Azamara vs Oceanis vs Princess small ships

[hamrag]

4 hours ago, uktog said:

Interesting perspectives.  I think it’s only going to be by trying other lines we will know if the softer aspects of the Azamara product are worth the premiums they now command. Thanks to everyone who has helped us as we ponder where next. 

Yes, a very interesting element is the 'softer aspects'. Without a doubt, on our recent (and first Az) B2B cruises these aspects were better than any other of our 45 cruises across 15 cruiselines. The biggest negative for us was that the food in Windows, The Patio and MDR was mostly no better (sometimes marginally so) than the mass cruise lines.

 

Azamara pitch their product at the top end of Premium, and it is priced accordingly and is sometimes touching the pricing of the lower end luxury lines (e.g. Crystal). For us, it is not worth the premium cost for superior 'softer aspects'. That said, we had exceptionally low pricing, due to the Cuba cancellations, on our trip and it was very good value overall at that pricing level. We just don't see it as being any better than the best mass cruiselines e.g. Cunard, although the downside with Cunard is it's formality.

 

There are lots of choices out there, we have sailed Crystal and MSC Yacht Club most recently....both well ahead of Az, in our view, and have an Oceania trip scheduled also to check out their product!

 

Incidentally, we have yet to meet a cruise we did not enjoy, so I am in no way bashing Az...simply iterating my belief their overall product does not reflect generally high pricing.

[baytraller]

Oceania has two new ships which will arrive in 2022 and 2025

 

They will have 1,200 passengers, similar in size to the Marina and Riviera

 

 

 

 

[marinaro44]

4 hours ago, baytraller said:

Oceania has two new ships which will arrive in 2022 and 2025

 

They will have 1,200 passengers, similar in size to the Marina and Riviera

Too big.  No interest.

[Mrs Miggins]

Viking Ocean have max 930 guests.  Never crowded - in fact often one felt where is everybody ?

All Veranda Cabins.  Lovely Staff. Classy decor. Great Bathrooms. Retractible roof over pool area which meant 'party nights' go ahead regardless of weather. Wonderful Spa - free. Excellent food.  Live music everywhere.

 I think if you like Azamara you will like Viking.  I love both.

 

 

 

[uktog]

Thanks for the suggestions- I’m happy to go up to about 1200 so lots of options to ponder. 

[myden]

We have sailed on all three brands, Princess Pacific comes nowhere close to Oceania and Azamara, although I understand it has had an upgrade recently, it sure needed it 4 years ago. The other two do have there differences but they are our only go to lines now. We love Azamara for the friendliest crew and made to feel welcome. Nothing is too much trouble. Oceania has the edge with their food, which is fabulous. We tend to decide by itinerary, and Azamara does have the edge with thier port intensive cruises and Azamazing Evenings. 

Having said all that my 1st choice would be Oceania larger two ships, now your talking. Based on the R class ship but bigger and better, not too big, just more space! Cabins are bigger, suites are wonderful, 4 specialty restaurants which are included and if your cruise includes a drinks package then your laughing 😆.  So extremely happy to see two more being built. 

[Cruise Junky]

something that I'm not sure has been brought up...Pacific Princess only has set dining for the  MDR. There is no open dining unless you like the buffet or pay for the specialties. 

[hubofhockey]

1 hour ago, Cruise Junky said:

something that I'm not sure has been brought up...Pacific Princess only has set dining for the  MDR. There is no open dining unless you like the buffet or pay for the specialties. 

 

That's no longer the case and you can see their refurbishment video which mentions that here,

 

With prices at 30 to 40% of what Azamara and Oceania charge, they're in the game.

[Lottie A]

10 hours ago, hubofhockey said:

 

That's no longer the case and you can see their refurbishment video which mentions that here,

 

With prices at 30 to 40% of what Azamara and Oceania charge, they're in the game.

Well that looks very interesting. Thanks for the video link. It’s almost like being “home on Azamara”. I’m going to take a look at cruises on Pacific Princess. 

[ECCruise]

No Anytime Dining on PP was a deal breaker for us.  Now that that has changed, it can be factored in, taking into account the price and the difference in food and service levels.

[Cruise Junky]

16 hours ago, hubofhockey said:

 

That's no longer the case and you can see their refurbishment video which mentions that here,

 

With prices at 30 to 40% of what Azamara and Oceania charge, they're in the game.

I did not know they'd changed it, that's awesome. It's always been a deal breaker for us. I just did a mock booking though for June 2021 and there's only traditional dining.  are you sure they're not referring to club class dining?

Edited January 21, 2020 by Cruise Junky

[hubofhockey]

4 hours ago, Cruise Junky said:

I did not know they'd changed it, that's awesome. It's always been a deal breaker for us. I just did a mock booking though for June 2021 and there's only traditional dining.  are you sure they're not referring to club class dining?

 

I have no idea.  I haven't been on Princess since 2014.  My issue with them is that they rarely invested enough in their older ships and I am not crazy about their newer Royal class (my last cruise with them was on the Royal Princess).  However, I think they might default you to one or the other and you have the option of anytime dining.  You might want to check on the Princess boards.  The refurbished ship in the video looks nice.  With the money you would save, you could eat in the specialty restaurants every night.   I would book that ship thanks to watching that video.  A friend of mine booked one of the smaller Princess ships in Japan and found that most of the passengers were, in fact, Japanese.  The problem was that it was tough to interact with them.  

[hubofhockey]

The video does say available in traditional or anytime dining.  So, that's pretty clear.  

