Especially interested in hearing from those who have booked on Azamara, regardless of ship. Would like to hear your experience and impressions.

I am booked on Azamara Quest for an August 2016 cruise of Norwegian Fjords.

Have you looked here?

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/...cfm?ShipID=409

Yes, thank you. A good resource. Perspectives of folk here also welcome.

My husband and I were on the Azamara Journey for a western Mediterranean cruise about 5 years ago. We've sailed on Celebrity, Norwegian and Royal Caribbean, and Azamara is by far the best of them. We loved the ship. It was small, so we got to know a lot of people just because you saw everyone all the time. The food is fabulous and we liked being able to eat in the main dining room when we wanted and to eat with others or by ourselves. Friendly staff. We would do an Azamara cruise in a heartbeat if the price and the itinerary were right.

Hope you meant "cruises". The "crises" can be pretty bad.

Heh. Damn iPad.

Sailed the Quest. Unless you have booked some kind of suite, the standard balcony cabins are quite small and the bathrooms contained within even smaller, downright tiny! Zero vanity space, tiny shower.

Food and service are great but again unless a suite, I would not sail!

Worldspan
135 cruises strong

That's helpful, worldspan, many thanks. We're booked into Ocean Club Suite on deck 6, spouse may have seasick issues. We tried to book the World Club suite, highest category I'm told, but there was no vacancy in the inn so we're waitlisted.

Appreciate any tips you care to give. In particular I'm interested in what services are available that I may not be aware of. Yes, I know, not especially definitive, huh? We've not cruised before so complete newbies. I don't mind paying for extra special.

Thanks again.

I've done this itinerary twice and it is wonderful. If your husband gets seasick this is a good cruise as it's mainly cruising inside passage type waters. Very very calm. I loved the North Cape. We were lucky with weather.

I have been on Azamara. It's not luxury but it's a nice premium product. personally, for me, I would only go if in a top suite. Hopefully your WL will clear.

Its been a few years but I recall two things so well.

The bathroom mirrors do not steam up when you run a hot shower. Highly unusual for a ship!

The steakhouse food (whatever it is called) was absolutely outstanding!

Worldspan
135 cruises strong

It has also been a few years for me.

Azamara is at the high end of the cruises I have taken (I echo the above comment that Azamara is "premium" rather than "luxury"); I was very impressed.

Food: Main dining is quite good, but I definitely recommend going at least once to the specialty restaurants (Prime C for steaks and Aqualina for seafood). There is an upcharge (now $25 pp IIRC, but I think suite guests may get comped once or twice) - totally worth it. Whatever else you order, get the chilled seafood platter appetizer at Aqualina (not sure if this still holds, but you used to be able to order from either menu e.g. if eating at Prime C you could ask for a dish from the Aqualina menu).

Drinks: The wines included with meals were not over-the-top spectacular, but they were not bottom-of-the-barrel either. They also offered better wines for an upcharge, but I was happy with the included selections. Nowadays they also include some mixed drinks, but this change occurred after my most recent sailing with them so I have no experience with the quality of their included spirit offerings. Some specialty coffees were also included; I was happy with those that I had.

Ship tours: The few I took were typical of cruise ship tours (although the frozen towels to cool down with mid-tour at Ephasus in July were a nice touch). The "Azamazing evenings" had not yet started when I cruised with them; I have heard mixed reviews when they first started from acquaintances but I have heard nothing either way in the past 1.5 years. Generally I recommend that you look for private tour guides in each port rather than take ship tours.

Staff: Fabulous!!! Everyone on board really takes care of you, and the officers are visible and friendly - the captain came down to the coffee bar every day mid-morning and was always happy to chat with passengers (a far cry from most larger cruises). On one cruise I was on a bridge tour when a passenger fainted and the tour was cut short by a few minutes; we were invited back for a second tour even though we really did not miss much on the interrupted tour.

Entertainment: The one area where a smaller ship has a very hard time competing with larger cruise ships is in shows and other entertainment. Azamara ships have a small cabaret-style lounge instead of a large theater, which limits the ability to do shows with extensive set changes etc. Some entertainers were brought on board to perform for a few days, while other shows were done by the "regular" staff. All the performances I saw varied from good to very good; it helped that the cruise director on all my Azamara cruises had worked on Broadway.

I would go back on Azamara anytime.

Started by my friend who hosts their River Cruise forums, but he's an active traveler and planner.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2108053

There are also extensive posts on CruiseCritic from people who have done cruises in the Norwegian Fjords, as well as lots of info on Azamara and its 2 ships.

Thank you!

We are avid cruisers and are going on our first AZ this winter in Indonesia. Aqualinia is now and Italian menu.