Azamara vs princess?

[Shoobie1124]

Hello cruisers! My husband and I are looking into a Mediterranean cruise this summer and our top choice was a princess 10 day Barcelona to Venice. My TA suggestion a similar itinerary in 8 days on azamara. We are 30 something's and although we are not big partiers we loved the variety in pools and relaxation that larger ships provide. We have cruised princess, NCL, and Disney ( Disney Being or favorite because of food, pools and service)

 

Can anyone give "real world reviews" comparing the service etc?

 

Thanks!

[pacheco18]

It does not sound like u would enjoy Azamara No bells and whistle. much older crowd. One small pool.

 

If u love Disney, go for princess

Edited January 9, 2014 by pacheco18

[Granny DI]

It does not sound like u would enjoy Azamara No bells and whistle. much older crowd. One small pool.

 

If u love Disney, go for princess

 

I agree...sailed many Princess cruises and two Azamara cruises. You didn't mention which Princess Ship. The Ocean Princess which sails the MED is the sister ship to the Quest and the Journey. If it's the Ocean then I would say Azamara. Princess is more formal with typical dining times etc....My DH and I don't have a favorite ship or cruise line just favorite itineraries!

[beachseeker]

If you were going to the Caribbean, I too would suggest Princess over Azamara considering your post. However, the Mediterranean is a different ball game. It is all about the ports. Azamara takes you to ports that large ships can't make and stays in those ports for a much longer time. If you are cruising the Mediterranean to do intensive sight seeing then I highly recommend Azamara. For our Mediterranean cruise in 2012 we were deciding between Princess and Azamara and I'm so glad we picked Azamara.

[Shoobie1124]

Thank you so much for your insight. It would be the regal princess - their new ship. The main draw is the "free excursions" promotion that azamara is running currently. We are definitely going to Europe for the ports, which is making the decision harder. We are not big partiers - you will find us in bed by midnight, not in the discos - so I know we won't miss the nightlife. Just the pools/dining options.

 

I am looking forward to hearing more comparisons

 

Gillian

[beachseeker]

so I know we won't miss the nightlife. Just the pools/dining options.

 

Gillian

 

Having sailed Princess and Azamara and our next cruise is on Princess, the food IMO is 100 times better on Azamara. We were on the Quest last week and the food was wonderful. We ate in the MDR most of the time, once in Prime C and once in Aqualina and every single meal was excellent. We did not eat in the Windows Café but most praise the buffet as well. We had breakfast on our balcony every morning and the food and service from room service was very good as well. We were very disappointed in the food on our last Princess cruise, but that has been a few years ago.

[audobon_tx]

Thank you so much for your insight. It would be the regal princess - their new ship. The main draw is the "free excursions" promotion that azamara is running currently. We are definitely going to Europe for the ports, which is making the decision harder. We are not big partiers - you will find us in bed by midnight, not in the discos - so I know we won't miss the nightlife. Just the pools/dining options.

 

I am looking forward to hearing more comparisons

 

Gillian

 

I think your main thing may be big ship vs. smallish ship. The smaller Azamara ship will be able to get into ports that the Princess ship will have to dock outside or tender in to. Without knowing your ports it is hard for me to say but for example we docked in St. Petersburg in the river adjacent to the Hermitage while the big ships were docked in the Gulf of Finland miles away. Without a doubt the food and service is superior on Azamara to the other lines you have cruised, and far superior to Princess. The people aboard will likely be well north of your ages though they will not seem so as Azamara folks are welcoming and fun. There are no formal nights on Azamara and you don't need to bring even a sport coat, dressing up is optional and, in my experience, unusual. Princess is still stuck in the past. All dining is open table, another difference from Princess et al. As you probably know Azamara fares include beverages, special coffees, some wines, some liquor, and gratuities, Princess does not. Some cruises the passengers will hit the night club after dinner and the show but most don't and the ship will go to sleep by no later than midnight either way. The latest I ever was up was 0100 on a Baltic cruise when we had night caps with the piano player. The cabins may or may not meet your expectations, they are small for the price. Room service is far superior and you can get a full hot breakfast in your room if you so desire. Waiters in the buffets bring food and wine to you and take orders. Etc. But if you want lots of pool activities, quest and newlywed games and such, Azamara will not fit your bill. In summation, the differences between Princess and Azamara are large. Happy Cruising!

