Tell me about Azamara in comparison to Royal and Celebrity

Diamond Plus on Royal, Elite, half way to Elite Plus on Celebrity. Things we like and dislike about each.

Looking at a Oct. 2018 cruise on Azamara. What can you say to help educate me? Thank you.

Have never cruised on RC or Celebrity, only HAL. We just love Azamara - it's everything - included drinks, great food, small size - but above all the friendliness of the senior officers, crew and the passengers. Also the fact that all crew are determined that passengers will have a good time - nothing is too much trouble.

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We've done two RC cruises, lots of Celebrity, and a few Azamara. Azamara is our favourite (more all inclusive, better food and service, small size, friendly passengers), but it is more expensive.

They're also limited in itinerary choices due to small fleet. Give it a try!

I've done all three and enjoyed all, but I love love love Azamara, the size, the food, the ease of tendering the staff...nothing against the others but...

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Diamond Plus on Royal, Elite, half way to Elite Plus on Celebrity. Things we like and dislike about each.

 

Looking at a Oct. 2018 cruise on Azamara. What can you say to help educate me? Thank you.

If you educate us about some of the things you like or dislike on Royal and Celebrity, then the members on this board may be able to provide specific information.

Less passengers on the ship than in line on the larger ships! The laundry service on Azamara is worth using. Shirts came back pressed clothing was folded, not just pulled out of drier and jammed into bag. We have one more booked on each because of stops, but looking forward to Azamara the most.

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The Captains Club and the Le Club Voyage use the same membership number. You'll simultaneously co-earn cruise points on both lines for a cruise on either Celebrity or Azamara. That's not the case with RCL since you only sail Azamara at the same RCL membership level and the points only earn on Azamara.

Your Celebrity CC makes you Discoverer level from 300-749 points

https://www.azamaraclubcruises.com/le-club-voyage/member-benefits

Stateroom Category Points Per Night

Club Interior 2

Club Oceanview 3

Club Veranda 5

Club Continent Suites 8

Club Spa, Club Ocean and Club World Owner's Suites 18

Celebrity and Royal Caribbean will excel in entertainment -- shows, nightlife, multiple bars, etc. -- and have more of a family atmosphere (esp. RCI). On the flip side, you get crowds, lines, nickel and diming.

With Azamara, it's a more sedate atmosphere, where the destination not the ship is the focus. You'll have more included, but also a higher fare. The average age likely skews higher because the line doesn't seek out families with kids. (This is a plus or a minus depending on you!)

If you really like all the many things to do on Royal and Celebrity ships, you might be disappointed with Azamara's onboard options. If you're tired of cruising with thousands of people and getting asked to spend more money at every turn and really want to explore some cool destinations with less concern about stuff to do onboard, Azamara would be a great choice.

Plus check out our story on Azamara vs. Celebrity: http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=1986

I have done 3 cruises on RCI. I hated it the first two times and said never again. .went back this winter as a filler between cruises and Cuba.. never never again! to big. hard to gt chairs in bars. allows smoking indoors. food in speciality restaurant not great. who pays fro bottle water.

Celebrity on "S" ships has some really great shows. they are now over charging in the new sushi place. to find a pool chair i have to go to deck 15. cabins are 194 sq feet compared to AZ 175 sq feet. Sky suites are bigger than AZ.

AZ friendlier and better service.shows are smaller as tiny stage.

officers are great.

Thanks everybody. I think we are going to book. It is an itinerary we just can not pass up. That is going to lead to another question, but I think I will start a new thread for it.... thanks

On our last Azamara Panama Canal cruise the Captain was at the tendering station helping guests board the tenders. I don't think you will ever see that on a Celebrity or RCL cruise.

We did not like what on Celebrity felt like an obvious class system. We had spent a lot for our family of four and had unlimited drinks package but "oh, you don't have the PREMIUM drinks package." It also actually felt like bartenders ignored us when they saw the stickers on the card in favor of the customers "paying" by the drink and tipping. There also seemed like so much catering to the high end customers with the special clubs, restaurants, concierge class etc. that we felt like 2nd class citizens despite the fact that we had spent quite a bit. Other guests were "flashy" and not friendly. We were on a holiday cruise and just may have hit a bad one and our experience may have not been typical but we haven't repeated on Celebrity, instead went back to Princess which we liked better for our family. We found friendly, down to earth guests on Azamara and a ship that feels classless (good service and amenities for everyone). Not filled with people showing off. We like the relaxed and casual atmosphere. We have been on 8 different cruise lines including high end Seabourn and Silversea and Azamara fits the bill for us. It's worth trying!

