Azamara v Royal Princess

[goody1]

Hi there,
I am aware that the Azamara Ships and the Royal Princess are all identical, being ex Renaissance ships. Has anyone cruised on both and can give a definitive review on the comparison between standards/service/food etc etc. Although my wife and I are really looking forward to the Quest on the 2nd Aug, there are some very interesting itineraries on the RP next July. Any comments gratefully received.

[joandbun]

Hi there, cant give you a comparison yet. Ask me in Sept 09:D
Sailing Quest in Sept 08 & have already booked Royal for Sept 09.

i am expecting Quest to be a notch above Royal in 'the extras &standards' . Az is trying to compete with Oceania & market themselves as above the mainstream. And my impression of Royal is that its essentially the Princess product (which we already know) but on a smaller ship with extra flair.

Interesting to see if anyone has been on both

jo

[goody1]

Hi Jo,
I suppose one obvious difference is that Princess are still charging for their Speciality Restaurants whereas Azamara only suggest a $5 pp tip. I agree with you that Azamara are trying to market themselves above the mainstream. Our last 2 cruises have been with Celebrity on the Century and it will be interesting to compare both.
John.

[Druke I]

As built (and operated by Renaissance) the three ships had standard balcony cabins on Deck 8.

Azamara remodelled deck 8 (new larger cabins), Princess did not.

Those three ships were different on deck 8 than the other five; the three operated by Oceania and two by Princess.

[ligortig]

Hi there,
I am aware that the Azamara Ships and the Royal Princess are all identical, being ex Renaissance ships. Has anyone cruised on both and can give a definitive review on the comparison between standards/service/food etc etc. Although my wife and I are really looking forward to the Quest on the 2nd Aug, there are some very interesting itineraries on the RP next July. Any comments gratefully received.
Hi there
We have been on Journey At Xmas and Royal Princess in March. You are right the ships are almost identical. The food was much better on RP wheras we had a lot of complaints re dinning room service and food on Journey. We did not find a need to eat in the Speciality restaurants on RP but on Journey the food was better than in the dining room so we ate there a lot.
The comment on the cabins size I cannot comment on as we were in a suite on RP and Balcony on Journey. Cabin service on both lines very good. The captain that we had on Journey was excellent (better than on Princess) but mainly because he gave us so much information re ports etc. We did not feel that Journey was a cut above Princess and other passengers did not think that they were a cut above Celebrity either. They had not yet achieved what they are advertising. A lot of us thought that the bar prices and ships tours over expensive on Journey but maybe not much more expensive than Princess. We did not like the Resort Causal every night on Journey as there was a tendancy for some to turn up to dinner in just T-shirt & Jeans. Much preferred Princess with the few formal nights. We enjoyed both cruises but RP possibly slightly more.

[Jancruz]

. We did not feel that Journey was a cut above Princess and other passengers did not think that they were a cut above Celebrity either. They had not yet achieved what they are advertising. A lot of us thought that the bar prices and ships tours over expensive on Journey but maybe not much more expensive than Princess. We did not like the Resort Causal every night on Journey as there was a tendancy for some to turn up to dinner in just T-shirt & Jeans. Much preferred Princess with the few formal nights. We enjoyed both cruises but RP possibly slightly more.

The above has all been changed..food is much improved, menus have changed there is a dress code in the dining room and specialty restaurants..
If you prefer formal nights then of course Azamara is not for you..BUT if you want country club casual (no jeans in the dining rooms) dining when and where you decide..
This is the cruise line for you!!
Jancruz1

[goody1]

The above has all been changed..food is much improved, menus have changed there is a dress code in the dining room and specialty restaurants..
If you prefer formal nights then of course Azamara is not for you..BUT if you want country club casual (no jeans in the dining rooms) dining when and where you decide..
This is the cruise line for you!!
Jancruz1

Thanks to ligortig and Jancruz for their comments. Reading the recent reviews for Azamara it would appear to indicate that standards have much improved since the first sailings. With the ships being near identical it may come down to itineraries versus paying for speciality restaurants on Princess.

[Jancruz]

Thanks to ligortig and Jancruz for their comments. Reading the recent reviews for Azamara it would appear to indicate that standards have much improved since the first sailings. With the ships being near identical it may come down to itineraries versus paying for speciality restaurants on Princess.

There are several other big differences..Formal vs. CCC, Set dining hours vs when and where you want to eat and of course the smoking policy on Azamara is very strict!!
Jancruz1

[cruiseyguy]

They're both excellent products aimed at totally different market segments.

[Aussie Gal]

We have just spent 35 days on Oceania's Nautica. We will be on the Tahitian Princess in 10 weeks time and on Azamara's Quest at the end of February next year so by then I should be in a position to compare the 3 lines.

We have been on the Tahitian Princess twice before, the last time being June last year, and have also cruised on the Pacific Princess. We had very enjoyable cruises on both those ships and the only negative I can think of is the smoking policy on Princess.

We also enjoyed the Anytime dining on Oceania and being able to use Toscano's and Polo whenever we chose to. Going back to traditional dining on Princess in a few weeks time is going to be hard as we are once again on late sitting. We usually like to eat around 7.30pm and that extra hour of waiting is hard, whereas 6pm is far too early for us.

It was also easier for us not to pack our formal gear and it did help to keep the weight down which is so important these days especially as we have to fly so far to our destination.

From what I have read, Azamara is making the competition much harder now for Oceania, especially with the prices that Azamara is quoting.

Jennie

[ligortig]

There are several other big differences..Formal vs. CCC, Set dining hours vs when and where you want to eat and of course the smoking policy on Azamara is very strict!!
Jancruz1
I must admit the smoking policy on Azamara wa very strict which was good and we did like the open dinning. I am glad to hear that they are improving their food & menus and enforcing dress code in rstaurants this is what let them down the most.