TA on Journey , or stick with Celebrity?

We have cruise Azamara journey on the Mediterranean but it was in 2009 have been cruising Celebrity because of the deals.

That cruise was before drinks were included

Looking at April 2 TA on the Journey , have done 4 TAs on S-class ship

Wonder is there enough to do on the Journey?

Beening a smaller ship how does it fair in rougher seas?

We have been in 15 m (50 ft ) seas on Equinox and was fine

Also can we get shareholder credit on the Azamara?

We are booked on the Journey TA in April 2016. I have done seven TAs on ships varying in size from 5,000 to 150,000 tons. These old Renaissance ships do NOT have a good reputation as 'sea boats' in heavy weather. However, lots of days at sea, seems to me to be the ideal opportunity to enjoy 'luxury' ships. I don't see the point in paying more for a luxury ship on a port intensive cruise, when you spend most of your time on shore or asleep!

Small ships never seem all that small to me when I am sailing on them. As the maritime historian, John Maxtone-Graham, said: "a crossing is a period of time at sea, when there is nothing to do and not enough time in which to do it!" Unless you require constant entertaining, I am sure that you will find that your days just melt away in the daily shipborne routine! :)

I'd stay on Celebrity as there isn't much to do on the Journey for many sea days in a row. If port intensive then AZ by all means.

Yes, you can get shareholder credit on Azamara as long as they do not offer any other OBCs to you for the sailing

On the Silhouette April TA , there is about 10 cruising friends already book

, but Journey is about the same price to days longer but has drinks and gratuities include

Final payment for the Silhouette is 75 days so it around February 6

When is Journey final payment date , 75 day?

I have been reading the Azamara forum thoroughly for a while now, deciding and now preparing for my first Azamara cruise. And I have cruised an R-ship (Oceania Insignia). From all that I have a guess that a TA on Azamara will suffer in two ways: (1) small ship that will really bounce around in bad weather; (2) not much in the way of entertainment or activities for so many sea days. The second may not matter if you want to adopt the classic "crossing" mentality as quoted above (which is actually very appealing to me, especially compared to Hairy Legs contests ;)). But you might consider Crystal instead: the ships are apparently more seaworthy for crossings, and they ramp up the already excellent guest lecturers even more for a TA. I would really look forward to the activities on a Crystal crossing; DW's eyes glaze over -- non gustibus...

Don't forget to take into account whether it is a North or South Atlantic crossing. We have just returned from Journey crossing TA from Malaga to Rio and the ship fared very well.

I don't think I would ever do a North Atlantic crossing.

I have done TAs on both Azamara and Celebrity, and as far as entertainment goes I think it really depends on what type of activities/entertainment you enjoy. We had just a fabulous watercolor painting class on my Azamara TA--smaller group and more individual attention than you'd get on Celebrity (where I've had good painting and jewelry making classes too but they are kind of mob scenes due to their size, with lots of people being turned away due to space limitations.) Azamara had 1 or 2 lectures a day while Celebrity had 2 or 3, but the quality seemed the same--I expect they draw from the same speaker pool. Celebrity had slightly more varied theater-type entertainment and the sight lines etc. in the theater venue were much better. There seemed to be very active bridge groups on both lines if you play. The casino was very small on Azamara, if that interests you. Trivia was a big activity and (though I didn't participate so could be wrong) there seemed to be about the same number of trivia sessions on both lines. Celebrity has the indoor pool area which is nice.

The crossing was definitely rougher on Azamara (there were a couple of days where I spent most of my time in bed with my eyes closed, despite taking meds for motion sickness) but I think we were also unlucky with the weather.

I'm not much of a drinker but the included drinks on Azamara were a nice touch, and the food was better and the staff seemed less rushed and friendlier (though I have no complaints with Celebrity service--or food--just that Azamara had a friendlier, more relaxed atmosphere.)

If the price was the same for both, despite my rough crossing I'd definitely choose Azamara again.

Oh, and "frequent flyer" points don't combine. You get your Celebrity status on Azamara for things like internet minutes or whatever they are offering these days, and vice versa, but you collect separate points on each line. Unless that has changed in the last couple years--I haven't really kept up. But you can easily look that up on the Celebrity or Azamara website.

Enjoy your TA, whichever you choose!

Oh, and "frequent flyer" points don't combine. You get your Celebrity status on Azamara for things like internet minutes or whatever they are offering these days, and vice versa, but you collect separate points on each line.

