wuppis

our last cruise was in february with the German Cruiseline TUI. Every other cruise in 2020 was cancelled.

But we got a big chance in starting rivercruises in Germany, going to Belgium, Netherlands, Austria, Hungary and some other places.

We started our first rivercruise in Europe in july on Amawaterways, which is normally not available for german cruisers. But now they have a cooperation with a german TA and we had a wonderful cruise in the Rhine. Only 50 passengers and about 50 crew members. We really enjoyed it. 

Next month we will be on the Danube for 12 days and if there will be anything with raising infections in one of the countries, Arosa will change the tour, not stopping in hotspots.

It´s a really good alternative instead of cruising with RCI or other cruiselines.

We feel safe in our country, because we have a lot of ristrictions. All of us are wearing masks when we go shopping, in public busses or  events inside. We can visit restaurants and we can travel to few other countries. But of course we also have more infections by people coming back from countries with lot more infections. But we will be tested for Covid-19 at the airports, the ports, the frontiers. 

Meanwhile the german cruiseline TUI has started with cruises from 3 to 8 days, without any ports. But people love that and they are really succesful and have no complains about the ristrictions onboard.

Stay all healthy and hope to see some of you next year on one of RCI´s ships.

We are booked Constellation in may for a 13 day cruise in the Mediterranean.

Marita

Hi from Germany,

our last cruise was in february with the German Cruiseline TUI. Every other cruise in 2020 was cancelled.

But we got a big chance in starting rivercruises in Germany, going to Belgium, Netherlands, Austria, Hungary and some other places.

We started our first rivercruise in Europe in july on Amawaterways, which is normally not available for german cruisers. But now they have a cooperation with a german TA and we had a wonderful cruise in the Rhine. Only 50 passengers and about 50 crew members. We really enjoyed it. 

Next month we will be on the Danube for 12 days and if there will be anything with raising infections in one of the countries, Arosa will change the tour, not stopping in hotspots.

It´s a really good alternative instead of cruising with HAL or other cruiselines.

We feel safe in our country, because we have a lot of ristrictions. All of us are wearing masks when we go shopping, in public busses or  events inside. We can visit restaurants and we can travel to few other countries. But of course we also have more infections by people coming back from countries with lot more infections. But we will be tested for Covid-19 at the airports, the ports, the frontiers. 

Meanwhile the german cruiseline TUI has started with cruises from 3 to 8 days, without any ports. But people love that and they are really succesful and have no complains about the ristrictions onboard.

Stay all healthy and hope to see some of you next year on one of HAL´s ships.

We are booked for Oosterdam for a 32 day cruise in october, instead of cancelled Maasdam this october from California to Sidney.

Marita

we where also on the Journey and were told, that the machine is now "behind the scene".

You will get your orange juice, and in my opinion is freshly squeezed, at the window, where you got your eggs in the past.

Now they are preparing the smoothies and filling the juice into glasses.

We were also in Goa and Cochin before, but immigration was in Mumbai and it took us hours to get through immigration with a lot of documents, more than in every other country we have been before.

Mumbai is very special. The officials behave different and love to control every document. If you are missing one stamp on your document, they will not allow you to leave the port.

In our case, we had to show outside a green document that allowed us to leave the port. If somebody forgot this on the ship they denied him the exit.

And we had to present this green document again when we went by car out of the port. And you have to present documents when you want to get back to the ship. Your boarding pass is not enough, like in every other port.

We were not allowed to walk by ourself outside the port that we could find somebody who called us a more comfortable car with driver than the usual ones in Mumbai. The usual ones are without AC, driving with open windows that you will smell everything you like and you will hate. Shuttlebusses were really rare. We had to wait for another shutlle, because they are driving only to one gate.

Last time with the Journey, we had to take a taxi, starting close to the terminal and were not allowed to walk outside by ourself.

So we had to take one of this horrorable small taxis and after 3 hours we asked the driver to bring us back to the ship, although we paid for a 5 hour tour. But all the smells, the noises, their way to drive (not stopping at red lights), the slums, the beggars at the "Gateway to India" and on the bridge above the "Open Laundry" that was too much for me.

beachseeker,

we were about 90 people for the meeting, and the other lounges were too small. So they decided to choose the Cabaret Lounge.

