Azamara or Celebrity - Need to choose after Crystal Cruise Cancelled

[ak1004]

25 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Frankly, most of the posters on Crystal strike me as unlikely to be happy on Azamara.  [Actually, the diehards seem unlikely to ever be happy again...]  The old ship and small cabins may be ok for Crystal alumni, but the food and service and entertainment and lecturers will not measure up.  Most of the Crystal Refugees seem to be heading to Seabourn and Silversea.

 

Maybe, but I still would say that Azamara as an overall package is much closer to Crystal than to Celebrity. To me, the service, the small ship, the lack of lines and crowds is what makes a luxury experience. Entertainment and lecturers were much better on Crystal, but from what I hear, Seabourn and Silversea are not as good as Crystal in this category. Food I would rank better on Crystal, but Azamara is also pretty good.

 

So to answer the original question - I would not even hesitate.

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 minute ago, ak1004 said:

 

Maybe, but I still would say that Azamara as an overall package is much closer to Crystal than to Celebrity.

Absolutely agree with that.

[macsails]

Reading the above posts comparing Azamara vs. Celebrity to the currently not sailing Crystal, makes me even more anxious for my first ever Azamara cruise in August this year. I have been a very satisfied Celebrity cruiser for over 30 years. Guess the crowds and loud music just became the norm with cruising for me and weren't a put off.  Will say though, sometimes the lines for certain things became a bit of a bother.

[kool kruiser]

I am also considering Azamara as a bereaved Crystal devotee. I am familiar with the R class ships used as I have sailed previously on two of them with another line. I get that food, service and itineraries will be great on Azamara, although entertainment and enrichment will not be as good. Can anyone amplify what Azamara offers in these aspects, please ?

[ak1004]

28 minutes ago, kool kruiser said:

I am also considering Azamara as a bereaved Crystal devotee. I am familiar with the R class ships used as I have sailed previously on two of them with another line. I get that food, service and itineraries will be great on Azamara, although entertainment and enrichment will not be as good. Can anyone amplify what Azamara offers in these aspects, please ?

 

On our South America cruise the entertainment was poor. But we did have an excellent lector who did few lectures about the countries we visited. They also had an Azamazing event, the white night extravaganza, one evening when the officers cook for the passengers on the pool deck etc. 

[TeaBag]

20 hours ago, macsails said:

Reading the above posts comparing Azamara vs. Celebrity to the currently not sailing Crystal, makes me even more anxious for my first ever Azamara cruise in August this year. I have been a very satisfied Celebrity cruiser for over 30 years. Guess the crowds and loud music just became the norm with cruising for me and weren't a put off.  Will say though, sometimes the lines for certain things became a bit of a bother.

I could have written this post!  We are sailing for the first time on Azamara in July and it can't come quick enough.  Wonder if we're getting off the same ship you're embarking (Quest).

[Roel94]

On 2/8/2022 at 11:21 PM, Host Jazzbeau said:

Yes, but you're not on the Crystal forum going through the five stages of grief...

No,because I am to concern for the crew who lost their jobs. I also like many use  social media. Plus not on that ship much..not twenty years but three.

[PirateWife]

Liking or not liking guest lecturers is personal. On Azamara, I only remember one that I thought I could have put together their presentation. Some are historians, some scientists, some with interests in people from specifics parts of the world. The best part--when I am home, I know answers to Jeopardy questions because of what I have learned on cruises.

[iana1212]

In the same boat as we have/had a Crystal cruise booked for May. Looking to book an Azamara cruise to replace it- it has a similar itinerary to the one we were going on. Have cruised Azamara and Celebrity before and have no qualms about booking Azamara again but less likely to book Celebrity. Did not think Celebrity was really much better than HAL or Princess( I am sure Celebrity lovers will disagree) and was lower standard than Azamara which I would rank as similar to but not quite as good as Oceania (but Azamara included drinks if that is important to you). In all of these we were in standard cabins so experience in more expensive categories/suited could be different.

[RICHARD@SEA]

We've done everything from Azamara to QM2...... we had no interest in CRYSTAL because it seemed like we would be stuck in a 1970's mall  listening to another lecture about Frank Sinatra...

 

Celebrity we liked years ago but gave them up when the bigger ships came about...they have a good marketing department...instead of a SHERATON HOTEL at sea experience they advert more of a ritz carlton......its definitely a sheraton.

 

Azamara ships fit the bill because of the size of the ships, service & Itinerary.  The service was quite good & fewer passengers made the difference - we spent 16 days on the Journey & would recommend it to anyone.

[cruisinclined]

On 2/10/2022 at 10:54 PM, macsails said:

Reading the above posts comparing Azamara vs. Celebrity to the currently not sailing Crystal, makes me even more anxious for my first ever Azamara cruise in August this year. I have been a very satisfied Celebrity cruiser for over 30 years. Guess the crowds and loud music just became the norm with cruising for me and weren't a put off.  Will say though, sometimes the lines for certain things became a bit of a bother.

Don't worry, we were Celebrity devotees having done over 20 cruises with them. Many b to b.

Now booked on our 5th and 6th on Azamara. We have moved on and like the different offering AZ provides. Some things on C were better due to size but AZ also has a size advantage and we have veered towards liking them more. Trying things out is the only way as we all have varying tastes. I think you will enjoy the many things AZ has to offer.

[TrulyBlonde]

On 2/8/2022 at 9:21 PM, Host Jazzbeau said:

Yes, but you're not on the Crystal forum going through the five stages of grief...

Just found this thread. I was going to send them flowers and a condolence card. LOL

[Killin Time]

On 3/9/2022 at 9:57 AM, cruisinclined said:

Don't worry, we were Celebrity devotees having done over 20 cruises with them. Many b to b.

