First Time Azamara Cruiser - Full Report

[BBMacLaird]

Bonnie -- I view the Chef's Table as a reasonable value, given the number of courses and the wine pairings. But my wife doesn't drink, so the charge for the two of us is much less appealing. I have read that some lines offer a reduced charge if one party eschews the wine. Does Azamara do that? Or could it be considered? Thanks.

 

Hello HostJazzbeau, at this time we do not offer a reduced Chefs Table rate for those who do not drink wine, but it is something I'm told we we may consider for the future. Thanks for the suggestion.

[Familygoboston]

Kathleen, who knows? We may be on another cruise together. We do like the July 4 week because our teens (now much older) are away and I can combine with work holidays. I do think we will be on the third Oasis ship in 2017.

 

If there's entertainment, we'll find it.

 

Wouldn't that be a nice coincidence! On the smaller ships and more port intensive cruises we've done, we've never been bored because 1- we are so busy during the day and ready for relaxing at night and 2- the entertainment on most of the small ships we've been on has been destination specific and a little more cultural, which while not as much of a "production" as the big ships, it was more interesting to us.

Are your teens going too? They may find it a bit too sleepy after Allure or the bigger ships! My own like different destinations and would be satisfied with that, but they are a bit unusual that way! They aren't coming on our AZ Panama Canal cruise, but we did just book a people to people trip to Cuba in June with them to explore the jazz culture and art of Cuba:D

 

I hope you'll report in your AZ Venice/Croatia cruise, as I said, we were close to choosing that one! It might be next if it's still offered in 2017!

[ellbon]

I might like the cuba trip- have not been yet

[Familygoboston]

I might like the cuba trip- have not been yet

 

Not to get off topic, but it was on our list, but I hadn't located a short trip I was interested in and we didn't have the vacation time for a long trip. Once the announcement was made last week, we moved a trip to Cuba up quickly, and I found the perfect trip; a Jazz tour that includes lots of art too, and is only 5 nights!

You can be sure I'll have a full report ;)

[ellbon]

Not to get off topic, but it was on our list, but I hadn't located a short trip I was interested in and we didn't have the vacation time for a long trip. Once the announcement was made last week, we moved a trip to Cuba up quickly, and I found the perfect trip; a Jazz tour that includes lots of art too, and is only 5 nights!

You can be sure I'll have a full report ;)

 

I know you can not tell me where here but it is still on my bucket list. naturally when i lived in FL no one went. oh i am from Newton until i moved to FL. now in NC.

[hubofhockey]

Wouldn't that be a nice coincidence! On the smaller ships and more port intensive cruises we've done, we've never been bored because 1- we are so busy during the day and ready for relaxing at night and 2- the entertainment on most of the small ships we've been on has been destination specific and a little more cultural, which while not as much of a "production" as the big ships, it was more interesting to us.

Are your teens going too? They may find it a bit too sleepy after Allure or the bigger ships! My own like different destinations and would be satisfied with that, but they are a bit unusual that way! They aren't coming on our AZ Panama Canal cruise, but we did just book a people to people trip to Cuba in June with them to explore the jazz culture and art of Cuba:D

 

I hope you'll report in your AZ Venice/Croatia cruise, as I said, we were close to choosing that one! It might be next if it's still offered in 2017!

 

Our kids will be 18 & 16 when we do our Azamara Pearls of the Adriatic itinerary, but they won't be with us. We are taking them on a land vacation this year to London and Paris. To be honest, my kids would be bored with Princess. They like to be busy on the ship and they really like Royal Caribbean when we cruise and that's fine with all of us. At some point, we'll do a cruise in the Orient as well.

 

I may wait on Cuba. I think cruise lines will exploit customers and over charge for Cuba itineraries at the outset. I also believe it will take time for Cuba to rebuild Havana into a better city for tourists. It is on our list. So is Panama Canal.

Edited December 31, 2014 by hubofhockey

[Familygoboston]

I know you can not tell me where here but it is still on my bucket list. naturally when i lived in FL no one went. oh i am from Newton until i moved to FL. now in NC.

Watch the blog- I'll be writing about it starting tomorrow ;) we live very close to Newton!

Our kids will be 18 & 16 when we do our Azamara Pearls of the Adriatic itinerary, but they won't be with us. We are taking them on a land vacation this year to London and Paris. To be honest, my kids would be bored with Princess. They like to be busy on the ship and they really like Royal Caribbean when we cruise and that's fine with all of us. At some point, we'll do a cruise in the Orient as well.

 

I may wait on Cuba. I think cruise lines will exploit customers and over charge for Cuba itineraries at the outset. I also believe it will take time for Cuba to rebuild Havana into a better city for tourists. It is on our list. So is Panama Canal.

 

Yeah, we find the smaller ships really don't have much to interest kids, unless they have a strong interest in the itinerary! I think if you are looking for a more seamless resort style vacation, waiting a while, for Cuba is a good idea. It will be changing, but it will take a little while, that's why we are going now, we will be onto the next thing when eveyone else wants to go ;)

[ellbon]

Watch the blog- I'll be writing about it starting tomorrow ;) we live very close to Newton!

