What are the positives of cruising with Azamara?

[ak1004]

3 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Based on that premise, I can book a corner aft-facing cabin on a X S-class ship (not the Edge), get all the perks (free premium beverage package, free gratuities, unlimited internet for 2 and $300 OBC) plus all the perks from being Elite, get to eat in the Luminae which has much better food than on any place on any O ship, a heck of a lot better “energetic” entertainment for about the same price as an A cabin on any O ship with a similar itinerary.

 

So comparing like ships, where possible since I am the OP, is why I chose to create this thread just like you had your reasons for creating your thread.  Now if X offered the same itineraries as either AZ or O, we would choose X every time. 

 

Well, this is a bit different. Even if you book a suite on the X S- class, you still have all the crowds, lines to get in and out of the ship, lines for elevators, larger groups on shore excursions, more children, crowed pools etc.

 

Riviera is still a small ship by any standards, with no lines or crowds.

 

But you are right, you are the OP, my apologies.

[Ken the cruiser]

38 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

 

Well, this is a bit different. Even if you book a suite on the X S- class, you still have all the crowds, lines to get in and out of the ship, lines for elevators, larger groups on shore excursions, more children, crowed pools etc.

 

Riviera is still a small ship by any standards, with no lines or crowds.

 

But you are right, you are the OP, my apologies.

That’s ok, everyone has a right to express their opinion. With regards to your O and X comparison, this is not the case we recently experience on our 21 day Caribbean cruise on the Reflection. There was never a waiting line to get to our window table for 2 at 5:15 in the Luminae. We usually got out of there around 6:30 and never had an issue getting to our favorite theater seats for the evening shows. When is was time to disembark for our X excursions, we met in the main theater and exited when our number was called. On disembarkation day, we went to Michaels and they escorted us off the ship bypassing the crowds. We may have seen a handful of children at the most on our entire cruise as it was in late January and they were all in school. Didn’t really care about the pool area as we had a big balcony to lounge around on. There were at least 2 professional lectures on each sea day along with up to 4 different trivias which we never had a problem getting a place for 2 to sit at. There was also an interactive game show almost every night between the 7 and 9 pm evening shows. I think the O ships only have one at 9:30 if I recall. Internet service was GREAT and never had a hitch, daytime or in the evening. We also had a butler, Walter, who surprisingly made our cruise even better even though we never were served any meals in our humongous cabin that had a 3 ft porthole on the side wall as well as a sliding door that opened to our balcony. No, booking an A cabin on the Riviera comes nowhere close to booking a corner aft-facing cabin on an S-class X ship. But, of course, that’s just our opinion. I’m sure there are others that have different ones. 

[ak1004]

That's good to hear - we are sailing on the Reflection in June, and it will be interesting to see how it is to go back to a big ship after sailing on small ships twice. Last time we did the big ship was last June on Regal Princess. 

[Ken the cruiser]

18 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

That's good to hear - we are sailing on the Reflection in June, and it will be interesting to see how it is to go back to a big ship after sailing on small ships twice. Last time we did the big ship was last June on Regal Princess. 

Cool! Did you book a sky suite or higher?

[ak1004]

No, veranda. We usually don't really care about the room type as we hardly spend any time in the room.

[Ken the cruiser]

6 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

No, veranda. We usually don't really care about the room type as we hardly spend any time in the room.

Sounds good, but please remember I was only making comparisons as it relates to booking a suite. Previous to our last X cruise, we booked a 25 day B2B in Oct 2017 which included a roundtrip from Southampton to the Canary Islands and back followed by a TA back to Miami in a C1 aft-facing cabin on the Eclipse and had a blast. Personally, I would recommend getting fixed early seating in the MDR, if you like to eat early. However, if you decide to get open seating and show up after 6:30 you might be waiting some time in line as that is prime time dining for a lot of folks. With fixed seating after the first day, you just go to your table. Have fun on your cruise!!

