Oh no. Another O-vs.-A Comparison Review

[Shawnino]

Posting this here because there are one or two cheerleaders over on the A board who I have no desire to trigger with the facts. 

 

It's not exactly apples-to-apples, but it's close.

Oceania: Riviera (O-class ship) 2018 B2B incl TA ending Miami

Azamara: Pursuit (most recently purchased/refurbed R-class ship) 2019 B2B incl TA ending Rio

 

Food (I): Included food.

Food is subjective, but Oceania's food was objectively better in that it more often came at the proper temperature and requested doneness. O's buffet had more choices but I wonder if that was partly the O-class vs. R-class dynamic. Both MDRs seemed to have a similar number of "always availables" and the menus rotated on similar cycles. Waves (O), and The Patio (A) are hidden gems--Patio is worth checking out for dinner.

Winner: Oceania.

 

Food (II): Specialties

For us, the steakhouses and italian restaurants fought to a happy draw. You can't go wrong with any.

As to policy, I'm torn. I like that O lets you reserve before you board (somewhat unfairly, B2Bers on Azamara can reserve for the next leg at the B2B meeting...). But I also like that A will let you pay and get as many reservations as you want.  

Winner: You be the judge.

 

Food (III): La Reserve vs Chef's Table

We did three on each. Out least-favourite La Reserve (Odyssey) was better than the best Chef's Table (USA! USA!! USA!!!). The Italian Chef's table was a disgrace. I don't speak Italian, but when Mussolini was ranting on his balcony, I'll bet that's what he was complaining about.

Winner: Oceania by a long way.

 

Internet

Azamara's internet was very good. Not good-as-home, but better than fast dial-up, with a rock-steady connection. Oceania's internet is a joke.

Winner: Azamara in a landslide.

 

Missed Ports/Making Up

The missed ports on the O TA were already discussed to death and I don't feel like arguing about them further with people who weren't actually on our cruise. We note here then the simple fact that two ports were missed and not replaced. On the Azamara cruise, we had to miss the port of Vitoria, Brazil (labour unrest). Azamara laid on a replacement port, Brigitte Bardot's favourite playground, Buzios. Say no more.

Winner: Azamara the only entrant, a shame.

 

Air Quality

We required the air conditioners on the A trip for the run to Brazil. The air was stale. A lot of people got sick, including your humble correspondent. In an OV cabin, we didn't have a chance to open a door or window. 

Loser: Azamara. N/A: Oceania.

 

Service

Both ships had teams which provided excellent service. My wife did have a beef with two servers in the Terrace who wouldn't provide more than two pieces of sushi roll at once.

Winner: Too close to call (for everyone but my wife).

 

Visibility of Officers

On O, the officers mostly stick to their traditional duties. On A, part of their duties seem to be to mingle with the passengers. Those passengers who like that, like it a lot.

Winner: I Really Don't Care, Do U? (Never mind: I don't care.)

 

Crew Mood

The Azamara crew seemed happier, and friendlier with one another. This warmth spilled over toward the guests. We actually met two crew members on the A cruise who were O crew the year before with us. Their noob speculation as to why the A crew likes their jobs better was this: when O crew take new contracts, they can be assigned to any ship. A, on the other hand, purposely tries to put returning crew on the same ship they were on previously--crew co-operate better if they know each other better.

Winner: Azamara.

 

Self Serve Laundry

It's included at no cost on A--which means it's seemingly always super busy. There's a nominal charge on O which makes it somewhat easier to get a machine.

Winner: For us, Oceania. YMMV.

 

Entertainment

Similar fare on both lines. Competent musicians and nowhere-near-ready-for-off-off-off-Broadway twentysomething singers. On overnight stays, local entertainment was brought onboard the A ship, a nice touch. On this particular pair of trips, Azamara further edges it because the A-CD was a middle-aged lady who could sing really well, and the O-CD was a magician only adept at fooling himself. The Azamazing evening was overrated, and the "White Night" was poor, but O makes no similar offering at all.  

