Confused about booking Azamara verses Oceania

[Binky fairy]

I just came back from the Baltic cruise on Oceania. The food was excellent, especially it the specialty restaurants. The shore excursions options were excellent, but expensive. The entertainment was fair. Gift shop great. I have booked Azamara to go to the Caribbean in February 2009, and have heard very mixed reviews. The reviews were fair at best. Any comments about the ship, particularly the quality of the food, the itinerary variety, and the shore excursions. It is not too late for me to cancel without penalty. I am very ambivalent after reading past Azamara reviews, and very confused

[cruiseyguy]

The vast majority of recent Azamara reviews have been excellent. As with most new ventures, it took them a while to get up to speed. Oceania went through the same trials. Both lines are now roughly comparable. Give Azamara a try!

[Andy]

I just came back from the Baltic cruise on Oceania. The food was excellent, especially it the specialty restaurants. The shore excursions options were excellent, but expensive. The entertainment was fair. Gift shop great. I have booked Azamara to go to the Caribbean in February 2009, and have heard very mixed reviews. The reviews were fair at best. Any comments about the ship, particularly the quality of the food, the itinerary variety, and the shore excursions. It is not too late for me to cancel without penalty. I am very ambivalent after reading past Azamara reviews, and very confused

 

Hi Binky Fairy !

 

Most of the mixed reviews were from Azamara's early days. Most recent reviews have been quite positive. We were on Quest, and enjoyed it very much. The food, entertainment, and service was outstanding. I would give Azamara strong consideration, as they are a wonderful Cruiseline. If you have any questions, feel free to ask !

[cruisecountess]

We were on the July 7 Baltic cruise on the Azamara Journey and thought it was all wonderful. We, too, had some reservations but took a chance are are so glad that we did. This was the best cruise we have been on. The food, entertainment, activities, crew and staff were all above par. I would suggest trying Azamara.

[jhcrossfield]

Cancel while you can. I sailed in March 2008 and it was the most disorganized, inconsistant service I have ever experienced on a cruise...over 30. There are too many other solid options available to waste your time and money on this line. If you are up for a "hit or miss" experience with essentially guaranteed poor service by the reception desk, reservations at restaurants, the tour desk, and your cabin steward/butler then go for it. Spend more to get a guaranteed soldi experience on Silverseas, Seabourn, etc. or spend less for MUCH better service on Celebrity or Holland America.

[Aussieflyer]

It is a pity jhcrossfield that you did not write a review of the cruise so that others can see what exactly your experience was. If it was so bad, others would like to see why. Your post here is very negative but does not give much detail about what went wrong.

[orchestrapal]

Binky Fairy: Read Jan's posts on her latest cruise "Leaving for Journey". Jan is Oceania's biggest fan and seems to really be enjoying Azamara. Ask her your questions for a well informed, no ax to grind, opinion.;)

[cruiseyguy]

jhcrossfield-Non-specific, slash & burn posts have little credibility. How about some details, starting with the specific cruise you took.

[DaveFr]

jhcrossfield-Non-specific, slash & burn posts have little credibility. How about some details, starting with the specific cruise you took.

cruiseyguy,

 

This thread has some answers: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=734579.

 

Dave

[cruiseyguy]

Thanks for the link DaveFr. The aforementioned "review" seems to have had its origins in a poor cabin choice and its "afterburn."

[katiebeth]

I have had very little time to spend on the boards since returning from our June 21st 14 day sailing from Athens to Rome on the Quest. I will hopefully be a little more active after our children return to school on August 18th.

 

We have sailed 4 times in Europe (3 on Celebrity "M" class ships, and most recently on the Quest. We were a little concerned at first as to whether we would enjoy the "smaller" ship experience. We love all that the "M" class ships have to offer.

 

I am very happy to report that we LOVED Azamara and the "smaller" ship experience. The service was outstanding and the Quest looks brand new!! The ship offers all of the activities of the larger ship, only on a smaller and less crowded scale. I can honestly say that I did not feel as if we missed anything the larger ships have to offer!!! We never waited in line and the food was terrific!! I am rather particular about service, food, and cleanliness and I can say the Quest exceeded my expectations. We have dined and stayed at many fine establishments around the world and the Quest was as nice as anything we have experienced.

 

The food in the Window's Cafe (buffet) was superior to that offered on the Celebrity ships. Although we have always been very pleased with the food on Celebrity, the Quest was definitely a step above.

 

The crew were all outstanding and we could not have had a better experience. We did take some of the ship's shore excursions, and while they were somewhat limited in variety, we loved that the groups were smaller. Most of the time, the motorcoaches were about half full. It made for a much more pleasant experience.

 

Do not pay attention to the earlier reviews!! Azamara definitely has their act together.

 

Wishing I was still cruising ........!!!!

 

Happy Sailings,

 

Nancy

[2Fltravelers]

I just came back from the Baltic cruise on Oceania. The food was excellent, especially it the specialty restaurants. The shore excursions options were excellent, but expensive. The entertainment was fair. Gift shop great. I have booked Azamara to go to the Caribbean in February 2009, and have heard very mixed reviews. The reviews were fair at best. Any comments about the ship, particularly the quality of the food, the itinerary variety, and the shore excursions. It is not too late for me to cancel without penalty. I am very ambivalent after reading past Azamara reviews, and very confused

 

 

We also cruised with Oceania last year in the Baltic and it was wonderful We are booked on the Quest for October 11th in the eastern med and I have no concerns that it will be wonderful. Host Andy is right-most of the negative reviews were very early on. The reviews I've read in the past 2 months have, for the most part, been very favorable. Only you can decide but if it were me, I would take the cruise.

[susiesan]

There are a number of us here who have now sailed both Oceania and Azamara. The concensus seems to be that they are equal in service, food, quality. So go with the one that has the best price. I did O in July 2006, then AZ in March 2008 and am doing AZ again in April 2009. All are/were 14 day cruises (actually next year will be two B2B 7 day trips). At the moment, AZ has much better pricing for almost identical itineraries.