Ok here goes, the good, the bad and the ugly.

After many of you so kindly helped me with my questions on Azamara I felt it appropriate to write a review of my experience on Azamara this August.

After taking a few days for a return visit to Rome, we arrived at the port Civitavecchia to board the Azamara Journey for our trip, which was to include stops on the French Riviera, Italian Coast, Malta and Greece. I have had quite a varied cruise experience, and Azamara was one of the few smaller lines I was keen to try.

Upon arrival at the cruise terminal we were quickly checked in and joined the ship. First impressions were of friendly staff greeting us and a well maintained ship from the outside. There were lots of people in the reception area and there was a raffle, for an upgrade to a newly completed master suite. Quite confusingly we were asked if we wanted to take part in this, but when i questioned that we were told at time of booking that the only suite for occupation of three people was a club continent suite nobody could clarify this?Now for me, a party of three should be able to book and occupy a larger suite if requested, but currently this doesnt seem to be the case.

From here we headed for lunch at the rear of the boat and got a charming table outside for a buffet lunch. We thought the ship and the buffet restaurant were beautifully appointed and a lovely job appeared to have been done at dry dock. We particularly liked the bar set up at the rear of the ship and the tables and chairs,which were sylish and comfortable. We were offered drinks, and tried a rose,which was very good and the sparkling wine,which was not the best, In our opinion for the money a good cava or prossecco would have gone down better.

After a pleasant lunch we were told we could occupy our rooms, which we found quickly and were very pleased with the decor and cleanliness of. Our butler was extremely pleasant, as was our stewardess. They worked hard to please throughout and were a credit to Azamara. There was plenty of space in the CC suite, although I felt the bathroom was a little small, with no where to put anythng. The toiletries supplied were unfragranced and just ok,and not a brand i have heard of, which i was surprised to see. I am aware of Elemis being used in the past, and i would have thought this was a much better fit for Az.

There we four bottles of spirits in the room and mixers, which was nice, interestingly, they were premium spirits and not included in the normal drinks package?! Room was well equipped elsewhere and very pleasant, light in colour and modern.

We then had our drill, which went without hitch and returned to the bar for a drink. Which is sadly where we felt Az was a little off the mark in certain areas. At the rear buffet restaurant the barman was just great, however,by the pool different story. Cocktails of which i tried three types and after that gave up, contained so much alcohol they were undrinkable. I am happy for drinks to be strong but these were off the clock and unpleasant. We weren't asked what was wrong with them, and gave up after a few tries. The wine was reasonable, with some of it being very good, so we stuck with that. However, I didnt feel that drinks were ever replenished very quickly, and found we werent being asked by wait staff generally if we wanted more. Which yes, is being picky, but people have asked me to compare with what I am used to.

For all of the cruise we at the speciality restaurants, which were very,very good and exceeded our expectations. Staff in here were very keen to please too, although throught the cruise apart from the point of booking the tables to eat we never saw the maitre'd, even though he was milling around at other tables.

During the cruise we enjoyed white night which was a nice night initially, but finished quite early after most people left due to what we thought was a very ill thought out dj set, it really died on its feet, which was a real shame.

Breakfasts were fine,but a shame there were very few fresh berries and lots of frozen fruit. Didn't like the fact we were pushed towards having pre fried eggs which were on a hot plate, as they didnt seem keen on cooking those fresh. Omlettes were fresh cooked, but a bit too well done for us. Pastries started out excellent, but latterly seemed less fresh for some reason?

Lunches were on the whole good, with only the Az burger disappointing us, due to it not being cooked to our liking. However, Az made a real effort on one day to do a lunchtime BBq which had a fantastic choice and we combined this with options from the buffet and I can say it is the best lunch selection I have had on a cruise ship by far. It was brilliant, as was the atmosphere.

I am not going to bore you with a port synopsis, least to say that Az has the best itineraries bar none! Neither can i report on the spa or the main restaurant as I didnt use them.

Embarkation and disembarkation were hassle free and unproblematic.

