mrsaquashark

Robin,

We appreciate your comments. I don't really think I said much about decor. We rather liked the overall decor, and I specifically mentioned liking the decor in our stateroom. We do understand that the stateroom is smaller, but we live in NYC, so space is definitely not ever our first concern.

I didn't really speak about our stateroom attendant because we didn't see him very much. However, our room was always very nicely made up, and one night he very helpfully directed DH to our room, as he very often forgets our cabin number.

The bartenders were a similar situation, there weren't many we really got to know, but that could be a function of how much time we spent ashore, and we realize that.

We didn't eat in Prime C for a couple of reasons, the most important being that we are not really steakhouse people. We did not really have a problem with the food itself, but research on these boards led us to expect something significantly better than Royal or X, and we simply did not find that to be the case. Our biggest gripe with the food was the handling of the allergy. This might be something that is hard to understand when it is not commonly part of your life, but having to pull out DH's epi-pen while at sea is probably very close to the top of my list of worst nightmares, so I thought it was important to relate our experiences there in detail.

Overall, we had a wonderful time and thoroughly enjoyed our experience. We would definitely sail Azamara again for the right port intensive itinerary. Our major point was that we didn't have an experience that quite matched what we see on these boards, and the differences between Azamara and X were not major enough to make us stop sailing X entirely.

In sum, Azamara is fantastic way to enjoy long days in ports. It was perfect for the port-intensive, sea-day-free itinerary we were on, but the ship requires some work to be a true premium/luxury cruise line.

About Us: DH and I are 30/29 attorney/college professor from NYC. This was our seventh cruise, and we've previously been on Carnival, Royal, and Celebrity ships. We have unabashedly admitted in the past that Celebrity Silhouette is our favorite ship, and we definitely have a preference for newer ships. We freely admit that these things colored our impression of Azamara Journey.

Our Shipmates: While we tended to run on the younger side, most of our fellow passengers were also well-traveled, active couples and families with extensive cruise/traveling experience. We loved the community feel of the ship and easily made friends with everyone we encountered. We appreciated that the cruise line apparently appreciates the expertise of its passengers, as Azamara is refreshingly devoid of the "touristy kitsch" typically found on cruises (gold by the inch, pushy photographers, tanzanite hawksters, soda machines with 900 flavors, prominent "art" auctions).

Embarkation: As noted in our port review, extremely quick and easy, with very quick luggage delivery as well. We embarked mid-afternoon and were able to go straight to our stateroom. We have become accustomed to our embarkation glass of bubbly on Celebrity, and were glad to see this again on Journey.

Stateroom: V3 7107: We thoroughly enjoyed our stateroom. We were fond of the dark wood décor. However, some of the little details that made it onto Silhouette were not present. The storage above the bed was missed (DH uses this for many of his clothes, as I am too short), the shower was small, but we managed, although I missed that lovely shave bar, and our tv did not have a music station (DH omitted our bluetooth speaker from our packing list anticipating that the tv would have this functionality). The storage was adequate, although I did not discover the smaller drawers in the vanity until day 4 or so, and this probably would have influenced how I unpacked our things, had I known. Loungers on the balcony were missed, but the large table was appreciated for room service breakfast. Our balcony was unequivocally our favorite breakfast venue on the ship.

Pool area: This was an extremely port intensive cruise. The only time we spent on the pool deck were embarkation day, our "sea afternoon" following the stop in Canakkale, and DH spent a little time in the pool after we returned from Mykonos. We found the loungers extremely comfortable, and if anyone who works for Celebrity is reading this - please replace those monstrosities in the Silhouette solarium with these extremely comfortable padded chairs with pillows! I also found the hot tubs well suited to my short stature (5'2"), as the water level in these came up to right around the middle of my chest, as opposed to being up to my neck like so many other hot tubs are. We did not understand why the pool closed at 8PM each night, as we would have loved to enjoy a late night swim a few times. Perhaps on these port intensive itineraries with the late stays, the pool could stay open past midnight for a few nights during the cruise. The weather was so warm after departing Istanbul that I bet a lot of people would have enjoyed a night swim. We also noted that the listed maximum occupancy for the main pool is 16 people, which seems a little small for a ship that carries nearly 700 passengers. The pool towels were a baffling disappointment: they were visibly worn and had rust stains from the loungers.

