uktog

Just wondering, if I cancel and rebook (assuming the price was favourable) would I get the one level upgrade that now includes AQ for my Captains Club level (so book an A2 and get the A1 I had still)

(Technically the pricing is favourable if I do this so just wondering)

It is a good idea to take a picture of the final account balance as shown on your TV on the morning of departure - avoids Guest Relations lines and is as good for proving the position if need be down the line

Our Kandy tour was through the ship Wendy and David

I would like to end these posts by saying what I think everyone on board said – it is the staff that make the Azamara experience so special. There are too many to mention them all by name, smiling faces who address you by name and seem to be amazing mind readers anticipating your next need before you know you have it.

If I may I would like to end with two stories which summed up how I personally had my expectations exceeded, when as a regular Azamara cruiser, it can be very hard for them to do this as the bar is naturally higher.

The first related to our unceremonial eviction to the container port in Mumbai. On Day one, I had arranged for some Indian clothing to be tailored for me by one of the shops in the cruise terminal and I was to collect it on Day two. And for some bizarre reason, despite paying for the item, I did not collect a receipt, I just knew where the pop up stall was.

Once we knew we were moving I spoke to the Concierge to see how could I get back to the cruise terminal in the land of streamlined bureaucracy and indeed, would they be open, but of course I was also not much help with my vagueness of the who and where etc! Of we went out on our half day tour and I planned to try and get a cab if it was possible that afternoon to track the items down, however, I had already written off the $30 in my head. Imagine my surprise, we came back into our room at lunchtime, and there on the bed was a parcel and insider it was my new outfit.

The second related to an enjoyable visit to Prime C (we had several great trips to there and to Aqualina). One night part of the order (a goats cheese potato cake) did not come but we said nothing it was no big issue. On our final visit, I was determined to try this dish but when our meal was served, the server advised they would not be able to do the potato cake as they would not have goats cheese until the next day. We were a little disappointed we had not known at ordering, but forgot about the whole thing as the meal was delicious, the Maitre D was highly apologetic as we left, but knowing we will be on board again on March we just said “It can be a treat for night one next cruise Alex!”

The next night we were eating in Discoveries and after we had ordered, we saw Alex walking through, we thought he was looking for one of the other staff. Clearly he had been asked to be alerted when we were dining, and he came down and came to us to say as they now had goats cheese back on board he wanted to have one sent down for me to enjoy with my main course that night, would I like that.

What can you say, some may find these trivial tales but for me they are what Azamara is all about.

In a nutshell very little – the biggest area still needing work is Land Discoveries, I have been very honest in my posts about what we experienced, but it would not be fair to dismiss Land Discoveries out of hand. I am not a subscriber to the “private trips only” school, I believe the cruise line can provide good options but there is scope to do a lot more. I also believe the onboard team do not fully embrace customer service and are too defensive and should listen more when feedback is given. It is the only area of the ship that again has not responded to constructive feedback before we left – this is not the first time we have seen that.

I would also like to see more explicit marketing of the tours the Concierge can put together – Joao was a lovely person and I know he put together good ideas for some guests. Maybe at the start of a cruise, some sample trips could be highlighted on a handout with ballpark costs. Now there is no incentive to pre book tours when the 25% discount goes, guests may be happy to wait until they are on board and so there is scope for further revenue generation there.

There is also a niggle about guests behaviour on tours and this could apply whether you are on private tours or not – and that is the growing use of Ipads as cameras. When there are a number of people wanting to photograph something, whereas the space blocked by a camera user is only the size of their body, the space blocked by an Ipad user is their body plus wherever they are holding the ipad out to. Ipad users also take longer to take a picture due to the technology they are using – just a suggestion, maybe we need to think of some “snappers etiquette” for the future. Our joy at having a minibus on one trip was short lived because we could not see out the front (Ipad man was videoing most of the time; other side we had large sunhat wearer) – oh and our view to one side was curtailed by a lady who would not allow the curtains to be opened. In the end of the day our pics were fine but could have been a lot easier come by with a little thought.

I would also encourage the cruiseline to continue trying to get a diverse mix of nationalities on board as we enjoyed. I have listed below the extract from our trip that appeared in the Pursuits daily – this mix really made this cruise, we loved the diversity of guests we met and chatted with.

Australia 53; Brazil 1; Canada 56; Denmark 43; Germany 19; Hungary 2; India 1; Italy 2; Japan 1; Mexico 6; Netherlands 2; New Zealand 7: Norway 63; Spain 1; Sweden 4; Switzerland 4; UK 183; USA 159; Zimbabwe 1

Beyond that – just keep doing what you are doing Azamara – giving of your best and looking out for ways to make your best even better

It is always hard when the cruise is coming to the end, we arrived into Singapore for the precision docking required by the authorities at the Singapore Cruise Centre lunchtime the day before disembarkation. This time the Safety Officer got to add to his sailing log by driving Journey in. We loved Captain Johannes remark one day, he wants to get Azamara to paint big red L plates on the front and back of Journey but it was great during the cruise to hear how many of the younger officers were docking and undocking the ship under his guidance on this cruise.

