Azamara Celebrates 15th Anniversary – 5 Fun Facts That Might Surprise You

The Boutique Cruise Line Azamara celebrated its 15th anniversary as they push the limits of traditional cruising by offering longer stays and overnights to allow immersive discoveries in each destination. On social media, the company announced that the first ship to join the cruise line Azamara Journey, set sail on this day in 2007. Back then, Azamara Journey was purchased from Pullmantur Cruises, and extensively refurbished in Freeport, Bahamas before setting sail on her inaugural cruise season to Bermuda.

The company has come a long way over the years adding three additional sister ships to the feet of the famous R-class built for the former Renaissance Cruises. Azamara mid-sized cruise ships quickly captured the hearts of many travelers, due to the fact that the vessels had always prime docking spots in port, the intimate atmosphere onboard and primarily for the friendly crew. Azamara has been recognized by the cruise industry with numerous awards received over the years by Condé Nast Traveler, Cruise Critic, Travel + Leisure and USA Today in the General Excellence category, destinations, and shore excursion.

The cruise line was established by Royal Caribbean Group and was sold in March 2021, to Sycamore Partners for $201 million.

Fun Facts That Might Surprise You:

• Azamara Journey was scheduled to Join Celebrity Cruises. However, due to its size, the ship didn’t fit the Celebrity fleet. Therefore Royal Caribbean Group decided to start a new cruise line.

• The opening team of Azamara Journey was mostly from Celebrity Cruises crew.

• You can find some of the opening team members still onboard such as Azamara Pursuit Hotel Director Ryszard Gusmann, who was transferred from Celebrity Cruises and joined Azamara Journey as Assistan maitre d'.

• The foundations and philosophy of Azamara onboard experience was created by some of the well-known and established professionals at RCG, such as Dominique Gamba - Director of Fleet Restaurant Operations of Royal Caribbean International, and Niyazi Korkmaz - Celebrity Cruises Hotel director.

• Over the past 15 years Azamara changed the name and logo three times. The cruise line was first named Azamara Cruises, later the company decided to change the name to Azamara Club Cruises and today is known simply as Azamara.