MS Regatta

MS Regatta was built for Renaissance Cruises as an R-class cruise ship, she is owned and operated by Oceania Cruises where she is part of their Regatta class.[3] She was built in 1998 by the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in St. Nazaire, France for Renaissance Cruises as R Two. Between 2002 and 2003 she sailed as Insignia before receiving her current name.[1]

Regatta in Fremantle, Australia, January 2018
History
Name:
  • 1998–2002: R Two
  • 2002–2003: Insignia
  • 2003—present: Regatta[1][2]
Owner:
Operator:
  • 1998–2001: Renaissance Cruises
  • 2001–2002: laid up
  • 2002–2003: Oceania Cruises
  • 2003: TMR
  • 2003—present: Oceania Cruises[1][2]
Port of registry:
Builder: Chantiers de l'Atlantique, St. Nazaire, France
Cost: £150 million[3]
Yard number: I31[1]
Acquired: November 1998[1]
In service: 1998[1]
Identification:
Status: In service
General characteristics [1]
Class and type:
Tonnage:
Length: 180.96 m (593 ft 8 in)
Beam: 25.46 m (83 ft 6 in)
Draught: 5.95 m (19 ft 6 in)
Decks: 9 (passenger accessible)[3]
Installed power:
Propulsion: 2 propellers[3]
Speed: 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Capacity:
  • 684 passengers (lower berths)
  • 824 passengers (all berths)[3]
Crew: 386[3]

Concept and construction

Renaissance Cruises had begun operations in 1989, with a series of eight small luxury cruise ships constructed during the course of the next three years.[2] In the mid-90s the company placed an order for eight identical 30,277 gross tonnage (GT) vessels with Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in France. The first ship in the series, MS R One, was delivered in June 1998,[5] followed by R Two in November of the same year.[1]

Design

Exterior design

R Two was built to a somewhat boxy, functional exterior appearance with a large square funnel. In Renaissance Cruises service her hull was painted dark blue, but in Oceania service this was changed to white with a thin blue stripe separating the hull from the superstructure.[3]

Interior design

The interiors of Regatta are decorated in art deco style similar to the ocean liners of the 1920s and 1930s with polished dark wood and warm colours,[3][6] described by Douglas Ward, author of the Complete Guide to Cruising and Cruise Ships, as being "stunning and elegant".[3] The ship retains most of her interior decorations from her days with Renaissance Cruises, although the lido area on deck 9 was entirely refurbished before she entered service for Oceania Cruises, while smaller changes were carried out in the cabins and restaurants.[6]

Decks

Regatta has ten decks.

Service history
Regatta in Stockholm, Sweden, August 2007

Following her delivery to Renaissance Cruises in November 1998, R Two was placed on cruise traffic in the Mediterranean. Renaissance Cruises went bankrupt on September 25, 2001, following September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and, on October 7, 2001, the R Two was arrested in Gibraltar and subsequently laid up. Six of her sisters were also laid up in Gibraltar,[1][2] with only MS R Three and MS R Four absent as they were in the Pacific Ocean at the time of the collapse of Renaissance.[2][7][8] In December 2001, R Two and the other former Renaissance ships laid up in Gibraltar were sold to Cruiseinvest, and subsequently moved to Marseille, France for further layup.[1][2][5][9][10][11][12]

In October 2002, R Two was renamed Insignia, given a $10 million refit and chartered to Oceania Cruises, a new company founded by Frank Del Rio (the former vice president of Renaissance Cruises) and Joe Watters (the former CEO of Crystal Cruises).[1][2][13] Between April 19 and June 14, 2003, Insignia was chartered to the French travel agency TMR, who marketed the ship under the name Vaisseau Renaissance (her registered name remained unchanged).[1] On June 15, 2003, the ship returned to Oceania Cruises service, but was renamed Regatta, as the name Insignia had been passed to her sister R One that had also been chartered by Oceania.[1][2][5]

Regatta was scheduled to undergo a significant renovation in September 2019 as a part of the company's $100 million OceaniaNEXT program.[14]

References
  1. Asklander, Micke. "M/S R Two (1998)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Retrieved March 19, 2008.
  2. Boyle, Ian. "Renaissance". Simplon Postcards. Retrieved March 19, 2008.
  3. Ward, Douglas (2006). Complete Guide to Cruising & Cruise Ships. Singapore: Berlitz. pp. 514–515. ISBN 981-246-739-4.
  4. "Regatta Ship Information". Oceania Cruises.
  5. Asklander, Micke. "M/S R One (1998)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Retrieved March 19, 2008.
  6. "Regatta Cruise Reviews". Cruise Critic. The Independent Traveler. March 19, 2008. Archived from the original on January 20, 2013. Retrieved March 19, 2008.
  7. Asklander, Micke. "M/S R Three (1999)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Retrieved March 19, 2008.
  8. Asklander, Micke. "M/S R Four (1999)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Retrieved March 19, 2008.
  9. Asklander, Micke. "M/S R Five (2000)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Retrieved March 19, 2008.
  10. Asklander, Micke. "M/S R Six (2000)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Retrieved March 19, 2008.
  11. Asklander, Micke. "M/S R Seven (2000)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Retrieved March 19, 2008.
  12. Asklander, Micke. "M/S R Eight (2001)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Retrieved March 19, 2008.
  13. "Oceania Cruises Reviews". Cruise Critic. The Independent Traveler. June 12, 2007. Retrieved March 19, 2008.
  14. "Oceania Cruises Remodeling Every Stateroom on Their Four Cruise Ships". cruisefever.net. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
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