Azamara Ever on Sale? How different than Celebrity

[jeremybe]

Hi-

I'm looking at booking a Med cruise for next August - Does Azamara ever have any sales or is it just worth booking it now - I keep seeing sales from Oceania, Windstar etc but never Azamara - Do you think theres any real risk in waiting to book?

 

Also... How different is Azamara from a Celebrity cruise?? I've been on the Summit and really enjoyed it, Out favorite cruise has been on Windstar but with their financial condition, thats not really an option

 

Thanks!

[TravelerThom]

Hi-

I'm looking at booking a Med cruise for next August - Does Azamara ever have any sales or is it just worth booking it now - I keep seeing sales from Oceania, Windstar etc but never Azamara - Do you think theres any real risk in waiting to book?

 

Also... How different is Azamara from a Celebrity cruise?? I've been on the Summit and really enjoyed it, Out favorite cruise has been on Windstar but with their financial condition, thats not really an option

 

Thanks!

Short answer: YES

 

On 10 Jun 09 we booked the Azamara Journey 30 Jun 09 twelve night Baltic cruise. We got the cruise, R/T air from Washington, DC, and gratuities [the last was actually from the TA], for one third of what the same cruise/ same date is going for in 2010. Virtually positive this was "New Booking Only". The cruise and service were terrific, probably our best cruise ever. Note that we have never done a "luxury" cruise; check my signature to see what I'm comparing to.

[kptbylorraine]

HI

 

You may still be able to get a deal for 8/10 - they were offering a book OV and get verandah deal. Check it out. We booked the Baltic for 6/10. They will also honor any future fare discounts.

 

Lorraine

[First in Class]

Yes, Azamara has sales. You'll see some on their website, and also check the price on each cruise you're interested in as prices generally vary by inventory and date of travel...the more open cabins, and the closer to departure, the more the price will often drop.

 

Yes, Azamara is different than X. I'd say closer to Crystal than Celebrity. We were very pleasantly suprised on our 1st Azamara cruise a couple months ago for 14 nts - very good service and value.

 

One note - because the Azamara ships are smaller, they are great to get into smaller ports but don't offer as much to do onboard as the larger ships, such as Summit. So I think they're great for itineraries except where you have several consecutive sea days where you may want more stuff to do onboard.

 

Happy cruising!

[sunandfun]

We booked VERY last minute for the Asia xmas/new year's sailing - I think 10 or 12 days before departure and got an absolutely unbelievable deal - very rare for a holiday sailing - and the ship had many empty cabins (cabins on both sides of us were empty in fact!). I think they had many cancellations due to the economy - so this probably isn't the norm.

[Aussie Gal]

We booked our Asia cruise that we took this year in March, in May last year and by November, the prices were starting to drop considerably. By the time we boarded the ship, the price we paid was half of what we originally booked.

 

Yes, if the economy is not good or the cruise isn't selling, then the prices will come down.

 

Jennie

[TraelorMex]

TravelorThom, just wondering why no HAL cruises on your signature??

[cruise47]

Is there a quiet place to relax and read on the ship?

[nowaves1]

:confused: Also Anyone know...Do they offer incentives if you book another cruise when on board? We have a Carribean trip booked and wondering if we should wait till then to book for Europe (spring/summer).

[Aussie Gal]

Is there a quiet place to relax and read on the ship?

 

The library is a wonderfully quiet place to sit and read amongst lovely surroundings. It is like being in an English Country home with comfortable chairs and settees.

 

Jennie

[clivep]

We sailed Azamara for the first time on the Journey this April and were on the Summit last November. We found the food in the MDR to be slightly better on the Summit and there was also a better choice of food in the buffet on the Summit.

[manxnortonman2]

If you are looking for a cruise for next August, I would wait a while. If you can't wait, I have read on numerous occasions that Azamara will refund if they make the cruise cheaper later on. Why don't you phone them and ask? Also, I have been back for a week from The Best of Italy cruise in August. It was fantastic - the best one ever.

[maryann ns]

Azamara will definitely allow you to take advantage of price drops and you keep any perks you have been alloted along the way. I have taken advantage of four price drops and received pre-paid gratuities and an OBC.

[MapleMama]

We just returned from a 13 night Azamara cruise, and this was the topic of conversation in our group of four the entire cruise!! We have previously sailed on Celebrity (Millenium) and loved Celebrity. We booked early for our British Isles cruise (a year in advance) and the price ended up dropping by about 30%. I would recommend booking early since cabin selection will be an issue if you wait too long (since the Azamara ships are so much smaller).

