Battle of the British Isles: Azamara vs. Oceania

[Zoolander]

My wife (50ish) and I (late 40ish) would really like to do a British Isles cruise NEXT year (2010). I am Irish/Scottish and would like to visit a handful of cities/towns in Ireland and Scotland at least once. We are vacationers, not tourists, so the short time in each port is perfect for us.

 

We have cruised Regent (3X), Silversea (1X) and Disney (1X).

 

I am happy with both Oceania and Azamara (and I really like their port heavy itineraries), and I have done plenty of research on what may separate the two (CC search engine/Home sites), so I would like some real specific expertise in the responses please.

 

Here are the two itineraries:

 

Oceania

 

http://www.oceaniacruises.com/T_MainContentPage.aspx?PageUID=50db7c06-3af7-4767-88f2-b9356503e9a7&CruiseUID=83f9296e-a3db-4861-8f17-a0882fa10021

 

 

 

Azamara

 

http://www.azamaracruises.com/search/vacationItinerary.do;jsessionid=0000awOrKBgkhMdDmKhJqww9H7U:12odmenr5?packageCode=JR13U010&sailDate=1090817&backPageName=Itinerary+Search+Results

 

Okay...here are my specific questions:

 

1. Does one itinerary have a port or two that is a DO NOT miss? One seems to be Norway intensive, where the other hits Norway, Holland, Denmark and Germany. Amsterdam is of "some" interest to me.

 

2. Lets say, we book a PH1 on Oceania or a SkySuite on Azamara, even without Azamara being a 2 for 1 yet, I see Azamara being a better deal financially initially. I realize Oceania has the free air (which we might use, since we are coming from LAX) and now an extra 2K off per stateroom, but I still see Azamara being a better deal and they have not added any incentives to this flight. Has anyone else priced these comparable cruises out, and what did you find? (I have Oceania at 6799 and Azamara at 4050 (I think this will come down))

 

3. If we take the Azamara cruise, I would probably try to stay in London for a couple days before heading off to Copenhagen. Is Virgin Atlantic the way to go? I am 6'3 and 240# and would love to fly EconomyPremium but they giving quotes over $3500. For flying to London who has the largest coach seating or the least expensive business class seating?

 

Thanks...and any help would be greatly appreciated.

[LHT28]

You have to weigh the options that are best for you.

 

You can on O take the air credit & book your own air then you can go early to LON also.

It is a personal choice which ports suit your likes/dislikes

 

Price out both cruises & compare the bottom line

 

Lyn

[j!m]

we have never sailed with O

 

many of our friends have and say they are great

 

and we ALWAYS book our own air then we go the way we want to not the way the cruiseline wants to send us

 

having said this, for what it is worth we have looked at several O itineraries we have found that similar (almost identical fo rus) routes on Az are invariably less costly

 

O's 2 for 1 and free air is their standard pricing and has been for several years

 

the O ph cat is ss on Az and the Az pricing is almost always less pp according to my math

 

but one day we would like to give O a try

[Bufrenee]

I have been on both. Firstly you can still travel with O and spend extra days in London.The cost for the deviation is about $75. There is really no comparison,you pay for what you get and in my honest opinion the extra that you pay for on O is worth every penny for the service and the food.There is really over 400 crew for 600 Pax which I failed to notice on A even though they advertised the numbers.

[brian_uk]

You say you want to visit Britain and Ireland and Scotland so it would appear top me that O has a better itinerary for you.

 

Az being in Edinburgh for 2 days is a bonus as it is in the middle of the Edinburgh Festival which is sensational. Look it up on the Web both as the Edinburgh Festival and also The Edinburgh Fringe which we prefer.

 

Brian