After the chaos of the Indian sub continent and Malaysia, Singapore is orderly and so structured. There is also so much to do and excellent transport networks. No shuttles were offered but being near Vivo City we could easily access the Sentosa Express as we did ($4 each to the island, no charge to return) or if you were brave you can take the cable car that goes straight over the ship. (www.singaporecablecar.com.sg). You can also follow links to the MRT system.

(Cable car from our balcony)

The excursions offered were limited even though we did not disembark until the next day. Again an area that could be worked on – in particular I was surprised nothing was offered to the Gardens by the Bay. (www.gardensbythebay.com.sg). We actually did these on our own on disembarkation day, they are beautiful and the two domes are perfect when the obligatory late afternoon shower appears and they are free from any humidity which can be a welcome relief for many. I believe the cruiseline could offer something that could be tailored to appeal to garden lovers with an expert guide to highlight things (though of course in a few hours you can only look at a tiny % of what the Gardens have). They are only a short trip from both cruise terminals and if you are doing it yourself, taxis in Singapore are very very cheap.

Disembarkation was exceptionally orderly, always a sad time, but lovely how you are seen off by all the Senior Officers. As out flights to the UK are late evening, we opted to stay a night in Singapore thereby giving us a good further 36 hours of enjoyable time. We stayed at the Ritz Carlton – if your budget will allow this and there are great deals to be had there, do it, this was the view we had lying in bed.

Our arrival at Port Klang for Kuala Lumpur saw us docked beside or should I say dwarfed by a RCL vessel. If I can skip forward to the end of the day, this gave Azamara the opportunity to lay on the Welcome Back Home event – officers on the pier, Champagne served to guests on pierside as they returned whilst the great Journey Orchestra played on Deck 5 for all to hear.

I am again going to be critical of Land Discoveries in a minute but an interesting fact that shows the potential value of these tours to Azamara (and the revenue they can lose if they screw up) RCL vessel, 3000+ guests sent 10 tour buses out that day, Azamara 700 guests sent 27 tour buses out.

Anyway once again Lucky White Heather anyone...................? This time there was only one bus going on our Tour – The Garden City of Kuala Lumpur – but we still got a coconut for a guide (or so I thought we did until I heard about the trip the Hotel Director was on incognito, believe it or not, she can top our tale but I leave it for anyone who experienced it first hand to chime in).

I expect there will be some very focussed feedback to the Agents in Malaysia, our guide had a very unfortunate sense of humour – I will give her the benefit of the doubt that some of it was humour (e.g comments about English always just do pub crawls thats all they do) however she only confirmed a building was the magnificent mosque when pressed to by a tour member and then preceded to talk about terrorists and worse still explained that the richest man in Malaysia had a problem as to who to leave his money to because his son was handicapped, when sitting in the front row of the bus was a lovely Aussie young man we had all got to know throughout the cruise who had a profound neurological disability.

This tour has the potential to be good but needs reworking – the key stops were to be Orchid Garden, Hibiscus Garden and the Butterfly Park plus a visit to the KL Craft Centre. Lets deal with the Craft Centre first, I had googled this place before we booking and thought it had potential to be a great place for gifts. What we went to was a place selling cheap and nasty plastic Chinese junk and now I am back home I have looked on line and realised we were not taken to what is shown as the KL Craft Centre online. This is something the ship needs to look carefully at for future cruises.

Anyway, before you think the whole day was a write off, I have to be positive and tell you about one big learning point for me. On boarding the ship, we were advised that the Butterfly Farm had been replaced by The Bird Park. OK, I am terrified of birds, I have never enjoyed encounters with them. However my husband says, its too much hassle to change and anyway lets concentrate on the Orchid and Hibiscus Gardens which you will love and I want to see the PETRONAS Towers.

Downtown KL

Now, logistically these Garden/Park visits should have been in the beginning of the day when it was cooler (a review of the map shows the various stops would have been easily interchangeable going round KL in a different circular direction) so we were getting tired and it was humid when we got there. Then Miss Lo informs us there is no point in going to the Orchid and Hibiscus Gardens across the road as they are out of season so I am stuck in a bird park for 90 minutes- Houston we have a problem.

Guess what – I had the best time ever I was thrilled at the Photo opportunities I had and I am so glad I went there. Added to that the gift shop was high quality and we were able to make up for the near disaster of no presents for some following our visit to tatland. I was however a little annoyed on the bus home to learn from another guest who had ignored Miss Lo that there was a lovely but small display of orchids to be seen across the road. Hope you can see why I enjoyed this visit.