[JSCW6]

3 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

That’s ok, everyone has a right to express their opinion. With regards to your O and X comparison, this is not the case we recently experience on our 21 day Caribbean cruise on the Reflection. There was never a waiting line to get to our window table for 2 at 5:15 in the Luminae. We usually got out of there around 6:30 and never had an issue getting to our favorite theater seats for the evening shows. When is was time to disembark for our X excursions, we met in the main theater and exited when our number was called. On disembarkation day, we went to Michaels and they escorted us off the ship bypassing the crowds. We may have seen a handful of children at the most on our entire cruise as it was in late January and they were all in school. Didn’t really care about the pool area as we had a big balcony to lounge around on. There were at least 2 professional lectures on each sea day along with up to 4 different trivias which we never had a problem getting a place for 2 to sit at. There was also an interactive game show almost every night between the 7 and 9 pm evening shows. I think the O ships only have one at 9:30 if I recall. Internet service was GREAT and never had a hitch, daytime or in the evening. We also had a butler, Walter, who surprisingly made our cruise even better even though we never were served any meals in our humongous cabin that had a 3 ft porthole on the side wall as well as a sliding door that opened to our balcony. No, booking an A cabin on the Riviera comes nowhere close to booking a corner aft-facing cabin on an S-class X ship. But, of course, that’s just our opinion. I’m sure there are others that have different ones. 

Depends when you travel.....Celebrity Reflection in the Mediterranean during the summer was mobbed with kids running up and down the halls, playing in the elevator, and walking around in Luminae. Azamara Journey in the summer was just as you would find it in the fall in the Mediterranean: quiet and relaxing......

[Ken the cruiser]

43 minutes ago, JSCW6 said:

Depends when you travel.....Celebrity Reflection in the Mediterranean during the summer was mobbed with kids running up and down the halls, playing in the elevator, and walking around in Luminae. Azamara Journey in the summer was just as you would find it in the fall in the Mediterranean: quiet and relaxing......

Very true! Timing and length of cruise play key roles when cruising on any mass market cruise line. 

[tv24]

16 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Thanks tv24. You are correct, Oceania is our comparison point because they both have R-class ships. It wouldn't be fair, let's say, to compare AZ's R-class ship experience with O's O-class ships. So far from what we have read on CC as well as their website, AZ has some very cool itineraries that O doesn't offer.

 

However, as my DW doesn't drink and I will only have a max of 2 glasses of wine a night, the unlimited beverages perk is a negative for us since we are still paying for them in the cruise price. Also, since we are Silver on O, we get free gratuities and $250 OBC (which will pay for my wine), so that pretty much takes care of the AZ "all-inclusive" booking perk. With O you get free specialty dinners, but since we have so much OBC from our TA when we book a RCI cruise, that's really not a big deal if we decided to go to one or two of AZ's specialty restaurants. On the other hand since we'll be Elite+ when we book a cruise with AZ, we'll get 1 bag of laundry per week where as we would get 3 bags of laundry per leg if we book at least an A category O cabin. We really don't socialize all that much on a cruise, so meeting other folks for us is not a biggie. In fact during trivia, we would be one of those couples that sit in the back and compete against each other rather than joining a team.

 

With O you get the option of having the OLife perks with/without airfare included in your fare or you can you can book the cruise with their "cruise only" fare option. With AZ you pretty much have only one option. It would be nice if they offered the "cruise only" fare, but that's not the case right now. As far as Internet service goes, which is free now on all O ships since May 2018 (one account per cabin), we have had minimal router-connectivity or bandwidth issues (except in remote locations where it would be expected) in our aft-facing A1 cabin on O's R-class ships (Nautica and Sirena). However, from what I've been reading here, router-connectivity issues in any of the AZ cabins is such an issue, you either need to go to a common area (like we have to do on HAL ships) or stand in the hall outside your cabin.

 

As far as food quality goes, I really haven't heard much from anyone on this thread yet. Should we be assume the food is just OK, but nothing to get wowed over? For example we love eating all of our meals when weather permits outside (under cover) up at the O ships' Terrace Café. How is the food up at the Windows Café (self-serve or are there servers for hygienic purposes)? Also, are there plenty of tables to sit at outside (at least 7-10 under cover) or are the café diners competing with guests at the Sunset Bar? How are the AZ specialty restaurants or is the MDR food so good you really don't need to go to one?

 

These are some of the comparisons that interest us. But like I said AZ has some pretty cool destinations that O just does not go, so that is a big plus for AZ. Hope this helps clarify our desires a little better.

