Battle of the Brittish Isles: Oceania vs. Azamara

[Zoolander]

My wife (50ish) and I (late 40ish) would really like to do a British Isles cruise NEXT year (2010). I am Irish/Scottish and would like to visit a handful of cities/towns in Ireland and Scotland at least once. We are vacationers, not tourists, so the short time in each port is perfect for us.

 

We have cruised Regent (3X), Silversea (1X) and Disney (1X).

 

I am happy with both Oceania and Azamara (and I really like their port heavy itineraries), and I have done plenty of research on what may separate the two (CC search engine/Home sites), so I would like some real specific expertise in the responses please.

 

Here are the two itineraries:

 

Oceania

 

http://www.oceaniacruises.com/T_Main...7-a0882fa10021

 

 

 

Azamara

 

http://www.azamaracruises.com/search...Search+Results

 

Okay...here are my specific questions:

 

1. Does one itinerary have a port or two that is a DO NOT miss? One seems to be Norway intensive, where the other hits Norway, Holland, Denmark and Germany. Amsterdam is of "some" interest to me.

 

2. Lets say, we book a PH1 on Oceania or a SkySuite on Azamara, even without Azamara being a 2 for 1 yet, I see Azamara being a better deal financially initially. I realize Oceania has the free air (which we might use, since we are coming from LAX) and now an extra 2K off per stateroom, but I still see Azamara being a better deal and they have not added any incentives to this flight. Has anyone else priced these comparable cruises out, and what did you find? (I have Oceania at 6799 and Azamara at 4050 (I think this will come down))

 

3. If we take the Azamara cruise, I would probably try to stay in London for a couple days before heading off to Copenhagen. Is Virgin Atlantic the way to go? I am 6'3 and 240# and would love to fly EconomyPremium but they giving quotes over $3500. For flying to London who has the largest coach seating or the least expensive business class seating?

 

Thanks...and any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

My thoughts on some of the ports (sorry, I thought I posted already.)

 

Pros and cons of the Oceania itinerary: Gerainger is spectacular, Alesund is very pretty. Oslo is a nice city, but I would prefer the other Norwegian ports. The Shetlands would be pretty cool I think.

 

Pros of the Azamara itinerary: Scrabster is way up there near Thurso in Scotland. Very bleak, although beautiful. Near John O'Groats, the northernmost point of the British Isles. Oban would be cool, west highlands, lends itself to several spectacular day trips. A day in Amsterdam is a bonus--if you haven't been there, it's a must do.

 

Hope this helps.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Gosh, you have me thinking about this itinerary, the Oceania one (the Az itinerary is not at the right time for us.) We love the British Isles, and would love to go back. The Dover roundtrip lends itself to pre- and post-cruises wherever we like, with an easy trip back home from Heathrow.

[peapod2]

My wife (50ish) and I (late 40ish) would really like to do a British Isles cruise NEXT year (2010). I am Irish/Scottish and would like to visit a handful of cities/towns in Ireland and Scotland at least once. We are vacationers, not tourists, so the short time in each port is perfect for us.

 

We have cruised Regent (3X), Silversea (1X) and Disney (1X).

 

I am happy with both Oceania and Azamara (and I really like their port heavy itineraries), and I have done plenty of research on what may separate the two (CC search engine/Home sites), so I would like some real specific expertise in the responses please.

 

Here are the two itineraries:

 

Oceania

 

http://www.oceaniacruises.com/T_Main...7-a0882fa10021

 

 

 

Azamara

 

http://www.azamaracruises.com/search...Search+Results

 

Okay...here are my specific questions:

 

1. Does one itinerary have a port or two that is a DO NOT miss? One seems to be Norway intensive, where the other hits Norway, Holland, Denmark and Germany. Amsterdam is of "some" interest to me.

