TPAYT

I like the Azamara itinerary because it ha 2 days on the Amalfi Coast but it's at the end of April and we usually prefer Europe in September....warmer, sunnier, more flowers etc

Anyone have any experience with these 2 cruise lines or Rome to Venice cruises?

Eschew

IMHO, the timing ans the itinerary is more important than the cruise lines. The weather in September is definitely better than April (Fall vs Spring) despite both may be considered shoulder season.

If it is up to me, September over April.

31139ca

We took a cruise through Oceania last Sept. near the Amalfi coast. Absolutely wonderful weather in Sept. Oceania is the best. My daughters and myself will be cruising with them again this June up through Norway and Denmark. Can't wait.

jacketwatch

Which Oceania ship is it? Azamara uses the old Renaissance ships as does Oceania though not all of their ships. They have some newer ones. That being said both lines should be nice so if it was me I'd go for the weather and that means Sept.

TPAYT

Sept was our kind of thinking also even though I don't want to wait that long.
All of you confirmed that thinking.

Now we have to decide which itinerary and which ship:

Rome to Venice. (Mostly interested in Sorrento & Venice)
OR
Lisbon to Barcelona. (All different ports for us)

Azamara (like their Amazing Evenings)
Oceania (looks good)
OR
Wind star (Star Pride).....we've been on 2 of their sailing ships, this is a motor yacht

Eschew

Not sure what all the port were and the dates so it's hard to comment. We spent 4 days post cruise in Venice (end of August) and absolutely enjoyed it. We can probably could have stayed another 4 days and still left yearning for more.

We were in Barcelona last summer and loved it. We spent a few day post cruise and more than likely, we will be back in a few years time and explore more.

It's half a dozen of one and six on the other.

For us, the ships are our mobile hotel. We use all the facilities on board and we enjoyed them all, but the destinations are what makes the differences.

jacketwatch

Of course it's up to you but if one has all different ports that would weigh heavily in our decision and as Eschew said Barcelona is amazing. Then again so is Rome. Ah decisions, decisions. .

nini

Which Oceania ship? We have sailed the Riviera and Marina and those are really nice ships. We recently sailed Azamara in the Caribbean and enjoyed it. The food was very good--perhaps better than Oceania or Celebrity. That being said Azamara is an old ship and does not have that wow factor. We had some extremely rough water and I don't know if it was more noticeable on the smaller size ship or not.

TPAYT

Thanks for all the comments. As we have only sailed on small ships (twice on Star Clippers & twice on Windstar) we need some guidance. I have also been reading reviews on Cruise Critic.

We know that we don't want the giants (1,200--3,000) but are considering Oceania or Azamara for the medium size. Azamara itinerary looks good but not sure if the ship is old. Hasn't it been refurbished? Oceania Riviera looks like a nice size, Marina a little bigger but a maybe. Only cruised the Med. once.

Have to decide on the itinerary 1st. I wish we were leaving tomorrow but I guess for the Med. we'll wait until Sept.
The Caribbean is out of it because we went there for 25 yrs and have been to most islands, some several times.

nini

Oceania Riviera and Marina are sister ships--identical size-maybe 1,200. The Azamara is about 700 passengers I think. There are two of these ships and they are about 20 years old. They are been renovated and have some nice features--library is very nice--and very well stocked. Rooms are compact but have adequate storage. The best feature may be use of a laundry room (free including detergent).

Cali

We have taken 3 cruises on Oceania Ships. Two were on Riviera and one was on Marina and both ships were wonderful. We love Oceania and will use them on future trips. We had the choice of several restaurants and we enjoyed the food and everything about the ships was wonderful. I don't know how old the ships are but both seem relatively new and are in excellent condition.

Eschew

Oceania Riviera is about 5 or 6 years old. But it carries 1200+ passengers so I wouldn't call it a small/medium size ship, especially when you compare them to the typical 200 passengers Windstars ships.

Not that there is anything wrong with the size, just it will "feel" different.

We have cruised on ships as small as holding 99 passengers and monster ships that holds 6000+, and probably most sizes in between.

We enjoyed ships of all sizes, and they are have different personalities. Some people likes the intimacy of the smaller ships and some just look at the big ship as the destination. It all depends on what you are looking for.