Ken:  You are very thorough in your analysis.  All things considered, it appears that O works better for you than AZ.  Yes, we had much better internet experience on O than on any of our AZ trips, although from this thread it appears that AZ has done some upgrade in that area.  Food?  Well Oceania wins hands down as far as I'm concerned.  Windows Cafe on AZ is fine, no complaints, but the buffet on O was better quality.  The specialty restaurants on AZ are good;  one is a steak house and the other Mediterranean, but it's still cruise ship food.  On Oceania one approaches quality dining in good big city restaurants on land.  In parting, I would recommend giving AZ a test drive, maybe a short cruise to some ports you can't get to on Oceania.  See if if suits you.  I always like to try new things.  Happy sailing!

[ak1004]

4 hours ago, tv24 said:

Ken:  You are very thorough in your analysis.  All things considered, it appears that O works better for you than AZ.  Yes, we had much better internet experience on O than on any of our AZ trips, although from this thread it appears that AZ has done some upgrade in that area.  Food?  Well Oceania wins hands down as far as I'm concerned.  Windows Cafe on AZ is fine, no complaints, but the buffet on O was better quality.  The specialty restaurants on AZ are good;  one is a steak house and the other Mediterranean, but it's still cruise ship food.  On Oceania one approaches quality dining in good big city restaurants on land.  In parting, I would recommend giving AZ a test drive, maybe a short cruise to some ports you can't get to on Oceania.  See if if suits you.  I always like to try new things.  Happy sailing!

100% our experience! O food was WOW. AZ just good, maybe just slightly better than mainstream lines.

[Ken the cruiser]

5 hours ago, tv24 said:

Ken:  You are very thorough in your analysis.  All things considered, it appears that O works better for you than AZ.  Yes, we had much better internet experience on O than on any of our AZ trips, although from this thread it appears that AZ has done some upgrade in that area.  Food?  Well Oceania wins hands down as far as I'm concerned.  Windows Cafe on AZ is fine, no complaints, but the buffet on O was better quality.  The specialty restaurants on AZ are good;  one is a steak house and the other Mediterranean, but it's still cruise ship food.  On Oceania one approaches quality dining in good big city restaurants on land.  In parting, I would recommend giving AZ a test drive, maybe a short cruise to some ports you can't get to on Oceania.  See if if suits you.  I always like to try new things.  Happy sailing!

That's the feeling we're getting. It just doesn't feel from the responses on this thread as well as those on other similar threads that there just isn't anything that seems to be calling out to us other than a unique itinerary. What first caught our eye a few years back was a multi-port Costa Rica cruise on the Pacific side that has since disappeared from their future itineraries. Maybe if that one comes back again, as we do love seeing bunches of animals on excursions, we'll give AZ a try. Thank you everyone for your thoughtful responses and we wish you all much happiness on whatever cruise lines you choose to sail!! 

[Grandma Cruising]

10 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

That's the feeling we're getting. It just doesn't feel from the responses on this thread as well as those on other similar threads that there just isn't anything that seems to be calling out to us other than a unique itinerary. What first caught our eye a few years back was a multi-port Costa Rica cruise on the Pacific side that has since disappeared from their future itineraries. Maybe if that one comes back again, as we do love seeing bunches of animals on excursions, we'll give AZ a try. Thank you everyone for your thoughtful responses and we wish you all much happiness on whatever cruise lines you choose to sail!! 

We did that Costa Rica Cruise last year. It was great, but I have to say we didn’t see many animals, except in Sanctuaries. If you want to see lots of animals in the wild do a safari in Africa.

[ak1004]

15 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Sounds good, but please remember I was only making comparisons as it relates to booking a suite. Previous to our last X cruise, we booked a 25 day B2B in Oct 2017 which included a roundtrip from Southampton to the Canary Islands and back followed by a TA back to Miami in a C1 aft-facing cabin on the Eclipse and had a blast. Personally, I would recommend getting fixed early seating in the MDR, if you like to eat early. However, if you decide to get open seating and show up after 6:30 you might be waiting some time in line as that is prime time dining for a lot of folks. With fixed seating after the first day, you just go to your table. Have fun on your cruise!!

