AllisonJames

So nice to hear all the positive comments about Perry Golf guests! Four out of five of our AZ cruises have been as part of the Perry Golf group (Two Open  Championship cruises, 1 Baltic, 1 Scotland Intensive) and we are booked next May on Mediterranean Islands. We actually “Discovered” AZ through Perry Golf. Husband is an avid golfer and I am an avid non-golfer and it is such a perfect fit for us as all the social events enables us to meet more people and it is a nice balance of organized activities and independence. We always do what I will refer to as a “three-way” booking…usually book onboard AZ for those benefits, transfer to our own travel agent for personal service and some additional benefits, and then book my husband’s golf package with Perry. We have never had any issues with this. Yes, it initially seems pricey but there is a lot of value there with excellent service, convenience, access to some incredible courses, transportation and social events. In general - cost of the golf package has ranged from $2,500 - $4,500 for each golfer … The Open Championship cruise is always more expensive because it includes attendance at the last day of The Open…my husband would go every year if I agreed to it…that’s how amazing it is! The one AZ cruise we took without Perry Golf was Pursuit’s Maiden Voyage to Norway…and while that was a wonderful experience…we missed being part of a Perry Golf group! I am happy to answer questions.

The tender dropped us right downtown at the main area of the Harbor.  The area wasn’t that large and we were able to walk everywhere…I think it is pretty close to the ferry terminal.

Wow if this happened to us and they weren’t giving us all the benefits/onboard credits from the cruise we had booked would I be mad! for example, what if you had onboard credit for paying in full from the recent offer? We have that and quite a bit more for our 5/10/25 cruise, they should make good on all existing onboard credit already on the booking…and personally I think $250 more for the disruption to your plans is quite stingy!

Last year our Scottish Islands cruise on Journey was called the “Norway Intensive” in My Azamara for our entire pre-cruise time which was months. And we didn’t even have any ports in Norway, we went Amsterdam to Dublin. It was never corrected. The good news is: yes, it really was the Scottish Islands cruise!

Welcome! Hope you enjoy AZ as much as we do! And I will be very interested to hear about your perspective on AZ, particularly since Celebrity Eclipse, in my opinion, is a very different cruise experience. 

We took this offer today and we immediately received an updated invoice showing the credit. 

Update: yes, this credit is additional to the other types of onboard credit we already have from when we booked. Even though our cruise isn’t until May 2025, we probably will take advantage of it. We will use it and end up with a zero balance at the end of the cruise! We don’t mind paying early, especially if it helps us earn our credit card status earlier, which to us has many advantages as well.

Thanks for this everyone…I had missed the email. Can I assume this is in addition to the onboard credit we already have (from booking onboard and from our travel agent and I think a booking offer as well?) This seems appealing to me because we can spend it on shore excursions (my husband does the Perry Golf package so I usually end of taking a number of AZ excursions when I am on my own) the Spa, and adult beverages 😎 Also…we are taking a Viking River Cruise in July and had to pay 11 months in advance and certainly didn’t get any extra onboard credit to do so!

If you are interested in wines, I recommend you don’t decide on upgrading your package until you board and make sure what is available. The last time we were on AZ, we embarked expecting to upgrade to ultimate. However, so many of the wines advertised as being included were not available that after discussing with the Sommelier, we just purchased a five bottle package and paid for a few specialty cocktails along the way (Mostly after dinner drinks like Port and Grand Marnier). This worked for us and we spent much less on beverages than we would have purchasing the Ultimate package.

Thanks for this, I found it interesting. We were on the Silver Whisper (our only time on SS) in 2011, 5 years before we started cruising on AZ. We too liked the size of the Silver Whisper, which is one of the aspects that encouraged us to look at AZ. But I can’t say that we thought SS was much better than AZ, although the larger veranda staterooms was a plus. I am wondering how you found the ambience and other guests on SS. We definitely thought SS was more formal and the guests less friendly than on AZ and that’s one of the reasons SS hasn’t been appealing to repeat. But then again, I am talking about 13 years ago so would love your thoughts on that. We like the casual and relaxed vibe of AZ. I don’t think we’d sail the Silver Whisper again, but some of the newer ships like Silver Moon look incredible.

We cruised quite often when our kids were that age. The two questions I encourage you to ask yourself: “Would my kids be happy if there aren’t any other kids on the ship to have fun with?” And “Would I be happy if my kids were bored and reduced to spending lots of time gaming when I have invested significant time and money in giving them an amazing travel experience?” Only you know the answers to those questions.

This is wonderful … we were booked to sail Crystal Bach in July 2020, it was going to be our very first river cruise and we were so excited…well, we all know how that turned out. Those ships are absolutely gorgeous (and very different from the typical Uniworld decor, which frankly, has kept us away from Uniworld) and so now maybe we can experience them!

Hi, we had the French Chef’s Table on Journey in August…wondering if the wines are the same from ship to ship…but I think I have the menu…will look and post here if I find it!

