Which Greek Isles Cruise Would you Choose Between Celebrity and Azamara?

[ChucktownSteve]

I'm comparing a Celebrity cruise or Azamara cruise.  Celebrity is in May 2022 while Azamara is in May 2023.  I feel the Pandemic situation will probably be improved the further out we go.  Here are the differences between the two. They are both non refundable. Which would you prefer and what would be your deciding factor?

 

Celebrity Constellation

(Passenger Capacity 2,170/Crew Size 999/ 2.17 passenger ratio)

10 nights Venice, Italy to Venice ‘22

Celebrity Suite  467 sq. ft. Midship suite

$15,428.08 total/ $771.40pp/pn

 

 

Azamara Onward

 

(Passenger Capacity 692 Crew Size 408/ 1.69 passenger ratio)

11 nights Venice, Italy to Athens Greece 23

Club World Owners suite  :603 sf /Veranda Area:233 sf Aft corner suite

$16,598.28 total/ $754.45pp/pn

 

 

 

 

CELEBRITY INCLUDED

 

Streaming Wi-Fi

$800 OBC

Premium drinks

Luminae Restaurant

Tips

Butler Service

 

 

AZAMARA INCLUDED

 

Unlimited internet

$900 OBC

Complimentary in-suite and ship wide spirits

Complementary specialty dining

Gratuities

English butler service

 

 

CELEBRITY ITINERARY

 

Venice, Italy

At Sea                       

Olympia (Katakolon)

Santorini, Greece

Ephesus / Kusadasi, Turkey

Mykonos, Greece

Thessaloniki, Greece

Athens (Piraeus), Greece

Zakynthos, Greece

At Sea                       

Venice, Italy

 

 

AZAMARA ITINERARY

 

Venice, Italy

At Sea

Corfu, Greece

Argostoli, Greece

Zakynthos, Greece

Gythion, Greece

Crete (Heraklion), Greece

Santorini, Greece

Rhodes, Greece

Ephesus / Kusadasi, Turkey

Mykonos, Greece

Athens (Piraeus), Greece

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 28, 2021 by ChucktownSteve

[Azulann]

Best itinerary is Azamara.  Celebrity Constellation does not stop at Rhodes or Crete. Also you end in Athens on Azamara and could stay a couple of days before coming home. 

But then I was on Constellation twice for Eastern Med cruises. Best Captain  of all times. He would tell a Greek myth story  in late afternoon  announcement time. You could hear a pin drop when he  did this. It was amazing. Cannot remember his name but he was a rockstar for sure, Greek, single and rode motorcycles. 

 

 

[Lady Arwen]

Personally, I would choose Azamara.  Connie is an older ship that has not been revolutionized and is in need of some TLC.  Sailed on her pre-covid and she was a bit sad, although I love the the size of the M class ships.  I have not had the pleasure of sailing with Azamara, but I’ve spoken to folks who have and the gave glowing reports.  I would also post in the Azamara boards.

[Denny01]

I’m a diehard Celebrity cruiser but the Azamara itinerary is a homerun and I’d take that one. Going to Corfu and Crete are very special. 

 

Den

[Cg52]

Of those I would choose Azmara. Less people on board, Covid should be better, also great itinerary.

[Cg52]

Just now, Cg52 said:

Of those I would choose Azmara. Less people on board, Covid should be better, also great itinerary.

I would also look at their cancellation policies. Celebrities Cruise With Confidence is not very flexible at all. Hopefully Azamara has a better choice. 

[ChucktownSteve]

18 minutes ago, Cg52 said:

I would also look at their cancellation policies. Celebrities Cruise With Confidence is not very flexible at all. Hopefully Azamara has a better choice. 

Azamara cancellation is $75pp up to 120 days out.  Then it's a sliding percentage scale as you move closer to the embarkation. I usually take trip insurance anyway.

[jelayne]

We prefer Celebrity over Azamara.  It looks like you are comparing suites on both.

 

 We found the MDR on Azamara to be crowded, noisy, 15-30 min wait to be seated  and the found the food to be not as good as Luminae.  The included 2 speciality restaurants are very good but small and it can be difficult to get reservations
 

The included wines and liquor are not equivalent to the Classic package on Celebrity.  To come close to the Premium package you will have to upgrade to the Ultimate beverage package $21.95 pp pd.

 

 The lack of a casino, not much in the way shows/entertainers, activities.  We found the small ships are too quiet for us. 

 

We do have another Azamara cruise booked, it is to Africa.  If Celebrity offered Africa we would switch in a heartbeat.  We will enjoy are Azamara Cruise and for another unique itinerary we may book another Azamara cruise, it just not a good fit for us.  