Now booked on our 5th and 6th on Azamara. We have moved on and like the different offering AZ provides. Some things on C were better due to size but AZ also has a size advantage and we have veered towards liking them more. Trying things out is the only way as we all have varying tastes. I think you will enjoy the many things AZ has to offer.

We like the musical entertainment better on Celebrity but Azamara overall is a great experience for us. We did do a one week Crystal NYC to Bermuda and back again last October. It was a great trip and we would have sailed with them again but…..

Crystal was a true luxury line and I would describe Azamara as premium rather than luxury. But we find Azamara to be a true pleasure and we look forward to many more trips ahead. I hope you enjoy your experience as much as we have. 

[donaldsc]

My choice would be totally dependent upon the size of the ship as I don't like large ships.  I checked and the smallest Celebrity ship is 2100 passengers.  Not interested in any ship that is that size.

 

DON

[cruise47]

On 3/9/2022 at 12:57 PM, cruisinclined said:

Don't worry, we were Celebrity devotees having done over 20 cruises with them. Many b to b.

Now booked on our 5th and 6th on Azamara. We have moved on and like the different offering AZ provides. Some things on C were better due to size but AZ also has a size advantage and we have veered towards liking them more. Trying things out is the only way as we all have varying tastes. I think you will enjoy the many things AZ has to offer.

We have over 15 sailing with Celebrity and liked them all. We have one  major concern with Azamara the size of the bathroom.

They looks smaller than the old Century and Horizons bathrooms with Celebrity. 

 

 

 

 

 

[royallondon]

1 hour ago, cruise47 said:

We have over 15 sailing with Celebrity and liked them all. We have one  major concern with Azamara the size of the bathroom.

They looks smaller than the old Century and Horizons bathrooms with Celebrity. 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi cruise47

I can confirm that the bathrooms on Azamara (standard balcony, outside, inside) are smaller then that on Century.

For us, the size of the bathroom fails to get into our top 10 reasons for choosing a cruise  but appreciate that for others, not so.

 

Regards

[marinaro44]

1 hour ago, royallondon said:

Hi cruise47

I can confirm that the bathrooms on Azamara (standard balcony, outside, inside) are smaller then that on Century.

For us, the size of the bathroom fails to get into our top 10 reasons for choosing a cruise  but appreciate that for others, not so.

 

Regards

Ranks right above hull color for me.

[ECCruise]

3 hours ago, cruise47 said:

We have over 15 sailing with Celebrity and liked them all. We have one  major concern with Azamara the size of the bathroom.

They looks smaller than the old Century and Horizons bathrooms with Celebrity. 

 

 

 

 

 

Smaller than Horizon/Zenith and definitely smaller than M or S class, all of which we have sailed multiple times. 

Have never even thought twice about the bathroom size.  Small?  Yes.  A concern?  No.

[Redtravel]

Crystal is, or was very different from Azamara and Celebrity.  No sure if either of them will work for you.  Try Oceania. We like the larger ships, Marina and Riviera.  You might also try Seabourn, Regent, or Silverseas.  
 

[marinaro44]

4 hours ago, Redtravel said:

Crystal is, or was very different from Azamara and Celebrity.  No sure if either of them will work for you.  Try Oceania. We like the larger ships, Marina and Riviera.  You might also try Seabourn, Regent, or Silverseas.  
 

Can't imagine why Oceania would be a better fit than Azamara.  Big sister Regent was a major disappointment twice for a total of seven weeks onboard.

[travelberlin]

I am also a Crystal refugee but I have cruised many times with Azamara and I really like Azamara. I wouldn’t try to compare Crystal with Azamara at all. I have booked again a cruise with Azamara and I am absolutely happy 😊. I am looking forward to being again in those lovely small ships, to meet the excellent crew and just to enjoy my cruise. In the case I compare anything, it will be among the product Azamara before new owners and now. It will be interesting to see what changes/improvements have taken place. 
Talking about the Azamara experience, are the Azamazing evenings still taking place? I could not find anything about that evening for my cruise.

Ivi

[annapolitan369]

When trying to plan our shore excursions, I emailed Azamara several weeks ago asking if there would be an Aamazing evening for our May 26 Journey cruise and at what port would it be..  I have not heard anything yet, almost 4 weeks.  From what I've seen on other sites, there most likely will not be one for our trip, but it would be nice to have an official word from Azamara.

[uktog]

No evenings off ship for now, they bring the entertainment onboard and do it on the pool deck or the showlounge if they have weather issues. They do it twice, half have dinner then show half show then dinner. 

[ECCruise]

12 hours ago, annapolitan369 said:

When trying to plan our shore excursions, I emailed Azamara several weeks ago asking if there would be an Aamazing evening for our May 26 Journey cruise and at what port would it be..  I have not heard anything yet, almost 4 weeks.  From what I've seen on other sites, there most likely will not be one for our trip, but it would be nice to have an official word from Azamara.

You actually need to go in and look and the Shore Excursions to find the Destination Celebration (nee Azamazing Evening).  For ours on May 26th, it is the night in Kusadasi.  Make reservations for your desired time like any other excursion and you will get an email confirmation like this:

 

DAY 8
02-Jun-2022
Ephesus (Kusadasi), Turkey

Destination Celebration - Unity in Diversity
08:30 PM

[Mackdogmolly]

13 hours ago, travelberlin said:

Talking about the Azamara experience, are the Azamazing evenings still taking place? I could not find anything about that evening for my cruise.

Ivi, I think I read elsewhere that the Azamazing Evenings were resuming sometime in July. Sadly, after my June cruise.

Betsey