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Best way to get smart on Azamara?


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Haven't sailed them, but their ships are the smallest of all RCL's 3 main brands; from what I saw, none carries more than 600 or so passengers. That's going to make for much more intimate sailings and opportunities for the crew to get to know you well (and vice versa), which I would assume translates into higher levels of service and more positive experiences. Celebrity is already noted for having a higher level of service and staff involvement than Royal, and I would only expect Azamara to be higher yet.

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I love Azamara and have sailed on the ships two times - One California Coastal and to Cuba
I love the small and intimate size of the ship the most and that the Capt. has the ability himself
to make decisions and change departure times if need which happened to us while in SFO.  He
delayed the sail out by 3 hours so guests could go the Chinese New Year Parade

The Cabins are nice and larger than on some ships.  I have stayed in Ocean View and Balcony rooms
And have seen the suites which are nice and big.

Very relaxed atmosphere and not "stuffy" which I was worried about - I became easy friends with
the staff because of this too.  you do get to know the staff well>
  Their Windows Cafe theme nights are great and we end up having dinner in here most nights
because of the more relaxed atmosphere.

If you are a fan of lots of entertainment then you may not like it  - small bands, singers, casino
are about all they have for nightly entertainment but remember on many itineraries, esp. in
Europe they stay in port longer or overnight even so you can enjoy the city you are in.

Most of all I love the all inclusive drinks, gratuities, meals etc. and based on your level
lots of internet minutes as well.  The Azamazing evening event we did in California was
to a private dinner at a Vineyard in Napa, really well done.

Feel free to PM me if you have specific questions.



 

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On 7/12/2020 at 10:39 AM, michelle said:

I love Azamara and have sailed on the ships two times - One California Coastal and to Cuba
I love the small and intimate size of the ship the most and that the Capt. has the ability himself
to make decisions and change departure times if need which happened to us while in SFO.  He
delayed the sail out by 3 hours so guests could go the Chinese New Year Parade

The Cabins are nice and larger than on some ships.  I have stayed in Ocean View and Balcony rooms
And have seen the suites which are nice and big.

Very relaxed atmosphere and not "stuffy" which I was worried about - I became easy friends with
the staff because of this too.  you do get to know the staff well>
  Their Windows Cafe theme nights are great and we end up having dinner in here most nights
because of the more relaxed atmosphere.

If you are a fan of lots of entertainment then you may not like it  - small bands, singers, casino
are about all they have for nightly entertainment but remember on many itineraries, esp. in
Europe they stay in port longer or overnight even so you can enjoy the city you are in.

Most of all I love the all inclusive drinks, gratuities, meals etc. and based on your level
lots of internet minutes as well.  The Azamazing evening event we did in California was
to a private dinner at a Vineyard in Napa, really well done.

Feel free to PM me if you have specific questions.



 

THANKS!   Like reading from those who have sailed them.   Sounds like the kind of change we're looking for once we get back to normal.  Are they more formal on dress code?  In the past we always enjoyed formal nights, and dressed accordingly, but as the standards loosened we no longer pack all the extras for those nights (now like packing light). Is it necessary to pack the extra formal wear for these cruises?

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On 7/16/2020 at 8:53 AM, cruisellama said:

THANKS!   Like reading from those who have sailed them.   Sounds like the kind of change we're looking for once we get back to normal.  Are they more formal on dress code?  In the past we always enjoyed formal nights, and dressed accordingly, but as the standards loosened we no longer pack all the extras for those nights (now like packing light). Is it necessary to pack the extra formal wear for these cruises?

no they are not formal on dress code - some people are "country club attire" but that is the most dressed up I have seen.  I have never packed more than a summer dress or two so its much more relaxed than I expected as well.  really like it and the crew and staff

 

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3 minutes ago, michelle said:

no they are not formal on dress code - some people are "country club attire" but that is the most dressed up I have seen.  I have never packed more than a summer dress or two so its much more relaxed than I expected as well.  really like it and the crew and staff

 

I'm being more and more convinced!

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  • 3 weeks later...

We spent 30 days on a Tahiti to Sydney b2b on the Journey earlier this year. We loved the experience! Very relaxed atmosphere, good food, fantastic service. We invested in one of the upgrade packages, with gave us a wider range of included wines & spirits, Internet and onboard credit. We’ll definitely include the brand again in our mix... especially given their “itineraries” focus.

Ramdom observations:

There’s a relaxed dress code overall, with simply a general conscious effort to “look nice”. Daytime: Capris, skorts, nice jeans (colder days), Bermuda & hiking shorts, skirts, summer dresses for the women + Bermuda & hiking shorts, khakis, a few clean jeans, polo shirts, shirts, some t-shirts for the men. Evening: variable... far more classy than “flashy”... from nice dresses and trousers & blazers, to nice capris & summer dresses and khakis & polos. People tended to not dress up “fancy”, but at least took the effort to look nice... never saw shorts in the evening. The big dress-theme event is called “White Night”, with all the variations of clothes mentioned above, but colour-schemed. Never spotted those awful poly sport shorts that dangle to the knees, muscle shirts, tube tanks, pajama bottoms, etc. seen too frequently on the RCL ships. Pool attire is kept to the pool deck or spa pool. 

