Oceania v Azamara

We are just back from a 14 night Az cruise Athens to Rome and having previously been on both Insignia and Nautica I feel I am in a position to compare the two lines.

We have been in an OS on Nautica and this last cruise was in a RS 6088 and I think both compare favourably. If anything Az comes out slightly better as they provide 2 bottles of premium liquor free plus all the Evian and soft drinks you can possibly want FREE. The cabins themselves are very similar except O provide a laptop.

In general terms the two lines are very similar BUT the food in the speciality restaurants on O is streets ahead of AZ. On O we dined regularly in both and both the food quality and choices were superior. The service was way better too and you actually felt that you were dining somewhere Special. Regrettably on AZ this was NOT the case and on one night all 6 of us refused to pay the added $5 pp service. It was such a shame but there just seems to be fewer staff on Az.

At the buffet on AZ you were able to help yourself to most items which meant that utensils were being handled by everybody, there were fewer staff to bring drinks and only occasionally was there somebody bringing round fresh coffee.

Having said that, I preferred the Main Dining Room on AZ as well as the nightly buffet in Breezas. There was a better choice and if you wanted something special you could tell them earlier and it would be done.

Also on AZ we befriended an Assistant Maitre d' and he arranged Fillet Mignon for me in the Grand Dining Room .....this was refused on O for health and safety reasons.

The Entertainment was on a par but on AZ the Piano Bar is in the area around the grand staircase on Deck 5 which gives a better space with more seating....just a shame that the pianist was so repetitive. In this area on AZ cookies and cakes were available all day free of charge although drinks were charged for.

We have met some great folks on both lines and if I had to award marks or give a preference I would say

Oceania 90%

Azamara 84%

Not a huge difference and not anything particular that spoiled our wonderful cruise on AZ. We would return to both and will again choose depending upon the itinerary.

I am sure I will think of other things in the next few days but I felt that i wanted to write this while still frsh in my mind.

Any questions please feel free

Brian

Brian -

I wrote our my review of our two cruises in April and sat on it. I hope you don't mind if I piggy back my report onto yours.

Before I go into detail, let me say that we are not "your typical" cruisers. The ship is our destination. We are not interested in heavy duty shore excursions. Saw lots of places when I worked for an international airline. Now we want to relax, hence our preference for Atlantic crossings. Yes, in some ports we'll get off the ship to walk about a bit. With that in mind, I will concentrate on an apple to apple comparison. Both cruises were trans-Atlantic, O Miami-Barcelona and AZ Miami-Rome, AZ was a bit more expensive (on a per diem basis) and two years later than our cruise on O. Both crossings were done in aft balcony cabin #6093. We also did a crossing last November back to the US on Regatta in cabin #6090.

Cabin/balcony:

O had a small glass table, AZ had a small wooden table in front of the sofa.

O had an old-fashioned TV (CRT), AZ had a flat-panel TV with poor picture quality.

O has real teak deck on the balcony, AZ has faux teak decking, which looked better than O's, but during a wet day, O's real teak sits above the puddles, whereas on AZ you can't use the balcony because of the standing water.

O had a small round table and two soft webbed/netted chairs, which are good for relaxing and catching some rays.

AZ has a real rectangular table and two straight chairs. Excellent for dining but uncomfortable for sunning.

Room servicing:

Both lines have two stewards taking care of the cabin. AZ calls the senior one 'Butler'. That's the only difference we noticed. Both crews were very friendly and efficient. Both teams caught on to our routine rather quickly and had our cabin fresh and ready while we were gone.

On AZ we had fresh flowers, on O I don't remember any. AZ also offered canapés which we declined, because we would have had to be in the cabin to receive them. Too much food anyway.

Our routine was to walk our 3 miles early in the morning (as we do at home) as weather allowed. On AZ there were days when we could not walk because of standing water on the track in front of the library. On O there usually was one staffer with a long-handled broom sweeping the water away. It's curious, on AZ they have a 7 am "Walk-a-Mile" program, but don't prepare the track in time. They do sweep on the pool deck early in the morning even though nobody is there. Also, even though AZ suggests we use the handrail when going between decks 9 and 10, they don't dry it. So you have wet stairs AND a wet handrail. Go figure.