And most people did show up and enjoyed snacks and drinks.

In the library we had the meeting for german guests, but we were only 20, not much more space in the library.

On the following cruise about 105 german passengers were invited to this meeting and Heike also had decide to invite them into the Cabaret Lounge.

We boarded the Journey on march 16th and the same evening at 6pm we already had the Meet&Mingle, hosted by Tony Markey, the cruisedirector and all senior officers showing up.

We had the invitations in our stateroom and got no confirmation per email before.

The regular review has now been published and I just added a few pictures.

Here´s the link http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=529985&et_cid=2633025&et_rid=17203672&et_referrer=Party%20-%20Celebrity

Best regards from rainy Germany

It´s no problem to book a transfer to the airport. But the airport in Rome is far away so the prices from the cruiseline are much more expensive than a private transfer.

We have done that a few days ago from Miami port to airport for $ 18 per person. But thats only a 20 minutes drive.

For Civitavecchia I can recommend Civitatours http://www.civitatours.com/en.html.

We and a lot of cruisefriends are doing all our transfers with them, either from airport to port or the other direction. Sometimes we take the bus for 20 Euros per person, sometimes, if time is not appropriately, we ask for the a shared van.

Shared Airport Transfer

Minivan transport with driver (max capacity: 6) to Leonardo da Vinci airport (Fiumicino)

Departure from port: at 8:30 – arrival to the airport: at 9:20

Prices

€80 for 2 people (max luggage: 2)

€110 for 2 people + 1 child 2 to 12 yrs. (max luggage: 3)

€20 Extra luggage

Thanks for writing this story Phil,

some people seemed to think on this thread, I was writing something totally incorrect about the vibrations in the aft cabin. Why???

Heike told me, on deck 8 it is less than the vibrations in the aft cabins on deck 6.

How closer you get to the engine, how more vibrations you can feel.

We got used to it but we had no other chance, because all cabins were fully booked.

Before it will be published on CC here my review about our Caribbean cruise on the Journey. If you do find some mistakes, "keep them" and don´t forget english is not my first language.

This was our third cruise on the Azamara Journey, from total 39 cruises on 10 different cruise lines. We were looking forward how the refurbishment will change the view to the ship.

And they did a good job in dry dock in Freeport/Bahamas.

The Check-in was really fast, only 5 minutes and we had to wait for about 1 hour to get onboard at noon. And guess what, we´ve got an upgrade to a verandah stateroom at the aft of deck 8. Okay, sounds good, but this part of the ship is vibrating all the time, when the ship is sailing. If you like to read a book lying on your bed, this will vibrate all the time. If you are sensitive for seasickness, this is not the cabin type for you.

Cabin: The new beds are wonderful, the mattresses are really comfortable, and the bedding is very good.

Compared to the old beds, which caused us backache for the whole cruise, this is a quantum leap forward in comfort.

They mixed old parts in the cabin like the closets and the desk with the new refurbished parts, like the beds, new carpets, new love seat, new huge TV. Bathroom is as small as in an inside cabin and I hate this close contact to the shower curtain every day. But the bathroom is too small for another solution. We like the creamy soaps, shampoos, body lotions, but a lady asked me to write, that the smell is not acceptable for men. I spoke about it to other passengers and they were satisfied as we were, even the men. Towels were soft but some of the small towels had stains and wholes. That is not acceptable for a ship like the Journey and attendants have to sort them out. Hotel director agreed about this fact. Stateroom was cleaned twice a day, bottled water were placed close to the bed every evening.

The verandah was deeper than the usual verandahs, but… a lot of soot every day. You could not use the deckchairs without putting a towel on it. They cleaned it every day, but if you wanted to use the table in the afternoon (when ship was sailing) you first had to clean the table by yourself. There is enough space for the table with a comfortable size you can have your breakfast or other meals and two chairs.

Journey has two staircases, both with 2 elevators, which came really fast.

I liked the refurbished Mosaic Café on deck 5, the new Living Room on deck 10 and we spent a lot of time sitting in both, one for coffee time and writing my German review and the Living Room to meet new friends and have some drinks together and some snacks from the new tapas bar which I can highly recommend.

