Giving it a GO- FamilyGoBoston sails Azamara, comparisons to RC will be made!

[reallyhooked]

Enjoyed reading your review. As we get older the smaller ship will be more appealing.

Thanks for sharing your experience

[Familygoboston]

Great review.

 

Keith

 

Thank you!

 

Thanks familygoboston for a concise and thorough review. My TA keeps trying to get us to try a luxury line such as AZ or Seaborne just for the quality of service alone. However, between our son and our ages we are not at the trying age yet. You posted a lot of quality information for future reference and thought. Thanks for taking the time in doing this.

 

Edit: what was the dress code like, for example strick formal or casual elegance?

 

Yes, there comes a time...but you wouldn't want to travel with kids at all on this line- unless they were a very serious, studious kid!

The dress code is very country club casual, no formal nights at all. You can wear any kind of pants and a shirt to dinner or a sun dress, a few men have a sport jacket, but not many and it's certainly not necessary. The only "rules" for dinner in the DRs (including Prime C and Aquilina) after 6 pm are -no barefeet, no bathing suits, no tank tops, shorts or ripped, or distressed jeans. I didn't see barefeet, but at the buffet, those things were ok.

[Familygoboston]

Thanks for a great review. Azamara seems like a good compromise between a big ship and a small one. It sounds like the same demographic found on Windstar, yes?

 

I do think so, that's why Windstar, as well as PG Teremoano were in the running for us, when were deciding. In the end we picked Az for 3 reasons:

1- price was a bit better because of more passengers

2- they offered plenty of balcony cabins without having to go suite level, and plenty of outdoor space to enjoy during the transit day and also for sea days.

3- as loyal royals with Diamond status we had reciprocal benefits on Le Club Voyage. And things like free laundry and free internet were kind of a nice bonus.

 

Thanks for the reviews. Appreciate the time invested in writing and posting.

 

Relishing every word. Enjoying every bit.

 

Went also to Azamara board for "seconds" :)

 

I plan to read everything you wrote, especially the Galapagos experience (and compare notes...).

 

I also agree with you on the subject of "all inclusive drinks" - one of the reasons I don't look into those river/luxury lines is that we don't drink...

 

Following avidly, Dani

 

Thank You!! Be sure to follow us on FB and Twitter too! I have more trip reports there, and I'm adding new ones (and back loading the old ones too! ) loved Galapagos, hope you did too!

[Familygoboston]

Loved reading the entire post.....but what you mention here is most important to me. We are Loyal to Royal and the brand gives us so so much to do....but we are also fascinated by a cruise on Azamara. I can well appreciate that on busy port days, there was plenty to do. We have several years before we can do a much longer cruise, but Azamara does seem interesting for the Panama Canal cruise that we do have on our list of 'must do'.

 

We totally enjoy the big ships, although Oasis class seems oversized for us....but we have done Allure and have a Harmony cruise booked -- the waterslide got us for Harmony. The intimacy you describe between the crew and cruisers and other cruisers sounds wonderful -- as does much else of what you write.

 

Thanks!

Thank you! For us the day came when the destination was key thing and we had more time to explore and not need just take a "recharge" vacation. That's why so many people taking these destination focused "busy" itineraries are retired, they can rest when they get home! LOL!

 

What a great read! I find myself agreeing with you as a frequent 'Royaller' booked on our first Azamara this November and very excited! We too love the 'biggies' and can't wait to take all our family on one next year, the small Azamara Journey - would it be too small and quiet for us? We shall just have to have more games of cards to occupy us! Thanks 👍🏻

Where to? Actually most AZ journeys do not have so many sea days, this one was unusual, our upcoming Adriatic Sea cruise has not ONE! I'll be posting the Pursuits daily program so you can see what kinds of things there are to do on board.

[Familygoboston]

Very interesting--thanks very much for posting! :)

 

Enjoyed reading your review. As we get older the smaller ship will be more appealing.

Thanks for sharing your experience

 

Thank YOU both!

[perfect match]

Awesome comparison! Thanks for taking the time to do this in addition to the review you are doing on the Azamara board. Speaking of which, I will be heading over to the Azamara board to read that review next. While Azamara isn't currently on our cruise wish list, you've got me thinking that maybe it should be. :D

[rsharp83]

Great. As usual my friend!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[A&L_Ont]

Yes, there comes a time...but you wouldn't want to travel with kids at all on this line- unless they were a very serious, studious kid!

The dress code is very country club casual, no formal nights at all. You can wear any kind of pants and a shirt to dinner or a sun dress, a few men have a sport jacket, but not many and it's certainly not necessary. The only "rules" for dinner in the DRs (including Prime C and Aquilina) after 6 pm are -no barefeet, no bathing suits, no tank tops, shorts or ripped, or distressed jeans. I didn't see barefeet, but at the buffet, those things were ok.