Winner: Azamara, this time.

 

A Note About the Loyalty Programs

This review has avoided comparing optional products like drinks packages and so forth, but it must be said that A does a better job of engendering loyalty because status across Royal, X, and A is somewhat transferable. We are Plat-Plus on NCL, which isn't worth a pitcher of warm spit on O. if the holding companies' goal is to nudge people upscale line-to-line, RCCL has this angle figured out much better than NCLH does. 

 

Why We Won't be Back on A For Awhile

The cruise was fine, but... as long as I need an accessible cabin (I'm working on it! I'm working on my leg!) A only offers Inside, OV, and Suites. Given the air quality issue, Inside and OV look "out", and we're not really Suite people. We'd rather one of those accessible balconies on O-Class ships (there aren't many, but there are a couple) and use the money we save to extend the trip--instead of paying for a Butler we will never avail ourselves of. 

 

 

 

 

[Flatbush Flyer]

1 hour ago, Shawnino said:

Food (I): Included food.

Oceania's food was objectively better in that it more often came at the proper temperature and requested doneness. O's buffet had more choices

Winner: Oceania.

 

Food (II): Specialties

I like that O lets you reserve before you board .... But I also like that A will let you pay and get as many reservations as you want.  

Winner: You be the judge.

 

Food (III): La Reserve vs Chef's Table

Out least-favourite La Reserve (Odyssey) was better than the best Chef's Table (USA! USA!! USA!!!).

Winner: Oceania by a long way.

 

Internet

Oceania's internet is a joke.

Winner: Azamara in a landslide.

 

Missed Ports/Making Up

Winner: Azamara the only entrant, a shame.

 

Service

Both ships had teams which provided excellent service. My wife did have a beef with two servers in the Terrace who wouldn't provide more than two pieces of sushi roll at once.

Winner: Too close to call (for everyone but my wife).

 

Visibility of Officers

On O, the officers mostly stick to their traditional duties. On A, part of their duties seem to be to mingle with the passengers. Those passengers who like that, like it a lot.

Winner: I Really Don't Care, Do U? (Never mind: I don't care.)

 

Crew Mood

The Azamara crew seemed happier, and friendlier with one another. This warmth spilled over toward the guests. We actually met two crew members on the A cruise who were O crew the year before with us. Their noob speculation as to why the A crew likes their jobs better was this: when O crew take new contracts, they can be assigned to any ship. A, on the other hand, purposely tries to put returning crew on the same ship they were on previously--crew co-operate better if they know each other better.

Winner: Azamara.

 

Self Serve Laundry

 There's a nominal charge on O which makes it somewhat easier to get a machine.

Winner: For us, Oceania. YMMV.

 

Entertainment

 The Azamazing evening was overrated, and the "White Night" was poor, but O makes no similar offering at all.  

Winner: Azamara, this time.

 

A Note About the Loyalty Programs

We are Plat-Plus on NCL, which isn't worth a pitcher of warm spit on O. if the holding companies' goal is to nudge people upscale line-to-line, RCCL has this angle figured out much better than NCLH does. 

 

Thanks for a reasonably fair review.

 

About three years ago, I attended a presentation by A's CEO. When asked about the A & O difference, he said: "Oceania is all about food and Azamara is all about overnights in port."

 

Since then, Oceania has started including more overnights on many itineraries, particularly longer ones (including evening events ashore). Azamara' s food continues unchanged.

 

As for loyalty programs: Few cruise lines come close to Oceania (e.g., complimentary cruise at each 20 credits). And you can bet that FDR will never allow transferring loyalty from NCL to O (which is his "baby").

 

BTW: There's not been a charge for self-serve laundry on O since late in 2018.