[ChucktownSteve]

17 minutes ago, jelayne said:

We prefer Celebrity over Azamara.  It looks like you are comparing suites on both.

 

 We found the MDR on Azamara to be crowded, noisy, 15-30 min wait to be seated  and the found the food to be not as good as Luminae.  The included 2 speciality restaurants are very good but small and it can be difficult to get reservations
 

The included wines and liquor are not equivalent to the Classic package on Celebrity.  To come close to the Premium package you will have to upgrade to the Ultimate beverage package $21.95 pp pd.

 

 The lack of a casino, not much in the way shows/entertainers, activities.  We found the small ships are too quiet for us. 

 

We do have another Azamara cruise booked, it is to Africa.  If Celebrity offered Africa we would switch in a heartbeat.  We will enjoy are Azamara Cruise and for another unique itinerary we may book another Azamara cruise, it just not a good fit for us.  

 

Yes both are suites. The Azamara suite is the top category on the ship so dining by course on the suite's veranda is an option from the specialty restaurants every night if desired. So is dining at any restaurant at no additional charge.  I don't believe getting reservations when we want will be a problem.  It also includes a special invitation chef dinner with the other top suite category guests along with the Captain and senior staff. I've not eaten in Laminae yet so can't compare. We do that this February on Apex.

 

Premium spirits are included with suite setup as well.

 

There are other perks which aren't listed on the web site I've been told about.  I'm sure the top Celebrity suite guests get similar special treatment as well.

Edited August 28, 2021 by ChucktownSteve

[Cg52]

18 minutes ago, ChucktownSteve said:

Azamara cancellation is $75pp up to 120 days out.  Then it's a sliding percentage scale as you move closer to the embarkation. I usually take trip insurance anyway.

I agree, trip insurance always. It’s difficult to find though that covers Covid for cancellation at least here in Canada.

[ChucktownSteve]

In the U.S. my policy doesn't cover the cost of quarantine to enter a country but it does cover the medical aspects if a doctor confirms covid.  It covers as any other illness.

 

This is what my insurance agent got from the company in response to my inquiry.

"Our understanding is if an insured has a documented case of COVID, the benefits on the policy apply as is usual. If an insured is simply quarantined without a medically documented case of COVID, then those benefits you mentioned below would likely not apply as shown in our FAQ."

 

Edited August 28, 2021 by ChucktownSteve

[Maya_C]

Azamara has the better itinerary, with not just Corfu and Crete, but also Rhodes, as well as the chance to see more of Greece at the end of the cruise. The AZ cruise is also one day longer.  As for noise, we found the MDR on Summit (basically the same basic ship as the Constellation) to be earsplitting. I don't remember the MDR on the larger Celebrity ships to be quite as loud. We found the MDR on AZ  quieter. The one AZ cruise we took had a superb lecturer, very knowledgeable about the history and culture of  the ports we visited. That has not been the case on any Celebrity cruises we've been on. 

[voyager1964]

Azamara's Owners suite blows the Celebrity suite out of the water

[TrulyBlonde]

Azamara. Do not even second guess it. I have cruised both lines and in top suites.

[NCHPcruiser]

I hate to say it because I am a fan of the Celebrity Suites especially on M class ships but I would have to choose Azamara between these two.  (My personal preference would be a Med cruise on Celebrity Edge or Apex in an upper level suite though.). 

[cantstopingcruising]

You probably won't like me saying this, but I would go to a lovely hotel in Athens for at least 5 nights and the choose one or two of the islands and stay somewhere fabulous.

 

At least you will experience Greece and get to eat Greek food. If you can go for only 12 nights, I would spend a full week in Athens and take a few day tours outside Athens. Then I would choose one island Santorini or Crete for the second week. Rhodes would be on my list because I have never been there!

You can get a suite on a cruise ship  in the Caribbean where the ship is the destination.

[Covepointcruiser]

You will be invited to special events with that suite on Azamara, including a special dinner with the top officers in the Library, Best of the Best.   On Azamara you will also have the White night party and the Azamazing Night at one of your ports.   Never had a problem making reservations to the Specialty Restaurants, ate in one every evening.   We always use our onboard credit to upgrade to the ultimate experience so we have excellent beverage and wine selections.

[GlobalMethod]

Your comment relates so much to personal preference. We have done many cruises with both lines. For us, it is more about enjoying the journey and less about new ports, since we've been to so many countries and places.

 

We like a cruise where we can get to know other passengers and the crew.

 

With that said, we feel entertainment options on board Azamara can be very limited, considering our preference is for live music entertainment. All in all, it is still easy for us to choose Azamara over Celebrity in the direct kind of comparison that you are making. Good luck and happy travels!