Spa: We went to the spa together during our "sea afternoon" following Canakkale to make the appointment, and openly discussed in front of the desk clerk at the spa which treatment we were going to get (as in, debating them so we would choose the same one) and made an appointment for a body scrub and massage right around sailaway time from Rhodes. The locker rooms were nicely appointed, although I kept forgetting that I had given the desk my room key in exchange for the locker key and nearly forgot to get my room key back! However, once we have changed into the robes in the locker rooms, we come out for our treatment, and they put us in separate rooms. When we asked why were in separate rooms instead of the same one, we were told that the spa on Journey does not have a room to accommodate couples treatments. I think this is something we should have been told when we booked the treatment, as it was obvious that we were booking together, and we booked the same treatment at the same time. The treatment was lovely and my therapist was excellent. The one upside to separate treatment rooms is that DH didn't even have to hear the hard sell about the products, as they only gave that to me. For some reason, the spa charges French VAT, although our invoice at the end of the cruise indicated that this charge had already been refunded to us. I was disappointed in the "quackery" marketing practices: the spa is overseen by a "Doctor" and their marketing implied that spa treatments could treat medical problems.

Dining:

Discoveries Restaurant: We are NYC foodies, so we are hard to impress and don't expect to be impressed by food on cruises. We found the food in Discoveries to be right around the same level as the MDR on Royal Caribbean, and perhaps this has to do with the open seating (we usually opt for late traditional) but the service was not quite as good. The food was good, but neither memorable nor outstanding. In fact, we enjoyed the food on Celebrity better.

DH has serious allergies to nuts and shellfish - and we felt this was an issue much better handled on Celebrity, Royal, and Carnival. I had indicated the allergies to our TA and then about 90 days out, called Azamara directly to make sure that our TA had relayed the information. We also spoke to the Maitre D on the first day just to cover all of our bases, and we always remind our waiter when we order as well. We understand that dinner the first night can be hectic, but that doesn’t excuse the fact that they originally placed a shrimp dish and then a pine nut containing dish in front of DH after we specifically mentioned this. When we dined in Discoveries on the night following our Azamazing evening (during which there was no sit down dinner service, everything was buffet) we were chastised for not having ordered the day before (ordering the day before is a common practice for the allergies) even though there had not been an opportunity to do so! Another night, we had ordered the day before, but then they informed us that they had run out of the dish DH had ordered the previous night. Why are we ordering the day before if you are going to run out of what we ordered? In Santorini we had elected to eat dinner ashore, so DH did the preordering thing at breakfast the next morning and the waiter who took the order and then went to enter it into the computer didn't know why we were preordering. At this point, shouldn't the computer have told him? It was baffling, actually, and we had much better experiences on less premium cruise lines.

For the actual dining service beyond allergy issues, we found the service to be consistently slow, with a bit too much time between courses, especially between ordering and the first course. The included wines were hit or miss, and on a couple of occasions we took advantage of the tidbit we found here about ordering the wine from a previous night. On one occasion though, the dining room claimed they were out of the previous night's red wine when one of our dining companions had just been drinking it out at the casino bar, and she was the one who traveled out to the casino bar to retrieve the bottle.

Windows: We mostly utilized Windows Café for breakfasts (DH and I each also ended up there some days before our late dinners for a snack.). The selection was rather limited, and we found it odd that the Sunset Bar was not open to serve screwdrivers or bloody marys with breakfast, like the bars on Royal/Celebrity. However, one very nice waiter did go somewhere to scrounge up some vodka so we could turn our OJ into screwdrivers one morning. (While Azamara prides itself on having an all-inclusive experience with no gratuities, it was clear that those who tipped got better service. We were happy to oblige.) Additionally, we found the waiter delivery of our omelets and made to order eggs a nice touch, as were the cloth napkins and actual porcelain plates.

