Another Azamara convert from Regent?

Hi guys, so we're back from our first Azamara cruise, Rome - Rome on Journey. I'll be posting impressions here, since I am going to try to frame the discussion from the perspective of a Regent cruiser. David has already posted a thread on the Azamara board here with his impressions:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=51303479#post51303479

I may post there too, from the Azamara perspective, both praise and criticism.

But first of all, I want to answer poss's pressing question. I measured the bed in our Club Continent Suite, and it's definitely a king bed. I measured with my cloth tape, so these are approximate, but I got 68" wide by 77" long (presumably it's 78"), i.e., really too big for us (would need a large dog to sleep in between.) Didn't get a chance to measure a regular cabin bed, but friends that we made said they thought theirs was a king too, but I can't vouch for that. We did see a deck 4 cabin when we were disembarking, and it looked like a nicely laid-out cabin, albeit small.

I'm jetlagged, so this will take a while (unlike David who kept notes and wanted to post immediately). But I must say that we loved the ambience of the ship, the friendliness and professionalism of the staff and officers, the casual vibe and the approachability of the passengers. More on passenger mix later.

I can't do a definitive comparison until I've done my January Mariner cruise (since as Jackie would be quick to point out, I've not been on RSSC since 2012), so I'll hold off on saying that we've found a "new home" quite yet, but we definitely would do Azamara again if the itinerary and value were right.

This was also our first time on an R ship, and I must say that the size and functionality of the ship seemed much like Voyager. More about that later.

Thanks for measuring, Wendy, and very, very glad that you enjoyed your cruise. I look forward to reading the full reports from you and David. Don't forget to put in stuff about the ports, which tours you took, etc. (I don't even know if Azamara includes excursions.)

I will also look up just what a "Club Continent Suite" is. We don't need an especially roomy suite, but it wouldn't be unwelcome, especially if there were a comfortable reading chair. And a comfortable-size shower.

I hope that you and David love Mariner as much as we have, every single time.

p.s. Be glad that neither of you is a big tosser and turner. Poor Jack feels plenty of my insomniac calisthenics, even in a nice wide bed. If we had a dog in the bed with us, he would bite me. (I.e. the dog would; Jack doesn't bite.)

This was also our first time on an R ship, and I must say that the size and functionality of the ship seemed much like Voyager. More about that later.

I have been on Azamara Journey, Seven Seas Voyager and Mariner. The ship size seems indeed more Voyager. But the internal and cabin size are more Mariner.

I have been on Azamara Journey, Seven Seas Voyager and Mariner. The ship size seems indeed more Voyager. But the internal and cabin size are more Mariner.

For those of you that have been on Oceania's smaller (older) ships, Azamara ships are the same (all purchased from Renaissance cruises when they went out of business). The décor will be different but the cabin sizes are likely the same.

Wendy, was going on Azamara vs. Viking Ocean an itinerary choice or did you prefer Azamara over Viking when doing your research?

I am not a fan of R ships but my husband is. My friend just went on Azamara and only had raves as well. She had done Oceania previously.

For those of you that have been on Oceania's smaller (older) ships, Azamara ships are the same (all purchased from Renaissance cruises when they went out of business). The décor will be different but the cabin sizes are likely the same.

 

Wendy, was going on Azamara vs. Viking Ocean an itinerary choice or did you prefer Azamara over Viking when doing your research?

Why would I? I never considered Viking.

The ship has bee kept up very well, in fact they both had major makeovers recently, I believe.

Thanks for measuring, Wendy, and very, very glad that you enjoyed your cruise. I look forward to reading the full reports from you and David. Don't forget to put in stuff about the ports, which tours you took, etc. (I don't even know if Azamara includes excursions.)

 

I will also look up just what a "Club Continent Suite" is. We don't need an especially roomy suite, but it wouldn't be unwelcome, especially if there were a comfortable reading chair. And a comfortable-size shower.

 

I hope that you and David love Mariner as much as we have, every single time.

 

p.s. Be glad that neither of you is a big tosser and turner. Poor Jack feels plenty of my insomniac calisthenics, even in a nice wide bed. If we had a dog in the bed with us, he would bite me. (I.e. the dog would; Jack doesn't bite.)

You're welcome--sorry I couldn't get to measure the lower staterooms--couldn't very well ask someone to do that, lol.

