Viking vs Oceania, and Viking vs Azamara

Hi,

We have been “fans” of Oceania and have cruised with thema number of times on both their “O” and “R” class ships – lovely accommodationand wonderful cuisine. We have also tried Azamara and liked them too, especially their “Azamazing”evenings and friendly Captains and senior managers.

Recently, we have booked with Viking Ocean on a two-weekcruise . We tried to look for threads on the boards of Cruise Critic thatcompares Viking vs Oceania, but we couldnot find them.

Can readers here on CruiseCritic who have had experiencetravelling with both Viking and Oceania give us some idea what to expect whencomparing these cruise lines? Also those who have been on Azamara and Viking,perhaps you could give us you your opinion of your experience comparing betweenthese two cruise companies?

I have only sailed on Viking so I am not in a position to answer your questions. There is; however a thread comparing Viking with Oceania that is fairly recent:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2345680

Here are our editorial team's articles on these topics:

Viking vs Oceania https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=2620

Azamara vs Viking https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=2258

Hope they're useful to you!

Hi,

 

We have been “fans” of Oceania and have cruised with thema number of times on both their “O” and “R” class ships – lovely accommodationand wonderful cuisine. We have also tried Azamara and liked them too, especially their “Azamazing”evenings and friendly Captains and senior managers.

 

Recently, we have booked with Viking Ocean on a two-weekcruise . We tried to look for threads on the boards of Cruise Critic thatcompares Viking vs Oceania, but we couldnot find them.

 

Can readers here on CruiseCritic who have had experiencetravelling with both Viking and Oceania give us some idea what to expect whencomparing these cruise lines? Also those who have been on Azamara and Viking,perhaps you could give us you your opinion of your experience comparing betweenthese two cruise companies?

We sailed once on Viking and once on Azamara and 10 times on Oceania's R and O ships. I liked the cabin and ship design best on Viking. I am not a fan of Scandanavian modern but the design was clean and efficient and I was surprised. We do not stay in the penthouse suites but regular verandah and Viking had the best cabins in that category of the 3 lines.

Viking includes wine and beer with lunch and dinner. We are not particular so the quality for us was adequate. You can also bring your own bottle and not get charge corkage. I enjoyed the food on Viking. It doesn't have the fancy names and presentations but we felt the quality was better than Oceania. We used the included tours which are basic and supplemented them with private tours such as in St Petersburg. We also enjoyed their evening entertainment. There is no casino but we don't gamble.

Azamara was the most fun. They include wine and spirits all the time. I like their late port hours. However, they seem to be pricing themselves out of their niche market. The verandah cabins are fine but you do have a very small bathroom with a shower curtain. We booked another cruise while on board but Azamara cancelled it and chartered out the ship. I will not book far out with them since they seem to do that more often than not.

We are silver on Oceania so get some benefits with that status. We find Oceania has changed since we first sailed in 2008. The food is still very good but not as good. Their excursion costs are insanely expensive and so are their drinks. You can bring spirits on board for consumption in your cabin and the corkage fee is $25. The verandah cabin on the R ships are the same as Azamara. Oceania offers an Olife package that may or may not be of value which includes some excursions, internet and other choices. Oceania offers nice itneraries.

One of these days I want to try Windstar since they have great itineraries.

Here are our editorial team's articles on these topics:

 

Viking vs Oceania https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=2620

Azamara vs Viking https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=2258

 

Hope they're useful to you!

Great articles. Thank you! Will be sailing Viking soon for the first time. Was not aware of the scarce salad bar selections!

Will be starting a new thread with a question about restricted reservations for specialty dining and included excursions.

Great articles. Thank you! Will be sailing Viking soon for the first time. Was not aware of the scarce salad bar selections!

 

Will be starting a new thread with a question about restricted reservations for specialty dining and included excursions.

You don't have scarce salad bar selections and if you want something extra, they are great at getting it for you

Great articles. Thank you! Will be sailing Viking soon for the first time. Was not aware of the scarce salad bar selections!

 

Will be starting a new thread with a question about restricted reservations for specialty dining and included excursions.

That's not true! They have a lovely salad selection in the World Cafe at lunch and dinner! In fact quite a bit in both of these articles could do with, em, updating!!!

We were in a DV and could pre-book our allocated number of speciality restaurants but when on board we could have booked any number of additional days, so fear not. We also were able to change and add included excursions on board.

Having been on a few Oceania cruises where we did really enjoy the foodm we found the food offerings much more varied and quality superior on Viking Ocean. I think some of the issue, for us, with Oceania is that their speciality restaurant menus have not changed for years, so same old same old. I could probably recite the menus to you!

Thanks for this thread and the links offered! While we have sailed O and AZ a number of times I have wanted to try Viking Ocean (we have done 1 river cruise with them years ago at Xmas and loved it) and it is great to read about the differences and/or similarities! TBH it will need to be a T/A or T/P since the "regular" cruise price is too out of reach for us! LuAnn

We were in a DV and could pre-book our allocated number of speciality restaurants but when on board we could have booked any number of additional days, so fear not. We also were able to change and add included excursions on board.

Having been on a few Oceania cruises where we did really enjoy the foodm we found the food offerings much more varied and quality superior on Viking Ocean. I think some of the issue, for us, with Oceania is that their speciality restaurant menus have not changed for years, so same old same old. I could probably recite the menus to you!

Love your comparison and thank you.

We had 13 cruises on O and switched to Crystal which we love and find to be several grades above O. Unfortunately they do not have any cruises out of NY next year that are long enough for us so we booked Viking and are greatly looking forward to try them.

We also have sailed on all 3 companies- Viking most recently. I find all 3 similar, each with things better than the others. Bathrooms on Viking are the best ever (same with the eggs benedict). Also very fast free wifi. We usually arrange our own shore excursions. the Viking included ones are pretty basic but ok. Viking has expanded so fast, I think they are spread a little thin for experienced service staff. Azamara is best for beverages and atmosphere. We have done more with Oceania so we get some benefits. We usually go for the itinerary first, then the ship - as long as it is small.