Cruise points earned on Celebrity [Captain's Club] and Azamara [Le Club Voyage] do cross-accumulate and have since Azamara was first established as a separate entity [initially, Azamara was envisioned as part of Celebrity but never did operate that way] in 2007... That said, it is necessary to enroll in both Captain's Club and Le Club Voyage--it is not automatic--for the cross-accumulation of Cruse Points between the two lines to occur [though to the best of my knowledge, one's membership number in each of the programs is the same]...

Royal Caribbean does provide some level of reciprocal loyalty recognition to Celebrity/Azamara cruisers--and vice versa--but points earned with Royal or Celebrity/Azamara do not cross-accumulate with the other [again, one must enroll in Royal's Crown & Anchor Society to receive reciprocity benefits when a Celebrity/Azamara cruiser sails with Royal]...

As you've pointed out, the terms are clearly outlined at any of the three cruise line websites...

Being prone to sea sickness I would hesitate to book Azamara for a TA crossing especially in autumn. When we went to the Canaries in November ( admittedly in rather unusually rough weather and seas) I sometimes felt decidedly queasy despite our midships cabin and even my husband who could have been a penguin or seal in an earlier life because he never suffers at sea took some ginger.

In all other aspects we'd gladly take one of the Azamara ships again: food and service are wonderful, the included drinks quite nice to have, a great library for those who still enjoy reading and a lot of personal space to sit and enjoy the relaxing time at sea . But our interests mostly lie in having a quiet and relaxing time, GOOD lectures etc. It's one of the reasons why we'd also consider a TA crossing on a Cunard ship.

We also tried the Equinox for a westbound TA and - to be honest - didn't like it much because we couldn't find enough quiet places to enjoy besides our cabin . It was a rough crossing as well which didn't bother us on the big ship, but we found the offered entertainment a bit bland ( too many shows we had already seen a few times, lecturers mediocre and we had heard them before) and the music too loud, especially in the atrium, the library and the Café al Bacio which are our favourite places on the ship.

We found that for us (!) transatlantics are not really our thing and we prefer cruises with a relaxing mix of port days and sea days.

Final payment for the Silhouette is 75 days so it around February 6

When is Journey final payment date , 75 day?

I don't think this question has been answered. Last year Azamara changed the final payment date to 90 days prior (and for us in the UK at least) the non-refundable deposit from £150 to £250 per person.

I'm on the 2nd April Journey cruise so might see you there. The number of sea days isn't a worry. I enjoy them and have done a few cruises on Azamara with plenty (bcscot, love the J M-G quote), but it's my first TA on one of these smaller ships so will see how I get on. It takes a southerly North Atlantic route so the odds are better, but I'm prepared!

Phil

If you get sea sick avoid the smaller ships. Best ship to cross the Atlantic is the Queen Mary 2...lots to do and a smooth ride. Our problem with the QM2 was the dress code..17 formal nights out of 24 nights. Would have loved the Azamara dress code. My DH isn't one to just sit read a book, listen to music etc. He has to be doing something all the time...he went stir crazy on the Azamara cruises with more than two consecutive sea days.

We've done 2 TAs on Azamara, one Oceania R class, and some 13 on other Celebrity or RCI ships. If the prices were close to comparable, I'd go with Azamara in the blink of an eye.

Yes, on one crossing we had two days of somewhat bumpy travel on an Azamara. OAnd we've had some days of bumpy travel on others.

when i hear from crew members how bad the ride is- then I do not want to be on her on a TA. plus i also get bored without more to do.

TA cruises have multiple days at sea. Celebrity ships offer more options for entertainment. Celebrity ships have indoor pools which are great in any weather. Also, Celebrity ships are more stable. Celebrity offers more discounts. I like Azamara. However, crossing the Atlantic on a small shi isnotorme.

TA cruises have multiple days at sea. Celebrity ships offer more options for entertainment. Celebrity ships have indoor pools which are great in any weather. Also, Celebrity ships are more stable. Celebrity offers more discounts. I like Azamara. However, crossing the Atlantic on a small shi isnotorme.

Celebrity ships also "offer" three or four times as many passengers, something I want no part of anymore on a trans-Atlantic, as the service is essentially impersonal with that big a crowd and you are just one of 2800 anonymous passengers.

Also, we've done three trans-Atlantic on Azamara ships, including the one ellbon keeps ranting about that had to deal with a hurricane in mid-Atlantic. It was not a big deal at all, and no more rough than one we did years ago on a ship with 2400 passengers. All this talk about Quest's and Journey's lack of stability is exaggerated, in my opinion, and will needlessly scare people away from an Azamara TA for no good reason.

I found the Journey to feel more a crowded on a sea day then the Equniox or Silhouette, if you were looking for a place in the sun