None in Invergordon or Greenoch. Inverness and Glasgow are quite a distance…you can take the train if you don’t want to to do tours.  In Lerwick (Shetland Islands) and Kirkwall (Orkney Islands) we had shuttles In Oban and Stornaway (Isle of Lewis) we tendered directly to the town. I hope you make it into Edinburgh — we didn’t on Journey in August due to rough seas and difficulty getting through the locks. Ended up docking in Rosyth about 45 minutes away.

There can be a line at Discoveries in the first hour after it opens (6:30 - 7:30). We like to arrive a little later (around 8 - 8:30) and usually don’t have a long wait (or any wait) as the earlybirds are departing for the show. Of course, the downside to a later dining time is we often find ourselves missing the shows…so it works well for us to plan accordingly if there is a special show we want to see. I do wish they would have a slightly later show time but they do their best to accommodate the schedules for most of the guests…if there are two shows the times are usually 1 1/2 to 2 hours apart and most shows we have attended have been 45 minutes which we think is a perfect length!

I would be much more impressed if Carol came on this board and started directly answering our questions. Considering the situation, it’s warranted.

We were on Pursuit’s Maiden and I really thought it was beautifully done and loved the improvements that were done — for example the upholstered chaise lounges that face the windows in the living room…and the fact that they moved the band area more to the center so you don’t lose that window space and some of the view. I really notice the difference when on Journey and wish they would do that to Journey and Quest…not sure if that’s how it is on Onward. I followed along on social media as they were refurbishing Pursuit and it was amazing to see how everyone pitched in and accomplished what they did and the scale of the entire operation. Yes a few hiccups on the maiden but not many that were obvious (pool chair cushions were delayed but I am remembering correctly they were in place before the end of the cruise). I would bet the condition of Onward upon delivery to AZ, as well as supply chain issues really had an impact. Whomever led the Pursuit refurb did a first-class job.

However…it is time to get rid of the dark wood in the staterooms…time for new cabinets and a lighter/more contemporary design!

Thank you for this very detailed review. We have only sailed on Viking Ocean once and it was more than 5 years ago but our experience and perspective was very similar to yours…Did not feel like there were noticeably more guests than AZ (and it was a holiday week) and loved all the indoor/outdoor areas — great ship for inclement weather or longer cruise. We are booked on Viking River for next July and yes, their payment policy is a bit crazy…payment in full more than 11 months in advance, but we were happy with the cost for a two-room suite so we paid it and the river cruises really book up so necessary.  Also booked on AZ again but there are areas where Viking is edging out AZ.  Although we did not find the service or the other guests as friendly on Viking as on AZ…I can say the Viking pre-cruise experience, this far ahead, has already been extremely good.

In my experience the best sale has been the Double Upgrade Sale which usually happens…mid-September! In that sale you pay the price of one category and get a 2 category upgrade so the savings have been substantial. However, this upcoming sale (if they still have it) will probably be for cruises in 2024 rather than 2025. Here in the U.S. they usually allow rebooking (just booked one for 2025 while onboard Journey and it was made clear that one rebooking at lower price was available without penalty) but not sure if rebooking is allowed in UK. The penalty is low in U.S. so we have options if the price decreases. Other than the double upgrade, I have tracked AZ prices over long periods of time and not seen a lot of sales that are actually sales…but that could change with new owners. When you see a price you are happy with, I would book! And yes, I personally think AZ is comparable to Viking although I like the ambience/service/friendliness of AZ more and the Viking ships are newer and have more bells and whistles.

There were very few dresses on our recent Scotland intensive and I don’t recall seeing any sport coats. Those would have definitely seemed too dressy. Vast majority dressed appropriately but always a few outliers such as some wearing a t-shirt with a saying on it In Discoveries. If you want to wear that eat at The Patio. However, I actually thought there were more women dressed a notch down at dinner than men. Lots of sneakers these days in the evening but that’s the world we live in now.

Interesting comments about Captain and Hotel Director and I agree…we never met either of them during our cruise. We are used to cruises with Captain Carl and Captain Johannes where they would often be at the gangway as we came off the ship or returned so there was definitely a slightly different vibe. Or they would be a Cruisecritic gathering which also didn’t happen on Scotland Intensive.

Regarding Journey needing to be spruced up…it’s not as though you board and think “wow it’s a wreck!” overall it still looks decent. I am frankly amazed how well those carpets in those colors have held up. But let’s face it, it’s now been 7 years since the re-imagination so it’s time for some decor improvements. I thought our stateroom was looking a little worn…the wallpaper, the dark cabinets which seem a little dated…especially with all the other lines with new ships and others that have bright, shiny new stateroom decor—the “new” Crystal spent $150M upgrading those two ships. Also, furniture in the Living Room a little worn…this is normal wear and tear of all these years.  I well remember the WOW factor when the AZ re-imagination was unveiled (we sailed Quest when all of that was brand new, and we sailed Pursuit’s maiden voyage and experienced the same, so yes, to us Journey deserves an upgrade. Also, I found the mattress a little hard, which may be because we are used to pillow top mattresses now, at home and in many hotels.  My other niggle is that it always seems like the windows in Aqualina and 
Prime C are dirty…I know it is a ship so may be hard to keep them clean but I noticed it in 2019 and said to my husband this time “They still haven’t cleaned the windows!” 