The Hornbills are the feature of this park, difficult to photo through meshed cages though

And this guy just was not going to face me

For anyone going to KL in the future, I would say, unless Land Discoveries can get their act together, I would suggest you go on your own, possibly using the ships transfer excursions as taxis were not that evident at the port. And certainly consider the bird park for a visit (http://www.klbirdpark.com) but make sure you also cross the road unlike us and see the Orchids as well.

Children on Land Discoveries

A lot has been written about children on board recently. On this trip there were no children other than two charming little boys aged about 2 or just less, the children of the Staff Captain and another Officer. They never caused any issues onboard and they were kept on a short rein (literally in both cases!) by Mums.

The look of horror on some guests’ faces as the Mums plus kids boarded our excursion was very obvious. However, Mums took the children straight to the back of the bus, they were equipped with toys and books, and we never heard from these two all the way there and back. It was also a joy to see the Bird Park through the eyes of one of the children we walked round beside for a while. So, with the right parents (or grandparents) kids and Azamara do go together very well.

After the challenges of India and Sri Lanka, three sea days beckoned. So in this review what I will do is highlight all the options on board across the cruise. Many people worry with long periods at sea what will they do – we had grand plans as to what would happen – hmmm – where did that time go because many things on the plan did not happen.

Based on previous posts, here are a few pointers of what peace at sea involved

* access to a great range of books in the library including some current titles

* no issue in finding sun loungers on deck and no evidence of lounger hoggers

* an absence of canned muzack both day and evening (something we suddenly realised on Day Three, it was pleasantly quiet)

* daily ballroom instruction (free of charge classes) by the onboard dance professionals, also almost every evening before the shows from around 9.15 pm there was half an hour of ballroom dancing in the Cabaret Lounge which was very popular

* they did attempt to run bingo games, I am not sure from the jokes from Eric whether they got many takers

* unhosted Bridge was scheduled most sea days

* daily Crosswords and Sudoko sheets could be picked up from the Library

* Trivia – as indicated earlier there were 2-3 Trivia sessions each day

* Wi games were also run at times in Casino Luxe Bar during the day

* Grandad is alive and well and still writing to Eric (repeat cruisers will get this one) he has also written a book, you knew who had it, you heard the gigglers reading it pool side

Evening entertainment was good, held usually at 9.45pm. Flautist Suzanne Godfrey, Irish opera/celtic crossover singer Sinead Blanchfield, magician Mel Mellers and comedian Jeff Stevenson all performed twice. All were very good

There were three production shows, plus the lead two singers Amanda Poulson and Andrew Perry each did shows (Amanda did hers under the stars in Mumbai, it was particularly memorable) plus they did a joint show. In addition Eric de Gray as Cruise Director did his own show

He also “interfered (!)” with the final production show which had everyone crying with laughter.

Eric is a hugely talented pianist and singer, you sometimes forget that when he is being funny as well.

Park West – I gave feedback about this onboard but will restate it here. The abomination of garish art on Deck 5 complete with harsh spotlights has completely spoilt the calm of Mosaic in my view. The nice pieces of Azamara art have easels in front of them – almost down to where the piano used to be and far too many pictures are crammed onto the walls in the Lift Lobby area and in the entry to Discoveries. I counted 14 pictures on display in that small area.

Were they selling? – I do not know, there were two auctions and four seminars. I have no idea how well attended they were. Several very expensive pictures did appear with sold tickets on them, and these pictures were changed around so in theory if you believe what you saw around 12 pictures were sold. But were they? Or was it to encourage you to stop buy and make an offer, who knows. I still believe Park West does not fit well with a destination cruise line and I think it is a Royal Caribbean bean counter that has pushed them back on board – and I remain to be convinced on the maths on this one.

Finally Armistice/Veterans Day was whilst we were on board. Two minutes silence was observed shipwide followed by a Service in the Cabaret Lounge in which Amanda Poulson, Andrew Perry, the Captain, Eric and some officers took part. I do not know who wrote that 20 minute service, but it was one of the most moving Remembrance events I have been to for many many years.

Wish the conversion had looked at the kind of rooms we were in historically rather than the straight multiple. Straight multiple gives us around 1600 points a long way of Zenith and therefore not in itself an incentive to stay loyal if that is an aim of the programme.

If however you applied the current value of the suites we were in on 14-16 night cruises we would have around 2400 points and very much an incentive to keep going......

However we are blessed we can cruise, who knows if one day we will make the highest level but in the meantime we will enjoy what perks we get.

Thank you for all the kind comments, I will hopefully finish the posts later today.

Just to clarify, in the gardens in Kandy, we were not wandering on our own, a well guided tour for alomost an hour was offered, however, one lady set off on her own without a map before the guide had given orientation guidance so did not make the most of her visit and I believe she was vocal in her views but she was the only unhappy guest in our group though I cannot speak for the other group.

