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

Lahaina, Maui and Hilo, Hawaii were cancelled

Preface

In October 2023, while on the Oceania Vista, we booked this cruise. Since Cathy hadn’t been to Hawaii and I wanted to go back to Polynesia after my first visit in 2005, this looked like a great cruise for us. My last visit to Hawaii was on a 2012 Celebrity cruise from San Diego. It was a 15-day cruise with just 4 port days. This would be a 15-day cruise with 11 port days. Much more of what I prefer on a cruise.

We booked three nights in Honolulu before the cruise, since I wanted to be able to show Cathy the beauty of Oahu on a circle island tour as well as the important tourist attractions in Honolulu. My biggest concern with our flight schedule was that we only had an hour and 49-minute layover at LAX before our flight to Honolulu. After checking in, we headed to the American Airlines lounge. We asked one of the ladies driving the electric shuttles where the lounge was that was closest to our gate. She offered to drive us. When we arrived at the lounge, she asked to look at our tickets. She told us that our flight was going to be delayed by five hours. Good grief! She took us to American Airlines customer service to see what could be done. After some searching, the attendant found a Hawaiian Air flight that left early the next morning from LAX that would get us to Honolulu around noon the next day. We couldn’t get our business class seats, but at least we would get to Honolulu. AA provided us with a room at an LAX airport hotel for our morning flight. While waiting at the AA lounge for an extra five hours, I was able to upgrade our seats to economy plus, which were very comfortable. Only about an inch or two less legroom than the domestic first-class seats that are used for flights to Honolulu.

While on our flight to LAX, I was able to use the planes WIFI to check my email. I read that Hawaii was under tsunami warnings due to a large earthquake in Russia. It turns out that the delayed flight was probably a good thing, since we heard about people landing in Honolulu that ended up having to spend eleven hours on a bus at the airport until there was an all-clear. With our original flight landing at 6:30 PM and the tsunami due at 7:00 PM, we probably wouldn’t have been able to get to our hotel, since everything was shut down earlier in the day.

Pre-Trip in Honolulu, Hawaii – Day 1

After landing, we waited quite a while for our luggage to appear on the carousel. Even though we were assured that the luggage was given to Hawaiian Air, I was still worried because our Apple Air Tags showed that the luggage was still at LAX. We were thrilled when we saw them riding towards us on the carousel. Once again, we used Welcome Pickups (www.welcomepickups.com) to take us to our hotel, the Outrigger Waikiki Beachcomber. It is a very nice hotel in a great location. Because we were supposed to be in the hotel the previous day, our room was ready when we arrived, rather than the normal 3:00 PM check-in. It was a nicely decorated comfortable room.

The bathroom was a nice size with plenty of counter space.

The view from the balcony was very nice with a view to the ocean and mountains.

Since we hadn’t eaten lunch, we walked across the street to Duke’s Restaurant. It is in one of the Outrigger Waikiki Beachcomber buildings on the water. Next to the building is a beach access that has surfboards locked and stored on both sides of the alleyway.

Since we could get to the restaurant on the beach, we walked down the alley and was able to get a view of Waikiki Beach with Diamond Head in the background. So pretty!

Duke’s is a very popular restaurant with seating inside the building and outside next to the beach.

Their drink glasses have a Polynesian face on them.

Cathy ordered fish tacos, and I had a pulled pork sandwich. Both were very good.

After lunch, we wanted to do a hop-on-hop-off bus, but the last routes started at 3:00 PM, which we missed. The hotel concierge told us that there was a shopping type HOHO bus that we could get on to have an easy tour around the Waikiki Beach area to see some of the sights. The pickup location was a couple blocks away in front of the Duke Kahanamoku statue. Duke, whom the restaurant we just ate at was named for is considered the father of modern surfing. He was also an Olympian winning swimming gold medals in the 1912 and 1920 Olympics and a silver medal in 1924 at the age of 34. The 9-foot-tall bronze statue is a popular photo opp.

The HOHO bus took us around to the commercial areas and we saw places we wouldn’t have walked to; but had we not missed our flight the previous day, we would have been seeing the natural beauty on a full day circle island tour. We now have something to do when we return.

