Oceania vs. Azamara

We are considering Oceania's Regatta vs. Azamara's Journey for a Panama Canal cruise in January. Does anyone have an opinion of one vs. the other?

We sailed on the Oceania Regatta through the canal from LA to Miami in January 2008. This photo was taken at Punta Arenas, Costa Rica. One ship is the Regatta, the other is the Amazara Quest. Can you tell the which is which.

We have sailed twice on the Regatta and recommend it highly. While we haven't sailed with Amazara yet, we plan to if the itineraty is right.

Don

We are considering Oceania's Regatta vs. Azamara's Journey for a Panama Canal cruise in January. Does anyone have an opinion of one vs. the other?

There have been at least eight previous threads asking this very same question. Do a search and get the answers you're looking for!

We are considering Oceania's Regatta vs. Azamara's Journey for a Panama Canal cruise in January. Does anyone have an opinion of one vs. the other?

Alanmr,

I think that the difference can be summed up in one word, Class.

Oceania may fall short occasionally, but it is obvious, from free room service breakast to wildly expensive shore excursion that they are trying to provide a first class experience.

In the five years that they have been in existance, O has been fine tuning the product, and it gets better and better.

Azamara is strictly the Celebrity experience on a much smaller ship. Frankly, they just dont "get" it.

And IMHO, somebody at Azamara should be shot for what they have done to the Quest & Journey libraries..........Michaels Club, indeed!

Alanmr,

 

I think that the difference can be summed up in one word, Class.

Oceania may fall short occasionally, but it is obvious, from free room service breakast to wildly expensive shore excursion that they are trying to provide a first class experience.

In the five years that they have been in existance, O has been fine tuning the product, and it gets better and better.

Azamara is strictly the Celebrity experience on a much smaller ship. Frankly, they just dont "get" it.

And IMHO, somebody at Azamara should be shot for what they have done to the Quest & Journey libraries..........Michaels Club, indeed!

Jim and Stan,

What has Azamara done to the library??

Jancruz1

While we were on the Quest they were converting one third of the library to a photo studio. What a waste. This is where you can have a glamour type of photo taken. So the library is now just to the side of the fireplace.

It's Azamara's/Celebrity's Miami management team that doesn't "get it"; the onboard staff work very hard to deliver a great product.

While we were on the Quest they were converting one third of the library to a photo studio. What a waste. This is where you can have a glamour type of photo taken. So the library is now just to the side of the fireplace.

I heard they just set that up on certain nights for portraits..are you saying a third is a photo studio all the time??

Jancruz1

I heard they just set that up on certain nights for portraits..are you saying a third is a photo studio all the time??

Jancruz1

Jan, I understand that they have moved a piano into the library

(a piano?) which was intended to become a "gathering place" and bar service would be provided. No mention about a "Photo Studio", however.

http://www.pbase.com/billminter/image/93040096

"Some changes to the ship's public room layout are a bit odd; the casino has been expanded and is now very large for this size ship; the extra space was reclaimed from what was once a popular bar (called the Martini Bar on Oceania). To make up for this, the ship's gorgeous library has been turned into Celebrity's piano bar, Michael's Club, by installing a piano and putting all the books on one side of the room. In theory, it should be a library by day and a piano bar by night, but we're still unsure about this combination, especially since there's no actual bar in the room, making it more of a piano non-bar."

They were in the process of converting it on our cruise. It seemed like it would be there all the time. But I am not sure if that is correct as they were not finished by the time we got off the ship on March 1st. Maybe someone who has been on the Quest would have more updated info.

What has Azamara done to the library??

Jan-

They've RUINED the space, that's what they've done. Between the Grand Piano, the photo studio and the pantry area for cocktail service......that lovely tranquil room has become a cramped mess!

Heaven knows that we enjoy a cocktail, however, these 600(ish) passenger ships already had 7 Bars!

Jan-

 

They've RUINED the space, that's what they've done. Between the Grand Piano, the photo studio and the pantry area for cocktail service......that lovely tranquil room has become a cramped mess!

Heaven knows that we enjoy a cocktail, however, these 600(ish) passenger ships already had 7 Bars!

This gal is on the quest now..and she writes:

The library has a warm and cozy feeling. It has books on a wide range

of subjects. I didn't notice a photo studio.

Jim and Stan..I havent been on Quest..so I really have to rely on people from this board!

Jancruz1

If you go the the web site for Azamara, the deck plans only show Michael's club and the virtual tour shows a piano in the middle. However I don't know how up to date the plans are.

Looking forward to more info from someone on the ship.

The piano is moved to the left side of lthe room. You cannot see the photo studio from the library part of the room. If you had not seen the library before this move, then the room looks great. The fireplace is still there and there are several books to read. It is just much smaller. See if the lady on board has ever seen and Oceania ship to compare.

Eileen