We liked the outdoor area, but had a bit of trouble finding a table compared to our experiences in Oceanview Café on Silhouette, and we did miss the couches and armchairs that are found there. Additionally, we thought the area closed too early, particularly on nights with late sailaway. Is there any reason Sunset Bar shouldn't be open for an 11PM sailaway?

Mosaic Café: DH says this was the best coffee on the ship. I enjoyed the size of the little pastries in the case. I am a bread and pastry fiend, and find myself on X loading up a large plate of pain au chocolate, croissant, danishes, etc... at breakfast but Mosaic Café had similar pastries at about half the size, which for me equalled about a quarter of the guilt!

Room Service: We only utilized room service for breakfast. The ordering card gave ½ hour timeslots, but we specified a narrower 15 minute time slot and this was granted every time. The setup of the table on our balcony on delivery was inconsistent, as it was laid out with utensils and the tablecloth sometimes but not others. As always, some food will arrive room temperature, but we realize that this is a pretty much unsolvable logistical problem. Eggs were inconsistent. For my over easys and DH's poached, we would find that one of our two eggs was perfectly cooked while the other was overdone. Additionally, presentations were inconsistent, as fruit was sometimes plated and sometimes served in an ice cream dish. Bacon and potatoes were an awful, flavor-lacking insult. Also, on X, if you ask, they will bring you a pitcher of juice rather than just a glass, but that was refused on Journey, even when we asked.

Additional note: Across the board in all dining venues, we and our touring companions noted that the quality of the fruit was quite subpar for the entire length of the trip.

Bars, Lounges, and Entertainment:

Casino Bar: We usually took in a cocktail here before dinner and listened to the musical stylings of Max DiFaz the piano player, who is a very nice guy and extraordinarily friendly. We could tell Max loves the customer service aspect of his job and was probably the best example of the famed Azamara service we heard about. When we were seated next to him he overhead us discussing Disney, he took a pause in his song to play a quick Disney tune—and when he overhead us discussing Italian food, the theme to Godfather started playing! What fun! We would also pop in here before bed for a nightcap on our way to perhaps losing a couple of dollars. The bartender and server Ernesto was a standout here.

Looking Glass Lounge: We ended up here every single night, and for quite a few sailaways. The drink service was good. If anyone was on this cruise and saw the crazy people on the dance floor, we were those crazy people! We thought the DJ in here was disappointing. His playlist was the same pretty much every night, except for the hour that was ABBA themed one night, and even then he started off with really obscure ABBA songs and it took him about 20 minutes to get to the good stuff. There would be one or two good songs played, and then one song that was completely impossible to dance to, which would kill the vibe and empty the dance floor. The DJ should be more in tune with the feel of the room and try to keep the party going, while also mixing the songs up a bit. There were a couple of nights where DH or I could predict what song was going to play next based on the song that was playing--so it was obvious that the DJ was going through rote playlists in the SAME EXACT ORDER every night. Also, many of the songs played had a low quality sound to them. We were not sure if they were being played off of a low quality computer file or if the speakers in Looking Glass need replacing (we leaned a bit toward the former) but someone should remedy this, as it was really quite noticeable.

Cabaret Shows: We only made it to the opening night show. The dancers and singers are clearly talented, although for this show, we found the singers on the screen providing the extra voices to be a bit of a distraction from the live performance. Other nights, we spent lingering in the dining room with our group and ended up missing the shows. We found the late nights in ports a more compelling draw than the shows.

