Azmara Vs. Oceania

[cruiseyguy]

As a practical matter, the two are so close now that I would base my decision on 1) itinerary and 2) cost.

[gnld]

My wife & I just did an almost-back-to-back on Azamara and Oceania in November. 10-day Azamara r/t Barcelona, then 2 days later a t/a to Miami on Oceania. First time on Azamara and second on Oceania (we've been on 25+ cruises overall). We'll go "against the current" in these postings to say we preferred Azamara over Oceania. In the year and a half since our first Oceania cruise (Greek Isles), we felt they slipped half a notch in cuisine quality, service and entertainment (e.g., they've dropped the 4-person singing/dancing troupe in favor of all single performers, although I was told they're reconsidering this decision -- I must not have been the only one to mildly complain!). On Azamara, we felt the service and cuisine were all outstanding (we had a few minor issues on both with Oceania), and the entertainment was better. "Voting with our Pocketbook", we booked another Azamara cruise in Europe for next summer, but did not book another Oceania cruise. In our minds, slightly better cruise line, and lower prices (win - win). Parroting another posting, Crystal/Regent 10, Azamara 9, Oceania 8. All that being said, we're interested in seeing itineraries on Oceania's new Marina.

Gary & Carol

[LHT28]

Things may be changing on Azamara

Reading this thread it is not sounding good or could be just an off cruise

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=890542

[Aussie Gal]

LHT28,

 

I believe it was an off cruise which sometimes happens though the OP has still to give her complete review of the Journey. She has said that she has had a great cruise with a few things not being completely right.

 

We did a 35 day cruise on Oceania in April/May and there were some things that weren't completely 100% with our cruise but we didn't let that worry us and we still had the best cruise ever because we had a great itinerary, wonderful weather and the best bunch of cruisers you would ever want to meet.

 

We will be on Azamara's Quest shortly and just comparing the cost of what we are paying to what we would be paying on Oceania, then we won't mind if lots of things go wrong as there is no way that we could have 14 days accommodation, all meals plus the travel of going from one country to another for what we are paying.

 

We are looking forward to seeing how Azamara compares to Oceania and Princess and then we can choose which cruise line we prefer as the ships are all the same, the only difference will be the service and the food!

 

Jennie

[Paulchili]

Things may be changing on Azamara

Reading this thread it is not sounding good or could be just an off cruise

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=890542

 

I did manage to struggle through this thread.

I think it's a case of "he said -she said". There are as many opinions as there are posters (not all that surprising).

I think the people who are in the best position to compare the 2 lines are the ones who cruised on BOTH (not just read reviews). Not only cruised both lines, but cruised several times on each, as any single sailing on any ship can be an "aberration" from the norm.

I am determined to try Azamara and form my own opinion; I wouldn't base the decision to sail or not to sail A on a couple of reports (either positive or negative). I base my decisions on the itineraries and prices and repeat the good experiences while avoiding the bad ones.

Just my opinion.

[Paulchili]

LHT28,

 

I believe it was an off cruise which sometimes happens though the OP has still to give her complete review of the Journey. She has said that she has had a great cruise with a few things not being completely right.

 

We did a 35 day cruise on Oceania in April/May and there were some things that weren't completely 100% with our cruise but we didn't let that worry us and we still had the best cruise ever because we had a great itinerary, wonderful weather and the best bunch of cruisers you would ever want to meet.

 

We will be on Azamara's Quest shortly and just comparing the cost of what we are paying to what we would be paying on Oceania, then we won't mind if lots of things go wrong as there is no way that we could have 14 days accommodation, all meals plus the travel of going from one country to another for what we are paying.

 

We are looking forward to seeing how Azamara compares to Oceania and Princess and then we can choose which cruise line we prefer as the ships are all the same, the only difference will be the service and the food!

 

Jennie

 

Jennie,

as I have said before, I am eagerly awaiting your report on Azamara.

Even though I do not know you personally (only from your posts) I think I will value your opinion highly.

