Do I really want to migrate to Oceania?

We are seasoned cruisers and have thoroughly enjoyed our last two cruises on Azamara. But, and it's a big but; the prices on Oceania are extremely tempting! It's a £1000 cheaper than Azamara. Think I really ought to exercise restraint! I'm loving the new upgrades on Journey and love the friendly crew. Help!!!! 😰

We are seasoned cruisers and have thoroughly enjoyed our last two cruises on Azamara. But, and it's a big but; the prices on Oceania are extremely tempting! It's a £1000 cheaper than Azamara. Think I really ought to exercise restraint! I'm loving the new upgrades on Journey and love the friendly crew. Help!!!! 😰

Well Liz, we know how you feel! We just booked an O Nautica cruise yesterday at a fantastic price. I feel a bit like a traitor to AZ but the itinerary is great for us and the added OBC and free internet is very tempting. We also booked a land holiday to the Italian Lakes last week.

The AZ prices do seem to have increased a lot in the UK this year....perhaps to pay for the refurbs? We can't wait to be back on AZ again, but maybe it will be a wait for a late deal this year?

We are seasoned cruisers and have thoroughly enjoyed our last two cruises on Azamara. But, and it's a big but; the prices on Oceania are extremely tempting! It's a £1000 cheaper than Azamara. Think I really ought to exercise restraint! I'm loving the new upgrades on Journey and love the friendly crew. Help!!!! 😰

We did an Oceania cruise on the Riviera last year, very nice ship, good food, no complaints, but it wasn't Azamara. The crew were nice, but the officers were not very visible or involved with the passengers as they are on AZ. We got the cruise on a good offer which included drinks and gratuities.

Would we do another one? Yes if the price and itinerary was right, but our home will always be Azamara.

Well Liz, we know how you feel! We just booked an O Nautica cruise yesterday at a fantastic price. I feel a bit like a traitor to AZ but the itinerary is great for us and the added OBC and free internet is very tempting. We also booked a land holiday to the Italian Lakes last week.

 

The AZ prices do seem to have increased a lot in the UK this year....perhaps to pay for the refurbs? We can't wait to be back on AZ again, but maybe it will be a wait for a late deal this year?

Oh Lottie, I'm sure that must be the same cruise I'm looking at in July. It's sooooo tempting given that there's free tinternet and drinks. 😏 I'm just scared I don't enjoy it as much as we love Azamara.

We did an Oceania cruise on the Riviera last year, very nice ship, good food, no complaints, but it wasn't Azamara. The crew were nice, but the officers were not very visible or involved with the passengers as they are on AZ. We got the cruise on a good offer which included drinks and gratuities.

 

Would we do another one? Yes if the price and itinerary was right, but our home will always be Azamara.

We love the friendly crew and love Azamara but does it justify the extra money? 😏

Oh Lottie, I'm sure that must be the same cruise I'm looking at in July. It's sooooo tempting given that there's free tinternet and drinks. 😏 I'm just scared I don't enjoy it as much as we love Azamara.

Our cruise is in October Liz. I have done an O cruise before, on Marina though and we did enjoy it but yes....it isn't Azamara! Don't expect the officer interaction....you rarely see them, but the crew were lovely, as was the food. However the entertainment was dire....but the ship and the stateroom were beautiful.

Just some advice....the free drinks package on offer only covers drinks with lunch and dinner and ours is a port intensive cruise, so we decided on our T/A advice to go for the $600 per cabin OBC and to spend that on drinks instead. It would seem to be better value and I do love the O Lemon Drop Martini's. :)

I am happy we booked it because it is incredible value, but like you, we will miss Azamara.

Our cruise is in October Liz. I have done an O cruise before, on Marina though and we did enjoy it but yes....it isn't Azamara! Don't expect the officer interaction....you rarely see them, but the crew were lovely, as was the food. However the entertainment was dire....but the ship and the stateroom were beautiful.

Just some advice....the free drinks package on offer only covers drinks with lunch and dinner and ours is a port intensive cruise, so we decided on our T/A advice to go for the $600 per cabin OBC and to spend that on drinks instead. It would seem to be better value and I do love the O Lemon Drop Martini's. :)

 

I am happy we booked it because it is incredible value, but like you, we will miss Azamara.

Thank you for that tip Lottie. We're not big drinkers but do enjoy a drink or 2 after dinner. 😄 We looked at the October one too. It's great value!

