Why no new Azamara ships?

I sail on Celebrity a lot, enough to now be Elite plus. I would love to sail on Azamara if they had a newer and more modern ship.

All of it's competition is currently sailing and building new ships.

Oceania

Seabourn

Regent

Celebrity

Viking

Crystal

I don't like small rooms, shower curtains, old decor, french balconies etc...

It almost feels like RCL doesn't care about this brand.

Does anyone else agree? Celebrity is going to begin retiring the Millenium class ships as the new Edge ships are built beginning in 2018. And they are all newer than the old Renaissance ships that Azamara sails...

Seabourn sold off it's older ships, and now only sails three new ones, and is building two more! Their rooms are 300 sq ft, almost 50% larger than an Azamara cabin,...for almost the same price. And no mildewy shower curtain...yuch

Hopefully an announcement is forthcoming.....

Good point. The new Viking Star looks good.

Good question. I wonder if you are going to get an answer from Azamara, who are the only ones who probably can answer your question without too much speculation.

Good question. I wonder if you are going to get an answer from Azamara, who are the only ones who probably can answer your question without too much speculation.

I posed the question to them on the " ask Azamara " site, under the questions about refurbishing thread. It occurred to me, why are they continuing to refurbish 20 yo ships, when their competition has long sold those older model ships and are sailing new ships ?

There is only so much you can do to an old ship. The cabins and bathrooms will still be much smaller than anything on it's competitors ships. The balconies aren't going to get any larger either.

RCL is building new ships annually for Royal Caribbean, and has five newer Celebrity ships and now building a new class of ship to debut 2018.

Why is Azamara being ignored?

You might find this thread interesting: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2163221

Garry

I posed the question to them on the " ask Azamara " site, under the questions about refurbishing thread. It occurred to me, why are they continuing to refurbish 20 yo ships, when their competition has long sold those older model ships and are sailing new ships ?

 

There is only so much you can do to an old ship. The cabins and bathrooms will still be much smaller than anything on it's competitors ships. The balconies aren't going to get any larger either.

 

RCL is building new ships annually for Royal Caribbean, and has five newer Celebrity ships and now building a new class of ship to debut 2018.

 

Why is Azamara being ignored?

Actually one of their competitors, Oceania, has recently purchased and refurbished some of the old "R" ships, and in our personal case, loving the design the way we do, we don't see the need to mothball these ships.

Of course, we view the shower curtains as a "feature" and the bathroom itself a masterly example of efficient design. So perhaps we are in a small minority[emoji4]

You might find this thread interesting: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2163221

 

Garry

Yes, Thank you. Hopefully there is something to the speculation. Azamara is way late to the new ship announcement party

Oceania did buy one of the old R ships, but it is completely refitting and rebuilding it, not just doing a dry dock refurb as is customary for most ships.

It should be noted that Oceania has three newer ships, and is building at least one more.

I've noticed Azamara commercials on TV recently, and I get a lot of brochures. Hopefully this is a sign that RCL is going to pay more attention to this long ignored brand.

Lastly..one has to ask, why pay the premium prices for a 190sq ft room with an antiquated bathroom?

Oceania, Regent,Viking and Seabourn offer much larger cabins and balcony's for roughly the same price.

Actually one of their competitors, Oceania, has recently purchased and refurbished some of the old "R" ships, and in our personal case, loving the design the way we do, we don't see the need to mothball these ships.

 

Of course, we view the shower curtains as a "feature" and the bathroom itself a masterly example of efficient design. So perhaps we are in a small minority[emoji4]

I agree. If someone doesn't want to sail on Azamara ships, he or she can stick with mass-market Celebrity. Meh.

It isn't an either or proposition....Azamara competes with many small ship cruiselines like Seabourn, Oceania, Silverseas and Regent.

All sail new ships, and/ or are building more.

I'm sailing on Seabourn for a month in a few weeks, I PREFER smaller ships....just not old ones.

I agree. If someone doesn't want to sail on Azamara ships, he or she can stick with mass-market Celebrity. Meh.