White Night: This was in Santorini (which I thought was strange, since Santorini was also the port where they offered the Nights in Cool Places Excursion and our sailaway was equally late in Kos) and anyone who has read our port review knows that we barely made it back to the ship that night, so we missed the first bit of the White Night Party and didn't get to sample the buffet. However, based on what we did see, we declared it the absolutely best executed pool deck party on a cruise ship we had ever attended. The deck was nicely decorated, the entertainment was good without being so loud as to preclude conversation, and the vibe was really mellow and enjoyable. One drawback is that we felt the party ended too early—there was no reason to shoo people into the other venues at 11pm.

Azamazing Evening: We touched on this in our port review. It was in Ephesus, and we found it to be a lovely and unique experience that was definitely worth attending. We were impressed at how graciously all of the ships passengers were accommodated—a herculean task apparently effortless to the experienced crew on Azamara. One tip: while they tell you to remember your bus number, you can take any bus back to ship: we enjoyed a half-hour of exploring/shopping after the concert and took the last bus back to the ship.

Ship Motion: We were pleasantly surprised at how smoothly the ship sailed, especially through our two adventures with migrants! Our only night of even slightly rough seas was between Mykonos and Athens, and this was completely manageable. DH usually avails himself of the seasickness patch, but did not use it on Journey and he was perfectly fine.

All in all, the ports made the trip for us. In sum, Azamara was a perfect "floating hotel" to experience ports, including late nights and dinners in ports--but the ship needs more to be a five-star luxury experience. We didn't find enough of a difference in food or service compared to Celebrity to completely sell us on the Azamara experience, and we freely admit that we enjoy some of the additional amenities on the newer Silhouette. However, we definitely enjoyed the late port stays and if the itinerary was compelling, we would consider Azamara agai--especially compared to other cruise lines with more limited port opportunities.

PS -- For our review of the ports, see this thread :)

ABOUT US

DH and I are an off-duty attorney and college professor in our early 30s/upper 20s from New York City. We'e cruised the big ships before and wanted a more authentic, port-intensive experience with cultural immersion. We've previously been to Canada, the UK, Italy, Croatia, Malta, Montenegro , and the Caribbean--and we were looking for a trip that would be different and expose us to new cultures. We'll be posting a separate review of our ship.

DEPARTURE: DELTA FROM JFK

Airport Lounge - Highly recommend the Delta lounge in terminal 4 of JFK. There's a charming outdoor seating area, and this slick, modern lounge makes you forget you're stuck in one of the busiest airports in the world.

Delta Flight - Delta provided a great experience, and comped eye masks/blankets/pillows for the non-stop overnight. And while the announcement mentioned wine would be free, cocktails were comped too in the main cabin.

ISTANBUL

Sura Hagia Sophia Hotel - Location is excellent and in walking distance to the must-see attractions. Hallways are tiled and carpeted in black, so they're very dark. The room was small, but well-apportioned and functional (e.g., a large safe with an outlet that could accommodate and recharge a laptop). The included breakfast offered a fantastic selection of local favorites as well as some American/English foods. Mezzes are included, but we never made it to those. The hotel is modern with proximity doorcards, though there is puzzlingly no deadbolts or peepholes on the doors.

Limon Café - We had a quick doner (spinning cone of meat) at this charming street-side café with good people-watching views and food prepared in the open.

Hippodrome, Hagia Sophia, Cistern, Blue Mosque, Grand Bazaar - Much has been written about these popular tourist attractions, so I won't spill more ink here. We enjoyed our times at all of these. Be prepared to drive a hard bargain at the Grand Bazaar--and to get an impassionately aggressive response back from the merchants. The Grand Bazaar was the first of the many delicious Turkish Coffees (you can just call them coffee) we had.

Bosphorus Cruise - A relaxing two-hour cruise to see all the sites along the Bosphorus. It could be passed up if there's other sites to see, but we appreciated an easy, no-stress way to see the coastline while being jetlagged--a relaxing way to end the day.

ISTANBUL - DAY 2

Topkapi Palace, Spice Market - Both must-sees.

