Celebrity vs Azamara?

[lv2cruisgrl]

We are thinking of trying Azamara for a cruise next year. We are long time Celebrity cruisers 67 & 73 years old.  Eliminating price, what have your experiences been and would you recommend Azamara?  I know the ships are smaller so wondering if that was an issue?  Any feedback would be helpful. Thanks....

[KEN31VA]

The one significant difference that I most  appreciated on Azamara was that there was rarely a line for anything. I also liked the smaller ship size, very few kids and, most importantly, the unique itinerary.  The major disadvantage, other than price, was the age and upkeep of the ship, especially in the cabins.  

[lv2cruisgrl]

5 minutes ago, KEN31VA said:

The one significant difference that I most  appreciated on Azamara was that there was rarely a line for anything. I also liked the smaller ship size, very few kids and, most importantly, the unique itinerary.  The major disadvantage, other than price, was the age and upkeep of the ship, especially in the cabins.  

Thank you, I love new ships just because of that. So I am leary of sailing older ships unless they have been redone.

[jelayne]

We did 1 Azamara cruise and would cruise them again only for a very unique itinerary.

 

#1 was the MDR.  Food was disappointing, a wait of 15-55 minutes to be seated every night, very noisy and never had the same wait staff. 
 

#2 not much to do on sea days or evenings, entertainment mediocre, Living Room never had a crowd most night pre dinner (6-7:30) not more than a dozen people, post dinner maybe 25-30.   
 

#3 included beverages, particularly wine was poor.  We are wine drinkers not wine connoisseurs and we ended up drinking cocktails with dinner.

 

What we like

#1 balcony, while small had a decent table for dining.

 

#2 the Patio

 

3# the crew ( non officers ) were the most knowledgeable we have encountered about the entire ship not just there Department.  Officers, like those on X were outgoing and engaging. 
 

We have determined that the small ships don’t offer enough variety for us.  

[SFCAcruiser]

2 hours ago, lovrccl said:

... Eliminating price, what have your experiences been and would you recommend Azamara?  I know the ships are smaller so wondering if that was an issue?  Any feedback would be helpful. Thanks....

 

On our most recent Azamara cruise September 2022, the small size of the ship was a big benefit on our itinerary - we were able to sail up a couple of French rivers that would not be accessible to large ships. The attached photo shows the ship docked in Bordeaux close to the river boats. Large ships docked over an hour away.   We would choose Azamara again for an interesting itinerary. 

[read2learn]

I did Azamara in Europe last summer and loved it. They have an advantage over the larger ships when it comes to ports. I was thrilled with my experience.and will probablly sail with them in the near future. The MDR had no wait times and the service was excellent as was the food. White Night was a fun experience and they had some meals tailored to the regions. Loved German buffet while cruising the Kiel Canal. If you don't need a casino,bad comedians,magicians or shopping then you may enjoy it. I found the wood paneling,etc charming. I have been on 3 Celebrity cruises since and all were rather underwhelming. It was nice not to have to pull my seapass out to ordr dinks or shop. Cabin number was all that was requied.

 

[asnaleah]

We have sailed both Azamara and Celebrity and like both. We were just on Pursuit, which has had some updates. We were very comfortable and the crew is fabulous. If the big production shows and casinos are important to you, stay with celebrity. We like the smaller, more intimate ship and the food was very good in every venue. 

[jonthomas]

We have done 50 cruises with C , 2 on Azamara, 3 with Viking Ocean....now we only do Oceania....none of them compare when it comes to food, incentives for doing activities,  included shuttles in ports , the friendliness of passengers and so much more.

 

If anyone wants more info, please post here.

[DCPIV]

Our first and (so far) only Azamara cruise was aboard Onward last December.  It is a different experience from Celebrity, abut we enjoyed it very much. 

 

The ship was gorgeous.  The food was sort of all over the place but at least good. 

 

Service was largely excellent.  It was obvious that many of the crew were new (or, at least, new to this level of service), but it also was obvious that they wanted to do a good and proper job.  Where service did fall down, it wasn't due to apathy but rather inexperience.  We saw marked improvement just on the 11 nights we were aboard.  The officers were visible and listening.

 

It's a small ship with a number of places you can be, so crowds typically weren't large anywhere unless it was something like White Night.  We enjoyed that VERY much--both the size of the crowds and the variety of places to be.  It was not the case that everyone was funneled to only one or two places.  You going to have something like the Martini Bar.

 

I enjoy gambling some, but I did not miss a casino at all (none on board).

 

It was a friendly crowd (at least, enough of it was), and we enjoyed meeting folks.

