Celebrity vs Azamara for Australia/New Zealand

[luv2travel90266]

We are looking at doing a trip and have been comparing itineraries. I note that Azamara has more days in ports in New Zealand and is a longer trip which is fine. I assume part of that is the smaller ship size can get into more harbors. Price significantly higher but affordable. Have done multiple trips on Celebrity (our preferred line) and Royal Carib but have never gone on Azamara. Anyone who has cruised with both and can provide an opinion? 

[takemewithyou]

42 minutes ago, luv2travel90266 said:

We are looking at doing a trip and have been comparing itineraries. I note that Azamara has more days in ports in New Zealand and is a longer trip which is fine. I assume part of that is the smaller ship size can get into more harbors. Price significantly higher but affordable. Have done multiple trips on Celebrity (our preferred line) and Royal Carib but have never gone on Azamara. Anyone who has cruised with both and can provide an opinion? 

We have done more sailings with Celebrity than Azamara (about 2X more with X) and 1 with Royal.  We did our cruise to Australia/NZ with Azamara in 2017.  It was 16 or 18 days.  The advantage to Azamara is they focus on the destination and you have more time in port.....some overnights so you actually get 2 days in some ports.  And longer evenings in other ports.  You also get the Azamazing evening and White Night.  Our Azamazing  evening was in Wellington.  They actually bussed everyone on the ship to a museum there which was open just to us.  We enjoyed musical performers and there were drinks and appetizers provided.  It made for a very nice evening.....very memorable.  While in that part of the world, local foods were brought onboard.  We loved the scenic sailing thru MIlford Sound, Dusky Sound, etc.  If we could afford it, we would probably do most of our cruising with Azamara.  We are looking forward to our 5th cruise this summer.....a very unique Ireland intensive cruise....it has an itinerary like I have  never seen offered by any other cruiseline.

Edited January 20, 2020 by takemewithyou

[Phxazzcruisers]

to date we have completed 31 cruises with Celebrity 16 with Azamara and 3 with Royal.  We only go n Royal if friends are going and they want a less expensive experience.  We absolutely love both Celebrity and Azamara and always recommend both lines.  As stated Azamara is a smaller ship, fewer kids, and can get into ports that the larger Celebrity ships cannot.  We like Azamara for the longer stays and overnights so we can explore the Cities without worrying about getting back to the ship.  Azamara gets to some of the different more exotic ports.  As for Az NZ we have always done these on the larger Celebrity ships, but would not hesitate for a second if Azamara had sailings when w could go,

[DrKoob]

Had pretty much the same experience as the other two posters. Keep in mind that the ship is smaller so the staterooms are smaller as well. If you don't spend a lot of time in your stateroom, you won't have a problem. Also, the cost is more but you get extras including gratuities, drinks, specialty coffee and teas. My guess is if you would spend more to add those things on X. 

 

One last thing. If you are going from NZ to AUS you will cross the Tasmin Sea. It is notorious for rocky seas. We experienced two full days of heavy seas onboard Century a few years back. Left the Milford Sound area and got in late to Melbourne because the seas were so bad. If you are susceptible to seasickness, on the AZ ship, you will really feel it.

 

Jim

[sprout76]

I’m looking into either Azamara, Regent, or Seabourn. The itinerary on Azamara looks amazing, and as other have said, the overnights and focus on destinations is a huge advantage for us.  They offer some very unique itineraries, which is awesome. There is one that has two nights in Sydney over NYE, which would provide for an amazing vantage point for the fireworks 😀 Good luck with your decision, I’m having a hard time myself. 

Edited January 22, 2020 by sprout76

[4774Papa]

We booked a Royal C. cruise of New Zealand for 2018.  It was cancelled while we were in Australia, so we booked a Trafalgar land tour instead.

 

Yes, the land tour cost more than the cruise, but we spent more time in the country and saw lots more.

I am glad our cruise was cancelled and we did the land tour.

[luv2travel90266]

4 hours ago, DrKoob said:

Had pretty much the same experience as the other two posters. Keep in mind that the ship is smaller so the staterooms are smaller as well. If you don't spend a lot of time in your stateroom, you won't have a problem. Also, the cost is more but you get extras including gratuities, drinks, specialty coffee and teas. My guess is if you would spend more to add those things on X. 

 

One last thing. If you are going from NZ to AUS you will cross the Tasmin Sea. It is notorious for rocky seas. We experienced two full days of heavy seas onboard Century a few years back. Left the Milford Sound area and got in late to Melbourne because the seas were so bad. If you are susceptible to seasickness, on the AZ ship, you will really feel it.

 

Jim

Think that will be our secret. My wife would cringe if she knew about the rough seas. I am sold on Azamara after reading more reviews on line.

 

 

[DrKoob]

Just now, luv2travel90266 said:

Think that will be our secret. My wife would cringe if she knew about the rough seas. I am sold on Azamara after reading more reviews on line.

 

 

 

If she is prone to seasickness, I would look at a Relief Band for her. I will be an awful two days without it.  

[luv2travel90266]

We have tried everything, patches, Dramamine, ginger, acupressure bands, etc. . Saltine crackers have worked best for her. She survived 15 foot seas in Alaska. Her preference has gone towards river cruises with bathtub smooth water.  I am going to choose  the cruise beginning in Sydney and ending in Auckland so we just have to make the crossing once.

[takemewithyou]

21 minutes ago, luv2travel90266 said:

We have tried everything, patches, Dramamine, ginger, acupressure bands, etc. . Saltine crackers have worked best for her. She survived 15 foot seas in Alaska. Her preference has gone towards river cruises with bathtub smooth water.  I am going to choose  the cruise beginning in Sydney and ending in Auckland so we just have to make the crossing once.

Be sure to pick your cabin wisely.  Go for mid ship and stay low.  I absolutely agree that you will feel the motion on Azamara in rough seas and the Tasman Sea can be rough!  We did a TA on Journey in very rough seas, for example, and it was challenging but you will be fine if you are low.

[Mr. Click]

We have done 10 on Celebrity, including OZ/NZ and loved them all. We have also done 5 on Royal and we did Cuba last year on Azamara.  We were lucky on the OZ/NZ cruise on the Solstice, the Tasman Sea was perfect for two days.  It only kicked up while we were doing the sounds and had to skip the third sound because it was joo rough to enter.  Leaving Havana on the Journey the captain was trying to get ahead of some really nasty weather and was running hard and we really felt it.  We went to the MDR for dinner and they gave the best seats, great view, at the very back of the ship, right over the propellor shafts and we felt the vibration all through dinner, well as much as we could stay for. We had to get up and leave because we were both feeling sick from the motion and vibration.  That alone would make me think twice about an open sea trip on Azamara.  The service was great, the food was good but the ship was mall.  

 

Dr. Knoob, how do the Relief Band work?? Compared the the simple elastic sea bands?  My wife sues the Sea Bands and ginger and ginger ale, they all seem to help but if ther is a better product out there I would like to know about it.