 

I think Carnival messed up selling all of the R Class ships.  They very easily could have created a boutique line like Royal Caribbean did with Azamara.  They also had the advantage of already owning the ships.  

 

I don't know what Sabatini's is like now, but, at one time, it was a great Italian specialty.  Now, it's probably more like Aqualina, which I am really not crazy about either.

[Cruise Junky]

13 minutes ago, hubofhockey said:

The video does say available in traditional or anytime dining.  So, that's pretty clear.  

 

I think Carnival messed up selling all of the R Class ships.  They very easily could have created a boutique line like Royal Caribbean did with Azamara.  They also had the advantage of already owning the ships.  

 

I don't know what Sabatini's is like now, but, at one time, it was a great Italian specialty.  Now, it's probably more like Aqualina, which I am really not crazy about either.

But what I'm saying is you have to book Club Class to get anytime.  Princess's site is very clear it only has traditional.

[takemewithyou]

50 minutes ago, Cruise Junky said:

But what I'm saying is you have to book Club Class to get anytime.  Princess's site is very clear it only has traditional.

What is Club Class?

[Cruise Junky]

3 hours ago, takemewithyou said:

What is Club Class?

It’s a special classification of cabins that has a separate roped off section of the dining room among other perks. 

[marinaro44]

Spent 35 nights on what was the Ocean Princess a few years ago.  Don't expect the onboard Princess experience to be anything like Azamara.

 

Just finished 35 nights on Quest.  Aqualina was excellent...food, service, everything.  Some old favorites offered as specials:  lobster thermidor; goat cheese souffle, Grand Marnier souffle.

[Lottie A]

Some very loyal Azamara cruiser friends of mine have just come back from a Princess cruise and had a wonderful time. I am certainly going to consider them in future. I don’t expect the Azamara experience but that’s OK because I’m increasingly finding that other cruise lines have there own great experiences and I like trying them out. 

Makes you wonder why Azamara even bothered changing the Speciality Menu when clearly the most popular dishes are still the old favourites. Goat’s Cheese Soufflé, Lobster Ravioli, Dover Sole and Grand Marnier Soufflé is my idea of Heaven on a plate. 

[marinaro44]

9 hours ago, Cruise Junky said:

It’s a special classification of cabins that has a separate roped off section of the dining room among other perks. 

Roped off anything--dining area, theater seating area, bar or lounge area, tender line, whatever--is a big turn-off for me, even if I'm supposedly in the "entitled" group.

[hubofhockey]

4 hours ago, marinaro44 said:

Roped off anything--dining area, theater seating area, bar or lounge area, tender line, whatever--is a big turn-off for me, even if I'm supposedly in the "entitled" group.

 

I think this is their reaction to Celebrity's success with Aqua class.  It's hard to knock off another line unless you do a real rehab and create a separate restaurant, rather than just rope off an area.  We have done cruises on Celebrity with and without Aqua Class.  When we didn't have it, it was out of sight and out of mind.  The roped off area on Princess is not out of sight or mind.  

 

I looked at the Pacific's itineraries and they also don't reach the level of Azamara's.  If they were to do the exact itinerary that we have for our next scheduled Azamara cruise, I'd give Princess a shot if the price was 50% less.  It's just not a reality.  They aren't doing anything close.  Also, we have a Celebrity Caribbean cruise scheduled in November and I don't think Princess' new line of ships (Royal Class) cometes well against the Solstice Class (we're Aqua Class on the Reflection).  

[marinaro44]

2 hours ago, hubofhockey said:

We have done cruises on Celebrity with and without Aqua Class.  When we didn't have it, it was out of sight and out of mind.  The roped off area on Princess is not out of sight or mind.

It's not "out of sight" when someone is walked to the head of the tender line...or naively tries entering the Aqua area.

[hubofhockey]

4 hours ago, marinaro44 said:

It's not "out of sight" when someone is walked to the head of the tender line...or naively tries entering the Aqua area.

 

Blu is kind of out of the way.  In three cruises on Celebrity, I don't think I've tendered at all, so it's not noticeable to me.  It's no secret that Celebrity is now moving in the direction of more segregation and is pushing suites on the Edge Class.  I'd probably avoid that class of ship.  My favorite cruise ship is actually the 2,000 passenger Constellation.  

[ABoatNerd]

The beloved Connie is also our fav ship.

 

Will not cruise with Celebrity as they are recreating the class segregation that was part of the transatlantic experience (along with NCL, MSC etc). We are Elite Plus on Celebrity and have not booked them since 2015.

 

Celebrity is not on our list.

 

But cruises are only one type of vacation travel - there are many other ways to see the world. We are totally enjoying customized land vacations, no cruises. 

 

If you want to really, really see this world, cruises are NOT the venue.

[marinaro44]

4 hours ago, hubofhockey said:

Blu is kind of out of the way.

I find the concept repulsive.  Apparently, ABoatNerd agrees.  Others seem to relish it. Celebrity is for them.

 

Does Celebrity have a reserved seating area in the theater, a la NCL?  That wouldn't be very "out of sight."

[hubofhockey]

5 hours ago, marinaro44 said:

I find the concept repulsive.  Apparently, ABoatNerd agrees.  Others seem to relish it. Celebrity is for them.

 

Does Celebrity have a reserved seating area in the theater, a la NCL?  That wouldn't be very "out of sight."

 

Not sure, but I have never had trouble finding a seat in the section I wanted on Celebrity.  I don't think entertainment in their theatres is all that great either.  The edge there certainly goes to Princess.