Our journey on journey, the final thoughts

[uktog]

As you know, I tried to keep you all updated on how we were getting on during this cruise, but for a combination of reasons, I failed to be a good blogger.

 

As Azamara veterans, we always love returning to enjoy the onboard experience and we were looking forward to this trip, tempering our excitement though with thoughts like, can it really be as good as we remembered it?

 

This time, we relied on Azamara to make all the flight arrangements and pre cruise hotel plans as part of a special free flights offer. We wondered, was this a smart move, we can say now 100% yes. We had well timed flights, the Athens Hilton is a very acceptable hotel and transfers worked well. Not perfectly, we were still back at Athens Airport nearly 2 hours before checkin opened as the late disembarkation option was not leaving until 1245 which for the main UK flight at 1450 was too late. We investigated taxi but with a cost of $49.95 each to stay plus 60 euro for an earlier taxi dismissed this plan. What we did discover, was only guests who had booked flights through Azamara were given the 1015 disembarkation slot we had, independent booked guests were off by 0915 so some had an even longer airport stand around.

 

I will cover a minor disembarkation issue now, when we went to pick up my case from the loading area (only cases for our luggage tag were in a very empty shed) its TSA combination padlock had been taken off and was lying on the ground by the case. It had definately been interfered with, there were penknife type scores on it, however as far as we can now see, nothing had been taken as we never carry anything of value in cases. We did report the issue to the pier supervisor, but just a timely reminder to everyone, no valuables in the suitcases.

 

Now to the cruise, I know some may say ahah Azamara cheerleader, no we are not, we do identify where there are issues and raise them as need be. However, our conclusion on this trip was, how can any cruiseline beat Azamara. We recognise costs are increasing, so we may in future be moving down ship, but we still see Azamara as our No 1 cruiseline of choice and whilst we are looking forward to our Celebrity top of Australia and Indonesia cruise next February, we also have some reservations.

 

Why do we say this, well of course, the staff on board, everyone, without exception wants to do whatever they can to make your cruise special. Our bathroom scales regrettably confirmed how much we had enjoyed the onboard food and wine. There was not one dish served that we might say, that was not as expected. My downfall had to be the gelato and sorbet cart at lunchtime. Innovative flavours and beautiful tastes, we did often have the low fat versions, and it was impossible to tell by taste the difference between low and full fat.

 

I have a full list of the wines served onboard and have posted them on a separate thread.

 

Captain Jason is so visible and loves to share his love of all things Azamara and maritime with the guests. He is also a very caring person, as was evident to all in the way a sudden death of a guest was handled with sensitivity, dignity and respect, whilst keeping guests informed with the appropriate level of information - enough but not too much.

 

Heike is ably assisted by Jonathon as F and B manager, we have not sailed with him before but he clearly is looking at ways to further enhance guests onboard enjoyment of all things food and wine. New additions include the wicked cupcakes of the day and he was working on some enhancements to Prime C menu which they plan to roll out very soon.

 

The Aqualina menu has had a makeover. The new Halibut starter and the gnochhi starter are both delicious as is the Red Pepper soup. On the mains, most of the favourites are there, but one new addition stands out, the Dover Sole.

 

 

Another change relates to the lobster, which now has the option of being served with handmade pasta which was oh so good.

 

 

Desserts now includes a Berrymissu, a fruity twist on tiramisu which is very good indeed.

 

 

 

 

Prime C favourite has to be the Chocolate Hazelnut log

 

 

And from the main dining room our favourite was the surf and turf

 

 

 

 

And the trio of apple desserts, a mini tarte tatin, a beautiful apple sorbet and a white chocolate and apple lolipop

 

 

Tony Markey joined as Cruise Director on this sailing. Energy abounds as ever and he and SarahLou make a good combination on the Entertainment/Activities front. We so loved the new shows. The singers are much higher quality and they are supported by two professional ballroom champions (Alina and Slava) who were wonderful. Headline shows featured Cheryl Sinclair, a great singer, Bob Trunell our favourite magician and a late change, the advertised comedian, Paul Brogan were replaced by two Mexican gentlemen Yorba who played a wide range of musical instruments, particularly varieties on pan pipes and Spanish mandolin/guitars. They were a little less confident in their interactions with the audience but were clearly very talented people. The one less good piece was the Mosaic singer Paulo de Sousa, he has a pleasant voice, but has zero interaction with the audience, Mosaic just did not have the same buzz as it does when you have the likes of Jim Badger or Carlos Avalon on board, however, one night two of the show singers did a cabaret there and it was packed and buzzing, so I am not sure how long Paulo will fit in.

 

We have to mention Warren Wiltsie the Enrichment lecturer, superb. It was great that they were also telling you via an Interactive screen message when his talks were being shown again. He was so good he re presented his Jerusalem talk in the Cabaret lounge several days after being there as so many guests wanted to listen to it after they had experienced the City.