Buyer beware! Just off Journey where many of the wines advertised in the package were unavailable. As a result it was not worth it to us. However, if you only paying to upgrade, and will also get the discount, maybe it’s a good deal for you. But we were very disappointed and were told AZ is redoing all the wines. This also may vary ship to ship — depends on what they have on hand.

Thank you for sharing. Maybe if all our posts didn’t get AZ’s attention, articles like this will!

Hello Everyone — I posted a lot on our pre-cruise challenges so thought I’d follow up with a cruise report and maybe the info will help someone. Our many times rebooked/first cruise since the pandemic/1st time back on AZ since July 2019 (which was also a similar itinerary on Journey so will provide some comparisons).

The headline: to us, the experience overall still felt like the same AZ and same Journey. The PROS are still the PROS and unfortunately, the CONS are still the CONS (except somewhat worse, in our opinion). The experience seemed very similar to 2019…although since then the casino is now the Den, and since we had enjoyed the Den on Pursuit we were glad we could now enjoy it on Journey and spent considerable time there.

PROS: casual, friendly atmosphere, service (with one particular exception), itineraries, Perry Golf package which brought us to AZ in the first place and will keep us with AZ. The intimate ship experience continues to feel like a good fit for us.

CONS: Unfortunately the aspects we criticized four years ago — beverage options (particularly wine selection) and shore excursions seem to have gotten worse.

Not a particular PRO or a CON: The food. We continue to give it a B. This is just not a line for foodies, in our opinion. Nothing we ate made us say “wow that was delicious” and we had some very mediocre fish and pasta dishes. The soups continue to be very good. The desserts seemed a little bit improved in presentation/imagination.

Entertainment - we haven’t attended many of the “in-house” shows in the past, not really our interest and we like to have dinner later. This cruise we got lucky with three different shows brought in and so we intentionally scheduled so we could see them - the Scotland Show which we had seen before but is very enjoyable, the Azamazing Evening which was Red Hot Chili Pipers (really fun) and the violinist onboard for just a few shows. Also, we really enjoyed the Journey Jazz Band at brunch and they had one show of their own…we wish AZ would give them more shows. So I will rate our entertainment experience this cruise improved.

CONS - for a line supposed to focus on destination immersion the shore excursions are seriously weak and ridiculously priced/very low value. Not everyone is using only onboard credit to pay for these excursions but it is as if AZ has decided that is the case and so can rake everyone over the coals. We took 3 AZ shore excursions as this cruise was very challenging to make independent arrangements. It was going to be 4 but AZ cancelled one leaving me high and dry with nothing to do in Inverness. The excursions we went on I will rate a B-/C+ for the experience…mostly because they provided too little time at the destination. For example, At Stirling Castle, only 90 min of free time which meant I flew through everything. An extra 30 - 45 min would have made a big difference.

THE BIGGEST CON - we boarded intending to purchase the ultimate bev package to get better quality wines and other cocktails. And since we did not have any kind of package in our offer, this was going to cost us almost $500 but considering our previous disappointments on AZ with the wine we were willing to pay it. However, before committing we decided to check wine availability out in detail and we are glad we did because three of the wines advertised online as being included and which made the package appealing (Domaine Chandon, Whispering Angel, and Kendall Jackson Chardonnay) were not on the ultimate bev package on Journey. Instead a very poor Chardonnay from Chile and not much else of interest. We spoke to the sommelier at Aqualina on our 2nd night and he told us AZ was “redoing the wine selection” (same thing we were told in 2019) and also that it was very difficult to get those wines based on where the ship had been during the summer. So instead we went with the 5 bottle package which is where our second big issue with wine comes in….the extremely poor wine service in Discoveries and the Patio. They are set up to pour the included wines but if you go off script it all falls apart. First they have to find the wine list (not kidding) and bring it to you. Then you have to wait for the Sommelier to come over, then they go and try to find the wine, and half the time they come back and say they don’t have it. This process generally required 30 minutes and by that time you are served your appetizer and still don’t have the wine.

Regarding these two Cons, we completed extensive feedback on this and never received any kind of response.

One more small Con - Journey is looking a little bit down at the heels, just not as shiny as previously…hopefully she will be spruced up in drydock, she deserves it!

I could write more but I will let anyone ask questions.  We still enjoy AZ and the Perry Golf package is wonderful, so we have decided in the future we will only cruise AZ on a Perry Golf cruise and if we are doing other non-golf itineraries we will seek out other lines (probably Viking Ocean, maybe try Oceania on the R ships, or SB or SS).