[cruiseyguy]

One of the themes (and problems) with some of the Azamara reviews is that the reviewer's main (or only) cruising experience has been on a big ship line, mainly Celebrity or RCL , which are part of the Azamara corporate family. As a result, the reviews tend to focus on "what's missing" from the reviewers prior big ship experiences. As we know, the "R" ships occupy a special niche and have many fans. Thus, the most helpful reviews comparing Azamara to Oceania will be by those people who have sailed both or other, smaller premium or luxury ships.

[LHT28]

I agree that any cruise can be subjective as to the personal preferences of the reviewer.

We have been watching the reviews as we may try A in the future if the itinerary is not offered by O.

 

I was more concerned that they were running out of food during the cruise

I know on O they sometimes run out of certain things because of the higher demand EG: berries, lemonade

 

As many have pointed out here several times the economy is changing and cruise lines are trying to keep up.

Lyn

 

Awaiting your comparison Jennie

[LHT28]

I think the people who are in the best position to compare the 2 lines are the ones who cruised on BOTH (not just read reviews). Not only cruised both lines, but cruised several times on each, as any single sailing on any ship can be an "aberration" from the norm.

.

 

There are several people who have both lines & have posted their reviews if one cares to look.:cool:

 

I am not saying Azamara is bad it just appears to be slipping

I will find out soon if O is also economizing

 

Lyn

[Paulchili]

There are several people who have both lines & have posted their reviews if one cares to look.:cool:

 

Don't have to look very far - there are several posts like that in this thread alone.

Some prefer one line, others prefer the other.

[LHT28]

Don't have to look very far - there are several posts like that in this thread alone.

Some prefer one line, others prefer the other.

 

You and I seem to have a personality clash..... so I will just leave it at that

[Paulchili]

You and I seem to have a personality clash..... so I will just leave it at that

 

Agreed on all counts.

[jfb128]

We have sailed 11 times with Oceania and recently had our first cruise with Azamara aboard Quest. We decided to take the Azamara cruise because it went to destinations that Oceania did not offer and the price was right. I have read posts by some on this board and on the Aamara board that Azamara is just like Oceania but it costs less. In my humble opinion it does cost less and the ship's are almost the same but there is definitley a level of service missing on Azamara that exists on Oceania. With some exeptions such as in destination services, the staff on Oceania is much more client service oriented than on Azamara. We also found the food much more to our liking on Oceania than on Azamara. Finally we met at least a dozen other couples who had cruised with both Oceania and Azamara and the feeling was the same with all of the couples that something was missing on Azamara. Let me explain the issues we found aboard Azamara.

 

When we checked in we were told our luggage would be delivered to our cabin in about an hour. It took four hours for our first two bags to arrive and the other two arrived three hours later. We were even given someone else's luggage at that time.

 

Azamara still uses the annoying photographers that appear to be wanting to take your picture at every event. One even dressed himself in local costume and wanted you to have your picture taken with him.

 

Our other incident with the staff occurred when we were asked about our disembarkation preference. I asked for the earliest time and was told by an individual at the front desk that only those with pre arranged Azamara transfers could be given first priority and we would have to wait. I eventually found the ship's immigration officer and he told the person to allow us off at the first call. As it turned out the point was moot as high winds in Piraeus kept the entire ship from docking for 6 hours. When we were finally able to disembark it was every person for themselves.

 

The food and service in the buffet was definitely notches below that in the Terrace Cafe aboard Oceania. First there are far fewer people waiting on you and you are expected to get your own coffee and water at an island as you entered. The food is more out in the open and you can serve yourself - we saw people helping themselves and kept thinking norovirus waiting to happen. The glass partitions are over the food but you can reach in and help yourself. If you are familar with the pizza station aboard Oceania, that facility is used as a pizza station aboard Azamara too. However, while Oceania mans their station almost all the time, Azamara leaves the pizza under a heat lamp and it is serve yourself. If you get there when an individual is bringing more pizza than you are lucky and it is pretty good pizza. If it has sat under the heat lamp for a period of time as is often the case you can get a rock.