 

[LHT28]

Not sure how long ago your O cruise was but they have had free self serve laundry for  a while

Also comparing a TA to  a SA  cruise  is a bit unfair

on a TA it is not easy to pull into a nearby port 😉

JMO

[Shawnino]

45 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

Not sure how long ago your O cruise was but they have had free self serve laundry for  a while

Also comparing a TA to  a SA  cruise  is a bit unfair

on a TA it is not easy to pull into a nearby port 😉

JMO

 

It wasn't a SA cruise, it was a TA from Lisbon to Rio with a couple stops on the coast.

 

[Shawnino]

1 hour ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

 

 

About three years ago, I attended a presentation by A's CEO. When asked about the A & O difference, he said: "Oceania is all about food and Azamara is all about overnights in port."

 

Since then, Oceania has started including more overnights on many itineraries, particularly longer ones (including evening events ashore). Azamara' s food continues unchanged.

 

 

 

BTW: There's not been a charge for self-serve laundry on O since late in 2018.

 

 

Thanks for the updae on the laundry.

 

Interesting comment by A CEO, and O's response.

I don't find much difference between the itineraries now.

A is in a couple places O doesn't go, but they don't interest me in the least (W. Africa comes to mind).

 

 

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, Shawnino said:

 

It wasn't a SA cruise, it was a TA from Lisbon to Rio with a couple stops on the coast.

 

Where did the O cruise  go  from  to Miami? what ports did you miss?

 

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review!

[Redtravel]

Both Azamara and Oceania have good features.both have excellent service. Both have better food than mass market. Oceania specialty restaurants are very good...better than Azamara. Azamara amazing evening events are fabulous. I enjoy sailing on both lines.

 

by the way, both lines do not charge to use their laundry machines. 

[cruzzzinma]

20 hours ago, LHT28 said:

Where did the O cruise  go  from  to Miami? what ports did you miss?

 

Barcelona to Miami. We missed two ports in the Canaries due to a cyclone in the North Atlantic.

[LHT28]

4 hours ago, cruzzzinma said:

Barcelona to Miami. We missed two ports in the Canaries due to a cyclone in the North Atlantic.

a good reason I guess LOL

 

We missed NFLD  & Dublin on our Spring crossing  but we spent an extra day in Cobh  due to storm systems in the Atlantic

[Mura]

Going in to Bermuda on a TA three years ago there was a hurricane in the vicinity ... fortunately it didn't affect our day in Bermuda.  We DID see a fair amount of damage, but it was nothing like what the Bahamas suffered this year.  Our route going in to Bermuda was somewhat affected but we didn't have any missed ports since our previous port had been Funchal.

[LuAnn]

On 12/10/2019 at 6:10 AM, Shawnino said:

Posting this here because there are one or two cheerleaders over on the A board who I have no desire to trigger with the facts. 

 

It's not exactly apples-to-apples, but it's close.

Oceania: Riviera (O-class ship) 2018 B2B incl TA ending Miami

Azamara: Pursuit (most recently purchased/refurbed R-class ship) 2019 B2B incl TA ending Rio

 

Food (I): Included food.

Food is subjective, but Oceania's food was objectively better in that it more often came at the proper temperature and requested doneness. O's buffet had more choices but I wonder if that was partly the O-class vs. R-class dynamic. Both MDRs seemed to have a similar number of "always availables" and the menus rotated on similar cycles. Waves (O), and The Patio (A) are hidden gems--Patio is worth checking out for dinner.

Winner: Oceania.

 

Food (II): Specialties

For us, the steakhouses and italian restaurants fought to a happy draw. You can't go wrong with any.

As to policy, I'm torn. I like that O lets you reserve before you board (somewhat unfairly, B2Bers on Azamara can reserve for the next leg at the B2B meeting...). But I also like that A will let you pay and get as many reservations as you want.  

Winner: You be the judge.

 

Food (III): La Reserve vs Chef's Table

We did three on each. Out least-favourite La Reserve (Odyssey) was better than the best Chef's Table (USA! USA!! USA!!!). The Italian Chef's table was a disgrace. I don't speak Italian, but when Mussolini was ranting on his balcony, I'll bet that's what he was complaining about.

