Oceania Vs Azamara! are they LUXURY or DELUXE? You Need to Know THIS!

[@MicheleBaum-en3hw]

Very good precis of the two cruise lines. Whilst we've done, coming up to 40 cruises to date, mainly with Celebrity as our kids were growing up, we now (thankfully), cruise on our own! So we now favour Oceania and Azamara, of which we've done probably 7 with Oceania and 5 with Azamara. Again, like Bob quite rightly points out, the R class Oceania ships are very similar, although Marina and Riviera are our favourite for all the reasons he mentions - and in 3 weeks time, we are very excited to be going on Vista - she looks very pretty, can't wait!

[@askarealtravelexpert]

Everyone is looking forward to Vista :-)

[@bobcarr5497]

Great interview on Oceania and i'm taking my wife on a surprise cruise our first with Oceania on there newest ship Vista to the Caribbean on December 30th for 10 days. We normally stay in a balcony cabin Aqua Class or Concierge Class on other lines like Celebrity or Norwegian but for the first time i picked a Penthouse suite mid ship deck 11 for our trip on Vista so another first and looking forward to sailing on Oceania for the first time.

[@askarealtravelexpert]

You will have to let us know how Oceania measures up to Celebrity.

[@MicheleBaum-en3hw]

Your wife will love it, and her Penthouse room! What a lovely surprise. My husband also surprised me with an Azamara cruise for my 60th 3 years ago... I had no idea where I was going, other than it WOULD be on a cruise with hot weather. He even managed to check me in at Heathrow airport without me knowing where the plane was flying to, and I purposely avoided looking at the flight information boards to spoil the surprise - in fact, the check-in lady as I passed her said she's never checked in a passenger before who didn't know where they were flying!! This very nice Business Class flight took us to Hong Kong... and after 2 nights in a hotel there, we boarded the ship and visited lots of lovely islands in The Philippines - in fact, the surprise continued throughout our trip, as I didn't look at the next day's bulletin either! I hope your wife has a truly memorable surprise birthday ☺

[@juleszimmer1210]

Been on three cruises with Oceania now trying Azamara next

[@askarealtravelexpert]

Let us know how you enjoy Azamara

[@midgepark4042]

just to add ,my friend and I have gone on Oceania twice where we have paid the deviation charge twice to arrive a day or 2 earlier and have also paid the upgrade to Business class with Oceania , and have found it a fair bit cheaper than purchasing air fare direct with airline ourselves

[@askarealtravelexpert]

Thanks for the info.

[@lynns5675]

Thank you, that was a great interview. I'm doing my first Oceania later this year and this really helped confirm I made the right decision for my cruising style.

[@askarealtravelexpert]

You will have a great time. Where are you going?

[@lynns5675]

@@askarealtravelexpert Doing the Western Caribbean - booked this more for the ship than the Itinerary. Figured this was a good cruise to get my feet wet with the Oceania experience - more time on board and less in the ports.

[@CSaville]

We've travelled almost exclusively on Celebrity and had wonderful experiences prior to covid. We loved Celebrity. Our last Cruise on that line was really really disappointing, it was on the same ship we had loved, what a shame. Got a cruise booked on Azamara in a month or so and really looking forward to it.

[@askarealtravelexpert]

We hear you on your Celebrity comment. We just returned from Silversea and the onboard experience reminded me of how Celebrity used to be. Stay tuned for our upcoming segments on Silversea .

[@Ljberkow]

Azamara seems to do longer time in ports, and often overnights. Have one booked with them, but a bit nervous about sale to PE firm. Will look to Oceania and see an itinerary for Marina which looks good about 20 months out.

[@askarealtravelexpert]

Azamara is noted for longer stays and overnights. Reports filtering back to us about Azamara since the change in ownership is mixed, with most not noticing any difference in the quality of service. Having said that we believe that a lot of negative reviews are stemming from Azamara struggling to get back up to speed post pandemic. This has been an industry wide issue which is slowly dissipating. It's unfortunate as seasoned cruisers were looking forward to, and anticipating the service levels they were accustomed to in the past only to experience in some cases hiccups, delays, and so forth leading to some negative reviews. The cruise lines now are largely up to speed so we can look forward to the experiences we enjoyed pre pandemic.

[@aherve2003]

We did Azamara before and after the switch, it was exactly the same

[@askarealtravelexpert]

How was your experience?

[@aherve2003]

@@askarealtravelexpert it was exactly the same. Same good food, same excellent service, same wonderfull crew, same fantastic white night, same excellent azamazing evening. We have another one book for september et another for march 2025. If you have questions on any area, i will be happy to respond

[@Calventius]

Superb briefing! Much better than most channels!

[@askarealtravelexpert]

Thanks for the compliment. Credit is all Bobs he is an excellent interview and dedicated travel advisor!

[@nildamager1649]

Great interview. Thanks

[@askarealtravelexpert]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@peteventoux1815]

Excellent review

[@askarealtravelexpert]

It’s all Bob he makes for a great interview

[@marshillmike]

Vista is a separate class, the Allura class. Allura is also the name of the second ship in this new class scheduled to be launched in 2025.

[@askarealtravelexpert]

You are right! Had to go look that up as usually the first ship of the line is the Class hence Vista Class wonder why they did it that way??

