Sailing the Greek Isles and the Adriatic with Azamara Club Cruises

In the not too distant future, Carol and I will be jumping aboard the Azamara Quest to enjoy a fabulous cruise from Athens to Venice with Azamara Club Cruises.

If you are not familiar with Azamara Club Cruises, here is a little information from the “about us” page on their website:

“Founded in 2007 and then re-launched as Azamara Club Cruises® in 2010, Azamara is a boutique upmarket cruise line operating two 690 passenger ships, the Azamara Journey and the Azamara Quest. The company serves an up-market segment of international travelers, who tend to be curious and well-traveled, and as a whole are eager to explore new destinations and cultures.

Azamara Club Cruises pioneered Longer Stays and More Overnights. With its two ships, the focus on these extended stays and authentic local experiences keep evolving. “Stay longer. Experience more.” is the philosophy behind every Azamara Club Cruises voyage. Capitalizing on longer stays in port, more overnights and night touring, Azamara Voyages deliver to guests authentic cultural experiences across the globe. The ship’s smaller size allows for visits to ports larger ships are unable to venture to. In 2017, Azamara will take passengers to more than 200 ports, in 68 countries, including 195 late night stays and 82 overnights. Azamara’s commitment to Destination Immersion coupled with exceptional onboard service offers a unique cruise vacation for those who love travel.

Our immersive itineraries offer guests the opportunity to visit the destinations at night when many destinations come alive. Over 250 overnight and late-night stays (8 pm or later) in port are featured every year, which makes roughly 50% of all Azamara port calls offer a nighttime experience in the destination. Through the brand’s Destination Immersion programming, curated itineraries bring the ships to exotic and marquee ports. An expanded palette of World Events and Themed Voyages are offered, including Monaco Grand Prix, the World Cup, British Open, the Venice Redentore Festival, as well as Wine and Yoga themed voyages with more to come. Azamara’s Country Intensive Voyages allow guests to travel deeper and experience more of a given country, as the majority of the destinations are concentrated in one country such as Japan, Italy, Spain, Norway, New Zealand, Australia, Greece, Croatia and more.”

Why We’re Sailing With Azamara Club Cruises

• The itinerary – I wrote an article back a few months ago that I thought that the itineraries sailing from Athens to Venice were the hot Mediterranean ocean cruises for 2017. And, as Greece and Croatia are waiting to be checked off of our bucket list, this itinerary is just perfect!
• The cruise line – if you’ve been a reader of our website over the years, you are certain to know that I am not a fan of the 5,000 person floating cities that exist in the cruise world these days. Sure, they work perfectly for multi-gen and other unique situations, but we would far rather sail on a smaller ship and enjoy some of the pamperings that those big monster ships simply can’t offer. Plus, these smaller ships can offer ports of call that the larger ships could never dream of visiting.
• Upmarket Segment – there exist a nice little niche between the monster ships and the luxury cruise lines, and we intend to sail the three cruise lines that serve this niche. They are Oceania, Viking Ocean, and Azamara Club Cruises. We’ve sailed Viking, we’re now going to sail Azamara Club Cruises, and sometime in the future, we’ll get aboard Oceania.
• Port intensive – when I’m traveling, I’m generally doing so because I am a very curious person and love to explore different cultures and destinations. And further, I don’t enjoy an ocean cruise itinerary that is full of days at sea. For me, if I want a relaxing vacation, I’m going to head to a Four Seasons Resort, not a cruise ship. Therefore, I like that Azamara Club Cruises is a destination-focused cruise line. This itinerary has only one day at sea as we move from Greece to Croatia. And, as we shared with you above, Azamara Club Cruises makes it a point to stay in port as late into the evening as possible. Many cruise lines want to get at sea so that you begin spending money on their ships. Azamara wants to give you a fabulous port experience so that you desire to come back and sail with them again and again.
• Peer recommendations – we have peers in the travel industry and the travel blogger world. All have given big thumbs up to Azamara Club Cruises.

So, as luxury baby boomer travelers represent a significant percentage of our audience, not only do we think that we will enjoy this experience, but we believe that our readers and clients will as well. Stay tuned! 🙂

For more information or to book an Azamara Club Cruise, please call (480) 550-1235, or use our convenient online information request (click here) and we’ll reach out to you.
 
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