MS Regatta

{{Short description|Cruise ship built in 1998}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2019}}

{{Infobox ship begin}}

{{Infobox ship image

|Ship image=Regatta, Fremantle, 2018 (04).jpg

|Ship caption=Regatta in Fremantle, Australia, January 2018

}}

{{Infobox ship career

|Hide header=

|Ship name=*1998–2002: R Two

  • 2002–2003: Insignia
  • 2003—present: Regatta{{cite web |url=http://www.faktaomfartyg.se/r_two_1998.htm |title=M/S R Two (1998) |accessdate=March 19, 2008 |last=Asklander |first=Micke |work=Fakta om Fartyg |language=Swedish }}{{cite web |url=http://www.simplonpc.co.uk/Renaissance.html |title=Renaissance |accessdate=March 19, 2008 |last=Boyle |first=Ian |work=Simplon Postcards }}

|Ship owner=*1998–2001: Renaissance Cruises

|Ship operator=*1998–2001: Renaissance Cruises

  • 2001–2002: laid up
  • 2002–2003: Oceania Cruises
  • 2003: TMR
  • 2003—present: Oceania Cruises

|Ship registry=*1998–2001: Monrovia, {{flag|Liberia|civil}}

  • 2001—present: Majuro, {{flag|Marshall Islands|civil}}

|Ship route=

|Ship ordered=

|Ship builder=Chantiers de l'Atlantique, St. Nazaire, France

|Ship original cost=£150 million{{cite book |title=Complete Guide to Cruising & Cruise Ships |last=Ward |first=Douglas |year=2006 |publisher=Berlitz |location=Singapore |isbn=981-246-739-4 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/berlitz2006compl00doug/page/514 514–515] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/berlitz2006compl00doug/page/514 }}

|Ship yard number=I31

|Ship way number=

|Ship laid down=

|Ship launched=

|Ship completed=

|Ship christened=

|Ship acquired=November 1998

|Ship maiden voyage=

|Ship in service=1998

|Ship out of service=

|Ship identification =*Call sign: V7DM3

  • {{IMO Number|9156474}}
  • {{MMSI|538001664}}

|Ship fate=

|Ship status=In service

|Ship notes=

}}

{{Infobox ship characteristics

|Hide header=

|Header caption=

|Ship class=* {{sclass2|R|cruise ship}} (as built)

  • {{sclass|Regatta|cruise ship|1}} (currently)

|Ship tonnage=*{{GT|30,277}}{{cite web |url=http://www.oceaniacruises.com/ships/regatta/default.aspx |title=Regatta Ship Information |publisher=Oceania Cruises}}

  • {{DWT|2,700}}

|Ship displacement=

|Ship length={{convert|180.96|m|ftin|abbr=on}}

|Ship beam={{convert|25.46|m|ftin|abbr=on}}

|Ship height=

|Ship draught={{convert|5.95|m|ftin|abbr=on}}

|Ship depth=

|Ship decks=9 (passenger accessible)

|Ship deck clearance=

|Ship ramps=

|Ship ice class=

|Ship power=*4{{nbsp}}×{{nbsp}}Wärtsilä 12V32

  • {{cvt|13,500|kW|lk=on}} (combined)

|Ship propulsion=2 propellers

|Ship speed={{convert|18|kn}}

|Ship capacity=*684 passengers (lower berths)

  • 824 passengers (all berths)

|Ship crew=386

|Ship notes=

}}

MS Regatta was built for Renaissance Cruises as an {{sclass2|R|cruise ship}}, she is owned and operated by Oceania Cruises where she is part of their {{sclass|Regatta|cruise ship|4}}. 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.

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. In the mid-90s the company placed an order for eight identical {{GT|30,277|disp=long|adj=on}} vessels with Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in France. The first ship in the series, {{MS|R One}}, was delivered in June 1998,{{cite web |url=http://www.faktaomfartyg.se/r_one_1998.htm |title=M/S R One (1998) |accessdate=March 19, 2008 |last=Asklander |first=Micke |work=Fakta om Fartyg |language=Swedish }} followed by R Two in November of the same year.

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.

=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,{{cite web |url=http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review_page2.cfm?ShipID=287 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130120074608/http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review_page2.cfm?ShipID=287 |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 20, 2013 |title=Regatta Cruise Reviews |accessdate=March 19, 2008 |date=March 19, 2008 |work=Cruise Critic |publisher=The Independent Traveler }} described by Douglas Ward, author of the Complete Guide to Cruising and Cruise Ships, as being "stunning and elegant". 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.

=Decks=

Regatta has ten decks.

Service history

Image:Regatta Stockholm.jpg, Sweden, August 2007]]

File:MS Regatta sailing from White Bay Cruise Terminal.jpg , February 2024]]

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, 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.{{cite web |url=http://www.faktaomfartyg.se/r_three_1999.htm |title=M/S R Three (1999) |accessdate=March 19, 2008 |last=Asklander |first=Micke |work=Fakta om Fartyg |language=Swedish }}{{cite web |url=http://www.faktaomfartyg.se/r_four_1999.htm |title=M/S R Four (1999) |accessdate=March 19, 2008 |last=Asklander |first=Micke |work=Fakta om Fartyg |language=Swedish }} 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.{{cite web |url=http://www.faktaomfartyg.se/r_five_2000.htm |title=M/S R Five (2000) |accessdate=March 19, 2008 |last=Asklander |first=Micke |work=Fakta om Fartyg |language=Swedish }}{{cite web |url=http://www.faktaomfartyg.se/r_six_2000.htm |title=M/S R Six (2000) |accessdate=March 19, 2008 |last=Asklander |first=Micke |work=Fakta om Fartyg |language=Swedish }}{{cite web |url=http://www.faktaomfartyg.se/r_seven_2000.htm |title=M/S R Seven (2000) |accessdate=March 19, 2008 |last=Asklander |first=Micke |work=Fakta om Fartyg |language=Swedish }}{{cite web |url=http://www.faktaomfartyg.se/r_eight_2001.htm |title=M/S R Eight (2001) |accessdate=March 19, 2008 |last=Asklander |first=Micke |work=Fakta om Fartyg |language=Swedish }}

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).{{cite web |url=http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/cruiseline.cfm?CruiseLineID=75 |title=Oceania Cruises Reviews |accessdate=March 19, 2008 |date=June 12, 2007 |work=Cruise Critic |publisher=The Independent Traveler }} 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). 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.

Regatta was scheduled to undergo a significant renovation in September 2019 as a part of the company's $100 million OceaniaNEXT program.{{Cite web|url=https://cruisefever.net/oceania-cruises-remodeling-every-stateroom-on-their-four-cruise-ships/|title=Oceania Cruises Remodeling Every Stateroom on Their Four Cruise Ships|website=cruisefever.net|date=August 13, 2018 |language=en-US|access-date=August 14, 2018}}

References

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