Azamara Club Cruises: the New Kid in Town

Story and photography by
Nancy & Eric Anderson 

Cruise ships are quick to pull up anchor as the day in port advances. Passengers hurry back to the harbor especially if they had privately arranged their shore excursion; they’ve heard plenty of stories about being left behind. Back on board they sometimes look wistfully at the receding shore line and the gaily lit city that might have been fun to explore. Why are cruise lines always in a hurry to get to the next port, they wonder. Why couldn’t we have stayed a bit longer? Well, now you can – if you cruise with Azamara.

Aza Who? Azamara, and it is not the easiest name to get your tongue around. It might be the best cruise line you’ve never heard of. It’s only been around since 2007 and, in an industry that makes extraordinary efforts to develop and retain its customers, it takes time for a new cruise line to break in especially a small one. Azamara (the name is meant to mean blue seas) is a remarkable example of how a boutique cruise line can quickly build up loyalty -- and it’s an interesting example of how a cruise line has to perform if it wants the public to embrace it.

First, our ship was built in 2000. Old doesn’t sell. The company spent $20 million to upgrade it as the Azamara Journey in 2007. A good beginning.

Second, where does it place itself in the market because that determines, to a degree, the style of the cruise and what the interests of the passengers might be? Azamara Club Cruises regards itself as upscale. This is an important decision for everyone because upscale passengers can be fussy: they expect more.

Furthermore, such a claim as upscale can mean “expensive.” But to build and retain cruise passenger loyalty the claim really needs to mean value: you pay more but you get more. And you need to get more at a time when other cruise lines are making their own attempts to change from, for example, fixed seating at the same table for either the first dinner seating or the second (and nobody wanted the second).

Indeed, the new approach from many cruise lines is now to offer open seating: dine when you want to. The main dining room of smaller lines like the two Azamara 694-passenger ships isn’t large enough for all passengers to arrive at once, and the usual, successful response to that is to offer specialty dining in a separate dining room -- for a fee. Some cruise lines charge $40-$45 each for the experience. It’s a significant source of increased revenue. Azamara charges $15 and makes the fee complimentary for passengers in the suites; it wants passengers to use and enjoy the service. It’s more interested in offering a better experience. It also decided not to charge passengers for specialty coffees, sodas and bottled water or for wine at lunch and dinner. The wines offered are quality regional wines and much better than a restaurant’s typical house wines. Wine tasting has become popular with passengers; most love to make new wine discoveries.

We believe the cruise industry’s now current efforts to nickel and dime passengers for sodas and bottled water trivializes the cruise experience and should receive complaints from passengers. We applaud Azamara for its stand. We noticed its wait staff moving stress-free around the lounges as they serve something as simple as a Coke because they don’t always have to be scribbling room numbers and keeping tabs in their notepads.

Passengers at open seating, however, may never see the same waiter and busboy at meals. They might not tip the same way. Indeed, although most of the Azamara passengers are North American, many guests aboard are European or Australian -- and few countries tip as generously as Americans. Azamara apparently realizes the future of cruise travel is globicentric so includes gratuities in its pricing structure. It makes sense. Some cruise lines cover tips but drop hints that passengers can still tip in addition. Azamara doesn’t. Guests have no guilt. Staff is still happy. Said a spokesperson for the cruise line: “A happy crew makes for happy passengers!” The trade publication TradeWinds reported on January 7, 2011 that passengers had accorded the Azamara Journey the extraordinary score of 297 out of 300 for staff friendliness and efficiency. 

One of the cruise line’s slogans is: Leave your tuxedo at home. Indeed, a charming aspect of this cruise line is although it offers quality it isn’t stuffy. It doesn’t stand on its dignity the way fashionable hotels sometimes do. At one time the captain announced over the overhead speakers: “This is the captain speaking with the Midday Update. I know it’s 12:35 but I was taking a nap!” And when someone asked Captain Johannes Tysse what the most difficult challenge was for a cruise ship captain? he answered, “Not putting on weight.” Our captain was born on a small island in Norway that had only 250 people. He was only 16 when he served on his first ship, so young his parents had to sign permission for him to go to sea.

Eric De Gray, the cruise director of the Azamara Journey, makes the point we hear repeatedly about cruises: the need to ask yourself what it is you want. “What is the main purpose of your cruise?” he asks. “Is it the trip itself, the entertainment, the dining, the personal relaxation, or is it to experience the world from this wonderful floating hotel – to discover places you wouldn’t have found by yourself?”

We suspect for most travelers where the ship is heading is the reason they are onboard. The destination is king. In fact, Azamara Club Cruises has this tagline, this self-image: “You’ll love where we take you.” And where they are going to take you is to Rio at the time of the Carnival, to Monaco and Monte Carlo for four nights when the Grand Prix is running. There are visits to both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City and because of the two ships’ small size they will be able to sail up Bangkok’s Chao Phraya River.

Azamara has a new focus now, what it calls “Destination Immersion.” Says the Journey’s shore excursion manager, “You’ll be talking about your voyage for years to come. You’re going to do more than see the world – you are going to experience it! You’ll see the world one seat at a time and you will find the Far East isn’t so far after all.”

This cruise to the Sea of Cortez was not yet an evolution to the new policy and although passengers explored many places, the visits were not yet organized as ones where they stayed late on shore or even overnight. We believe such choices will bring many customers to this new cruise line seeking new experiences.