Azamara or Oceania? Opinions please!

[combine]

1 hour ago, fruitmachine said:

I just want to clarify, because it's not entirely clear, and won't be at all clear to anyone reading this post in isolation... Can you confirm that the first half of your post (I've highlighted in blue above) relates to Azamara, and the second half (in red) to Oceania?

Yes I had same confusion earlier, but deleted my post !
Post #45 sets the scene from @dive4pamand the ‘horror stories’ do appear to  relate  to Oceania. 

[dive4pam]

5 hours ago, fruitmachine said:

I just want to clarify, because it's not entirely clear, and won't be at all clear to anyone reading this post in isolation... Can you confirm that the first half of your post (I've highlighted in blue above) relates to Azamara, and the second half (in red) to Oceania?

Yes the second 1/2 relates to Oceania.  I will see If I can add as an edit.  Thanks for pointing out that in isolation its not clear.

Pam

[dive4pam]

On 1/28/2023 at 3:16 PM, vtgumby said:

We just got off the Pursuit and met quite a few Oceania cruisers and the overwhelming thoughts about Azamara versus Oceania was that Oceania won hands-down. We used to be loyal Azamara cruisers and our last cruise with them was January 2020, it was superb. However, the food has taken a big hit and the service has gone downhill also, it was actually quite disappointing and we thought what has happened? So much so that I don’t see us taking another cruise with them for some time. Three new couples to Azamara said never again and they raved about Oceania. I didn’t bother to ask if they had been on Oceania since Covid because like I mentioned, we used to be cheerleaders for Azamara, but no more after this last experience. I understand they’re trying to make money back after Covid but the food has become average, they ran out of items immediately such as bagels on day 2, escargot left a few days later, and that’s just bad provisioning for a 17 day cruise. A week into the cruise and the dining room had a whole list of things that were no longer available. Service is also taking a hit and we noticed in the Buffet that getting water and wine almost became a self service situation, servers would literally walk by people with empty trays and we just figured out to go up and get our own water and wine and then other people were asking us how we got our water and wine and we told them we helped ourselves. That isn’t the normal Azamara service we have become accustomed to, quite sad because we really did love this line but after this last cruise not so much.

Looking forward to great (I hope) food and service on Oceania in April for 28 days!

You need to read my posts on oceania- currently sailing on marina ending a 51 night cruise in SA.  Service and attitude- horrible- lots of first time cruisers with Oceania- say "NEVER AGAIN"  and the food- weird is a nice term for some of their "gourmet" specialty items.  I have been sickened twice by the food and not the only passenger with this experience.  Once happened 4 hours after a meal in Jaques and once after the Terrace Cafe.   On Insignia last spring- running out of food was the norm.  this cruise was a bit better but clearly running out of "fresh fruit and salads fixings" at the end of each leg.  I can forgive that but not the poor service, hostile staff attitudes toward complaints  and the "frankly my dear, I don't give a damn" responses to constant issues with shore excursions, late to port and the most intolerable of it all, "cutting port times in order to lessen our carbon footprint"- so good luck in april- this is our last Oceania!

[Rosroz]

Hi, my husband and I had just come off a Caribbean cruise on Azamara Onward , we throughly enjoyed it ,however just a few points re Oceania and Azamara. We have only sailed on Riveria -4 times , 4 cruises with Azamara, we are ex Celebrity Aqua class fans and have cruised approx 40 times .

 

Oceania 
Food is far far superior and it certainly has the wow factor.

Cabins are better

The Riveria is a slicker ship.

The evenings are extremely dull 

The crew can be offish

Fellow passengers are more staid

lack of atmosphere 

payable tips

very little extras included 

Much more expensive 

 

 

Azamara

Good atmosphere

Tips included 

Drinks 

Great staff

Visible officers

More going on in the evenings 

Need to pay for Speciality dining

old ships

poor cabins

dire showers

Excellent value for money

 

These are just a few things that immediately come to mind.

