Azamara Cruises

Luxurious experiences with good prices.

Yeah, we all want to go on a luxury cruise someday. Getting free drinks, enjoying amazing food and top notch staterooms with few hundred guests onboard! The problem? Well, you can easily pay about $10,000 per guest on some ultra-luxury cruises. Wait, don't let that shatter your dreams. What if I told you that Azamara Cruises occupies a middle ground between mainstream cruise lines and ultra-luxury brands like Silversea? Azamara is luxurious, but not ultra-expensive. With prices starting around $1,600-$1,800 per guest, Azamara offers a great cruise experience that doesn't reach the heights of something like Explora Journeys or Seabourn, but it's way more refined than the mainstream cruise lines.

The fleet consists of four nearly identical boutique-style ships (Azamara Quest, Journey, Pursuit and Onward), each accommodating 600-710 guests. These small ships have undergone multi-million-dollar updates, basically making them brand new. These are cozy, intimate ships with pools, lots of space on the main deck with entertainment focused on piano bars, live music and trivia rather than huge Broadway shows or crazy waterparks/waterslides.

Azamara not only offers great ships, but it also focuses heavily on the destinations. Their signature AzAmazing Evenings program offers complimentary shore excursions in select ports, which can range from tango performances in Buenos Aires to Carnival parties in Rio, Venetian mask events and more. Azamara ships usually stay in select ports longer than the competition, giving you plenty of time to explore each city in detail. This is something often criticized in other cruise lines, since you cannot do much in four hours when a ship finally docks in Paris. Now, what if you have a whole night in Paris? Now that sounds good.

Your cruise fare includes several valuable perks: gratuities, room service, self-service laundry facilities, select alcoholic beverages including beer and soft drinks, butler service for suite guests and (the awesome) AzAmazing Evenings. However, not everything is included when you book with them. Wi-Fi, premium cocktails, wine by the glass, specialty restaurants, shore excursions and full-service laundry do cost extra.

Dining usually receives outstanding reviews, particularly the Main Dining Room, which many guests prefer over specialty restaurants. The strong crew-to-guest ratio ensures that there is always someone ready to give you a hand. Each ship features a main dining room, buffet, casual snack spots and two specialty restaurants (one focused on Italian cuisine and a steakhouse).

Onboard activities are inspired by what you see on ultra-luxury cruise lines. You don't get Broadway Shows, but Azamara does offer four modest shows per ship, trivia nights that are extremely popular, lectures, board games and the White Night Dance Party where guests dress in white for an evening on the pool deck. So, even before you click our guides, you can already pack something white for your next vacation.

Azamara isn't the best cruise line for families with young children due to the almost non-existent entertainment options available for kids. However, for travelers that want a premium, luxurious cruise without needing to open their wallets to pay thousands of dollars for a trip, Azamara delivers unique cruises that we can only describe as AzAmazing.