My last Royal Caribbean cruise was a first for me since the introduction of the drink packages. HOLY COW did I ever notice a difference in the bar service. :mad: Bartenders would just ignore me. Couldn't find a waiter at the pool and if you did, the wait was really long. Also areas that I have always loved like the Champagne bar were swamped with loud partiers at the bar drinking. It was like ............just find a bar, any bar, and drink away. To hell with the ambiance that the lounge offers. :mad: I was really disappointed to see how the drink packages have changed things. When I got home, I was determined to give Azamara a try. Celebrity is my favorite because of the service but I'm excited to check Azamara Quest out.:D

My last Royal Caribbean cruise was a first for me since the introduction of the drink packages. HOLY COW did I ever notice a difference in the bar service. :mad: Bartenders would just ignore me. Couldn't find a waiter at the pool and if you did, the wait was really long. Also areas that I have always loved like the Champagne bar were swamped with loud partiers at the bar drinking. It was like ............just find a bar, any bar, and drink away. To hell with the ambiance that the lounge offers. :mad: I was really disappointed to see how the drink packages have changed things. When I got home, I was determined to give Azamara a try. Celebrity is my favorite because of the service but I'm excited to check Azamara Quest out.:D

Funnily enough you are exactly describing our last experience on Celebrity.

To the OP - as D+ on Royal and almost Elite + on Celebrity we have done many cruises with both lines and 4 with Azamara. I think you will really enjoy Azamara, especially since you have found an itinerary which appeals to you. They are a cut above in almost every aspect as far as we are concerned - food, ambience, clientele (nice but not flashy - Allison James above describes some of our experiences on Celebrity too), amazing interaction with officers and crew and just generally a more luxurious (but not pretentious) feel. The entertainment is more low key and obviously there are fewer bars and the casino is small but for a first cruise I doubt this will be an issue. The Living Room is a great venue for after dinner and I have danced more on Azamara than on any of the Royal and Celebrity ships I've sailed on.

We would cruise Azamara more if the prices weren't so expensive.

We did not like what on Celebrity felt like an obvious class system. We had spent a lot for our family of four and had unlimited drinks package but "oh, you don't have the PREMIUM drinks package." It also actually felt like bartenders ignored us when they saw the stickers on the card in favor of the customers "paying" by the drink and tipping.

AllisonJames, you are correct. A senior Celebrity bartender, who was my favorite on a couple of cruises, told me that is how the drink packages have evolved with the crew. Servers rush to upgrade as many passengers from Classic to Premium because they get the full, un-split gratuity on the up-sell. Then after that they ignore the package customers because they won't earn any more. I never had a problem getting service at the bars because I tip my bartenders extra after good service.

I observed one server on my last Celebrity cruise wandering around the Oceanview Cafe holding a tray trying to look busy. However I didn't see her stop at one table or serve one drink the whole time I ate dinner there. I was sitting across from the bar.

We cruised Celebrity in the past and sang it's praises. Then the changes started, all of which have been mentioned previously, we were advised to try Azamara and now, 14 cruises later we just love the line! Yes, it appears more expensive but when you factor in the fact that drinks are included (at any time of the day), grats are not expected, shuttles are free and the ship, though small, has a big personality, we feel it compares well. I always want to post to the newcomers who worry about little things to stop....nothing is perfect, but on Az. a quiet word will usually solve any issues.

Thanks everybody. I think we are going to book. It is an itinerary we just can not pass up. That is going to lead to another question, but I think I will start a new thread for it.... thanks

The highlighted text is why I enjoy Azamara. The crew are amazing and the food is delicious, plus the entertainment has come a long way since their early days, but I just love the port-intensive itineraries. It's particularly great in a place like Shanghai, where the ship can dock in town instead of at a remote port 90 minutes away from anything.

We are very frequent RCI cruisers and have always had a great time on their ships (or on any cruise where neither of us gets sick, lol). But the product has evolved in a direction that I don't care to go - I will readily acknowledge that Oasis of the Seas and her sisters are marvels of naval engineering and that the onboard experience can be an action-packed festival, but that's not why I cruise. I'm still more interested in itinerary than ship and the big girls can't go to off the beaten path locations the way a smaller ship can. And the "small" (Radiance and Vision class) ships are just as expensive as the big girls now, with far fewer onboard options and a mediocre food product. The crew are wonderful and do everything they can to make the experience a good one, but the cost cutting needed to finance the production of the Amusement Parks of the Seas has gone too far for me. They still have some nice itineraries on their smaller ships and they are often a lot less expensive than Azamara, so we have to take that into consideration as well.

