Overview

Azamara is a brand offering premium cruises on three small ships, all of the R-class ordered by the now-defunct Renaissance Cruises in the mid-1990s.  Their homogenous fleet allows them to offer itineraries worldwide across three ships, without having to match ships to regions like other operators.

History

Azamara Cruises was created in 2007 as a subsidiary of Celebrity Cruises, itself a part of the Royal Caribbean Group.  The ships were initially intended for Celebrity Xpeditions, but the ships were far more upscale than Celebrity's ships, so the decision was made that they should get their own company.  In 2009, it was rebranded as Azamara, although later it was changed again, this time to Azamara Club Cruises.  On 10 October 2019, the company dropped the "Club Cruises" from their name, and rebranded themselves simply as "Azamara."  This was a reflection of their expansion into markets other than cruising, allowing their passengers to book three-to-six-night hotel stays in connection with their cruise.  In January 2021, Royal Caribbean sold Azamara to Sycamore Partners.