Mark and I have just returned from our first cruise with Azamara. We were 14 days on the Journey from Singapore to Mumbai. The ports were very similar to Regent's TAJ cruise with stops in Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Cochin, and Goa. We used mileage to fly Cathay Pacific biz on our way over and Asiana biz on the return. We overnighted on our own at the Grand Hyatt Mumbai post cruise opting NOT do the Taj this trip but to return when it was cooler. It was stinking hot...
This is not meant to be a full review, but more passing thoughts and some comparisons to past cruises. Very happy to answer questions.
The ship is one of two in the line, both former "R" class ships (the R6 and R7) built in 2000 and 2001. They carry 694 guests are are roughly the size of the Regent Navigator. We sailed with about 570 pax. There was talk on board that Azamara is to add another ship in the nearish future.
I had originally booked TAJ MAHAL on the Voyager, but cancelled for a number of reasons and was looking for a similar itinerary. I had heard good things about Azamara so this seemed to fit the bill. As a "test" I booked a veranda stateroom at 175 square feet with a 40 sq. foot veranda as opposed to a suite at 266 sq. feet with a 60 foot veranda. Mark and I are rarely in the stateroom so I thought I would try something smaller to see if we could manage. There was plenty of room for us. Ample storage under the bed for luggage, two large sized closets with drawers, the usual love seat, chair and vanity and most things we are used to finding in a suite. The bathroom was small and probably not designed for two people to be using it at a time. We did not have a bathtub just a shower (with curtain) which could be a tad small for some people (think Song of Flower). We were quite satisfied with the space as it's easy to adjust to whatever you have. I won't compare our per diem of $250 with that of TAJ as it's apples to oranges, but we felt it was exceedingly good value.
Azamara was going "more inclusive" alcohol-wise two cruises after ours, so we were on the old plan which was wine included with lunch and dinner. Drink packages were being pushed the first day which was mildly annoying. There were at least two daily pouring wines and you could request one from a previous service. The pours were generous and our glasses were rarely empty for long. Before dinner we like a couple glasses of bubbly so we popped for that and maybe a glass of vino after dinner when we were dancing.
For the most part we found the food in Discoveries, the main dining room, to be on a par with Regent, Silversea and Seabourn quality and choice-wise. We've had highs and lows on all cruises. Breakfast and lunch could be in Windows the buffet or Discoveries. Windows is the casual evening option in addition to two specialty restaurants which charge a $25 fee if you are not in one of the suites. We tried both, Aqualina is the Mediterranean inspired restaurant and Prime C the steakhouse. Mark kept calling it Prime 7 to everyones confusion. We both had the best rack of lamb of our life at Prime C. Superb presentation and taste. There were also three special themed dinners (French, Italian and Californian) offered at $95 for 7 courses with paired wines which were limited to 12 people in an intimate setting at a special table in Prime C. We attended the French and Calif one. Each course was introduced by the chef and wines explained by the head Sommelier and had an officer in attendance. They were truly fit for foodies and lasted 3 plus hours which included a couple of flutes of Perrier Jouet before we sat down. Not something for everyone, but we enjoyed them.
Our fellow passengers were quite well traveled and about the same age bracket we are used to on previous cruises. There was a large group of Canadian physicians doing a continuing education class onboard and over 100 Australians and as many Brits. I felt like we were in the minority as Americans. Many of our fellow travelers were university educators. Most were avid cruisers with a large number of repeat pax.
We tend to dine late (and long) and missed every show so cannot comment on the main stage entertainment. There was a guitarist and a pianist who played before and after dinner, but sadly no vocalists outside the show. I noted that as a negative on my comment card. The band made two appearances outside of the shows, one at a jazz brunch and the other at a sailaway. They could be utilized more. There was a DJ in the evenings until late. There were tons of onboard activities in the day time even in port. If you like trivia this was heaven! Morning trivia, afternoon trivia, name that song, visual trivia (from national flags to being shown the label on a bottle of beer and having to guess what country it's from), tri-bond (figure out what three things all have in common) and lots of other games. I'd move from activity to activity while Mark read a book in the library. There seemed to be lots of events for past passengers.
