QM2 vs. Azamara

[Ballater]

I'm thinking of going on a short (7-day) Mediterranean cruise in May. The Azamara line keeps on popping up in searches. Frankly, I hadn't heard of it until this week. Does anyone have any experience with this line? How does it compare to the Princess or Queens Grill on the QM2 in terms of room, food, service, and staff?

[dahamilton3]

I'm thinking of going on a short (7-day) Mediterranean cruise in May. The Azamara line keeps on popping up in searches. Frankly, I hadn't heard of it until this week. Does anyone have any experience with this line? How does it compare to the Princess or Queens Grill on the QM2 in terms of room, food, service, and staff?

Well, quite frankly, there is NO comparison! Book the Queen Mary 2!

[ocngypz]

Book Cunard Grills.

 

Azamara doesn't even come close to Oceania (it's nearest competitor) let alone Cunard Grills.

 

I've sailed Azamara.. and while it's fine for a port intensive sailing with smaller ports, it's lacking in many creature comforts.

 

Unless you book a suite, the rooms are smaller than average, bathrooms pitifully small. Food was merely okay.....service even in the "specialty restaurants" was merely adequate. No finesse.

 

Frankly, Azamara's sisterline - Celebrity has more going for it.

 

These two Azamara ships are part of the former Renaissance Cruises octet: R1-R8. When Ren went bankrupt, the ships were bought out/leased by other cruiseslines. Oceania has three, Azamara two, Princess has three (Royal, Tahitian and Pacific Princess).

[sw18]

I've sailed on one of the Oceania sister ships, the Regatta, & found service standards totally inconsistent, ranging from the wonderful to the downright rude, so I wouldn't say that is unique to Azamara. The decor seems to be far more subdued on the Azamara ships compared to their Oceania sisters, but none of the former R ships are particularly good sea boats & are very much fair weather vessels. I have crossed the Atlantic on the smaller Silversea sister ships & on Sea Dream's even smaller sister ships on the same routing/same time of year & found Oceania's Regatta to be the most uncomfotable of the 3 with a wierd "corkscrewing" motion - I don't suffer at all from sea sickness, but 2 days from Lisbon to Ponta Delgada nearly put me off for life :eek:

[JPH814]

I'm thinking of going on a short (7-day) Mediterranean cruise in May. The Azamara line keeps on popping up in searches. Frankly, I hadn't heard of it until this week. Does anyone have any experience with this line? How does it compare to the Princess or Queens Grill on the QM2 in terms of room, food, service, and staff?

 

 

I have never sailed Cunard - I have a trip booked for next year. But I have sailed ont he Azamara Journey to Bermuda. It was among the first sailings for the line in July of 2007. I enjoyed it very much. T

 

The dinning room service was a little uneven - I chalked it up to being a new ship and staff) but the specialty dining room was fabulous. ( I definately disagree with ocngypz on this issue! we ate there twice and - if we went again - I would have eaten there every night. The room was beautiful, service was impecable and the food creative and delicious)

 

The crew and staff on the shipwere the friendliest of all cruises I have had, including our last sailing on Holland America. We got to be on a first name basis with many of the officers. We were in suites, which were gorgeous and huge. However, being a smaller ship and the suites being high and forward made for a little bit of a bumpy ride to Bermuda.

 

The size of the ship brought with it the predictable plusses and minuses: easy to get around, little crowding, many nice, small, intimate rooms for cocktails; then again, the show was less big production, the casino had no craps table (bummer for me!) .

 

I would not hesitate to travel Azamara again if they have an itinerary that meets my requirements.

[Ballater]

Thank you, Joe, for such a thoughtfully written reply.

[Wasasalad]

We have been on the QM2 and the Azamara Journey within the last year.

DO NOT BOOK QM2 if you want an intimate quiet upscale cruise!

 

The food on the Azamara is just incredible! The food on the QM2 is the run of the mill giant vats of floating foods! Kind of prepared in advance for thousands of people! We were in the special dining room so we did have the special menu, our own table, and free style dining. thank God we were not in the massive disorganized dining area.

 

Azamara has all these adorable decorated hand made incredible meals, like a gourmet restaurant! The Chilean Sea Bass is one of the best I have ever had. Fish on the QM2 seems like the frozen filet type.

 

I like berries every morning. QM2 just had the routine cruise ship fruit trays. Journey made me a bowel of blueberries every morning!

 

The QM2 just smells smoke it needs to have better air circulation! Azamara Journey is fresh smelling and very clean.

 

The staff on the Journey cannot do enough for you! QM2 if you find someone they will probably try to ignore you!