Embarkation - A no-stress embarkation. We arrived at 2:30 for a 6:pm sailaway, and the embarkation was very quick and no-fuss. Our luggage arrived quickly in our stateroom too.

CANNAKALE

We were excited about this stop because most other cruise lines make this a sea day. While we departed at 2pm (early on the side for an Azamara ship), it was more than sufficient to get a taste of the city. We also appreciated being in "local" city--we docked at a commercial, maritime port, and the guide described the city as the most authentically Turkish/non-Touristy we'd see on the trip. Nothing was in walking distance of the ship, and it was great to have a guide that chartered a private van for us.

Troy Excavations - A must-see

Town - This was fun to walk around, eat at a local (non-touristy) restaurant.

KUSADASI

House of the Virgin Mary - Sadly, this feels very like a tourist trap. A rebuilt room over some foundation that you are rushed into and out of without any time for prayer or contemplation because of the line behind you. Over the course of the trip, we would visit mosques, churches, and synagogues, and--even though it had the "home court advantage" for us in terms of religion--this site was our biggest disappointment.

Ephesus - very impressive site full of Roman ruins. Pay the extra 10 Turkish Lira to visit the Terrace Houses. The opulence and modern comforts achieved in these residences is astounding. Wear very comfortable shoes and be careful - a lot of walking over marble that can be very slippery. One of our traveling companions says that the site has changed, with many more areas reassembled than 10 years ago. DO NOT MISS.

Lunch - Bizim Ev Hanimeli - This restaurant is run by a family and is near the Ephesus site. We saw some large groups come in (ship tours?) The family is more than happy to tell you about the food they cook, which is very authentically Turkish. You are handed a plate, and can take as much food as you can load onto that plate from a selection of approximately 20 dishes. We then capped off the meal with a coffee and this lightly sweet semolina cake that I went completely nuts over and am working on finding a recipe so I can make it at home.

Ephesus museum - Contains many trinkets and statues as well as examples of columns from the Ephesus site. Our guide informed us that an even more extensive collection is available in Vienna. Much of the sculpture is remarkably intact. The site was much more impressive, but this was a nice corollary and a welcome indoor respite on a hot day! Additionally, this ticket can be purchased bundled with the Basilica of St. John.

Kircilar Leather shop - This shop sells many jackets of butter soft leather, and they give you the hard sell. They serve you the beverage of your choice (even raki - hoping to loosen the wallets) and then perform a fashion show for you. The zippers on the coats are not the standard YKK, which turned us off from the merchandise, but some members of our group did make purchases. Again, this is Turkey, so make sure you haggle in order to get your best price.

Basilica of St. John - By the end of the day we were hot and tired and not particularly excited about this site, but our guide convinced us to give it 5 minutes, which we found was the perfect amount of time. We ran in, were impressed with the ruins, took pictures, and ran out!

Azamazing Evening - A concert by a 12-piece string orchestra in the Odeon Theater at the Ephesus site. The ship did an amazing job of organizing the departure and getting everyone where they needed to go and very thoughtfully provided cushions to protect our bottoms from the Roman stone benches. The orchestra played very well, and the selection of songs appeared to be chosen so that the audience would be familiar with them. The leader of the orchestra spent one of the songs turning his lead into a bit of a comedy routine, but he was thoroughly upstaged by the resident felines. If you are on a voyage with the Azamazing evening in Ephesus, be sure to wear comfortable shoes with decent traction to the event, as some of the steps in the theater are steep, and many of the paths have that slippery marble. Dinner dress code is not enforced (wear shorts & sneakers for comfort).

