Celebrity Cruisers Thinking About Trying Azamara

[prim8keeper]

As the title suggest we are regular Celebrity cruisers who are thinking about trying Azamara for a cruise in South America (15 night New Year's Eve in Rio Voyage on Quest in 2020). Just some background we have been sailing X since 2011 and have been on all the S-class ships and three of the M-class ships. We also have Edge booked. We generally book Aqua class or suites as we are not huge fans of the massive MDR on X. However, as the prices of suites has continued to climb on X it has us looking at Azamara since pricing is much closer than in the past. We are both in our 30's and well traveled. We are Elite on X currently, but will be Elite Plus after our next few cruises.

 

So with that said do you think Azamara would be a good fit? We realize it is a different experience, however I think it is one we would enjoy. We cruise to relax, explore new places and eat/drink. I'm curious how Azamara compares in terms of food, especially when compared to Luminae (suite restaurant on X) for anyone who might know. How are the specialty restaurants and chef table? Are the drink packages worth it? We are thinking about getting the Ultimate one as it corresponds most closely to what we get when we sail X. We realize we may not get our moneys worth, but we like just paying for everything up front and not having to worry about it once on board. 

 

We are looking at a regular veranda state room. On X we sail in suites to gain access to the suite restaurant, lounge etc., however on a ship this small that becomes irrelevant and while a bigger room is nice, its never been the main selling feature for us.

 

At any rate we are just looking for feedback. We greatly appreciate any and all insights!

 

 

Edited October 21, 2018 by prim8keeper

[excitedofharpenden]

You have some good thought processes.  I have sailed quite a bit on Celebrity, but now choose Azamara as a preference.

 

First thing I’d say is they are different cruise experiences.  Whether this means better depends on the individual.  The ships don’t have the visual impact of the S-Class, nor the modern feel of them.  Azamara are smart ships nonetheless and very comfortable.  You will find an ordinary cabin small on Azamara in comparison and the balconies aren’t as deep.  However that has never really been an issue for me.  It was my biggest concern when I first tried them, but I needn’t have worried.  You never have to walk far to be in open spaces.

 

Food.  I’d say the dining room food on Azamara isn’t quite as good as Luminae, but there is more choice.  I therefore get on better with the Azamara MDR than I did in Luminae.  Both Aqualina and Prime C are very nice.  For me more than a match for Tuscan and Murano.  I became very jaded with those restaurants.  It all seeemed a bit of pretentious.  The Specialties on Azamara are more honest.  Chef's Table is really worth it.  If they do the Indonesian Rijsttafel on the cruise (if you like that sort of food) it’s really good.  Buffet is smaller on Azamara obviously, but no worse for it in my view.  Room service if you have it is way better on Azamara than Celebrity from my own experience.

 

The main things that draw me back to Azamara are the friendliness of the crew and officers and the general atmosphere on the ship.  Other guests will greet you.  Add to that the ability to dock much closer in many ports because of the size of the ship and longer stays in ports and overnights in some lovely places and it adds up to a better proposition for me than Celebrity.  

 

Phil

 

 

Edited October 21, 2018 by excitedofharpenden

[Grandma Cruising]

I’d echo everything Phil said about Azamara. I haven’t tried Celebrity, so I can’t compare, but we love the friendliness of everyone on Azamara - officers, crew and other passengers. As you board Azamara, at embarkation and in port, you’re told ‘welcome home’ and it really does feel like that.

The other thing I’d say is to think about whether you need a drinks package - remember you get a fair range of included drinks - spirits, wines, beers - in the cruise price. Depending on what you enjoy drinking, you may find it better value to buy the odd extra drink as you go along. Don’t be fooled by the list of included cocktails, you can ask for any cocktail so long as it can be made with the included spirits - for example a martini is not mentioned in the included cocktails, but you can ask for one to be made with the included Gordons gin.

 

It may help you to read the sticky thread ‘Tips for Azamara Newbies’ in this forum. 

[prim8keeper]

19 minutes ago, excitedofharpenden said:

You have some good thought processes.  I have sailed quite a bit on Celebrity, but now choose Azamara as a preference.

 

First thing I’d say is they are different cruise experiences.  Whether this means better depends on the individual.  The ships don’t have the visual impact of the S-Class, nor the modern feel of them.  Azamara are smart ships nonetheless and very comfortable.  You will find an ordinary cabin small on Azamara in comparison and the balconies aren’t as deep.  However that has never really been an issue for me.  It was my biggest concern when I first tried them, but I needn’t have worried.  You never have to walk far to be in open spaces.