So, to conclude, the upshot for me is that Azamara sits very firmly in the premium bracket and does a good job at this. I can see why it does not sit in the luxury bracket, for lots of little reasons, but this does not in any way detract from its plus points. It is unfair to compare a premium line with a luxury line, but I would add that for us Azamara certainly trumps our experience on one or two of the luxury lines we have sailed in the past.

Am I going to change my nickname? Well no I'm afraid, Seabourn is currently our best fit. However, I would, probably given the right time, right place return to Az again.

odd you are the second person ever who thought the included drinks were strong. i tend to upcharge my vodka at night. i had a few drinks in the past that one of the two booze's was off balance. meaning the vodka was correct and the second one was to much when it should of been less than half of the vodka.

meanwhile i agree about the CC bathroom. with the own cabinet thing vs the old cabinets we lost storage space there. I miss all that space.

I do not eat burgers but have heard mix reports on them. I am guessing you did not sit at the spa pool deck. very nice and peaceful. great place to watch sail in's.

Thank you for your review. Glad you enjoyed your maiden Azamara voyage.

I just wanted to counter a few points you made based on our recent experience on Quest.

We never experienced frozen fruit. There was a wealth of fresh fruit at each meal and, at breakfast, lovely stewed fruits, berry mixes and fruit parfaits.

My DH had made to order fried eggs almost every morning. Done perfectly each time. I had a made to order egg one morning and it too was done the way I like it. We never saw pre-fried eggs. There were scrambled eggs which were help yourself.

We too love the Sunset Bar (Deck 9 Aft) and spent many hours there enjoying the scenery. And we agree with the itineraries - fantastic!

A very fair assessment Tilly. I have never had an issue with the bartenders on Azamara and have always found them to be knowledgeable and obliging if you say something isn't quite right. Of course it does depend upon who you ask, but on the whole they've been great.

Insist on fresh eggs at the station rather than the pre-fried affair and you'd get the,. I don't have an issue because I'm ok with the egg as on the tray, but they would always make them fresh if I asked. The fresh fruit. Once again I agree they now tend to be the "stewed" raspberry, blueberry and strawberry bowls, but once again if you ask for fresh berries they'll get them for you. They serve those in the MDR (and room service breakfast). Depending upon on the length of your cruise and successive sea days you may find a drop off in the number of fresh berries you get!

Elbon, the drinks were' nt just strong they had so much alcohol they were undrinkable, almost neat. The first pina colada that didnt taste of pineapple, appletini no apple, just neat alcohol etc. My other half also tasted them and he couldnt believe how potent they were. I stress this happened at the pool bar only.

Travelbug, I speak of frozen fruits, because there were no berries in ramekins to begin with and i asked for berries only to be told by the server that they had no fresh, just the pre frozen berries. His words. They looked like a compote, so maybe it is the stewed friut you mention.

That's weird about the drinks. And I'll watch for the eggs! On in two and a half weeks, thanks for your take on the line, our first time too. Just hoping for great, friendly service and amenities, the rest will take care of itself, we hope. Haven't tried Seabourn, maybe some day.

That's weird about the drinks. And I'll watch for the eggs! On in two and a half weeks, thanks for your take on the line, our first time too. Just hoping for great, friendly service and amenities, the rest will take care of itself, we hope. Haven't tried Seabourn, maybe some day.

As I said, just ask. The staff on Azamara will always try to please if you ask in the right way. Well that's been my experience. And remember. Many times you aren't paying Seabourn prices!

My DW eats a lot of fresh fruit every day, so this is often an issue for us on cruises. We found the Quest breakfast buffet always had the bowls of frozen/stewed/whatever fruit, but there were often/usually/sometimes [as the cruise progressed] ramekins of fresh berries nearby. As the supply dwindled, DW found that she could ask for one and it would be prepared although the recipe went from raspberries to strawberries. The other problem was that someone just loved mint garnish on fruit, and every ramekin was always topped with a mint leaf -- except one day when they were all topped with minced mint that was impossible to remove! We mentioned both issues in our mid-cruise evaluation and were immediately contacted by Exec Chef Iwan to say that they had run low on fresh berries but were restocking the next day, that he had increased his next order to make sure they didn't run low in the future [and apologized that he knew this wouldn't help us -- I found that a very thoughtful touch], and finally that he didn't like mint on his fresh berries either and had instructed the staff to stop [and we never saw another mint leaf on a berry ramekin after that]. That is why I consider Azamara to have the best level of service of any cruise we have taken -- but you do have to ask.

