Azamara vs. Viking Oceans

We have made three cruises with Azmara in the past three years, and this year made the maiden voyage of the Viking Star from Istanbul to Venice. Today I just booked another Azamara cruise. It was not the ships or crews that caused me to make this decision, it was the itinerary. I wanted to return to the Far East. The Viking Star was beautiful, all Scandanavian Modern decor, well appointed and laid out. The food was great, the service was not as good as Azamara, the crew are learning a new ship. Their entertainment was great, but I had hoped that they might hire the harpists that Azamara laid off last year. Their included shore excursions were well handled, similar to the AzAmazing evenings. They now have two more new-builds under construction in Venice, and hope to have ten ocean going ships in the next few years. They will be competition for Azamara, but for now I would chose Azamara for the service and the interesting itineraries and thier experience.

for your input! LuAnn and with your background...you have a great deal of experience!!!

We have made three cruises with Azmara in the past three years, and this year made the maiden voyage of the Viking Star from Istanbul to Venice. Today I just booked another Azamara cruise. It was not the ships or crews that caused me to make this decision, it was the itinerary. I wanted to return to the Far East. The Viking Star was beautiful, all Scandanavian Modern decor, well appointed and laid out. The food was great, the service was not as good as Azamara, the crew are learning a new ship. Their entertainment was great, but I had hoped that they might hire the harpists that Azamara laid off last year. Their included shore excursions were well handled, similar to the AzAmazing evenings. They now have two more new-builds under construction in Venice, and hope to have ten ocean going ships in the next few years. They will be competition for Azamara, but for now I would chose Azamara for the service and the interesting itineraries and thier experience.

So glad to see your post. Having only sailed on Celebrity for the past seven cruises, I want a smaller ship.

I will be booking the Viking when they post their 2017 itinerary. My other choice would be Azamara, but the design and features of the Viking ships are what got me, the openness, light and all verandas and no casino or art action....:)

Also the Nordic roots speak to me.:)

We have made three cruises with Azmara in the past three years, and this year made the maiden voyage of the Viking Star from Istanbul to Venice. Today I just booked another Azamara cruise. It was not the ships or crews that caused me to make this decision, it was the itinerary. I wanted to return to the Far East. The Viking Star was beautiful, all Scandanavian Modern decor, well appointed and laid out. The food was great, the service was not as good as Azamara, the crew are learning a new ship. Their entertainment was great, but I had hoped that they might hire the harpists that Azamara laid off last year. Their included shore excursions were well handled, similar to the AzAmazing evenings. They now have two more new-builds under construction in Venice, and hope to have ten ocean going ships in the next few years. They will be competition for Azamara, but for now I would chose Azamara for the service and the interesting itineraries and thier experience.

Captain, Having been on the April 11th sailing I have to agree with you 100%. The Star is a beautiful ship, The public spaces are open and comfortable.We were in DV cabin and besides the strange lack of drawer storage (very big closet) it was very comfortable.The bathroom was amazing with it's heated floor, glass enclosed shower, 2 drawers for storage, large amount of counter space and drop in ceramic sink. The crew was really not properly trained and it showed from the wait staff, to the excursion team and the tender drivers.

My DH will never set foot on another Viking ship but I would be more open minded being it was the first cruise. I am sure they will get the crew up to speed some day.

After our AZ cruise to Asia this November we are trying Oceania next July.

Kathy

Thanks for some initial reports on the Viking Star. We'll try it out in November, and perhaps some of the kinks will be worked out. Some may remember the Journey's first voyage years ago.

For us Azamara is on "indefinite hold," thanks to the well documented incremental cutbacks. In fact, the only thing we miss is the exceptional crew, which we haven't found anywhere else. Perhaps some day Azamara will become closer to its roots. It used to be our "go to" cruise line.

Bruce

Thanks for some initial reports on the Viking Star. We'll try it out in November, and perhaps some of the kinks will be worked out. Some may remember the Journey's first voyage years ago.

 

For us Azamara is on "indefinite hold," thanks to the well documented incremental cutbacks. In fact, the only thing we miss is the exceptional crew, which we haven't found anywhere else. Perhaps some day Azamara will become closer to its roots. It used to be our "go to" cruise line.

 

Bruce

Hi Bruce,

We were on the Journey with you and your beautiful wife April of '14. Loved watching you two dance up at Looking Glass before dinner, and of course running into you around the ship and chatting a bit.. You two are the reason we love to cruise Azamara when we can - great, gracious, interesting guests, and stellar crew too!

Thanks for adding to our experience on that Azamara cruise and hope to see you back onboard one day!

Richard

Hi Bruce,

 

We were on the Journey with you and your beautiful wife April of '14. Loved watching you two dance up at Looking Glass before dinner, and of course running into you around the ship and chatting a bit.. You two are the reason we love to cruise Azamara when we can - great, gracious, interesting guests, and stellar crew too!

 

Thanks for adding to our experience on that Azamara cruise and hope to see you back onboard one day!

