pvkatmom

Love Seabourn-- was on it May 2015. Also love Azamara (on it Christmas 2014/Jan 2015)-- the longer port stays and the overnights are great. I like both of these lines the best, due to the size of ships, staff friendliness AND open seating dining. Crystal is lovely, but it is a larger ship and I dislike being locked into a "set" dining time. Was on Silverseas Silver Wind in the mid 1990s-- too small a ship-- not enough to do, although at that time the food was good. Will be back on Azamara Journey this Christmas for 2 weeks for a Singapore, Indonesia and Bali cruise. We book the Club Continent suites and thus can dine in the specialty restaurants for free and the food is splendid. But we like the fact that with no reservation, we can also dine in the other venues whenever it's convenient for us,in case we're having a great time in port and don't want to rush back to the ship.

You should post this on the Review page for AZ. Enjoyed reading your review, thank you!

In our family it is the young ones who want the bath too.

Although I agree after a long day touring getting in the bath for a soak is highly desirable.

It wouldn't be a deal breaker for us but when you are paying for a suite I agree most would expect a bath.

However we haven't seen the new walk in shower. Not sure how we would see one on our August cruise as we couldn't possibly ask people their cabin numbers.

Welsh Family, there are many photos of the walk-in shower available to view, I am sure if you look you'll find one, here on CC -- or probably even on the AZ website. I've seen several photos of the new walk-in showers. Or one of our more tech savvy fellow CC's will post one for you, if you can't find it.

Whew! We are in CC suite N2 8063 for a 2016 holiday cruise on Journey booked long ago and I had tracked and commented on the whole walk- in shower vs tub (actually it's the usual tub/ shower combo, so its not like you don't get a shower) debate while it was initially being discussed. Felt sure we had a tub after the refurb, but got alarmed by the earlier post, where the map/floorplan was correct, but the poster got port and starboard confused. Anyway, I'm happy to learn that we also get a sofa. :)

My two cents on the issue: we are among those who pay extra for a CC suite so we can have a tub. It's just a must have, for us, to be able to relax in a tub, after a long day walking around, as we will often walk 7+ hours a day when in port.

Some posters may think that big showers and no tubs are the wave of the future and that is what everybody wants, especially young people. I respectfully disagree. My 25 year old daughter and her 28 year old fiance do take quick showers in the morning before work. But in the evening, they often love taking relaxing baths. (And when my daughter was in college, where there weren't tubs available, one of the first things she'd do when she came home, which was fairly often, was to draw a nice bath and then happily loll in it).

We were in Venice May 2015 for 3 days and took a less desirably located room in our hotel because we wanted a tub-- good thing, too, because we walked our legs off in Venice. Then we boarded Seabourn Odyssey, where we had both a separate tub and shower (it was actually cheaper than AZ, albeit a somewhat different itinerary than AZ). This isn't feasible on AZ ships, footprint wise, so we're happy with the tub/shower combo offered by AZ in the CC suites, as in the mornings my husband uses the shower (and then nights we use the tub).

Lastly, as those who followed the initial debate on CC know, there were many besides me, who strongly advocated for keeping some tubs. No tubs is a deal breaker for me. I can imagine that those AZ customers who don't follow CC, who were expecting a tub in their suite, might be very upset to discover they don't have a tub (I sure would be). Whether it's a ship or a hotel, unless it's only a one or two night stay, I won't stay anyplace that can't give me a tub, and as said, I am willing to pay extra for it, if need be. Wishing a Happy Summer to all and a Happy 4th of July to my fellow Americans!

We have taken the same view as you. We have $400 OBC for excursions only. We definitely want to do Petra and prefer the ship's tour to make sure we get back on time - as its 2 hours drive. We have booked and paid for it now to make sure we get on it. Still thinking about Luxor - it's a very long drive!

 

 

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I don't know how long a drive you are talking about, but Luxor is spectacular-- you should go!

Oh dear! Didn't mean to cause a storm. I am a non smoker and frequently travel with smokers and therefore find myself in smoking areas or be left out. My lot would not smoke on balconies and didn't like smoking inside, it felt wrong. So we agree a ban on smoking on balconies and inside OB would be ideal. That said, try and get the staff to serve you a drink outside the bar on deck 5 and you will wait all week! Like other cruise lines SB need to provide a sheltered outside spot with bar service that is close ish to the action. SS manage this no problem. I will stand by my previous post, some (not all, to be clear) of the most fun people I have met on cruises are smokers. On my next SB trip in a few weeks I will be travelling sans smokers, but will pass by the smoking area with champers in hand and will no doubt find a fun bunch.

I totally agree with you. Smokers tend to be a lively, chatty fun bunch. There are often nonsmokers like you and me, who will join the smoking section people as that is where a lot of great conversations and laughs are happening.

