Stella Tours is here to provide information on how we go about planning for our voyages and also works to inspire visitors to our channel to travel with beautiful scenery of our trips. Our goal is to inspire and inform our viewers with what we plan and discover on our travels.
If you can when at Raistea take the excursion to snorkel it’s Coral Gardens. Do wear snorkel shoes as you will want to do the drift snorkel with the current several times and you will need to walk parallel to the water back to the beginning. I would do our S Pacific Oceania cruise again just to relive this extraordinary experience. Did it in 2029 from the Regatta.
I am a long time Azamara cruiser, and have been on 6 Oceania cruises. I have cruised on both lines in the past year (45 days on Azamara and 30 days on Oceania), as I wanted to compare the two. The layout of the former R ships are the same same on both lines, except that Azamara doesn't have a casino, which is fine with me. Staterooms on Oceania have been done over to a higher standard and this is the one area where they surpass Azamara. I find the food to be of comparable standard on both lines. But, I definitely have a much better time on Azamara. The big difference is the "vibe". The passengers, crew and officers are all much friendlier on Azamara. And Azamara stays longer in port, so you don't have to rush back to the ship. I plan to stick to Azamara.
Good comparison. Oceania owns four "R" Class ships as does Azamara. All eight of those ships were built at the same time in the same shipyard so there is little to no difference. Any differences are cosmetic. Bathrooms on both lines are small and get criticized. Azamara includes all gratuties and a full bar at no cost. From my experience, Oceania cruises are more costly and make Azamara the better choice.
Hi, it looks as Azamara is better value for money, am I right ? And another thing, me and my wife are 45, would it be suitable for us as I booked French Riviera in September for the first time ?
We find that Azamara cruises are a good value because they are all inclusive and so they don’t have the added charges that are the cruise lines have. The French Riviera in September should be lovely as far as the weather is concerned. Azamara cruises are Destination Intensive so as young as you are, you should enjoy touring the ports and the surrounding areas very much. If you go, I hope you enjoy your cruise!
@@stellatours567 Thank you very much for an answer but we are going for the cruises to enjoy cruising and ship itself, having a good party and fun. We hope we will find something for us onboard Azamara.
If you are a snorkeler, you should get your SCUBA licence. Do the basic classroom and pool part at home and the open water dives on a cruise. SCUBA is like flying like a bird...in slow motion.
@@stellatours567 If you don't drown, you won't regret it. LOL SCUBA gives me a tour target at every island. I have dived many places from the Caribbean to the Red Sea to Asia. All GREAT.
I just booked our first Azamara Cruise, looking forward to it. This level is out of our budget, but some itineraries make too much sense to ignore. Especially once or twice a year cruises on the mass market, the pool of demand pushes the price up to, or even higher than going ultra-premium. I got a deal on a veranda for $3,100 per person, Montreal to Miami, where HAL would have costed $3,400 with Have-It-All.
Shhhhh... we don't want too many people to know how great Azamara is. We love Azamara as well, and we agree with all the positive factors you mentioned. One minor correction regarding the Aqualina restaurant. It is not the only specialty restaurant to offer seafood. My favorite seafood is Chilean sea bass, and it is only served in Prime C.
We plan our own shore excursions as well, and I totally agree with all the positive factors you mentioned in the video. The only time we book a cruise ship excursion is when the destination is challenging to get to on our own.
Thank you for this skillfully narrated and edited video on your Azamara voyage. We also love Azamara for many of the reasons highlighted in your video. We will be boarding the Azamara Onward in a couple of weeks for a Norway intensive cruise. I hope to meet you and your group of friends on a future Azamara cruise.
You did a great job of filming this . Pictures were out of this world! Pearl of the Seas does sailing all around that area also.Thankyou. My dream is to get their.
Wow, if HA entertainment is better than these lines, it must be pretty bad! We switched lines because of the lack of choice. They got rid of the classical music act so the BB king room and the dueling piano were the main acts if nothing was on main stage. If one of the rooms had bad entertainment, you were stuck with one or hoping the jazzy trio was playing or you spent time in your room or in a bar if you took more than a 7 day cruise.
Entertainment on the smaller ships is typically Broadway style song and dance acts and a quartet dance band later in the evenings. The BB King stage and the rock stage along with the classical quartet were all functioning on Holland America, I believe, when I published that video. It’s a shame that Holland America eliminated the classical aspect of their entertainment. The BB King rock room probably cost them a pretty penny and royalties to BB king estate but I’m just guessing on that. I have a video coming out next week on our recent France Intensive Azamara Quest Cruise. We were quite surprised and pleased at the quality of the destination immersion acts brought on board the ship.