 

Food.  I’d say the dining room food on Azamara isn’t quite as good as Luminae, but there is more choice.  I therefore get on better with the Azamara MDR than I did in Luminae.  Both Aqualina and Prime C are very nice.  For me more than a match for Tuscan and Murano.  I became very jaded with those restaurants.  It all seeemed a bit of pretentious.  The Specialties on Azamara are more honest.  Chef's Table is really worth it.  If they do the Indonesian Rijsttafel on the cruise (if you like that sort of food) it’s really good.  Buffet is smaller on Azamara obviously, but no worse for it in my view.  Room service if you have it is way better on Azamara than Celebrity from my own experience.

 

The main things that draw me back to Azamara are the friendliness of the crew and officers and the general atmosphere on the ship.  Other guests will greet you.  Add to that the ability to dock much closer in many ports because of the size of the ship and longer stays in ports and overnights in some lovely places and it adds up to a better proposition for me than Celebrity.  

 

Phil

 

 

 

Thank you for this Phil! That is a great comparison. We figured that would probably be the case, but you hit the nail on the head with Luminae. No matter how good it is I can tell you what I will order every night. We generally cruise a few times a year and I have the menu memorized.

 

I also agree about the specialty restaurants being pretentious on X, especially Murano. Is the chef's table different every night in terms of a theme? We are really into food/trying different things and tend to do food tours every time we travel.

[excitedofharpenden]

Oh yes.  The drinks packages that Host Grandma mentioned.  The Ultimate is $21.95 per day.  This gives you a much broader and better quality range of spirits (including for instance brandy which isn’t on the inclusive list) and a bigger choice of wine than the usual daily pour of two red, two white, a rosé and a sparkling.  If you look on the website it does give a list and personally I think it is good value.

 

Phil

[excitedofharpenden]

30 minutes ago, prim8keeper said:

 

Thank you for this Phil! That is a great comparison. We figured that would probably be the case, but you hit the nail on the head with Luminae. No matter how good it is I can tell you what I will order every night. We generally cruise a few times a year and I have the menu memorized.

 

I also agree about the specialty restaurants being pretentious on X, especially Murano. Is the chef's table different every night in terms of a theme? We are really into food/trying different things and tend to do food tours every time we travel.

Yes, there are different themes to the Chef's Table for each one.  There are also different buffet themes each night.  Italian, French, Indian, Turkish etc.  Unlike Celebrity they lay all the tables with cloths and silver/glassware so you feel you are eating in a restaurant rather than a canteen.

 

Phil

[prim8keeper]

25 minutes ago, excitedofharpenden said:

Oh yes.  The drinks packages that Host Grandma mentioned.  The Ultimate is $21.95 per day.  This gives you a much broader and better quality range of spirits (including for instance brandy which isn’t on the inclusive list) and a bigger choice of wine than the usual daily pour of two red, two white, a rosé and a sparkling.  If you look on the website it does give a list and personally I think it is good value.

 

Phil

 

Looking at the site is kind of what made me think we might enjoy having it especially since some of what we drink is only available in the packages. X has spoiled us that regard and I saw we get a discount on the package once we carry our status over which makes it more appealing.

[uktog]

I agree the Ultimate Package is excellent value as it gives you access to some really nice wines that will be served by the glass throughout the cruise and if you get to know the sommelier, that range often gets extended to some quite high value bin ends that are a real treat.

 

Phil is right, the buffets are so different, it took me many Azamara cruises to get myself to venture to one of them as I was haunted by my memories of Celebrity.  Because they allow the Chefs a lot of personal input to the dishes on that buffet, you can get some exceptionally good dishes, there is always a live cooking station at each buffet as well as a carve of some type. They are in a different league to Celebrity and can make a lovely change from dining elsewhere - as can the Patio which at either lunch or dinner is nothing like the Mast Grill - the burgers at dinner are particularly good as they are made from the ground offcuts of the fillet steaks cut for the speciality restaurants.  

 

I have not been on Celebrity for two years but before then I had given up on Murano (too much show), Tuscan (pretentious waiters overselling mediocre food) and Qsine just got meh.  I too could recite the Luminae menus but love Azamara specialities because the chefs specials added each night are always slightly different - again local experimentation and never a bad meal.  They have specials for starters, entree and desserts. 