 

We typically aren't a big fan of the nightly shows, so we only went to a couple.  Not bad, but we prefer smaller acts, and we enjoyed the ones on board very much.

 

I completely agree that the wine offered by the glass was not very good.  The complimentary wine was pretty awful.  We had an "ultimate" package and found a few things that we enjoyed enough and stuck with those.  The good news is that you can bring aboard pretty much whatever you want.  If you happen to be travelling in a good wine area and you want good wine, you might want to do some shopping.  We did find plenty of other value in that Ultimate package, though.

 

Sea days were very quiet, but I don't mind that.  I could use a little more boredom in my life. 😉

[Tom47]

We have sailed on 8 Celebrity and 4 Azamara cruises.  Azamara service is outstanding, food was good and wait times for everything was short, even tendering.  Itineraries were great, with small ports that Celebrity doesn't go to.  Entertainment was generally good.  Big drawback:  very small showers, unless you are in a suite.

Edited March 25, 2023 by Tom47

[CruiseTimeAgain2]

My I’ve and I have been on both Celebrity and Azamara. Celebrity has been our go to cruise line but we are looking to do more Azamara as Celebrity as lost some of its luster lately. We have a December 22 holiday cruise booked and looking forward to it. Azamaras dining room is ok but we do enjoy the Patio for lunch and some dinners. There Specialty Dining is excellent.The service on Azamara is excellent. We are looking see the Atlas bar on the Onward. We both like the smaller ship feel and their itinerary’s usually have some different ports. The Azamara Azmazing Evenings are great as the White Night. The uncrowned feel of the ship is nice and there are things to do but not nearly as many as a Celebrity ship.

[horseymike]

On 3/23/2023 at 4:50 PM, jonthomas said:

We have done 50 cruises with C , 2 on Azamara, 3 with Viking Ocean....now we only do Oceania....none of them compare when it comes to food, incentives for doing activities,  included shuttles in ports , the friendliness of passengers and so much more.

 

If anyone wants more info, please post here.

Just spoke to some friends recently back from an Oceania cruise. They did  have good things to say about the cuisine. Please let me know what you think.

[asnaleah]

@jonthomas, please let us know your thoughts on Oceania. We have booked our first ever on the new Vista, not sailing until Jan 2025.

[cruzzzinma]

We are long time Celebrity cruisers but love Azamara and Oceania. If you love big shows, stay with Celebrity. If you love Casinos, stay with Celebrity and Oceania. Food is better on Azamara and Oceania. We also love Viking but no big shows or casino.

[Edinburghgirl1]

On 3/23/2023 at 4:56 PM, jelayne said:

We did 1 Azamara cruise and would cruise them again only for a very unique itinerary.

 

#1 was the MDR.  Food was disappointing, a wait of 15-55 minutes to be seated every night, very noisy and never had the same wait staff. 
 

#2 not much to do on sea days or evenings, entertainment mediocre, Living Room never had a crowd most night pre dinner (6-7:30) not more than a dozen people, post dinner maybe 25-30.   
 

#3 included beverages, particularly wine was poor.  We are wine drinkers not wine connoisseurs and we ended up drinking cocktails with dinner.

 

What we like

#1 balcony, while small had a decent table for dining.

 

#2 the Patio

 

3# the crew ( non officers ) were the most knowledgeable we have encountered about the entire ship not just there Department.  Officers, like those on X were outgoing and engaging. 
 

We have determined that the small ships don’t offer enough variety for us.  

We did our first Azamara cruise in November last year and agree with most of your comments. We were on the Quest which was badly showing signs of age. We thought the MDR food was no better than Celebrity but the buffet quality was higher although less choice. The other food offerings around the ship were excellent. We loved the Patio. The service was great but our cruise was only at two thirds capacity. We were in a Club Continent suite which was lovely. We liked the fact the ship had a laundry room. We hated the pool area. Cramped and totally lacking in any kind of holiday atmosphere which was pretty much like the rest of the ship. Little going on during sea days unless you played bridge or wanted to paint. The main bar, the Den, we often thought was closed when we approached as it was deathly quiet. We would only cruise with them again if the itinerary and price were right. 

[jonthomas]

12 hours ago, asnaleah said:

@jonthomas, please let us know your thoughts on Oceania. We have booked our first ever on the new Vista, not sailing until Jan 2025.

 

As I have said we are on a Viking ship right now and never again. We will be on an O ship in September.