Too funny. After our trip together on the Oceania back in February, we are now going on the Azamara Onward next October. Where are you going next? Cheers
As a matter of fact, we just returned from the Azamara Quest “France Intensive” cruise 2 days ago. The video will be out next week! Then in December for a New Years holiday cruise on Holland America with all the family to the Caribbean.
Thanks for the comment. I think your pronunciation maybe the correct one. It seems as though out of 10 people eight will pronounce it Oceana. The I.A seems to be a tongue twister for them. I sometimes say Oceánia and other times Oceanía. My wife always says Oceana and I have come to the conclusion that arguing with her about the pronunciation is futile😊
I enjoyed your video and will use it to plan a trip to the Basque Country later this year. However, I have one small quibble - Frank Gehry is a Canadian, born in Toronto.
Indeed, you are correct. He was born in Canada. According to his biography, he is also American. So I probably should’ve put Canadian/American as he held dual citizenship I believe.
Thanks. We cruised with you on the Oceania Nautica last February in Polynesia. love your video. Cheers. We're next on the Azamara Onward in Corsica next october.
Thank you for this review. I'm booked on an Azamara cruise and most of the reviews complain about the bathroom and shower curtain, rather than the focus on the cruise. Perhaps Oceania is more upscale, however, I was able to get an obstructed view ocean view cabin for $300/person/day, that's less than my last cruise on Norwegian.
😂 in case you’re serious…. Seems the correct pronunciation has the accent on the i at the end as in Oceanía…. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-0aIpe0bSef8.htmlsi=qWaOhc7oaGDoj6Or But OCEANA is just fine by me… that’s how my wife says it and I wouldn’t dare correct her!!!🤣😂
Thanks for the feedback. I was actually on that same cruise it was wonderful, my 8th with Oceania, the people in their head office all say Oceana as do all their own videos.
Thank you! One of the main reasons I produce these videos is so that those on the.same vacation will have a lasting and beautiful memory of their experience. Wishing you many more!
We did a 19-day Azamara cruise from Cape Town to Las Palmas in Feb-Mar24 aboard Pursuit. We don't have the huge cruise experience of some travellers (it was our 6th cruise, the first on Azamara). From pre-cruise to completion we found the Azamara experience a huge disappointment. We choose our cruises based on itinerary, and this one was excellent, from South Africa to St. Helena Island, back to West Africa and finishing in the Canary Islands. But their website was almost unusable in the months leading up to the cruise. The ship, while quite well maintained, was old and our cabin (Verandah Plus) was small. Food was well below the quality we expected. The White Night struck us as a bit of a gimmick. Everyone dressed in white, a bit of entertainment, so-so food. Nothing special. The Azamazing Evening was about 90 minutes of cheerful African singers and dancers onboard but we wondered why they advertise these evenings as something unique when most cruise lines offer similar and indeed better. Crew were excellent but we have found that on every cruise we've taken. I think Azamara is going to need to step up its game if it intends to compete with luxury and small-ship lines. The passengers seemed to be there for the free alcohol and non-stop trivia. Kind of a floating pub experience. We won't be repeat customers.
Thanks for your comments. We’ve cruised on Regent 7 Seas, (Iceland and Scandinavia), Oceania (French Polynesia) and Azamara (France Intensive) all within the last 12 months. So, we are not just Azamara Cruisers. While everyone’s experiences are different, I’d be interested in knowing what your expectations are based on. As you can see by the vast majority of comments your experience seems to be the exception to the rule...I am not discounting your opinion, simply stating what I see. The Azamara Website implementation is, indeed very bad, and hopefully the new CEO will get that corrected straight away. There were no local entertainment shows on the Regent Splendor (rated the most luxurious ship on the 7 seas) , only 1 on the Oceania cruise, and 3 on the Azamara one we just were on. We only got to see 2, and they were good in my opinion. Plus, to kick off the White Night party, the Quest brought of a Beatles tribute band. So in reality, there were 4. They were a lot of fun! I will have to simply disagree with you on the White Night party not being special. As you can see by the sea of white on the pool deck on my Azamara videos, the guests truly seem to thoroughly enjoy White night. The food...It's a party, and for party food I think it's been above adequate. The ship was anchored in front of Amalfi for our Italy Intensive Azamara cruise White Night party and the scenery was spectacular, and a great party too. I hope your future cruises and travels are wonderful and live up to your expectations. Cheers, Bob
@@stellatours567 The other 5 cruises we've taken were with Holland America, most in the Asia Pacific region. Our experience with Azamara was much inferior to HAL. We found HAL's food substantially better, crews were top notch, nicer ships, onboard experience much better in every aspect. For us Azamara just wasn't the premium line it purports to be. Our next cruise is this coming January. 4 weeks Singapore to Singapore. On HAL.
