piscean

I have sailed once with each cruise line--Marina and Journey. Based on my limited experience, I found the two lines comparable but different in these respects:

 

--Oceania has better food. In this category, it is not even close.

 

--The Marina, which is a fairly new ship, is superior in all respects to the older Journey. And I happen to like the size of the Marina more.

 

--With regard to officer interaction, don't expect any on Oceania. You will not meet anyone like Heike on Oceania.

 

--I actually enjoyed the entertainment more on Azamara. Eric hands-down was better than the CD we had on Oceania. It seemed to me that Azamara works harder to ensure its patrons have a great time.

 

--My biggest criticism of Oceania is the time in some ports. Here, Azamara is a big winner.

Have sailed many times with Azamara and Heike is a most lovely lady. However on Insignia last year we met the wonderful Gabriel Ovesea, food and beverage manager,......nothing was too much trouble and he was extremely personable. A great credit to Oceania.

If we eat the doughnuts, we won't be able to fit in the shower, will we?!!

Hi Carol!

I have lost your e mail, so if you still have mine, I'd love to hear from you!

I've lost your too.....

........just don't eat the doughnuts !(private joke)

I believe the bathrooms are the same as on Azamara.......where we met a few years ago.

We were on Insignia last year and had a wonderful time although we were in a PH

Have a lovely time

Carol

Take a look at alicepetersoncompany.com they make the kits that I was given on my recent cruise on Insignia.

I'm a fan of the Azamara on board experience and am at Discovery level. However I find better offers with Regent and Crystal also about to try Oceania.Sadly I left AZAMARA a couple of years ago. Now they have taken away perks that many other cruise lines are including.....

Very sad.

We have just returned from a Regent cruise ......no problems in St Petersburg.

We were berthed at a new cruise terminal approx 20 mins drive and immigration control was not too terrible!

Enjoyed the heatwave although the excellent Russian folk evening would have been more comfortable with some air conditioning!!

Piscean,

 

Thank you for your quick reply. Could you answer the following questions please.

 

1. How did you know Shopping with the Chef was available? Did Azamara

post it in the Daily Schedule or make an announcement about it?

 

2. How did you sign up for it? Was it complimentary?

 

I did this previously on Seabourn and there was no announcement about it. You just had to know to ask about it and you signed up with Guest Relations.

 

Hope you enjoy your upcoming cruise.

 

Thanks again.

Answered by tgg......enjoy

We enjoyed shopping with the chef in Bordeaux. The ship was berthed right in Bordeaux and we enjoyed a walk with the chef buying delicious fromage at the Sunday morning market.....wonderful.

There was also evening dancing on the quay ....again wonderful.(not a regular event)

We are cruising with Crystal this weekend to Bordeaux but sadly they are unable to berth at the city quayside but we shall endeavour to get to the Sunday market by shuttle bus.

Welcome from border Wales UK

We hope to sail with Azamara again.We love the onboard experience and enjoy the activity on the Azamara boards.

......I was addressed as Vincent but I'm probably the Carol of the earlier post!

Carol

.....thank you all.

Thanks everyone for input.

However the visa requirement appears to be that we are flying out of Istanbul on the following day!

We visit Kusadasi first then onwards to Istanbul, overnight and return to UK from Istanbul and so we require the visa for our exit.

Unless anyone knows different...................

You're Brits? Carol & John?

 

I'm intrigued.

A cruise-specialist T/A should know this.

And why is your T/A quoting USD?:confused:

 

JB :)

Yes we are Brits and we are on Regent which quotes $'s

We were recomended to this TA but already have 'concerns. Our friends, who booked at the same time being charged more and we were charged a flight supplement for the same flight!

We had similar problems with another TA on our cruise last year. I am an experienced cruiser but so many of these TA's try it on.........

Have just checked the Consulate where it says a visa is required....can be bought at the port of entry. Maybe they have changed the rules recently?

Thanks both for info. I was informed that our cruise ship could arrange the visa for $49pp.

Has our Agent got it wrong?

Hi

Has anyone obtained their Visa in Turkey at the point of entry?

If I have a shore excursion booked can it be arranged quickly before I join the tour?

Thanks