Oceania Cruisers Try Azamara once AND?

[blackfoot]

I called my Travel agent to inquire about an Azarama cruise because of an interesting itinerary.He said because we have cruised several times on Ocea we would not like Azarama because it is a step below Oceania.

 

Do those of you who have cruised both agree?I have enjoyed Oceania cruises,but they are not changing cruise itineraries( outside of Europe) often enough.

 

Thank you in advance.

[Beach Nut]

We have only taken one Oceania cruise. An issue that I would've hitherto considered a deal-breaker was successfully addressed so quickly, and with such thoroughness, respect, concern, honesty and openness, that I remain permanently impressed by the attitude that obviously flows from the top (FDR) down to the front line workers (cabin attendants).

 

We took a similar Azamara cruise. Let's just say that, although the outward attitude towards solving problems might look and sound the same to an outside observer if both were videotaped, it was mostly smoke and mirrors and pretty words.

 

We came back and cancelled an AZ cruise we had booked for this year. I recently booked an O cruise with a similar itinerary for next year, at about 1.6 times the price. We're not "loaded" financially, so the difference in price is meaningful to our budget. However, I feel that Oceania is, by far, the better bargain, at least for us.

 

I realize that I am comparing only one cruise taken on each of the two lines, so take that into consideration, as it's not a statistically meaningful sample. However, it's all we have to go by, so we'll be guided by our experience, limited though it may be in terms of actual sea days.

 

Happy sailing, and fair weather to all at sea,

Susan

[A Knitter]

I called my Travel agent to inquire about an Azarama cruise because of an interesting itinerary.He said because we have cruised several times on Ocea we would not like Azarama because it is a step below Oceania.

 

Do those of you who have cruised both agree?I have enjoyed Oceania cruises,but they are not changing cruise itineraries( outside of Europe) often enough.

 

Thank you in advance.

 

I found these two threads to be very helpful. Haven't tried Azmara yet myself. Scheduled for a 2011 trip on them to Singapore. .

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=975416&highlight=azmara+oceania

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=868872&highlight=oceania+azmara

[Jana]

We have only taken one Oceania cruise. An issue that I would've hitherto considered a deal-breaker was successfully addressed so quickly, and with such thoroughness, respect, concern, honesty and openness, that I remain permanently impressed by the attitude that obviously flows from the top (FDR) down to the front line workers (cabin attendants).

 

Susan

 

I absolutely LOVE this post!

 

I'm with you on this. I too believe that the quality of service one receives flows from the top, and that Oceania exemplifies this concept. Thank you for pointing it out, and especially for mentioning the "front line workers" (cabin attendants, restaurant and bar staff) with whom we have the most contact and whose attitudes can make or break the enjoyment of a trip.

 

Jana

[cruiseyguy]

Keep in mind that Azamara has a new President (the former head of both SeaDream and Seabourn) and the line has been made separate from Celebrity. So next year's product could be substantially different from the current one.

[ddcruiser]

We have done 4 on O and 1 on AZ. We love O, but would gladly do other cruises on AZ because of the lower price. We agree that the service, food, and general ambience on O beats AZ, but AZ is similar enough to attract us again. ddcruiser

[lynfils]

i called my travel agent to inquire about an azarama cruise because of an interesting itinerary.he said because we have cruised several times on ocea we would not like azarama because it is a step below oceania.

 

Do those of you who have cruised both agree?i have enjoyed oceania cruises,but they are not changing cruise itineraries( outside of europe) often enough.

 

Thank you in advance.

 

i went on the azamara journey last year and had a wonderful time in all of the ports....they are smaller and we docked under the london bridge....amazing...they also sailed the kiel canal..which i watched all day...the service was wonderful (but not slavish) and the meals were great..the room was very comfortable.. The entertainment pleasant ...and the maitre de a real character..i left my elderly lady companion in the forward lounge all day at her insistance and she was well taken care of by the waiter in the lounge...i am on oceania regatta next april 4 so cant compare them til then...

Unfortunately azamara is not going to the same ports i went to anymore in quite the same route..if it did i would do it all over again!!! They do the baltics though and i have done some of that on another line and found it wonderful...especially st petersburg (with a private tour company)

[meow!]

i went on the azamara journey last year and had a wonderful time in all of the ports....they are smaller and we docked under the london bridge....

Are you saying the Azamara R ship docked under the London Bridge on River Thames? Only the small Seabourn triplets (10,000 tonnes) and the Silver Cloud/Wind (16,000 tonnes) can, even the Silver Shadow/Whisper (25,000 tonnes) cannot. The R ships are 30,000 tonnes!

[tak2]

Depends on Height of ship, whether it fits under the bridge.

