Dondra Ritzenthaler on What’s Next for Azamara Cruises

Dondra Ritzenthaler has only been CEO at Azamara Cruises for just shy of six months, but she’s already made one big change that has loyal cruisers happy: new shower curtains.

The need for new, non-clingy plastic shower curtains came up during the listening tour she embarked on when she became president of the line.

“I didn’t want to come in and say I have all the answers,” Ritzenthaler told TMR during a one-on-one sit-down onboard Azamara Journey. “I believe that you’re successful in life if you listen.”

She heard all kinds of things during that listening tour, which was with both travel advisors and loyal guests. One common complaint, the plastic shower curtains that had a tendency to get up close and personal. Thus, the new bamboo-based shower curtains that rolled out earlier this fall.  

“It gave me the opportunity to get a quick win,” she added.

Ritzenthaler spoke more about what’s on the agenda for Azamara over the next few years.

“I will not be 20 years at Azamara,” she said referring to her 20 years at both American Airlines and Celebrity Cruises. “I’m only going to be here five or six, but I’m going to work 20 years’ worth in the five or six I’m going to be here,” she told an audience of the line’s most loyal cruisers and travel advisors.

With her listening tour completed, Ritzenthaler told TMR they’ve now compiled a list of the most consistent feedback and prioritized it.

First up for the cruise line will be a technological overhaul, which Ritzenthaler recognized is much needed.

A significant part of this overhaul over the next year or so is what she referred to as the guest’s end-to-end journey, which goes beyond fixing the website (a sore spot for some of the guests during the onboard Q&A).

“Eventually we need an app, and we need that website to be much easier to work with… And we don’t need you to call somebody to confirm and then add things,” she said.

Coming Soon: Faster Wi-Fi

On a somewhat related topic, Ritzenthaler also said that Azamara will be investing in Wi-Fi onboard its ships. Though the line has Starlink, it does not have enough bandwidth, a fact the line discovered when it ran a test offering free Wi-Fi on several sailings.

While the results of the test were murky – loyalty members were unhappy with others getting something that had always been an earned perk, plus few people paid extra to upgrade their Wi-Fi – the one thing that was clear was the need for greater bandwidth.

“It 100% told us that no matter what we decided to do in the future, whether it’s included in the ticket, whether we keep it the way it is… we have to improve the bandwidth. We’re going to do that in ’25,” Ritzenthaler said.

Destination Immersion 2.0

When asked what the top things are that cruisers love about Azamara, the line’s destination focus and ability to visit smaller ports consistently ranked high.

“We’re never going to move away that because if you listen, those are the things that make people want to cruise with us,” Ritzenthaler told TMR.

As a result, Azamara will double down on its destination immersion with more late nights and more overnights than it’s ever done before.

“I learned that these are the things that our guests value most.”

With her vast knowledge of the cruise industry, Ritzenthaler is perfectly aware that many other cruise lines are offering more immersive destination experiences and that Azamara needs to innovate to say ahead.

“As others start to do some of the things that we do, then we have to elevate,” she said. “That’s why you’re going to see us take destination immersion to the next level.”

Among the experiences guests will start to see rolled out in the first quarter of ’25 will be shoreside market visits with the ship’s executive chef and special meals made with local ingredients.

“I believe if we continue to listen, we’re going to make the decisions and make the moves that are going to continue to elevate us,” she said.

There will also be more seven-night cruises so that time-starved travelers can get onboard. These seven-night sailings will be offered as one-off seven-night cruises, or they can be stacked together as 14-night, 21-night, and 28-night cruises (as opposed to back-to-back seven-night cruises).

Additionally, after three years of having most AzAmazing Evenings on the ship (due to post-COVID 19 complications), the line will return most of them to land.

“They [guests] love them, but they much prefer them to be shoreside versus on the ship… that’s why you’re going to see in ’25, we’re going back to a bigger percentage back on shore,” Ritzenthaler said.

New Ships

During Ritzenthaler’s onboard Q&A, the first question was about newbuilds, a topic about which she asked her bosses during the hiring process.

“I have asked the exact same question because we want a newbuild. We definitely want it, we need it… we love these four ships. We think that they’re absolutely gorgeous. But to really, really grow in the business, we want a new build,” she told the audience.

Her answer to the guest who asked the question was the same answer she received.

“They have continued to tell us the following: We have a tremendous amount of confidence in this company and this leadership team… And we definitely want a new build as well. So Dondra, what we’re telling you to do is have a strong performance in 2025…”

To date, bookings for 2025 are ahead of projections, she said. If Azamara can finish the year on target or better, Ritzenthaler said she’s confident she’ll get the newbuild she wants.

Onboard Changes

While Ritzenthaler had nothing concrete to report yet, she told TMR that nothing is off the table.

“What do we want to do with the menus? How do we want to change them? … It’s those types of things. What do we want to do with the entertainment going forward?”