Winner: Oceania by a long way.

 

Internet

Azamara's internet was very good. Not good-as-home, but better than fast dial-up, with a rock-steady connection. Oceania's internet is a joke.

Winner: Azamara in a landslide.

 

Missed Ports/Making Up

The missed ports on the O TA were already discussed to death and I don't feel like arguing about them further with people who weren't actually on our cruise. We note here then the simple fact that two ports were missed and not replaced. On the Azamara cruise, we had to miss the port of Vitoria, Brazil (labour unrest). Azamara laid on a replacement port, Brigitte Bardot's favourite playground, Buzios. Say no more.

Winner: Azamara the only entrant, a shame.

 

Air Quality

We required the air conditioners on the A trip for the run to Brazil. The air was stale. A lot of people got sick, including your humble correspondent. In an OV cabin, we didn't have a chance to open a door or window. 

Loser: Azamara. N/A: Oceania.

 

Service

Both ships had teams which provided excellent service. My wife did have a beef with two servers in the Terrace who wouldn't provide more than two pieces of sushi roll at once.

Winner: Too close to call (for everyone but my wife).

 

Visibility of Officers

On O, the officers mostly stick to their traditional duties. On A, part of their duties seem to be to mingle with the passengers. Those passengers who like that, like it a lot.

Winner: I Really Don't Care, Do U? (Never mind: I don't care.)

 

Crew Mood

The Azamara crew seemed happier, and friendlier with one another. This warmth spilled over toward the guests. We actually met two crew members on the A cruise who were O crew the year before with us. Their noob speculation as to why the A crew likes their jobs better was this: when O crew take new contracts, they can be assigned to any ship. A, on the other hand, purposely tries to put returning crew on the same ship they were on previously--crew co-operate better if they know each other better.

Winner: Azamara.

 

Self Serve Laundry

It's included at no cost on A--which means it's seemingly always super busy. There's a nominal charge on O which makes it somewhat easier to get a machine.

Winner: For us, Oceania. YMMV.

 

Entertainment

Similar fare on both lines. Competent musicians and nowhere-near-ready-for-off-off-off-Broadway twentysomething singers. On overnight stays, local entertainment was brought onboard the A ship, a nice touch. On this particular pair of trips, Azamara further edges it because the A-CD was a middle-aged lady who could sing really well, and the O-CD was a magician only adept at fooling himself. The Azamazing evening was overrated, and the "White Night" was poor, but O makes no similar offering at all.  

Winner: Azamara, this time.

 

A Note About the Loyalty Programs

This review has avoided comparing optional products like drinks packages and so forth, but it must be said that A does a better job of engendering loyalty because status across Royal, X, and A is somewhat transferable. We are Plat-Plus on NCL, which isn't worth a pitcher of warm spit on O. if the holding companies' goal is to nudge people upscale line-to-line, RCCL has this angle figured out much better than NCLH does. 

 

Why We Won't be Back on A For Awhile

The cruise was fine, but... as long as I need an accessible cabin (I'm working on it! I'm working on my leg!) A only offers Inside, OV, and Suites. Given the air quality issue, Inside and OV look "out", and we're not really Suite people. We'd rather one of those accessible balconies on O-Class ships (there aren't many, but there are a couple) and use the money we save to extend the trip--instead of paying for a Butler we will never avail ourselves of. 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for your fair and balanced review...we were on the T/A in '18 with you and the missed ports!! :) We like both AZ and O (the M class ships) but AZ prices are going through the roof...so we have booked our spring T/A '21 on O. 

[Tansy Mews]

5 hours ago, LuAnn said:

Internet

Azamara's internet was very good. Not good-as-home, but better than fast dial-up, with a rock-steady connection. Oceania's internet is a joke.

Winner: Azamara in a landslide.

