Azamara to Launch First Full Asia Season in 2028

Azamara Cruises will operate its first full Asia season in 2028, with 33 spring, summer and fall sailings aboard Azamara Pursuit and nine Combination Cruises linking destinations including Japan, South Korea and China. The line’s 2028 deployment also keeps ships in port for 87% of the schedule, with more than 360 late-night departures and overnight stays.

The Asia program is the biggest change in a season that still allocates more cruises to Europe, where Azamara plans 85 sailings, 10 Grand Voyages and 48 country-intensive itineraries. Late-night and overnight calls account for 53% of all port days in the announced program.

Asia expansion puts Pursuit at the center of deployment

The roughly 702-passenger Azamara Pursuit, one of the line’s four ships, will operate the Asia program. Select itineraries are timed with more than 10 regional festivals.

“With the addition of Asia-focused itineraries in 2028, we’re expanding the range and depth of destinations guests can experience across our deployment,” said Michael Pawlus, head of itinerary planning at Azamara Cruises.

Pawlus said in an interview that Azamara calls at more than 300 ports each year and is seeing more guests book consecutive voyages. The line is offering combinable cruises “up to four in a row that will not repeat any ports,” he said.

New ports, river routes and event sailings

Among the 12 maiden ports for 2028, Azamara named Caen, France; Sokcho, South Korea; Tokushima and Miyazaki (Aburatsu), Japan; Delphi (Itea), Greece; Porto Empedocle, Sicily; and Liepaja, Latvia. The river program includes extended cruising on the Guadalquivir into Seville, the Garonne into Bordeaux, the Seine into Rouen, the Yangtze into Shanghai and the Mekong Delta to Ho Chi Minh City.

Mediterranean destinations named in the program include Greece, Italy and Croatia, continuing Azamara’s single-country-focused cruise format alongside longer Grand Voyages. Specialty Cruises will be built around events including Grand Prix races and the British Open sailing for The 156th Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes, with Azamara Journey scheduled to call in Liverpool.

Pawlus said Azamara will also have two ships in Nice for the Monaco Grand Prix in 2028, with guests traveling by coach to the race. Other event-based sailings include Carnival in Rio de Janeiro and Sydney’s New Year’s Eve fireworks.

Planning has already moved beyond this deployment. For 2029 and later, Pawlus said he has laid out sailings by starting with turnaround ports and then building the ports of call; “It comes down to what is going to sell,” he said.