Azamara Club Cruises was created in 2007 with the 694 passenger Azamara Journey and Azamara Quest. Formerly, the Journey was named the Celebrity Journey and was to be utilized like the soft-adventure minded Celebrity Xpedition. However, the company acquired a sister ship to the Azamara Journey and named her the Azamara Quest. Recognizing the ships were more appropriately targeted for an upscale cruising audience, Celebrity Cruises created the Azamara brand. Positioned as a “deluxe” brand, Azamara Club Cruises is a tier below “luxury” brands like Silversea & Seabourn, but, a tier above “premium” brands like Celebrity Cruises and Holland America. The closest competitor to Azamara is Oceania Cruises.
In 2009, Azamara Cruises was renamed to Azamara Club Cruises and introduced changes to the product that even more firmly defined it in the “deluxe” category. This included house wines with both dinners and lunches, butlers trained in England for every stateroom on the ship, improved health and spa services, and more overnight stays in ports allowing passengers greater opportunity to enjoy the port.
The experience onboard Azamara Club Cruises is markedly different than large ship cruising:
Exceptional Service, Open Spaces. With 694 passengers and a low passenger to crew ratio, the ships never seem crowded and the service is exceptional,
Extraordinary Port Calls. The ports of call on Azamara Club Cruises tend to favor the tastes of the connoisseur: St. Kitts, Martinique, Virgin Gorda, and St. Barts in the Caribbean, Ephesus, Bordeaux, Haifa, Helsinki and Portofino in Europe, Shanghai, Ho Chi Minh City and Phuket in Asia.
Overnight Port Calls. Let's face it, pulling into a port at 8 AM and departing a 5 PM on the same day rarely allows you to truly experience the place you are visiting. Azamara Club Cruises features many overnight port calls, or, port calls with departures after 11 PM. This affords passengers the flexibility to have dinner onshore and experience the nightlife of the ports they are visiting.
Remarkable Cuisine. The cuisine onboard Azamara is outstanding – pretty much every meal is of similar quality, or better, to larger ships “alternative” dining options. And, there are "alternative" dining options onboard Azamara, including, the Aqualina restaurant and Prime C Steak and Chophouse.
Azamara Club Cruises Resources:
Azamara Club Cruises Dining Guide