 

where on Cc do i look/ thoguht it was a land trip.

 

 

Yeah, we find the smaller ships really don't have much to interest kids, unless they have a strong interest in the itinerary! I think if you are looking for a more seamless resort style vacation, waiting a while, for Cuba is a good idea. It will be changing, but it will take a little while, that's why we are going now, we will be onto the next thing when eveyone else wants to go ;)

 

for some odd reason i want to go by plane and stay in a hotel that is safe. parents loved it there and land tours go. .now that i am not in FL it wil ltake longer.. it is only 90 miles from Key West.

[Grandma Cruising]

I'm amazed that you found the food so disappointing. I can't comment on the Chef's table as we haven't tried it. We've done 2 Azamara cruises - on one the journey in Autumn 2013 and one on the Quest in 2014. On the first one we ate once in each of the two speciality restaurants and enjoyed the meals and the service. This cruise we just ate in the MDR. I can only remember 1 meal that was disappointing - and that was probably my fault for not reading the menu properly and choosing something that didn't suit me.

Maybe you eat out a lot in high end restaurants. We don't and find Azamara food a real treat!

[J18ktleo]

Thank you so much for the indepth info on your experience...I also agree that each one of us has such a different take on our sailing...

 

That being said we did Crystal last year, which I was very excited about and always wanted to try, the food was mediocre in many ways except at Palm Court and the drink service was HORRIBLE!!!! We wondered if it was because now it's all inclusive but we literally waited at breakfast for 10 min for someone to come offer coffee and it was THE ONLY time...they never came back for a refill! Bar service was ok but they didn't remember us much from day to day.

 

Just got off HAL, which was also our first time and the food was ok but the service was the best we've ever had...the staff was exemplary and we were so surprised and pleased that when we had a recurring issue with our A/C they first delivered chocolate strawberries and the next week, when it hadn't really been fixed (they did, however, deliver a fan to our stateroom and that was perfect!) they brought us a bouquet of gorgeous flowers! AND, there were fresh, beautiful flowers everywhere on the ship, changed out regularly which was amazing!

 

So, we're going on Journey in a couple of weeks and I'm planning to book a dining package for Prime C, Aqualina and the Chef's Table...to try them out. Hoping for a good experience:rolleyes:

 

Have done Chef's table years ago on Princess, was wonderful.

Did the Wine Makers dinner on Princess in November, a terrible waste of the upcharge.

Did the Sommalier's dinner on HAL last month and it was wonderful too...

So...here's hoping Azamara goes to the top of the list!!!;)

 

And I really appreciate BBMacLaird's comments and monitoring here! :p

[Host Jazzbeau]

J18ktleo - I had the same reaction to my first cruise on Crystal last year, except that I thought the food in the MDR was fantastic. But you are right about the drink service -- could not get coffee at breakfast (first cup maybe, refill never) or wine at dinner (the sommelier had far too many tables to cover and was running all around the ship fetching bottles, and the waiters were not allowed to pour even refills). I don't think it is directly attributable to their going all-inclusive (coffee was always included), but maybe indirectly because their ships used to sail half-empty and now are sailing full. I believe that the vaunted Crystal service was based on the staff having so few passengers to divide themselves among -- now that the ships are full the staff/passenger ratio is nowhere near sufficient.

[TxnAquarian]

My issues with Crystal are similar, and much of the reason that I'm hard-pressed to go back. My last cruise with them was marred by poor drink service snd non-existent service at the pool grill. I noticed that the regular Crystal cruisers (the ones who are on their ships constantly) were monopolizing the servers' time by endlessly chatting. Likewise, the crew ignored those of us who are irregular Crystal cruisers to hang out with their "regular" guests. It created a really awkward environment. Azamara was a breath of fresh air because the crew were equally fabulous with everyone.

 

 

 

 

Michael

[Host Jazzbeau]

My issues with Crystal are similar, and much of the reason that I'm hard-pressed to go back. My last cruise with them was marred by poor drink service snd non-existent service at the pool grill. I noticed that the regular Crystal cruisers (the ones who are on their ships constantly) were monopolizing the servers' time by endlessly chatting. Likewise, the crew ignored those of us who are irregular Crystal cruisers to hang out with their "regular" guests. It created a really awkward environment. Azamara was a breath of fresh air because the crew were equally fabulous with everyone.

Michael

 

That's what I'm hoping for in booking my first cruise on Azamara. So far we have not felt that the "luxury" cruise lines we have tried offered value for money, because of glaring faults in some areas (a few faults are acceptable at mass-market prices, but when you pay for "luxury" you expect top quality across the board).

[J18ktleo]

Jazzbeau....We sailed Crystal togethet! And I 'interviewed' many

onboard, both new to Crystal and loyal Crystal travelers....those that were new and could compare to others agreed with your (and my) feelings that there's not enough to justify the luxury price. The 'loyal' cruisers did notice a decrease in service.

 

Txnaquarian....maybe that's cuz the 'regulars' (i.e. Mama Lee) are getting featured on the bigot news so they were recognizing their'celebrity'!😉