Turkish Guide - Ilhan Atesgoz - ilhanrehber@gmail.com

KOS

Agios Stephanos Beach - After 4 fast paced days in Turkey, we were ready to relax on the beach a bit in Kos. We found a cab driver willing to take us to Agios Stephanos beach on the other side of the island from the port. We chose this beach at the recommendation of one of our travel companions who had researched the beaches in Kos on Trip Advisor. The cab ride is a long one - about 40 minutes, and the cost 50 Euros. (Other shipmates report spending 50 Euros to rent a car and drive themselves for the full day. I find cabs to be much less hassle.) Our cab driver kept up a running commentary the whole way which was quite entertaining, showed us why we didn’t want to go to Paradise Beach (which wasn't much closer to the ship anyway) and recommended that we eat lunch at the Taverna Katerina and order a fresh fish. The view from this beach was absolutely lovely, with some ruins right on the shore, and a picturesque island with a church on it a short distance away. Braver souls than us embarked on a swim to the island with the church. After climbing up to the church they would ring the bell. We did, in fact, eat a fresh fish (and several other delicious dishes) at Taverna Katerina for lunch. The simple and delicious fish (and the starters we had before it) was our favorite meal of the whole trip.

RHODES

We took on Rhodes old town on our own, just walking through the little streets. We did stop at the Synagogue, which is a lovely little building with a lot of history and a small museum dedicated to the history of the Jewish population of Rhodes. Our trek through the town took us to the Palace of the Grand Masters, which is a bit of a hodgepodge of artifacts that ended up in Rhodes through the various passing civilizations, although they are mostly organized by era. A few of the shops have really nice items (and not just the normal souvenir t-shirts) but again, have your bargaining hat on.

SANTORINI

We took a wine tour with a cooking class from Wine Tour Santorini. We did wish the cooking class had been first, as we had already visited two wineries by the time we arrived to cook, which meant that the only knife provided was a lettuce knife in order to prevent us from cutting ourselves! The cooking class was very fun, and then we had a lunch that included some of the dishes prepared during the class. One of the wineries was very nice as well, as we paired 5 wines with little snacks, and we found all of the pairings to be very nice. Our guide was very knowledgeable, friendly and patient and took us to a vineyard to show us Santorini's unique method of vine training as well. It was a very informative tour. Our guide even drove us out of his way over to Oia after the tour had finished. Oia is a lovely town to stroll through, and we took many beautiful pictures of the caldera before having dinner at a rooftop restaurant in order to watch the sunset. After the sunset (more specifically, we reserved a cab to wait for us and left a few seconds before sunset ended to avoid the post-sunset rush), we raced back to Fira through uneven/hilly streets and to the cable car, and made it onto the last tender back to the ship with only a few minutes to spare! DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME--AND ESPECIALLY NOT VACATION! We were the only ship tendered in Santorini that day, or we would have never had the nerve to cut it that close, having read stories about the long lines that can form at the cable car. Also, streets near the cable car that are open during the day close after sunset--so the trip back to the ship takes deceptively longer than one would expect it to take based on getting into the town.

MYKONOS

Agios Ioannes Beach - We took another beach day in Mykonos, visiting what Rick Steves (get his guidebooks--they're perfect!) says is his favorite beach on the island. We were very pleased with this beach, which has a view of the island of Delos. We rented beach loungers at the Hippie Fish resort area--which we expected to be the quieter when we arrived (costs 3 Euro more than other beaches and has a more delicate setup), though post-lunch their restaurant was blasting music on the beach, and the dainty sunbeds for two were monopolized by up to twelve smoking, drinking, loud partygoers hovering around a sunbed. During the afternoon hours, run into the water and just jump in, it will be very refreshing. We found the sea around Greece to be very pleasantly salty compared to that brown stuff that masquerades as sea water here at home. Be sure to bring water shoes to beaches in Greece, as they can be rather rocky, and the boulders once you are in the water can be very slippery. We enjoyed a local lunch at a lovely restaurant on the beach (more fresh fish!). After packing it up for the day, we rode the public bus back to town (apparently we had no choice--cabs are very scarce in the late afternoon) and walked from the bus depot back to the tenders in the old port, allowing ourselves to get a little lost in the maze.

