Pursuit Review from Azamara Newbie

[Vineyard View]

4 hours ago, lackcreativity said:

Azulann,

I am here from the Viking threads, for the same reason. Love Viking, but need some new itineraries in Europe, especially the Mediterranean. 

 

Brazilgirl,

Your review has been very helpful. I will continue investigating Azamara.

Exactly the same here. We are trying a different line than Viking this May, but looking closely at Azamara for next spring. Feel like we’ve kind of been there done that in the Mediterranean ports that Viking goes to that we want to visit. 
Reports like these are very helpful. Thank you. 

[Solent Richard]

3 hours ago, Vineyard View said:

Exactly the same here. We are trying a different line than Viking this May, but looking closely at Azamara for next spring. Feel like we’ve kind of been there done that in the Mediterranean ports that Viking goes to that we want to visit. 
Reports like these are very helpful. Thank you. 

We too are about to become 'first' Azamarians and for the very same reasons  as you state. We consider ourselves 'traditional cruisers' and, with the exception of Cunard's Queen Mary 2 trans Atlantics, we crave new ports which Azamara just happened to provide.

 

We too are fans of Viking and have sailed with Seabourn, Silversea and Hapag-Lloyd. I am most encouraged by @brazilgirl 's comprehensive review and am determined to sail Azamara with an open mind and no pre-conceived perceptions.

[Grandma Cruising]

Great review brazilgirl. I agree with most of your comments - but then we’re Azamara loyalists and have been for quite some time. 
It was lovely to meet you and your husband on the cruise. Maybe we’ll meet again on Azamara!

[brazilgirl]

Thank you all who read the review and commented. I hope those of you inspired to try Azamara enjoy it as much as we did.

 

If anyone has questions about anything specific, I am happy to answer.

[brazilgirl]

3 hours ago, Grandma Cruising said:

Great review brazilgirl. I agree with most of your comments - but then we’re Azamara loyalists and have been for quite some time. 
It was lovely to meet you and your husband on the cruise. Maybe we’ll meet again on Azamara!

It was lovely meeting you too and thank you for all the helpful spreadsheets and suggestions you give Azamara cruisers. They were all so useful!

[travelfun001]

Thanks for your detailed review!

[brazilgirl]

On 4/4/2023 at 1:32 PM, travelfun001 said:

Thanks for your detailed review!

Glad you enjoyed it 🥰

[Sleep7]

Wow!! LOVED your review and pictures!

We have an upcoming Onward cruise coming up soon and reading your posts made me extra excited about it.

I plan to write a detailed review with pix as well.

Thanks for posting! Welcome home!

[brazilgirl]

17 hours ago, Sleep7 said:

Wow!! LOVED your review and pictures!

We have an upcoming Onward cruise coming up soon and reading your posts made me extra excited about it.

I plan to write a detailed review with pix as well.

Thanks for posting! Welcome home!

Thank you so much for the kind words! I will watch for your review, I love following people’s trips 

[7leagueboots]

Thanks for the photos. They were great.

[Maggie North]

Thank you for your newbie review! We are not sailing on Azamara until next October, but have a few more  in our sites! Have sailed mostly Celebrity in the past, and we have quite a few booked between now and then!

I appreciate your comment about Funchal; we honeymooned there in the '80's and have not been back since. Will visit next spring...so looking forward to that for sure. From photos I have seen, the island is more developed now. We stayed at the Reids Hotel...which I do believe is walking distance from the port!

Thanks again and wishing you happy sailings in the future.

 

 

 

[brazilgirl]

2 hours ago, Maggie North said:

Thank you for your newbie review! We are not sailing on Azamara until next October, but have a few more  in our sites! Have sailed mostly Celebrity in the past, and we have quite a few booked between now and then!

I appreciate your comment about Funchal; we honeymooned there in the '80's and have not been back since. Will visit next spring...so looking forward to that for sure. From photos I have seen, the island is more developed now. We stayed at the Reids Hotel...which I do believe is walking distance from the port!

Thanks again and wishing you happy sailings in the future.

 

 

 

Like you , we have mostly sailed on Celebrity in the past. I think Azamara will be very enjoyable, happy sailing!

 

I know in just the last few years Madeira has really developed a lot. We live on mainland Portugal and the Portuguese comment about all the development and the boom of tourism there. It really did blow me away, I hope it maintains the level of development it has now, which is nicely balanced and not become overly developed like some islands ( Tenerife for example is lovely but has passed that nice balance IMHO)

 

Let us know what you think of Azamara when you get back from your cruise in October 😃

[Maggie North]

4 hours ago, brazilgirl said:

Like you , we have mostly sailed on Celebrity in the past. I think Azamara will be very enjoyable, happy sailing!

 

I know in just the last few years Madeira has really developed a lot. We live on mainland Portugal and the Portuguese comment about all the development and the boom of tourism there. It really did blow me away, I hope it maintains the level of development it has now, which is nicely balanced and not become overly developed like some islands ( Tenerife for example is lovely but has passed that nice balance IMHO)

 

Let us know what you think of Azamara when you get back from your cruise in October 😃

I travel to Madeira via Google maps and can see all the tunnels on the west side of the island, where we took tiny roads teetering on the edge of cliffs 40 years ago!! We are anxious to return to look for familiar places but understand things change. 

I do believe we sail into Lisbon next year on yet another cruise!  Ha! We keep saying that when our cruising days are over, we plan to fly to Portugal and Spain and DRIVE through the countries. We lived in Amsterdam in the 80's (thus we would have NEVER thought of going to Madeira on our honeymoon!!!)...and saw a lot of Europe (but not Spain and Portugal; hard to get to on a long weekend!)  by car. Will be fun to see some of the same cities from the deck of a cruise ship!

I'll try to report back...thanks for your reply!

 

Edited April 13, 2023 by Maggie North

[Sallyandtex]

On 3/26/2023 at 9:43 PM, brazilgirl said:

Thank you all who read the review and commented. I hope those of you inspired to try Azamara enjoy it as much as we did.

 

If anyone has questions about anything specific, I am happy to answer.

Hi, apologies if you already answered this,  how did you find the hair dryer? I have thick hair and it will need drying! Not keen to pack my own as I am space and weight limited. 

Thanks!