[SunDapple]

I'm just back from my first Oceania cruise, and I did Azamara in 2007. I would have to give a big high five to Oceania for comfort, service and food. To be fair, I have to say that our Azamara sailing was only its 5th outting since being obtained by Celebrity. It was more of a shakedown cruise than anything, and I was sorely disappointed because I love "R" ships. The food was only okay, and the dining room service was spotty. We found a table with a waiter we liked and who provided the kind of service we hoped for, and asked for him every time we went to Discoveries (Jujur was wonderful). Other times we encountered uneven service, and twice, sullenness from our waiter.

 

However while onboard Insignia, we met a couple who have cruised Azamara more recently and more than once, and they gave an edge to O for food, but it was a razor's edge on service. Because of that couple's high rating, and the fact that Larry Pimentel is now the President and CEO, I would be willing to try Azamara again, if only they had the itineraries we are interested in. Perhaps with time, and Larry's leadership, they will have a product I will be willing to give a second chance.

[StanandJim]

Are you saying the Azamara R ship docked under the London Bridge on River Thames? Only the small Seabourn triplets (10,000 tonnes) and the Silver Cloud/Wind (16,000 tonnes) can, even the Silver Shadow/Whisper (25,000 tonnes) cannot. The R ships are 30,000 tonnes!

 

I would have bet money that you were right about that, Meow, but darned if Lynfils isn't correct

The Journey sailed into the center of London in May of '07 and again in May of '08, each time staying there for two days.

 

It can't be scheduled as a regular call, however, because the Thames is tidal in london and the water level in what they call "the pool of London" varies from 18 to 35 feet. The R ships draw 19.5 feet.

 

Oceania has lately been using Dover as their port for London, but the Baltic cruises were at one time scheduled to sail to/from Tilbury

which is about ten miles south (as the crow flies) of Tower Bridge (although it would be more like 20 miles on the river as the Thames twists and turns)

[bigmjh]

....they are smaller and we docked under the london bridge....

 

The Oceania and Azamara ships are the same size ... R ships. For the most part they share identical layouts.

[boom_boom]

We have been on 2 Oceania cruises, the most recent a TA last November. Our experience is the front line staff is great, food is exceptional, but the middle management is often very arrogant and will automatically deny there is a problem with anything that goes wrong.

Cases in point...a water line broke in the overhead just outside a friends cabin, which was flooded. Room steward did his best to help, but once the water was gone, his supervisor tried to tell the friends that the soaking wet carpet would dry in no time, that there was no need to worry about mold forming due to the excessive moisture, etc. To be fair once they were able to get to the Hotel Director the problems got resolved, but it took 3 days before they could get past the middle management and actually talk to the right person.

 

Second, on a rough day at sea a cable holding one of the anchors broke resulting in the anchor "klanging", metal on metal with every swell. As we were in a Vista Suite, the noise was very bad. The Cruise Director and the Conceriage both claimed it was normal, simply the ship hitting the waves. Of course, our butler and other staff with whom we talked said that noise had never happened before even on rough days at sea. Finally, one of the officers, I don't recall which one, was at dinner at our table one night and told us what happened. It was fixed the first port call.

We understand accidents happen, Pipes break, cables break, but it appears that the first respons on O is to deny everything.

 

That said, we'd gladly sail on O again, but may give Azamarra a try simply because of price.

[sunny54]

I called my Travel agent to inquire about an Azarama cruise because of an interesting itinerary.He said because we have cruised several times on Ocea we would not like Azarama because it is a step below Oceania.

 

Do those of you who have cruised both agree?I have enjoyed Oceania cruises,but they are not changing cruise itineraries( outside of Europe) often enough.

 

Thank you in advance.

We've sailed on both lines, most recently September 2008 on AZ. While I give O a slight advantage "food wise" over AZ, the staff (ALL) on AZ really outdid themselves to make this a wonderful trip for everyone. We had an issue for the first 6 nights of a 10 night cruise on O (Athens to Rome) where our key cards never worked when we returned to our cabin. We would have to go to Guest Services and advise them that we couldn't get in. They would send us back with new keys. We would go the next time it happened, they would send us back with new keys, we would go again the next time...we would get new keys....well, you get the picture. Finally, I lost my temper (extremely unusual for me) and asked that the General Manager come and get this problem cleared up...well, he did come to our cabin with a maintenance man and in a very loud voice advised us in his French accent that he WAS THE GENERAL MANAGER and really couldn't understand why we were upset. Anyway, they finally replaced the lock that my husband had suggested they do after the second episode of being locked out.

Since we have been on 4 Med cruises, we would go on O again because we are always looking for an itinerary which has ports we haven't already been to three or four times. I will just go the next time with lower expectations of the customer service I will receive and perhaps be pleasantly surprised.