The restaurants: there are several restaurants on the Journey. First of all the main dining room – Discoveries, we preferred for dinner except for two evenings, when we dined with friends in the Patio and we did not like the menus. Good to very good menus, but no highlights. Good to very good service, but not better than on other Cruiselines, sorry. We preferred the Windows Café with the self service for breakfast, ordering eggs we liked, like delicious Eggs Benedict, served to our table after ordering and prepared behind the scenes. I like the Smoothies every morning, different styles and the fresh squeezed orange juice. Coffee and other things could be ordered by friendly waiters and were served at your table. We like it sitting outside in the Sunset Bar and enjoying breakfast with a fresh breeze. We prefer standing up early and have an early breakfast; so we never had problems finding an available table. But later in the morning Windows Café was a bit crowded.

For lunch we loved eating outside close to the pool in the sheltered area from the now called Patio with all the fresh prepared dishes from the grill. Many people loved this place for having lunch, so it was a lot of noise and busy all the time. In the past the opposite side was also open for lunch; that was much better, to lunch with some ease and comfort. But they closed the passage to the other side and nobody served there. Getting bar service in this area was also difficult. The waiters were not attentive enough.

We had dinner two times in The Patio with some friends and it was also really good. And you had the chance to combine the offers from Patio with the offers from Windows Café. It was empty in the evening, so you had really good and fast service and we all liked it.

Every time during the day you could ask for the wine of the day. White and red wine changed daily but the rose was the same for the whole cruise. A Portuguese rose, not the best quality, but drinkable.

I know some people did not like the wines and purchased a wine package. Or they bought the Ultimate Beverage package, having a better quality for the drinks and cocktails.

We were satisfied with the included drinks, but my husband only drinks a beer and not every day.

Entertaining: The cast was not as good as on the other cruises with AZ and shows on other Cruiselines were better.I missed “Voices”, one of the best shows I´ve ever seen on the high seas. We only listened to one guest entertainer, a young violinist and that show was quiet good. Tony Markey´s show was also good; he has an excellent voice and it´s always fun to see him performing. Also in the show they performed during White Night. The Big Band was really good, but the guitarist and pianist were playing the same songs over and over and not really well.

The White Night on Deck, with all things decorated in white, even white chairs and tables, many passengers dressed in white, a really good buffet served by the senior officers, a good show and a lot of dancing passengers, including me, was wonderful.

The AzAmazingEvening in St. Maarten was nice, with a steel band by young Caribbean musicians and an electrical string quartet and dancers performing at the side of the passengers, sitting close to the stage. A 5 minute firework at the end was a surprise but the evening was not as good as our AzAmazingEvening we had in Liverpool. But typical Caribbean and we liked it. The evening ended in the Living Room with Cherries Jubilees and a show from Marcus, one of the singers from the cast.

The ports of call: We started with two days at sea, our first port of call was St. John, the little sister of St. Thomas and we had a nice private tour to explore the island with wonderful beaches.

The next day we docked in Antigua and because it was Palm Sunday and there was only one other small cruise ship in port, the island was almost empty and we could enjoy all the beautiful views and English Harbor, as well as a nice beach stop. This was also a private tour; we booked together in advance with a group of 19 CC people.

Following port was Nevis, little sister from St. Kitts, but we had an appointment on St. Kitts and had an exhausting time on the ferries to and back from St. Kitts. After arriving back on Nevis we only wanted to tender back to our Journey.

Next stop was St. Barts, also a tender port, with a lot of traffic in Gustavia, but we enjoyed walking around, watching all the million dollar yachts in the harbor for a while and avoiding these really expensive shops in the center.

Our last port was Virgin Gorda and we had again a pre booked tour with CC members. For about 1,5 hours we enjoyed the views from different sightseeing points of the island and ended with a stop at Spring Beach. A CC friend had done some research about the beaches and we decided not to visit the maybe overcrowded The Bath and all of us loved Spring Beach. We were about 20 people at this beach, with an easier access and a lot of space for everybody. We enjoyed the crystal clear water, and the soft waves, the rock formations, Virgin Gorda is famous for. And everybody said afterwards, that was the best day we had on the cruise. Okay the sunburn was not so nice, but visiting Spring Beach was worth it.