Dining is very good in all venues. The MDR was really excellent + one buffet and two specialty restaurants. We used a chunk of our OBC to book the specialties, but it’s really not necessary to ensure good food and a pleasant dining environment.

All three ships are the same class, so there isn’t a variability of cabin types and amenities across the ships. Only one of the three ships still has a sad & lonely casino, and that’s the Journey. Quest and Pursuit have successfully repurposed that space into a much more popular social space called The Den. Journey was supposed to go into dry dock this Fall to get its Den conversion, but it’s docked “cold” right now, so who knows when that’ll get rescheduled for.

Guests tend to be a mix predominantly from the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Europe, Australia, N.Z. and a handful from elsewhere. Despite its older demographics, the brand tends to attract a narrower guest profile than on larger ships... mostly because the ships are older, smaller with less “play” amenities, and they definitely have some unresolvable accessibility issues due to the ships’ build.

Really interesting itineraries: the ships can include ports that the behemoths can’t reach, and they tend to dock much closer to the city centers, have more tendered ports of call, and almost always include a frequent free shuttle service to the heart of the tourist district.

The Captain and the Chef can, and do, exercise some leeway to make the most out of local conditions - that’s another plus. There’s always been that approach of bringing just a “little more” to the guest experience with the Azamara brand. It’s a ship-wide culture thing that I hope won’t gets lost in the post-COVID upheavals that will affect every level of the industry.

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On 7/17/2020 at 1:39 PM, SpeedNoodles said:

I'm being more and more convinced!

I think that you would enjoy it quite a bit.

The brand’s real strength lies in its intangibles though... crew dedication, guest mix, and atmosphere.

Here’s the thing, the brand may or may not survive without RCL pulling the plug on it or selling it off. Pimentel, the guy largely responsible for keeping the brand being what it was going into 2020, recently left the helm. Some of the experienced, largely stable and loyal crew may not return when sailing resumes - that would be a huge loss for one of the brand’s core strengths.

Finally, I think that their itineraries may shift in the short-/middle-term to a more regional market focus. They will have to rethink their far-flung itineraries for 2021 to begin with... 2020 is done with, will all three ships parked in Scotland now (two “cold” and the third supporting all three.) Resuming cruising will force them into being competitive in a different way. I’ll be keeping a very close eye on how innovative they can be on the itineraries front, from 2022 onwards.

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9 hours ago, GrandmaAirplane said:

We spent 30 days on a Tahiti to Sydney b2b on the Journey earlier this year. We loved the experience! Very relaxed atmosphere, good food, fantastic service. We invested in one of the upgrade packages, with gave us a wider range of included wines & spirits, Internet and onboard credit. We’ll definitely include the brand again in our mix... especially given their “itineraries” focus.

Ramdom observations:

There’s a relaxed dress code overall, with simply a general conscious effort to “look nice”. Daytime: Capris, skorts, nice jeans (colder days), Bermuda & hiking shorts, skirts, summer dresses for the women + Bermuda & hiking shorts, khakis, a few clean jeans, polo shirts, shirts, some t-shirts for the men. Evening: variable... far more classy than “flashy”... from nice dresses and trousers & blazers, to nice capris & summer dresses and khakis & polos. People tended to not dress up “fancy”, but at least took the effort to look nice... never saw shorts in the evening. The big dress-theme event is called “White Night”, with all the variations of clothes mentioned above, but colour-schemed. Never spotted those awful poly sport shorts that dangle to the knees, muscle shirts, tube tanks, pajama bottoms, etc. seen too frequently on the RCL ships. Pool attire is kept to the pool deck or spa pool. 

Dining is very good in all venues. The MDR was really excellent + one buffet and two specialty restaurants. We used a chunk of our OBC to book the specialties, but it’s really not necessary to ensure good food and a pleasant dining environment.

All three ships are the same class, so there isn’t a variability of cabin types and amenities across the ships. Only one of the three ships still has a sad & lonely casino, and that’s the Journey. Quest and Pursuit have successfully repurposed that space into a much more popular social space called The Den. Journey was supposed to go into dry dock this Fall to get its Den conversion, but it’s docked “cold” right now, so who knows when that’ll get rescheduled for.

Guests tend to be a mix predominantly from the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Europe, Australia, N.Z. and a handful from elsewhere. Despite its older demographics, the brand tends to attract a narrower guest profile than on larger ships... mostly because the ships are older, smaller with less “play” amenities, and they definitely have some unresolvable accessibility issues due to the ships’ build.

Really interesting itineraries: the ships can include ports that the behemoths can’t reach, and they tend to dock much closer to the city centers, have more tendered ports of call, and almost always include a frequent free shuttle service to the heart of the tourist district.

The Captain and the Chef can, and do, exercise some leeway to make the most out of local conditions - that’s another plus. There’s always been that approach of bringing just a “little more” to the guest experience with the Azamara brand. It’s a ship-wide culture thing that I hope won’t gets lost in the post-COVID upheavals that will affect every level of the industry.

Great insights.  Its on our list, but who knows when we'll get spun up again.

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