PIRAEUS (ATHENS)

We again employed a private guide to take us around for a whirlwind tour as we only had one night in Athens before going home. We visited the Acropolis, the Temple of Zeus, the National Gardens, watched the changing of the guard at Parliament, and took the subway to the ancient Agora to see the Temple of Hephaistos (the most intact Greek temple) and see its museum. The subway was very clean, and the Monastriki station has ruins inside of it that our guide took us to see on the way to the Agora. Definitely very different than what we are used to here in New York - in a good way!

Electra Palace Hotel - Very nice hotel on the edge of the Plaka, but also an easy walk to Syntagma Square. This hotel is also very modern, and thoughtfully puts a map of Athens on the keycards. The included breakfast here was very good also, with Greek and American/English selections (I couldn't get enough yogurt on this last day on the trip--though the food here was much more Americanized than the hotel in Turkey). An accordion player stationed himself just outside the hotel garden while we were eating breakfast, which only added to the atmosphere.

***

Overall, we consider this one of our favorite vacations of all time and a superb way to immerse ourselves in the culture of new places. We'll separately write about the Azamara Journey in another post.

We were on Silhouette in the Mediterranean in 2013 and some excursion bundles (4, 5, & 6 excursions IIRC) were offered. We did not take advantage because the included tour in Rome was not the one we wanted.

I think the offering of bundles is probably itinerary dependent.

Hi All,

DH and I are in our early 30s and considering a river cruise for summer 2016. I know we are on the lower end of the age demographic for river cruising. After looking at a bunch of lines, I think Emerald would be a suitable choice for us, especially with the full day stop in Bratislava. I would love to hear some feedback from anyone who has done this itinerary or this line, especially if it would be good for a couple our age looking for a port-intensive trip. Thanks!

THanks everyone for the helpful feedback! Still not sure about which line we should try, but calling each one sounds like a good idea.

Yes, we have done this with our airlines, and they are very accommodating. We definitely wouldn't need there to be no nuts on the ship, just use of best practices, no shared utensils, thoroughly cleaning items that might have contained nuts, that sort of thing.

I just thought that if I heard a few experiences, it might help me narrow down the cruise lines! So far, all I've got is that we might not want to go on Viking, because I think we will be going in August, and the deeper draft of the longships makes them more susceptible to low water difficulties.

We eat out fairly often (and usually successfully!) but for example, will avoid ordering ice cream if there is a nut based flavor on the menu to avoid contamination on the scoop. We will also avoid fried items if we see that there are fried shrimp on the menu due to the possibility of shared oil.

I Understand a small kitchen and those limitations, but the post I recall reading from Ama implied that they might not even ensure that they would make the effort to prevent contamination from shared utensils and the like. And actually, we are looking into river cruising because having an English speaking kitchen staff aware of the problem makes us feel better than trying to navigate a series of land restaurants in German and Hungarian!

DH and I are active travelers in our late 20s/early 30s considering a river cruise for 2016. However, DH has severe allergies to nuts and shellfish, so we must take this into account when choosing a line, and I recall seeing someone at Ama specifically say that they cannot rule out cross contamination in their kitchen (although now I can't find it!)

We have previously sailed Royal Caribbean and Celebrity and will be trying Azamara this summer for Greece and Turkey. Does anyone with a similar dietary situation have a recommendation for a line that handles these things well? Thanks in advance!

Welcome to X!

My husband and I sailed on Silhouette in January with a very similar goal. We found the SPE entrees and desserts in the main dining room to be very good. Several interesting sorbet favors were also available over the course of the week. We also dined exclusively in the spa cafe for lunch (even embarkation day!)

Like the others have indicated, just ask for something and they will make it happen. One night, I wanted a soup as my entree, and was informed that although they did not have entree size soup bowls, they would see what they could do. I was presented with a fun plate of 3 appetizer size bowls of soup on it!

I will note that healthy dining in the MDR is a bit more challenging on top chef night, but the classic chicken entree will still be available.