Edited January 10, 2014 by flyingshoes

[Granny DI]

We chose Azamara for the itinerary. I don't drink...not even coffee, so all inclusive has no value for me. We're also sailing the MED next summer. We chose the cruise for the unusual itinerary...plus it only has one sea day. Food is very subjective, but our best dining experience was on the old Norwegian Crown.

I would chose the best itinerary since the MED cruises are port intensive.

[midwestchick]

Thank you so much for your insight. It would be the regal princess - their new ship. The main draw is the "free excursions" promotion that azamara is running currently. We are definitely going to Europe for the ports, which is making the decision harder. We are not big partiers - you will find us in bed by midnight, not in the discos - so I know we won't miss the nightlife. Just the pools/dining options.

 

I am looking forward to hearing more comparisons

 

Gillian

 

 

You're getting some excellent advice from very experienced cruisers. I've had very little cruising experience but we did our 2nd Med cruise on X Silhouette last year. I can't say anything bad about the ship or the itinerary. Yes, X had more dining options...nice pools and our ports were wonderful.

I will say the food was very good but did not compare to Azamara. As far as the pool...it is small but never seemed crowded. On both cruises, we didn't utilize the pools even though I did pack bathing suits. We had one sea day on X and not one on Azamara. But, on that one sea day, we mainly just rested and checked out areas on the ship that we hadn't had time to do prior to that sea day. Port intensive cruises can wear you out but when it comes down to it, we book for the itinerary and don't worry so much about some of the other amenities.

For us the one big draw is the overnights that Azamara does and the fact they are a much smaller ship. The food in the MDR is excellent and actually, the buffet is very good too...no complaints from us and we tend to be "foodies"...we're a little spoiled when it comes to eating. Most days we are not on the ship for lunch...we focus on the seeing as much in ports as we can and eating some wonderful local food.

Age didn't seem to make a difference on our Azamara cruise. It appeared to me on that size ship, you tend to see more friendliness compared to a ship with almost 3,000 pax. Oh, and just think how many sets of parents you'll have with you...;) :D

Whatever you decide, enjoy your Med cruise. It will be such a wonderful experience.

The same week after we were home from our X cruise, I booked a B2B Med cruise on Azamara....that in itself should say something for that cruise line. I didn't feel the need to shop another cruise line. I can't wait to be back on the Journey again.

Can you share with us what your itinerary is?

[Shoobie1124]

The Azamara itinerary is --

Sat Jul 12 Venice, Italy 6:00pm

Sun Jul 13 Korcula, Croatia 1:00pm 10:00pm

Mon Jul 14 Dubrovnik, Croatia 7:00am 2:30pm

Mon Jul 14 Kotor, Montenegro 8:00pm

Tue Jul 15 Kotor, Montenegro 3:00pm

Wed Jul 16 Parga, Greece 9:00am 6:00pm

Thu Jul 17 Taormina (Giardini Naxos), Sicily, Italy Noon 7:00pm

Fri Jul 18 Amalfi, Italy 9:00am

Sat Jul 19 Amalfi, Italy 5:00am

Sat Jul 19 Capri, Italy 8:00am 6:00pm

Sun Jul 20 Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy

 

the Princess Regal Itinerary is

 

Tue Jul 1 Barcelona, Spain 7:00pm

Wed Jul 2 Toulon, France 7:00am 6:00pm

Thu Jul 3 Florence / Pisa (Livorno), Italy 7:00am 7:00pm

Fri Jul 4 Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy 7:00am 7:00pm

Sat Jul 5 Naples / Capri (Sorrento), Italy 7:00am 7:00pm

Sun Jul 6 At Sea

Mon Jul 7 Mykonos, Greece 7:00am 2:00pm

Tue Jul 8 Istanbul, Turkey 8:00am 6:00pm

Wed Jul 9 Ephesus / Kusadasi, Turkey Noon 7:00pm

Thu Jul 10 Athens (Piraeus), Greece 9:00am 5:45pm

Fri Jul 11 At Sea

Sat Jul 12 Venice, Italy 1:00pm

Sun Jul 13 Venice, Italy Disembark

[pacheco18]

That's two completely different cruises!!!