[@marshillmike]

@@askarealtravelexpert Great question. I hope someone asks FDR on the upcoming inaugural cruise of the Vista.

[@karenflam]

Sailing on Vista in 2025. It sounds amazing.

[@askarealtravelexpert]

Are you counting the days?

[@imageadvisorsinternational7935]

Thank you.

[@askarealtravelexpert]

You are welcome Bob is a great interview.

[@John-ig7yl]

Thanks!

[@askarealtravelexpert]

Hi John thanks so much for supporting us. We really appreciate it

[@nildamager1649]

What about Regent

[@askarealtravelexpert]

Stay tuned we have an upcoming segment in the future and check out this review we did last year Regent Seven Sea Cruises Review with Carol Patterson kzbin.info/www/bejne/n4m2l6B4qM2oaNU

[@peterrabbit2719]

Bob talk about the present year 2023 not 2010.

[@askarealtravelexpert]

🤔

[@coolbreeze253]

How come so many pronounce Oceania as Oceana?

[@askarealtravelexpert]

🤔

[@deskubrir]

We sailed on Azamara Quest Nov.2022 doing the Persian Gulf. It was overall a good voyage: the itinerary, service and food were amazing, but two things that won’t bring us back to this brand are (1) the ship was outdated and deteriorated overall except for a few amenities and (2) the bathroom was extremely tiny, specially the shower even for us in our late 30s and fit. I see that their newer ships Pursuit and Onward came from other brand and are sister ships to Quest and Journey, but even if they were refurbished, I think that class of ships is by and large outdated.

[@askarealtravelexpert]

Quest was last refurbished in 2016 so six years is going to lead to the ship being dated and somewhat shop worn. Another contributing factor is likely the sale of Azamara from Royal Caribbean to Sycamore Partners which was not completed to spring of 2021. And you are definitely right on the size of the bath rooms. The Quest was originally built in 2000 but the R Class ships design dates back to 1998, meaning the room sizes and amenities are from another era. Definitely something to consider if one plans on spending a lot of time in your stateroom on a particular voyage.

[@lisamushnick141]

This was not much of a comparison, as a promo for Oceania.

[@askarealtravelexpert]

🤔

[@speakingofandygreenberg6857]

I did both on the same sister ship Insignia vs Journey. Same ship different brand. Azamara made Oceania look like a budget line. Food, crew, service, entertainment everything was better on Azamara. Food was POOR on Oceania. Mc Donalds food is an upgrade. I was not the only one think that. Both cruises were three weeks.

[@askarealtravelexpert]

Wow sorry to hear that about Oceania. When did you sail with Azamara before or after they were moved out of the Royal Caribbean family of brands?

[@speakingofandygreenberg6857]

After. Just last month

[@lynnleipold2617]

Oh no, we are going on Insignia on June 2! Now you’ve go me really worried. We were on Marina last summer and the food was as great as always.

[@askarealtravelexpert]

Don’t be too worried experiences and tastes can very by person and sometimes on a particular ship and itinerary. The vast majority of reviews we see for Oceania are positive and they are a go to cruise line for may of the experts we interview for just that reason.

[@speakingofandygreenberg6857]

@@askarealtravelexpert Agree..the Oceania cruise rep said they try to be consistent across all ships however once in awhile it just doesn't work that apparently was the case on the cruise that I took. I have booked another cruise on Oceania on a different ship and itinerary and will let you know

[@butalina]

Oceania rips you off on Cruises to and from NY forna Bermuda cruise...they only give you a $600 discount if you opt out of airfare. What airline will give you a $600 round trip to and from the west coast...they force you to take the O life...this example happens very often with other destinations with Oceania. Also Oceania DOES NOT offer you enough excursions for every port if you chose the Excursion amenity. Also thendrinks are very expensive on Oceania...you will pay through the nose if you don't get the drink amenity...remember only 1 amenity PER CABIN...you will pay alot more then just the cruise fare. Also reservations to the specialty restaurants are not always first come first serve, repeat cruisers get first choice...Oceania is alot more expensive then when you first look at the pricing.

[@askarealtravelexpert]

🤔

[@butalina]

@@askarealtravelexpert I have been cruising for 50 years...probably alot longer then you or anyone at your travel Agency... I have been on Cruise lines that don't even exist anymore...been on Cruise ships most people never heard of before.. The games these Cruise lines are playing now are a disgrace, everything from Raising prices and at the same time cutting quality and service..yes, it is happening on Oceania as well. The main stream and Premium lines have no problem canceling Cruise after Cruise with just weeks or even days before just to redeploy and satisfy a large group because it means more money for them. It use to be that cruising use to be not only a bargain but you got 5 star cuisine on some lines and the loyal passengers were treated like kings...though the luxury lines do not take part in the canceling of cruises like the Main Stream lines are, the luxury lines are guilty of plenty of underhandedness that many don't notice.

[@kathleemcallister]

if io would love to take the worldcruise in oceaia. prob.em is i a a single person. and hear it is mstly couples

[@askarealtravelexpert]

I would not let that stop you. We have heard from a number of travel experts that go solo and they love it as quite often they get taken under the wing of various couple’s and groups wanting to ensure they were not left out.