 

Thanks for the answers. I think it might be in our future as we age a little, similar to your situation. DS needs more activity and truthfully I still do to.;). I will continue to follow along on your review on the AZ board. It's great.

[Familygoboston]

Awesome comparison! Thanks for taking the time to do this in addition to the review you are doing on the Azamara board. Speaking of which, I will be heading over to the Azamara board to read that review next. While Azamara isn't currently on our cruise wish list, you've got me thinking that maybe it should be. :D

 

I think I need to get RCI to pay me a commission!;)

 

Great. As usual my friend!

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

 

Thanks, Randy! I think it's J's photos that make it great! I know you've seen all the photos on my personal FB page (for IRL friends) already- but I think people will love when I start posting all those neat animal pics!

[rubrrick]

Thank you! For us the day came when the destination was key thing and we had more time to explore and not need just take a "recharge" vacation. That's why so many people taking these destination focused "busy" itineraries are retired, they can rest when they get home! LOL!

 

 

Where to? Actually most AZ journeys do not have so many sea days, this one was unusual, our upcoming Adriatic Sea cruise has not ONE! I'll be posting the Pursuits daily program so you can see what kinds of things there are to do on board.

 

Thank you for such a wonderful and true comparison. We, too, tried the Azamara Journey last summer for a Greek Island and Sicily cruise. It was more expensive than being on a Royal Caribbean ship, but we loved to be back onboard an old "R" ship, with an incredible crew and staff.

 

When we find the right itinerary, we will again cruise on Azamara.:)

 

Rick

[Ocean Boy]

What a great write-up. Thanks, I really enjoyed reading it. I haven't had much of a grasp on this line yet an it was a very interesting read.

Edited March 6, 2016 by Ocean Boy

[Jevsy]

Thank you! For us the day came when the destination was key thing and we had more time to explore and not need just take a "recharge" vacation. That's why so many people taking these destination focused "busy" itineraries are retired, they can rest when they get home! LOL!

 

 

Where to? Actually most AZ journeys do not have so many sea days, this one was unusual, our upcoming Adriatic Sea cruise has not ONE! I'll be posting the Pursuits daily program so you can see what kinds of things there are to do on board.

 

 

Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong, with a 5 night stay in Bali first, 2 nights in Singapore and 2 in HK. We have 3 sea days on our 10 night cruise, are quite happy alternating with sunning on deck, and playing cards for some of the time. My husband likes to hear about the ports we are going to but the only one that wasn't a hard-sell shopping talk was in Alaska! :rolleyes:

[Familygoboston]

Thank you for such a wonderful and true comparison. We, too, tried the Azamara Journey last summer for a Greek Island and Sicily cruise. It was more expensive than being on a Royal Caribbean ship, but we loved to be back onboard an old "R" ship, with an incredible crew and staff.

 

When we find the right itinerary, we will again cruise on Azamara.:)

 

Rick

Thanks Rick! That sounds similar to our next one. Just one stop in Greece for us because we were interested in the Croatian coast after talking to people during our river cruise through Croatia. So we looked for an itinerary that included some stops in Croatia (this one includes Slovenia and Venice which were also on our "list" ) I do like the design of the R ships with a very open feel to Deck 5; it's very convivial!

 

What a great write-up. Thanks, I really enjoyed reading it. I haven't had much of a grasp on this line yet an it was a very interesting read.

 

Knowing a little about how you like to travel form your posts here, I think you'd like it. We met several physicians on board! So many that the Doctor on board held a little lecture for medical professionals on board to discuss the experience of being the "ships doctor" with them! Recruiting trip? Maybe! lol! Anyway, it was very relaxed and not stuffy. A very positive environment!

 

For us this trip was all about deciding if getting over that price hump was worth it. And for the unique itineraries and pleasantness of traveling with fewer like minded cruisers, it truly was worth it to us for those destinations where we really want to invest some time and money into seeing.

[Familygoboston]

Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong, with a 5 night stay in Bali first, 2 nights in Singapore and 2 in HK. We have 3 sea days on our 10 night cruise, are quite happy alternating with sunning on deck, and playing cards for some of the time. My husband likes to hear about the ports we are going to but the only one that wasn't a hard-sell shopping talk was in Alaska! :rolleyes:

 

Julie, that sounds amazing! It's an area we really want to see, but it's still down the road since hubby is working and we like to spread our vacation time out a bit! But it's high in the list. I hope you review it, I'd love to see photos!

 

As for the port talks, that's a BIG difference- on AZ we had an actual port lecturer, a former professor who did slide shows for each destination. They were not to be missed, good questions were asked and answered, and it was about the history, culture, sites and geology and natural history, not the shopping!

