Azamara vs Viking Ocean

We just took our first Viking ocean cruise on the new Viking Sun. This was a transatlantic cruise from Lisbon to Miami. We are taking our first Azamara cruise on the Quest in February from San Diego to Miami. We are at elite level on Celebrity. The Viking Sun is very nice ship. However we found inconsistent service by both pools. Food was okay, passenger flow in buffet was disorganized and entertainment was very average plus no casino. Interested in other opinions from others who have traveled on both lines.

I will share what was shared with me (from an executive at RCCL) concerning losing crew to viking ocean.

Some azamara crew members left at one time to join viking ocean and found that for them there were a few perks they did not enjoy on azamara (like free wifi), it was not long before they returned to azamara for better pay and better management than viking offered...overall a happier place to work despite having to pay for wifi.

As I have always said...happy crew, happy cruise:)

I am a long time Azamara cruiser and did my first Viking cruise in January 2017. It was a standard Med cruise on Viking Sea.

I loved the clean Scandinavian decor of the ship, the cabins are lovely and the bathroom in particular is way better than Azamara.

The ship was new so of course it is modern, beautiful and everything works well. Azamara ships are also beautiful but in a more classic way and due to their age, not everything works perfectly all the time....particularly the plumbing!

I thought the food on Viking Sea was very good indeed although the buffet restaurant on Azamara called Windows Cafe is much better in my opinion. Far more choice, fantastic speciality buffets in the evening like Italian and Indian buffets and great service. I liked Manfredi's speciality restaurant on Viking Sea a lot and we had no trouble getting extra reservations there but Aqualina on Azamara is my favourite speciality restaurant. I thought the good in the MDR on Viking was actually better than the Azamara MDR and couldn't fault the service in either.

Azamara is rightly famed for its officer and crew interaction but we found the crew on Viking very friendly and the service on our cruise was very good. We had the Silver drinks package which was excellent value. We did two Viking ships excursions which were very reasonably priced and good quality. Azamara ships excursions are expensive and sometimes not good experiences.

I love the Azamara onboard experience, although it is disheartening to read of the not so good recent changes and the price hikes happening now. However I would be very happy to book another Viking cruise and probably will do next year. Friends are on their second Viking cruise very soon and I will be interested to hear their opinion as they also are Azamara fans.

I am sure you will have a great time on your Azamara cruise. It will be interesting to find out how you rate the two when you return.

You might be interested in our article comparing the two cruise lines:

https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=2258

You might be interested in our article comparing the two cruise lines:

https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=2258

Very interesting article if a little out of date.

I believe that the price difference is now not so great, which makes Viking more attractive.

It was interesting to see the picture of the Azamazing evening at Ephesus.

It was taken at one of the very first evenings held in June 2013, I know that because we are in the picture.

Very interesting article if a little out of date.

I believe that the price difference is now not so great, which makes Viking more attractive.

It was interesting to see the picture of the Azamazing evening at Ephesus.

It was taken at one of the very first evenings held in June 2013, I know that because we are in the picture.

So were we. It was the second. We were also on the first one as we had a B2B package.

Viking is worth following, but seems to be a bit more expensive so far. I can ask some crew what their opinion is. Be back.😁

We just took our first Viking ocean cruise on the new Viking Sun. This was a transatlantic cruise from Lisbon to Miami. We are taking our first Azamara cruise on the Quest in February from San Diego to Miami. We are at elite level on Celebrity. The Viking Sun is very nice ship. However we found inconsistent service by both pools. Food was okay, passenger flow in buffet was disorganized and entertainment was very average plus no casino. Interested in other opinions from others who have traveled on both lines.

Thanks for your comments. I’ve yet to try Viking. You didn’t happen to see a couple of guys called Virtuoso on your cruise by chance? Piano and Clarinet. I think they were on the Viking Sun ta. I’ve seen them on Azamara and they are excellent.

Phil

Thanks for your comments. I’ve yet to try Viking. You didn’t happen to see a couple of guys called Virtuoso on your cruise by chance? Piano and Clarinet. I think they were on the Viking Sun ta. I’ve seen them on Azamara and they are excellent.

 

Phil

Indeed they are Phil....and lovely people too. I wasn't impressed with the Viking entertainment so much....I think Azamara entertainment is better, despite my having seen most of the AZ shows many times. I would have absolutely loved to see the Virtuoso Guys onboard Viking Sea last January.

The Viking crew seems to have quite good contracts,- at least on paper.

Free ship-wide Wi-Fi

• Attractive compensation package

• Working contracts based on 10 hours a day with vacation pay calculated into your salary

• Performance-based xed return dates

• Relatives Program: crew members in single berth cabins can invite a relative to stay in their cabin for up to 8 weeks in a calendar year

• Only ocean cruise line with a dedicated outdoor crew recreational area complete with splash pool and sun terrace atop the ship for fresh air and privacy

• Intensive training sessions to help you succeed • Certi ed, job-focused training at our own

Viking College

The crew on Viking Sea in January seemed very happy. They were genuinely smiling, nothing was too much trouble for them and it seemed that management encouraged them to chat with the guests. They did not appear to be overworked at all. Within 10 minutes of us sitting in the Atrium bar for a drink the Hotel Director came over and introduced himself and said if we had any problems to speak to him. This was our first Viking cruise. I thought it seemed a very happy ship.....in fact we kept commenting on how like Azamara Crew the Viking crew were.

Our friends, with whom we usually cruise on Azamara, are taking their first Viking Ocean cruise next month and we will be very interested to hear their reaction.

I know what a "happy ship" is and what an "unhappy ship" is. We've been on cruises (not Azamara) where crew is unhappy...we've seen arguments in the dining room between waiters, sour expressions, and even complaints from crew to us about how they are short staffed, unappreciated, etc. Makes for an unpleasant experience. I think many cruise lines have realized that the on board experience is important and that the crew is a major component, and when they are hiring "friendlier" people or providing a better work environment for staff (pay and benefits-wise) guests are also happier. We were concerned that our experience on Oceania wouldn't be as good as we've come to love on Azamara, but we were pleasantly surprised...perhaps we didn't have the level of interaction we have on Azamara, but crew was uniformly friendly and helpful and all seemed happy (with just one exception.)

mare