Love Seabourn. Also love Azamara, and as we book suites there, we eat in the specialty restaurants most nights, super friendly crew (and passengers!). Seabourn and Azamara ships are just the right size. Crystal is very nice, but we like to dine when its convenient for us, and not be slotted into a set dining time. Haven't been on Silversea for a long time, but found Silversea Wind a bit too small. Have not been on the other ships mentioned in this thread, but we've found that Seabourn and Azamara work best for us, and are our lines of choice. (We've also been on Princess, HAL, Celebrity, and Royal Caribbean, but they aren't luxury and are too large) Anyway, Azamara has late nights and overnights in some ports, which is great, so you are not just somewhere from 8am-5pm (or even less) and kind of rushing to see everything. We always get off the ship and see as much as we can, usually through private guides, but sometimes via ship's excursions, if the timing is tight.

Yes absolutely agree, I did not really find this blog very helpful or accurate sorry Bonnie

I've been to Paris many times, so I respectfully disagree, I thought both itineraries were quite good for the time frames given, and the maps and distances for how far a walk is, were good, too. On the other hand, I'm a huge fan of Rick Steves' walking tours. Last time I was in Paris I think we did 3 of them, his cafe and restaurant recommendations are great too. Love La Dame Tatin, near the Pompidou-- best carpaccio ever, and cheap. Love staying at Le Relais Bosquet hotel-- 2 blocks from Rue Cler-- which street is so quintessentially Parisian.

Thanks for the photos, Phil! We were in a CC suite on our last AZ cruise and didn't know this area was an option-- on one "at sea " day, we walked all over looking for loungers-- we actually had to sit apart from each other for awhile.... But thanks to all the wonderful Cruise Critic posters-- now we know, and will avail ourselves of this perk on our Dec/Jan holiday cruise!

Same on our cruise. Now Martin has moved up to sommelier Kaviraj has taken the baton! Very sociable area. The whole passenger mix and attitude on this first leg has been fantastic. Not a grumpy face in sight!

 

Phil

Yay, good news indeed, Phil!!! Enjoy the rest of your cruise, Phil, I see you're aboard for a few legs, lucky you! Hope we get another friendly group this December/Jan holiday cruise aboard Journey for Singapore/Indonesia/Bali. Fingers crossed...

Martin looks like the wonderful guy from our Buenos Aires/Rio Christmas holiday cruise from 2 years ago. There was a fairly large group of us who'd sit in the designated "smoking section" by the pool late nights and chat--- passengers from many different countries, some of whom weren't even smokers-- but that's where the fun and good conversations were happening, so it was a lively and convivial place to be!!! So, at first, we'd run up to the Observation Bar (now Living Room) to get drinks and then back down the stairs, as drink service there could be spotty there once the pool bar had closed, and I'm not faulting AZ for that at all. But AZ/Martin quickly picked up on the fact that there was a largish group of pax (people from all over, Americans, Brazilians, Brits, Canadians, some Europeans, etc.) happily chatting with each other in this area at night. So Martin (pretty sure it was him) semi-dedicated himself to this group in the late evenings and would bring us all drinks, so it was he running up and down the stairs, rather than us. A small example of AZ's great service-- seeing a need and filling it. And also an example of how much fun AZ pax are (although that can depend on luck of the draw/itinerary-- we were fortunate to be on a cruise with outgoing,friendly fellow pax)

We've recently been on both Azamara and Seabourn and love them both. For Azamara, get a Club Continent suite (nice bathroom with no dreaded shower curtain-- and for us we MUST have a bathtub and some of the CC suites now have only a large walk-in shower-- so check to make sure you get what you want when you book) PLUS CC suites have free access to the specialty restaurants and a special outdoor lounge chair area by the spa. Totally worth it. BUT, check prices!!! We wanted to go on an AZ cruise last May or June that went to a lots of Croatian ports--- it was super expensive-- we found a significantly cheaper, similar cruise on Seabourn. While the Seabourn cruise didn't go to as many Croatian ports as did the AZ cruise (there were more Greek ports), the itinerary was also good, and we enjoyed Seabourn a lot. We did miss AZ's longer port stays and overnights, though. We'll be back on AZ Journey this December for the holiday Singapore/Indonesia/ Bali cruise. Can't wait! AZ and Seabourn are definitely our lines of choice.

I have been very loyal to Azamara (and will continue to sail them) but with only two ships the itineraries have become too repetitive to my liking. I cruised Seabourn for the first time in 2015 and greatly enjoyed it. Cabins, food, service, etc. are all a step up from Azamara although you also pay a lot more. That said, crew- and especially officer engagement is a lot warmer on Azamara. The passengers are friendlier too.

 

I've booked my first cruise on Crystal for 2017, the North West passage from Vancouver to New York over the top of North America. I booked it solely for the unique itinerary and if Azamara would have had more ships and sailed this route I would undoubtedly sailed with them. But alas.

