Best Explanation of Azamara vs the Mainstream Lines

[farmermd]

My wife, teenage daughter and I took our first Azamara cruise in January on the Journey to Cuba.  The best way we can describe it is that it reminded us of what cruising was like when we took our first cruise in 1989 - the service, the food, the crew, the size of the ship.  

 

Our first cruise was on Holland America Nieuw Amsterdam in February, 1989.  Cost for two people, porthole cabin with airfare sailing 7 days in the Caribbean was about $2700.  Ten years later in January 1999, our cruise on Royal Caribbean Grandeur of the Seas was about $2650 with airfare for a 7 day caribbean cruise in a balcony cabin.  January 2013, two of us sailed in a balcony cabin on Celebrity Reflection on a 7 day caribbean cruise for about $2200, airfare included.  Five years later in January 2018, two of us did a 7 day Caribbean cruise on the Regal Princess for about $2850 in a balcony cabin with airfare included.  There have been many cruises in between these (25 in all) varying in length on a variety of ships and cruise lines going to multiple destinations around the world.  My point is that in 30 years the price of the cruise has stayed relatively the same, but as we all know, numerous changes have been made by the cruise companies to keep these prices artificially low.

 

Which brings me back to Azamara being the cruise we remember from 30 years ago.  Azamara is not a luxury line in my opinion, unless you think Holland America and Celebrity were luxury lines in the 80s & 90s.  Azamara has maintained the quality of food and service and size of ships from 30 years ago.  But in order to do that, you have to pay more.  If you enjoyed cruising 30 years ago on the mainstream cruise lines more than you do today, then open your wallet and give Azamara a try!  

 

That being said, the one thing we did not care for on Azamara was the lack of a set dining time for dinner.  We are not fans of open seating.  We need to be told what time to eat dinner!  With open seating, the service and attention is lacking from days of old.  We felt service was slow in the main dining room on Azamara Journey, but the food was excellent.  We found ourselves eating many nights at the patio, where the food was just as good AND the service was great because most nights we had the same waiter and there was hardly anyone there.

 

We will sail Azamara again, but in our opinion it is not a cruise line you would do your standard 7 day Caribbean cruise on - not that they offer one.  We enjoyed the extended stays in Cuba and are looking at the Africa cruises that Azamara offers.  Hope this helps for those on the fence on whether to give Azamara a try or not.

 

Here is our video of the Azamara Journey cruise to Cuba if you care to watch - 

 

 

And here are our pictures if you care to look - 

 

 

 

[Mrs.Dukes]

Beautiful pictures! Thanks for your overview of the cruise, and comparison to cruising years ago. Gives me a good idea of what to expect.

[Mr. Click]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experience.  We did the same cruise a few weeks after you and like you it was really all about Cuba for us. Azamara was nice but far from perfect for us.  We had a great time, we loved Cuba, even though we had a lot of rain at the beginning.  I enjoyed your video.  Amazing how different things look with blue sky and sunshine.  

[Larabelle]

Looks like a great family vacation.  Thanks for sharing your video and thoughts!

[MomC]

Could you elaborate on what you visited in each port in 

Cuba?  How about the nightclub you visited?  We are sailing there in November and are not sure what to see. It looked like you were on private excursions.

 

Thanks!

Mom C

[farmermd]

13 hours ago, MomC said:

Could you elaborate on what you visited in each port in 

Cuba?  How about the nightclub you visited?  We are sailing there in November and are not sure what to see. It looked like you were on private excursions.

 

Thanks!

Mom C

 

Yes we did private excursions in each port.  In Havana we had Lauren with Blexie tours show us around.  This was very enjoyable.  

 

In Cienfuegos we did 2 tours.  I do NOT recommend Caribbean Pearl tours.  We got shafted with them.  This tour took us to Trinidad.  It takes more than an hour each way to drive there and we felt it was not worth it.  Could have been the guide we had as well but we do not recommend going to Trinidad - wasn't our thing.

 

The second day in Cienfuegos we used Viajes Vintage Tours.  Our guide wasn't the best but we did enjoy the tour to Nicho Waterfalls.  Lunch was a bust - we were not brave enough to eat at a local's house where the fresh meat was not refrigerated and the dogs & chickens were roaming around the dining area.  

 

Our tour in Santiago de Cuba was the best!  It was also the most expensive upfront but everything was included - entrance fees, food, water.  We used Out of the Box Tours.  Our guide was excellent, though I can't remember his name.  We did the Natural Wonders tour, visiting a botanical garden, the Gran Piedra, and an old coffee plantation.  We think this may have been the best tour as well because we were in a modern car with great shocks!  IMO a 60 minute ride in an old car in Cuba is all that is really needed to get the experience.  Any more than an hour and you are putting your body through unnecessary roughness on the field that will just get you a 5 year penalty at the end of life.

 

I wanted to go into Santiago the evening we arrived to go to a nightclub but my wife and daughter were not interested so no wild partying for us sadly.

 

Hope that helps - enjoy your cruise to Cuba!

[BBMacLaird]

23 hours ago, farmermd said:

Azamara has maintained the quality of food and service and size of ships from 30 years ago.  But in order to do that, you have to pay more.  If you enjoyed cruising 30 years ago on the mainstream cruise lines more than you do today, then open your wallet and give Azamara a try!  

Thank you farmermd for giving Azamara a try. And for your ringing endorsement!  We look forward to welcoming you back aboard on of our ships soon. 

 

As a sidenote, on your next cruise with us you are welcome to request with the maître d' a specific waiter's section in the Discoveries Restaurant. It may take a few minutes longer to seat you but the experience would very much replicate the traditional assigned seating you prefer. 

[hubofhockey]

In my mind, these are the good old days of cruising. Ships are much nicer.  There are more amenities and less lines and waiting as the result of improved technology.  I continue to be amazed as we try different new ships and now this year an older one as we look forward to our first 'Azamara cruise.  After that, we will be on a brand new ship, the Silversea Silver Origin which will be two months old when we go to the Galapagos.  After that, we'll get back to X, but I think all of these experiences are so much better than they were in the late 80s and earl 90s.  Even relative prices are so much lower.  Those old ships also had far fewer balcony cabins.  I have the feeling that when I yearn for the good old days, I'll also be yelling at kids to get off of my lawn.