Actually, the new suite experience on Celebrity may be quite strong competition for Azamara on certain routes. We will be trying it in May in Alaska (not an Azamara route of course) but it could put a serious contender on the table for elsewhere

Yes, Thank you. Hopefully there is something to the speculation. Azamara is way late to the new ship announcement party

Oceania did buy one of the old R ships, but it is completely refitting and rebuilding it, not just doing a dry dock refurb as is customary for most ships.

It should be noted that Oceania has three newer ships, and is building at least one more.

I've noticed Azamara commercials on TV recently, and I get a lot of brochures. Hopefully this is a sign that RCL is going to pay more attention to this long ignored brand.

Lastly..one has to ask, why pay the premium prices for a 190sq ft room with an antiquated bathroom?

Oceania, Regent,Viking and Seabourn offer much larger cabins and balcony's for roughly the same price.

We sail on Azamara and love Azamara because of the crew experience we always have. The crew is like family to us. We know them well, we are treated exceptionally well, and the experience is always a great one. We do not travel for the suite, we travel for the experience, and with Azamara it is always 1st Class

Hi Kenvzworld, firstly welcome to the forum and hopefully to the Azamara Club Cruises brand. I'd love to make you a convert but I doubt mere words will do it. As many of our loyalists will tell you, you just have to try Azamara for yourself. I hope you will sail with us someday.

Our research tells us Cruisers choose a holiday based on where they want to travel to to see the destination. Azamara is focused on delivering a destination-immersive customer-centric experience.

Our time for additional ships and new builds will come, but even if/with new hardware our focus would remain on the destination and on our customers' experience.

Regarding your promotion of other lines, of course we recognize there are plenty of other lines to choose from. That said, we are very happy you are a loyal customer of our sister company Celebrity Cruises.

Lastly, I hope you'll keep reading our literature, seeing our tv commercials, and contributing to this forum. Someday we may win you over!

I sail on Celebrity a lot, enough to now be Elite plus. I would love to sail on Azamara if they had a newer and more modern ship.

 

I don't like small rooms, shower curtains, old decor, french balconies etc...

It almost feels like RCL doesn't care about this brand.

Does anyone else agree? Celebrity is going to begin retiring the Millenium class ships as the new Edge ships are built beginning in 2018. And they are all newer than the old Renaissance ships that Azamara sails...

Seabourn sold off it's older ships, and now only sails three new ones, and is building two more! Their rooms are 300 sq ft, almost 50% larger than an Azamara cabin,...for almost the same price. And no mildewy shower curtain...yuch

Hopefully an announcement is forthcoming.....

Your comments are what we thought AZ would be like, and why we waited so long to ever book with them. We are in our mid-30's, LOVE the Solstice Class ships and are Elite + with X. But I have to say that we were blown away by how lovely the Journey was. As soon as we walked on, we knew that we were in a completely different echelon from X ships and found every area of the ship to be wonderfully upscale and, yes, even very contemporary in many areas. We are only booking Club Continent Suites for our AZ cruises, which are really large rooms with large bathrooms. These ships are great, and we feel that a thorough refurb will keep these ships in great shape for several more years.

However, these ships can't last forever, and RCI will need to invest in new builds for this product if they plan on AZ continuing to be a viable product in the future.

Michael & Omar

I sail on Celebrity a lot, enough to now be Elite plus. I would love to sail on Azamara if they had a newer and more modern ship.

All of it's competition is currently sailing and building new ships.

Oceania

Seabourn

Regent

Celebrity

Viking

Crystal

I don't like small rooms, shower curtains, old decor, french balconies etc...

It almost feels like RCL doesn't care about this brand.

Does anyone else agree? Celebrity is going to begin retiring the Millenium class ships as the new Edge ships are built beginning in 2018. And they are all newer than the old Renaissance ships that Azamara sails...

Seabourn sold off it's older ships, and now only sails three new ones, and is building two more! Their rooms are 300 sq ft, almost 50% larger than an Azamara cabin,...for almost the same price. And no mildewy shower curtain...yuch

Hopefully an announcement is forthcoming.....

