Questions on cruising Azamara

[maggieq]

Could you share what differences we would see from cruising on celebrity?  Understand smaller ship less going on entertainment wise.  
 

thinking of the Greek islands in late may of this year 

 

booking info notes gratuities and select liquor/wine/beer.  Are there any additional details you can share on the drinks as far as what’s included and what isn’t. 
 

thanks!

[WoolworthAdventures]

I would highly recommend watching some YouTube videos on Azamara. Also everything about the different drink packages and what is included is on the Azamara site. 

3 hours ago, maggieq said:

Could you share what differences we would see from cruising on celebrity?  Understand smaller ship less going on entertainment wise.  
 

thinking of the Greek islands in late may of this year 

 

booking info notes gratuities and select liquor/wine/beer.  Are there any additional details you can share on the drinks as far as what’s included and what isn’t. 
 

thanks!

 

[Edinburghgirl1]

4 hours ago, maggieq said:

Could you share what differences we would see from cruising on celebrity?  Understand smaller ship less going on entertainment wise.  
 

thinking of the Greek islands in late may of this year 

 

booking info notes gratuities and select liquor/wine/beer.  Are there any additional details you can share on the drinks as far as what’s included and what isn’t. 
 

thanks!

I would say the food in the MDR is no better than Celebrity but the food offerings around the ship including the buffet are better. The service may be a bit better and the officers are certainly more visible as it’s a much smaller ship. The pool area  is very small and cramped on Azamara which I hated but if you’re not a sun worshiper it won’t bother you. The ship we were on, the Quest, looked very tired and lacking in general maintenance. Outwith the cabins and restaurants I didn’t feel the standard of cleanliness was too high either on Azamara this may be due to lack of staff. The included drinks package is not as good as the Classic package on Celebrity. We upgraded ours on board. I love Jed the fact Azamara has a free to use laundry room where you can access an iron. Overall i think in most areas Celebrity is better apart from food. 

[Grandma Cruising]

Never been on Celebrity so I can’t compare, but just a few things to add.

We love the sun deck, deck 11. There are loads of sun beds up there well spread out. If you like shade there are plenty of sun beds on Deck 5 and it’s very quiet & peaceful there.

I can’t say I’ve ever noticed any lack of cleanliness around the ships - I was on the Quest in October.

As Edinburghgirl1 says the crew and officers are excellent and for us that is one of Azamara’s main USPS. They cannot do enough for you and because it’s a small ship they get to know you and your likes and dislikes very quickly. We love the food in Discoveries MDR and also love eating in the Patio (outdoor grill on the Pool Deck.

 

[royallondon]

We did “Greece Intensive”  last July on Azamara and tendering without queuing was a real plus, especially on that itinerary. 

[lisiamc]

We have taken more than 20 Celebrity cruises, the first one in 1999, and last one in 2019. Over that period of time, Celebrity moved so far out of our desired cruise experience that we will never go back. The last couple of years of Celebrity cruises were in Aqua class cabins, with dinners in the very civilised Blu restaurant. 
 

We started cruising with Azamara in 2007, and over the years did more and more there, and fewer with Celebrity. I think Discoveries is a very close second to Blu, and knocks spots off the Celebrity MDRs. Prime C and Aqualina are streets ahead of the very average Tuscan Grille, IMHO.

 

We always loved the Martini Bar on Millennium and Solstice class ships. The Edge class experience looks somewhat different, although we never tried it, so it could be better or worse. The Atlas Bar on Onward fills that Martini Bar gap for me, although in a quieter, clubbier way. It is what Michael’s Club should have been, but never quite got there before the change to The Retreat.
 

Entertainment on Celebrity is better, if you like bigger production shows with more singers and dancers. They don’t have anything that compares to the Azamazing Evenings, though, or even the Destination Celebrations, or White Night. 
 

We haven’t been on Quest for a few years. I’ve heard a couple of reports that she could do with some extra maintenance. Pursuit is looking pretty spiffy now. Onward had a steep curve to get where she is now, and she is looking very good. I expect Journey will be as well next month.

For us, Azamara offers many of the things we used to like about Celebrity (minus most of the things we didn’t like) with the plus points unique to small ships. 
 