 

Richard

Thanks, Richard, for your kind words. We enjoyed our interchanges. Remember the previous year when only six of did the back to back at Miami, and were personally escorted on and off the ship for US customs.

The Indian Ocean cruise was special and ranks among our favorites. Here's a reminder of a unique Azamazing evening.

Cheers, Bruce

Thanks for some initial reports on the Viking Star. We'll try it out in November, and perhaps some of the kinks will be worked out. Some may remember the Journey's first voyage years ago.

 

For us Azamara is on "indefinite hold," thanks to the well documented incremental cutbacks. In fact, the only thing we miss is the exceptional crew, which we haven't found anywhere else. Perhaps some day Azamara will become closer to its roots. It used to be our "go to" cruise line.

 

Bruce

Bruce! Can you believe it's been 11 years since we crossed the Pacific together? Hugs to Gail. I'm sorry to see you've put Azamara on hold, because we're just now getting around to trying it out next Spring. I've finally retired from flying, and we're trying to find our small ship 'home' since we've burned out on the big ones.

Like Captain and Kathy, we were on the Viking maiden, and we were constantly wowed by the decor and thought the food was very, very good. I thought they did a great job recruiting from other cruise lines to make up the crew. They got bartenders from Carnival and Princess, our cabin steward had come from Royal Caribbean, and most of the head waiters and dining room managers that I asked came from the luxury lines. The crew was so proud and anxious to please, but they were a bit hamstrung and not properly trained. They just weren't ready, and I think that was management's fault as every crew member on that ship had good prior experience. It showed the most in the dining room, where they started out with hand held Samsung(?) devices that were supposed to streamline ordering to the kitchen, but they didn't work. By Day 3, they had given up and reverted to writing orders on scrap paper, but it never really got much better. I guess it also showed in the shore excursion department, but those of us that are CC regulars knew that there was no way they were going to have their act together in all those ports they've never visited before, and we pre-planned private excursions. I'm actually surprised they ran as well as they did.

We will definitely be back to Viking once they start to vary their itineraries and pull it together, but I won't take a Verandah cabin again unless they fix the storage problem on the new builds. There was about a third of the storage space that you'll find on any of the R-Class balcony cabins even though the cabins are bigger (the extra 30 sq. ft. seems to be in the fantastic bathroom.)

I have just seen the Viking brochure and was very very impressed. Modern ships, and I love the Infinity pool. They are as I would imagine an Azamara new build to look like......and I am very tempted to jump ship[emoji47]but have not yet. All rooms have balconies.

They offer free wifi, and wine with lunch and dinner, and a free excursion in ports, so very comparable.

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My husband and I have spent quite a lot of time searching the smaller ships. We have sailed on Seabourn, Regent and the Pacific Princes as well as having a Baltic on the Pacific Princess booked in September. Love the Pacific Princess and very much looking forward to our September cruise.

That being said we booked a cruise on Viking Oceans earlier in the year. It was with great anticipation I read all the postings on the maiden voyage including the full 50 day cruise. I certainly understand the issues that come with a maiden voyage and could overlook those. However, it seems this ship was not really ready to sail. Major issues with the TV's, and those already mentioned about the reservation systems and so on. But what really turned us off was the total lack of communication on management's part expressed by the passengers on board and the arrogance of management. Finally we decided to cancel. We did loose $200.00 based on Viking's policy but we felt it was the right thing to do for us.

So my search for another cruise line began once again. Princess has already sold the Ocean to Oceania leaving next March and rumors abound regarding the Pacific being sold. We have come to the conclusion that the R ships are just the perfect size for us.

That left us with Azamara and Oceania. When Azamara first started I had looked at them very closely and even had a cruise booked but for some reason cancelled. To make a long story short we have now booked two cruises with Azamara for next year.

What made us choose Azamara at this time was the abundance of communication present on this board from management and the fact that they have a dedicated blogger, Bonnie. Such a joy to discover after reading Viking's posts. I keep on reading about the great service and the friendliness of the officers and staff.

We realize that there is no perfect cruise line but based on what I have read about Azamara on these boards it appears to be the closest match to what we are looking for.

We are sure that Viking will get their act together in the future but at this time they are definitely not on our list.

Nan

Hi SeniorLadyCruiser,

What a nice post. Thank you.

We are so happy you've chosen Azamara Club Cruises. We will do everything possible to live up to your expectations.

Best regards,

Bonnie

What made us choose Azamara at this time was the abundance of communication present on this board from management and the fact that they have a dedicated blogger, Bonnie. Such a joy to discover after reading Viking's posts.

Nan

You are right that Bonnie is a great asset to Azamara. Especially because when she sees a problem, she rolls up her sleeves and fixes it -- much better than that other line which often apologizes but never changes!

You are right that Bonnie is a great asset to Azamara. Especially because when she sees a problem, she rolls up her sleeves and fixes it -- much better than that other line which often apologizes but never changes!

Thank you Host Jazzbeau. I'm flattered by the compliment, which I accept on behalf of everyone in all the departments of Azamara Club Cruises (land & sea) who get me the answers to the questions.

Fondly,

Bonnie