Thanks for your review. 
You give a higher score for internet. Internet is free in Oceania. You can pay for an upgrade if you wish to stream. It looks like A charges for internet. 
A win for O?

[ABoatNerd]

Shawnino, excellent comparative analysis.

 

Thank you for taking the time to post. Very informative.

 

Our group noted yet another example of the oft reported Oceania missing more ports but not substituting. Another example of their corporate philosophy.  None in our group will consider Oceania as we collectively have missed so many ports with no Oceania effort to swap in another. We have informed our TA's about this trait. 

 

We all follow your posts Shawnino, no matter what board.

 

Happy sailing.

 

 

[ECCruise]

Presently on Insignia 22 days into a 25 day Amazon sailing.  Have sailed AZ about 35 days in the last year or so on Pursuit and Quest, so fairly contemporary observations. 

 

Some random thoughts:

MDR food for us is better on O. Specialties better and no cost on O. Buffet a wash food wise but hate the serving process on O. Just yesterday had to wait almost 10 minutes for a bowl of soup since the same server was also making a series of Caeser salads. We are more than capable of serving ourselves. 

Officers way more visible (and friendly) on AZ. At least on the Insignia, the crew is not a happy one. Who knows why but almost no warm and fuzzy.  Service I would consider perfunctory. 

Entertainment has been meh on this sailing. "Production shows" quite good but the fly-ons pretty average. And every performer does 2-3 nights. If they are not that good, you lose 2-3 nights of shows. Prefer a separate band on Azamara in addition to the show band so find music much better on AZ. 

This was our 6th O sailing but will almost certainly be our last. Simply do not see $1000 per day value for a basic verandah towards the aft of deck 6. And then have to add even more dough for a virtually valueless Concierge so we can get in the cabin before 3:00 PM. 

[clo]

18 minutes ago, ECCruise said:

We are more than capable of serving ourselves.

The point is helping slow down the passing of disease not whether you're "capable."

[clo]

21 minutes ago, ECCruise said:

And then have to add even more dough for a virtually valueless Concierge so we can get in the cabin before 3:00 PM. 

Well, why did you select it? And there are a few more benefits than early embarkation. But we got a free upgrade to concierge level and wouldn't pay for it.

[ECCruise]

5 minutes ago, clo said:

The point is helping slow down the passing of disease not whether you're "capable."

Yes. Except virtually this whole ship is sick (respiratory not noro). So there's that. 

[ECCruise]

4 minutes ago, clo said:

Well, why did you select it? And there are a few more benefits than early embarkation. But we got a free upgrade to concierge level and wouldn't pay for it.

We didn't. Have had free upgrades but no way would pay for it. 

[clo]

8 minutes ago, ECCruise said:

Yes. Except virtually this whole ship is sick (respiratory not noro). So there's that. 

Good grief. You're confusing me. If everyone has a cold, why should the ship do what they can to help prevent a noro-type virus?

[clo]

8 minutes ago, ECCruise said:

We didn't. Have had free upgrades but no way would pay for it. 

So why did you write this?

" And then have to add even more dough for a virtually valueless Concierge so we can get in the cabin before 3:00 PM. "

[ECCruise]

4 minutes ago, clo said:

So why did you write this?

" And then have to add even more dough for a virtually valueless Concierge so we can get in the cabin before 3:00 PM. "

Ok. So add "you would have..."

So sorry. 

[clo]

1 minute ago, ECCruise said:

Ok. So add "you would have..."

So sorry. 

But why on earth "would" you do it? We got this one 'free' but didn't for the one next fall and I'm not paying for it. We're responsible for our own financial decisions.

[ECCruise]

3 minutes ago, clo said:

But why on earth "would" you do it? We got this one 'free' but didn't for the one next fall and I'm not paying for it. We're responsible for our own financial decisions.

Oh, good grief. Goodbye. 

[clo]

8 minutes ago, ECCruise said:

Oh, good grief. Goodbye. 

Ah, no reply. Ok.