 

Floris

Like Floris, we are largely itinerary driven. We cruised Seabourn May 2015-- their 10 day itinerary (Venice-Athens) was actually cheaper than the Croatia itinerary I wanted on AZ. We loved Seabourn as much as we love Azamara-- these are probably the two lines we will look at for future voyages -- as we've decided we like smaller ships-- but not too small, we don't like Silverseas ( I admit its been a loooong time since we were on that line, but the reviews don't seem that great).

In fact, we are on AZ Journey in Dec 2016 for Singapore, Indonesia, Bali cruise. We did the Azamara Rio Christmas/New Year's trip 2014/2015-- GREAT, it is what made us love this line-- friendly crew and pax, very nice food, no crowding. Cruised Crystal, too, but as it was quite awhile ago, not fair to compare. But for us, AZ's longer times in port and overnights are wonderful-- neither of the other lines seems to really have this yet.

some of us tip our butler and room people extra. i tend to do all bartenders who make my drinks and others. . very personal choice.

As does Robin, we tip the room steward/butler and exceptional bartenders or other service people. Especially since we almost always cruise over the Christmas/New Year's holidays and here we are having a wonderful time and the service people are away from their family and friends. As I recall, there is even a tip line space on the bill (the food itself is complimentary since we're in a suite) for the specialty restaurants, so we leave something there, too.

I like overnights, too. Azamara seems to have way more of them than does Seabourn--but I really enjoy both lines. Luckily came into Venice several days early for Seabourn cruise May 2015-- good thing as my luggage didn't surface for two days. I had learned from a previous experience (its always my bags or my daughter's bags that get lost, never my husband's) to always split up my things and my husband's things equally amongst our bags. But this one time, did not... Never again! Had to wear the same clothes in Venice for 2 days that I wore on the plane from Los Angeles and was a bit chilly. ALWAYS SPLIT UP YOUR CLOTHES between the bags you're travelling with, at least on the flight TO the destination.

The one thing I'd change about Seabourn would be some longer port times. Many of the countries/ports visited have a vibrant nightlife-- if you are just there from 8 am-5pm, you haven't really had a chance to get the real flavor and feel of a place. Having some overnights or 10-11 pm port departures is something I'd find very appealing.

I so feel for those, who like me, plan way ahead. Even if its a cancellation more than 330 days prior and you haven't booked air. But, in the past charters have shared space with booked passengers and it wasn't always a happy story, per CC posts. There was apparently a "Bear guy" (I forget what they call themselves, but it is for gay guys) mostly chartered cruise on a line (maybe not Azamara, could've been some other line) and a woman posted that there was a guy in the elevator wearing only a leather thong in the elevator with her and her grandkids. And after our Rio Christmas/ New Years Cruise 2014/2015 on Azamara Journey, the next group coming on was for a chartered "Swingers' Cruise." (But maybe there were no non-charter pax for that, I've no idea). Then I also read of an unhappy passenger's trip on a cruise (may not have been AZ, but think it was) that consisted 85+ percent of a convention for dentists (or some group of professionals... from a specific country--anyway the poster said it was a grumpy group of people that kept to themselves, used up a lot of the public spaces a lot of the time, and didn't engage whatsoever with other pax) Or if they did, were unpleasant. I semi-forgot my own rule (after I'd read all of these posts quite a while ago) which is to try to find out if a large group has chartered a large portion of the cruise. Not that AZ may be likely to tell my TA... Anyway, I posted this bc honestly, if the charters are for specifically targeted groups, even if the charters don't sell out ( and not to be un "PC"), you may not want to be on a cruise with some particular group being the majority. We like being on a cruise with a "usual " mix of pax, and talking to and engaging with other pax (and the great crew). All the above said, my husband and I love Az and are looking forward to being on the Journey in December 2016.

This is all not very good news, at all. I, too, make plans way in advance. At least for anything in Fall of 2017, people wouldn't have been able to make air arrangements-- as no one can until something like 330 days before flight departure. But, if I ever got canceled on a Fall 2016 cruise in April 2016, I'd be furious, as I'd have already booked air, hotels, private guides, excursions-- well, everything by now. For example we're going on Azamara Journey December 23, 2016 and all the big stuff (air and hotels) has been booked for months, as well as most guides-- just still working on a few more private guides/stuff to do for some of the ports. I really feel bad for those of you that were canceled on... so sorry. :(

I couldn't tell you if most go with the ship's excursions, but we have done so a few times when we were anxious about time constraints. I would say that they were, for the most part, well organized and fun, given that it was a whole bus load of people. Our one negative experience was in 2009 when the company was fairly new, so not worth discussing now. As for value, not sure...we are not frequent cruisers and have only done shorex with Regent and Azamara, therefore have little basis for comparison. Regardless of cruise line, we prefer to arrange our own. That's how we roll nowadays!