We were trying O for the first time, boarding the Riviera in Miami on January 13 when I looked over and saw the Journey nearby. I was shocked, and dismayed and felt like I was cheating on Azamara. What was I thinking, going on this ship when I could have taken an Azamara voyage?!!!! I quickly realized that the Journey was in port ready to leave to its re-do, so that calmed me down. We did go on to enjoy our 10 day trip, but still came away with a firm belief that Azamara is our very favorite.

We were trying O for the first time, boarding the Riviera in Miami on January 13 when I looked over and saw the Journey nearby. I was shocked, and dismayed and felt like I was cheating on Azamara. What was I thinking, going on this ship when I could have taken an Azamara voyage?!!!! I quickly realized that the Journey was in port ready to leave to its re-do, so that calmed me down. We did go on to enjoy our 10 day trip, but still came away with a firm belief that Azamara is our very favorite.

Hmmmmm.... 😏

We did an Oceania cruise on the Riviera last year, very nice ship, good food, no complaints, but it wasn't Azamara. The crew were nice, but the officers were not very visible or involved with the passengers as they are on AZ. We got the cruise on a good offer which included drinks and gratuities.

 

Would we do another one? Yes if the price and itinerary was right, but our home will always be Azamara.

We just returned from our first Azamara cruise. I personally do not think it is worth the premium cost to chat with the officers.We had a nice talk with the ships doctor on white night but other than that the officers just said Hi when passing.Maybe Drydock problems kept them busy. We cruise mostly Celebrity and the Officers are very visible and do stop and chat. I will say that the food was outstanding on the Journey as it was on our Oceana cruise. We had a great cruise but there were just too many problems post drydock. To be honest the crews on our Celebrity cruises were just as good as this Azamara cruise. Maybe the drydock really ran them down. We had some fantastic waiters and some not so,forgetting to bring coffee,soft drinks at dinner on more than one occasion. And since the self service laundry was still out of service and still was today, never did they offer any free laundry service. Only those who asked at guest relations got it. We packed for half the cruise knowing we could use the washers. I talked to people the last night of the cruise and they were washing items in their sink,because they were not informed of a free bag. So Azamara did not impress me.

We've booked an Azamara cruise because we got a very good deal and we love that size ship (we've sailed Pacific Princess twice). We don't cruise much - prefer land trips - but when we do cruise, it will continue to be on small ships, and we'd definitely like to try Oceania as well - but their fares have been quite high when I've checked itineraries of interest.

We have no cruise line loyalty (probably because we're not big cruisers - in some ways I think that gives us a lot of flexibility). I'm sure you'll enjoy your cruise, and you'll have a data point as to whether or not you want to try Oceania again, Azamara again, or just see what comes up for itinerary and offers :D

We just returned from our first Azamara cruise. I personally do not think it is worth the premium cost to chat with the officers.We had a nice talk with the ships doctor on white night but other than that the officers just said Hi when passing.Maybe Drydock problems kept them busy. We cruise mostly Celebrity and the Officers are very visible and do stop and chat. I will say that the food was outstanding on the Journey as it was on our Oceana cruise. We had a great cruise but there were just too many problems post drydock. To be honest the crews on our Celebrity cruises were just as good as this Azamara cruise. Maybe the drydock really ran them down. We had some fantastic waiters and some not so,forgetting to bring coffee,soft drinks at dinner on more than one occasion. And since the self service laundry was still out of service and still was today, never did they offer any free laundry service. Only those who asked at guest relations got it. We packed for half the cruise knowing we could use the washers. I talked to people the last night of the cruise and they were washing items in their sink,because they were not informed of a free bag. So Azamara did not impress me.

Kaz you should continue cruising on Celebrity and not cruise on Azamara just as I would never cruise again on Celebrity and will stick with Azamara who we always enjoy cruising on.

Not sure what the comments about Az being more expensive than O are about. I just did a quick search of per day rates on the two for most trips this year in both oceanview and balcony, broken down by region, and wasn't able to detect any pattern one way or the other. Can any one enlighten me?

Agree with everything Lottie said. The cabins on O are great and the ship is very roomy. I wasn't so keen on the food in the GDR but as everyone knows that is so personal. I did however love the upstairs grill at night, I overdosed on lobster.

Is it Azamara? No. Would I sail O again-yes, in a heartbeat.

I am travelling with Lottie A and the October cruise on Nautica will be my first experience of Oceania.

We will have a great time because we are glass half full girls and know how fortunate we are to experience these wonderful vacations even if I will miss the best crew at sea.