We just completed our first "real" Celebrity cruise (Xpedition in the Galapagos is a completely different experience) and loved it. Just as we bemoan the cheapening of the RCI experience, I'm sure that long-time X faithful have the same complaints, but since we are new to the line, we didn't know what had come before. We were on Solstice, a very large ship, and found almost everything about her to be top notch. Maybe the shows are as old as on RCI, but they were new to us and we thought that the musicians were a notch above RCI's (who are very good, but these guys and gals were fabulous). X also has some nice itineraries and I wouldn't hesitate to book with them again as long as they go where we want to and are priced in our comfort zone.

Would I sail Azamara exclusively if money were no object? Not likely - sometimes I like a larger vessel for the onboard variety. But of our three Azamara cruises, two are in the top 10 of 100+ sailings, so when we can justify the cost, they are definitely in the running.

There have been many useful comments so far in this thread. However, many of them have been subjective impressions. Since different things are important for different people, interpreting these comments is sometimes difficult. However, there are some objective measures that people can do when evaluating and comparing cruises. The numbers are all easily available.

First is the number of crew per passenger This will relate fairly directly to the level of the service provided. Azamara Journey, for example, has 407 crew for 694 passengers for a ratio of about 0.6, while Caribbean Princess has 1200 crew for 3140 passengers for a ratio of about 0.4.

Second is the tonnage per passenger. This will relate to the space available in the public areas like lounges, bars, decks, etc. Journey has 30,277 GT for a ratio of about 44, and Caribbean Princess has 112,894 GT for a ratio of about 36.

Finally, as some have commented, in comparing cruises there is more to the story than just the up-front costs. Are tips included? Do they charge for water or alcohol? Etc. Often when doing a spreadsheet comparing the bottom line costs the premium lines like Azamara and Oceania do surprisingly well compared to the mass market lines. Sometimes one can find a "deal" on a luxury line like Regent which ends up comparing well with the premium lines. Of course these comparisons depend a lot on personal factors. For example, if you don't drink alcohol then whether or not it is included won't matter to you.

You absolutely right there are other considerations the ratio of public space to passengers tells a great deal about how crowded you are likely to feel as well.

Sue

My comparison X to Az

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2477526

We are fans of all the RC lines. Started with Royal in the Gulf of Mexico, moved on to Celebrity for 30 something cruises and during that time started looking to smaller ships for different itineraries. We like Oceania and are just beginning with Viking Oceans but Azamara has the only accessible balcony cabins which makes it a winner for us.

We don't have anything but praise for Royal or Celebrity. We have stayed in the rear accessible cabin 8176 on all the M class ships that it is practically our second home and spent 72 days on five back to backs on Solstice happy as could be. Never saw a rude bartender though they are busy sometimes. We have used them with no package, classic and premium and were always taken care of.

This is just one couple's view but we are still cheerleaders for them all and have just naturally moved to small ships for the places they can go. On Azamara we docked right in Saigon and on Millennium out past the airport. We loved both trips but where the ship can dock does make a difference.

Hope you give Azamara a try if you think it would suit you. The staff from the Captain to the cleaning crew are always personable and efficient and present!

I have done 3 cruises on RCI. I hated it the first two times and said never again. .went back this winter as a filler between cruises and Cuba.. never never again! to big. hard to gt chairs in bars. allows smoking indoors. food in speciality restaurant not great. who pays fro bottle water.

 

 

 

Celebrity on "S" ships has some really great shows. they are now over charging in the new sushi place. to find a pool chair i have to go to deck 15. cabins are 194 sq feet compared to AZ 175 sq feet. Sky suites are bigger than AZ.

 

 

 

AZ friendlier and better service.shows are smaller as tiny stage.

 

 

 

officers are great.

 

 

 

 

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I'm just sharing this just everywhere tonight! Hope it helps, my humble opinions, backed by solid independent research and facts, no fake news:') : Enjoy!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2324530

Great review - you've really hit the nail on the head about what makes the Azamara difference.

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I would book an Azamara cruise again if only I could afford it. I loved the relaxed friendly atmosphere. I loved that almost everything was included ( not Excursions)

I just need to convince my husband that it is actually cost effective, as we are not paying for:

a) gratuities

b) drinks

c) courtesy buses

All the above added a considerable amount to our most recent cruise.

What I didn't like on our last Celebrity cruise was the constant 'up sell' of drinks packages and Speciality dining packages. We were even disturbed during an evening meal. This attitude made us look elsewhere.