I know your private group saw us walking on our own, and some commented to us after they were surprised our tour was diy, but that was out of our choice as there was something very specific we wanted to see that would not have interested others and we therefore agreed with the guide to go it alone for that hour

We also saw the preserved elephant, again, some of the group did not listen to the guides directions on seeing this before meeting back.

For us, the comfort of the private train, the hour later departure (even though that was still a 5 amwakeup call) and the comfort of the security of the ships tour mattered in a country whose road and transport systems are notorious.

Just want others to know I have been giving snapshots only, not whole info on each tour.

And best wishes to you Bill, all the Azamara team at home and away and all fellow cruisers here from those in the country that set the process in train that led to the pilgrims being thankful :)

Late in the planning for this cruise a new excursion was added taking a specially chartered train to Kandy to see The Temple of the Tooth containing the relic a tooth from Buddah. There was also a visit to the Botanical Gardens. The downside was we had to be on the pier by 05.45 – and we were!

The train journey was a delight and the three hours flew by. We had armchairs and set tables. The 18 in our bus had the back coach on the way there, the other group had the coach attached to the engine and we reversed for the return trip.

Lovely cups of tea were served throughout the trip and the guide could point things out via the pa – each coach guide was doing their own commentaries. Although I could not catch it in time, we even saw an old fashioned ploughing of a paddy field using oxen and a yoke.

What was most fascinating was that we were going at the time of the morning commute into Colombo so there was so much for us to see – children going to school, workers heading for the train etc.

The strangest thing is that they all walk on the track. As we were in the back coach it was strange to see people popping out of tunnel gaps and bushes immediately the train passed.

The views down to the rice fields and tea plantations were magnificent, we were high above the road so had a much more scenic journey.

On arrival at Kandy we went to the Temple where monks were chanting, drummers drumming and the air was heady with the smell of incense and the orchids being laid as offerings.

Our next trip to the Botanic Gardens was also fascinating, especially the avenue of trees planted by visiting dignitaries since the turn of the century. It was as much a history lesson as a nature lesson. The flowers in the garden were lovely. It was the find of place where an hour could only give a quick snapshot. You would need days for this one.

Happy Children on a school trip to the Temple

This monk in a tuktuk on his mobile was a quick pic I could not resisit

The return train trip was equally attractive even though in time, down came the rain.

There were timing issues with this trip – the ships team had assured us the train would be back around 1800 (we sailed at 1900) however the guide showed us his itinerary which had us arriving at the Central station at 1830. Needless to say, we were the last passengers back to the ship and, had another train needed track priority (it is a single track line in parts and charters are lowest prioirty) we would have been very late back.

It was however a memorable trip and we had a knowledgeable guide. Using the public trains would be a risk on this trip and these restored carriages were so comfortable.

On our sail down to Colombo, Sri Lanka we had a grey and damp morning, but the news was good. The agent in Colombo had confirmed it was lovely weather there and this ships own forecasts confirmed it was going to be a good night.

The afternoon really brightened up and so we all really looked forward to White Nights. By 6.15pm virtually all the tables had been snapped up.

Tomasz was helping barbecue fillets of steak, there were the usual stir fries, pasta made to order and a wide range of salads. Later that night, before the party started Heike and Tomasz were going to do crepe suzettes and we were to be entertained by a local traditional dance show – what could go wrong?

Just after we got our pasta mains we thought, what is that noise, oh the wind is up and then the sky lit up with a massive thunderstorm and a tropical monsoon landed on us. We were eating on Deck 10 with no cover, bless them, two waiters started lifting tables fully set to under the cover by the door. Over the next ten minutes you saw even engineers coming up from below decks to try and move water off the decks. The buffet was covered but everything else was under a good two inches of water and every waiter and officer was soaked to the skin. I missed the photo op as I was keeping the camera dry but the Captain was seen “with mop”.

The view from our new table

We all relocated down to the Cabaret lounge where the local show was put on and the Crepe Suzettes were prepared in the background by the bar – the dance group did very well in the more restricted space, clearly the tumbling acrobats had expected more floor space. It was a good show and then the party began. It was lively but not quite the same buzz you get on deck but of course, no one can control Mother Nature.

As we had a 4.45 alarm ahead of our trip to Kandy we did not stay to the end of the show. The next day the talk of the ship was how all the crew had come together as a team to rescue the night and each one took the initiative to resolve a part of the situation without being told what to do.

Actually I have realised these two themes have to be split so here is “One night azamazed”

Much has been written about these evenings and whether they work. Clearly it had been a challenge working out where such an event could be held on the Indian sub continent. The Taj Vivanti at Cochin was probably the only place – and there was a stroke of good luck, Prince Charles went there five days before us and a canopied atrium with very comfortable chairs and supporting staging had been put up for an event he was hosting and Azamara guests were able to benefit accordingly.