Library:

The size is the same, of course. However, on AZ the starboard side shelves are stocked with glasses instead of books.

There are a couple of tables for reading, writing or playing games. O did away with them in favor of a huge ottoman surrounded by deep chairs.

We did enjoy the singer/harpist on Quest by the grand staircase. That was our only entertainment.

Food and service in the GDR and specialty restaurant were good. What can I say? We liked the food and that is what counts. Was one better than the other? Can't tell. We never had a problem getting a reservation upstairs or getting a suitable table in the GDR.

We had all our breakfasts and many lunches and dinners in the buffet.

That is where O shines and AZ has lots of room for improvement. AZ reminded us more of NCL's buffet.

In the morning (on AZ) a waiter would take our drink order: 1 coffee, 1 tea. OK. He comes back with a mug of coffee and a mug of tea. Since I like cream in my coffee, he goes back to get a pot with milk or cream and proceeds to pour some into my coffee - argh!! Ah, how do we stir this now? Goes back to get a tea spoon. Come on! I just as soon get the drinks myself, but since he offered. . .

AZ's buffet is understaffed, and it seems that the staff has not been trained properly. Main gripe: The hot food stations have two rows of chafing dishes, one in front on the passenger side and another one behind it on the server side. Since you need to help yourself, you have to reach over the front dish to (barely) reach the far dish. It is awkward to say the least. On O there seems to be a staffer behind every station to serve you, on AZ we frequently had to ask somebody from another station to assist us.

Brian and I have different cruising styles and therefore highlighted different aspects of the cruise. However, I think we do agree on the shortcomings in the buffet. Will we cruise AZ again? As you can see in our signature, we have two more cruises booked on AZ.

If anything Az comes out slightly better as they provide 2 bottles of premium liquor free plus all the Evian and soft drinks you can possibly want FREE. The cabins themselves are very similar except O provide a laptop.

Thank you both for your insightful posts. I've been on a couple of O cruises and have wondered about the differences with AZ.

Brian, my only correction to your post is to negate your term that liquor and softdrinks were free on AZ. They're not free, they were included in your price.....unless of course you didn't pay for your cruise! If so, lucky you!!!

But included in the price is a big difference from free.... in my accounting anyway.

O provides a laptop computer in the cabins?? That's a new one since I've been on them!

Also on AZ we befriended an Assistant Maitre d' and he arranged Fillet Mignon for me in the Grand Dining Room .....this was refused on O for health and safety reasons.

 

Any questions please feel free

 

Brian

Just curious??

health & safety???

O provides a laptop computer in the cabins?? That's a new one since I've been on them!

I think Brian was comparing OS & RS

O does include laptop for your use if you are in OS or VS according to the brochure

LHT

I was told by the Maitre d' in the GDR on O that for Health and Safety reasons NO food could be transferred between the various kitchens. It was an unequivocal answerr and they would not budge.

Jane110

Technically you are correct that any Liquor is included in the price but the point I was making is that firstly O is more expensive and secondly as part of the deal on a RS on AZ you get 2 bottles of premium booze plus as much Evian and soft drinks as you like. I was just trying to compare my experience in similar accomodation.

And as I said on O there is a laptop on O in an OS.

Brian

As the days go by I will add a few other thoughts which might help in comparing.

There was no Concierge on Az....we found this useful when Ports were changed suddenly....he was able to help with contacting private tour guides.

Undoubtedly the Shore excursion desk on AZ was better and the TV had detailed info on how to get to places independently with timetables etc. Desks were set up each day by local tourist people who had so much information. At Livorno for example we arrived at the desk at 8.45 and were told that the next train to Florence was in 25 minutes.....we were told where to find a cab, the price and we got to the station with 5 minutes to spare.