 

The QM2 is an experience! The ship itself is not a cruise ship, it is an oceanliner. If you go on it go to the bridge and pay attention to the ship itself. WOW! It is awesome! The speed that it can travel is something to experience!

 

 

 

I'm thinking of going on a short (7-day) Mediterranean cruise in May. The Azamara line keeps on popping up in searches. Frankly, I hadn't heard of it until this week. Does anyone have any experience with this line? How does it compare to the Princess or Queens Grill on the QM2 in terms of room, food, service, and staff?

[phillycruiserbear]

Hey there Dahamilton3, I think I met you on the Qm2 on the president's day weekend. Please get in touch.

 

Thanks

[sfbearcat]

The Azamara Journey would heave like a drunk on the North Atlantic..I chose an Ocean liner...you will be heaving all your upscale food on the Journey Vs QM2 ride:)

[dahamilton3]

phillycruiserbear...yeah, I think we met back in February. Had a blast on the QM2! You can drop me a quick "hello" at lovebodyart@yahoo.com

[phillycruiserbear]

Hi Dave, sent you a message at your yahoo account with a lot of pics on it.

 

Make sure it didn't go into your spam filter!

 

Well Got to go watch the Phillies

 

I can hear the cheering in my computer room from the stadium

[DGF]

I'm thinking of going on a short (7-day) Mediterranean cruise in May. The Azamara line keeps on popping up in searches. Frankly, I hadn't heard of it until this week. Does anyone have any experience with this line? How does it compare to the Princess or Queens Grill on the QM2 in terms of room, food, service, and staff?

 

I have read some of the replies you have received to your question and respectfully disagree with some of the comments.

 

We have not cruised onboard the Azamara but have cruised in Tahiti on the Tahitian Princess, also a former Rennaissance ship, and the QM2 Princess Grill class in the Caribbean

 

Cabins- Rennaissance ship cabins are substantially smaller than the Princess Grill. The standard balcony cabins only have showers and bathrooms are tight. If you are going to book and want comparable space to Princess Grill, recommend that you book a mini suite which we have done on our next cruise onboard the Tahitian Princess

 

Dining- Princess Grill class is open seating with a difference. You are assigned a table in the dining room and you can arrive at your pleasure during the dining hours (anytime during approx. 2 hr time frame). This allows you to get to know your three waiters and they get to know you. The service was excellent and the food was very good to gourmet. The only other cruise ship we have experienced such high food quality was our recent cruise in Sept 08 onboard the Crystal Symphony

 

Lounges- Grill Class guests have two lounges set aside exclusively for their use, one of which- Queen's Grill- often had special entertainment. We are not classic music buffs but found the harpist and violin musicians excellent.

 

Venue options/ things to do- The total number of venue options on board the QM2 far exceeds those on the smaller Rennaissance ships (ship size QM2 150,000 tons vs. 30,000, five times the size). We were unable to cover/ enjoy the total QM2 ship on our first seven day cruise and are returning again on Nov 21, 08 on their Caribbean cruise out of New York.

 

Service- We found the service throughout the QM2 ship very good to excellent. However, it is certainly not up to the Crystal standards, which is exceptional, the best we have ever experienced where it was an exception to the rule when you walk past a staff member who did not greet you

 

Crowds- We were amazed how well the large number of passengers flowed throughout the QM2. A totally different experience from what we found onboard the Star Princess where waiting for elevators often a problem. However, our QM2 embarkation experience in Ft. Lauderdale was less than satisfactory (long line ups), notwithstanding Grill Class has separate check in. Disembarkation was much smoother

 

Ship stability- In our Tahitian Princess Cruise we had a side trip in the open ocean between Tahiti and the Cook Islands. I found the ship moved around a lot and not having the best of sea legs I would avoid any long ocean journeys onboard a Rennaissance ship. The QM2 is an ocean liner and handles rough seas very well. On our Caribbean cruise, QM2 cut thru the water (deeper draft)

 

Small ship vs big ship- The Tahitian Princess was more like a country club; more intimate than the QM2. The QM2 is a destination on to itself while the smaller ship was a comfortable enjoyable ship with more than adequate number of venues moving us from one spectactular Tahiti port to the next

 

Personal Conclusions- The purpose of our next cruise on board the QM2 in Nov. 08 is to enjoy the ship and the dining experience. The itinerary, other than to the warm south, was not a consideration. The purpose of our next cruise on board the Tahitian Princess is the itinerary with the benefits of a mini suite bathtub where we can soak our aging body after an extensive day ashore. Our target is good food but not Grill Class

 

Hope this helps. Please ask any questions and if you would like some pixs of the QM2 please ask. Let us know how large your e-mail provider permits attachments (some only allow 5MB) and we will break up as required

 

DEAN