The general decor of the ship is quite different from the "usual" luxe lines. It was more intimate and clubby with richer colors and number of faux fireplaces. It was not glitzy. There was quite a nice library with big comfy chairs. The casino was larger than I expected. The shops were managed by the same company that is currently handling Regent's boutiques as I recognized the same "stuff". There was a photographer onboard but no art auctions. Mosaic cafe was a larger equivalent of the coffee corner.
We met some very nice people and will keep in touch with a number of them. I often started the conversation with "This is our first cruise with Azamara" and was asked how I was enjoying it. For the most part it appeared that people had moved "up" from RCC or Celebrity to Azamara. We only met a few people who had done Regent, Silversea or Seabourn. When they heard we had a number of cruises with all three we were asked how they compared. It took me a couple days to figure out the immediate differences other than price. The bathrooms are not as large and plush (no granite/marble) and do not have designer bath products. I did not see any caviar or foie gras on menus though there was a caviar bar for a price. Rack of lamb was not served as often in the main dining room. Stuff like that. For once my bags were not over-weight with bath goodies on my return flights. You do pay for those differences.
Sadly, Regent is no longer my cruise line of choice as the included excursions just do not work for us. We either like to do our own thing, arrange private excursions in favor of the large coaches or at least like to have a choice. Azamara had a program where excursions were 50% off if paid for at least four days before boarding (it will become 25% off shortly). We took three ship's excursions and I'm sure they were handled by the same companies that did the ones on TAJ MAHAL. They were "fine", but large coach tours. We also had five private excursions. In Sri Lanka we visited the elephant orphanage, Kandy, and a few other sites all in one day combining three ship's tours. It was VERY long (from 8am returning to the ship at midnight) but it was designed by us to maximize our time. We knew what we were getting into. Sure we had to pay for our entrances and meals separately but the tour for that day with air conditioned van, driver and guide was $40 per person. We saw things no one on the ship saw. Staying late in Kandy we entered the Temple of the Tooth just before it was closed for worshipers only. There was drumming and horns and pilgrims bringing offering and almost no tourists. There was a folkloric show on the ship but we had the real deal with fire-walking. Doubt they had that out on deck. The next day was to Galle and Colombo. Five of us for $40 each from 9 to about 7 (because we took a very long and leisurely lunch by our choice). In Cochin there were eight of us for our walking tour of Fort Kochi and a four hour houseboat cruise on the back waters with lunch at $85 per person. The guides called us by name. When we wanted a "rest stop" we asked. No waiting for someone in the gift shop. ATM stop? Sure! When we wanted to linger we stayed, when we wanted to move on we did.
Service on board the ship was spectacular!! On a par with and often superior to any I've experienced. The friendly crew went out of their way to please and couldn't do enough for you. It reminded me of the Song of Flower. Service in the dining room was much better than my last few Regent cruises due to better training and simply more staff. Our room steward and his assistant were delightful. Officers were quite visible and stopped to chat. Everyone seemed relaxed and happy.
A negative in my mind is that although all gratuities are included there was a line on the tab on our purchased drinks for "additional" gratuity. It made me feel like I was stiffing the server if I didn't leave anything. With the new alcohol policy that may go away if there's no bill. We tried to list the people who offered outstanding service on our comment cards as we always do.
Would we cruise Azamara again? I did an onboard booking on a spring crossing in 2014. Very flexible policy. There was a current special of book an inside stateroom and get a veranda stateroom (a real 2 category upgrade) as well as 50% less deposit. We paid a total of $550 for both of us which gives us $400 off. We can bump it to any other cruise as many times as we want and if we want to cancel outright at least 91 days before sailing we get our deposit back less a fee of $25 per person. That policy will not keep me awake at night, kind of a no-brainer.
Will Azamara become our line of choice? Who knows. Most likely I will stay with the smaller luxe lines and I will always book by itinerary and price but it's nice to have more choices. Azamara is going up in price, but isn't everyone? Seabourn has great sales. Since Mark retired we can take advantage of last minute deals.
Sorry to be so verbose. This became much wordier than I had planned. Questions??