 

I just looked again on your comparison. So you are basically saying that you can book a suite on X and get a similar experience as O or AZ in terms of service, food etc? But the price range is completely different. I looked for example at 10-12 nights Caribbean cruise in December just to make the comparison easy. A suite on X starts around $6-7k CAD, while you can book an inside cabin on O for $2,100 CAD or veranda for $3,300 CAD. I was comparing AZ with O for similar price range. Am I missing something?

[Ken the cruiser]

13 minutes ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

We did that Costa Rica Cruise last year. It was great, but I have to say we didn’t see many animals, except in Sanctuaries. If you want to see lots of animals in the wild do a safari in Africa.

A South Africa cruise around the Cape is definitely on our bucket list for sure. But sanctuaries and national parks are ok with us as well. We recently went on an Antarctica cruise on the Zaandam and had a blast seeing a bunch of penguins, whales, sea lions as well as a ton of different species of birds. The Galapagos and Australia, which we have future cruises booked to go back to, are also some of our other favorite places to go. In fact it seems to us the majority of places we cruise where there is an abundance of wildlife, other than maybe Alaska, are in the southern hemisphere. 

[Ken the cruiser]

30 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

 

I just looked again on your comparison. So you are basically saying that you can book a suite on X and get a similar experience as O or AZ in terms of service, food etc? But the price range is completely different. I looked for example at 10-12 nights Caribbean cruise in December just to make the comparison easy. A suite on X starts around $6-7k CAD, while you can book an inside cabin on O for $2,100 CAD or veranda for $3,300 CAD. I was comparing AZ with O for similar price range. Am I missing something?

Remember, I said an A category cabin (not an inside cabin) on any O ship. For us that would be an aft-facing A1 cabin on their R class ships or an A3 cabin on their O class ships. Also, from our experience to get the best deal and the S1/2 cabin you want on a X cruise, we book as soon as the itinerary we want gets posted. For example the Reflection S1 sky suite we went on in January was $352 (US) pp/night when we booked it when it first came out 18+ months prior. Over time, it went up to $540 (US) pp/day. As far as O prices go, they pretty much stay the same, except on some very hard to sell itineraries, from day one. Also, don't forget the Go Best perks you get when booking a sky suite. Hope this helps.

[Grandma Cruising]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

A South Africa cruise around the Cape is definitely on our bucket list for sure. But sanctuaries and national parks are ok with us as well. We recently went on an Antarctica cruise on the Zaandam and had a blast seeing a bunch of penguins, whales, sea lions as well as a ton of different species of birds. The Galapagos and Australia, which we have future cruises booked to go back to, are also some of our other favorite places to go. In fact it seems to us the majority of places we cruise where there is an abundance of wildlife, other than maybe Alaska, are in the southern hemisphere. 

If you really want to see a lot of animals in Africa, then I’d recommend a land-tour Safari of at least 5 days. We’ve done 9 in Kenya and Tanzania, including a couple in temporary camps. No, we weren’t in poor class accommodation. The tents were beautifully furnished - they were the size of rooms, with an attached bathroom. Excellent food too.

On one of them, in the Serengeti, a mother cheetah & 6 cubs, about 4/5 weeks old, came close to us, then the babies crept under out Jeep for shade. On another in the Selou in Tanzania, we sat in the Jeep for half an hour watching a family of wild dogs (very rare to see them).

Edited March 22, 2019 by Host Grandma Cruising

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

If you really want to see a lot of animals in Africa, then I’d recommend a land-tour Safari of at least 5 days. We’ve done 9 in Kenya and Tanzania, including a couple in temporary camps. No, we weren’t in poor class accommodation. The tents were beautifully furnished - they were the size of rooms, with an attached bathroom. Excellent food too.

On one of them, in the Serengeti, a mother cheetah & 6 cubs, about 4/5 weeks old, came close to us, then the babies crept under out Jeep for shade. On another in the Selou in Tanzania, we sat in the Jeep for half an hour watching a family of wild dogs (very rare to see them).

Thanks for that and it does sound like you had some great times on your safari adventures. For us, though, our "safari adventures" are in the form of ship excursions whenever possible as we are addicted to cruising for our vacation thrills.