[lovecruzin]

We cruise almost exclusively on X, we will be on our 5th Azamara in Nov. I agree with all of the above comments re dining. We were in a suite on X in July, while we thought Luminae was good, the service is what made it great. You will feel like a suite class guest on Azamara regardless of you cabin choice. Yes the standard veranda cabins are a bit smaller than Aqua on X but they are well laid out with plenty of storage. 

 

You mention you will be Elite on X, that will get you a discount on the UBP!  Last cruise we were unsure but eventually bought the package for the same reason we upgrade to premium on X.  Better selection and almost no worries about what is and isn't included. Besides the booze, there are more wine choices and nespresso at Mosaic cafe!

 

[prim8keeper]

6 hours ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

I’d echo everything Phil said about Azamara. I haven’t tried Celebrity, so I can’t compare, but we love the friendliness of everyone on Azamara - officers, crew and other passengers. As you board Azamara, at embarkation and in port, you’re told ‘welcome home’ and it really does feel like that.

The other thing I’d say is to think about whether you need a drinks package - remember you get a fair range of included drinks - spirits, wines, beers - in the cruise price. Depending on what you enjoy drinking, you may find it better value to buy the odd extra drink as you go along. Don’t be fooled by the list of included cocktails, you can ask for any cocktail so long as it can be made with the included spirits - for example a martini is not mentioned in the included cocktails, but you can ask for one to be made with the included Gordons gin.

 

It may help you to read the sticky thread ‘Tips for Azamara Newbies’ in this forum. 

 

Thanks Host Grandma Cruising and thank you for keeping up that sticky. Lots of good information over there.

[prim8keeper]

Thanks uktog and lovecruzin. That is exactly the kind of stuff we were hoping to hear. Seems like they take some of the best aspects of X and found a way to improve upon them. uktog should you ever get back around to cruising X it looks like they are going to be changing all the specialty restaurants with the introduction of the Edge class which has new concepts. It's yet to be seen whether they will be an improvement, but we are optimistic.

 

lovecruzin you hit the nail on the head with service in Luminae. It is part of what makes it so special. So on Azamara is there a drink limit in terms of price or is more that it is either included or not included? 

 

Does anyone have feedback on the excursions on Azamara? While we often go it our own occasionally we find things that you can only do through the cruise line. These tend to be hit of miss on X although on our most recent trip to Alaska they were all pretty good.

 

Finally, is it possible to book the chefs table by its self or only part of the packages? I saw the specialty restaurants were $30 pp, but wasn't clear if that applied to the chef table as well. I figured not since they almost always cost more. We would probably buy the chef table plus two package, but I could see us possibly wanting to revisit the chefs table.

[Host Jazzbeau]

The thing that stops me from considering the drinks package is that it wouldn't cost me $21.95 a day, but rather $43.90 – since DW doesn't drink [not even coffee].  I don't understand why Azamara won't let one person in a cabin buy it.  Mass market lines like Celebrity may be worried about people taking extra bottled water for their non-paying cabin mate, but that's already free on Azamara.  If I could get it for $21.95 it would be worth it.

[cpkcruiser]

Azamara does not require both in the cabin to purchase the plan. Last year, I purchased the ultimate beverage package, but my husband was satisfied with the included beverages. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

24 minutes ago, cpkcruiser said:

Azamara does not require both in the cabin to purchase the plan. Last year, I purchased the ultimate beverage package, but my husband was satisfied with the included beverages. 

 

Thanks, that's really good to know.  With the Elite discount it would be really worthwhile.

[Grandma Cruising]

3 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

 

Thanks, that's really good to know.  With the Elite discount it would be really worthwhile.

It’s also worth looking at the Experience More packages, depending on the length of the cruise. Of course those are for two, but they can represent some good savings if you use WiFi a lot and book ships excursions. We’ve just bought the essentials package for our 16 day Norway cruise. For $600 we get $320 worth of WiFi and $300 to spend on excursions, as well as the premium drinks package for us both. I’ve just found out that if we want to go on the Flam railway we’ll have to do the ship’s excursion, because all the tickets for 3 July next year are sold out (3 ships in Flam that day), so the $300 will pay for that.

