A question for those of you who've sailed Azamara...

[150edmiston]

Hi everyone.  We've sailed Celebrity previously ........some time ago on Zenith and Galaxy,  but found Azamara and have stuck with them for over 12 years.  We have an upcoming Oceania cruise next week through the canal which will be a first with this line so given this is an R class ship it will be interesting to see what if any differences there are (inevitable).

 

For anyone who had cruised AZ,  can you give me some indication of what the new ships (Edge etc) are like?  Neither of us are then switched onto bigger vessels for a number of reasons so would need some convincing to 'jump ship'.

 

We're looking at a B2B in Australia 2025.

 

Thanks in advance.  David

[jelayne]

We disliked Azamara for a variety of reasons one of which was the lack of restaurants, bars, venues for listening to  music and the evening shows were not very good.  With the exception of White Night and the Azamazing evening ashore we were bored when not in port. 

We love the E class with 4 MDRs, 5-6 different specialty restaurants, state of the art theater and great shows. 
 

After 12 years on smaller ships you may find the larger ship to be to overwhelming.  Then again it may be a great experience, hard to tell as we all like different things
 

 

[D. B.]

You will LOVE the Huge bathrooms on the Edge compared to those on Azamara.

 We did our one and Done last April on Azamara for the Japan Intensive itinerary.

   Our cabin had strange noises all night that made sleep difficult and the Shower was tiny.

 If you want to try Celebrity but do not want to brave the crowds on an Edge class X ship try the smaller E class ships?

 They are still 90K Tons verse. the Az 30K tons. .

[curmudgeon98]

We aren't tied to any one cruise line, but rather pick based on how itinerary, schedule, and value fit us.  In the  past 18 months we've been on Princess, Azamara, Seabourn, HAL, Celebrity, and Regent.  

 

Azamara is probably our favorite, but I'd agree that entertainment is a bit limited.  Sometimes I feel like there is a bit of "luck of the draw" in entertainment, though.  As an example, we really enjoyed the cover band on a Celebrity cruise a few years ago, while the one on our most recent cruise kind of left us cold.  Similar can apply to outside entertainers brought in; they may fit some folks tastes better than others.

 

 

[ChucktownSteve]

It really depends upon whether you're cruising for the port itinerary or the ship.  I like to select a variety of cruise lines based upon that criteria. 

The companies with the smaller ships tend to be more port intensive with less sea days so the entertainment isn't as important to many.  I like AZ for that.  If I'm going to the Caribbean, I like the activity on the E class Celebrity ships. Many times I no longer get off the ship or just walk into town.

Another important factor for me is food variety and quality.  So I've branched out to the more premium or luxury companies.  I've found Celebrity claims they're that, but I  believe in actions not rhetoric.  Unless you're in a Suite at an exorbitant rate,  Well you know.

I'm now selecting itineraries I've not been to before so YMMV. Therefore I like the smaller ships that visit ports the larger ships may not or dock further out.

 

[150edmiston]

Thanks for the prompt replies folks. 

 

One of the main reasons we like AZ is we dont like being herded,  and we did get that a bit on Galaxy which put us off the bigger ships once we found AZ.  We also didnt like the classism of cunard,  or the formal nights on any ship,  so this is primarily what we want to avoid.  We also like  AZ and smaller vessels that can get into ports that others cant.

 

Totally agree about the entertainment on board....it can vary from sublime to awful.  We've seen a cellist from Australia a few years ago who was breathtaking.  Then again we had a 'comedy pianist' as a resident (I wont name him) who was so, so bad.  He was binned eventually.  It varies greatly but the entertainment isnt that important to us. We cruise with friends from the US so we have less reliance with on board entertainment and we book for itineraries.

 

Like most of us,  we look firstly for itinerary, £ per night, cost to get there, on board cost thereafter.  We usually book veranda,  but it looks like there are some perks if you book a higher stateroom class on Edge? 

 

Been all over the South China sea but not as far out as Australia,  so its on the hit list.  We liked the EDGE itinerary with a B2B with Solstice.  Stopover in Tokyo on way out.  David

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[upwarduk]

1 hour ago, D. B. said:

 If you want to try Celebrity but do not want to brave the crowds on an Edge class X ship try the smaller E class ships?

Do you mean smaller S class ships?

E class are the Edge class.

[D. B.]

3 hours ago, upwarduk said:

Do you mean smaller S class ships?

E class are the Edge class.

Duhh...I meant Millennium class ships.

 I should not type while eating...............

[Edinburghgirl1]

8 hours ago, jelayne said:

We disliked Azamara for a variety of reasons one of which was the lack of restaurants, bars, venues for listening to  music and the evening shows were not very good.  With the exception of White Night and the Azamazing evening ashore we were bored when not in port. 

We love the E class with 4 MDRs, 5-6 different specialty restaurants, state of the art theater and great shows. 
 

After 12 years on smaller ships you may find the larger ship to be to overwhelming.  Then again it may be a great experience, hard to tell as we all like different things
 

 

We sailed Azamara for the first time last November and would be unlikely to sail with them again. We had lots of sea days and felt the ship totally lacked any atmosphere and things to do. Ship was also very tired and in need of general maintenance.

[That Blonde Lady]

We did AZ in Vietnam and Thailand.  We liked the fact that we were docked in town and overnight in two ports rather than spending time in a bus from a remote dock.  We have sailed many lines and now just go by ports and size of ship.  Hope this helps.  Try Windstar.  Our best trip was from Istanbul to Athens.

[Dr65]

We just did a week long port intensive cruise in Italy(early May) on the Onward and loved it! Different port every day and food/service were (in our minds) way above the recent Celebrity product.( almost 20 cruises-lost count). We started out on the Horizon/ Zenith/Galaxy/ Mercury and have done M, S and E class. We have 2 future cruises booked on Celebrity but noticed the quality of everything slipping badly. We feel that all the $ and best staff has gone into the E class product and the older ships are Junior Varsity. The Azamara cost was equal to Celebrity’s ever increasing price. The Onward is old/lacks many entertainment venues but was impeccably clean and I would go back in a heartbeat…

 

[Homosassa]

OP, have you tried Viking Ocean?

 

I like them better than Azamara.