We both toss and turn somewhat, but what I don't like about these giant king-sized beds is that we can't reach out and even touch each other. A Queen is perfect for us, and at the cottage, we tolerate a double (but just have a single cat on the bed with us.)

... Don't forget to put in stuff about the ports, which tours you took, etc. (I don't even know if Azamara includes excursions.)

...

The itinerary was great--two days in Sorrento (Azamara is known for overnight stays), Taormina, Valletta, Porto Empedocles back in Sicily, and then Rome again.

We didn't get to see the co-cathedral in Valletta, which was a major disappointment, but we had done a morning excursion to MDina and we were just plain worn out (it was very hot there.) But I did manage to see some great Caravaggios on this trip in Rome and Florence.

The excursion there was a half-day, to MDina which is fascinating place, plus another 19th century palazzo that to me was a waste of time.

In Sorrento we did a half-day to Pompeii, which was great. Then the next day we did a full day bus trip along the Amalfi coast, including lunch in a little town called Minori and an hour free in Amalfi itself. Good tour, but unfortunately it was raining cats and dogs for most of the trip, including our time in Amalfi. Also very long, and very expensive. But the Amalfi coast!! Oh my god, even in the rain it is stupendous!

In Taormina we did a private tour organized by fellow pax. There were five of us, and we were driven way up into the mountains, on the slopes of Mount Aetna, to wine country. We visited the Gambino Winery, and had a wonderful wine tasting with a kind of extended antipasto lunch along with the tastings. Beautiful views, nice staff, terrific. It helped probably that the couple who organized this bought several cases of wine (we bought a single bottle.) The driver then took us to Taormina and left us for an hour to walk the length of the town and have a gelato. Not impressed with this town at all, although the countryside around is stunningly beautiful. Just too many tourists and junk in the tourist shops.

In Porto Empedocles (named for the philosopher but now also nicknamed Vigatà--see the books of Andrea Camilleri, based there), there is nothing much to see except the major ruins of Agrigento. But we were "ruined out" by then, so gave it a pass. We strolled the main street of town--very plain working-class place, but I enjoyed the people-watching in a non-touristy Italian town. Pretty much a sea day for us.

Overall I liked the ship excursions we took. The guides were all good to very good. Prices were not cheap, however, especially the Amalfi all-day trip (and the lunch was fine, but not special). Next time I would hope for a larger roll-call so we could share private tours.

Sorrento was not very accessible without an excursion. Very hilly. Yes, there were elevators I think, and cabs, but a very vertical destination. Amalfi coast even more so.

Why would I? I never considered Viking.

 

The ship has bee kept up very well, in fact they both had major makeovers recently, I believe.

Azamara, Viking Ocean and Oceania are in the same "class". Viking has won awards and has new ships. Surprised that you didn't check it out.

Azamara has quite a good reputation in terms of the officers and crew mixing with the passengers. IMO this is a big plus and is something that is missing on Oceania.

Note: For those wondering about the reference to "R" ships, this is part of the shorthand used on the Oceania board and simply refers to the older ships from Renaissance that I mentioned earlier. We have toured one of these ships (Oceania) - it was beautiful but, due cabin and bathroom size, would never sail on one of them. As a matter of interest (or not), Oceania's "new" Sirena is another "R" ship - purchased from Princess. These ships seem to be everywhere!

Thanks for the report, Wendy. We're scheduled for a 17-day Med cruise (for a change) on Voyager in June. (Wanted to do Norway/Iceland; just didn't work out.) We've been to Sorrento a number of times and have done either the Capri excursion or the Amalfi drive with lunch stop somewhere with wonderful views. That whole scene really is breathtaking. We've never done Pompeii, which I regret, as I believe it's too late for us now. I.e. my husband can easily walk for a couple of hours, but I think it'd be a mistake to try it on uneven surfaces: He's just not sure-footed enough or self-aware enough now. Am I correct in assuming that you'd nix the idea of Pompeii for us? (it's one of the included half-day excursions) I'm wondering if Sorrento itself would be of much interest. We're not into shopping or cafe-sitting. Did any of your shipmates just hang out in Sorrento and maybe enjoy it? (Regent has a shuttle I'm sure).

I sure wish we were on Mariner with you for that January cruise!