We would travel with both companies again depending on itinerary, costs etc..

One extra thing to add, things are not the same since the dreaded COVID , staffing levels,, worldwide logistic issues, the war in Ukraine etc etc etc 

we have changed so has the world of cruising.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Oslo Dutch]

On 2/3/2023 at 10:59 PM, Rosroz said:

Hi, my husband and I had just come off a Caribbean cruise on Azamara Onward , we throughly enjoyed it ,however just a few points re Oceania and Azamara. We have only sailed on Riveria -4 times , 4 cruises with Azamara, we are ex Celebrity Aqua class fans and have cruised approx 40 times .

 

Oceania 
Food is far far superior and it certainly has the wow factor.

Cabins are better

The Riveria is a slicker ship.

The evenings are extremely dull 

The crew can be offish

Fellow passengers are more staid

lack of atmosphere 

payable tips

very little extras included 

Much more expensive 

 

 

Azamara

Good atmosphere

Tips included 

Drinks 

Great staff

Visible officers

More going on in the evenings 

Need to pay for Speciality dining

old ships

poor cabins

dire showers

Excellent value for money

 

These are just a few things that immediately come to mind.

We would travel with both companies again depending on itinerary, costs etc..

One extra thing to add, things are not the same since the dreaded COVID , staffing levels,, worldwide logistic issues, the war in Ukraine etc etc etc 

we have changed so has the world of cruising.

 

This is pretty spot on. We did sail on the Pursuit summer last year in the Baltic and loved it.

Lovely atmosphere, nice approachable people, and being in a CC Suite was fantastic. We loved the food and service in the main dining room. Food wasn't as good as Oceania, however still very high valued. 

We are not big drinkers, so all inclusive drinks on offer plus coffees were fine with us.  Also, the longer port stays with Azamara are also worth it

 

Many years ago we did a Black Sea cruise on Nautica. While the food and service were outstanding we were put off by snobbish impolite fellow guests, and like you mentioned the ship was dead at night.This was the first cruise I felt slightly bored.

 

We just booked a 7-night Italy to Greece in April and return on Pursuit. Needless to say, we look forward to it! 

 

[Jem 12]

On 1/29/2023 at 6:19 PM, hamrag said:

But, were there any other cruise ships that day? On our most recent visit to Roseau there were 3 ships, previously on another four visits our ship was the only one.

Yes Princess was docked out of town. 

[iana1212]

A lot of the comments are comparing pre Covid with post Covid standards (Covid is used as the differentiation point but it is really a combination of inflationary costs, loss of profit that needs to be recovered, supply chain issues and staffing that are the issues. So not really valid comparators.) Don’t think it is fair to compare a pre Covid experience on one line with a post Covid one on a different line. We have sailed Oceania pre Covid and Azamara both pre and post Covid.

 

If you are comparing the old Renaissance Class ships there is nothing between the two lines as they are the same ships and no real difference between the different lines in terms of public spaces and cabins. Unless you look for it you won’t see any evidence of the age of the ships. We found food better in Oceania but Azamara with included drinks and lower price better value.

 

post Covid we have only been on Azamara and no real difference in quality of offering from before Covid. A few times there were shortages of items due to supply issues but nothing, to us, worth mentioning. 
 

if you look at Oceania Facebook posts they are full of negative comments re drop in standards and reduced time in port but  I cannot comment on that.

Didn’t hear any negative comments from fellow cruisers on Azamara standards on 2 cruises we took last year (different ships).
 

We have booked again this year with Azamara but would have booked Oceania if suitable itinerary and cost was comparable but haven’t seen any that would justify to us the significant premium that Oceania now ask for for similar cruises over Azamara.

 

we stay in standard balcony or inside cabins and eat in the main dining room for dinner with occasional speciality restaurant although we haven’t really thought the food much better than the main dining room (both Azamara and Oceania) except captain’s  table meal on Azamara which was a step up.