Helen and Jerry, George and I are getting ready to embark on Regatta along with our friends Ron and Sue (Sue occasionally posts here as well) and our son's in laws Nan and Fred for a cruise LA to LA along the pacific coast of Mexico. I will be writing my blog on CC but will post some here as well. And I am sure Helen will chime in. It is unique for them because they can just drive to the port as can Ron and Sue.

Nan and Fred are already in LA visiting their oldest son. And George and I are sitting s-patiently in the airport in Tulsa looking at a frozen runway and waiting on our delayed flight. I'm sure it will be fine. Oklahoma is a bit of frozen tundra right!

Just finished packing. What a treat to not be concerned with weight limits or liquid restrictions! I am now off to Disneyland with a visiting niece. We plan on driving to the port around 11 am tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing the Copper Canyon which has been in my bucket list for years .
Safe travels, Rachel. FYI the sun is shining here and temp is around 60 which is chilly at least by our standards.
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Helen

Have lots of fun - I know you will! Will be looking for seamail!

WooHoo....so happy for you all. Have a great time and send seamail. Helen, look forward to hearing all about it on the 29th.

Semi stressful getting to LA but we made it. 2 1/2 hr delay out of Tulsa due to ice and snow. Missed our flight to LAX but were rebooked on the next; however, by the time we landed, we only had 20 minutes to get to our next flight. I ran carrying the carry on, while George walked as fast as he could since he had hernia surgery a week ago,and we made it. And our luggage made it too which is a minor miracle.

WOW Rachel, that would be stressful. I'm so happy you made it and hope now George can relax and mend.

all are onboard. in fact George and Rachel were here before us. This is our 3rd Oceania cruise altho have not sailed with them since 2012 but in my opinion, the best food at sea is had on board their ships. the ship is quite pretty and we are in a penthouse suite which is lovely. very bright and pretty roomy. we have a queen bed, a small round table and 2 chairs and a sofa, with plenty of room to walk around the furniture. the desk/vanity has 4 drawers and 4 shelves underneath so plenty of storage and on the balcony there is a table and 2 chairs with ottomans. minor quibble is the TV is really small. next up is 2 sea days before we get to the port we get the train to the Copper Canyon.
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helen

Agree with Helen about the small tv, but the rest of the room is really pretty and spacious.

The rest of the ship is very elegant and beautiful. Spa appointments are booked. I did an hour exercise on the outside track but haven't looked at the gym yet.

Last night we had dinner in the specialty steak restaurant. The choices were almost overwhelming. I had prime rib and creamed spinach and Jerry had veal Oscar-style. Both were very good.
Today we are sea so not much to report. We went to bingo and Rachel's son's MIL won $100+. Lunch was an Asian buffet.
This morning I ran into Paul Billick and his wife Cindy. Paul posts here from time to time. They were so delayed by weather yesterday that they only boarded the ship 35 minutes before our scheduled departure time. Paul said he was told the ship had to leave people behind. What a disappointment that would be!
Another quibble: the elevators are very small on this older ship. Capacity seems to be 4 people or 2 people and a walker or one scooter! There are a lot of walkers and scooters on this trip. I am not sure why that is since most of the excursions seem to preclude the mobility-challenged?
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Helen
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Helen

Really good dinner in Toscana last night.

Got to meet Paul and Cindy. What a nice couple! They too had a very stressful time getting to the ship and almost missed it. Really glad they made it.

Nan is super happy about her win at bingo. I am hoping she can win enough to cover another cruise!

The show last night was really good. Only 5 singers and dancers, 2 female and 3 male, but the lead singers are amazing.

Another sea day today. Then tomorrow we have our 17 hr trip to Copper canyon.

Long and exhausting day yesterday with a 17 hour train trip to Copper Canyon. It was a thing to do once. But the canyon is amazing.

I posted some pics on CC, but I am totally befuddled about posting pics here. So the link is http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2439557

Rachel, I just read your postings and saw your amazing photos. (I agree, difficult to post photos here...maybe I don't know the easier way like Ken does).

We've never been on Oceania but your cruise sounds like a real winner! Thanks for your seamail. Keep enjoying, it's still raining on and off here in SoCa but that's a good thing for us. Glad you're having sunshine.

