Comparison of Regent to Azamara

[mj_holiday]

DH and I are fans of RSSC.  We have done 6 cruises and enjoyed everything except some misses on our last one (post COVID).  I am expecting RSSC to be back to the experience we have grown to expect with our next one.

We have also recently just finished our second cruise on Azamara, they have some really interesting itineraries.  I have posted a review "10 Night Spain Intensive" of our second Azamara cruise.  This can be found on the Azamara board.  

 

At the end I have added some comparisons between Azamara and RSSC. Some better, some worse and some just different.  DH and I saw a couple people on the Azamara Onward that sported RSSC golf shirts or caps, so know people will cross between lines.

[royallondon]

1 hour ago, mj_holiday said:

DH and I are fans of RSSC.  We have done 6 cruises and enjoyed everything except some misses on our last one (post COVID).  I am expecting RSSC to be back to the experience we have grown to expect with our next one.

We have also recently just finished our second cruise on Azamara, they have some really interesting itineraries.  I have posted a review "10 Night Spain Intensive" of our second Azamara cruise.  This can be found on the Azamara board.  

 

At the end I have added some comparisons between Azamara and RSSC. Some better, some worse and some just different.  DH and I saw a couple people on the Azamara Onward that sported RSSC golf shirts or caps, so know people will cross between lines.

 We too have sailed Azamara on several occasions and like you, have found their itineraries to be really interesting (Greece, Italy intensive etc).  
However on the 5th May we board the Navigator (again for an interesting itinerary, Miami to Montreal) and our first Regent cruise.  Really looking forward to the experience as have heard great things about RSS.

 

Regards

[mj_holiday]

Navigator is one of our favorites ships.

[Pack Leader]

Quite a poor experience by Paul&CarollovetoTravel on Youtube - customer service issues on board. I have looked at Azamara in the past. Good food, smallish ships and great itinerates with a loyal customer base. I nearly booked a cruise with them until i found out my daughter would have to sleep in a Cube Chair 9she is 5' 8", that they obviously considered to be a put you up bed for a third cabin occupant (definitely not a sofa bed) for essentially a full passenger fare! There are also reports of tiny bathrooms, tiny shower spaces and shower curtains? which put me off. 

[mnocket]

I've sailed on Azamara before and have my first Regent cruise coming up in Dec.  I'll be really disappointed if Regent is in many respects comparable to Azamara.

[Ladys Mom]

I have sailed on three Azamara cruises and many RSSC cruises.  The Azamara cruises were all before they were sold by RCL and before the pandemic.  Our first two were in Veranda, with its infamous shower curtain, our last was in a Club Continent suite.  We always found the crew, and especially the senior officers to be incredibly friendly.  The food was good, but not outstanding.  Entertainment was minimal with not even a proper showroom.  For our last cruise we went all out of self-purchased business class fare, the full alcohol package, and purchased shore excursions in every port.  The cruise was from Amsterdam to London.  We had a marvelous time and count that cruise as one of the best we have ever had.  The service we received was augmented by the service we were granted as high-level members of their loyalty program.  Our main reason for not continuing on Azamara is that we love longer cruises and Regent's all-inclusive program fits us to a tee.

[Michyfis]

We are avid big cruisers and have sailed on Azamara and loved the cruise.  Staff was excellent and we especially loved the care they took knowing about my celiac disease.  We decided to try Regent this fall because when I added up the cost for a standard suite plus air plus tours plus Tokyo stay, Azamara turned out to be more expensive than Regent.  Therefore, it was a no brainer for us.  We are hoping that they get some of the Explorer issues ironed out by the time we get there but are going with an open mind and know that the world has changed since pre-Covid.

[Cruising Librarian]

Also have sailed on both Azamara and Regent. We did 2 Transatlantics and enjoyed them very much.  Other passengers are very friendly, the port excursions  were nice and food and service was good.  We had a cruise to Iceland and Ireland booked for August 2020 that we were very disappointed to miss. 

 

That said, we just got off our 7th Regent cruise, another transatlantic on the Voyager, and the experience was superior in just about every way.  The Voyager is more luxurious, the suites larger and food and a wider variety of drinks are excellent.  Crew is very friendly and can't do enough for you.

 

I'll sail Azamara again with an interesting itinerary but I do really dislike the small bathrooms in the nonsuite rooms.

[jeb_bud]

Cruising Librarian, how was the WiFi/internet during the cruise?  We’re gettin on in May and after the recent reports about Explorer I’m curious. 

[Cruising Librarian]

Jeb_bud, 

internet on Voyager was abysmal.     Never could connect in our room, I would go to other places on the ship (pool deck, coffee connection, Horizon lounge) to check email, etc.    At one point during the Transatlantic, no connectivity for at least 2 days.

 

I was annoyed at first, but after a couple of days, it didn’t bother me.   I found checking in once or twice a day was plenty (retired) and taking the iPad to a pleasant location on the ship was not a problem for me.  

[bitob]

On 4/20/2023 at 9:56 AM, mnocket said:

I've sailed on Azamara before and have my first Regent cruise coming up in Dec.  I'll be really disappointed if Regent is in many respects comparable to Azamara.

