Azamara vs. Oceania

[pacheco18]

Interesting post.

 

Curious to me that Azamara has a food issue when its sister company, Celebrity, does such a good job with food in a much more difficult food environment (thousands of passengers vs only hundreds). I was quite surprised with the quality of the food on Celebrity - expected less.

 

On the other hand, while O food is remarkably wonderful, I think some people overstate the quality. It is still ship food served to 700 passengers and not the equivalent of high quality restaurant food. Very very good - but not "great." Great for "ship" food.

 

My husband (retired military who thinks mess hall food is haute cuisine) would be happy eating nothing but burgers. I, on the other hand, love great food of all kinds. A cruise ship is the one place we can each eat what we want and eat together. I hope A gets its act together in the food department so we can give it a try.

[crzrr]

Laraine - how will you know "when AZ gets it's act together" with food? You won't learn anything here. Food is so subjective as evidenced by you and your husband having such varying tastes. Also as evidenced by differing reports on these boards - one person's gourmet is another person's swill! We have sailed on every class of Celebrity ship and enjoyed the food. However, our meals on AZ have been superior to Celebrity. As stated earlier, it is all "ship food". If you want a true gourmet experience, stick to land where they aren't trying to feed hundreds of people in a short period of time.

 

If you see an AZ itinerary that you like, try it. To base your decision on CC posters' opinions of food means that you are possibly missing out on a very enjoyable vacation experience.

[pacheco18]

Laraine - how will you know "when AZ gets it's act together" with food? You won't learn anything here.

 

 

I have learned so much from CC -- that's why I am not disappointed when I choose a cruise. CC posts help me do my homework and have reasonable expectations. I know how to parse through the different opinions, even the subjectivity with respect to food. But when loyal (repeat) Azamara cruisers bemoan the downturn in food quality (as well as complain about policy changes), it tells me to spend my money elsewhere. O is an alternative and one that apparently does not generate the number or type of complaints I read about Azamara.

 

Perhaps if Azamara had a unique itinerary ....... but not so far.

[crzrr]

Laraine - I have taken 3 Azamara cruise and have two more booked so as a loyal (repeat) customer I can honestly say that I have not seen any downturn in the quality of food. Actually, the reverse. On our first two cruises, Aqualina did nothing for us. This past cruise, we ate in Aqualina 4 times as they seemed to have made great strides in food prep. We found this in other areas as well.

 

My point was that you had stated that AZ needed to "get their act together in the food department" (your words not mine) so that you would consider them. This would lead one to believe that food was what was holding you back. I wouldn't base a decision like this on the palates of people who post as they are all different.

[pacheco18]

And your post is another piece of information for me. I assume your palate is different too. May not be the same as mine.

 

Thanks

[crzrr]

And your post is another piece of information for me. I assume your palate is different too. May not be the same as mine.

 

Thanks

 

Probably not although it looks as though we might have similar interests. I posted a response about water shoes on the PG board. We are intending to book a PG cruise for 2012 so I have been reading the boards to learn. Anyway, your comment about not finding an AZ itinerary that interests you made me laugh. I review Oceania's itineraries as I would have no problem booking an O cruise. But I haven't found anything that interested me more than the AZ itineraries. So, while we might have similar "tastes" in some areas, obviously we have different tastes in other areas.

[pacheco18]

Probably not although it looks as though we might have similar interests. I posted a response about water shoes on the PG board. We are intending to book a PG cruise for 2012 so I have been reading the boards to learn. Anyway, your comment about not finding an AZ itinerary that interests you made me laugh. I review Oceania's itineraries as I would have no problem booking an O cruise. But I haven't found anything that interested me more than the AZ itineraries. So, while we might have similar "tastes" in some areas, obviously we have different tastes in other areas.

 

And that is part of what makes these boards so interesting. I try to find the "perfect" blend of ship (cruiseline), itinerary and price and I base many of my decisions partly on what I read on these boards. I have very eclectic taste and I spend my money wisely. I lislten to all opinions and then try to make a good one based on our priorities.

 

PG is a no brainer (LOL) we leave in 6 days!!! There is no equivalent. ANd I booked it in March 2009 at the bottom of the market - smoking deal.

 

Celebrity is a bit more dicey, but sometimes the value is impossible to ignore. If I am going through the Panama Canal, do I need more? And I must admit the new Eclipse seems amazing. I chose Celebrity over O for that itinerary for ship, price, sea days (O has none) and the fact that it is round trip Southampton (we're going to stay in the Cotswolds post cruise). For neither of those is food the burning issue.

 

I had to try the new O Marina. Oh those restaurants. Perfect ship for a transatlantic. Food is an issue there. Not much else to do on all those sea days. LOL

 

For Asia I originally booked Azamara and switched to O. Booked on board and got a great deal. After reading these boards, glad I switched.

 

Then there is my Egypt/Kenya trip/cruise -- no equivalent to A & K - bucket list trip.

 

I will book at least 2 more major vacations in 2012 - maybe Azamara will be one. But it's not a simple choice for me. So many factors, so many cruises, so little time.

 

I'd like to think that everyone makes thoughtful decisions and no one accepts or rejects any cruise line based on one person's opinion. I appreciate all posts.

[Paulchili]

Laraine,

If you are looking for an interesting and a different itinerary on Azamara, take a look at this one (Quest 3/2012, 17 nights):

Hong Kong, China ,Manila, Philippines ,(overnight), Balikpapan, Indonesia, Palopo, Indonesia , Komodo, Indonesia Bali, Indonesia (overnight), Semarang, Indonesia , Singapore

 

It is certainly not the "same old/same old" and Oceania does not offer it (so far)

[pacheco18]

Paul

 

It is very interesting but not for us. We are doing Hong Kong and Singapore with O (Southeast Asia) in January. I have no interest in the Philippines (my husband even less since he was there while in the service - he was not stationed there -- he was a pilot and flew everywhere) and Indonesia has just had too many political eruptions for me for now (Bali is definitely though a "maybe some day" destination)

 

For 2012 we are probably going to try a River Cruise (not sure where but studying now) and if I absolutely love the Marina then maybe another O cruise on Marina. We had wanted to cruise Australia/NZ but the more I study that area the more I believe that a cruise would not do it justice.

 

So many wonderful places to go . ..