Azamara vs Regent

[cruisepsycho]

I have cruised on Azamara, Oceania (both R class and Marina) and Regent. I agree that it is more accurate to compare Azamara to Oceania than to Regent. That said,I feel Azamara has caught up to and actually surpassed the quality of the cruise experiance compared to the Oceania R ships and in some ways even better that Oceania's Marina( overnight port stays, friendliness of crew especially ships officers, and new included special evening event in port on every cruise - their "Azamazing adventure") Azamara is currently offering a special promotion to book any of several 2013 and 2014 cruises which offer a balcony stateroom for the price of an inside with special air discount as well. I've taken advantage and booked my next european cruise with them for next summer-can't wait. And since I really can't wait that long, my wife and I are booked on the Crystal Symphony in Novenber then back on the Mariner for Dec in South America. Just crazy about cruising!

[Travelcat2]

MARIANH and Pacheco18: Beware when visiting the Regent board -- it causes fights;) Actually, just kidding (sort of). It is interesting to see a poster from the Oceania board and Silversea board. IMO, you both bring up good points. However, I agree with cruisepsycho - that it is more accurate to compare Oceania and Azamara.

 

Going back to the Silversea board where there may be some sanity:D

[MARIANH]

MARIANH and Pacheco18: B

 

Going back to the Silversea board where there may be some sanity:D

 

Some hopes - I'm shooting off there too! Seeya:)

[MARIANH]

[quote name=t it is more accurate to compare Oceania and Azamara.

 

D[/quote]

 

As some of the ships have the same provenance (Renaissance) presumably physically they are similar. However, I have been told that the food onOceania is some of the best at sea. is this correct?

 

Apols for posting this on the Regent site if anyone is offended. Not trying to be confrontational.

[orchestrapal]

As some of the ships have the same provenance (Renaissance) presumably physically they are similar. However,

I have been told that the food onOceania is some of the best at sea. is this correct?

 

It sure is! Come on over and try it you'll like it. :)

[MARIANH]

As some of the ships have the same provenance (Renaissance) presumably physically they are similar. However,

 

It sure is! Come on over and try it you'll like it. :)

 

Thanks.

 

I will be meeting some American friends tomorrow, fresh off the Marina. Will ask them also.

[Emdee]

I have done a fair number of Regent Cruises over the years and a couple of cruises on Azamara.

 

I havent been on Azamara since they included alcohol in their offerings. They did include wine when I travelled. We brought our own on board in Europe and Argentina and there was a $10 corkage.

 

MDR food on the two lines is comparable as is the food in the specialty restaurants. I have to say that the quality of the product was slightly lower on Azamara ( IMO). If you are in a suite you can dine every day in the speciality restaurants and we tended to do that a lot.

The chef came out and asked us how we enjoyed his cooking and offered to make anything we wanted. DD asked for Nasi Goreng one day and we requested an Indian dish but instead were served an entire Indian meal.

 

Azamara cabins are small and bathrooms are very small. Suites are nice though.

 

Service on Azamara was wonderful. Its as though everyone makes a real effort from the Captain down to the deck cleaner. Senior Management is very very visible and at ports its usual to see the hotel manager on the dock wishing you a good day.

 

But, much as I enjoyed my two Azamara trips in the last two years returning to Regent after three years felt like coming home.

[dorisis]

All the cabins on Regent are suites. Azamara's are not. Some are very small with tiny bathrooms. Same with Oceania.

[TedC]

Azamara recently got a black eye when it dumped an 89=year old man with a broken hip at a Turkish Hospital where no one spoke English! I've never sailed Az and probably never will. Some friends have and liked it, but that was before the above lack of caring and compassion.

[Travelcat2]

I also read that story and wonder what they were thinking.

 

A point that I don't think has been brought up on this thread (I re-read it rather quickly) is that all-inclusive on a premium cruise line is probably not the same as on a luxury cruise line. You would need to compare the quality of Azamara's food, wine and alcohol to begin with. Can you have Grey Goose Vodka for your martini or must you have a lesser brand (just an example)?

 

Still think comparing premium plus cruise lines with luxury cruise lines is comparing apples and oranges.

[Rally]

Azamara recently got a black eye when it dumped an 89=year old man with a broken hip at a Turkish Hospital where no one spoke English! I've never sailed Az and probably never will. Some friends have and liked it, but that was before the above lack of caring and compassion.

