Azamara

We just returned from a 10-day Mediterranean cruise aboard the Pursuit. We love the size to connect with staff and other travellers but this trip unlike our previous 2018 had more hiccups and upselling. Kudos first: • Wiwik, our room attendant, was a ray of sunshine—always smiling, always going above and beyond. Our room was immaculate daily. Thank you! Offer still stands to visit us! • A crew member from Zimbabwe (will update with his name!) served drinks while we waited for our table at Discoveries. Warm, welcoming, and great conversations—especially about South African wines. He was fantastic with the teens, too. Offer still stands to visit if you are out this way and we will take you wine tasting! • Bajaj was kind and helpful when we needed to speak with the doctor about an eye issue. Wine package saga: I pre-purchased a wine package online, expecting a smoother experience. On day one, no one knew how it worked. I was told to wait for the sommelier at dinner—but I enjoy wine like others enjoy cocktails: poolside, before dinner, not just with meals. The sommelier, Manoj, initially said my package covered wines up to $50. I chose one—it was undrinkable. The next day, he said he’d made a mistake and it actually covered wines up to $80. I happily picked a Barolo. Then the next day—another reversal—it was back to $50. After expressing my frustration, he agreed to honor the Barolo for the rest of the cruise. But the next day, he told my husband he couldn’t honor it after all. I went to guest relations, missed the sail-away view, and waited 30 minutes to speak with the bar manager and Manoj. I recorded the conversation (since every promise kept getting reversed), but they refused to speak until I stopped recording. Eventually, they agreed to honor the Barolo—but the whole experience was chaotic, inconsistent, and exhausting. Other issues: • Only three beers included—and one was out for days. Felt like a push to upsell. • Food themes (Indian, German, Japanese, etc.) dominated both the dining room and buffet. Not ideal for vegetarians or picky eaters. Why not offer variety between the two? • White Party had no tables when we arrived at 6:30. Staff had to scramble to set more up. They know how many guests are onboard—this was avoidable. • Pool deck chairs were removed at 4:30 p.m. for buffet nights—in 95-degree heat. Why not move the buffet upstairs and keep pool seating? • Breakfast buffet staff were amazing—cheerful and attentive. One morning, we had three servers! • Discoveries dining staff were less impressive. One night, our waiter was even rude. • Housekeeping remains the gold standard on this ship! Unexpected highlight: Due to weather, we visited Syros instead of Mykonos—and Syros was our favorite island. Thank you, Captain! Final note: My niece won a $100 spa credit on day one. We were told it would be applied to our account—but it wasn’t. Hoping this can be resolved easily. Overall: We love the ship’s size and intimacy, but this time the upselling was more aggressive and the wine experience soured the trip. We may try Windstar next time.

Sailed Azamara Pursuit during March 2025 as a couple. SE Asian cruise. Staff for the most part were very friendly, helpful & polite. First time sailing on a small capacity cruise ship. First ever cruise where we actually got to know & speak with passengers on a regular basis, either at quiz games, pre-dinner drinks, main dining room or shore tours. This was actually really pleasant. Age demographic a little older than we anticipated. Large majority of passengers travelling back to back to back cruises. They are loyal one cruise line company sailors only. Our stateroom was level 6, cabin #6051. Our balcony stateroom was next to a tender, & we strategically chose this cabin. No noise issues were encountered from floors above or below. Bathroom is extremely small. Shower has a curtain simply because there isn’t the space for a shower door. Stateroom room attendant Atish was polite, kind & thoughtful. Thank you for looking after us. Felt Azamara organised & handled shore tour disembarkations at port in a very orderly manner. Just a shame some passengers don’t read daily information or pay attention to announcements. Food was of good quality in the main dining room 'Discoveries', The Patio does wicked burgers, Windows Cafe provides plenty of breakfast options & Mosiac Cafe always did lovely coffee made to order & I dare you resist one of their cookies for afternoon tea! A big shout out & thank you to Discoveries Restaurant Sommelier. She found the last bottle of my new favourite red wine. 2 Hot Tubs on the pool deck, no way it can accommodate 5 people! 3 at the most comfortably. Never used the swimming pool unfortunately. Walking/Jogging track, 9 laps equals 1km or .621 miles. Attended the gym for Yoga & Stretch classes. Area could be bigger as Yoga classes were popular. Be aware you can’t just turn up at the designated time for Yoga or other classes, you need to place your name on the class list for the day you want to attend. This list can be found in the entry area of the gym on clipboards. Decor on the ship was good & we never found anything to be damaged or broken anywhere. White Night on the pool deck was so much fun and party Central with great food and music. Make the effort to take an all white outfit. If it’s cold think outside the box and wear your stateroom bathrobe. It’ll keep you warm 👍 Only 2 slight negatives… The cruise line don’t accept Currency Card credit cards. Their ship payment system doesn’t have the capacity to swipe or insert credit cards to make payments! What happens if you don’t actually have a credit card account in your normal everyday life!!! Luckily the staff were very helpful, understanding & other arrangements were put in place for us. Slightly intimidating seeing certain a lot staff & frequent Azamara sailing passengers hugging, greeting each other by first names, asking after each others families etc especially when you are a first time Azamara passenger. Though it’s abundantly clear the Azamara branding encourage this family like atmosphere. Not saying it’s a bad thing, but just not something we have experienced previously. Would we sail again with Azamara, absolutely but probably not for another 8-10yrs when we would comfortably fit the age demographic. Thank you Azamara for a lovely relaxing safe cruising holiday.