Reaching Miami after two more relaxing days at sea, with unfortunately a lot of reserved deckchairs, we were due to technical problems a bit late. But no problem for us, we could stay longer onboard, because we had an afternoon flight. Not so good for passengers with an early flight. Disembarkation and Immigration were really fast. In about 10 minutes we were outside the building but the organization for the airport transfers was not really good.

Upshot: it was a wonderful cruise, on a really good refurbished ship with nice crew, wonderful and often visible officers, a good service, food from good to very good, but no highlights except the Seniors Officers Table, mediocre entertainment and nice contacts to other passengers from many different countries. The itinerary was perfect because we know almost every other Caribbean island from 9 other Caribbean cruises and we visited now these small other islands, big cruise ships cannot go.

This is my personal opinion about the ship and the cruise, with experiences from being on 10 different cruise lines allover the last 15 years.

My german review is much more detailled, but I do not have the time and the knowledge to translate it completely to your language.

Marita

Just back from the Journey and got an upgrade to stateroom 8093, verandah cabin at the aft betwee 2 huge suites.

Would I book this cabin by myself? NO.

It was nice, the refurbished parts with the old parts (like old closets, old writing table with a new deskslab), old yellow light swithes on a stylish silver wallpaper (did not look good). Nice carpeting, wonderful new bed and bedside lockers. Very good wall lamp with an included reading light, which is ajustable and the USB hub which you only can find at the underpart of the lamp when you know it.

The bathroom has the same size than an inside stateroom, the showercurtain is sticking to you body while having a shower. Enough space to place all the things you need in the bathroom, 3 wallshelfs above the toilette and a small cabinet under the sink.

Yes, the verandah is bigger than in a normal suite, we visited, it´s deeper. But always dirty even if the stateroom attendant cleans it every morning. You may never forget to use a towel to cover the seats, or you will get a dirty pant.

And a lot of vibrations. I was told, that these are less than on the decks beneath. But vibrations are so strong, if you hold an Ebook, it vibrates also when you are reading in bed. Not simple to read, but you will get used to it.

We also got used to it sleeping in a vibrating bed, but people with seasickness problems should not book this cabintype.

Marita

Coke Zero and Sprite Zero were available last week on the Journey.

Every evening when stateroom attendants prepared the cabins for the night, they put a bottle of water close to our beds and adding some more in the open cabinet.

Sorry, can´t answer the question about replacement, because we only drank the water while in the cabin and nothing from the fridge.

What we told the attendant the first day was not to deliver fresh fruits or ice to our cabin.

Very good and interesting Bonnie.

I met him several times onboard and he´s a bit "shy" and not as extrovert as his Staff Captain Dario who likes to talk to passengers and loves to speak about his wife and son (who are onboard).

But he´s a really a nice guy and young for a Captain with 36 years of age, same age like his Staff Captain btw.

Marita (finishing my german review about the Journey)

just back from the Journey, food was good to very good, but sorry, no highlights, at least not in the Discoveries Restaurant.

One evening was better, senior officers dinner, by invitation: surf and turf and other interesting courses and much better wines than the complimentary wines. Rose for the whole cruise a Portugese, not really good quality.

Maybe food was much better in the 2 specialty restaurants, we did not book, because we were sick and we thought we may not enjoy the food.

Enjoyed two evenings in the Patio, but the menue is still the same every evening. They change the soups, offering one fish course and one meal course every night which is not on the menue.

Hi,

just back from the Azamara Journey and wanted to tell you about the nice AZAmazingEvening, we had in St. Maarten.

We left St. Barts earlier and arrived St. Maarten fast than the SpeedFerry (Captain Magnuss proudly told us when he bid us a welcome for the AZEvening.

We were excorted to the pier by decks, starting with deck 8.

In front of the stairs at the pier with the St. Maarten sign, a stage was built up. A huge group of children and teenagers were playing the steel drums, young dancers in caribbean costumes were dancing until everybody had a seat on white gardenchairs.

Tony and Captain Magnus bid us the welcome, the band was playing and the electrical string band entered the stage and we had a wonderful time.

