Azamara vs Celebrity

[nextariel]

6 minutes ago, excitedofharpenden said:

The mattresses are very comfy. As good as Celebrity I'd say. 

 

The handicap suite major difference is the bathroom that has a roll in shower and a lower sink and adjustable mirror and I don't think the storage was as good there. I've stayed in them a couple of times and they are fine. I've never been able to book them specifically, but was assigned them. It's disappointing they are being released so early. My view is they should be held for those really needing them and released closer to sail date. 

 

The points accumulate between Azamara and Celebrity from day one. 

 

Phil 

 

 

Thank You for all the info!

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

2 hours ago, excitedofharpenden said:

The points accumulate between Azamara and Celebrity from day one.

 

Which means you will bring your Celebrity status over to Azamara.  Classic = Adventurer; Select = Explorer; Elite = Discoverer; Elite Plus = Discoverer Plus; Zenith = Discoverer Platinum.

 

Here's the full explanation of what you get at each level:

https://www.azamara.com/loyalty/azamara-circle/member-benefits

 

To us the biggest perk is the discount for unlimited internet (at least 70% off in CC suites even at the lowest loyalty level)

[ChucktownSteve]

On 9/9/2020 at 6:50 AM, nextariel said:

We are currently booked on Celebrity Solstice B2B2B in Australia/ New Zealand/Transpacific in March-April, 2021. I don't think we will be allowed in the countries at that time. Celebrity's 2022 schedule does not allow us to do a Lift and Shift for the same ports without booking 6 cruise. I started looking at the Azamara schedule and it looks like we can do the ports we wanted, but not the Transpacific. We have not sailed on Azamara and wondering if we  could have some input on the differences of sailing between the two lines. We are Elite with Celebrity and typically sail Aqua Class. 

 

Nextariel,  Push comes to shove, I'd always opt for Azamara over Celebrity if the price is a decent value. The quality of service and food is far superior.  I prefer the R class ships because they're more intimate 

 

You also dock closer to port activity because some ports require the larger ships to berth farther away. In St. Petersburg we docked across from the Hermitage while the larger ships were docked miles away.

 

AZ's price includes basic liquor and gratuities, the Azamazing evening plus White Night. 

 

When available I book the P1 aft. It's an incredible view.

[nextariel]

5 hours ago, ChucktownSteve said:

 

Nextariel,  Push comes to shove, I'd always opt for Azamara over Celebrity if the price is a decent value. The quality of service and food is far superior.  I prefer the R class ships because they're more intimate 

 

You also dock closer to port activity because some ports require the larger ships to berth farther away. In St. Petersburg we docked across from the Hermitage while the larger ships were docked miles away.

 

AZ's price includes basic liquor and gratuities, the Azamazing evening plus White Night. 

 

When available I book the P1 aft. It's an incredible view.

Thanks, we are going to wait until 2023 as don't think Australia/New Zealand will let us in even 2022.

 

[ChucktownSteve]

1 hour ago, nextariel said:

Thanks, we are going to wait until 2023 as don't think Australia/New Zealand will let us in even 2022.

 

 

If you need a cruise fix and don't care about the ports, AZ has the Quest going out of Miami for a 13 night 12/2021 in the Caribbean.  You can drive there and can get a veranda for the cost of an inside.

Edited October 12, 2020 by ChucktownSteve

[NeilWM]

That is a wise decision nextariel. Our government is warning travel to Europe or USA might not be possible until mid 2021 at earliest but more likely later. We have strict 14 day quarantine in hotel at own expense for anyone allowed to enter Australia.

At this stage I think our only likely international travel next year would be to New Zealand or pacific islands like Fiji.

[GlobalMethod]

19 hours ago, nextariel said:

On 10/12/2020 at 6:20 PM, ChucktownSteve said:

Nextariel,  Push comes to shove, I'd always opt for Azamara over Celebrity if the price is a decent value. The quality of service and food is far superior.  I prefer the R class ships because they're more intimate 

 

You also dock closer to port activity because some ports require the larger ships to berth farther away. In St. Petersburg we docked across from the Hermitage while the larger ships were docked miles away.

 

AZ's price includes basic liquor and gratuities, the Azamazing evening plus White Night. 

 

When available I book the P1 aft. It's an incredible view.

Thanks, we are going to wait until 2023 as don't think Australia/New Zealand will let us in even 2022.

It looks like you got the information you were looking for from your post and we admire your patience to wait until 2023 ... we have cruised both Azamara and Celebrity a good bit and what ChucktownSteve replied echoed our thoughts ... for us, we are missing cruising so much we will get back sooner, probably the 2nd quarter of 2021, when things settle down ... we most miss "the journey" of a cruise more than specific new destinations since we've been to a lot of ports and countries ... best of luck and happy travels!