Please email me and I will explain in detail why after 45 or so cruises with Celebrity, 2 on azamara and 3 on Viking, we will only now sail with Oceania and hope it doesn't change.

johthomas100z@gmail.com 

Yes it is jonthomas100z@gmail.com

[TeeRick]

Anybody here sail Siversea as they are the small luxury line now for the Royal Caribbean Group?  I would like to know how they compare to Azamara and Oceania.

[basenji56]

Of course, any comparison must take price into consideration.  How much more is a regular veranda on Azamara compared to one on Celebrity?  Twice the price?  If so, is Azamara twice as good?   It's all very subjective.  I prefer Oceania over Celebrity.  But it generally costs twice as much.  If money was tight, I don't if it is "worth it"--but I can afford it at this time so I will continue to sail on Oceania when I can.  

 

Edited March 26, 2023 by basenji56

[Stem to Stern]

This turned into my mini-review of Azamara Onward 11-night Caribbean December 2022

 

My sentiments about Azamara echo many of the above comments.  We have sailed mostly with Celebrity along with one fantastic Crystal cruise.  I had been eager to try something different on a smaller ship.  I researched Azamara, Oceania (both classes of ships, now there are three), Viking, Windstar, and Silversea.  The Azamara boards offered a lot of useful information and opinions from several active posters.  Azamara's deal (they change regularly) with a hefty OBC led me to pull the trigger.

 

We were on our first and only Azamara cruise in December 2022.  We were on the same sailing as Mr. and Mrs. @DCPIV on board Azamara Onward in the Caribbean.  Meeting fun people like them helped us overlook some of the shortfalls.  The smaller ship atmosphere was very socially engaging with a broad range of ages of guests.  I don't recall there being any children.  

 

Even though there are fewer venues around the ship to have a drink or a bite to eat, this wasn't perceived as a huge limitation.  The Den would be hopping when the fun piano playing was on the keys. The Den was also the place to visit the shore excursions team or grab a book.  The Living Room had more books and a small buffet of nibbles, but not a flurry of activity happening while we were in there.  Atlas Bar (still labeled The Drawing Room on the Onward deck plans on their website) is a cool space with friendly bartenders, six barstools, some cool lounging furniture, and a video screen showing "live" performers.  A Grand Foyer-style atrium does not exist on these ships, so no silent discos, dance parties, or other large gatherings.  We were not missing any of these anyway.  The on board house band played on the pool deck on occasion and nightly in the Living Room.  She did not sing that great and their loud volume in the Living Room inhibited guest conversations.

 

Food and drink didn't quite measure up to the atmosphere.  We bought the Indulgence Package which included three visits to the specialities and the Ultimate Beverage Package, so we could have whatever we wanted.  Well as it turned out Ultimate was not defined as "whatever" "anything" "everything" or "all-inclusive."  

 

Meiomi was poured at dinner in the MDR by the waitstaff one evening.  (The waitstaff often covered for the sommelier as this sailing was running with only two sommeliers on board.)  Well when I asked for the Meiomi the next night I was sharply informed by the sommelier that my previous evening's pino noir pouring was a MISTAKE.  Wine selection under the Ultimate Package turned out to be a bit more scant than what I expected.  Wine is an ongoing topic on the Azamara boards, so I wasn't blindsided by the exclusion.  It was more the way the exclusion was presented by the young man.  We learned later in the cruise he was the sole sommelier in the entire MDR every night.  The other sommelier on board handles the two specialty restaurants which includes the Chef's Table dinners which are pretty involving.  Normally there are three sommeliers on board, but this sailing was short one.  

 

The MDR food wasn't any better than what we experience on Celebrity.  Our favorite meal was in Aqualina which is a beautiful specialty restaurant.  We had a terrific waiter from Bali.  We loved having our buffet breakfast on the Sunset Verandah.  The breakfast and lunch buffet selections on the smaller ship were fewer as expected, but we always found something delicious.  Every morning our waiter from Bali took my order for made-to-order waffles or French toast and delivered it to my table with a smile.  Every lunch was accompanied by several glasses of Whispering Angel and was completed with a scoop of one of the various flavors of hand scooped gelato.  The Patio was a nice alternative venue for lunch where you are seated at an area of the pool deck, order from a menu, and are served.

 

The company, visible officers, and friendly crew worked very hard to deliver a broad range of activities including daily trivia, deck lunches, white party, Azamazing evening show on land, and more.  We pre-booked two sailing excursions through the Azamara website and enjoyed both of them immensely.  We were joined on one of them by a shore excursions crew member and he was so fun.  The sea day deck lunches definitely put a damper on pool deck life.  Many loungers were put away to make room for four-top tables for guests to eat at.  We ended up finding loungers up on the windy Deck 11 Sun Deck.