 

We expected that Azamara would be much better than Celebrity - a step up in all regards (service, food, amenities) and we did not find that was the case. I did like Azamara, but I would not really compare them to Crystal or other luxury lines.

 

The consensus of our group was that if the price was right and the itinerary was interesting we would stick with Azamara. However, we didn't feel that the differences between the lines were significant enough to warrant a huge price premium. In other words - if you can find a similar priced itinerary on Celebrity, I would stick with them.

 

If you like lots of activities and things to do, then I would suggest sticking with Celebrity. The demographics on the Journey were different than we expected (a much more mature crowd) and the activities were not at all interesting. After dinner, there's really nothing to do other than the casino (which was absolutely dead on most of our cruise - we've never seen anything like it!).

 

The food was fantastic on Azamara, but we had the same experience on Celebrity.

 

The advantage to the smaller Azamara ships is that they can get into ports that the larger Celebrity ships cannot, so their itineraries do tend to be more interesting. You also don't have the same amount of crowds/lineups like you do on the large ships.

 

Difficult decision, but I don't think you can really go wrong with either line, since both are excellent!!

[Paulchili]

I did like Azamara, but I would not really compare them to Crystal or other luxury lines.

 

.....and you shouldn't.

Azamara does not advertise to be a luxury line and it cannot compare with the likes of Crystal, Silversea, etc as their prices are not in the luxury category either.

One shouldn't expect a Crystal/Silversea experience at an Azamara price - it would be nice though.

To me the biggest difference between Azamara and Celebrity would be size of the ship and the lack of formal nights on A. The latter is very important to me.

[tgg]

After dinner, there's really nothing to do other than the casino (which was absolutely dead on most of our cruise - we've never seen anything like it!).

 

Nothing to do????? We were on the same cruise and there was a show every night, music in the Cova Cafe, and dancing in the Looking Glass starting at 11:00 and continuing into the night. Where were you?

[TravelerThom]

TravelorThom, just wondering why no HAL cruises on your signature??

We are not avoiding HAL, and indeed have friends who are very favorable in their comments on HAL.We just have not run across a combination of itinerary, departure port and cost on HAL to have snagged us yet [and of course we would not get the frequent cruiser benefits that we get on some other lines]. Some of HAL's Grand Voyages certainly look enticing.

 

Thom

[angellover]

Nothing to do????? We were on the same cruise and there was a show every night, music in the Cova Cafe, and dancing in the Looking Glass starting at 11:00 and continuing into the night. Where were you?

 

I agree, Toni, I was on this cruise as well and was exhausted with all there was to do. As if all the ports of call weren't enough! I like the casino, but I must have been in a different one then the previous writer as I was amazed how busy it was in the evenings. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

 

Kathi Arizona

[sunandfun]

We just returned from a 13 night Azamara cruise, and this was the topic of conversation in our group of four the entire cruise!! We have previously sailed on Celebrity (Millenium) and loved Celebrity. We booked early for our British Isles cruise (a year in advance) and the price ended up dropping by about 30%. I would recommend booking early since cabin selection will be an issue if you wait too long (since the Azamara ships are so much smaller).

 

We expected that Azamara would be much better than Celebrity - a step up in all regards (service, food, amenities) and we did not find that was the case. I did like Azamara, but I would not really compare them to Crystal or other luxury lines.

 

The consensus of our group was that if the price was right and the itinerary was interesting we would stick with Azamara. However, we didn't feel that the differences between the lines were significant enough to warrant a huge price premium. In other words - if you can find a similar priced itinerary on Celebrity, I would stick with them.

 

If you like lots of activities and things to do, then I would suggest sticking with Celebrity. The demographics on the Journey were different than we expected (a much more mature crowd) and the activities were not at all interesting. After dinner, there's really nothing to do other than the casino (which was absolutely dead on most of our cruise - we've never seen anything like it!).

 

The food was fantastic on Azamara, but we had the same experience on Celebrity.

 

The advantage to the smaller Azamara ships is that they can get into ports that the larger Celebrity ships cannot, so their itineraries do tend to be more interesting. You also don't have the same amount of crowds/lineups like you do on the large ships.

 

Difficult decision, but I don't think you can really go wrong with either line, since both are excellent!!