If we were comparing like with like I would book Azamara every time. Every one of my more than dozen cruises with them has been fantastic. But here in the UK at the moment the price disparity is huge so I think it is the right time to jump ship if only temporarily.

The refurbishment on Journey looks glorious and hope it won't be too long before I can sample the new delights for myself.

Kaz you should continue cruising on Celebrity and not cruise on Azamara just as I would never cruise again on Celebrity and will stick with Azamara who we always enjoy cruising on.

That is what I intend to do.:D

After 4 Az cruises I considered O Nautica for Christmas 2016 as she's doing South Africa.

Then I saw the work being done on the Journey and had second thoughts!

1. Some of the SA port calls are not very interesting
   
2. Drinks add quite a bit to the cost of O
   
3. I think I'd just miss the Az attention to detail and the service
   

After many wonderful Azamara cruises we are trying Oceania in April for the first time. Due to our plunging Canadian dollar, Oceania had a great discount for Canadians along with many perks.

My husband and I had a lovely cruise on Oceania. The food was wonderful, the room ambiance, space, etc. very nice. Everything top notch. However, we both decided that we did not have as much fun on Oceania. Oceania was vanilla ice cream while Azamara is Ben and Jerry's. It is the entertainment, passengers, etc. In addition, the Oceania ship we were on was significantly larger than the Azamara ship and therefore, we were docked, not in prime locations, but in the bigger ship areas which usually are not as convenient.

We will however, cruise both lines again, but if the itineraries are the same, we would select Azamara.

Thank you for your comments.

Friends of us, who have done several cruise with Azamara do not book again.

Several cruises must have been totally disappointing, especially one in 2014 in Asia with the Quest.

They switched totally to Oceania, and are absolutely satisfied. they now have done several cruises with them and telling me the same things, ddpe mentionend, about the excellent food, the space in the rooms and also about the service.

But, and here is the but, they do not speak a lot english, so they do not have the same contacts we all have with other dear passengers, with the crew, with the officers. The only person they knew better, was Heike, because she is german.

So for them all the things we love with Azamara are not that important.

Friends of us, who have done several cruise with Azamara do not book again.

Several cruises must have been totally disappointing, especially one in 2014 in Asia with the Quest.

 

They switched totally to Oceania, and are absolutely satisfied. they now have done several cruises with them and telling me the same things, ddpe mentionend, about the excellent food, the space in the rooms and also about the service.

 

But, and here is the but, they do not speak a lot english, so they do not have the same contacts we all have with other dear passengers, with the crew, with the officers. The only person they knew better, was Heike, because she is german.

 

So for them all the things we love with Azamara are not that important.

You mention space in the rooms ?? Does this not depend on if you are on the R class or the O class of Oceania ?? As far as I am aware the cabins on the R class are the same size as Azamara ??

You are right munch1,

it depends on the ships class. The R class is the same in size.

Our friend now switched to the larger Oceania ships, like Marina and is much more satisfied with the space and the modernity of the design.

But he has not seen the tremendous new pictures after refurbishment, we saw here for the last few weeks. But of course, the cabin size did not change. And we cannot afford a large suite.

We´re totally looking forward to explore the "new" ship in march.

We've sailed on Regatta and Journey... and would/will sail on both again.

I'm surprised O is so much cheaper, they must be doing some great discounts as when we were looking for this summer (Dec ish), we were keen on some O sailings but ruled it out as it was too expensive, much more so that Az at the time.

There were quite a few things we enjoyed more on O, in particular

- afternoon cooking demo

- trivia quiz

- bar opening times

I know there's trivia on Az but last summer the timings were bad and the quizmasters (it changed daily) were really poor. There was no bonding, banter or continuity, it was very flat. On O, the CD (Ray) ran the daily quiz, really encouraged mingling, had running jokes going, it was great fun & a daily highlight. If you are not a quizzer, it's irrelevant to you but just our observations.

We also found the extended port times on Az often meant bars were not open, the Looking Glass/Living Room was often closed when we wanted to use it.

Please don't take this as unhappy customers though, we were very happy overall and are sailing again on Journey next month, yippee!

Is the pricing difference only for those in the UK market?

I have always thought that pricing on Oceania was a bit higher than pricing on Azamara, but that gap in pricing may no longer exist.

I personally would have no problem sailing on either line. I enjoy the crew interaction and longer in-port hours on Azamara, and the cuisine and slightly larger ship option on Oceania.