It’s not 

[HotRoot]

Can't compare.  Our one and only Azamara cruise was our worst cruise to date.  Then we cruised on Celebrity and that beat Azamara as our worst cruise ever.  Regent falls in with our top three cruises.  We can't pick a top one because itineraries played a big part.  

[slidebite]

On 4/22/2023 at 1:31 PM, Cruising Librarian said:

Jeb_bud, 

internet on Voyager was abysmal.     Never could connect in our room, I would go to other places on the ship (pool deck, coffee connection, Horizon lounge) to check email, etc.    At one point during the Transatlantic, no connectivity for at least 2 days.

 

I was annoyed at first, but after a couple of days, it didn’t bother me.   I found checking in once or twice a day was plenty (retired) and taking the iPad to a pleasant location on the ship was not a problem for me.  

While we could get internet in our cabin, calling it a connection is generous. At best I could fire the odd email away. Browsing the internet was an exercise in frustration, even doing the final cruise survey/comments was very rough getting connected and an exercise in frustration. I was sure to mention it in the comments. I probably would have not bothered given the frustration but I wanted to be sure to praise a few staff members.

[bitob]

7 hours ago, HotRoot said:

Can't compare.  Our one and only Azamara cruise was our worst cruise to date.  Then we cruised on Celebrity and that beat Azamara as our worst cruise ever.  Regent falls in with our top three cruises.  We can't pick a top one because itineraries played a big part.  

I would choose celebrity over azamara. 
celebrity knows it is mass market

azamara is too but they try to be something else and they fail miserably. My worst cruise ever 

 

[bitob]

5 hours ago, slidebite said:

While we could get internet in our cabin, calling it a connection is generous. At best I could fire the odd email away. Browsing the internet was an exercise in frustration, even doing the final cruise survey/comments was very rough getting connected and an exercise in frustration. I was sure to mention it in the comments. I probably would have not bothered given the frustration but I wanted to be sure to praise a few staff members.

I was in voyager in January. If you had a vpn no problem with internet

[Pcardad]

1 hour ago, bitob said:

I was in voyager in January. If you had a vpn no problem with internet

VPN is slower than without....but Starlink is coming soon!

 

The biggest factor is where you are located on the ship with regard to the nearest router....and how many other people are uploading pics.

 

[mumcat]

We have sailed with Azamara 5 times and with Regent just twice. Our first Regent cruise was on Explorer just after she was launched. We were blown away by the luxury onboard and the royal treatment. Unfortunately we had 4 cruises with Regent cancelled because of the pandemic. Our other Regent cruise was last year on the Navigator. Frankly I was disappointed . The ship was no better than the Azamara ships we have sailed on. The food and service were certainly not up to expectations. I like Azamara because it treats its guests like family and does not pretend to be luxury. Because we have sailed with them several times we are given enough free WiFi time for our needs. My main complaint is the size of the bathrooms and the shower curtain as has been mentioned by others. Unfortunately we can no longer afford Regent prices so we are sticking with Azamara and, we may try Celebrity.

[Vineyard View]

8 hours ago, mumcat said:

We have sailed with Azamara 5 times and with Regent just twice. Our first Regent cruise was on Explorer just after she was launched. We were blown away by the luxury onboard and the royal treatment. Unfortunately we had 4 cruises with Regent cancelled because of the pandemic. Our other Regent cruise was last year on the Navigator. Frankly I was disappointed . The ship was no better than the Azamara ships we have sailed on. The food and service were certainly not up to expectations. I like Azamara because it treats its guests like family and does not pretend to be luxury. Because we have sailed with them several times we are given enough free WiFi time for our needs. My main complaint is the size of the bathrooms and the shower curtain as has been mentioned by others. Unfortunately we can no longer afford Regent prices so we are sticking with Azamara and, we may try Celebrity.

I am honestly curious. In looking at Azamara and Regent I seem to find that Club Continent Suites on A are similarly priced to a number of others that are more ‘luxury marketed’. I have no loyalty nor skin in the game. We have several experiences with Viking, and are getting ready to sail Seabourn. Itinerary is really important, so I am just trying to figure out 2024 choice between a few options. There are several that are interesting. 

Edited April 26, 2023 by Vineyard View

[Rothko1]

The Azamara board here is not very glowing.  They are talking about whether or not the line might be going under.  I'd do some reading there before booking.

[Vineyard View]

I have noticed that as well. We won’t be booking anything until after our upcoming trip next month. With Sycamore buying A there is conjecture all over the place - from they may be going under to they won’t let that happen. Who knows. And then Seabourn just sold Odyssey but added expedition. Oceania is bringing on two new ships, and Viking just keeps growing. Seems like SS and Regent are the two quiet ones for now. Who knows, but you have a good point so thank you 

[texasatty]

The products are just not comparable as 1:1

[the_dylaness]

Following with interest... first Azamara cruise this fall, and first Regent in January 2024. Have sailed on ships from Carnival (EEK) to Crystal and most things in between!

[annapolitan369]

I agree with Texasatty (although I hate agreeing with a lawyer).  We have enjoyed cruises on both Azamara and Regent but they are not comparable.  I also enjoyed driving an Austin-Healy 3000 and a Jaguar XKE and in the same way not exactly comparable.