Where do u want to go ?

 

If u don't care, judging by your initial post, I still think u would find princess more suited to ur taste. We prefer the smaller r class ships of Oceania and Azamara but our first concern is always itinerary.

[Shoobie1124]

They are different routes - but the ports are similar, on Azamara we would be missing Barcelona, Florence, Turkey and Greece - but we would have more time in the other places. We wanted to avoid Beach days in Greece which is why our TA suggested this one in the first place.

 

On princess I have been to all of the ports before but my husband hasn't been to any. On Azamara there are more places I have not visited.

[LOP]

We were concerned about the smaller ship and age demographics when we first booked Azamara. Most of our cruise experience was with Celebrity M-class ships.

 

We booked based on itinerary and longer/overnight port stays...and based on what we had read on these forums. Our B2B last summer covered everything we wanted to see in a short amount of time...BUT we never felt rushed, never worried about making it back to the ship on time when on a private excursion because time is not an issue since you are in port so much longer...in Edinburgh, we were docked for 3 days. Although our 24 days aboard were very port intensive...we relaxed, we were on vacation and it felt like it, because we were NOT rushed.

 

We are not into the belly-flop contests or massive amounts of children on-board or the booze cruisers...but we do enjoy visiting/closing down the bars or dancing in the lounges to modern music...and Motown too. But sitting in Luxe enjoying Max playing the piano is an enjoyable experience as well and one we took part in quite often.

 

What we experienced on azamara was service and amenities no other cruise line had ever provided to us. That, coupled with fewer passengers, made the Azamara experience #1 in our book.

 

We will be on a Celebrity Reflection cruise next week and we have never been on a ship of that size, I only hope that it can be half as enjoyable as our Azamara experience.

 

Regardless, it is vacation so enjoy yourself.:D

[Granny DI]

The Azamara itinerary is --

Sat Jul 12 Venice, Italy 6:00pm

Sun Jul 13 Korcula, Croatia 1:00pm 10:00pm

Mon Jul 14 Dubrovnik, Croatia 7:00am 2:30pm

Mon Jul 14 Kotor, Montenegro 8:00pm

Tue Jul 15 Kotor, Montenegro 3:00pm

Wed Jul 16 Parga, Greece 9:00am 6:00pm

Thu Jul 17 Taormina (Giardini Naxos), Sicily, Italy Noon 7:00pm

Fri Jul 18 Amalfi, Italy 9:00am

Sat Jul 19 Amalfi, Italy 5:00am

Sat Jul 19 Capri, Italy 8:00am 6:00pm

Sun Jul 20 Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy

 

the Princess Regal Itinerary is

 

Tue Jul 1 Barcelona, Spain 7:00pm

Wed Jul 2 Toulon, France 7:00am 6:00pm

Thu Jul 3 Florence / Pisa (Livorno), Italy 7:00am 7:00pm

Fri Jul 4 Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy 7:00am 7:00pm

Sat Jul 5 Naples / Capri (Sorrento), Italy 7:00am 7:00pm

Sun Jul 6 At Sea

Mon Jul 7 Mykonos, Greece 7:00am 2:00pm

Tue Jul 8 Istanbul, Turkey 8:00am 6:00pm

Wed Jul 9 Ephesus / Kusadasi, Turkey Noon 7:00pm

Thu Jul 10 Athens (Piraeus), Greece 9:00am 5:45pm

Fri Jul 11 At Sea

Sat Jul 12 Venice, Italy 1:00pm

Sun Jul 13 Venice, Italy Disembark

 

