecritic.com) - We have been on the website www.cruisecritic.com for 24 years. It has provided us with so much valuable information that has helped us so much. By joining what is called a roll call on Cruise Critic, we can meet other cruisers online that will be cruising on the same cruise as us many months before the cruise. This is very helpful in setting up private tours with other people; plus, it allows us to communicate with people before the cruise that we have become friends with during and after the cruise. Oceania set up a meet & greet after one of the roll call members, Lisa, notified Oceania of the 29 people on our roll call that wished to attend. It was set up in Horizons with a very good attendance. It was nice to finally meet the people we were chatting with for months before the cruise.

Cooking Demonstration – On one of the sea days, the Executive Chef had a cooking class in the Regatta Lounge. It was very well attended.

Regatta Pop Choir – This was quite a fun activity for those that were involved in it. Pianist/singer Geoff met with anyone that wanted to be involved in a short singing show each sea day. He would coach them on how to sing the songs that were selected. It isn’t easy to get everyone to do their part properly to harmonize. The choir members just loved Geoff and how he worked with them. He is a great guy. On the last sea day, they gave a performance to standing room only crowds in Martinis at 6:30 PM. They did an outstanding job and it was most enjoyable for everyone.

Enrichment Speakers -

Linda Bradley – Linda is a retired professor who taught at Washington State University and the University of Hawaii. She is a scholar of Polynesian art, clothing, textiles and architecture. She has authored several books on the subjects. She had lectures on Hawaiian shirts, Hawaiian fashion, creative arts, Hawaiian architecture and interiors and Gaugin’s depiction of Polynesia.

Mike Bradley – Mike is Linda Bradley’s husband. He is a lifelong sailor who has taken courses on oceanography and volcanic geology. He also studied ancient Polynesian ways of voyaging. He had presentations relating to Captain Cook, sailing and navigation and Hawaii’s 442 Regiment.

Heidi Hart – Heidi is a Hawaiian entertainer who had several Polynesian dance classes, as well as a lei making class. Since I didn’t attend those activities, I didn’t get a photo of her.

Polynesian Dreams on the Oceania Regatta 7/29/2025 to 8/18/2025