Azamara Club Cruises - Unchartered Territory

[jconeil]

Great review. We enjoy Az too, like the size. Your comments on the Renaissance Line brought back some memories. We were big fans, as were many others, & were booked for a cruise when 9/11 hit. Ren. had ordered their 8 ships & some were nearing completion at the time. Of course, all travel was stopped for some time, even then getting back to "normal":rolleyes: took some time, & many cruises were cancelled. I think this is what did Ren. in, as they could not bear the debt load of 8 new ships without income. We have since sailed on many of these R ships with several lines who purchased them. We are on the Journey again in April. Looking forward to it!

[tgg]

Great review. We enjoy Az too, like the size. Your comments on the Renaissance Line brought back some memories.

 

Renaissance actually had 16 ships. There were 8 smaller ships that held 114 passengers each. They were identified with roman numerals, Renaissance IV for instance. I know some of them are still sailing. The Galapagos Explorer is one of them. We've also seen the Corinthian II and the Clelia II that are used for charters. They're wonderful very small ships that provide a completely different cruise experience.

[leonardofan]

For those who haven't seen it yet, in the 2012 Berlitz Guide Mr. Ward

has raised the ratings of the Azamara ships to be comparable to those

of Oceana. Nice to see the effort recognized... :)

[California Native]

Great Review! and I loved your pictures!!!!

I did look at your older albums and I'm pretty sure we sailed together way back when, after seeing them you look very familiar

I started cruising when I was a young child almost 40 years ago.

I think we were both in our teens or early 20's....wish I could place the ship.

Bon Voyage!

[gelo7]

Great review and wonderful pictures.

[hazelmaye]

Hello, enjoyed your pictures very mich. Thanks for sharing them. Judy

[mister exec]

Ernie - My wife and I are taking our first Azamara cruise in March so your review and pictures were exactly what we wanted to read and see. Thanks for taking the time to share your experiencee. Marc

[alita]

Belated thanks for the superb review and great photos of your voyage. I've been thinking of jumping ship and joining Azamara cruisers and your report has cinched it for me!

 

If you happen to see this post I'd love to know the identity of the photo at the bottom of post #2 (fifth in the order).

 

Thanks,

 

alita

[Phxazzcruisers]

Thanks for the great pictures and review. My partner and I have been on both Journey and Quest. We have a back to back scheduled on Quest at the end of July and can't wait to be back on the ship. We always have a great time !!!! Your pictures made us homesick !!!

[Phxazzcruisers]

Belated thanks for the superb review and great photos of your voyage. I've been thinking of jumping ship and joining Azamara cruisers and your report has cinched it for me!

 

If you happen to see this post I'd love to know the identity of the photo at the bottom of post #2 (fifth in the order).

 

Thanks,

 

alita

 

I believe it was taken in Capri

[Azulann]

Thank you for the review and pictures of the ship.

 

I am thinking of booking the Journey in 2013 with their Turkey itinerary.

I like the idea of staying in some ports till late into the evening or even overnight.

 

Have sailed Celebrity, but they do not offer the itinerary of the Turkey ports.

[cruiseclues]

Ernie, Great stuff, as usual. :)

[Mparis184]

Thanks Ernie for your wonderful review. I especially enjoyed reading the Amazara history. Our first Amazara cruise will be in 2 weeks on the Journey. I am looking forward to it with eager anticipation because of all the great things I have read about the ship and it's crew.

 

Marion

[eroller]

FYI all the photos from the review have been moved to my new photo site at the following link:

 

 

 

Ernie

[Dr H]

We were on almost the same cruise on Journey in the Fall of 2010. Completely new to cruising, all I knew when I booked was a) the itinerary, b) it was a small ship (no rock climbing walls or kiddie pools), and c) it was "upscale" with a funny name. We brought no expectations with us, met a load of lovely people/cruise mates here on cruisecritic before we even came close to launching, and went for a 12 day Mediterranean vacation. What you have written completely describes our experiences. Alas, it will still be another full year before we head out to Copenhagen to catch Quest for Northern Scandianvia and Iceland. I really can't imagine traveling with anyone else at this point. I'm taking the liberty of lifting your report, and sending it on to friends who will be joining us on their first cruise. M keeps saying she needs encouragement. If your posting isn't encouraging, the poor woman is hopeless. And to everyone who has never sailed with Azamara and is reading this post, no, I don't work for them, and yes, it really is like that! Those people truly have worked and deserve these kudos.