 

There was some type of disturbance happening in the mid-Atlantic during our cruise.  We experienced less than smooth seas during the nights.  We were in a V3 on the aft-third of Deck 6.  Nearly every night I did not sleep that soundly because of the pitching and rolling.  To me it sometimes Iiterally felt like the ship was going to roll over. I caught myself waking up and grabbing onto the edge of the bed.  Normally the gentle motion of the ocean rocks me right to sleep and I am not bothered.  My husband normally sleeps like a log, so he was not bothered by the situation in the least.  Having been the only ship of this size that we have ever been on, I can't say if this much movement is normal for an Azamara ship or if there was an issue (nonfunctioning or lack of?) with the stabilizers.

 

The seas forced the captain to put safety first and alter two of our port stops.  We understand this type of situation can happen, so the changes to the itinerary did not bother us in the least.  Instead of tendering at St John we turned up at the dock at Havensight, St Thomas.  Instead of tendering at Virgin Gorda we docked at Road Town, Tortola.  The ship produced an alternate list of excursions for each of these alternate port stops and the shore excursions team scrambled to assist with guests' rearrangement of plans.  Our plans for both of the original ports were to go it on our own and we did the same at the alternate ports.

 

Would I book another cruise on Azamara again?  Yes, but....  Now that I know about the crowded pool deck situation, movement of the ship, and the food and wine situation, I think I would prepare myself to be in the right frame of mind to sail them again.  I would choose Azamara as a floating hotel on a unique, port-intensive itinerary especially if the small ship would get us up a river into places closer in than larger ships.  

 

For a relaxing floating Caribbean resort with several days at sea, I would probably revert back to Celebrity or opt for a slightly larger ship on another line.  I am still keeping Viking and Oceania (O-class and their new ship) on the radar.  I am not sure I am still eager to jump on a tiny Windstar ship at this point.  We have more future relaxing Caribbean cruises booked on Celebrity.  We will also be trying out the Yacht Club on our first MSC cruise later this year.  We have never been on such a massive ship as MSC Seascape.  But it is fun to have options and try new experiences.  I understand a lot of this is subjective.  I would be happy to answer any questions.

Edited March 26, 2023 by Stem to Stern

[cruise47]

How would you compare Azamara staterooms with Celebrity staterooms especially the bathrooms  ?

[Tom47]

Bathrooms & showers both smaller

[Stem to Stern]

I am 6'2" and I had no issues with the tiny showers.  We met a couple on board that was booked in a regular verandah stateroom for a future full world cruise.  They were really looking forward to it and not at all concerned with such a tight space for such a long stretch at sea.  I recall them speaking about a clothing hanging bar they were going to put up I believe over the sofa for extra storage.

[cruise47]

3 hours ago, Tom47 said:

Bathrooms & showers both smaller

Thanks, for your information. 

[montythecat]

I think DCPIV pretty much nailed it. Post Covid we have been on 

Azamara five times and enjoyed four of them very much indeed.

The second time we were on Quest the entertainment was

distinctly less enjoyable as far as our tastes were concerned. I am 

sure we will use them again where the smaller ship can enhance

the itinerary (eg going through the Kiel Canal or up the river to

Seville). When we fancy the more extensive musical experiences

offered by the larger HAL ships and the other advantages they

offer we book with them. We were Celebrity devotees but are

no longer. You might want to have a look at Viking

Ocean. Our third cruise with them is coming up in a couple of

weeks time. Apologies for drifting off the Azamara v Celebrity

subject matter. The only concluding opinion I would provide

is that the experience between smaller and larger ships is

very different. We like both but have met many people who

favour just one or the other.

 

 

 

[Cruisewilm]

Have sailed twice on Azamara Pursuit in the past 6 months and been exceptionally pleased both times.  We are Elite plus so very familiar with Celebrity.  If I had a choice (cost not being a factor), we would choose Azamara hands down.  Staff was for the most part wonderful, food comparable to or better than Celebrity, never had a wait to be seated in the dining room, venues always active, guests interacting, found too much to do each day and had to miss things at times (I don't paint but many people enjoyed that option).  I don't drink wine so can't comment on that.  More personalized attention everywhere.  Cozier atmosphere.  Travel in to ports was easier on the smaller vessel.  We watched a larger ship sail away ie miss the port at the Falklands as they were not able to get close enough to tender due to rough seas.  Can't think of anything bad to say.  We will continue to look for cruises on Azamara and hope for good deals so we can sail more often with them.