A lovely welcomer

It was still a logistical challenge for the ship such that they opted to run the event twice and guests were allocated to a session (though there was the option to switch if need be so everyone seemed happy). The next challenge the ship had, again they could not get visas for many of their own staff to support the event so they relied on only a few of their own waiters. This did not give an issue in the end as the hotel staff were very professional.

An Indian themed barbecue was served and the food was very good, several chefs were cooking a la minute. Drink (wine, beers, sodas) was free flowing and there were side attractions.

A traditional basket weaver and potter were working, a calligrapher was writing names in Sanskrit, an astrologer was there for the brave but the most popular was the beautiful henna tattoos – so many ladies sported them for the rest of the cruise.

A display of fisherman nets

A short but well delivered folkloric show was given with a local girl explaining what was happening.

But I suspect most people loved taking pics of the beautiful elephants – one pierside that sent us off and one at the event wearing festive decorations.

In case we were hungry (we were not but we all still partook) on the return to the ship Heike and F and B manager Tomasz made and served bananas foster ahead of an onboard show.

Cochin brought us another face to face immigration inspection and the usual gangway inspection rituals but we are becoming professionals in cracking this.

We had opted to do the deluxe “Backwaters of Alappuzha by Houseboat” which was a lovely tour with only 10 of us on the houseboat – a second boat also had 10 guests on it. This was one tour that fitted expectations of something of a higher quality than offered by Celebrity/Royal Caribbean (although one issue, the guide decided to go off the agreed programme and help some guests buy spices which involved a very uncomfortable off road experience for those of us with back issues, something we fed back to Land Discoveries but was not followed up on with us).

Anyway back to the trip, the write up said you would see this and that by the waters edge on the river and we thought yes, maybe 10% of these things – we saw 100% and more. The good thing was they had us up to the river quite early so women were down at the river’s edge washing and doing household chores.

(women working the paddy fields)

(Mum is doing the washing, Dad is having a bath and the child is playing happily with an old tyre)

As we came back down to the boat yard 2 hours later we noticed how much quieter the river bank was.

We love this picture - in amongst the simple life and huts we spotted a riverside barbers in action

Lunch was at the Marari Beach resort and was a very high quality, fresh cooked buffet (best sardines I have had for years) and we had time to wander down to the beautiful beach front.

From the madness of Mumbai this was such a different world and probably our most memorable excursion of this cruise. If your budget stretches to the houseboat as opposed to the "ferry boat" excursion

take it. We saw the speed the other boat went past us and it would have been harder to spot all that was happening on the river bank.

(the houseboat)

If you follow the sequence of our cruise, next was an at sea day, so I will give a flavour of some of the at sea activities and I will cover more after the Sri Lanka post when we had three more at sea days. I have all the Pursuits (daily programmes) home with me so if you have any specific questions, ask away.

One highlight on every cruise is the Officers Lunch, where the officers serve guests and really seem to enjoy so doing. There is clearly a skill in this serving, Erik the Cruise Director seems able to toss a mean Caesar Salad, hotel director and F and B manager can do things involving sharp knives, but it seems after due consideration and risk assessment, three years on the Captain is still on the simplest task – dishing out the baked beans. Some guests could not believe he really was the Captain (not sure if this was due to his standards of serving or their perception that the Captain should have a more significant task or send a stand in).

There was one other brunch – a jazz brunch on an at sea day and in addition, there was a Discoverers level Champagne brunch, again served by the officers in Prime C one day. For some strange reason this was not well attended which was a shame as such an effort had been put into the food and its service. (Gold star to Nikki on Guest Relations for how she lays out a fruit plate for you, she must have been an artist in a previous existence).

Trivia seemed to be very popular and quite hotly contested every day. Also very popular were free ipad classes run by the DJ Marcio. It seemed guests loved his way of presenting as he was not approaching it as the “computer geeks” do but from a user perspective and it worked so well as a result.

There were two guest speakers on board. I did not hear Terry the destination expert but i gather he was very well liked. I did however attend one talk by Nigel Marvin the onboard naturalist. www.nigelmarven.com He really does have a great pedigree and I did enjoy his personal footage on pandas. Nigel’s particular love is snakes and spiders so I am afraid I did body swerve his other two talks but it was great to see such a quality presenter on board.

Our late morning arrival in Goa led us to believe we were in a calmer place. A lovely local dance troup welcomed us on the quay and as we were the first cruise of the season, everyone was given a rose on disembarkation.

Initially immigration seemed less hassle, we later learned that was because they had decided to target another group, the crew. Several of the crew came from the area surrounding Goa and in line with how they operate elsewhere in the world, Azamara had made arrangements for all their families to come and spend time on board with their loved ones and see where they worked (something none had ever seen in real life). We later learned that it was only after Captain Johannes had fired off an email with some well chosen words did this visit happen as the authorities decided to refuse to allow the families access to the pier. As we drove out on our tour, we saw little children in their Sunday best and tiny babes in arms waiting to see family, how sad their day was nearly shattered by bureaucracy but good on Azamara for standing up to it.