 

David

[eroller]

We were on almost the same cruise on Journey in the Fall of 2010. Completely new to cruising, all I knew when I booked was a) the itinerary, b) it was a small ship (no rock climbing walls or kiddie pools), and c) it was "upscale" with a funny name. We brought no expectations with us, met a load of lovely people/cruise mates here on cruisecritic before we even came close to launching, and went for a 12 day Mediterranean vacation. What you have written completely describes our experiences. Alas, it will still be another full year before we head out to Copenhagen to catch Quest for Northern Scandianvia and Iceland. I really can't imagine traveling with anyone else at this point. I'm taking the liberty of lifting your report, and sending it on to friends who will be joining us on their first cruise. M keeps saying she needs encouragement. If your posting isn't encouraging, the poor woman is hopeless. And to everyone who has never sailed with Azamara and is reading this post, no, I don't work for them, and yes, it really is like that! Those people truly have worked and deserve these kudos.

 

David

 

 

 

Always great to hear others that share the same exceptional Azamara experience. It's not a one-off, but a consistently excellent product that delivers!

 

Ernie

[ljk76]

FYI all the photos from the review have been moved to my new photo site at the following link:

 

 

 

Ernie

 

Thank you, Ernie, for posting the new location of your photos. (i had even bookmarked them, but i knew MobileMe was going away.) Your review helped us decide on trying Azamara, and for opting for the Club Continent suite. You really had the best pictures of it that I could find anywhere! Now we have less then six weeks til we sail. Reading your original review again I just can't wait! Linda

[eroller]

Thank you, Ernie, for posting the new location of your photos. (i had even bookmarked them, but i knew MobileMe was going away.) Your review helped us decide on trying Azamara, and for opting for the Club Continent suite. You really had the best pictures of it that I could find anywhere! Now we have less then six weeks til we sail. Reading your original review again I just can't wait! Linda

 

 

You're welcome Linda! I'm jealous of your upcoming Azamara cruise. I can say with confidence you won't be disappointed.

 

Bon Voyage!

 

Ernie

[cruiseclues]

Thanks Ernie...knew you would have to move...with the number of albums you have it must have been a significant amount of work...though my work changing the links will not be minor, it can't compare to your work moving...at least you selected a photosite that should be around for awhile. :)

[eroller]

Thanks Ernie...knew you would have to move...with the number of albums you have it must have been a significant amount of work...though my work changing the links will not be minor, it can't compare to your work moving...at least you selected a photosite that should be around for awhile. :)

 

 

It was actually double the work! I decided to use a photo sharing site called Zang Zing. It had a nice interface with iPhoto and a similar look to the MobileMe Galleries. About a week after I transferred all the photos, I receive a notice that Zang Zing is shutting down. So much for using the little guy. I decided to go with an established well funded site, that as you say should be around a while. flickr is not perfect, but it does have a nice interface with iPhoto which made uploading the albums fairly painless, just time consuming.

 

Good luck with those links!

 

Ernie

[KimmyUK]

Hi Ernie

I am unable to open your pictures ? Have booked Azamara Journey today 15 May 2013. Curious about the ship - do you have another link?

Many thanks

Kimmy

[eroller]

Hi Ernie

I am unable to open your pictures ? Have booked Azamara Journey today 15 May 2013. Curious about the ship - do you have another link?

Many thanks

Kimmy

 

 

Hi Kimmy,

Which pictures link is not working? The original has been closed down as Apple shut down MobileMe. All the pictures were moved to Flickr and a new link was posted in this thread. Should be working fine as it's active.

 

Ernie

[gillianrose]

The posted link works perfectly.

[KimmyUK]

Hi Ernie

I was trying the wrong link - have found now. thank you so much :)