Another review of 15th October Journey cruise published

[uktog]

Greeneg has already given you a link to his review and today I have had the notification that mine too is now published.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=110642

 

I know I gave you some ramblings during the cruise and immediately after but here is my post cruise thoughts with the official scores on the doors. As ever no two cruisers will enjoy the same things, but I think we are both agreed on the highlight of the trip, the onboard team.

 

We had very different dining experiences and on our shore excursion in Kusidasi, we were given the option to go direct to the ship (a 3 minute walk) rather than join the carpet shop visit, maybe Greenegs bus went somewhere else.

 

That said, we have a lot of similarities of thought on what was a very very good cruise

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review.

[greeneg]

It's a nice review, Ann, even though there are areas where our viewpoints are different. My issue with the MDR for example, was not that the food was bad ( as I've said it wasn't), but that it was not as good as our previous Azamara Experience, and no better than Celebrity. My original point about the fish and chips was that the dish appeared to be more about plating than about the fish and chips, whereas it really ( IMHO) should be the other way about. We ate dinner about half the time in Windows; I thought that both were about equal as far as I could tell in terms of food, and Windows was far quieter and more pleasant in terms of ambiance. It well be that I have become more of a crusty curmudgeon as I have gotten older and just prefer things that are simpler and more solid rather than "showy". Classic different "strokes", I guess.

 

I like Azamara's cabins, I find them very well designed and very comfortable despite the bath arrangements, but I would not consider them luxurious or even adequate at Crystal's Per Diem for example. I would even go so far as to say that the Azamara Cabin is far more comfortable than the equivalent cabin on Celebrity's S class ships: how much more that is actually worth is something that remains to be seen.

 

I agree completely it was a very nice cruise on a comfortable ship staffed by a wonderful crew. Differences in viewpoints, yes, but take nothing away from that.

 

Best Regards and it was a pleasure to meet and talk with you.

 

By the way, please tell Phil that I still have every intention of paying off on the "wee dram".

 

Ed Green

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the review!

[Lottie A]

Thanks for a great review Ann.

 

Those cupcakes sound yummy.....but maybe it's a good thing that they didn't make an appearance on our Quest cruise in Sept/Oct! :)

[Bill Leiber]

Hello Ann -

 

I enjoyed reading your review and appreciate your insights.

 

I remember some of the issues you encountered in planning your pilgrimage and was pleased to learn that it was indeed a memorable and satisfying experience.

 

Best regards,

 

Bill Leiber

________________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

(*CBO is an authorized and compensated representative of ACC)

[uktog]

Thanks Bill

 

The overnight Holyland trip was indeed a very memorable trip and the guide David Barak was absolutely exceptional - in my mind the kind of Land Discoveries event Azamara should be striving for in all their offerings. He was both skilled at managing us and communicating time expectations etc with us, but also in balancing his personal insights and knowledge with our capacity at each moment in time to absorb information.

 

I forgot to say, as we all came back in from our two days away (the first night the ship was in Ashdod), we had a welcome home like nothing we have ever experienced before. All the officers on the pier, Captain Jason personally welcoming each bus load back, (evidently they had assessed there were only 50 folks on board at 6pm) the Azamara Journey in casual gear serenading us back in, waiters handing out flutes of mimosa - even the tour guides and bus drivers who had looked after us were amazed and were included in the welcome home - a very thoughtful touch indeed and brought a very special two days to a conclusion with a lovely warm feeling of Azamara family love