We have found our favorite cruise line! Azamara is it! If you enjoy relaxing and being pampered on vacation, this would be the cruise line for you too! We have previously cruised on Norwegian, Princess, and Royal Caribbean. Azamara beats all of them, hands down! The rooms are modern, comfortable and spacious. TV’s have plenty to watch during your downtime. The food was high quality! Best we have had on a cruise ship. Plenty of options to choose from. Their special brunch and white party were extra special touches. Very well done! Included adult beverages?! What a treat! The staff are friendly and helpful. We rarely passed a team member without them greeting us. The size of the ship we were on was just right. Not too big. The focus on couples instead of families is right up our alley. It makes for a relaxing vacation. Can’t wait to cruise again with Azamara!

We’ve enjoyed many cruises over the years, but I’m very disappointed in Azamara’s handling of an excursion issue on our current sailing. (This is our first Azamara cruise.) We purchased a $119 excursion that was clearly scheduled to begin at 10 AM. Less than 24 hours before the tour, Azamara unilaterally changed the start time to 8:45 AM. That earlier departure simply did not work for us, and yet, instead of offering a refund or even an onboard credit, they refused, citing their 48-hour cancellation policy. But here’s the issue: we didn’t cancel. Azamara changed the terms after we paid. To then tell guests “you only get a refund if someone else buys your ticket” feels unfair, nickel-and-dime, and certainly not the “guest-focused” experience their brand promises. Cruise lines talk a lot about trust and service. In this case, Azamara chose policy over people. Sadly, it leaves me questioning whether they really value loyal guests or just the bottom line.

My favorite cruise line. Small ship (under 700 passengers) that can get to places larger ships can't go. You aren't nickel-and-dimed to death, e.g., beer and wine are included. The staff and crew are top-notch.

Great eight days! New friends, great drinks and lectures/entertainment worth the time!

Azamara Cruise: From Nightmare to Paradise Our journey aboard the Azamara Cruise from Barcelona to Venice and Istanbul was nothing short of extraordinary. However, it came with its own set of challenges. For several months leading up to the trip, we had a nightmare trying to pay our bill as Azamara was going through a reservation and billing system transition. Despite our best efforts, we received zero communication from them. Finally, at the end of June, we were connected with a gentleman named Steve Algiers who resolved all our issues. With his help, we could finally look forward to our trip of a lifetime. We followed Steve's advice to accept what we couldn't change and became optimistic about the cruise. Unfortunately, a week into the trip, I experienced a cardiac event which weakened me significantly. We were unable to take part in any of the excursions. Nonetheless, we had the BEST Cruise ever. Azamara became our preferred cruise line after this wonderful experience. We wish to express our appreciation to Steve and his team for successfully getting us to the boarding line. We also want to let Azamara know that thanks to the Hotel manager, Elizabeth and the Buffet manager and their fantastic teams, we are able say that for us, Azamara is the only way to Cruise!

Onward is a charming 25yo small ship. I sailed aboard her 22yo when she was P&0's Princess. She's a lot more rusty now with stain marks running down observation windows and in patches, down the hull that is showing her age with dints and scratches and peeling paint. The original fitout below decks...kitchen benches, cold rooms etc are scuffed and dinted also but are clean. The 4 original Wartsila Vasa engines are still humming nicely along and with their drive system still creating high vibration throughout the ship at speeds over 15 knots. The fuel bills and emissions must be extraordinarily high for these old machines. The Azamara Website and account systems are appalling. Both slow and inefficient. The recent refurbishments are somewhat exaggerated and misleading as cabinetry and fixtures both in the cabins and around the ship are worn and dated. The new carpets, curtains, beds, linen and washeooms are essential improvements to keep Onward out of the 3star bracket. The aircon is efficient, but one needs to be patient with operating the hyper sensitive thermostat control. In reality it's the food and awesome crew that keep this ship's reputation afloat. * So if you have a soft-spot for old ships and mostly elderly passengers onboard, with a glass of house wine in hand ( or better quality not inclusive) then Onward might be for you. * Just be aware that it takes a lot more for a cruise line to market themselves 5star than just having a couple of strong areas.

I am supremely disappointed in my Azamara experience. I booked a cruise 2.5 weeks prior to departure. I booked the cruise directly with Azamara's 800 number because it was so close to the departure date. We paid considerably more for the cruise than our friends because it was so close to the departure date, which is understandable and was acceptable. I was told by the booking agent on the phone that we would receive a $500 per person on board credit. The credit was never applied. On board the ship, the Pursuit, one customer relations rep, Marlon, told me it was my travel agent's fault. I used Azamara to book it! Beyond that I was repeatedly read to from a script that stated if I couldn't provide an OBC in writing that it would not happen because they had no proof and they required written proof. Basically, they assumed I was trying to get something I wasn't promised or that I was an outright a liar. Customer Relations was very poorly trained. Is this a bait and switch tactic by Azamara? Our four friends with whom we cruised do not have an e-mail or anything in writing that reflects an OBC, they received their OBC credit. I had no illusion that the credit would happen. I do however wish it had been addressed in a more thoughtful manner. Their staff behaved a in an accusatory manner and it came off as a bait and switch... "pay the higher rate and in return we will reward you with this on board credit". I fell for it, don't let it happen to you!