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]
.jpg) Regatta in Fremantle, Australia, January 2018
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | |
| Owner |
|
| Operator |
|
| 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 |
|
| Crew | 386[3] |
Concept and construction
editRenaissance 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
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Exterior design
editR 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
editThe 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
editRegatta has ten decks.
Service history
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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
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Asklander, Micke. "M/S R Two (1998)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Retrieved March 19, 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Boyle, Ian. "Renaissance". Simplon Postcards. Retrieved March 19, 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Ward, Douglas (2006). Complete Guide to Cruising & Cruise Ships. Singapore: Berlitz. pp. 514–515. ISBN 981-246-739-4.
- ^ "Regatta Ship Information". Oceania Cruises.
- ^ a b c Asklander, Micke. "M/S R One (1998)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Retrieved March 19, 2008.
- ^ a b "Regatta Cruise Reviews". Cruise Critic. The Independent Traveler. March 19, 2008. Archived from the original on January 20, 2013. Retrieved March 19, 2008.
- ^ Asklander, Micke. "M/S R Three (1999)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Retrieved March 19, 2008.
- ^ Asklander, Micke. "M/S R Four (1999)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Retrieved March 19, 2008.
- ^ Asklander, Micke. "M/S R Five (2000)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Retrieved March 19, 2008.
- ^ Asklander, Micke. "M/S R Six (2000)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Retrieved March 19, 2008.
- ^ Asklander, Micke. "M/S R Seven (2000)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Retrieved March 19, 2008.
- ^ Asklander, Micke. "M/S R Eight (2001)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Retrieved March 19, 2008.
- ^ "Oceania Cruises Reviews". Cruise Critic. The Independent Traveler. June 12, 2007. Retrieved March 19, 2008.
- ^ "Oceania Cruises Remodeling Every Stateroom on Their Four Cruise Ships". cruisefever.net. August 13, 2018. Retrieved August 14, 2018.