Azamara VS Celebrity

[Napi's Mom]

We have reserved a cruise on the Millennium for New Zea. & "oz" next Jan. We really can't afford the prices of Oceania or Azamara who isn't there anyway at the right time (My DH's 70th BD is in early Feb, which is right after the cruise..felt he should spend it with children & Grands). It was a culture shock to visit their forum, and read their "FAQ's" page. There is a HUGE difference and NOT to Celebrity's favor!

 

1) SMOKING: allowed in ALL CABINS and BALCONIES!!!

2) A large difference in the amenities for regular cabins vs CC and up (almost none for lower balcony cabins, let alone OV or inside. All are treated pretty much the same on AZ)

3) No selfserve laundry tho we're on a 14 day trip.

4) All those bloody formal nights!! I thought they had somewhat open dining, guess the buffet is available (Only DH likes formal nts, tho he's really NOT dressed right and doesn't notice!)

I expected that it would be a fantastic trip after all the old Celeb. faithful ranted how much better that Celeb was than Azamara. I still feel it will be great, but would have been much better on "O" or "Az"! Perhaps that's why they cost so much more:rolleyes:

[joandbun]

Hi - We were on Millie in 03 & had a wonderful time. Specially liked the Spa pool which is free & Spa cafe. We quite like formal nights so no problem. Also been on Century twice before & after refit & Connie which is our fave X ship. X do have some nice touches which you dont get on Princess or RCL.

The M class ships usually have sushi bars & the buffet area converts to small area for casual dining so there are alternatives.

Due to sail Az Quest in Sept so very interested to compare the 2 products. The reivews for Az seem much more positive now.

For us in the UK OCeania is expensive & Princess is usually a bit more expensive than X. We booked AZ months & months ago at a very good price which has since been reduced so I reckon we are doing quite well.

 

Dont worry - I'm sure it will still be great memorable cruise.:)

jo

[cruiseyguy]

I'm doing the Millie OZ-NZ in Dec 08 with friends and we have all decided to totally "op-out" of the assigned seating dining (and formal nights). We'll eat our main meals on shore in OZ or NZ and do casual dining, pizza, room service, whatever on the ship. Maybe a couple of nights at the Specialty Restaurant. Trip will focus on touring, not cruising.

[Napi's Mom]

Hi - We were on Millie in 03 & had a wonderful time. Specially liked the Spa pool which is free & Spa cafe. We quite like formal nights so no problem. Also been on Century twice before & after refit & Connie which is our fave X ship. X do have some nice touches which you dont get on Princess or RCL.

The M class ships usually have sushi bars & the buffet area converts to small area for casual dining so there are alternatives.

Due to sail Az Quest in Sept so very interested to compare the 2 products. The reviews for Az seem much more positive now.

For us in the UK OCeania is expensive & Princess is usually a bit more expensive than X. We booked AZ months & months ago at a very good price which has since been reduced so I reckon we are doing quite well.

 

Dont worry - I'm sure it will still be great memorable cruise.:)

jo

Well we HAVE been on Quest and know the great amenities, service & food you get, with NO real distinction as to what grade of cabin you have...You get the fruit, flowers, extra fluffy towels (YOU WON"T BELIEVE THEM!) Elemis toiletries, canapes if you wish them...even in the inside cabins! You do get extras above that in the suites but all the CC class on Celeb. stuff is there for all, fancy pillows & All...room service is rather extensive also. Especially the smoking ban everywhere but 2 spots on-board...no not pipes & cigars...ALL smoking banned except 1 on deck spot & 1 in the forward lounge!

That said, I feel that for the price we are getting the best deal and ship available. I realize we could have gone cheaper in Dec. but my DH's and my BD are in late Jan & early Feb., plus we missed all holiday preparations last yr going thru the Panama Canal 12/8-22 and don't wish to do that again! Thanks for your info on the "Mille" Don't think we are quite ready to skip all dining room nights, as I said my hubby LIKES formal nights...I however l LOVED the Azamara casual open dining!

[Wirral]

Funny about Formal nights. I have booked Quest September as I liked the itinerary and it was meant to be an upscale Celebrity. However I love dressing up and cruising is my only chance so that is a disappointment and I actually like set meal times with the same group and waiters.

 

Celebrity has been great on my 4 former trips so hopefully you will have a great time.

[greeneg]

For us, the most noticeable and significant differences between Azamara and Celebrity are the sizes of the ships and the smoking restrictions on Azamara. Both really do enhance the cruising experience for us, and while we will still cruise with Celebrity ( although probably not on the Solstice class ships), Azamara will probably get the first crack at my checkbook......

[BrendaJ]

Funny about Formal nights. I have booked Quest September as I liked the itinerary and it was meant to be an upscale Celebrity. However I love dressing up and cruising is my only chance so that is a disappointment and I actually like set meal times with the same group and waiters.

 

Celebrity has been great on my 4 former trips so hopefully you will have a great time.

 

The wonderful thing I found about Azamara was that, if you wanted to get dressed up, you could. I remember several people who did get dressed up to go to the specialty restaurants and some even in the main dining room. Although I don't recall seeing any tuxes, I do recall several women wearing beautiful gowns. Quite often, you'd see a woman dressed to the nines, while her husband wore a golf shirt and khaki's. On Azamara, it really seemed to be about wearing whatever you want (country club casual and up) and I read somewhere either on board or on their website, that you could feel free to dress formally if you liked.

 

I'm glad that our next Celebrity cruise is so far away, since we really felt quite spoiled on Azamara, and I need time to forget how great the non-smoking ship was. However, we've been big fans of Celebrity for a long time, and I'm sure we'll be as happy on the Equinox as we were on the Quest.

[Susan-M]

However, we've been big fans of Celebrity for a long time, and I'm sure we'll be as happy on the Equinox as we were on the Quest.

 

Hi Brenda,

We've really enjoyed our Celebrity cruises as well. Have cruised on Zenith (older ship and no balconies), Millennium and Xpedition, we've experienced a variety of ships/accommodations and have been really happy with our Celebrity experiences. The itinerary is our main focus and as long as we get that right and the ship is a good fit, we're happy cruisers. I think we have the right formula again with our upcoming Az cruise, but I wouldn't hesitate to book with Celebrity again.:)

[gkm]

I'm glad that our next Celebrity cruise is so far away, since we really felt quite spoiled on Azamara, and I need time to forget how great the non-smoking ship was.

 

Brenda, I bet it's going to be quite a shock to us since we'll be taking the Quest across the pond, then immediately getting off and onto the Legend of the Seas for a cruise around the Eastern Med.

 

Garry

[LMKohler]

Although Celebrity and Azamara are completely different products (and really should not be compared) and I was (and still am) a huge fan of Celebrity, we so completely enjoyed our trip on Quest that it will be hard to beat.

 

We are going back to Celebrity next year and all of a sudden I'm not looking forward to formal nights which we liked so much in the past. Also, we may switch to early seating rather than late, because we found so much to do after dinner. On Quest we never smelled smoke and we actually enjoyed the casino.

 

I hope in the future we can cruise on Journey or Quest:)

 

Lucy