 

2. Lets say, we book a PH1 on Oceania or a SkySuite on Azamara, even without Azamara being a 2 for 1 yet, I see Azamara being a better deal financially initially. I realize Oceania has the free air (which we might use, since we are coming from LAX) and now an extra 2K off per stateroom, but I still see Azamara being a better deal and they have not added any incentives to this flight. Has anyone else priced these comparable cruises out, and what did you find? (I have Oceania at 6799 and Azamara at 4050 (I think this will come down))

 

3. If we take the Azamara cruise, I would probably try to stay in London for a couple days before heading off to Copenhagen. Is Virgin Atlantic the way to go? I am 6'3 and 240# and would love to fly EconomyPremium but they giving quotes over $3500. For flying to London who has the largest coach seating or the least expensive business class seating?

 

Thanks...and any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Zoolander, those both look like appealing itineraries, which I'll leave to others more knowledgeable about the specifics to help you with. Regarding your question #3, however, the website http://www.seatguru.com is very helpful for describing the specific dimensions, pros/cons of the various classes of seats on all the major airlines. Give it a try.

 

The price you quoted for premium economy sounds more in line with what you should expect to pay for discounted business class. Sometimes, if one keeps a sharp eye out for specials, one can get business class at an even better price than that. Given your physical size, business class would, of course, be the most comfortable way to go, but I realize that is not always possible given that, the last time I checked, money still wasn't growing on trees and getting desired tickets using only airline mileage isn't always feasible. In addition to checking out the seats on Virgin Atlantic & other major airlines from LA to London, you may also want to check out Air New Zealand which (believe it or not) also has flights, and occasionally deals, from LA to London. If premium economy prices or dimensions end up not meeting your criteria, you might also consider doing the trip in two hops each way, rather than one, perhaps overnighting at an airport hotel on the east coast and making the whole trip via coach. It's sort of a challenging puzzle to figure out, but also kind of fun if you make a bit of a game of it. In any event, I think seatguru.com will be helpful to you.

 

peapod2

[SeaCCruiser]

Geiranger is beautiful and I think it is one of Norway's highlights. The only concern I would have about Oceania's itinerary is that you arrive in Edinburgh and Waterford at 12:00AM and depart at 12:00PM. That would certainly not be enough time for us to explore, especially since they frown upon people who dash up the gangplank 15 mins before sailing. (I wonder if that could be a misprint on Oceania's site?)

 

As far as the Azamara itinerary, surprisingly enough, we enjoyed traversing the Kiel Canal last year on Oceania. Copenhagen is a great city, and pre or post cruise, you would have time to visit Frederiksborg Castle which is a favorite, and only about 45 mins from Copenhagen.

[potterhill]

As a summer cruise in the Far North wouldn't it be "light" all night long?

 

Just a thought. Haven't been there and didn't look at the map...

 

Mo

[Zoolander]

Peapod2: Thanks for the info on seatguru and air new zealand. I have looked into both. Also, I compared ANZ with Virgin Atlantic on airlinequality.com and though they are both 4 star carriers, ANZ graded out higher on food. It even looks as if the premium quality seats on ANZ are not only slightly larger but just a tad bit cheaper. If the schedules are similar next year in August, it seems I can even get to London quite a bit earlier in the day as well.

 

Anyway...thanks again.

 

Leaning towards the Azamara Journey itinerary (interested in seeing quite a few different countries) at this point but still planning on spending a few days in London. Good to hear about the Kiel Canal, as I had no idea.

There are short non-stop flights to Copenhagen that come in at under a couple hundred bucks.

I love both itineraries, but there is quite a difference in cost for similar suites. Looks like we will be spending it on premiumeconomy from LAX!

[CintiPam]

I personally prefer the Azamara itinerary because Copenhagen, Oslo, and Amsterdam are great cities to visit, but then you will not get the Geiranger fjord experience. Guess that for me, those three cities outweigh the one natural beauty spot, and you'll get natural beauty spots elsewhere on both itineraries.