Love ports on both cruises. Our cruise this summer also does many of the same ones. What strikes me right away are 3 ports with a lot of train time or bus time to see the sights on the Princess....Florence, Rome and Naples. We did a similar cruise years ago. I really felt rushed to see the sights as the bus or train rides ate up a lot of the day. I actually think you'll see more on the Azamara. Since there are no sea days on Azamara you won't have a problem with lack of things to do on the ship. My DH loved the British Open Cruise because there was so much to see in the ports ie play golf and only one sea day. He drove me crazy on the West Indies cruise with the 4 sea days!

Edited January 10, 2014 by Granny DI

[Dolphinfeen]

My wife and I are 30 something's also and we did the med with Azamara last year. We will never go on a big ship again, the food on Azamara is always good. We just got back from are 2nd cruise with Azamara and we booked are 3rd while on board. Go with Azamara give them a shot you won't be disappointed.

[need2cruisesoon]

You won't like the Princess Regal for this cruise. If you have followed the Princess boards you know the Royal (Regal twin) has been given poor grades. Check the reviews of the Royal and you'll see great disappointment amongst the Princess die hards as many have given up on this ship. Not enough pools, no central staircase, lack of promenade, tiny balconies and just too many people. If you don't do Azamara then I would look at Celebrity for the Med this summer.

[MrMojoRisin]

The Azamara itinerary is --

Sat Jul 12 Venice, Italy 6:00pm

Sun Jul 13 Korcula, Croatia 1:00pm 10:00pm

Mon Jul 14 Dubrovnik, Croatia 7:00am 2:30pm

Mon Jul 14 Kotor, Montenegro 8:00pm

Tue Jul 15 Kotor, Montenegro 3:00pm

Wed Jul 16 Parga, Greece 9:00am 6:00pm

Thu Jul 17 Taormina (Giardini Naxos), Sicily, Italy Noon 7:00pm

Fri Jul 18 Amalfi, Italy 9:00am

Sat Jul 19 Amalfi, Italy 5:00am

Sat Jul 19 Capri, Italy 8:00am 6:00pm

Sun Jul 20 Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy

 

the Princess Regal Itinerary is

 

Tue Jul 1 Barcelona, Spain 7:00pm

Wed Jul 2 Toulon, France 7:00am 6:00pm

Thu Jul 3 Florence / Pisa (Livorno), Italy 7:00am 7:00pm

Fri Jul 4 Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy 7:00am 7:00pm

Sat Jul 5 Naples / Capri (Sorrento), Italy 7:00am 7:00pm

Sun Jul 6 At Sea

Mon Jul 7 Mykonos, Greece 7:00am 2:00pm

Tue Jul 8 Istanbul, Turkey 8:00am 6:00pm

Wed Jul 9 Ephesus / Kusadasi, Turkey Noon 7:00pm

Thu Jul 10 Athens (Piraeus), Greece 9:00am 5:45pm

Fri Jul 11 At Sea

Sat Jul 12 Venice, Italy 1:00pm

Sun Jul 13 Venice, Italy Disembark

 

I cannot comment about the two lines as we have never been on Princess but really enjoy Azamara.

 

Looking at the itineraries, however and having visited all the ports on both itineraries, I would make a tentative suggestion that the Azamara itinerary is the better of the two.

 

The Princess itinerary includes Rome and Istanbul and I think a brief day stop in each of those will be disappointing because there is so much to see and you will only have time to get a taster.

 

I like the Azamara itinerary - in fact, we are booked on this cruise! Although we have done this itinerary before I think the big draw is Kotor. Bigger ships do not visit and the sail in through the "fjord" is amazing. The ship will dock - literally - just across the road from the Old Town. Historically, this itinerary is more focused with the Adriatic part - which used to be under Venetian rule - leading into the Italian section. The Azamara trip also includes an overnight stay in Venice before the cruise.

Edited January 15, 2014 by MrMojoRisin