spiritoftravel

On 11/22/2017 at 2:35 PM, sabrefan said:

Interested in hearing from cruisers who have been on both Oceania and Azamara regarding how they compare.

We have just come back from a 15 night cruise, have to say so glad we are booked with O next year. I appreciate we are all different and some people love Azamara, they do some things very well, but for me the people on O are friendly, the staff just as friendly, if you cruise a lot with A I think the officers and staff do get to know you but as a returning customer after 10 years they were no more friendly than O. Yes they do stay a long time in ports of call and do one overnight, but the ship normally leaves at lunchtime. 

The food on O is 100% better, unless it has gone downhill in 2 years, most of the food on A is cheap with an occasional exception only 2 of the meals my family had were memorable and none of my vegetarian food was nice. 

Still I did manage to loose weight!! For me it is O. Hope this helps. 

1 hour ago, jimdee3636 said:

Thanks. I've decided to take your advice, not just because of the wine and drinks but also because I love the "O-Class" Oceania ships (Marina and Riviera). I guess I just don't see a compelling reason to switch to Azamara for this particular transatlantic sailing.

Enjoy your trip, I hope you post some news on food, etc we are travelling on Marina for 3 weeks next year, so hope the food and general service, etc is still as good as it was 18months/2 years ago on Regatta, we could not fault it, the passengers were all so friendly, we made freinds with a lovely couple from USA in the 80's who asked if they could join us for all the quizies. 

8 minutes ago, Ithikan said:

At any rate, I thought it was one of the best meals available on that cruise, and I'd like to offer a shout-out to the wonderful Chef who, when I praised his Nagasari dessert to our server, came out from the kitchen with 2 photocopies of the recipe for me!  This is a yummy, coconut and rice flour cake stuffed with banana, steamed and then served in a cleverly folded banana leaf.  Scrumptious!  An unusual dessert following an excellent spread, capped by happy and super friendly restaurant staff - it all made for a very positive Azamara experience for me. 

Well I guess we are different; pumpkin curry which was taste less and cold with clogy rice is not my ideal of a nice meal. I did like the rice pudding but they only had a few left so 3 teaspoons later it was gone.  I guess if you praise them they are fine, but if you do not like something  or criticise it  I was  met with an abrasive  and a tough luck attitude.  I have been a vegetarian for nearly 50 years have eaten in all sorts of restaurants in many countries and on many ships, sorry for me this was the worst of the worst. However I am pleased you enjoyed it and I am sure there will be many others who will also enjoy it..onwards and upwards, happy sailing, happy eating.  

56 minutes ago, nordski said:

Just to clarify, did you fill out the Special Needs Form approximately 1-2 months prior to embarkation?

I mentioned it when I booked and then sent two emails, I then re-confirmed and got a reply from Azamara to say all dietary needs were booked into their system and the chef would be able to accomodate me,, just to ask onboard, maybe I was just unlucky but the same thing happened when we sailed with them 10 years ago! 

We sailed with Oceania 2 years ago they could not do enough for me, they did ask me to choose from the main menu, but altered it to suit and I could change my mind if I fancied something else, the food was amazing, inventive and hot. 

1 hour ago, uktog said:

Sorry to hear this.  Can you expand on your comments, not so anyone can challenge them but so that those of us with members of our travel group who have allergies can learn if experiences are not as they once were.  Disappointed for you they did not set up to the mark.

Hi I am vegetarian and allergic to mushrooms I don't eat whole egg but will eat it them if not obvious, ie cakes, etc.

I saw the manager of restaurant 1st day soon as we boarded gave our cabin number, he told me, as we were booked to eat in Aqualina if I did not eat what was on menu just to ask for the vegan menu-wrong info you cannot order anything for the 1st night, so I ended up with dried up pasta with pumpkin.

They kept telling me I was allergic to egg?? The chef must have shares in a pumpkin farm as virtually every dish had pumpkin or eggplant or pasta, none of it was nice, just bland, on Indian curry night the veggie choice was pumpkin curry in thin coconut milk sauce!  The portions were tiny and everything was cold, if we ate in the Speciality restaurants my food had to come from 'downstairs' twice served way before my family had even finished there starter. When I complained about the  two potato croquettes, cold with a teaspoon of sauce the manager told me there was plenty to choose from or they could cook me pasta in tomato sauce, I can make that at home for a few pence. The vegan offerings were generally salad with nothing on them, ie spinach one night with a dressing!! I asked inthe patio for a cheese roll and salad and was told by the manager no, but you can have the  burger or nachos, all the ingredients were sitting there! One of my starters because I don't eat bacon was a spoonful of coleslaw with blue cheese dressing as they could not put crumbled blue cheese on??? WHY?  I paid the same as everyone else, falafel pumpkin wrap and burger are not fine dining, We will not be sailing with them again, we have booked with Oceania who do not treat vegetarians as second class citizens! We 

2 hours ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

Did you advise them beforehand about your food intolerance?

Yes three times and they said just see the manager of restaurant to sort it. I am vegetarian and do not eat whole eggs I am allergic to mushrooms. The veggie food is the worse I have ever had on any cruise or on land, the one different thing they had on one night in the mexican was full of mushrooms and they told me they could not make anything else.

Just returned from New Zealand and have to say every port had a shuttle bus, really well organised, only thing in my opinion where Azamara have improved in 10 years.

