Azamara Vs Oceania

[QuestionEverything]

A wonderful good day everyone!

 

I did a search for this topic, but did not get any results.

So I am posting my query.

 

Question - How does Azamara differ from Oceania - focused only on the R ships for equivalency?

 

I have cruised Oceania, but wish to broaden my experience.

Any and all analysis would be greatly appreciated.

I travel for itinerary mostly.

Kindest Regards!

 

[FetaCheese]

@QuestionEverything

See the topic... Just back from France intensive by @Sleep7 for her day by day review.  Lots of info and photos about her experience on AZ.

 

A good way to see how AZ compares to O.  

[Marmaduke]

Oceania refurbished the cabins on their R Class ships to a higher standard than Azamara.  They stripped out all the dark wood decor and made the cabins lighter with a soft grey colour scheme.  The drawers are the soft close type, that you just gently push and they close. The bathrooms are the same size as Azamara i.e small, but they they have doors on the shower rather than a curtain.

The rest of the ships have much they same layout as Azamara.  On Oceania the bar just outside the restuarant on deck 5 functions as a coffee bar during the day and converts to a full bar in the evenings.  If I remember correctly there is a small golf putting area on deck 11, althoug this limits the number of sunbeds available on this deck.

The quality of food on Oceania  tends to be a notch above Azamara as are the wines available on their basic package.  Although I consider Azamara offers a wider choice of food, especially with their themed even buffets.

That said, I prefer  Azamara, the crew are friendlier and are prepared to go the extra mile for the guests. The ships stay later in port and if there is a problem with access to a port e.g. weather conditions, the company goes out of it way to find an alternative port,  whereas  Oceania has a reputation for just adding another sea day to the itinerary.  Overall I consider Azamara better value for money.

[terry&mike]

Currently (as of October 1), Oceania includes gratuities, specialty dining, and wifi in their booking price. Azamara includes gratuities, and a basic beverage package with wine/beer/spirits at bars and restaurants. Azamara offers the White Night parties, which are very popular. They also have Azamazing Evenings, with a cultural entertainment experience, but these are sometimes minimized in experience or held onboard, so not sure where this is headed. 

 

The pre-boarding/home office experience of booking, accounting, and managing the reservations with Azamara has been a bit of chaos for the past two years, but the onboard experience is top notch. The pre-boarding/home office experience with Oceania is very direct and organized, with minimal errors. 

 

The pricing is often very similar when looking at itineraries and number of days, but with the current inclusions, if you are a drinker, there is a little better value with Azamara. 

[QuestionEverything]

Thanks to everyone for your posts and great analysis.

We are looking to try A for the first time and your effort has given us confidence indeed.

Many thanks!

[terry&mike]

I do not think you will be disapointed with Azamara. The lines have more similarities than differences. 

[mare s.]

We've been on a couple of Oceania and many Azamara cruises.  I do wish Azamara would adopt the doors in the shower rather than the curtains and would bring back a harpist or string trio, but otherwise, I think the Azamara product is superior.   Personally, I prefer the food on Azamara (I've never had anything inedible on Azamara....wish I could say the same about Oceania) and we've also experienced huge port changes on Oceania without much explanation or apology.  Love the Azamara late nights and overnights and the White Night and Azamazing evening.   Nothing like those on Oceania.

[Mackdogmolly]

6 minutes ago, mare s. said:

I do wish Azamara would adopt the doors in the shower rather than the curtains

I don’t. Then I would be banging my elbows into the doors!

[KirkNC]

I like the doors versus the curtains but the new curtains they had on the Onward in January were a marked improvement over previous ones.

 

overall we prefer AZ better but a few things I liked about O other then shower doors was a far more extensive menu in the specialty restaurants.  I think O’s Toscana menu is about 12 pages 😳.  We find the atmosphere on AZ to be more to our liking.  The passengers are more laid back, O’s can be a little pretentious at times.