The weather has been great, sunny and warm. Yesterday we were in La Paz. Jerry and George swam with the whale sharks and both declared it to be a great experience. Rachel and I went to the serpentarium. It was a nice little place with some rescued lizards, turtles, snakes etc. The guide who took us there spoke so lovingly of his work here and the creatures he cared for that I almost (almost) enjoyed meeting the critters. It was nice little excursion but not worth a lot of time. There was a big walk-in bird enclosure where the little parakeets would land all over you in case you had some bird seed. Rachel's guest Nan really really enjoyed that! We attended trivia and for the first time finished out of the money as they say. Oh well. it happens
Jerry and I just went to the buffet for dinner where I had 2 very tasty lobster tails. The rest of your little group went to the main dining room
Today we are in Mazatlán. Jerry and George went zip lining and I just took a city tour. Mazatlán was a lot nicer and cleaner than I expected.
Tomorrow is Puerto Vallarta. Jerry and George are doing another sip line, Rachel and Nan and Fred are taking a jeep excursion. I plan to stay onboard and just relax!
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Helen

Beautiful day in Puerto Vallarta. We are now sailing toward Cabo. Captain has come on several times with reports of whale sightings but they are all on the other side of the ship, and I am too lazy to go up to horizons.

Final sea day before San Diego. Yesterday was Cabo, and boy has it changed since I was there 15 years ago. I did see a whale spout yesterday morning from Horizons while I was drinking my morning tea. Helen and I got our Red Ginger watermelon salad last night in the terrace.

Oh boo, Rachel and Helen! I am really enjoying your seamail and I will be sad when it is over. I am glad you had a good time!!

One of my employees is in Cabo, on a vendor-sponsored trip. I told him that I can't give him any advice, because it has been at least 15 or more years since we were there and I am sure it is no longer the Cabo that we knew and loved. But they are staying at one of the resorts up the road, so not right in Cabo.

I must say that unlike the conventional wisdom, I actually liked present day Cabo better than the Cabo I visited about 10 years ago. We took a little boat ride out to view the arch and then a bus ride to san jose del cabo. A couple of shrimp tacos and we were back on the bus to a glass blowing place and then back to Cabo san Lucas. I found it much cleaner and although admittedly more "touristy" I felt safer and thought it much less gritty than in the past.
Today we are at sea and heading to san Diego, our last port before Los Angeles. George and Rachel and I participated in an Italian wine tasting which I found very interesting. Also I got a really good facial from the aesthetician who went to medical school in London and is actually a dermatologist!
Jerry won $1000 in the casino!
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Helen

Helen and Rachel, have really enjoyed your commentary along the way! I check in everyday to read, even if I've not commented. I did a cruise with mostly similar ports a long time ago with Ngaire we had called MINT, and it was fun! I even remember Cabo very well, must have been a good excursion! The arch, etc.

The one thing I always hear about Oceania is how good the food is. Folks often review it even better than Regent all the time. I wonder why. Have never cruised them before, so what cabin choice would you need to find same quarters as Regent for space and amenities?

Jhp, you would need at least a penthouse to have near the same as Regent as far as space. We liked our penthouse a lot, but when you upgrade to that level, it will cost as much as regent if not more. The food I would say is as good as regent but not better. I think regent passengers have higher expectations, therefore, the rankings for food on Oceania are better,

Olivia, the executive chef for Oceania is Jacques Pepin and I think he came onboard with the intent of making the food a focal point of the cruise line's marketing. I had some issues with the food this trip primarily with food not being the right temp, I like my hot food hot not warm....
I like Oceania but agree with Rachel that if you need to have the square footage of a penthouse then you are going to pay almost as much as regent when you factor in gratuities, drinks, excursions etc. In my opinion it is a good value when they have sales. On this cruise by the time we stacked up our various onboard credits we had $1300 and since we did not need air this was a great deal for us.
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Helen

Thanks, Rachel, that's about what I thought; I think for a person willing to go with their smaller cabins, no wonder it seems to be a great value.

Helen, good for Jerry and his casino winnings! I'm the worst gambler in the world and rarely make it to the casino. Then there's Marcie, one or the other of them always seems to do well!