[prim8keeper]

5 hours ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

It’s also worth looking at the Experience More packages, depending on the length of the cruise. Of course those are for two, but they can represent some good savings if you use WiFi a lot and book ships excursions. We’ve just bought the essentials package for our 16 day Norway cruise. For $600 we get $320 worth of WiFi and $300 to spend on excursions, as well as the premium drinks package for us both. I’ve just found out that if we want to go on the Flam railway we’ll have to do the ship’s excursion, because all the tickets for 3 July next year are sold out (3 ships in Flam that day), so the $300 will pay for that.

 

Host Grandma Cruising are the experience more packages something you can find on the website or can you only see them once booked? I saw people mentioning them on the newbie sticky but couldn't really find much more information on Azamara's site.

[uktog]

You can find them under the website under the Already Booked menu then select onboard packages.  You can either book them in advance or buy them once you board making use of on board credit.

[Grandma Cruising]

Quote

 

As Uktog says there’s a link in the bottom menu of the web-page. It takes you to a page that lists all the packages. Right at the top there’s a link to the Experience More packages, which takes you to this page https://www.azamaraclubcruises.co.uk/booked-guests/onboard-packages/experience-more-packages

[prim8keeper]

Thank you both! I glossed right over that just focusing on the drink and dining packages. I like to estimate our vacations prior to booking them so I'm just trying to get to as accurate number as possible. I'm 90% we are going to book!

[lovecruzin]

4 hours ago, prim8keeper said:

Thank you both! I glossed right over that just focusing on the drink and dining packages. I like to estimate our vacations prior to booking them so I'm just trying to get to as accurate number as possible. I'm 90% we are going to book!

 

I don’t know if/when you have another cruise booked on X but if it’s not too far off, you may want to consider booking onboard. Of course this also depends on what availability looks like for the Quest cruise.

I cant say exactly what you get for booking onboard, I believe a discount and some OBC. 😀

[prim8keeper]

1 hour ago, lovecruzin said:

 

I don’t know if/when you have another cruise booked on X but if it’s not too far off, you may want to consider booking onboard. Of course this also depends on what availability looks like for the Quest cruise.

I cant say exactly what you get for booking onboard, I believe a discount and some OBC. 😀

 

We are actually on X in 25 days or so. I've been debating if it is worth waiting for the 6% Discoverer discount and $300 OBC if we book right away. I think it will be, but I'd love to get peoples thoughts. The sailing we are looking at isn't until December 21, 2020, but I noticed that it seems like a fair number of cabins in each category are already booked. We are looking at a V2, but we have some flexibility if the need arises. Any insights into Azamara booking trends? I wasn't sure how long that particular sailing had been out/when Azamara releases their itineraries, etc.

[jamesm]

Can someone enlighten me as to how one makes reservations in the specialty restaurants?  The Azamara website is of no help.  We have always booked these online for Crystal, Seabourn, Silversea, RSSC, etc - but when I log in to my account and pull up the booked cruise, I find nothing at all about dining reservations.  Sorry - we've cruised 53 times but first time on AZ.  Our cruise is in Feb 2019.

[nordski]

12 minutes ago, jamesm said:

Can someone enlighten me as to how one makes reservations in the specialty restaurants?  The Azamara website is of no help.  We have always booked these online for Crystal, Seabourn, Silversea, RSSC, etc - but when I log in to my account and pull up the booked cruise, I find nothing at all about dining reservations.  Sorry - we've cruised 53 times but first time on AZ.  Our cruise is in Feb 2019.

 

You have not missed the option on the website, you cannot book the specialty restaurants online.

 

For certain there will be a table set up in Windows for reservations upon your embarkation and perhaps elsewhere.

 

One of the advantages of doing so on board is that you can determine the proposed date for the White Night. As well, in our experience, Aqualina will not be open on the night of the Azamazing Evening. 

[marinaro44]

18 minutes ago, jamesm said:

Can someone enlighten me as to how one makes reservations in the specialty restaurants?

You book after boarding, or sometimes there's a table on the pier at embarkation.  Much better, in my opinion, than booking in advance a la Regent, when they get booked up in advance and you're stuck with leftover dates and times.  There's usually no problem getting what you want booking the afternoon you board.

[Grandma Cruising]

James - have you had a look at the sticky thread ‘Tips for Azamara Newbies’ in this forum,

As a first time Azamara cruiser, you may find it helpful.