Azamara?
 

I'm intrigued by the description of these smaller ships
and services. Has anyone sailed on either of the 2 ships as
yet, or are they not in service yet?

Only the Journey is sailing now .
Still a work in progress by the sounds of returning passengers.

Things are looking better on Azamara
 

From the postings I've seen, while the first sailing was a bit of disaster, and things still rough on the 2nd cruise, it appears that most problems have been straightened out. Most of the pending improvements are the refrigerators in the cabins and new lounge chairs.

Quest will start in October, though they seem to have suspended reservations for the first scheduled cruise - perhaps learning from what went wrong on the Journey.

nlvc12

Re: Azamara?
 

Princess also has 2 of the R ships and Oceania has 3 if it is the ship size you are interested in.

I'm a fan of Celebrity, so that was a major factor
in my interest.

I have no interest in Princess, but would like any
news of Oceania cruises. Aren't they pricey?

My opinion is that Oceania cruises are more pricy than the mainline cruises including both Holland and Celebrity however much lower than premium ships such as Crystal and Seabourne.They are finding a price point which appears to be favored by many cruisers and have heard nothing but positives from those who have been on these ships.

Thanks, I'll have to check them out.

If you are looking at Azamara then Oceania is about the same price point for similar cruises.
There are some differences in services but are pretty close to what I have read.

We have done 3 "O" cruises with 2 more booked

Re: Azamara?
 

lulu48,

While you were not looking, Princess acquired a third -- MV Royal Princess (nee MV R8).

Norm.

tennisbum,

Just to split hairs over one point, the recognized classifications of the industry, Holland America and Celebrity are "premium" lines while Crystal and Seabourne are "luxury" lines.

Norm.

Re: Azamara?
 

Thanks I thought I missed one!!! :D