[ChucktownSteve]

26 minutes ago, GlobalMethod said:

Your comment relates so much to personal preference. We have done many cruises with both lines. For us, it is more about enjoying the journey and less about new ports, since we've been to so many countries and places.

 

We like a cruise where we can get to know other passengers and the crew.

 

With that said, we feel entertainment options on board Azamara can be very limited, considering our preference is for live music entertainment. All in all, it is still easy for us to choose Azamara over Celebrity in the direct kind of comparison that you are making. Good luck and happy travels!

 

Thank you. We've done a lot more Celebrity than Azamara cruises. I felt the Azamara cruise we experienced was more about enjoying the journey. However the Baltic itinerary was incredible too. 

 

Since we've never been to any of these ports before, the destination is as much a part of our decision.  The Azamara itinerary includes two more ports as Denny01 pointed out, "Corfu and Crete are very special."   I feel that since the Onward is a much smaller ship, the experience will also be more intimate. 

 

I understand port intensive itineraries require more energy than a Caribbean cruise. Thus the entertainment on board is not as important on this cruise than if the ship was the destination as we'll experience on the Apex in the Caribbean this Winter

Edited August 29, 2021 by ChucktownSteve

[SummmerInKefalonia]

Azamara, better itinerary, less crowded ship and with better suites.

[Miaminice]

Azamara is definitely the better value for money in this case!

[Hlitner]

We just returned (last Sunday) from 3 weeks in Greece which included 14 days on the Seabourn Ovation and an additional week when DW and I did some independent island hopping (Naxos and Paros).  I will quickly say the entire trip was fantastic and just about everything on Seabourn and on land was close to normal.

 

So, given a choice between Azamara and Celebrity we would quickly choose Azamara!  Why?  Because having cruised on all size vessels (from 20 passenger to over 4000 passenger) we think the best way to cruise the Greek islands is on the smallest possible vessel.  And the reality is that Azamara is a relatively high class product where Celebrity is, at best, a premium mass market line.

 

Hank

[glmacruise]

19 hours ago, ChucktownSteve said:

 

Yes both are suites. The Azamara suite is the top category on the ship so dining by course on the suite's veranda is an option from the specialty restaurants every night if desired. So is dining at any restaurant at no additional charge.  I don't believe getting reservations when we want will be a problem.  It also includes a special invitation chef dinner with the other top suite category guests along with the Captain and senior staff. I've not eaten in Laminae yet so can't compare. We do that this February on Apex.

 

Premium spirits are included with suite setup as well.

 

There are other perks which aren't listed on the web site I've been told about.  I'm sure the top Celebrity suite guests get similar special treatment as well.

Luminae blows Celebrities regular dining and most of the time speciality restaurants out of the water. The service has always been fantastic.

[cruisemom42]

8 hours ago, ChucktownSteve said:

Since we've never been to any of these ports before, the destination is as much a part of our decision.  The Azamara itinerary includes two more ports as Denny01 pointed out, "Corfu and Crete are very special."   I feel that since the Onward is a much smaller ship, the experience will also be more intimate.

 

Azamara probably also has longer times in port, as that is a focus for them. 

 

For me, there is not a HUGE difference between the itineraries and they both do a number of the same ports. Celebrity goes to Thessaloniki, which is a bit unusual, but Azamara goes to Gythion, which is equally unusual. Can't say I'd rate Corfu and Crete as "very special" but they are certainly good options for this itinerary. Hope you get to Ephesus as that is probably where Azamara would do their "Az-amazing" event....

 

One other thing to consider is that currently I hear from most that Constellation needs some refreshing. Onward has just been very much refurbished and relaunched.

 

Bottom line, I think Azamara is a clear winner with regard to both ship and itinerary. Only thing I can't speak to is the difference in suites; not a suite person.

[LGW59]

1 minute ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Azamara probably also has longer times in port, as that is a focus for them. 

 

For me, there is not a HUGE difference between the itineraries and they both do a number of the same ports. Celebrity goes to Thessaloniki, which is a bit unusual, but Azamara goes to Gythion, which is equally unusual. Can't say I'd rate Corfu and Crete as "very special" but they are certainly good options for this itinerary. Hope you get to Ephesus as that is probably where Azamara would do their "Az-amazing" event....

 

One other thing to consider is that currently I hear from most that Constellation needs some refreshing. Onward has just been very much refurbished and relaunched.

 

Bottom line, I think Azamara is a clear winner with regard to both ship and itinerary. Only thing I can't speak to is the difference in suites; not a suite person.

You may not be a suite person, but I bet you are a "sweet" person!