We went back to the hotel and rested up a bit, so we would be able to stay awake longer and adapt to the six-hour time difference. That evening we had reservations for a popular restaurant, the Hula Grill. It is just above Duke’s, where we ate lunch. It is a much more traditional and quieter restaurant than Duke’s.

Plus, being on the second floor, the view is even nicer. We were there during the sunset, but the sun couldn’t be seen from the restaurant. It still made Diamond Head look pretty.

We went to bed early that night. We were exhausted from a very long travel day.

Pre-Trip in Honolulu, Hawaii – Day 2

In the morning, we ate a quick breakfast at the hotel’s coffee shop. We had a city tour through Robert’s Hawaii (LINK) as well as a visit to the Pearl Harbor Arizona memorial. Our tour guide was Simon. He did a good job providing us with lots of info and was very helpful during the tour to help us get the most of our stops.

When we got to Pearl Harbor, Simon gave us our tickets and told us where to go to see a video about the attack on Pearl Harbor and the reasons for it. He isn’t allowed to give tours in the National Park, so he left us with all the info we needed to have a nice visit. We could see the memorial across the water from the entrance.

We first headed to the building where the video was about to start. It was an excellent video that provided us with a lot of information I wasn’t aware of about the reasons for Japan’s attack. With us still having some time before our assigned boat time to the memorial, we walked through one of the museums. We decided to walk around to kill a little time. Even though the temperature was very mild, it was quite hot in the direct sunshine, so we waited in a shaded area with a replica of the Arizona’s bell.

After boarding the boat to the memorial, we passed by the visiting USS Carl Vincent aircraft carrier. It was impressive.

As we approached the Arizona, we had a better view of the memorial.

Before disembarking the boat, they told us that since the sunken Arizona is a war grave containing over 900 sailors and marines that we should respect the dead by talking quietly and acting respectfully.

The names of the 1.177 sailors and marines that died on the Arizona are all listed on the interior wall of the memorial.

You can see the Arizona under the memorial, but the few parts that are still sticking out of the water draw most attention.

Not far away the USS Missouri is docked. It was the last battleship built commissioned by the United States. It was completed in 1944 and was used during the war. It is now a floating museum.

After spending some time at the memorial, I saw the small boat that would pick us up for the return ride approaching the dock.

We got in line and returned to the main park area. On the way, I was able to get a different angle on the aircraft carrier.

Walking around the grounds, we came to the Arizona's anchor.

There was also an area of plaques on pedestals for each ship that was sunk or damaged at Pearl Harbor.

Close by was the USS Bowfin submarine. It was launched exactly a year after the Dec. 7, 1941 attack. She is available for tours, but we didn’t have time for that. We could have spent a lot more time at the park, but the tour didn’t stay there long enough.

We next started the city tour portion of the excursion. On the way to our first destination, we passed by a lovely painting on the side of a building.

We went to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, which is commonly referred to as the Punchbowl, since it is in the Punchbowl crater. It is a beautiful place.

At one end is a large memorial.

We next stopped at the Judiciary History Center which is the home of the Hawaii State Supreme Court and used in the opening credits of the Hawaii Five-O TV show.

In front of the building is the King Kamehameha Statue. He united the Hawaiian islands and was the first ruler of the Kingdom of Hawaii.

Simon told us to be sure to go around the side of the building to see the large banyan tree. When we got there, he took our photo standing in the center of it.

Across the street was the Iolani Palace, the official residence of Hawaii’s last reigning monarch. It is the only royal palace in the United States.

We then went back to the starting point where the tour ended. It was a very comprehensive tour that we enjoyed. Simon did a good job.

Once back at the hotel, we didn’t have a lot of time, since we were being picked up at 3:15 PM at the same place we were just dropped off for a Luau. This was not one of the big showy luaus with hundreds of people in a large stadium. It was a much more intimate one that takes place on top of a mountain at the Nutridge Estate. It is called Experience Nutridge (https://experiencenutridge.com). It was been referred to us by a friend and the reviews were glowing, so we were looking forward to this experience.