At the end, an unexpected firework started and after that we wented back to the ship, where the BigBand was playing at the entrance.

We were told to get to the Living Room, where they served Cherrys Jubilee. Unfortunately they did not know, that so many people where joining and had not enough extra seats.

One of the male singers, a handsome guy from Argentina, Marcus, had his own appereance for about half a hour, together with the Big Band.

it was really a nice evening, not to compare with our last one in Liverpool, but for the Caribbean with this special tropical feeling.

We spoke to a leading officer last week about the not operating self-service-laundry and that is a discussion point here on the board.

His answer was, that they need better machines, because it is a small room and the machines, they have right now, will get too warm in this small room.

They are still doing research about the best possible solution and it will take some more time, because they could not bye them in the nearest store.

Don´t know, if that makes sense and if it´s correct.

Marita

Bill,

I think we will be on the same cruise.

We like Garden Cafe for breakfast, Patio Grill for Lunch and Discoveries Restaurant for Dinner.

But the last time when we were on the Journey, they did not offer specialties in the now named Patio Grill. I saw on the menucard, that they offer for example the delicious BBQ ribs instead for lunch now only for dinner.

So let´s see what they will offer us and let them surprise us.

Most people are dressed casual, especially with warm weather. Some men are wearing jackets, some not, some are wearing a tie, some do not. It depends on you and what you like. My DH desided not to wear a jacket for dinner on every AZ cruise and never felt underdressed.

See you next week onboard the Journey, Marita

I printed out a menu from the website for all the complimentary drinks this afternoon.

It seems to me much more, than the menus, they present you in the bars.

If nessecary, I will present it to the F&B. Stephane is his name?

Thats what I understood about the post, that they are only offering 25 % the complimentary list we can see on the internet.

I had the same feeling last year, that they did not offer all the drinks, included in the complimentary list. But I was not sure about it, because it´s too much.

Maybe Bonnie has already contacted them and when we will board in about a week, they will offer all the complimentary drinks from the list.

And Bonnie, don´t forget to talk about the Cosmopolitan. I will enjoy it on our first CC meeting for sailaway in the Sunset Bar on march 16th. :D

Regards from cold Germany with lots of snow yesterday

Marita

Sorry about the wrong answer, but they did not have Nespresso on our last cruise on the Journey.

Of course I understand, why MNgardens is asking for another package, my husband does not drink too, but he is totally satiesfied with the softdrinks and the coffies in Mosaic Cafe.

The coffees in Mosaic are included.

Only the ones, you would not have, because having alcohol added, are for extra costs.

AzAmazing Evening - Modern Caribbean Rhythms - SMI9

You may be familiar with Caribbean music, but this evening's performance by The Alternative Quartet will add a whole new dimension to your understanding. With an electric cello and three electric violins, the group brings the Caribbean beat to life in a unique showcase of Soca ("soul calypso"), Dancehall and other music. Your event will be held outdoors on the pier, with performance seating in an area bedecked in festive holiday colors and lights. Get ready for some fun!

Port/City: Philipsburg, St. Maarten

Dates Offered: 22-Mar-2016

Approx. Duration: 2 hour(s) 30 minute(s)

Bonnie,

somebody from our RC mentioned, that they changed the itinerary for the Journey cruise, starting march 16th.

We should have been in St. Barts until late in the evening and having the AmazingEvening onboard.

Now we leave St. Barts at 6pm, arrive in St. Maarten at 8pm and leave the island at 11pm.

Maybe, thats what I thought, the found a better option for the AmazingEvening on St. Maarten, because there were so many disappointed people about the one onboard while ship was in St. Barts.

Maybe you can check it for us and I can write it in our Roll Call.

Thanks in advance, Marita

Wonderful, thank you Bonnie,

good to hear, that both will get their profile on the AZ website.

I know Ryszard from our cruise we made together around the British Isles and could not understand, why there was no profile of him, being for a longer time working for Azamara.

I could understand, that the profile for the "new" Captain Magnus had to be made, and I´m sure, it will be perfect, if you make it.

Looking forward to see it published on the website. But I think we will be faster on the Journey than the interviews being published on the website.

And good for you that you got the five days onboard to make the interviews. :D:):D:)

Marita