Azamara Reveals Destination-Focused Lineup for 2011-2012

Azamara Club Cruises released its 2011-2012 program, which includes more overnight stays, late-night stays and first-time ports. “Azamara Club Cruises is built around four key pillars: extraordinary service, cuisine and wines of the world, wellness and vitality, and destination immersion,” said Larry Pimentel, Azamara president and CEO. “But what distinguishes our brand most is our ability to deliver the destination, and our new itineraries were precisely built around that commitment.”

Every Azamara voyage will include complimentary red and white wine at lunch and dinner; bottled water, sodas, specialty coffees and teas, whether in public venues or in staterooms and suites; housekeeping, dining and bar staff gratuities; shuttle bus service to and from the port communities, where available; destination-influenced entertainment and enrichment programs; specialty dining in the Prime C and Aqualina (complimentary for suite guests, stateroom guests are charged a $15 per person cover); English butler service in suites; self-service laundry; and concierge services.

Guests who book a new 2011-12 Azamara voyage by Dec. 31 will receive an additional $1,000 per person savings through the current two-for-one fares, based on brochure pricing as shown on www.azamaraclubcruises.com/rates2011-12. Rates shown on the site’s booking tool already reflect the two-for-one savings program.

After embarking on a 14-night trans-Atlantic voyage from Miami on April 4, 2011, the 694-guest Azamara Journey will offer a series of seven-night Mediterranean voyages through early July from Rome, Venice, Athens, Barcelona, Nice and Lisbon. Each sailing was crafted to allow cruisers to combine two or more seven-night itineraries back-to-back, with very few, if any, repeat ports. Among the overnight destinations are Corfu, Greece; Sorrento, Italy; Monte Carlo, Monaco; Marseille and St. Tropez, France; Ibiza and Seville, Spain; and Lisbon, Portugal.

Highlighting the spring Mediterranean voyages will be a four-night Monaco Grand Prix sailing from Nice on May 26, 2011, which includes a visit to Monte Carlo on the day of the race, as well as stops in popular Portofino and St. Tropez. When combined with the subsequent five-night voyage, guests can sail along the Italian Riviera to Rome. On July 2, 2011, Azamara Journey sets sail on a 12-night Northern Europe Baltic cruise from Rouen, France, highlighted by overnight stays in Copenhagen and St. Petersburg.

The ship then will operate a series of seven-night Scandinavia/Russia Baltic voyages from Stockholm, with an overnight there, and two overnights in St. Petersburg. The Norwegian fjords will highlight Azamara Journey’s 10-night voyage from Copenhagen Aug. 7, 2011, with visits to seven destinations in Norway.

Copenhagen will be the departure port for Azamara Journey’s 12-night voyage departing Aug. 17, 2011, with visits in Norway, Scotland, the Faroe Islands, and Akureyri, Iceland, along with an overnight in Reykjavik. On Aug. 29, 2011, Azamara Journey departs on a 10-night sailing from Dublin to Holyhead, Wales; Cork (Cobh), Ireland; Bilbao, Gijon and Vigo, Spain; and overnights in Bordeaux and Lisbon during the grape-harvest season.

From Lisbon, Azamara Journey operates a nine-night Mediterranean itinerary featuring an overnight stay in Seville (Cadiz), Spain, and visits to Granada (Motril) and Barcelona; Marseille, Sanary-Sur-Mer, St. Tropez and Nice, France. From Nice, the ship offers two seven-night sailings to French and Italian destinations, including overnights in St. Tropez, Nice, Monte Carlo and Portofino. Two seven-night sailings follow, from Nice and Barcelona, concluding in Lisbon, where the ship departs Oct. 15, 2011, on a 10-night voyage to San Juan, Puerto Rico.

On Oct. 25, 2011, Azamara Journey embarks on a new season in South America, beginning with two 14-night voyages -- one from San Juan and one from Manaus, Brazil -- with visits to the Grenadines, Barbados and locations along Brazil’s Amazon River. Azamara Journey’s five- and seven-night West Indies voyages depart San Juan Nov. 22 and Nov. 27, 2011, followed by a return to South America. From Dec. 4, 2011, through March 9, 2012, Azamara Journey offers eight- to 16-night voyages, with the latter highlighted by three days in the Antarctic Sound, a visit just off Cape Horn, and a stop in the Falkland Islands.

Many of Azamara’s South America voyages were designed around local events, such as two nights at Punta del Este, Uruguay, during the Christmas holiday; viewing New Year’s Eve fireworks off the shores of Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and two full days in Rio during Carnival in February. Among the overnight stays scheduled in the South America lineup are Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Punta del Este, Uruguay.

Azamara Journey in March 2012 will operate three seven-night sailings to Mayreau, Grenadines; St. Lucia; Marigot, St. Martin; Virgin Gorda, B.V.I.; and an overnight stay in Gustavia, St. Barts. These voyages can be combined into a 14-night cruise.