Probably more detail than you wanted, but thought I'd make you aware of possibilities.

HappyCruising! It's always better than a day at work!

[Torchcorvette]

We have been on both lines a couple of times each. Scheduled for PC on Azamara 1/3/10.

We rate the two lines equal and favored AZ this time for pricing. O was way more expensive than AZ. We have not run into any of the problems posted on these boards so maybe we are lucky.

[Wineart]

We've been on both lines, and I would have no qualms about going on Azamara again. The cost of our A cruise was significantly less than going rates on O at the time. Our experiences were pretty equal, so for the future, deciding factors for us would be itinerary and cost.

[brian_uk]

We have travelled on 2 O Cruises and 2 on Az. Each time occupying an OS. The Suites compare favourably and while after 2008 I gave the edge to O, after returning from " The Best of Italy " trip only 2 weeks ago I can tell you that there is virtually no difference between them.

 

The prime reason we changed was because of the itineraries (see other threads on here ) and I would not hesitate to travel on either line again.

 

I think the responses from FDR are incredible and there are little areas on each that are better than the other.

 

I am hoping to book another O cruise for next year if I can find an itinerary that I really want to do.

 

Brian

[orchestrapal]

Brian:

How does the age and nationality demographic compare with Oceania's?

Were there any children on your Azamara cruises? Thanks!:)

[brian_uk]

There was absolutely no difference in age or demographics.

 

I would say, just like our O cruises, 80% Yanks, 10 % Brits and the rest made up of Aussies, Kiwis, Canadians and about 6 French.

 

I would say there were no more than 6 children, maybe 10.

 

The Captain Carl Smith, A Brit was the best ever. He took the time to explain every procedure.

 

Do not get me wrong, we still love O and would travel on either depending on the Itinerary.

 

Brian

[orchestrapal]

Thanks Brian. From what I have heard from previous cruisers there were large groups if very noisy Italians (I do love Italy) and many too many children.

Glad to hear your cruise was diferent. Since the price differential on an OS was almost none on a long cruise, which on A would have to have been 3 or 4

cruises, we have stuck to O which we love.:)

[Aussie Gal]

We have been on one long Oceania cruise of 35 days and one shorter cruise on Azamara of 14 days.

 

To me there is no comparision between the two lines, except that we had a wonderful Captain whilst on the Quest - Carl Smith.

 

There are just too many little extras that make up Oceania as a whole compared to Azamara. We had similar cabins on both ships but our experience on the Nautica was top class, whereas our experience on the Quest was just average. In fact, unless Azamara has a huge price reduction or an itinerary that we couldn't resist, we will probably not cruise again with that line.

 

Besides not living up to its expectations regarding service, entertainment and food, our itinerary changed quite a few times only a matter of weeks before we left home. We also missed a port and didn't receive a refund of the port charges that we had paid. We also had a fire onboard during the cruise and we were unable to board the ship until 6pm on our day of embarkation.

 

The most upsetting thing was the changes to the itinenary as we ended up having a cruise completely different to the one we had orginally booked. Most of the changes were done after final payment otherwise we would have thought twice about doing the cruise if we had been given notice earlier. In all our years of cruising we have never before had an itinerary change and we always book early.

 

Jennie

[caribbeansun]

Had the exact same thing happen to us on HAL re the changing ports - like you, it was after final payment and we picked that cruise due to the itinerary as it was going to places we'd not visited previously. The revised itinerary ended up going to a couple we had visited previously - not good.

[Wineart]

We had an itinerary change by Oceania on the first O cruise we booked several years ago. The change occurred shortly before final payment was due, and we ended up cancelling because we no longer liked the itinerary.

[tanny18]

Having sailed on Oceania 3x, we wanted to continue with the cruise line we love the most. However, Azamara had this amazing itinerary to Southeast Asia for a fairly good price. So, we jumped ship (no pun intended) and sailed with Azamara. While the itinerary was wonderful and Capt. Smith was truly a gentleman and enjoyable to be with and his family - it was a Xmas/NY's cruise, and the ship we were intimately familiar with, there was something missing! The food in the specialty restaurants (they charge) was wonderful, the food in the main dining room on most occasions left much to be desired. The attitude of some of the staff was a little off. There was a problem with our visas - we were told they would be one price for Viet Nam and Cambodia -- and when we boarded we were told they were twice as much. The reception desk said "do you want us to pay for it?" Bad attitude....Would we sail again -- only, and only if the itinerary was so fantastic that we couldn't live without it, yes. We've already booked our Black Sea cruise on Oceania for June 2010- we could do same with Azamara for less money, but we'll stay with Oceania. Thinking about December 11, 2010 Capetown to Singapore cruise with O. My feeling is if it ain't broke don't fix it. Arlene