Ship (Onward) and General Cabin Questions

[njguy_south]

Hi,

I have sailed Azamara before and loved it. I am looking to book one of the Black Sea cruises on the Azamara Onward.  Which of the other ships is similar to the Onward?  

 

Cabins:  I am toying with either an outside (Cat. 05) or a balcony (Cat. V3). With only ya $960 difference, what are your thoughts -- especially those who have sailed in both categories on one of the similar ships?  Are the bathrooms and showers the same in both categories?

 

Thanks,

Robert

[uktog]

We don’t know for sure how they are reworking Onward but it will be broadly similar to all the other Azamara vessels (dry dock changes last year aligned them to the Pursuit layout in the main, there are some tiny differences) 

I would go with the V3. A balcony is a big plus for me. 

[laurieb]

Definitely balcony!  Only difference in these two categories is the balcony itself, and of course a better view as you have the balcony door.  I don't know that anyone really knows what the cabins will be like on Onward but should be at the least very close to identical for these categories.

[marinaro44]

Veranda cabins have sitting area by the window.  Ocean views have bed near the window.  Bathrooms are the same.

[Killin Time]

We have happily cruised on both ocean view and balcony rooms on Azamara. Balconies are very nice if you enjoy room service. It feels much more elegant to eat out on the balcony. 
Recently we have been booking balcony rooms only due to Covid concerns. Things have been so changeable with the pandemic. With a balcony we feel like we could handle having to isolate in our rooms but it would be considerably harder if we didn’t have one. 
Not that we are expecting having to isolate but it could possibly happen. 

[uktog]

16 minutes ago, Killin Time said:

We have happily cruised on both ocean view and balcony rooms on Azamara. Balconies are very nice if you enjoy room service. It feels much more elegant to eat out on the balcony. 
Recently we have been booking balcony rooms only due to Covid concerns. Things have been so changeable with the pandemic. With a balcony we feel like we could handle having to isolate in our rooms but it would be considerably harder if we didn’t have one. 
Not that we are expecting having to isolate but it could possibly happen. 

Currently Azamara move you to an ocean view if you have to isolate 

[helby]

I would also go with the balcony for  the outdoor access and the seating area near the window. I tried an outside once and found it a bit dark inside.

[Killin Time]

11 hours ago, uktog said:

Currently Azamara move you to an ocean view if you have to isolate 

One of the things that I’ve learned during the pandemic is that change is constant. Today they move you—by the time of our next cruise who knows? And I like verandas…

[gardenbunny]

Everyone has their favorites but chiming in here as a person who did 200 days on Pacific Princess (now Onward) for 2 World Cruises in 2017 and 2019.  After years of cruising thinking you must have a balcony, we soon learned we rarely used it.  We enjoy being out and about on the ship.  So we changed to OV or interior.(saves a lot of money also)

We did our WC in OV and never missed a balcony.  As long as we could get up and see where we were docked, it was good.  We were either out on the back terrace off the buffet or on a deck chair on deck 5.

Not sure how new configuration will be now.

But we realized how much we love small ships.

Today we booked 3 segments of the 2024 WC with our same OV room we had on our Princess trips!

[excitedofharpenden]

10 hours ago, gardenbunny said:

Everyone has their favorites but chiming in here as a person who did 200 days on Pacific Princess (now Onward) for 2 World Cruises in 2017 and 2019.  After years of cruising thinking you must have a balcony, we soon learned we rarely used it.  We enjoy being out and about on the ship.  So we changed to OV or interior.(saves a lot of money also)

We did our WC in OV and never missed a balcony.  As long as we could get up and see where we were docked, it was good.  We were either out on the back terrace off the buffet or on a deck chair on deck 5.

Not sure how new configuration will be now.

But we realized how much we love small ships.

Today we booked 3 segments of the 2024 WC with our same OV room we had on our Princess trips!

I'm with you. Because the ship is small and it's never far to walk outside I really am fine with the OVs too and they are nicely positioned for a short walk up to Mosaic Cafe and the Promenade Deck. 

 

Phil