 

I can't agree with you more! Exactly my feelings after our 18 nighter on the Quest. I could have definitely had more to do in the evening - really thought the entertainment was lousy, but everything else was perfect.

[TomTN]

We just returned from a 13 night Azamara cruise, and this was the topic of conversation in our group of four the entire cruise!! We have previously sailed on Celebrity (Millenium) and loved Celebrity. We booked early for our British Isles cruise (a year in advance) and the price ended up dropping by about 30%. I would recommend booking early since cabin selection will be an issue if you wait too long (since the Azamara ships are so much smaller).

 

We expected that Azamara would be much better than Celebrity - a step up in all regards (service, food, amenities) and we did not find that was the case. I did like Azamara, but I would not really compare them to Crystal or other luxury lines.

 

The consensus of our group was that if the price was right and the itinerary was interesting we would stick with Azamara. However, we didn't feel that the differences between the lines were significant enough to warrant a huge price premium. In other words - if you can find a similar priced itinerary on Celebrity, I would stick with them.

 

If you like lots of activities and things to do, then I would suggest sticking with Celebrity. The demographics on the Journey were different than we expected (a much more mature crowd) and the activities were not at all interesting. After dinner, there's really nothing to do other than the casino (which was absolutely dead on most of our cruise - we've never seen anything like it!).

 

The food was fantastic on Azamara, but we had the same experience on Celebrity.

 

The advantage to the smaller Azamara ships is that they can get into ports that the larger Celebrity ships cannot, so their itineraries do tend to be more interesting. You also don't have the same amount of crowds/lineups like you do on the large ships.

 

Difficult decision, but I don't think you can really go wrong with either line, since both are excellent!!

 

We sailed on Celebrity Century to the British Isles May 08, and Norwegian fjords June 09. Both times the casino was virtually empty every night, and Century carries about 1800 passengers. On the cruise this year there were only about 150 Americans. Most of the passengers were European. I spoke with one of the casino staff who said the Europeans seldom gamble on the ship. Not my words, but his.

[gosport11]

On the subject of casino gambling,europeans can gamble freely slots every where and most major towns have a casino,it is nothing special for us so we dont go wild in ships casinos in fact PO ships have small casinos compared to ship size :):):)

[Wilcoam]

My wife and I have been on X more than any other line though NOT sailed AZ yet but we keep looking for same sale and itin in Asia

 

From what we've researched I have indeed seen what appears to be specials on numerous Asian itins and also further discounts by using either 'CC' or via on-line TA's

 

In the past lines like Princess/NCL/HAL can be had for such discounts but not RCI-X - This may be changing at least in terms of what I've seen on AZ pricing which was surprisingly discounted maybe due to the economy

 

jc

toronto

[JennAngel9]

Having just returned from the Journey (got off this a.m. in BCN), I just wanted to weigh in on the "nightlife" situation. While it was a bit more mature than our last Celebrity cruise, we were still shocked to find the Looking Glass somewhere between tranquil and empty the first few nights we visited it. To be honest, we loved it for a post dinner game of Scrabble or Taboo on our way to bed-- but we thought "how can NOBODY be awake and about at 10PM?" well, on about night 10 of our cruise, we happened through the atrium around 10pm (where the Cova Cafe is) and it was packed! The Casino was also pretty busy. Also, a lot of people seemed to stay out late chatting on the deck out behind Breeza (very pleasant when the weather is nice and sailing down the rivers of France (small ship perk). I just laughed out loud re-reading this thread that evidently we just didn't stay out late enough to see the fellow cruisers (2-3x our age plus) come out to dance!

 

I agree with the people who felt Azamara's food (and in our opinion, dining service) was not significantly better than Celebrity, but the itinerary was one we could never have done on an M class ship-- sailing almost right up to Rouen and to the heart of Bordeaux. We are more about "the places we go" and, as a pleasant surprise, we also felt we met a more cosmopolitan group of people (generally Americans, but also some friendly New Zealanders and folks from the UK with various accents I'm afraid I have trouble understanding, let alone distinguishing!) than we do on larger ships and as mentioned above, there is almost no crowding and no waiting for anything. FWIW, we couldn't handle the crush of the buffet on any of the big ships we've been on but thought the Journey's was very pleasant and well managed.

 

I would pay more to cruise on Azamara if I liked the itinerary, but I wouldn't say I really preferred the on board experience (on the whole) over the M-class ships, with the notable exception of truly remarkable service by the purser's desk.