 

Our experience on mass market lines has been that the port lecture is run by either someone from the shore excursion desk (selling excursions) or the port shopping program (with a map of stores, with little cultural or historical context) AZ offered those talks too, but we skipped them. The Land Discoveries talk was a literal reading of the brochure with slides when we poked our head in, but the port lecturer was excellent and on deck during our Panama Canal transit to mingle, answer questions Etc.

Edited March 6, 2016 by Familygoboston

[Ocean Boy]

 

Knowing a little about how you like to travel form your posts here, I think you'd like it. We met several physicians on board! So many that the Doctor on board held a little lecture for medical professionals on board to discuss the experience of being the "ships doctor" with them! Recruiting trip? Maybe! lol! Anyway, it was very relaxed and not stuffy. A very positive environment!

 

For us this trip was all about deciding if getting over that price hump was worth it. And for the unique itineraries and pleasantness of traveling with fewer like minded cruisers, it truly was worth it to us for those destinations where we really want to invest some time and money into seeing.

 

 

As for the port talks, that's a BIG difference- on AZ we had an actual port lecturer, a former professor who did slide shows for each destination. They were not to be missed, good questions were asked and answered, and it was about the history, culture, sites and geology and natural history, not the shopping!

 

Our experience on mass market lines has been that the port lecture is run by either someone from the shore excursion desk (selling excursions) or the port shopping program (with a map of stores, with little cultural or historical context) AZ offered those talks too, but we skipped them. The Land Discoveries talk was a literal reading of the brochure with slides when we poked our head in, but the port lecturer was excellent and on deck during our Panama Canal transit to mingle, answer questions Etc.

 

That talk with the ship's doc would have been very interesting. I always try to have a chat with one of the doctors working aboard if I see them around.

 

As for those port talks, I think the shopping guide likes to make people think that nothing worthwhile exists away from the shopping district so that people won't "waste" their time doing anything but shopping and creating kickbacks for the cruise line. :rolleyes:

Edited March 6, 2016 by Ocean Boy

[Familygoboston]

That talk with the ship's doc would have been very interesting. I always try to have a chat with one of the doctors working aboard if I see them around.

 

As for those port talks, I think the shopping guide likes to make people think that nothing worthwhile exists away from the shopping district so that people won't "waste" their time doing anything but shopping and creating kickbacks for the cruise line. :rolleyes:

 

You might have also enjoyed a special interest guest lecture series they did on "forensics" - it was sort of billed as a "CSI" thing, but really it was a series of lectures By Dr Howard Tinburg including one about the Romanovs. We didn't attend them, but they looked engaging, and again, all included in your fare. The doctors thing was billed as "Medical Professionals get together" There was also the usual, "puffy eye seminars" and "foot print analysis" sponsored by the spa, gambling tutorials by the casino and art auctions, but the experienced cruiser knows the wheat from the chafe! ;)

 

The shopping programs on the mass market cruises are run by a sales person whose job it is to sell an advertising program complete with various tiers of ads in the Compass, spots on the "map", mentions and raffles at the "port lecture" included in the packages offered to each shop. The lecture is a marketing vehicle to fulfill the paid advertising package the store purchased. I learned how this work in an extensive conversation with the ships "port shopping" person on board one night at Vintages. He also offers shopping advice and assistance so he knows and steers his "jewelry /watch" buying whales to his best customers in port. It's all part of revenue raising that helps keep my fares low on mass market cruises!

Edited March 6, 2016 by Familygoboston

[Tom47]

I enjoyed your review. We have only been on 1 RCI and did not enjoy it as much as Celebrity--smoking in the casino, food not as good, music too loud. My wife now prefers AZ to Celebrity, where I still like both the same. We went to the LCV party because we received an invite, based on our Elite status from X transferring over to Az. We may cruise again on RCI, depending on which works better for 50th anniversary with grand kids.

[Familygoboston]

I enjoyed your review. We have only been on 1 RCI and did not enjoy it as much as Celebrity--smoking in the casino, food not as good, music too loud. My wife now prefers AZ to Celebrity, where I still like both the same. We went to the LCV party because we received an invite, based on our Elite status from X transferring over to Az. We may cruise again on RCI, depending on which works better for 50th anniversary with grand kids.

Thanks for having a look! I have enjoyed just about every ship, from 90- 6000 passengers, each one had its own charms and raison d'etre! It's all about finding the right one for the trip planned I think!

[DKNYC]

Thanks so much for this review.I managed to get a good deal 2+ years out on Azamara Quest TA in Nov 2018. I am very excited about it and having a great time on the roll call. Just signed up for a pre cruise tour of Montserrat in Barcelona. I love sea days and recently did a Windstar Breeze Eastbound TA which bad no. stops (except a non scheduled refuel stop in Barbados ). It was awesome and cheap with only 43 passengers.

 

Denise