We were picked up by a van that drove up the curvy road to the top of the mountain. There were many beautiful views along the way, including this one. Most photos you see of Diamond Head only show the end of it. From this vantage point, we could see the whole length of the crater. Quite different from the Waikiki Beach view.

When we arrived, we were told to wait outside the facility until everyone arrived. The staff told us that we could walk around the woods close by.

Once everyone arrived, we were led through the gate to the grounds. We sat down on benches around a small stage area. A young lady told us what would be happening the rest of the day in an entertaining way. We were told that Nutridge was the first Macademia plantation in Hawaii and the tree we were sitting under was one of the old ones. Kind of cool!

There were only 50 people in our group. The maximum is 80, so it is quite different from most of the Honolulu Luaus. We had a little music and dance presentation that got us in the mood for more.

We got up to walk to the next presentation area. On the way, we saw gardens where they grew many of the items that would be served that evening.

We also saw the building up the hill where we would eat.

We continued our walk through the lush grounds until we sat down at another presentation area. There was more entertainment including a fire show.

After that show, we had some free time to walk around the grounds and take in the views and enjoy the surroundings. It is a very pretty place, but also quite steep in places.

We then walked up to the dining area, where we could get drinks and sit down at the tables. We were assigned seats with cards on the tables with our names on them. It was such a beautiful place to drink and dine.

We were told to take a container with a salad and roll. There were several dressings we could add to the salads.

We then moved to the buffet area where there were several items to put on our plates. There was a local style BBQ chicken, a steamed pork and butterfish with luau leaf, authentic emu cooked pork and taro burger with gravy. Everything was quite tasty.

For dessert there were plates with passion a fruit bar, pineapple, sweet potato and a coconut based Hawaiian dessert.

As we were finishing our meal, everyone started taking photos of the colorful sunset. It was a nice one.

We then enjoyed a very entertaining show with local music and dancing.

After the show, I had to take photo looking down at the illuminated Honolulu.

It was a very enjoyable evening. When we arrived, they told us that we were now a part of their family. Everyone was so sweet and friendly. It really felt like a family dinner and entertainment rather than some big production. We were so glad that we had been able to participate in this special luau.

This would be our last night in Honolulu, so when we got back to the hotel, we were able to organize our plans for packing and going to the ship. I previously asked the concierge to order us a taxi to get to the Regatta in the morning.

Embarkation

We had a nice leisurely breakfast close to the hotel before our taxi picked up around 10:30 AM. The cost was only about $25. We arrived close to our assigned 11:00 AM boarding time. Checking in was a breeze. We were on board in no time. We went to our muster station to check in and then went to the specialty dining desk to fix a reservation that needed to be changed due to the ship’s itinerary change. We looked around the ship a bit and then headed to lunch in the buffet. The cruise had started.

Ship

The Regatta is a relatively small ship at 30,277 tons and is only 594 feet long. The double passenger capacity is just 670. The ship was built in 1998 by the Renaissance Cruise Line as the R-Two. We were most impressed in how well maintained the ship is. Everything looked very fresh and in great shape. We do prefer the larger Oceania ships, but the Regatta is a very nice cruise ship. The various public rooms are shown below by category.

Dining Rooms (Link to Menus)

I have included copies of the menus for the main dining room along with photos of some of the food items at the Menus link just above and at the top of each page of the review.

Grand Dining Room – This is the main dining room and is located on deck 5 at the back of the ship. The decorations are elegant and in a classic style. The tables were arranged where there was adequate room for passengers and waiters to move around.

We thought that the chargers were quite attractive.

Since my first cruise on the Regatta, many renovations were made to the ship. Most notable in this room was the addition of the attractive lighting in the center of the room. It was previously a round renaissance painting. I like the new lighting better.

We ate most dinners, a lunch and a couple breakfasts in the Grand Dining Room. Every meal is open seating, so you can go to the dining room whenever you would like. The service from the Waiters, Assistants and Maître d’s were just outstanding. That isn’t to say that we didn’t have to occasionally wait for our food to arrive; but since we weren’t in a hurry to eat, we were quite happy.