 

At breakfast Azamara does have an individual making smoothies at the bar near the entrance. That is very popular. They also have an omelette station at the main buffet line. But the fresh berries that are available every morning aboard Oceania turned into half frozen berries aboard Azamara. I asked the food manager about the lack of fresh berries and he said that they are available in Discoveries-the main dining room -for breakfast. But eating half frozen stawberries or blueberries was definite turn off for us.

 

The evening meals in Tapas aboard Oceania usually have very similar offerings as the Grand dining room. Aboard Azamara that is not the case. Their specialty is a stir fry station that many found disappointing. Also the sushi aboard Oceania is a notch better than Azamara.

 

The main dining room was on par with Oceania. The food was very similar althought the menus were very poorly laid out and difficult to read.

 

The two specialty restaurants are very similar in style to Oceania but there are some differences. First there is a $10 per person optional cover charge. You get the bill to sign at the conclusion of the meal. The menu in the steak house Prime C is more limited than in the Polo Grill aboard Oceania. There are no live lobsters or surf and turf in Prime C. Oceania makes their caesar salads table side while Azamara brought them from the kitchen already prepared. The first time we were at Prime C the salad had obvioulsy been made way in advance as the romaine lettuce was soggy and there was far too much dressing being used. After pointing that out to the food manager the second time the salad was more to our liking.

 

Most Prime C entrees come with pre arranged side dishes. If you wanted to exchange, it was hit or miss if they were able to deliver. Oceania gives you more options here.

 

If you are wiling to share a table in the Premium restaurants aboard Azamara you have to arrange that yourself as the maitre D told us that they do not put people together at tables unless they are requested by the entire party.

 

The pool food venue called Waves on Oceania and Pool Grill on Azamara are very similar but Azamara keeps their venue open until 6 PM. They also do some additonal dishes that Oceania does not offer. While the food is otherwise comparable the nod goes to Azamara here for more offerings and longer hours.

 

Aqualina is a seafood venue as opposed to an Italian themed restaurant like Toscana. The wait staff in this restaurant was on par with Oceania and the food though different was good.

 

Azamara also opens their dinner operations at 6PM and keep them open until 9:30 PM.

 

If you are an afficianado of afternoon high tea aboard Oceania you are in for a disappointment on Azamara. They wheel a cart down the hallway around 3:45 to 4:15 knocking on your doors for tea and sweets. They supposedly had a high tea service on the sea day in the Aqualina restaurant but we did not attend.

 

Enrichment lectures aboard Oceania usually consist of a true professional giving lectures on the history of the area we are cruising or interesting people with outstanding careers.

I have fond memories of Arte Johnson from Laugh In and some great college professors talking about the Chinese revolution or the battles with Chaing Kai Shek. The enrichment lecture on Azamara had a young man reading a prepared lecture about the ports we were to visit. There was no depth and his hand jestures annoyed almost the entire audience.

 

If you have cruised with Oceania you have probaby seen the chefs having a cooking demonstration in the main lounge. The chefs are quite engaging and the presentations have been fun. They tried this activity aboard Azamara in the Prime C venue and the chef had zero personality so much so that the assistant cruise director finally just told stories himself.

 

You are probably wondering if Azamara does do things better in any way than Oceania. Two areas come to mind. First , the internet. Azamara prices are half the cost of Oceania and it appeared the speed was slightly better. Oceania rips people off on the prices they charge for internet access. They do have two extra people manning the internet lounge on Oceania but that does not justify the excess price. Oceania also allows you to download your pictures on their computer and make a CD. On Azamara you have to go to the photographers for that service.

 

Second and most important, destination services. The tours aboard Azamara were much better organized and the staff far friendlier than anything we have experienced on Oceania. FDR would do well to hire the two women who were in charge aboard Quest. They did not try to push you to do their tours and helped to explain alternatives for those wishing to tour on their own. Finally they did a much better job of trying to discourage people who could not handle certain strenuous activities from participating in those tours. In fact they many times had an alternative tour which covered the same ground without forcing people to hike areas that they could not handle.