Edited October 13, 2020 by GlobalMethod
typo

[JRWLOBO]

We are Elite Plus on Celebrity and sailed with Azamara for the first time in August 2019.  We were on Quest and in an aft cabin (not a suite) with great wake views.  Because it is a smaller ship, there were vibrations and noise in and out of ports.  Nothing that bothered us.  We loved most everything about Azamara.  The smaller ship made for a more intimate cruise and we had the opportunity to meet a wide variety of people.  We have sailed with Celebrity most of our cruises and most recently in suites.  We found the food in the MDR of Azamara quite nice and prepared just the way we like it.  Do not recall it being particularly noisy, but I may not be as sensitive to that as others.   We typically had a bit of a wait (usually not more than 15 - 20 minutes) but sat in the lounge and visited with other guests.  We tried both of the specialty restaurants on Azamara and found them to be quite comparable to those on Celebrity.  We always asked to sit in the back because those tables seemed more private and out to the main entrance.  You can get a specialty dining package for what we thought was a reasonable price on Azamara.  The buffet was very nice although we rarely ate there and the patio always had a great variety of sandwiches and other delights.  In the evening, they served up some very special dinners.  These are included in your cruise price.  As many have said, the drink package provided is very basic so we opted to upgrade to the premium package.  Our Elite Plus status on Celebrity gave us a discount on this and, as others have said, a discount on wi-fi. 

The entertainment on Azamara was more of the cabaret style and entertaining.  We found it difficult at times to get a decent seat for popular shows unless we went early to the show.  Azamara no longer has casinos on their ships and on our ship had a piano player who was great!  Many evenings we would skip the main show and go to his show instead.  Azamara also has a great venue for dancing or just enjoying a drink and music.   Our White Night experience was interrupted by bad weather.  They did their best to move it inside, but it didn't work out as well so we ended up skipping it.  Because we did not have an overnight port on our cruise, we did not get to partake in an Amazing Evening.  Hoping to our next Azamara cruise. 

As for service, we found it much better on Azamara.  We never had to get up and go to the bar to order drinks as we have had to do most times on Celebrity on our recent cruises.  The staff remember you and always call you by name and remember your preferences.  We look forward to sailing with them again.

Good luck with your cruise and my apologies if this is a bit long.

 

[GlobalMethod]

On 10/18/2020 at 9:32 PM, JRWLOBO said:

We are Elite Plus on Celebrity and sailed with Azamara for the first time in August 2019.  We were on Quest and in an aft cabin (not a suite) with great wake views.  Because it is a smaller ship, there were vibrations and noise in and out of ports.  Nothing that bothered us.  We loved most everything about Azamara.  The smaller ship made for a more intimate cruise and we had the opportunity to meet a wide variety of people.  We have sailed with Celebrity most of our cruises and most recently in suites.  We found the food in the MDR of Azamara quite nice and prepared just the way we like it.  Do not recall it being particularly noisy, but I may not be as sensitive to that as others.   We typically had a bit of a wait (usually not more than 15 - 20 minutes) but sat in the lounge and visited with other guests.  We tried both of the specialty restaurants on Azamara and found them to be quite comparable to those on Celebrity.  We always asked to sit in the back because those tables seemed more private and out to the main entrance.  You can get a specialty dining package for what we thought was a reasonable price on Azamara.  The buffet was very nice although we rarely ate there and the patio always had a great variety of sandwiches and other delights.  In the evening, they served up some very special dinners.  These are included in your cruise price.  As many have said, the drink package provided is very basic so we opted to upgrade to the premium package.  Our Elite Plus status on Celebrity gave us a discount on this and, as others have said, a discount on wi-fi. 

The entertainment on Azamara was more of the cabaret style and entertaining.  We found it difficult at times to get a decent seat for popular shows unless we went early to the show.  Azamara no longer has casinos on their ships and on our ship had a piano player who was great!  Many evenings we would skip the main show and go to his show instead.  Azamara also has a great venue for dancing or just enjoying a drink and music.   Our White Night experience was interrupted by bad weather.  They did their best to move it inside, but it didn't work out as well so we ended up skipping it.  Because we did not have an overnight port on our cruise, we did not get to partake in an Amazing Evening.  Hoping to our next Azamara cruise. 

As for service, we found it much better on Azamara.  We never had to get up and go to the bar to order drinks as we have had to do most times on Celebrity on our recent cruises.  The staff remember you and always call you by name and remember your preferences.  We look forward to sailing with them again.

Good luck with your cruise and my apologies if this is a bit long.

 

Well said JRWLOBO! Almost identical to our Azamara rituals ... since I agree with almost everything you said in your post ... our life on a ship is almost identical to yours.

 

I would only add that we do get very good adult beverage service on Celebrity by always getting the drink package ... we've always had about 2 or 3 excellent drink servers who learn to remember us as regular customers ... :-) ... (they get extra earnings for adult beverage sales so they are motivated to find us) they would learn where we would usually be at certain times of the day and look for us, keeping us always with refilled drinks ... :-) ...

Just like you, we prefer the smaller ships of Azamara, but Celebrity with an adult beverage drink package is often a good value with as good or better adult beverage service ...

 

(oh yes, we much rather listen to some good music than see the big shows) ... :-) ... Happy Travels!