 

According to this story it was Royal Caribbean?http://video.foxnews.com/v/2625348265001/royal-caribbean-strands-elderly-couple-in-turkey/?intcmp=HPBucket&playlist_id=1034196603001

[ginny123]

Thank you Emdee. That is exactly the information I was looking for when I originally asked for a recent comparison.

[xrvlcruiser]

Apparently Azamara is owned by RCL

[Rally]

Apparently Azamara is owned by RCL

 

Oh. My bad :(

[TedC]

I'm sure it's not the first time Fox hasn't got all the facts correctly. The elderly man was sailing on Azamara, which is owned by RCI

[tv24]

Suzanne: Thanks for the review and comparison to Azamara. Very helpful.

[Travelcat2]

Admittedly, I did not read all of the prior posts. Just want to say that it is difficult to compare a premium cruise line with a luxury cruise line. For instance, the included alcohol on Regent is a much higher level than the alcohol that will be offered next year (when Azamara goes all-inclusive).

 

This is not to say that Azamara could not be a perfect upgrade for passengers used to RCI, Carnival, Princess, etc. They are apparently doing a really good job in their market. But, in the opinion of most, Azamara is not in the same market as Regent. In some ways I wish I had discovered "premium" cruising before discovering "luxury" cruising. I cannot imagine how much money we would have saved. However, there is no way we can go backwards.

[HanaleiSailor]

Aloha all,

 

I stumbled across this on CC several weeks ago for the first time. Interestingly, the CC Luxury Cruise page: http://www.cruisecritic.com/luxurycruises/ lists the following lines as Luxury Cruise Lines:

 

Abercrombie & Kent, American Safari, Aqua Expeditions, Azamara, Bora Bora Cruises, Compagnie du Ponant, Cruise Asia Ltd., Crystal, Cunard, French Country Waterways, Go Barging, Hapag-Lloyd, Hebridean, Heritage Line, Lindblad Expeditions, Oberoi Group, Oceania, Orion Expedition Cruises, Paul Gauguin Cruises, Regent Seven Seas. Sea Cloud Cruises, Seabourn, SeaDream, Silverseas, Star Clippers, Travel Dynamics, Uniworld, Windstar

 

Aloha from Hanalei,

 

Mark

 

[nanaof2]

Aloha all,

 

I stumbled across this on CC several weeks ago for the first time. Interestingly, the CC Luxury Cruise page: http://www.cruisecritic.com/luxurycruises/ lists the following lines as Luxury Cruise Lines:

 

Abercrombie & Kent, American Safari, Aqua Expeditions, Azamara, Bora Bora Cruises, Compagnie du Ponant, Cruise Asia Ltd., Crystal, Cunard, French Country Waterways, Go Barging, Hapag-Lloyd, Hebridean, Heritage Line, Lindblad Expeditions, Oberoi Group, Oceania, Orion Expedition Cruises, Paul Gauguin Cruises, Regent Seven Seas. Sea Cloud Cruises, Seabourn, SeaDream, Silverseas, Star Clippers, Travel Dynamics, Uniworld, Windstar

 

Aloha from Hanalei,

 

Mark

 

 

Can't speak about some of the other cruise lines, but we have cruised with Lindblad Expeditions and most certainly it is not in the luxury class. Cabins, service, food, basic at most. Yes, wonderful itineraries, but that does not make it a luxury cruise. To put it in the same class as Regent is a travesty.:mad:

[newlondon]

There are others on that list. Uniworld isn't at the same level as Tauck, and I would never put Windstar in luxury let alone premium

[ginny123]

I realize I started this thread as Azamara vs. Regent but I thought the below post might be interesting to others as well.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1910285

[Arizonasunshine]

To begin; I think that Suzanne's review was spot on. I am not as experienced as many on this board but, I have sailed on Azamara, Regent , and Oceania. I consider Azamara my favorite. My opinion on the highly subjective food topic; I think Azamara holds its own with the other two. On crew interaction Azamara wins hands down. On the ships furnishings I would rate Azamara third among the three. The Mariner was truly a spectacular ship. Regarding activities on sea days Azamara wins over Oceania. We were on a Med cruise on Regent and had no sea days. With regards to shore excursions I would rate them all the same, o.k. but not great. Regent's are paid for with your cruise, Oceania's are pretty pricy when compared to Azamara. On embarkation, Azamara wins followed by Oceania with Regent a distant third. My main gripe with Azamara is the office staff. Problems are hard to resolve. Simple things turn out to be difficult. Fortunately all is forgotten once you board the ship. It's almost like you are dealing with two very different companies. On the overall cruise experience I would give the nod to Azamara.