Elbon, the drinks were' nt just strong they had so much alcohol they were undrinkable, almost neat. The first pina colada that didnt taste of pineapple, appletini no apple, just neat alcohol etc. My other half also tasted them and he couldnt believe how potent they were. I stress this happened at the pool bar only.

 

Travelbug, I speak of frozen fruits, because there were no berries in ramekins to begin with and i asked for berries only to be told by the server that they had no fresh, just the pre frozen berries. His words. They looked like a compote, so maybe it is the stewed friut you mention.

since you do not know this that each cruise bartenders move around so this pool person could be making coffee on deck 5 or be in crew bar.i had a bartender in Prime C making a drink i was to pay for not drinkable.. i asked to ahve it remade. i finally asked at the host stand to get a certain bartender and i later learned what was wrong.. to much of the second alcohol- none of the vodka.I never had a pina colada to strong but i had a cosmo. wonder who made the drinks he can make mine.

as far as fruit goes i go for the berries or apples.i do order cut fruit for my cabin many days. makes a great afternoon snack.

Thank you, Tillylovesseabourn, for posting your review. We are taking our first Azamara cruise in a few months and it's helpful to read your comments.

Thank you for the review. This makes me feel good about my upcoming Azamara booking (sandwiched in between two Seabourn cruise vacations). I think Azamara for the holidays will be fun.

Thanks for the helpful review. It will be very helpful for others who are wondering where Azamara fits against Seabourn.

I would say on Azamara if something about service (eg drinks or staff reactions) is not right be proactive in giving feedback, it is a strength of Azamara how they react to feedback onboard.

Thank you for the review.

Thanks for your replies.

I would add that for those of you asking where it would sit against Seabourn. The service for example on Sb is more anticipated, so if you had nothing to drink they would show concern and ask you, or often just bring a drink as they would remember your tipple after one day. Generally, i would say the service has a little more flair and discretion. On Az we always had to ask for everything.

I Would say the food quality in the buffet restaurants was inferior to SB, but in the speciality as good as the best on SB. I would add things like champagne, caviar and premium drinks are included. I am a champagne drinker more than a wine drinker, so this is important to me. High Quality toiletries again, which does not bother some, is a differentiator. I also like Seabourn square, due to outside space and I think there is more space on SB, but Az was more modern in decor.

It becomes very difficult to describe the differences and there are many, least to say with SB it is all in the quality and detail.

Thanks for the excellent review that led to an interesting and informative discussion.

Are the toiletries inferior enough that I should think about bringing our own? I always bring soap, since skin sensitivity is an issue, but do I need to bring shampoo and conditioner?

How did you find the hair dryer?

The toiletires are fine, just unscented eco type products. They work but they aren't branded as i mentioned. You will be provided with plenty. However, if you are particularly sensitive, i wouldnt take that chance on any cruise ship. Shampoo and conditioner are provided though.

The toiletires are fine, just unscented eco type products. They work but they aren't branded as i mentioned. You will be provided with plenty. However, if you are particularly sensitive, i wouldnt take that chance on any cruise ship. Shampoo and conditioner are provided though.

Unscented eco is good. I'll be bringing my own shampoo I think anyways.

i always take shampoo and conditioner. mostly take soap too. i like my own products better. no matter where i go i take my conditioner.

Tilly,

Having cruised on Seabourn several times, I enjoyed reading your review.

One point that should be mentioned ... for the standard balcony rooms, Azamara is considerably less expensive. We paid $500 less per person for the recent 12-night Azamara cruise than our most recent 7-night Seabourn cruise. However, the "standard" balcony staterooms on Azamara are half the size and the bathrooms are 1/4 to 1/3 the size of Seabourn's lowest balcony category. The bathrooms on Azamara in the standard rooms are truly tiny and could be a dealbreaker to some. The category you selected (Club Continent) is nearly as large as the standard Seabourn balcony stateroom, but on my sailing the price of a Club Continent suite made it equal to a Seabourn balcony stateroom on a cruise of similar duration. With Seabourn's more inclusive model and a higher staff to guest ratio, it would be no contest which to select.