 

 

There is no question in our minds that Oceania offers a better product in line with our values and expectations. Having said that we could be talked into going on Azamara again if the itinerary was unique or the price too good to pass up. In fact Azamara is better than two other lines on which we have cruised. But we would be willing to pay a value driven premium for the better food and service on Oceania.

[Paulchili]

jfb128,

Thank you for what I see as a very balanced review and comparison between the 2 lines.

It would appear to be the consensus (though not unanimous) that O provides a better service/product. I think it comes down to for how much more on similar itineraries and people will have to decide if it is worth to them to pay the difference. Some people may care more about the bottom line, others would be more interested in the quality of the product.

To me the most important criteria for a cruise is the itinerary. We cruise for the destinations - everything else is a bonus. Saving money is not too bad either. We have done everything from Marco Polo's bare necessities to Silversea's pampering (and many others in between) and would it do again on almost any line for the right destination.

I wish O would invent new itineraries as their cruise calendar is stale.

[Aussie Gal]

I agree with Paulchili, the itinerary is the most important factor followed by whether we are happy to cruise with the line and finally comes the cost which has to fall within our budget. As we prefer the smaller ships, we are limited in our selection but we have still found some great itineraries that we will be doing over the next 18 moths.

 

Jennie

[fPetrarca]

I was aboard Azamara Quest's "Best of Italy" cruise last Spring and remember a few things a little differently than jfb128. We had ample, even mounds, of fresh berries at breakfast in Windows Cafe. It was something everyone commented on. Perhaps things have changed or there is a supply issue on certain cruises. We also had self-service espresso machines on both sides of Windows, which I had never seen on another cruise line except Regent. The smoothies bar not only has smoothies but fresh-squeezed juices on an unlimited basis--another nice touch. I don't understanding how staffing a pizza station can make pizza more or less fresh--that depends on the kitchen and the restaurant managers. I thought the menus were pretty straightforward and easy to read so I'm not sure what jfb128 is referring to. After all, it's a menu. The optional charge in the alternative restaurants is not a cover charge--it's for staff gratuity and it's $5 per person, not $10. In any event, there is no limit to the number of times one can eat in these restaurants based on cabin category--only space limitations. Finally, Azamara doesn't do "share" tables in the alternative restaurants for service and flow-control reasons--it's a matter of management style, not "quality."

[Aussie Gal]

fPetraca,

 

We hope that the fresh berries will be on board for breakfast when we are on the Quest in February. That was one of the best things that Oceania did, the wonderful fresh berries and fruit each morning. We were on for 35 days and not one day went by without all that variety. It was a great start to the day. I also loved their baguettes and the cheese selection each morning and am hoping for a similar experience on Azamara.

 

Jennie

[Paulchili]

fPetrarca,

Thank you as well for your different point of view.

Again, not surprisingly, different people will have different experiences even on the same cruise.

The lesson being - try it for yourself and see what YOU think as we all have different expectations and perceive things differently.

[jfb128]

fPetrarca

 

There were never any fresh berries on Azamara in the breakfast buffet. Perhaps it was an availability issue but the restaurant manager never offered that explanation when I asked him about the berries. He just said they were available in Discoveries.

 

As to the pizzas let me explain myself more completely. When the pizzas are put out on the table on Azamara there are a number placed under a heat lamp. Once they sat there for a period of time the heat lamp cooked (maybe overcooked is the correct description)the pizzas more completely and they became hard as a rock and lost their flavor. Oceania had someone there controllling the servings at all times and the number of pizzas that were put out at the station at any one time. The person controlling the servings was able to determine if there had been a quality issue after the serving was under a heat lamp for an extended period. Even the good fast food restaurants do not leave their burgers et al. under a heat lamp for an extended period. The pizza was fine on Azamara if you took a piece when it was first placed out there but not after it sat for an extended period of time.

 

As to the number of times you could eat at the specialty restaurant since we had a sky suite we were told that we were entitled to three reservations total for the two restaurants. However since the cruise was only at 70% capacity we were able to have four reservations. I have no idea if there were different rules for different cabin categories nor did I comment on that in my original post. On Oceania we were entitled to four reservations total (two at each venue when we were in an equivalent penthouse suite). I realize that that reservation entitlement difference between cabin category on Oceania bothers some.