So our tour was Temples and Spices a six hour trip which included a visit to a spice farm http://www.pascoalfarm.com/ where we would have a walk around and see spices growing naturally followed by quite a spicey afternoon tea.

(cocoa plant)

(a bridge on the walk)

Before that we would visit a Hindhu Temple dedicated to the goddess Durga, the goddess of peace, which was constructed in 1738.

It was a reasonable excursion (20 of us in the coach) but it was let down by two things – firstly all the onboard PR was based on the previous visit to Goa where timings were different and tour members were served lunch, our expectations of the food to look out for from the Land Discoveries manager’s talk could not be met, we were having high tea and whilst the food was good, it did not show off the organic spices as fully as we had hoped. (We found a lot in the talks, which we viewed on their replay on this ships TV whilst based on the manager’s previous visits to the area, did not reflect what was happening on our cruise and this really did annoy some guests who were disappointed along the way)

We also suffered from being on the bad choice bus. Whenever two buses go on a tour, you can bet we get the bad guide (lucky white heather anyone? - local joke). He was not nearly as informative as his colleague was (we found out a lot from the other bus about the temple we were not told) and believed his role on the journey home was to keep us entertained with 45 minutes of “Christmas cracker jokes”. I know Azamara are working very hard at CEO level improve the quality of offering/guides and in some parts of the world this is very challenging, Goa is one such place for sure. So we had gone from one of the best guides to one of the worst (but as time was to tell not the worst) in 24 hours. That said, all in all still many very interesting sights to be enjoyed that afternoon. It was great to spot a traditional local river fisherman

During the evening buffet, Captain Johannes came on with a message, we were moving!

So here is another aspect of Indian thinking that is lost on everyone. Azamara is the only cruise line in port. She booked the cruise terminal slot some years ago. However, there is a container ship unloading coal in the container port half a mile away............................. you have guessed it, they are requiring us to swap places and nothing can persuade them otherwise (if you ignore unethical actions and I applaud the ships senior managers for retaining the moral high ground on this one). Not only do the port authorities look stupid to tourists, they have just removed the income from all the little port side vendors in the cruise terminal. And it was a nightmare for those with private guides most of whom could not get access to the commercial area of the port.

So we met our guide on our ship’s tour Mubai Masala – this is not a shopping trip but 16 of us went on a tour of two markets - firstly Crawford Market (The Wholesale fruit and veg market) where some work harder than others

Then on to the Chor Bazaar (Thieves Market) where anything and I mean anything might appear on the stalls. Here we saw shops selling spanners, nothing else, one had car doors, another old Pye televisions

All the time we walked through this market (and everyone heeded the guides advice this is NOT a place to buy) we were followed by a herd of goats some with bananas in their mouths they had stolen from a stall.

This was a great trip, we had to cross the road (life in hand but guide and bus helper kept us safe) hear the constant sound of car horns and see the carters moving goods

and bullocks being driven in the streets

This was real Mumbai.

Mumbai was buzzing that day, it was the opening day of Satchen Tendulka’s last test match ever being played in Mumbai. We were close to it all, everyone had radios pinned to their ears, stall holders had old radios blaring out. You read India is a cricket mad nation, here we could see it in action.

The logistical work re passports and visa checking by Guest Relations team was excellent – I suspect Nikki Denyer the manager did not sleep some nights – she did tell us she woke up dreaming of counting passports, I am not surprised.

You go through a face to face immigration inspection having completed another set of forms - and you all thought having cracked the visa application process they would know all about you – no wrong!

And you then all thought that having been through the immigration on ship all would be well – no wrong again. Your passport is kept on ship by Azamara but you go with copies that Azamara have done (by the end of the trip we realised someone had had to copy every guests passport 3 times, poor folks, as we lay in the sun on Days 1 and 2 they roasted by the Xerox.)

So at the top of the gangway Indian official takes time checks every photocopied passport to the landing card details and your sea pass – now I am through it all, wrong. Trivia question – what might change between the top of the gangway and the bottom? Answer I don’t know but the Indian authorities think something might because Team 3 are there doing the same as Teams 1 and 2. Walk 10 yards over to the rather shabby cruise terminal entrance – oh no Team 4 is there. And you are not getting out of the port gate without meeting representatives from Team 5. (And it will be the same antics when you come home!)

For those thinking of independent arrangements in Mumbai, there are no ships shuttles, indeed there were none anywhere on this cruise, all the local taxi unions will not allow them. There are in some cases shuttles to the port gates, in Mumbai several reported quite a bit of hassle from beggars at the gates and several independent guides had trouble entering the port.