Another thing we tried and liked was a personal ban on all elevator travel except for debarkation. It was a good challenge, and discouraged unnecessary trips to the buffet.

Happy cruising!

Yes, I found it to be pretty similar, a variety of fish, coral, etc. I have found scenery more dependent on location, but did not feel like I missed anything with snuba. When I did snuba in St. Maarten last year, the guide actually picked up a sea urchin, gestured for me to put out my hand, placed it there, and then indicated I should take a picture! A unique experience to say the least!

I am very much looking forward to my upcoming snuba adventure in grand cayman, as I have heard that the underwater scenery is top notch!

Both activities gave relatively equal times underwater. I think the main advantage to the scuba is that first dive toward certification. Both go with groups of 4 or less. The only difference between the gear for the two is where the air tank is. For scuba it is on your back, for snuba, it is on a raft on the surface and each person has a 20 foot long air hose back to it.

My husband and I (30/28) have done discover scuba twice and snuba once. The scenery on the two types of dives was very similar, but the preparatory instruction was less intensive for snuba, as they just give a quick rundown rather than a full lecture with a quiz. Also, in snuba, the guide was encouraging me to take pictures with my underwater camera and helping me set up good shots, while they did not allow us to bring he camera on discover scuba.

I also found that not having to wear my tank allowed me to enjoy the underwater experience a bit more. On our upcoming cruise (same Silhouette sailing as you!) we will be doing the shipwreck snuba in Grand Cayman.

Whatever you choose, I'm sure you and your wife will have a fun adventure and fantastic memory!

DH is allergic to nuts and shellfish and we have found that if you do traditional dining it works really nicely as the waiter knows and they always bring him the menu for the next day. On a couple of occasions they have changed an accompaniment or a sauce on a dish he otherwise would not be able to eat.

He does tend to avoid most of the pastry on board as well as the hard ice creams because of the scoop but is happy enough getting his fill at the soft serve machine by the pool during the day!

For specialities we mention it right when we make the reservation and have never had a problem. Happy sailing!

DH and I were on Summit in February 2014, and one section of the buffet served tea sandwiches and scones from 4-5 PM daily, and the hours should be listed under buffet hours on the back of your Celebrity Today.

We really enjoyed this little late afternoon pick me up prior to our late seating in the MDR.

I tend to carry mine in a wristlet, which is generally what I carry around the ship. If I want to swim, I tuck the wristlet into DH's backpack, which we lock.

There was a mention of the entertainment being more of a cabaret type style, could someone with experience on Azamara elaborate on this a little bit?

DH and I are considering a 7 day Greek Isles and Turkey cruise on Journey next summer, and have previously sailed on 2 of the Royal Freedom Class ships, as well as Celebrity Summit and Silhouette.

We are in our late 20s/early 30s, enjoy exploring ports, meeting new people, and some entertainment and a couple of drinks after dinner. However, DH hates formal night, so I thought he might like the fact that there are none on Azamara, and the idea of such a port intensive cruise appeals to us.

We sailed on Silhouette in June 2013, and then Summit in February 2014. We too were worried about the smaller, older ship, but we had a lovely week.

The T-pool really is quite lovely and DH spent quite a bit of time sleeping in it! However, I believe it had been freshly painted for our sailing, and we often came out of the pool with white paint on our feet! The ship is in lovely condition, and Qsine on Summit is in a much nicer location than on the S-class ships! I missed Molecular Bar a little bit, but I just switched to Martini Bar instead (I was so enamored of Molecular Bar on Silhouette that I never made it to Martini Bar on that sailing!). The food in Normandie is as good as everyone else is saying, however, we never made it to Murano on Silhouette for a comparison.

Does anyone know if they will be implementing the allergy accommodations currently available in MDR with Dynamic Dining?

DH is severely allergic to nuts and shellfish, and in the MDR, our waiter generally brings him the menu for the next day, so he can order in advance and they can make sure his food is safe for him! I would feel much better about trying the DD concept if I knew this would be available to him!