QuestionEverything Posted yesterday at 12:50 PM #1 Share Posted yesterday at 12:50 PM A wonderful good day everyone! I did a search for this topic, but did not get any results. So I am posting my query. Question - How does Azamara differ from Oceania - focused only on the R ships for equivalency? I have cruised Oceania, but wish to broaden my experience. Any and all analysis would be greatly appreciated. I travel for itinerary mostly. Kindest Regards! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare FetaCheese Posted yesterday at 01:22 PM #2 Share Posted yesterday at 01:22 PM @QuestionEverything See the topic... Just back from France intensive by @Sleep7 for her day by day review. Lots of info and photos about her experience on AZ. A good way to see how AZ compares to O. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marmaduke Posted yesterday at 02:35 PM #3 Share Posted yesterday at 02:35 PM Oceania refurbished the cabins on their R Class ships to a higher standard than Azamara. They stripped out all the dark wood decor and made the cabins lighter with a soft grey colour scheme. The drawers are the soft close type, that you just gently push and they close. The bathrooms are the same size as Azamara i.e small, but they they have doors on the shower rather than a curtain. The rest of the ships have much they same layout as Azamara. On Oceania the bar just outside the restuarant on deck 5 functions as a coffee bar during the day and converts to a full bar in the evenings. If I remember correctly there is a small golf putting area on deck 11, althoug this limits the number of sunbeds available on this deck. The quality of food on Oceania tends to be a notch above Azamara as are the wines available on their basic package. Although I consider Azamara offers a wider choice of food, especially with their themed even buffets. That said, I prefer Azamara, the crew are friendlier and are prepared to go the extra mile for the guests. The ships stay later in port and if there is a problem with access to a port e.g. weather conditions, the company goes out of it way to find an alternative port, whereas Oceania has a reputation for just adding another sea day to the itinerary. Overall I consider Azamara better value for money. 13 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare terry&mike Posted 9 hours ago #4 Share Posted 9 hours ago Currently (as of October 1), Oceania includes gratuities, specialty dining, and wifi in their booking price. Azamara includes gratuities, and a basic beverage package with wine/beer/spirits at bars and restaurants. Azamara offers the White Night parties, which are very popular. They also have Azamazing Evenings, with a cultural entertainment experience, but these are sometimes minimized in experience or held onboard, so not sure where this is headed. The pre-boarding/home office experience of booking, accounting, and managing the reservations with Azamara has been a bit of chaos for the past two years, but the onboard experience is top notch. The pre-boarding/home office experience with Oceania is very direct and organized, with minimal errors. The pricing is often very similar when looking at itineraries and number of days, but with the current inclusions, if you are a drinker, there is a little better value with Azamara. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuestionEverything Posted 7 hours ago Author #5 Share Posted 7 hours ago Thanks to everyone for your posts and great analysis. We are looking to try A for the first time and your effort has given us confidence indeed. Many thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare terry&mike Posted 6 hours ago #6 Share Posted 6 hours ago I do not think you will be disapointed with Azamara. The lines have more similarities than differences. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare mare s. Posted 2 hours ago #7 Share Posted 2 hours ago We've been on a couple of Oceania and many Azamara cruises. I do wish Azamara would adopt the doors in the shower rather than the curtains and would bring back a harpist or string trio, but otherwise, I think the Azamara product is superior. Personally, I prefer the food on Azamara (I've never had anything inedible on Azamara....wish I could say the same about Oceania) and we've also experienced huge port changes on Oceania without much explanation or apology. Love the Azamara late nights and overnights and the White Night and Azamazing evening. Nothing like those on Oceania. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mackdogmolly Posted 2 hours ago #8 Share Posted 2 hours ago 6 minutes ago, mare s. said: I do wish Azamara would adopt the doors in the shower rather than the curtains I don’t. Then I would be banging my elbows into the doors! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KirkNC Posted 2 hours ago #9 Share Posted 2 hours ago I like the doors versus the curtains but the new curtains they had on the Onward in January were a marked improvement over previous ones. overall we prefer AZ better but a few things I liked about O other then shower doors was a far more extensive menu in the specialty restaurants. I think O’s Toscana menu is about 12 pages 😳. We find the atmosphere on AZ to be more to our liking. The passengers are more laid back, O’s can be a little pretentious at times. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Jay19 Posted 1 hour ago #10 Share Posted 1 hour ago 1 hour ago, Mackdogmolly said: I don’t. Then I would be banging my elbows into the doors! I agree. I thought I would far prefer the doors to curtain but in fact found that you had to have the doors at a particular angle in order to get in and out and yes, elbows get banged particularly if you are unfortunate enough to drop the soap. 😀 Like you we are just back from 2 1/2 wks on Quest and found the newer heavier weight curtains to work well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Jay19 Posted 1 hour ago #11 Share Posted 1 hour ago We've sailed with AZ since 2009 but also done 4 fairly recent O cruises. While we enjoyed a lot of things about O, having ports missed on every cruise, as well as port times cut on our last one, was a deal breaker for us. We sail primarily for the itinerary and love the small ships for being able to go in ports the bigger ships can't. We recognize that there are times when itineraries have to be changed but we have found that Azamara seem to go to great lengths to try and provide suitable alternatives. Having said that, in over 20 AZ cruises the vast majority have been exactly as advertised. We also prefer the visibility of the senior officers and crew on AZ and do find the crew to be more friendly while still remaining very professional. It is hard to describe but our feeling on boarding AZ is always that we are home and welcome. I hope that you find an itinerary you like and will give Azamara a try for yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
candkd Posted 17 minutes ago #12 Share Posted 17 minutes ago Another difference--Oceania doesn't charge for the specialty restaurants. There is no limit on the number of times you can go & depending on the level of your cabin you can make on-line reservations for a certain number of days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now