Azamara

[Hookedoncruising!]

Anyone had an experience of Azamara cruises? We have only sailed with Marella but are interested in trying another cruiseline.

Any advice good or bad much appreciated.

[Izzywiz]

We did our first Azamara cruise on Azamara Journey from Lisbon to Cape Town last December. We have sailed with Thomson/Marella several times as well as other cruise lines. Although the basic product on all cruise lines is much the same…ship, sea, ports, cabins, food, entertainment….I found Azamara to be very different from our Marella Explorer cruise last August.

Differences

Their ships are much smaller - roughly 680 passengers

Older demographic - ages ranged mostly from late 40s to 80+

Less sea day activities 

More intimate entertainment venue

Less choice of dining venues but IMHO much better food

More international passenger demographic

Video choice of itineraries

Better quality toiletries

Similarities

All inclusive drinks and gratuities 

Great service

 

We enjoy our family holidays on Marella but really loved everything about Azamara. We are in the 'elderly but sprightly' group so it suited our needs very well. The itinerary was very interesting too.

[Hookedoncruising!]

Thankyou very much for replying .It is much appreciated The dining seems to have excellent reviews. We feel Marella have downgraded a bit with both food and drinks since we first sailed with them. We are still mulling things over, but don’t want to make an expensive mistake. A change is as good as a rest as they say 😉

[paularmstrong]

we are in similar predicament , having sailed with marella a lot we have decided to have a change . recently returned from discovery in caribbean whilst docked up in Antigua p&o avia was beside us, all new and crew were cleaning it all down , you could write your name on our balcony glass . that ship worked out £1000 cheaper than ours . Sorry marella we have been loyal but your prices dont add up . We have booked p&o next winter flying direct from Newcastle with TUI chartered by P&O premium class with balcony for £1000 cheaper on a brand new ship . Only thing we dont get in are drinks but would never drink £1000 worth in 2 weeks

[Hookedoncruising!]

£1,000 cheaper! We may just have a look at that as well. Is there an option to buy a drinks package? Also are tips included? That can really bump it up, and i have read that some put 20% on each drink, which is quite horrendous. Thanks for any advice you can give. We don’t want to make an expensive mistake.

[dronnygirl]

Agree Arvia does have some bargains but it really does not appeal to us. For us the most important part of a cruise is the itinerary but also the 5000pax on board really puts us off. We've been alongside RC ships in the Caribbean and everyone getting off together swamps the town with massive queues for buses. 

However, each to their own but we prefer to stick with the smaller ships.

[Britboys]

2 hours ago, Hookedoncruising! said:

£1,000 cheaper! We may just have a look at that as well. Is there an option to buy a drinks package? Also are tips included? That can really bump it up, and i have read that some put 20% on each drink, which is quite horrendous. Thanks for any advice you can give. We don’t want to make an expensive mistake.

There is a drinks package on P&O which is charged at £39.99 per person per night. It does come with some restrictions. Only drinks up to £6.95 are included, which rules out quite a few of the cocktails. You can only order singles and there is a cap of 15 alcoholic drinks per day.... Hic....

Tips are no longer required on P&O ships.

[Hookedoncruising!]

Thanks Britboys 👍🏻 I don’t think we would drink £40 each a day. Good to know that tips are no longer required though😃

[Rebel Rouser]

I have just come back off the P&O Iona (January) and had a super time on her. And in November we have done the MSC Virtosa and again a fantastic time. You don't really see the 5000 people as the ships are so well laid out. Up until TUI/Marella started charging stupid prices, we were sailing with them 3 or 4 times a year. We have 2 weeks coming up on the Marella Voyager on her Maiden voyage. If I booked that same cruise now it would have been £1000 dearer. We do have another one booked for later in the year on P&O Arcadia to the Arctic circle at a very good price. as for drinks. My wife hardly drinks, so the drinks package doesn't work out for us..

[trebor111]

I agree with most of the Azamara comments. Crew to passenger ratio means you cannot turn round with a plate or a glass without someone putting it on a tray and taking it to your table.

Ordinary food choices, in my opinion, not that much better than Marella but they do have a separate vegan menu so I loved it for that.

The two biggest differences - you return to the ship from a port to receive a very unBritish and effusive 'welcome home'. You get used to it!

The second, and I know this is not important for many, the cabins are well designed but tiny, especially the bathrooms. You have to spend crazy money to get anything like a Marella balcony/junior suite. Forget anything as big as an Executive Suite.

[Hookedoncruising!]

After watching a video on youtube showing the food on Azamara, and also

reading some reviews, i think the quality and choice of food looks much better than Marella. We have done 6 Marella cruises and the standard has definitely dropped food and drinkwise since covid. Unfortunately the prices are getting ridiculous. We are still putting the feelers out to maybe try another cruise line. I really don’t see a problem with the crew saying welcome home when you are boarding after being off the ship. Each to their own though.

[Cliffholl55]

On 3/4/2023 at 1:04 PM, paularmstrong said:

we are in similar predicament , having sailed with marella a lot we have decided to have a change . recently returned from discovery in caribbean whilst docked up in Antigua p&o avia was beside us, all new and crew were cleaning it all down , you could write your name on our balcony glass . that ship worked out £1000 cheaper than ours . Sorry marella we have been loyal but your prices dont add up . We have booked p&o next winter flying direct from Newcastle with TUI chartered by P&O premium class with balcony for £1000 cheaper on a brand new ship . Only thing we dont get in are drinks but would never drink £1000 worth in 2 weeks

We were on Arvia 3 weeks ago and was along side Discovery in the Caribbean after our Marella cruise was cancelled day b4 departure. Booked PO and saved £1500 . As you say even paying for booze still lots cheaper and better cruise.

Oh , and better customer relations 

[Wacktle]

We've been on 3 Azamara cruises, but several years ago. Quest in 2013 from Seville (city centre, not Cadiz) to Barcelona, Quest in 2014 from Barcelona to Nice, and Journey in 2016 from/to Dubai. To compare, we've done 3 Thomson/Marella cruises, twice on Dream - Canaries and Caribbean, and last month on Explorer 2 in the Caribbean.

 

The big differences for us are the flight and disembarcation arrangements. Marella's dedicated flights and the ability to remain onboard, all-inclusive, until your included transport takes you to the airport are big pluses. No matter what time your homeward flight is, Azamara will disembark you at 8.30. When looking at cruises, I find there's limited flight options and, from people's reviews, their flights can be indirect and inconvenient.

 

Our experiences on the 3 cruises we did turned out ok. I think the 2013 cruise was well-packaged and our transfer to Barcelona airport worked well with the flight. Our flight back from Nice in 2014 was in the evening. We transferred to the airport in the morning and (after a lot of faff), left our luggage in the left-luggage area, and got a local bus back to Nice, did an open-top bus tour, had lunch, etc, before going back for our flight. In Dubai, we didn't mind a bit of a wait at the airport because we'd upgraded to Emirates Business Class and their lounge was wonderful! 

 

Other differences are the nationalities onboard; lots of Americans on our Azamara cruises, plus umpteen other nationalities. Not a problem. Just different. That's also reflected in the food. Senior officers, including the Captain, are very hands-on, visible and approachable on Azamara. 

 

Now Azamara are no longer owned by Royal Caribbean, I believe there's been some changes and, from what I read, Onward is run a little differently to the other 3 ships. I think it's all still bedding in. 

 

Sorry to waffle, but I hope it helps.