Toscana – The Toscana Italian specialty restaurant is located on deck 10 at the back of the ship on the port side. For a specialty restaurant, we found the room to be rather bland looking. It didn’t feel like an Italian restaurant. There is no extra cost for the specialty restaurants on Oceania; but you do need to book reservations before you get on the ship to be sure you can get the days and times you want. It has a more casual feel than the Grand Dining Room with the lighter colors and décor.

Both specialty restaurants are long L shaped rooms with the short part of the L looking out to the sea on the back of the ship with sloping windows.

We found the menu choices, food preparation and taste to be very good as we have found on other Oceania cruises. We always enjoy the olive oil and balsamic vinegar cart that is brought around at the beginning of the meal. It allows you to choose the ones you want. The waiter’s descriptions and recommendations are most helpful.

Polo Grill - This is the steak house type specialty restaurant. It is located on the starboard side of the ship on deck 10 aft. It has the feel of a traditional steak house with the leather chairs and dark wood.

Like with Toscana, the part of the restaurant at the back of the ship had sloping windows.

It is a very comfortable restaurant and makes one want to relax and enjoy the atmosphere, wonderful service and different food choices that aren’t available in the Grand Dining Room. The steaks were pretty good, but it seemed like the whole Maine lobster was the most popular menu choice there.

Terrace Café – The buffet restaurant was where we ate most breakfasts and lunches. It is on the back of deck nine. It was very popular; but we normally had no problem getting a table. The food serving area is made up of two granite counters across from each other. The space between the counters can get pretty crazy on port days when so many people are going to breakfast at the same time.

There was plenty of seating on both sides of the room. If the weather had been cold or raining, the main room would probably have been quite crowded, since the outside areas wouldn't be available.

At the back of the restaurant is the Terrace Patio area. It is open air and partially covered. It is a great place to eat and would get crowded on this cruise with the beautiful weather and outstanding scenery. We would go there and look for a table in the shade as soon as we entered to hopefully find what we were looking for.

It is always nice to be able to watch the wake while dining.

In the evening the buffet would frequently have themed dinners, like Asian, French, Polynesian, etc. The only one we went to was on the day we were in Nuka Hiva. The chef told everyone at his cooking demonstration on one of the sea days that they would be getting fresh tuna in Nuka Hiva and to not miss the buffet that evening. It was very good.

Waves Grill – This light dining venue is next to the pool area on deck nine. They offer hamburgers, hot dogs, Rueben sandwiches and other items.

They have a nice salad bar where you can make your own to go with your main meal.

There is non-air conditioned seating next to the food preparation area.

You place an order at the counter, and they bring your order to you. Since you are given a number, you can also sit inside the air-conditioned Terrace Café, in the outside area adjoining the grill or around the pool if you wish, rather than in the grill area.

There is also an ice cream bar that makes shakes, malts and smoothies while you wait.

Lounges (Link to Menus) -

Martinis – This lounge is located in the middle of the ship on deck 5. This was one of two bars that had happy hours between the hours of 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM each day. The other was Horizons. The two for one drinking sessions were very popular at both lounges.

In the evening piano player Geoff provided entertainment for the patrons. He was quite good and took requests. His song selection was most enjoyable. In order to get a seat while Geoff was playing at happy hour, we would need to arrive very close to 5:00 PM, since it would fill up quickly.

Horizons Bar - This is a bar and an entertainment area. Being on the front of deck 10, the view was the best on the ship.

With it being the second largest entertainment venue on the ship, they had many things going on day and night. All late-night entertainment took place there. A duet, Lu & Sebastion, would play there during happy hour and through the evening.

There is a smoking room at the back port side of Horizon's that is totally enclosed. It is the only interior area on the ship where passengers can smoke.

Grand Bar/Baristas - This bar is located right in front of the Grand Dining Room. It is very convenient for a drink before dinner, especially since the string duet, the Capella Strings, performed there. While going through my 2014 review of the Regatta, I found that they previously had a string quartet rather than a duet. They were still most enjoyable.

Alcoholic beverages are served after 6:00 PM, just after happy hour ends in Martinis and Horizons. Between 6:30 AM and 6:00 PM this is Baristas coffee bar. They have some sweet snacks to have with your coffee available next to the bar, but they were mostly cookies. It is a good place for reading during the day in the comfortable chairs.