Thanks for the report, Wendy. We're scheduled for a 17-day Med cruise (for a change) on Voyager in June. (Wanted to do Norway/Iceland; just didn't work out.) We've been to Sorrento a number of times and have done either the Capri excursion or the Amalfi drive with lunch stop somewhere with wonderful views. That whole scene really is breathtaking. We've never done Pompeii, which I regret, as I believe it's too late for us now. I.e. my husband can easily walk for a couple of hours, but I think it'd be a mistake to try it on uneven surfaces: He's just not sure-footed enough or self-aware enough now. Am I correct in assuming that you'd nix the idea of Pompeii for us? (it's one of the included half-day excursions) I'm wondering if Sorrento itself would be of much interest. We're not into shopping or cafe-sitting. Did any of your shipmates just hang out in Sorrento and maybe enjoy it? (Regent has a shuttle I'm sure).

 

I sure wish we were on Mariner with you for that January cruise!

I sure wish you were on Mariner too, poss. But your Voyager trip sounds great. We're still looking at finding a really good Norwegian fjords trip, like the one that rallydave did on Quest this summer. I see one on Journey that goes to the North Cape in summer 2018, so that's a possibility. Don't see anything on RSSC.

As for Pompeii, yes, it might be a bit much. We managed just fine, but the walkways are uneven--those Roman roads had pavement on top in the old days, but now it's just big flat rocks, with spaces between them. You really have to watch your step. There wasn't a lot of climbing, however, just uneven walking, with a bit of up and down. The heat is also an issue--even on October 1st it was hot. I've heard the Herculeneum is even more interesting, but not sure how accessible it is.

Yes, people seemed to like Sorrento, but not much there except hanging out I think. It seemed like a nice town but not sure there are any real sights beyond cafe sitting. With so many ports, you could certainly take a taxi up into the town, or the elevator which I believe exists, and just walk around for a look.

I was just looking at your itinerary--looks lovely, quite port-intensive. Have you been to Taormina before? I thought the little town itself was over-hyped and incredibly touristy. Charming in its way of course, and the coastline is beautiful--would love to explore more of Sicily. We loved the wine tour we did, got us up into the mountains. I see they have a couple of wine-related excursions on Voyager.

There's a lot of ports! I'm betting you'll make one or more of them a sea day! Even our little 7-day felt really tiring, with the touring grinding us down a bit, I must say. I'm always worried about missing something, but after a while I slow down and just enjoy.

Many thanks once more, Wendy.

I'm hoping very much that once the summer itineraries are out, RSSC will have an affordable cruise that does some fjords and other good things in Norway, Iceland, etc. I believe I remember that you spoke well of Hurtigurten (sp?). Can't remember whether you've traveled with one of those interesting ships, or just had it in mind. At this point I suspect that we'd not enjoy it anywhere near as much as an RSSC cruise, but I sure wish we'd done one of those jaunts back in the day.

We've been to Taormina several times. Since classical literature and architecture are in our blood, of course we enjoyed the theater: felt kind of transported almost, had trouble pulling ourselves away. The town would have been so handsome without all the shops. You know how we feel about shopping. I did like the wonderful old buildings, and those neat little alleys (though most of them were cluttered with shops). And there was a nice little garden, unless I'm conflating Taormina with somewhere else. Another time we did "In the Footsteps of the Godfather." The catacombs were groovy. I'd do that excursion again, especially because I don't remember most of it (sweet Jack of course remembers zero), but it's marked with the "most difficult" symbol, so I'm hesitant.

Do you remember which winery you visited?

I now see that you're in Amalfi for the day, not Sorrento. I found Amalfi charming and could have happily walked around town for hours. We didn't make it up to the incredible-looking cathedral, but it's probably worthwhile. It was raining pretty hard the entire hour we there, but my impressions were very positive.

I must say I'm quite looking forward to the included excursions on my upcoming Mariner trip, instead of paying an arm and a leg for something that you can't tweak at all.

Some words about our cabin.

Since this was our first time on Azamara, and they were having a Canadian-at-par sale the week we booked, we sprung for a Club Continent Suite, which is their version of a PH.

The cabin itself is very spacious, so if that's important, then you've got it. It's also more square than Voyager standard cabins or the PH, so it has a roomier feel. They do that at the expensive of a walk-in closet. The windows are the full width of the cabin, which is great.