For Day one, we chose the ships tour Mumbai on the Move and we felt this gave a really good insight into diverse aspects of Mumbai life.

After a short stop at the Gateway to India

and a view of the Taj hotel

we went to Churchgate station where we saw firsthand the dabba-Wallahs bringing in the tiffin boxes from workers homes and by the most amazing (yet undocumented) process, transferring boxes to others so each worker gets their box at lunchtime and then the empty boxes are delivered back to their homes that afternoon.

Why do they not carry their lunch in themselves? – because there is no room for them in the crush of the morning/evening commuter train a scary thought as we are about to go on such a train, but luckily this was at 11.00 and we were travelling “first class”.

And if it had been the early morning we would have had according to the guide about 5 seconds to get off the train at Mahalaxmi station but she expects the driver will give us about 10 seconds. (Actually she tipped him when we boarded and he waited for her wave before driving off but we did it in about 20 seconds. (there were 14 in our group).

We move on to the alternative to that much loved facility on Deck 7 on Azamara (still functioning well but busy) the Dhobbi ghat outdoor laundry. We never did work out how, given the wash strictly by colours, each person gets the right clothes back.

We had expected the tour to end with the serenity and calm of the Mani Bhagwan (Ghandhi’s Bombay base - here is his simple room)

but the guide took us to a Government store – it was not really a great shopping opportunity to be honest, in fact, on this whole cruise shopping was not that easy to do and forget about post cards, you would have spent most of the port time in line at the local post office for stamps.

That evening we enjoyed a perfect night “Dining under the stars” with a delicious Indian Buffet spread, tables all around Decks 9 and 10 and signing from two of the Production singers who were exceptionally talented individuals. Could the ship not have brought on local entertainers? It would appear that the port/immigration authorities made such an option a logistical nightmare so no onboard entertainment in any Indian port. After the hassles we experienced that day and were to have later in the trip, I do not blame Azamara and as the cruise went on we did wonder, does India really want tourist revenue because they have a funny way of showing it? (But DO NOT be put off going, just understand, this is the land of organised bureaucracy to quote Eric’s big brother).

Yesterday, I spoke too soon. Of course life on Azamara Journey is not normal. Having successfully completed our life jacket induction on embarkation day, on Day Two, a new experience, Operation Safe Haven, just in case some pirate decides to check out the excellent tastes of Prime C or Aqualina. Unbelievably it took longer than expected, as some guests did not understand they had to take part (taking part actually involves standing outside your cabin door).

It was more fun at night, all the curtains were shut and there were even taped up cardboard discs over the portholes on Deck doors.

For three nights, my biggest fear was accidentally switching on the balcony light. I became so paranoid, I stuck a post it note over it. However, beyond that, the "restrictions" were so minimal and at least people were not hassling the staff in Discoveries for a window table for 2.

(By the way there was never any problem getting a table for two if that was what you wanted, sometimes it needed a 20 minute wait – no problem – thats called pre dinner drinks time, after all I cannot walk up unannounced to a good restaurant in town and expect to be seated straight away, why should it differ on board).

We had immediately noticed small changes on Journey – all very positive. First we noticed the new sunbeds and towels by the pool (so so comfortable).

Yes the piano had been moved from Mosaic into the Casino bar as has been reported here. I fear I will annoy some now by saying I loved its new location.

The ship was very lively at night and those who wanted the peace and quiet tended to gravitate to Mosaic, the rest to Casino Bar (Dale was in charge there so he had quite a following) and the Looking Glass, though from the middle of the cruise young Ernesto also had quite a following in the Discoveries Bar.

The onboard pianist (Paublo) was not as engaging as Max, Jim Badger or Carlos Avalon and that meant I do not think we saw the full potential of the piano bar being played out. He was musically competent but just lacked that audience engagement and banter we like so much (a personal taste I recognise)

Bed time (never with cocoa and in line with the ships average, never very early) highlighted more changes, the new beds, wonderfully comfortable and the leaving of two mini bottles of water and a glass by your bed each night is a nice new touch.

By the way, these were the nearest to pirates that we saw - local fishermen on day 3 or pirate watch

Up until now, my only experience of Dubai was from the air and in transit. Today, things change and following our excellent BA flight from London (we did our own flight and hotel arrangements) our drive to the Hilton Jumeirah Beach tells us one thing, Dubai does not do ordinary. (Hint Hilton Jumeirah Beach – get an executive room, price includes chauffeur transfers from the airport and they will do the return to the port for cruisers)

Anyway back the absence of ordinary. Lets take the buildings first, well of course there was first the Burj hotel, but now that has been eclipsed by its big brother, the Burj Khalifa. It is unreal, as we were due to go up it on our trip, we decided it would not be appropriate to think deeply about how structurally sound the building is, we just wonder, why did anyone think such a large pinnacle was needed in the middle of the desert.

