Azamara Club Cruises reviews & trust report

Peter Otradovec

1 review

Jul 28, 2023

Not Living Up to Expectations

We just finished our first cruise with Azamara Onward - a 12-night cruise along the northern Mediterian and eastern Adriatic. Prior to booking, we heard so many wonderful things about Azamare and its onboard service that we were looking forward to experiencing it for ourselves. We might have been expecting too much. My wife and I are pretty experienced cruisers. We’ve been on Viking Ocean and River, Celebrity, Princess, Royal Caribean, and Virgin. We appreciate the small ship experience on Viking and Azamara more than the large mega-ship craziness of Royal Caribean or Princess, and more than the full-time party of Virgin. We’re looking for quality ship decor, attentive service, extraordinary food, entertaining shows, and informative, inspiring, shore excursions. We expected all this and more from Azamara. What we experienced was pretty average. We did have a couple of “Wow” moments; but, over 12 days of cruising there was more “ho-hum” than “wow”. We booked an Ocean Suite. It was pricey; but, it did deliver a sitting room separate from a sizable bedroom and both a full and half bath. The room was comfortable with a large balcony facing the bow of the ship. The balcony was crowded with too much furniture so there was no room to stand; but, the furniture did give us get places to relax without having to compete for a lounge chair on the pool deck. Onboard entertainment. We didn’t expect any full-scale production numbers. Onward did have a troupe of four singers and a dancer who performed several evenings. The cruise director did double duty as an occasional performer who also told bad jokes about his grandfather, and there was a piano player/singer who performed a couple of times each evening. Nothing over the top. Nothing to knock your socks off. No real wow factor; but, okay entertainment. We did have an AzAmazing evening opera performance in a historical coastal fortification that lived up to the marketing promise; but, I wouldn’t stand in line to do it again. We also had an onboard White Night party on the pool deck that included local musicians, a buffet, performances from the ship’s troupe, and a parade of the onboard crew. It delivered on the promise of a White Night pool deck party and was something different. In addition to the live entertainment, Azamara has a television in each guest room. Unfortunately, the TV is limited to one movie each day that runs in a loop. You just have to be lucky to catch it at the beginning. Similarly, there is one TV series that runs in a continual loop each day. There is no on-demand TV service. Too bad. I mentioned that we booked an Ocean Suite which included complimentary specialty dining. One of the specialty dining options that the website features is the Chef’s Table. We experienced the Chef’s Table once during the 12-day cruise. The food was good. The presentation was lovely. The $190 bill at the end of the complimentary specialty dining was a surprise. It took most of the remaining cruise to get Azamara to back off their demand that we pay for the Chef’s Table which the website claimed was included in the complimentary specialty dining. They eventually did back off; but, the experience was less than satisfying. Just be aware that if you book a suite that includes complimentary specialty dining, it does not include complimentary specialty dining. Also, the Ocean Suite included a Premium Beverage Package for both of us. Don’t waste your money. There is a wide selection of complementary beverages onboard. The Premium Beverage Package just adds a few mid-price spirits and no premium wines. I didn’t realize that in addition to the Premium Beverage Package, there is also an Ultimate Beverage Package. The Ultimate adds more spirits; but, in my opinion, isn’t worth the money. All in all, the onboard experience delivered on the marketing hype - except the complimentary specialty dining wasn’t complimentary. Other than that it was okay. It wasn’t amazing or over the top. We’ve seen much better on other cruises. The invoice we received from Azamara included detail about the cost of the room, port taxes, and airfare. It also included a line labeled "Charges" for $800. We challenged them on this because they were just padding the bill. Ultimately they backed off and agreed to refund the money. But, I would double-check everything and look for unsupported costs.