“We are positioned in that upper premium space and we love it,” said Dondra Ritzenthaler, CEO, Azamara Cruises.
“We get the consumers that don’t want to spend on the luxury (brands) and then we get the consumers that are upgrading from a premium ship that want a small vessel and an elevated product.
“That is where we are positioned and it will never change. We are the leader in small-ship destination immersion.”
With four small sister ships, Azamara can go where the big ships can’t, Ritzenthaler said.
“An example of that is we can sail up the river in Seville, dock five minutes from town and stay there for two days.”
Sales Push
Talking to Cruise Industry News in late November, Ritzenthaler called the sales push around Black Friday and Cyber Monday the appetizer event for wave season.
“The booking window is just as good as the first three weeks of January,” she said. “We take lessons learned and then launch for wave season.”
She said the company, which is owned by private equity firm Sycamore Partners, had opened deployment earlier than ever, into 2028, and had elevated its stance on destination immersion with 13,500 new shore excursions added across its portfolio, including over 250 new night tours.
“We slow things way down. Our ships are in port late and overnight. You don’t have to worry about getting off the ship at 8 a.m. and then being back by 3 p.m.,” Ritzenthaler explained.
There are also the company’s signature Azamazing evenings, where all guests experience a culturally rich local event in one port on each cruise.
2026
“We are back in Alaska this year,” Ritzenthaler continued. “What was happening was our guests told us they wanted us to sail in Alaska, and we don’t want to give them to our competitors.”
It’s the first time for the brand in Alaska in seven years, and Azamara has built out a full program, including three- and five-day pre- and post-tour options.
“Another item that is super unique is now we are deployed in Europe year-round,” Ritzenthaler continued, also noting an expanded Japan program with both fall and spring sailings.
The best-performing cruises, she said, are generally the once-in-a-lifetime experience sailing. That portfolio has grown from six to 22 cruises, and includes sailings matched with events like the Monaco Grand Prix and British Open golf tournament. Three solar eclipse sailings for 2026 have been top sellers as well.
Ritzenthaler said that after taking the job, it became clear to her the brand needed to stay focused on what it owned.
“That is destination immersion,” she said. “We have added 33 new country-intensive cruises and over 150 entrées that are synonymous with the destinations we are in.”
Hotline
New for agents is an Anything Azamara hotline, which is a dedicated phone line designed exclusively for new- to-Azamara travel advisors.
With 86 percent of bookings coming from travel agents, Ritzenthaler has her focus on driving that part of the business, which has seen over 500 first-time bookings from new agent partners.
“We want to make sure they have a number to call and ask whatever they need to. It has gone over extremely well. They see us investing in them and the consumer,” Ritzenthaler said.
Also new is an expanded Azamara World Academy, the brand’s training and certification platform.
Ritzenthaler took over as CEO in 2024, coming from a long career as vice president of sales at Celebrity Cruises. She said that one of the reasons she got the job was due to her relationships with the travel advisor community.
“We are investing in them with co-op marketing, commissions, conferences, training and more,” she said. “They see we value them and that has helped.”
Excerpted from the 2025-2026 Winter Cruise Industry News Quarterly Magazine.