The closet was adequate, but just barely. Very few drawers, at least small ones that would hold socks or t-shirts, for instance. There were three large shelves in a cupboard where the safe was, but they were open shelves. There were two large double drawers at floor level in the main part of the room, topped by a huge shelf meant for luggage, i.e., low, not suitable for clothing.

This large shelf space had the TV centred above it, with empty space all around on the wall. All very modern and artistic, but a very poor use of space--a nice chest of drawers could easily have been placed somewhere to one side, but I guess they wanted the feeling to be airy.

There was no loveseat in the room. There was a comfy wing chair on one side. A small round table for the hors d'oeuvres that were delivered every day by our butler, then an awkward metal chair with upholstered seat and back between that and the desk, which also had a chair. All lined up against the windows, making seating awkward, and making access to the lovely full-width balcony very awkward indeed.

The bathroom was nice, a large walk-in shower that obviously went where a tub used to be. But just a single towel bar for hand towels, just hooks on the door and the wall. Awkward when you're trying to be a good citizen and re-use your towels. It was also very difficult to get the hot water to flow at times--I had to wait often about 2 minutes to get hot water. Odd.

The amenities in the cabin were the usual, lovely towels and robes. Great bedding, I could have lived in that bed, really. Where do cruise lines get their great pillows? I want to know!

These suites are also right below the pool deck. Ours was below the corner where they have the "Patio", i.e., tables for dining, and sometimes a bbq for special occasions. So, lots of noise at night when the crews were cleaning up for the next day. I suspect many of the CC suites in that location are noisy at times.

So again, we'll see how we feel on Mariner with its smaller cabins. Not sure where we'll end up since we have an H GTY, but it will no doubt be a standard cabin.

Again, I'll have to wait and compare it to Regent in January, but the staff on Az Journey were fabulous. Just excellent, all the time. And the officers very accessible, as I've said already.

Sometimes the service was a bit slow in the main dining room, but only a titch, and all the wait staff did a terrific job. Our butler was terrific too, not intrusive at all like on Oceania. So was the housekeeping staff, always friendly and calling us by name.

Only one staff member was a bit grumpy one morning, and take a guess, it was the Destinations desk! It rained all morning on our second day in Sorrento, and people were all asking about their excursions. She stated rather imperiously that the captain had said that it was safe to tender, and therefore all excursions would go ahead as planned, despite the rain. No refunds possible. I should have expected this I guess, but she wasn't very gracious about it. But she was the only, only one.

Apart from the excursions not being rained out (normal I guess), I had two run-ins with Azamara being part of a large cruiseline, I think.

We both had blocks of complimentary internet time. We both took great care to preserve those minutes, which meant we had to login and logout every time, and make sure to not stay logged in. I fell asleep once and wasted about 30 minutes. But the logout process was buggy, and we both lost minutes--I wound up with NO minutes about mid-way in the cruise. The IT guy was only available for an hour, or sometimes two, each day, which I found a real pain. He couldn't analyze my usage, but promised to have another office do so, so that we could find out where my time went. (In the meantime I bought 30 minutes, which evaporated almost right away.) I did get another complimentary block of 90 minutes because of bugs in their system.

So, not very impressed with their IT services or offerings. And I'm so spoiled having unlimited internet on Regent, it was a big pain in the you-know-what.

My purchase of extra internet time triggered a hit on my credit card, which Az claimed was denied! So I had to trot down there to the Guest Relations office. They offered me a "free" call to Amex, so I did that, and it turned out it there had been no "hit" on my card at all, so it was a flaw in their process, not my card. Just another annoyance, but a minor one, which I attribute to the "big cruiseline" administration.

Would love to hear how your past Regent experiences compare to Azamara (food, service, suites, etc.) As you know, the Mariner will not be much different than what you have experienced a few years ago as the Mariner's major upgrades will not take place until next Spring. So, a comparison at this point would be helpful. Thank you!

The 17-day itinerary does both Amalfi and Sorrento. :)

Would love to hear how your past Regent experiences compare to Azamara (food, service, suites, etc.) As you know, the Mariner will not be much different than what you have experienced a few years ago as the Mariner's major upgrades will not take place until next Spring. So, a comparison at this point would be helpful. Thank you!