We enjoy HAL very much as well. A different experience, as their smallest ships are twice the capacity as the Azamara ships. I'm curious about their cutbacks on entertainment. It used to be terrific. Our next cruise is on HAL as well... a New Year cruise to the Caribbean with family... about 10 of us... I hope you have a wonderful cruise!!! All the best, Bob
Good review. Of course if you go with Azamara you are stuck with one of the old R class ships. With Oceania you may select a more modern ship with bathrooms you can turn around in. That is why after looking at both, we chose Oceania.
Of Oceania's 7 ships, 4 are "R" class" ships. Those "R" class ships are identical to the Azamara "R" class ships. All 8 were built in the same shipyard around 2000 and have a passenger capacity of about 670-680. Differences are pretty much color schemes and furnishings. If one is looking for one of Oceania's bigger ships with a larger ship capacity (1200+), there are 3 other options. Personally, I prefer going small.
You must be from Philadelphia when you used the term “Center City”… Well produced video and I enjoyed watching it (and your other ones too!) This itinerary is right up my alley but like most cruises, there seems to be such a short time in each port. Azamara seems to have some very good qualities and the fellow passengers seem to be enjoying themselves but I’m concerned with the of lack activities on sea days and the very small showers in the regular cabins. I’m on the fence about that line. In any case, your Vlogs are excellent.
Thanks for your kind words! Glad you enjoy them! Actually, I'm from San Diego... I'm in the process of producing a video comparing the Oceania Nautica ship with the Azamara ships. Spoiler alert...We seem to enjoy the Azamara cruises better over all...
Thanks for your comment. We are very aware that Iceland is not in Scandinavia. I think you might be referring to the title of the video, "Summer in Scandinavia" and the intro to the video. That is the actual Regent Seven Seas Cruise Lines name for that particular cruise itinerary. And the reason I chose that name is so passengers searching for memories of their experience would be able to find it more easily. By the way, we thoroughly enjoyed our visit to your wondrous island! Bob from Stella Tours
Hi there! Thank you for this informative video. We are taking the 10 night Italy Intensive Cruise in June. I was wondering if you might share who you contracted with for private drivers / tour guides for each of the stops that you used them? Thank you!
Thanks for your kind comments! Following are the websites for you to contact regarding transportation/tours: Ravenna Transportation: filippo.scaioli@scaoli.com AnconaTransportation: martaxiancona@gmail.com Sorrento Transportation to Pompeii: foggiacarmine@gmail.com Evening Tour of the Colosseum: The Tour Guy thetourguy.com
Thank you for this informative video. We are booked on the 10 day italy intensive in June. We are interested in doing a private tour from Ravenna for our group of 6. Who did you use for your private tour?
HI Lisa, Congratulations! I hope you will enjoy the cruise as much as we did! We contracted with Filippo Scaioli for the transportation to Gradara and the back to Ravena to visit the mosaics. From the mosaics we took the Azamara shuttle back to the ship. We did our transaction via email with Filippo and everything went perfectly. His email is filippo.scaioli@scaioli.com. He required 20% in advance and the rest I believe we paid in cash when the tour was finished. Hope this helps! Bob
Lovely video. We were on the same cruise and have managed to catch a brief glimpse of ourselves in your white night footage. Azamara do a fantastic job. Can’t wait for our Azamara Spain intensive in November. Best wishes from the UK
Fantastic and comprehensive! Thank you!!! Just what I needed to watch before I book my late August cruise. Trying to work out how I get from the airport to the Fusina port.
Check with your travel agent to see if Azamara has a transfer. We transferred from Venice to the departure port of Chioggia on their bus, and the cost is $30 per person. If you booked your cruise with a travel agent check with them, they should be able to give you information.
Thank you for this video. We are planning on taking the Italy Intensive Cruise later this year. This is most informative of the many Azamara videos out there.
HI Mark, Thank you for your kind comments! If you haven't yet, I'd appreciate it if you would subscribe to the channel. Working toward 1,000 so we can get monetized... We have a Regent cruise if Iceland, Norway coming in September... Should be a wonderful one to share with our subscribers. And if you already have, a big THANK YOU!!! Bob and Stella
Great video! We went Curaçao a number of years ago on a diving trip. I never saw anything except for the resort. Lol. But the diving was terrific. Thanks for doing this video.