On 1/17/2020 at 5:29 PM, donaldsc said:

Find another ship with 700 passengers at the Azamara price point.  That makes it worth it to me.  I intensely dislike larger ships.

We sailed with Oceania in 2018 on Regatta it was fantastic, it was cheaper than Azamara, and also the recent cruise we took on the Journey, was only a little cheaper than Oceania, we took it to go to Tasmania, unfortunately, no fault of Azamara the weather took a turn and we did not visit-however give me Oceania any day, far better food, staff just as friendly and we found the other guests much friendly too, but I guess with all cruises it depends who is on at the time.  

On 2/4/2020 at 4:06 PM, uktog said:

Azamara has a special gluten free corner in the buffet so it’s easy to locate items. All their menus have gluten free labels and if you’ve advised special services on boarding day you’ll be invited to meet with the Exec Chef and Restaurant Manager to discuss what else they can do for you 

They are very good with all food intolerances 

Sorry to disagree but no they are not, I had problems galore, I would never book with them again.

On 8/18/2019 at 3:02 AM, cambriah said:

my question:  is it worth the higher price to cruise with Azamara — better staterooms, better food, more desirable land tours, better service — or should we stick to what we know?

These two Seniors would appreciate any comments/suggestions you might have.

On 8/18/2019 at 3:02 AM, cambriah said:

my question:  is it worth the higher price to cruise with Azamara — better staterooms, better food, more desirable land tours, better service — or should we stick to what we know?

These two Seniors would appreciate any comments/suggestions you might have.

Having just returned I would have to say no it is not worth the extra, wines are OK-just, staff nice but no more friendly than on other lines we have sailed with, food is cheap and not very nice, uninspiring, the main dining room is frantic, noisy and rushed, not a pleasant experience and certainly not fine dining either in food or service. Where they do well is ports of call, the shuttle buses, waiters helping you to table with plates in Windows  and the Azamazing evening, but of course it is all personal opinion, 

On 2/20/2020 at 12:09 AM, jimdee3636 said:

We're also considering a Barcelona-to-Miami transatlantic on the Oceania Marina that same month. Prices are, on paper, roughly comparable for similar cabin types (although I know that the "basic" Marina cabins are quite larger than those on Azamara, and of course the ship itself is larger and newer).

The wines are OK - just, cocktails OK but all basic. However having just returned can I suggest you stick with Oceania, a far better experience all round 

On 2/20/2020 at 8:18 AM, Host Grandma Cruising said:

There is a smoothie bar...

Yes there is but you cannot always get what you want, I tried and was told my choice was not available, although the guy making them was friendly and said come back tomorrow!

As for drinks, they are OK-just for the wine, and we and some friends tried to ask for wines from previous nights and it was not available, the cocktails, etc were OK, my husband is a coffee drinker and said the coffee in Mosaic was very good, better than in other places.

The wine they have is disappointing as only one come from Australia and we travelled through New Zealand, shame, but they do go for cheap stuff, at a winery someone looked up the Azamara red wine and it was 7$ a bottle!

Thanks so much for all the info, I am glad to hear the fires did not get any closer to you, my heart and prayers go out to those who lost their homes, etc. Thanks again for info we are so looking forward to the cruise.x

10 hours ago, Baynanno1 said:

 

We were docked at Port Chalmers on Sunday January 13 2019 from 9am to 6pm.

 

A complimentary shuttle bus was provided every half hour from Port Chalmers to The Octagon (drop off point) in Dunedin between 9am and 4pm (last shuttle back from Dunedin). The ride is about 30 minutes, depending of course on traffic.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

Thanks so much was that organised by Azamara or the Port? We need to be in town for 10.30, so thanks so much, yes looking forward to the cruise never been to NZ or Australia, I hope you are not affected by the fires, xx

14 hours ago, dabear said:

We've been on both A & O and you can't go wrong with either of them. I would compare itineraries & prices however as they can vary quite a bit. O with O life is not always the best deal, especially if you like to select your own air and prefer not to tour with 30+ pax. O has better food but A's also is good. Neither have great entertainment. While alcohol is extra on O, the basic included drinks on A  are pretty poor. Both lines have better service & food over the mass market lines.

Hi, our experience is that if you want your own air fares they take a huge discount off, so you still save money on the fare, when we went to Alaska there were never more than 12 people on our tours, except one special to a bear sanctuary 2 hours away, then it was 100 people on the special catamaran, but not crowded and very well organised. Although O does not include spirits and wine, etc all the soft drinks are from cans, the speciality coffee and teas milkshakes, etc are also included, so if you do not drink much this is a good option, with our onboard credit, we only had a tab at the end of under £50. 

I agree, we know the bathrooms are small, it has been a pleasure to read these informative comments and see the wonderful photos. x

Wonderful thanks for the info and photos, what a great job you are doing!

So enjoying your photos and info.  I really want to visit here one day, enjoy the rest of your cruise.x

Wonderful photos just loving your posts, thanks so much.

Thanks, so much for reply.

13 hours ago, uktog said:

Mixers are free in all rooms not just suites 

Thanks so much.

I notice most of these are older questions from 2017-is ginger, dry ginger ale and tonic still free in all bars and in CC suite, thanks

Thanks so much.x

Thanks everyone, just wondered if there was s sample menu for one of the days, etc, it seems to have been taken off the website, but thanks for replies, looking forward to our cruise to New Zealand next year.

Hi, has anyone got a recent copy of he menu for Discoveries? Thanks.