Oh, so the food on the current R ships will be inferior to that in the future?

I would say the food was as good as past Regent, for sure. Except in Aquilina, the Italian venue, which we didn't care for, although the service, dining room and presentation was terrific, it's just the food that didn't live up to it (although much better than Toscana on O.)

In most other ways, the experience on Journey was superior to Regent. The service was better and friendlier but very professional and polished, and the ambience more relaxed and comfortable. I've mentioned the few administrative glitches, but my experience on Regent is reflects my Gold status to some extent.

Another thing that we liked was the relaxed dress code. David was able to wear his nice new slimfit jeans, not blue but black and sand coloured ones. So our suitcases will be lighter if we do another Azamara cruise. But just to be clear, there were no sloppy dressers on this cruise, everyone was neat and clean, and lots of ladies wore nice dresses and the usual glitz.

I think I've said enough about suites.

Oh, so the food on the current R ships will be inferior to that in the future?

 

May I assume that an "R" ship now means Regent rather than Azamara's "R" class ship? Sorry but I get confused with the different meanings of the letter "R".

Sadly I must answer yes to your question. While we enjoyed the food on Regent prior to the debut of the "new" CR and Chartreuse, in the opinion of many people that have experienced the food, it is better than what is currently on the Voyager and Mariner. While I certainly cannot guarantee that this will be your experience, based on our food experience on the Explorer, we will not be sailing on the Mariner or Voyager until after the major refurbishments. And, unfortunately, there will probably be a "learning period" after the debut of the new menu in CR before things run smoothly (based on reviews of the Navigator).

For those of you new to Regent and will be on the Voyager or Mariner prior to refurbishment, I'm confident that you will find the food to be very good. IMO, the only problem with the splashy announcement for the new Compass Rose menu is that once you try it, going back to the old menu is less appealing.

Wendy, thank you for taking the time to review Azamara on this thread. There will undoubtedly be Regent passengers that will appreciate trying a less expensive option to Regent (which seems to be getting pricier every day!)

Does Azamara includes drinks in their price?

Does Azamara includes drinks in their price?

They have for years. but not top brands in some cases. i buy some and others do not care. wine floes freely from about the time first bar opens to the last bar closes.

Does Azamara includes drinks in their price?

Yes they do, but I don't think it's been for years. I think they started with just wine at dinner.

Now it's all drinks, but from a limited list of liquor. If you want Grey Goose, you gotta pay. If you want a Sambucca after dinner, pay. But we found the included pours quite adequate to our needs, so we had no bar bill at all.

Okay, so I'm going to amend slightly a statement I made above.

I think the food on this cruise was better than we've experienced in our past several Regent cruises (see my history below). And certainly more consistently good. Except for the Italian restaurant (Aquilina, which to be fair was up against 10 days of real Italian food on the mainland), we didn't have a bad meal.

In fact, the service, attitude and helpfulness of the staff was all of an incredibly high standard, and also very consistent.

When assessing an itinerary for 2018, I will now be comparing prices for the kind of suite or cabin that we decide we need, and then factoring-in the cost of Business Air plus the cost of excursions and internet, and seeing who comes up the winner. I'm doing that right now for Auckland - Sydney or the reverse. Yes included excursions are nice, and included Business air is great, but the bottom line must fall into place. If Az came out a better deal, we would choose them, knowing that we would enjoy ourselves on this ship. (Of course, after our January Mariner trip this could change.)

We are usually Regent (and Seabourn) cruisers and completed a 3-week Azamara cruise about a month ago. I have to say we did not become converts. First thing, we had a club continent suite also, ate every night in the specialty restaurants, and found both food and service excellent and comparable to luxury cruise lines. However, we were disappointed in other areas. Our main issue was that we had to ask for a refill on every glass of wine, we were generally not offered a top off when a glass was empty, as the staff was not very attentive. Service on Regent and Seabourn is just more proactive. Furthermore, we found that the included wine, with a few exceptions, was of inferior quality, which was not helped by the fact that on most occasions the white/sparkling wine was served tepid. For us, it was also just a little two casual, with shorts in the evening in the lounge, and someone wearing a hoodie (head covered) in the specialty restaurant. We decided not to book Azamara again unless there is a really unique itinerary which is not likely with just two ships.