Hi Kevnzworld,

This is a question that's asked frequently, and it's a fair one. Many of us wonder why RCCL treats Azamara as if they have little interest in the brand. I'm not saying that's a fact, but the lack of a major investment makes you wonder. It cannot possibly be about money, as RCCL has plenty of resources, and constantly invests in the RCCL brand. As you've mentioned, Celebrity recently announced 2 newbuilds - though the two Celebrity ships aren't due for 3 and 5 years respectively. I do not believe it's etched in stone that the M-Class will leave the fleet when the newbuilds are delivered... but by 2018 & 2020, the M-Class will be roughly 18-20 years of age, so I suppose it's possible.

I believe that it was stated on here, that Azamara would eventually build, when certain goals were met. Have they been met ? I doubt Azamara will share that information with us... but it seems that bookings are strong, and pricing is the highest I've observed since their inception. Add that up, and you would think Azamara should be doing quite well - but that's speculation.

I agree that Azamara has won over many passionate fans, mostly due to their incredible crew and wonderful onboard experience. Personally, I'd sail Azamara again in a heartbeat, as I do not care about the age of the ships, as Journey and Quest are beautiful. With that said, I believe that guest passion can only carry Azamara so far - perhaps another few years. With all of the newbuilds and R-Class refurbishments at other brands - along with acquisitions such as this week's Crystal buyout.... RCCL/Azamara is simply going to have to make a move, and (IMO) the sooner the better. The reason I say this, is that even if Azamara were to announce a ship in the very near future - it's going to take 2-3 years for her to be delivered. That's a long time in the cruise business, especially when many of their competitors are making significant investments in their respective brands. RCCL must do the same, to insure a bright future for Azamara !

With all due respect, it's time for RCCL to recognize the brilliant gem they have in Azamara, and build the ships they so dearly deserve. Frankly, their management team, and their fantastic Officers & Crew have earned it !

For me the Azamara ships are just fine. Before I sailed on them for the first time and having had experience of the M-Class (those huge corner FV cabins and balconies) and S-Class Celebrity ships I was concerned by the accommodation size, but I was more than won over by the onboard experience.

I will admit that a year or so ago I was worried by the lack of investment and wondered about Azamara's future. The dry docks scheduled in 2012 were scaled back significantly. Much more extensive ones are to happen later this year and early next for both ships. The new public deck space furniture is excellent. The ships are kept immaculately. The updates will be welcome and I feel much more comfortable now.

As for new ships, this has been talked about for ages and is always a question that seems to come up at the Q & A sessions on the ship. Personally I feel that we aren't far from an announcement here. No inside info, just a gut feeling. It won't be a new build I don't think. Azamara could do a lot worse than buying one or two of the other R-Class ships when available. They are lovely ships.

Phil

Kevinzworld is making a lot of assumptions without knowing the product. We love Oceania's 3, soon to be 4, R ships -have sailed 11 times with them. Yes, their 2 new ships are lovely, but lack the charm of the others - also we prefer the size of the smaller ones. French balconies? Those are on river boats. How much balcony do you need? Yes, the bathrooms are small but very efficient, suit me fine. We have only sailed Azamara once and have another booked in 2016 because the itinerary appealed to us, but found it a wonderful experience. We have also enjoyed the Equinox twice, large as it is. The best part is, of course, there is a ship or 2 or 3 out there for everyone. If new ships are your choice, stick to them and leave the others to us. There is plenty to go around.

For me the Azamara ships are just fine. Before I sailed on them for the first time and having had experience of the M-Class (those huge corner FV cabins and balconies) and S-Class Celebrity ships I was concerned by the accommodation size, but I was more than won over by the onboard experience.

 

I will admit that a year or so ago I was worried by the lack of investment and wondered about Azamara's future. The dry docks scheduled in 2012 were scaled back significantly. Much more extensive ones are to happen later this year and early next for both ships. The new public deck space furniture is excellent. The ships are kept immaculately. The updates will be welcome and I feel much more comfortable now.

 

As for new ships, this has been talked about for ages and is always a question that seems to come up at the Q & A sessions on the ship. Personally I feel that we aren't far from an announcement here. No inside info, just a gut feeling. It won't be a new build I don't think. Azamara could do a lot worse than buying one or two of the other R-Class ships when available. They are lovely ships.

