Azamara has long been the unloved child in the Royal Caribbean family, having started life in 2007 with just two second hand ships, Azamara Journey and Azamara Quest, both originally units of the R Class of Renaissance Cruises, launched as R Six and R Seven respectively. A decade later, and having been unable to pursuade their Royal Caribbean parent to let them build any new ships, they were instead allowed to add another R Class, the former R Eight which following a £50m refit in Belfast entered service in 2018 as Azamara Pursuit. It must have been pretty galling to be given a 17 year old ship on the 6th stage of her career when your group stablemates, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Silversea, were spending $billions on new builds.
With Silversea obviously being the favoured "small ship", premium brand in the group, it was difficult to see where Royal Caribbean saw Azamara fitting into its portfolio. With a trio of ships now twenty years old it must have been getting harder to sell the brand to affluent, and discerning cruisers.
Azamara like to have a couple of our Ambassadors go onboard their ships, which we always do for them, setting up a hospitality desk in the atrium to give out city maps, advise on things to see and do ashore, and answer whatever questions their guests have on spending the day in Liverpool and the wider area. The ships normally berth alongside, but on 23 July 2017, and coinciding with the Open Golf Championship taking place at Royal Birkdale, we had two ships visiting Liverpool and with Celebrity Silhouette occupying the terminal berth, Azamara Journey had to anchor mid river and guests were taken ashore onboard the Mersey Ferry Snowdrop. Myself and Alan, who we sadly lost from our Ambassador family last year, were taken out to the anchorage to run the hospitality desk.
Although I've never cruised on the ships, having spent some time onboard Journey and Quest I was impressed with their beautifully appointed decor, although with few facilities due to their size I feel I'd quickly find the small number of public areas a downside compared to newer and larger ships with their multiple lounges and bars.
One unique offering from Azamara on each cruise was an onshore event called an "Azamazing Evening" and these have often taken place on their Liverpool calls, with guests being taken by coach to a private concert at either Liverpool Cathedral or St George's Hall, before returning to the ship for a firework display as they sailed away down the Mersey. It'll be good for these to continue as they were always well received.
The Azamara trio are currently laid up together in the King George V Dock in Glasgow, and are scheduled to resume service from 1st May 2021. At the moment their new owners have not announced any changes to these plans, and it'll be interesting to see how their resumption of sailing proceeds, and what Sycamore decide to do with their new acquisition in the future.
Azamara is a great brand, with a small fleet of good looking ships, able to sail into ports denied to larger vessels, meaning their loyal customer base is able to get closer to the action in cities, islands and harbours around the world. However with newer competitors from the likes of Viking Ocean Cruises, Silversea, Seaborne etc entering service each year, I expect they'll need to consider fleet replacement or addition before very long.
Update 26/01/2021:
Following the announcement last week that Princess Cruises had sold their Pacific Princess, another R Class ship, originally R3, Azamara today confirmed that they are the buyers, and that the ship will join the fleet later this year on European itineraries. Her new name has not yet been revealed.
Update 21/03/2021:
The new name for the former Pacific Princess was revealed a few days ago and she will re-enter service as Azamara Onward.
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