[uktog]

1 minute ago, lisiamc said:

We have taken more than 20 Celebrity cruises, the first one in 1999, and last one in 2019. Over that period of time, Celebrity moved so far out of our desired cruise experience that we will never go back. The last couple of years of Celebrity cruises were in Aqua class cabins, with dinners in the very civilised Blu restaurant. 
 

We started cruising with Azamara in 2007, and over the years did more and more there, and fewer with Celebrity. I think Discoveries is a very close second to Blu, and knocks spots off the Celebrity MDRs. Prime C and Aqualina are streets ahead of the very average Tuscan Grille, IMHO.

 

We always loved the Martini Bar on Millennium and Solstice class ships. The Edge class experience looks somewhat different, although we never tried it, so it could be better or worse. The Atlas Bar on Onward fills that Martini Bar gap for me, although in a quieter, clubbier way. It is what Michael’s Club should have been, but never quite got there before the change to The Retreat.
 

Entertainment on Celebrity is better, if you like bigger production shows with more singers and dancers. They don’t have anything that compares to the Azamazing Evenings, though, or even the Destination Celebrations, or White Night. 
 

We haven’t been on Quest for a few years. I’ve heard a couple of reports that she could do with some extra maintenance. Pursuit is looking pretty spiffy now. Onward had a steep curve to get where she is now, and she is looking very good. I expect Journey will be as well next month.

For us, Azamara offers many of the things we used to like about Celebrity (minus most of the things we didn’t like) with the plus points unique to small ships. 
 

This is a really accurate assessment - we have done over 20 with Celebrity and over 40 with Azamara plus also cruised on Viking and MSC so we have seen a range of providers.  My most recent Azamara cruise was December 2022.

Having had maintenance issues on both lines I would say it is all the luck of the draw there.  I have found the pool deck on Celebrity to be much more crowded, much noisier and far less relaxing than on Azamara which also has great alternatives on Decks 5 and 11.  At least on Azamara all deck areas are accessible to all guests (albeit the small spa deck does attract an additional fee for non premium suite guests).  

I am not a fan of buffets at all and was disappointed to find Azamara had reverted back to an evening buffet in Windows Cafe in December, I far preferred the served evening offerings that we had enjoyed earlier in the year.

However, as with buffets, entertainment, sun loungers etc as the old phrase goes "one mans meat is another mans poison" 

So to the OP it all depends what matters most for you which line will work best.

[maggieq]

Thank you all!

[nordski]

3 hours ago, uktog said:

I have found the pool deck on Celebrity to be much more crowded, much noisier and far less relaxing than on Azamara which also has great alternatives on Decks 5 and 11.  

Deck 5 is an ideal location for a quiet read, relaxation, and easy access to Mosaic. We have never experienced intrusive music there.

 

Friends of ours insist that we stay quiet about it, so that it remains as it is.😀

[curmudgeon98]

We did two weeks on Azamara in Croatia/Greece last year around that time.  I think it's a more relaxed vibe, with smaller ship and less crowds.  The food and service were a bit better.  Entertainment more limited, but less of a factor on a port-intensive cruise.  Biggest annoyance is the tiny bathrooms/showers in standard cabins.  Drinks in the standard inclusion were a bit limited (more so than our previous Azamara cruises).  

 

We tend to choose cruises based on itinerary and how it fits into our schedules, so we do a variety of cruise lines, but we usually look to Azamara first.

 

 

[alcpa1]

We will soon be back on The Journey and have one last Celebrity cruise booked. The only reason for the Celebrity booking was a prime cabin for an Alaskan voyage which we couldn't get on any other line for our sailing date parameter.

We are itinerary driven and love the overnights. The smaller ships are now our only other focus.

Azamara has White Nights and an Azamazing evening which Celebrity certainly doesn't offer. 

I can't see us returning to Celebrity. We once thought it was the best line for us but time and things change and we are moving on. 

[kcl491]

The ship's response to any problem/issue is much better on a small ship.  I had a problem with the crew access door opposite my cabin.  It would slam shut if the crew member didn't hold it to shut it.  I reported it to Guest Services and the next day a technician fixed the closing mechanism so it would close slowly.  Later that day I received a call from GS asking if the issue was fixed to my satisfaction.  Fastest service I've ever received on any ship when reporting a problem.

