Azamara is a

cruise line A cruise line is a company (law), company that operates cruise ships that operate on Cruising (maritime), ocean or River cruise, rivers and which markets cruises to the public. Cruise lines are distinct from Passenger ship, passenger lines whic ...

based in

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, that operates four

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports of call, where passengers may go on Tourism, tours k ...

s on worldwide itineraries.

History

Azamara Cruises was founded in 2007 after two R-class ships from

Pullmantur Cruises Pullmantur Cruises was a cruise line headquartered in Madrid, Spain. It began operations in the late 1990s as an offshoot of the Madrid-based travel agency Pullmantur. In 2006, Pullmantur Cruises, through its parent company, was purchased by U ...

that would have gone to

Celebrity Cruises Celebrity Cruises is a cruise line headquartered in Miami, Florida, and a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group. Celebrity Cruises was founded in 1988 by the Greece-based Chandris Group, and merged with Royal Caribbean Cruise Line in ...

were transferred to the new company. The first ships of the company were the ''Azamara Quest'' and ''Azamara Journey''. They make cruises to exotic locations, competing with similar luxury cruise lines such as Oceania Cruises. In 2009 Azamara underwent a rebranding, being renamed to Azamara Club Cruises. Between 2012 and 2013 the ''Azamara Quest'' and ''Azamara Journey'' were renovated and in 2018 the company acquired the ''Adonia'' from

P&O Cruises P&O Cruises is a British cruise line based at Carnival House in Southampton, England, operated by Carnival Corporation & plc#Carnival UK, Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. It was originally a subsidiary of the freight transp ...

, renaming it to ''Azamara Pursuit''. The company was founded by Royal Caribbean who wanted to diversify its operations. In 2021, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the company was sold to a private investment group. The ships were extensively renovated from 2012 to 2013 and 2018, respectively. Azamara currently operates four ships. They belong to the eight R-class ships that were built for

Renaissance Cruises Renaissance Cruises was a cruise ship operating company that was founded in 1989 and owned by Fearnley & Eger Rederi in Oslo, Norway. It was purchased by Edward Rudner (founder of Alamo Rent a Car, Alamo Car Rental) as the company faltered during t ...

between 1997 and 2001. The ''Azamara Quest'' and ''Azamara Journey'' both entered service in 2000 under the original names ''R Six'' and ''R Seven''. In March 2018, ''Adonia'' was also taken over from P&O Cruises and renamed ''Azamara Pursuit''. Each of the ships can carry a maximum of 686 passengers. All ships sail under the flag of Malta. Azamara offers cruises with the ships worldwide. In January 2021, Royal Caribbean announced that it would sell Azamara to

Sycamore Partners Sycamore Partners is an American private equity firm based in New York specializing in retail and consumer investments. The firm has approximately $10 billion in aggregate committed capital. History Founding Sycamore Partners was founded in 2 ...

in the first quarter of 2021. The sale was completed in March 2021. The acquisition of another ship, the ''Pacific Princess'', a sister ship to the other ships in the fleet, was also announced. It was handed over in March 2021 and was officially renamed ''Azamara Onward'' on May 2, 2022. In May 2024, Dondra Ritzenthaler officially became the CEO of Azamara Cruises.

Fleet

The Azamara ships were built in 1999–2001 for Renaissance Cruises as a part of their .

References

External links

Official website
{{Azamara Ships Cruise lines Transport companies established in 2007 2021 mergers and acquisitions