 

Phil

As a Celebrity cruiser, I have put Azamara on my list for small ship experience. The only reason we booked a 2016 European Celebrity cruise is because we had one open passage left to use, and found a unique Constellation cruise around Spain. We also have our bucket list of places still to cruise: Northern Europe, and South America.

The new kid on the block, Viking Ocean, will be sailing sold out for their first season in one month. I think Viking with a fleet of four new ships in the coming years will set the new bar for small ship epxerience. I am smitten by their design of verandas only, no casino, lots of al fresco dining, and other new features. If excellent reviews come back from the well travelled small ship cruisers , other lines will be put on notice.

I am looking at 2017 and it will be either Viking or Azamara for cruises that year.

I will be retired by then, and have more time for cruising.:)

Hi Kevnzworld,

 

This is a question that's asked frequently, and it's a fair one. Many of us wonder why RCCL treats Azamara as if they have little interest in the brand. I'm not saying that's a fact, but the lack of a major investment makes you wonder. It cannot possibly be about money, as RCCL has plenty of resources, and constantly invests in the RCCL brand. As you've mentioned, Celebrity recently announced 2 newbuilds - though the two Celebrity ships aren't due for 3 and 5 years respectively. I do not believe it's etched in stone that the M-Class will leave the fleet when the newbuilds are delivered... but by 2018 & 2020, the M-Class will be roughly 18-20 years of age, so I suppose it's possible.

 

I believe that it was stated on here, that Azamara would eventually build, when certain goals were met. Have they been met ? I doubt Azamara will share that information with us... but it seems that bookings are strong, and pricing is the highest I've observed since their inception. Add that up, and you would think Azamara should be doing quite well - but that's speculation.

 

I agree that Azamara has won over many passionate fans, mostly due to their incredible crew and wonderful onboard experience. Personally, I'd sail Azamara again in a heartbeat, as I do not care about the age of the ships, as Journey and Quest are beautiful. With that said, I believe that guest passion can only carry Azamara so far - perhaps another few years. With all of the newbuilds and R-Class refurbishments at other brands - along with acquisitions such as this week's Crystal buyout.... RCCL/Azamara is simply going to have to make a move, and (IMO) the sooner the better. The reason I say this, is that even if Azamara were to announce a ship in the very near future - it's going to take 2-3 years for her to be delivered. That's a long time in the cruise business, especially when many of their competitors are making significant investments in their respective brands. RCCL must do the same, to insure a bright future for Azamara !

 

With all due respect, it's time for RCCL to recognize the brilliant gem they have in Azamara, and build the ships they so dearly deserve. Frankly, their management team, and their fantastic Officers & Crew have earned it !

All great points Andy , and much more eloquently stated than mine. As someone else recently pointed out, Viking has 4 new ocean ships being built.

I didn't like Oceania btw. They might have new ships, and somewhat larger verandas but the food, attitude and ambiance wasn't to my liking.

I would LOVE to like Azamara given my Celebrity loyalty status.

The problem is their cabins are small, and their suite prices are very high.

For the approximate price of their regular 190 sq ft cabin with an efficiency bathroom, I can sail on a new Seabourn ship, 450 passengers in a 300 sq ft cabin, walk in closet and a separate shower and bathtub.

( and the service, food and ports are great and alcohol is included ).

Again, it seems like some announcement will be forthcoming soon....:)

We went on Azamara 2 yrs ago to the british isles and had a wonderful trip as well as treated better than most cruiselines.

In november we cruised Crystal and what a difference? The Symphony was beautiful where the Azamara Quest lacked that luster!

When I stepped on the Quest I felt I had been on it before a few years before with very little change being done to it. Was this ship a previous princess ship?:confused:

Azamara was a 7 out of 10 where Crystal was a 12. If Azamara had newer ships there could be a competition.

Azamara needs to keep up and we will be on the viking star in January 2016. Keeping up means not only great itineraries and service but a beautiful ship.......thats what I want;)

Azamara is the ONLY line in the near-luxury and luxury universe that has NOT recently announced new builds or acquisitions. Time (past time) for RCCL to make a decision/announcement. We love Azamara (cruised 5 times on the Journey), but would also love to see them keep up with a new build!