 

As to the charge in the specialty venues it is $10 per couple and not per person. You are correct.

 

I never commented about espresso machines because I don't drink espresso.Sorry I missed that fact. You are correct about fresh orange juice being available at the smoothie bar. I assume by your comment that there were other fresh juices available as well.

 

Last as someone who grew up in a restaurant there is a way to design a menu for easy reading and enhancing the products being offered. Azamara did NOT do this as well as Oceania. Sorry if my comment bothered you but most restaurants do take great pride in the appearance of their menu. I felt Azamara was lacking here.

[djr7879]

fPetrarca

 

There were never any fresh berries on Azamara in the breakfast buffet. Perhaps it was an availability issue but the restaurant manager never offered that explanation when I asked him about the berries. He just said they were available in Discoveries.

 

As to the pizzas let me explain myself more completely. When the pizzas are put out on the table on Azamara there are a number placed under a heat lamp. Once they sat there for a period of time the heat lamp cooked (maybe overcooked is the correct description)the pizzas more completely and they became hard as a rock and lost their flavor. Oceania had someone there controllling the servings at all times and the number of pizzas that were put out at the station at any one time. The person controlling the servings was able to determine if there had been a quality issue after the serving was under a heat lamp for an extended period. Even the good fast food restaurants do not leave their burgers et al. under a heat lamp for an extended period. The pizza was fine on Azamara if you took a piece when it was first placed out there but not after it sat for an extended period of time.

 

As to the number of times you could eat at the specialty restaurant since we had a sky suite we were told that we were entitled to three reservations total for the two restaurants. However since the cruise was only at 70% capacity we were able to have four reservations. I have no idea if there were different rules for different cabin categories nor did I comment on that in my original post. On Oceania we were entitled to four reservations total (two at each venue when we were in an equivalent penthouse suite). I realize that that reservation entitlement difference between cabin category on Oceania bothers some.

 

As to the charge in the specialty venues it is $10 per couple and not per person. You are correct.

 

I never commented about espresso machines because I don't drink espresso.Sorry I missed that fact. You are correct about fresh orange juice being available at the smoothie bar. I assume by your comment that there were other fresh juices available as well.

 

Last as someone who grew up in a restaurant there is a way to design a menu for easy reading and enhancing the products being offered. Azamara did NOT do this as well as Oceania. Sorry if my comment bothered you but most restaurants do take great pride in the appearance of their menu. I felt Azamara was lacking here.

 

Thanks for the valuable comparison. Could you please elaborate a bit on your previous statement that O is not more expensive than A? Thanks!

[jfb128]

In my first post I said that Azamara does cost less than Oceania when looking at total pricing. There may be instances where some cruises are comparably priced but for the cruises that aroused our interest the prices on A were less than O. Sorry if I didn't make that clear.

[brian_uk]

We were on Quest in August and at breakfast there were NEVER any fresh berries. On the first day we were served frozen berries which had been defrosted earlier and they were awful.

 

When I spoke to the Maitre d' he arranged that a supply would be available to us upon request. The choice was limited but there were certainly strawberries. They are kept "hidden" away for making other things.

 

This was one of the subtle differences between O and Az.

 

Brian

[Paulchili]

We were on Quest in August and at breakfast there were NEVER any fresh berries. On the first day we were served frozen berries which had been defrosted earlier and they were awful.

 

When I spoke to the Maitre d' he arranged that a supply would be available to us upon request. The choice was limited but there were certainly strawberries. They are kept "hidden" away for making other things.

 

This was one of the subtle differences between O and Az.

 

Brian

 

I wonder if O will have fresh berries this summer after discounting the cabins by up $ 1000. Mind you, I know that you "cannot have your BERRIES and eat them too" - you get what you pay for.

Maybe that's why there were no fresh berries on Azamara?

I love my fresh berries but I am not ready to pay $ 1000 for them; if there will be no berries and I can save $ 1000 - I'll take it; and if they'll still have fresh berries for $ 1000 less, that would be even better.

Time will tell.