[Edinburghgirl1]

4 hours ago, kcl491 said:

The ship's response to any problem/issue is much better on a small ship.  I had a problem with the crew access door opposite my cabin.  It would slam shut if the crew member didn't hold it to shut it.  I reported it to Guest Services and the next day a technician fixed the closing mechanism so it would close slowly.  Later that day I received a call from GS asking if the issue was fixed to my satisfaction.  Fastest service I've ever received on any ship when reporting a problem.

We had an issue with our air con one evening when we returned to our cabin on  the Celebrity Constellation last April.  This was at 12.00am. We called guest services. An engineer was there within 10mins and cleared a  blocked filter. The next day they called to check everything was sorted to our satisfaction and said they’d like to give us £300 future cruise credit for our inconvenience. So it’s not just small ships that have fast service and resolution. We had a similar issue on the Quest where our air con wasn’t cool enough. It took three phone calls and two days before the problem was resolved. 

Edited January 29, 2023 by Edinburghgirl1

[gldnbull]

9 hours ago, Edinburghgirl1 said:

We had an issue with our air con one evening when we returned to our cabin on  the Celebrity Constellation last April.  This was at 12.00am. We called guest services. An engineer was there within 10mins and cleared a  blocked filter. The next day they called to check everything was sorted to our satisfaction and said they’d like to give us £300 future cruise credit for our inconvenience. So it’s not just small ships that have fast service and resolution. We had a similar issue on the Quest where our air con wasn’t cool enough. It took three phone calls and two days before the problem was resolved. 

How many Azamara cruises have you been on?

 

[Edinburghgirl1]

3 hours ago, gldnbull said:

How many Azamara cruises have you been on?

 

Just one and probably unlikely to book another. Not because of the air con issue i was merely pointing out that problems can be resolved  just as quickly on larger ships.  Just not  our cup of tea! 

Edited January 30, 2023 by Edinburghgirl1

[KEN31VA]

I agree with almost all the comments, although the most obvious one seems to have been missed - cost.  I would estimate that one can cruise about 2 days on Celebrity for one day on Azamara.

[Ayden]

32 minutes ago, KEN31VA said:

I agree with almost all the comments, although the most obvious one seems to have been missed - cost.  I would estimate that one can cruise about 2 days on Celebrity for one day on Azamara.

Not necessarily.  We have had many cruises on Azamara at much less than Celebrity.

There are many good deals out there but you have to do your homework and watch for promotions.

You must also weigh out included vs. Extra charges on both lines and decide what works for you.

[Riocca]

1 hour ago, KEN31VA said:

I agree with almost all the comments, although the most obvious one seems to have been missed - cost.  I would estimate that one can cruise about 2 days on Celebrity for one day on Azamara.

Not from the prices we’re seeing, our 14 day Christmas & New Year cruise in a CC suite on Azamara is £200 less than the equivalent 11 day cruise in Aqua class on Celebrity. 

[Mrs.Dukes]

We have only been on 2 Azamara cruise (both in Europe), 1 Celebrity cruise, and a number of Royal Caribbean cruises, so I am by no means an expert. We really enjoyed the Azamara cruises, the last of which was this past August. I was concerned before I went about the size of the ship after sailing on the mega ships. We found we really liked the size of the Azamara ship. The bathrooms were small (we stayed in a standard balcony cabin), but it wasn’t a problem for us. The crew were fabulous. We found the food to be very good. I don’t think the entertainment is as good, because there are much more limited offerings, but we found plenty of things to entertain us. We particularly liked it for the long time (and some overnights) that we had in the ports. Also, they generally had a convenient docking spot, and in some places, shuttles. We found the cost to be comparable on the cruises we took. I would love to sail on Azamara again!

We enjoyed the included alcohol, the wines were not great but ok, and a few types of beer were included, as well as other liquors (list of the included alcohol is on the website). We also did a package which included 4 nights at the specialty restaurants, and a chef’s table, which we really enjoyed!

[uktog]

October Aqua on Celebrity is to within a few pounds of Azamara on a per day rate. You need also to factor in what’s included vs what’s extra (gratuities, drink, access to washing machine) and then apply what matters to you 

Edited January 30, 2023 by uktog