 

A minor, but important point for us, although the spa remains managed by Steiner, there is a completely different tone there, a delightful manageress Rose who is looking after guests and ensuring her staff give everyone a positive experience. As a result after an absence of several cruises from spa experiences, I enjoyed one and was very pleased indeed, I did not mention no selling please before she started by mistake, but guess what, the lovely Portugese lady did not sell at all during my treatment - now that's a positive onboard first in my book!

 

In case you think life was a complete bed of roses, two issues, we had to deal with, we had to move rooms because of issues with the air conditioning and I sensed after from others there may have been several more who were not happy - certainly the engineers were spending a lot of time working on it on Deck 8 each day. Secondly, the wireless Internet service has deteriorated a lot since our last trip, maybe because more people are using it but our second room was a real black spot and we really had to push to get some dropped minutes refunded. The assistant tended to have the view that guests were IT illiterate (and many were overhearing some of the conversations he was having in the IT room) but when you can only cruise if you can keep an eye on your home business, you do not want to have to waste as much time as we did running to sort out issues or only accessing the wireless in Mosaic which was his suggested solution - I do hope dry dock improves the wireless capacity as I think this is an area guests will become more and more demanding about.

 

These final two points are very minor ones though and we had to mark give lots and lots of excellent markings in our final feedback form and we will be doing all we can to earn enough to stay with Azamara as much as possible.

 

I will cover our port experiences my next post which l will do as a separate thread later tonight.

[autumn lass]

Thank you for your updates whilst on board and an informative review. Azamara remains our favourite line and we are looking forward to being on Quest in January. We have always had the flight and latterly overnight stay package from the UK offered by Azamara and have been pleased with the arrangements. In view of rising costs we too shall probably consider moving down a category to remain with Azamara but the experience on board is the best. I look forward to reading your views on the ports.

 

Hilary

[Lottie A]

Great report Ann. I'm so glad Az was just as good as you remembered.

 

And the food.....I empathise with you after my Quest cruise three weeks ago - my bathroom scales would have told me off bigtime, if they could!:D

 

I hope the lovely Sarah Lou is having a good time on Journey. She's just the best.

 

Looking forward to your next instalment.

[taxjam]

Thanks for your initial report. Azamara's captains are definitely a big positive. Until we sailed on Azamara's I never considered how the captain could enhance the onboard experience and simply thought as long as he doesn't hit anything it's fine. I also concluded that an engaged captain filters down through the crew.

[uktog]

Just wondering since you have just returned from Azamara and have sailed with them before-

 

Have you looked at the MUCH higher prices for 2013/2014 and do you still feel Azamara is a good value?

 

Yes we have looked at the prices and indeed made two more bookings at the higher price although one is in a much lower category room than we would have previously done, reflecting our response to the price rises.

 

We do feel there is value in Azamara as the standards on board are so high. Elsewhere, we find food and service can be patchy, we did not find that to be the case on Azamara and so are prepared to pay a small premium for consistency.

[excitedofharpenden]

Thanks for the report back Ann. Glad you had such a good time. Your overall impression of Azamara mirrors mine. There's a huge heart on their ships, namely the crew and it really makes a difference. Nothing is too much trouble and moreover they seem to show a genuine pleasure in helping you.

 

Interesting you talk of the in-cabin wifi. I struggled on Quest recently. I actually had to pull a chair up by the cabin door to get a good signal otherwise the server couldn't be located. Once I'd positioned myself there it seemed ok. I had a look for the wifi transmitters and they were placed at intervals in the corridor. My cabin (8054) seemed to be right in the middle and at furthest points between two of them.

 

Your TSA lock. I left mine at home this last European trip because I wasn't sure whether they had the master key at European airports and suddenly thought if they wanted to check the inside of my case then there might be a problem. Perhaps this is what happened to you?

 

OK, welcome back to reality and turn your thoughts to your next trip. Mine will be on Celebrity in December. I am really looking forward to it for the friends I have going with me, but will it be as good as the Azamara experience? I don't think so.

 

Phil

[tango9]

Thanks so much, uktog, for your brief review and am glad to hear you have a great time

 

Your said:

Yes we have looked at the prices and indeed made two more bookings at the higher price although one is in a much lower category room than we would have previously done, reflecting our response to the price rises.

So my question is: I thought that the higher prices did not go into effect until November 1, 2012? Am I missing something?

[uktog]

Thanks so much, uktog, for your brief review and am glad to hear you have a great time

 

Your said:

Yes we have looked at the prices and indeed made two more bookings at the higher price although one is in a much lower category room than we would have previously done, reflecting our response to the price rises.

So my question is: I thought that the higher prices did not go into effect until November 1, 2012? Am I missing something?

 

UK pricing already saw quite an increase on like for like trips between 2013 and 2014

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the review.

[ellbon]

Ann

 

interesting there have been menu changes since august. at the time there were a few starters that had changed.

my cabin so far is 8042 or 8040 and i had good wifi there in general.. Norway in its own world.

[TerryAndDoug]

Ann,

 

Thanks for posting! The food photos look great.

 

Doug

[uktog]

Thanks for the positive comments. I agree Phil I will need to remind myself Celebrity will be a different experience to manage expectations for the next trip. I've put pics of the ports and some descriptions on the other thread I started on these boards re ports of call