MS Regatta

Regatta in Stockholm, Sweden, August 2007
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 (593.7 ft)
Beam: 25.46 m (83.5 ft)
Draught: 5.95 m (19.5 ft)
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]

MS Regatta was built by 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]

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 ton 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]

Service history

Following her delivery to Renaissance Cruises in November 1998, R Two was placed on cruise traffic in the Mediterranean. Renaissance Cruises went bankrupt on 25 September 2001, following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks, and, on 7 October 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][6][7] 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][8][9][10][11]

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][12] Between 19 April and 14 June 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 15 June 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]

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 30s with polished dark wood and warm colours,[3][13] 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.[13]

Decks

The decks plans provided by Oceania Cruises only include the lay-outs of passenger accessible decks.

  1. Engine room and laundry fwd
  2. various offices
  3. Outside cabins[14]
  4. Reception, outside and inside cabins[15]
  5. Boutique, casino, bars, main dining room, lounge[16]
  6. Suites, outside and inside cabins[17]
  7. Suites, outside and inside cabins[18]
  8. Bridge, suites, outside and inside cabins[19]
  9. Card room, gym, spa, internet center, swimming pool, beauty salon, cafeteria, bar, sundeck[20]
  10. Bar/lounge, library, grill restaurant, Italian restaurant, sundeck[21]
  11. Sundeck[22]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Asklander, Micke. "M/S R Two (1998)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Retrieved 2008-03-19.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Boyle, Ian. "Renaissance". Simplon Postcards. Retrieved 2008-03-19.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 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. 1 2 3 Asklander, Micke. "M/S R One (1998)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Retrieved 2008-03-19.
  6. ↑ Asklander, Micke. "M/S R Three (1999)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Retrieved 2008-03-19.
  7. ↑ Asklander, Micke. "M/S R Four (1999)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Retrieved 2008-03-19.
  8. ↑ Asklander, Micke. "M/S R Five (2000)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Retrieved 2008-03-19.
  9. ↑ Asklander, Micke. "M/S R Six (2000)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Retrieved 2008-03-19.
  10. ↑ Asklander, Micke. "M/S R Seven (2000)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Retrieved 2008-03-19.
  11. ↑ Asklander, Micke. "M/S R Eight (2001)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Retrieved 2008-03-19.
  12. ↑ "Oceania Cruises Reviews". Cruise Critic. The Independent Traveler. 2007-06-12. Retrieved 2008-03-19.
  13. 1 2 "Regatta Cruise Reviews". Cruise Critic. The Independent Traveler. 2008-03-19. Retrieved 2008-03-19.
  14. ↑ "Deck Plans - Deck 3". Oceania Cruises. Retrieved 2008-03-19.
  15. ↑ "Deck Plans - Deck 4". Oceania Cruises. Retrieved 2008-03-19.
  16. ↑ "Deck Plans - Deck 5". Oceania Cruises. Retrieved 2008-03-19.
  17. ↑ "Deck Plans - Deck 6". Oceania Cruises. Retrieved 2008-03-19.
  18. ↑ "Deck Plans - Deck 7". Oceania Cruises. Retrieved 2008-03-19.
  19. ↑ "Deck Plans - Deck 8". Oceania Cruises. Retrieved 2008-03-19.
  20. ↑ "Deck Plans - Deck 9". Oceania Cruises. Retrieved 2008-03-19.
  21. ↑ "Deck Plans - Deck 10". Oceania Cruises. Retrieved 2008-03-19.
  22. ↑ "Deck Plans - Deck 11". Oceania Cruises. Retrieved 2008-03-19.
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