We often do our own excursions-- either I book a private guide (way in advance) or we walk around on our own (armed with a map and guidebook) as we can walk for hours. But, as said by the poster above, sometimes due to time constraints, we do Azamara excursions. We went to see Iguazu Falls from the ship in Buenos Aires and given that it involved planes and buses (and we were gone from 4am to 7 pm) and there were about 25 of us, it was masterfully executed. Another great Azamara excursion was to Lopes Mendes beach in Ihla Grande, Brazil (said by Vogue magazine to be one of the ten most beautiful beaches in the world). It was gorgeous. We did several other Azamara excursions on our South America trip (Christmas 2014/New Year's 2015) and they were all very well done. An officer from the ship accompanies each excursion, both to monitor the quality of the guide service and to be in immediate contact with the ship should a guest get injured or to advise the ship of any delays/problems. On our excursion to Lopes Mendes beach, Azamara Journey's guy in charge of TV and Internet IT stuff was with us (he told us this info) and we enjoyed talking with him as we hiked to the beach (it's a 40 minute hike from where you get off a smaller speedboat, which is likely why its such a beautiful, unspoiled beach). Azamara offers some VERY nice excursions to places either off the beaten path or that would be difficult to arrange to get to on your own in the time you have. Strongly recommend that you look at and print out the Azamara shore excursion offerings well in advance of boarding the ship and think about what you might like to do--- you may choose to do some excursions with Azamara and others on your own.

Bonnie's "36 hours in Rome" post is excellent! My daughter and I were in Rome for a week mid-May 2011 (she'd just finished a class on Roman Art, so the timing was great)-- we didn't encounter unbearable lines anywhere then. But there was a line to get into the Vatican art museum--- was maybe 30-40 minutes long. But if you only have a few days, sounds like going with guides, pre-booking or other ways to skip lines are definitely the way to go!!! We walked most places and also took taxis. Didn't try Rome's metro, it isn't very extensive or well connected, as every time they dig to try to extend it, new antiquities are found-- which stops the project. Rome is wonderful. Great people, fantastic sites and food. Enjoy!

That date is yet to come lol

Yes,of course you are right! It was May 2015 on Seabourn.

Was on Seabourn May 2016, not 2015.

Thank you for the reply, tv24. I guess since we sail Azamara in a Club Continent suite, it is luxurious enough for us since we can, and do, often dine in the specialty restaurants (and as long as we get our must-have bath tub). We liked Seabourn, this May 2015 in a veranda suite, too. It's been a while since we were on Crystal, but for our current tastes, the ships are too big. Also its been quite some time since we were on Silverseas Silverwind-- that ship is too small. I sound like Goldilocks... but Azamara and Seabourn's ships are just right! Size-wise, there is enough to do on sea days and they can dock in many ports that larger ships have to tender to. We also love the longer port stays and overnights that Azamara offers. I hear you about reading other lines' message boards-- last night I looked at Oceania's out of curiosity and it seems that since NCL bought it, people are NOT enjoying the experience at all. And Tilly, I think you will love Azamara!

So what IS luxury cruising? Just wondering...

I agree with others that the dining experience on a cruise is a VERY important factor. We were on Azamara Journey (Buenos Aires to Rio) for Christmas/New Years 2014/2015 in a Club Continent suite, so we often ate in Prime C or Aqualina, but also the MDR and we had the Mexican Buffet one night (we're from southern California). People have been complaining about Aqualina having gone down a bit of late, but we loved it then (especially me, since I never miss an opportunity to order carpaccio). We found the food in all venues to be quite good and often superb, with good service--- there were probably some special meals and menus because of the holidays, but all was nicely done and presented.

So, Tilly, we were also on Seabourn Odyssey May 2015 Venice to Athens trip (better prices than Azamara for what we wanted, as this was the only time I ever booked a cruise rather late) and we loved Seabourn, too. And we thought the food on Seabourn and the service was very good. We never ate in Restaurant 2, every time I checked the day's menu, the choices weren't appealing/rather odd. I guess they are re-doing this with Thomas Keller. I did like one menu, but it was sold out.

You really can't go wrong on either Azamara or Seabourn, imo. Friendly, engaging crew on both lines. While we have sailed other lines (Crystal, Celebrity and others) in the past, we've decided we prefer the smaller ship ambiance and in the case of Azamara, the extended port stays. We are also very destination oriented in choosing cruises-- that is first and foremost-- we will be on Azamara Journey for the December 23 Singapore/Bali cruise-- we loved the itinerary!

We are in CC 8063 on Journey for two weeks starting December 23, 2016 and are light sleepers, I hope we will be okay...