Brian

It takes awhile to staff up a new cruise line. Celebrity has attempted to do that for Azamara through new hires as well as temporary assignments from other Celebrity ships. At the same time, all staff have to be trained in the ways of the new product. Oceania went through this same phase, as many will remember and Azamara's prices this last year have (fairly) reflected this. Time will likely take care of most remaining staffing and service issues.

LHT

 

I was told by the Maitre d' in the GDR on O that for Health and Safety reasons NO food could be transferred between the various kitchens. It was an unequivocal answerr and they would not budge.

 

Brian

Thanbks

I did not understand the statement, if the GDR doesn't have something & you want it ...now I understand

Lyn

For me, O really outshines the other lines I've cruised in their self-service eateries. The tables are set with placemats and cutlery and a waiter or waitress takes your drink orders, coming back regularly with refulls. There's no pushing a try along a shelf high school style. You take a plate and flip from station to station choosing what you want. In some stations the the item is handed to you on a separate plate. More often than not a waiter will take your plate(s) and carry it to the table for you. Even at the poolside grill the tables are set with placemats and cutlery and a waiter takes your drink order and, if you sit down after placing your order at the grill, someone will bring it to you. I really detest cafeterias/buffets and on O I don't feel like I'm in one.

Regarding the Dell laptops, Oceania also puts them in the PH suites. However, using them on the internet is not free. You must still pay for online time, off line you can use them for no additional charge.

Good review, Brian! You mentioned in passing that there was a $5.00 pp charge in the AZ special dining rooms. That was in addition to to other dining venue gratuities? Does anyone know if O has started to do that?

BTW - gratuities on O are now $12.50 pp per day and another $4.00 pp per day if you have a butler ($33.00 per day for a couple). If my memory serves me correctly, and occasionally it wanders, we paid $30.00 pd when we sailed in 05/2007. Am I correct?

I think when we sailed in 10/07, it was $11.50 pp per day, and $3 more pp for penthouse, so $29/per couple per day in PH.

Good review, Brian! You mentioned in passing that there was a $5.00 pp charge in the AZ special dining rooms. That was in addition to to other dining venue gratuities? Does anyone know if O has started to do that? {/quote]

 

We had no extra charge in March on Regatta

 

BTW - gratuities on O are now $12.50 pp per day and another $4.00 pp per day if you have a butler ($33.00 per day for a couple). If my memory serves me correctly, and occasionally it wanders, we paid $30.00 pd when we sailed in 05/2007. Am I correct?

 

as far as I remember it was $10.50 pp pd then $11.50 & now $12.50 over the past 4 years sailing with them ...if you have a butler there is an extra amount

 

If you have a good agent you can sometimes get pre paid gratuities included;)

Lyn

Regarding the Dell laptops, Oceania also puts them in the PH suites. However, using them on the internet is not free. You must still pay for online time, off line you can use them for no additional charge.

Does the laptop have a card reader, and CD or DVD burner for photos?

Can it be easily hooked up to library printer?

Thanks.

Does the laptop have a card reader, and CD or DVD burner for photos?

Tak2

You can use a card reader, but you cannot burn the files or print anything.

At least, not with the equipment that is provided in the suites.

Why not make things simple? Use a huge memory card and burn everything onto disk when you get home.

Amazon is selling up to 8 gig for around $20, for that kind of money I'd much rather do everything at home.

Good point.

I'm still stuck in 2007.:o

Does the laptop have a card reader, and CD or DVD burner for photos?

 

Thanks.

You can load the photos on the computers in the Computer lab & burn them on a CD (for a fee) if you choose.

We usually just take our own Laptop but may have to re-think that idea for flying to Europe next year with the weight restrictions.

I did that with X in 2005, took up 5 CD's@ $15 each. $$. Not again.:o

Didn't realize the current price of memory card has gone so low.( maybe not quite this low in Canada?)

I read that one of the A ships had replaced the deck 8 regular cabins in order to create Sky Suites( which is equivalent in size to PH ) Do these new suites have same bathroom layout and size as the PH's?