Azamara Cruises: serving underserved luxury market?
The new Azamara Cruises offers something different for customers:
Ø Each stateroom comes with butler service.
Ø Rooms have fresh-cut flowers, fresh fruit and two complimentary pairs of slippers.
Ø Rooms also have plasma TV’s and European bedding.
Ø No formal nights — dining rooms are all open seating.
Ø Cruisers will receive a complimentary dinner on each cruise in the ship’s two fee-based specialty restaurants.
“[We] created Azamara Cruises to target an area of the market that we believe is underserved, and an area this product is ideally suited to fill,” said Royal Caribbean Chairman and CEO Richard Fain.
The luxury line has two 710-passenger vessels, Journey and Quest.
Planned itineraries for the remainder of 2007 include Bermuda, the Panama Canal and South America. Voyages for the 2008 season include Asia, the Caribbean, South America and Europe. Around-the-world voyages are scheduled to begin in 2010.
Azamara, which launched in May, is a joint venture between Royal Caribbean Cruises and Celebrity Cruises.
Report by David Wilkening

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