Which is best - Azamara or Oceania?

[JoTreacy]

Hi experienced cruisers,

I would like your opinion on the above subject as I am trying to make an informed choice.

I am considering a Mediterranean  Cruise on either of these lines, but unsure which way to go.

We are early 70s, fit and able, enjoy socialising etc.

I value your input.

Thank you

JoT

[Cruisers47]

Hi

 

that is a hard question.

 

we have done one cruise on both !    It may depend on where you want to go!   We went on Oceania to Israel pre Covid.   Their “free excursions “ is what we chose from the list.   I thought they would only allow us to choose the cheapest ones but we chose expensive ones to  Jerusalem and Nazareth!  Both excellent.

 

we did Azamara, pre Covid in Oz.  A Christmas cruise from Fremantle to Melbourne via Sydney,  we could watch the Sydney fireworks from the boat.   We are doing Azamara Christmas cruise again this year.

 

I think they are both fairly expensive but if you are treating yourself then both are worth the extra expense.

 

sorry not much help.👍

 

Eileen 

 

 

[cruisermsoon]

Bear in mind that Azamara is "all-inclusive" [all drinks are included, also tips], while Oceania is not ["drinks" are sometimes included in the fare, however this only includes wine and beer with lunch and dinner]. 

I've only tried Azamara, however can report that they are an excellent line, and their smaller ships are lovely.

Perhaps the final choice will come down to itineraries, however peruse the websites of both lines to get a "feel" for the product, also to check what is included in the cruise offer.

Whichever you choose, you'll enjoy a very good cruising experience.

 

[JoTreacy]

Thank you  for your replies, I appreciate the input.

You've given me "food for thought" so thanks again,

Jo

[roaming_kiwi58]

We have done 8 cruises with Azamara and 3 with Oceania, all pre-COVID. So I can’t comment on very recent experiences.

 

Azamara is definitely our preference. But we are itinerary driven, so if we see an itinerary of interest we will consider it, no matter what cruise line it is with. As well as Azamara and Oceania we have travelled with Viking, Windstar, NCL, HAL, Hurtigruten and Katarina, so do have lots of comparisons.

 

Yes, there are differences in the inclusions between Azamara and Oceania, and you have to consider what would be value for money for you personally.

 

A lot of people say the food on Oceania is better than Azamara, but we strongly disagree with that. Food is subjective. We have enjoyed much more interesting food on Azamara, and very ho-hum food on Oceania. One constant annoyance on Oceania was the cold plates, leading to cold food most of the time. We complained on several occasions and they said they couldn’t preheat the plates because passengers would get burnt! Well how come they heat the plates on other cruise lines?

 

In our experience Azamara are more motivated to give the passengers a good cruising experience. One example of this is when missing planned ports of call, for weather or whatever other reason. If this happens on Oceania they just delete the stop and they do not refund port charges either. Azamara will reorganise the itinerary and replace the lost port, even at very short notice. Once we were on Oceania when a visit to Mykonos had to be cancelled due to high winds. It became very obvious that we weren’t stopping, as we were nowhere near land,  there were no shore excursions staff about to advise what was happening, and it was after reporting time to go ashore, but no announcement was made until later. Eventually they announced no stop would be made, so “enjoy your day at sea”.  When we had Mykonos cancelled on an Azamara cruise, they did some reshuffling of the itinerary and added a stop at Bodrum to replace it. We have found Oceania to be very secretive about port changes. We had one cruise which had 4 port cancellations or changes. Upon boarding we were given a letter telling us the new itinerary. They must have known before then and could have told us much earlier. Two of the cancelled ports were in Egypt and had been being cancelled by all cruise lines for months, but Oceania were insisting up until boarding day that there would still be stops in Egypt. We did not believe them, are we were proved correct!

 

We have always found the staff on Azamara to be much friendlier and obliging than on Oceania, adding to a more relaxing and enjoyable experience on Azamara. 

 

But everyone is different, things change over time, and you have to work out what suits you.