But then, why did someone think the building shaped like a corkscrew next to one like a rhombus was a good idea?

Of course, you cannot go to Dubai without visiting a mall, but should that not be renamed a shopping city, I think the only stores I did not find in the Dubai Mall were Poundland and BM Bargains - but wait, a massive Mall extension is being build that is bigger than what we would consider a decent out of town centre, so there is time for these guys to arrive. Just to understand, we are talking about a Mall with a huge aquarium wall for you to pass by, fountains outside bigger than those at Bellagio which play a different musically choreographed routine every half hour at night – a must see.

Of course add in the Burj Khalifa and you can see these outstanding waterworks both from above and ground level. We recommend booking a time slot for Burj Khalifa for about a hour before sunset. This means you are able to see Dubai day and night and can watch the fountains from above before viewing them from below.

You have to book in advance (no more than 28 days beforehand) and the sunset slots are the first to sell out. http://www.burjkhalifa.ae/en/

Enroute to The Mall, another out of the ordinary, a ride on the Dubai metro, slick, clean, traffic busting - it is just missing one thing, a driver. So, I was able to ride right up front, with all the fun of a driver's eye view but none of the responsibility.

The closest we got to normal was a dinner trip on Bateaux Dubai, http://www.jaresortshotels.com/Properties/BateauxDubai/TheBoat/TheStory.aspx

the meal was five star, certainly not ordinary but the peace and tranquillity gliding through the Creek as we ate, seeing this busy city from the water, was calming.

Normality continued with a grumpy taxi driver with a death wish as we raced up the freeway back to our hotel, but wait, is it normal for a taxi to try to outrun two Ferraris and a Lamborghini at a set of lights?

We used a private guide for four hours on our first day to get orientated in the city and that was a great experience. We were able to get a real understanding of the city and even had an evening commute on an abra across the creek as well as visits to the Spice and Gold souks. (http://www.dubaiprivatetour.com/)

If you are staying in Dubai more than 24 hours I would certainly recommend getting an Entertainer Book – we saved more than its cost in 2 days - https://www.theentertainerme.com/

Dubai is certainly worth a return visit, we only touched the tip of the iceberg there (oh I gather there is an indoor ski slope and iceberg climbing wall) but it was soon time to return to our old friend Azamara Journey, - thank goodness, we have found normal!

People have kindly been asking when I will be posting my thoughts on our recent Spices, Teas and Rubber Trees cruise. Well it is work in progress as we speak however I will be posting it over the coming few days and, if I can master the technology, I will also add pictures with each post. My challenge is deciding which six to include with each post as we have realised this morning we have 1400 pictures.

These are all going to give us many happy memories of what was an exceptionally good cruise, perfect smooth sailings, lovely weather (well with one notable exception) and as ever a ship where everyone is fully committed to service excellence. Along the way I will point to a few minor niggles, but these are so small as to be insignificant. However, some might be significant for you, so I will highlight them.

There will be 14 separate posts (sorry!). They will tell the story of our journey on journey. So in the coming days I hope to post

We don’t do ordinary here

Put that light out

You have 5 seconds to jump off this train

Stalked by a herd of goats

That’s hot – and we don’t mean the weather

Three years on, he’s still on beans

Tales from the Riverbank

One night azamazed, the next night soaked

Keep right on the track baby

Peace at sea

When I said bird watching I meant the feathered variety

Singapore – no slinging you off here

Would I change anything?

They are all stars

If you are looking for a shorter review more focussed on shipboard life, I will also be posting a review on Azamara members reviews section and will add the link to it here later but so many had asked about the port experiences delivered by the ships Land Discoveries programme I have covered them in some detail here.

And I would prefer the 9th November cruise converted on the new basis as we would get 128 points not 90 :)

On Silhouette and haven't read other posts. Sorry, can't be positive about the program as it has been designed to cut cost rather than rewarding frequent cruisers. Given my booked and fully paid cruises I only needed 4 points to reach the 100 point leve. Now I need at leat 40 additional cruises to move up. Basically wherever most are under the new program they will remain there for a very long time. The idea seems to be to make it so difficult to reach the Zenith level that no one will ever reach it. At least Celebrity could use the conversion formula for cruises completely paid for that were paid in full before the announcement of e new program. A good marketing strategy would be to allow for at least three months to book and pay in full for cruises that could help one to reach a new level. My booking pattern will certainly change. Doubt if I'll take more than 1 or2 Cruises with Celebrity a year. Currently take 14. Means noing to Celebrity since they can always fill my slots.

Unless you sail in the engine room on mates rates, if you have 96 points currently, you will only be 120 points short so 2 cruises as would have been the case previously. Chill, it's only a loyalty scheme!

Bill

Did you ever get an answer on this one, I know all the excursions are changing around so appreciate you may not be able to find out yet. I could get no answers on board