And finally, the food and service in the two Azamara premium restaurants are superior to the Azamara main dining room and in some respects superior to Seabourn, but I feel the menu would be quite repetitive if dining in the specialty restaurants exclusively over 10-12 nights. Perhaps Azamara should consider having 2-3 rotating menus for the specialty restaurants to better accommodate suite passengers and to drum up more business from pay-in passengers. (The second time we dined in Aqualina, there were only five tables occupied for the 8:00/8:30 seating.)

johnny

We just returned from our first Azamara cruise on Journey after being on for 3 weeks. We are frequent Seabourn/Regent cruisers and completely agree with the service comparison above. We also ate every night at the specialty restaurants and found food and service to be excellent.

However, as noted, everywhere else you had to ask for everything, e.g. no drink refills were ever offered. It sort of wears you down. At least in Windows, service was fairly quick when asked. In the Living Room, service was painfully slow and disengaged. Sometimes they come to pour you a glass after you ask, but the bottle is almost empty and they pour the glass maybe 1/3 full. You would expect they come with a new bottle to fill the glass, but no, they are done.

Another issue was the difficulty in getting white and sparkling wine properly chilled. Sometimes you get a glass of cold wine, then the next glass is tepid. Even nice champagne does not taste good when warm, and this sparkling wine certainly did not benefit. Again,in the specialty restaurants everything, including sparkling water, was always properly chilled. If they could bring the rest of the staff closer to the level in the specialties, it would be a great improvement.

Based on our experience, we have decided we will give Azamara a miss in the future and stick with Seabourn/Regent. While certainly not perfect, they better meet our expectations.

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Are the toiletries inferior enough that I should think about bringing our own? I always bring soap, since skin sensitivity is an issue, but do I need to bring shampoo and conditioner?

 

How did you find the hair dryer?

I also have very sensitive skin. I really liked the supplied body wash and moisturizer. I didn't have a problem. I didn't use it on my face as that would just be asking for trouble.

My husband used the shampoo and conditioner and had no complaints.

The water on the ship is very soft, so you get much more lather.

The blow dryer is okay. I have short hair, so I had no problems. If you had long hair, or needed to straighten wavy/curly hair, it would be a challenge.

We just returned from our first Azamara cruise on Journey after being on for 3 weeks. We are frequent Seabourn/Regent cruisers and completely agree with the service comparison above. We also ate every night at the specialty restaurants and found food and service to be excellent.

 

However, as noted, everywhere else you had to ask for everything, e.g. no drink refills were ever offered. It sort of wears you down. At least in Windows, service was fairly quick when asked. In the Living Room, service was painfully slow and disengaged. Sometimes they come to pour you a glass after you ask, but the bottle is almost empty and they pour the glass maybe 1/3 full. You would expect they come with a new bottle to fill the glass, but no, they are done.

 

Another issue was the difficulty in getting white and sparkling wine properly chilled. Sometimes you get a glass of cold wine, then the next glass is tepid. Even nice champagne does not taste good when warm, and this sparkling wine certainly did not benefit. Again,in the specialty restaurants everything, including sparkling water, was always properly chilled. If they could bring the rest of the staff closer to the level in the specialties, it would be a great improvement.

 

Based on our experience, we have decided we will give Azamara a miss in the future and stick with Seabourn/Regent. While certainly not perfect, they better meet our expectations.

 

 

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Thanks for your input. I am first-timing both AZ and Regent in the future. The Regent board is full of complaints about poor/lackluster service, while the AZ Boards are usually quite positive about the staff and service. Assuming this has not been your experience on Regent?

 

However, as noted, everywhere else you had to ask for everything, e.g. no drink refills were ever offered.

We never experienced this. We drank everywhere :D and on a number of occasions had to graciously decline the offer of a top up.

BBWC, interesting you found similar issues. And I also agree on the temperature issue too. It truly is things like this are the difference between the premium and the luxury lines.