Comments from our Journey Croatia Intensive 13th to 22nd July

[tonyl1956]

Hi all,

 

This isn't a picture laden every bite of food/every step of the way review but a few notes that some may (and some may not!) find useful or interesting. It's effectively our fifth Azamara cruise, so we now know what to expect.

 

Boarding in Piraeus was pretty good. We used Welcome Pickups for our transfer from the centre of Athens - comfortable and quick. Journey was docked at the main terminal (A) and, arriving around 11:30, our bags were quickly labelled and whisked away. Everyone had to wait a while to board, because Windstar and Celestyal Journey were also boarding through the same building. One note is that there is no disabled toilet in the waiting area. We asked a staff member and were accompanied through passport and security to use one after check in, then returned to the waiting area. The lady who helped us then gave my wife and I unrequested priority when boarding did commence, which was nice, though not really necessary, and we were on board soon after 12. The rest of our party of 6 (travelling in 3 cabins) was only a few minutes behind us. All bags were delivered reasonably soon after cabins were available, apart from one, which had to be retrieved from reception sometime later, as the label became detached.

 

The ship is looking good and we were all happy with our cabins. No slippers but we never use them. Initially, we thought we didn't have a shoehorn but our cabin attendant brought one when we asked. I discovered the cabin one when checking that we hadn't left anything at the end of the cruise, tucked away with the life jackets. The water bottles provided seem a good idea, though the water machines in the corridors are not chillers (ice machines in Windows were used). However, while they must save loads of plastic, the stainless steel from which they are made is not the highest quality and I noted minor rust marks around the thread when we arrived home, so I'm not sure they are really saving the planet!

 

Deck 7 Laundry: Journey seems to have the next generation of washing machines which do a good job quite quickly, with the result that there was never an issue (for us anyway) getting a machine or drier. I noted that only having two ironing boards caused more queues than the machines.

 

Food: Overall I would rate the food as better than our last cruise (Quest Jan 2023). I didn't have a meal I could criticise at any time during the cruise and some things were definitely better, such as the cheese plate in Discoveries. Prime C didn't disappoint, though in fact we never had beef which wasn't good anywhere, even for steak and eggs at breakfast in Discoveries. We ate in Aqualina on the last night and the food was fine, but service a bit too quick - I could probably have asked them to slow it down, I suppose. We had a deck Destination BBQ buffet one night, plus White Night of course. Both were excellent.

 

Room Service: We only used it for an early mini-breakfast. Sometimes there was a call before delivery, sometimes not. Most days delivery was a few minutes early, so a call would have been nice. 

 

Drinks: Tins of Royal Club tonic were much in evidence. Schweppes was the 'diet' variety, so I stuck to that. We upgraded to the Ultimate package so didn't really try the basic included wines. Wines by the glass were, for us, very drinkable but the staff sometimes seemed reluctant to provide the list in the dining rooms, perhaps hoping to sell bottles. They always topped up quickly with the right variety, though. My son and his girlfriend appeared to be trying to drink all the champagne on board (Piper) but failed!

 

Future Cruises: We made use of this facility and Michelle was very helpful in sorting out quite a lot of new nights. It's very tempting, when the deposit is only £125 a head, even for a B2B2B!

 

Guest Relations: My only issue was here. Our daughter had some missing cabin credit (old Refer & Receive programme) and the only piece of Azamara paperwork I had which showed it was produced before our TA had paid their element of the cruise price, so a small outstanding balance was showing at that point. The young lady at the desk tried to use this as an excuse for the missing credit, even going so far as to imply that we hadn't paid in full and that head office had been chasing them - clearly a lie, as my TA was able to supply me with a confirmation showing a zero balance later that day. Even then, she showed a reluctance to apply the credit. It was the loyalty cocktail party that afternoon and one of the staff who introduced himself was the guest relations manager, so I mentioned it. He was on the phone immediately and my daughter had a very brief phone call from the guest relations lady to say it had been applied, with no apology. Unnecessary and it left a bad taste in the mouth. As ever, good management, though.

 

We'd booked with the EXMO (essentials) package as an early booking bonus and I was surprised that we received an offer to upgrade to the indulgence package after a few days, for $900.  As we'd already upgraded the drinks element and weren't planning on taking any tours, this was of no value to us this time, but I've kept the offer sheet and will make a note to ask about it for our next cruise soon after boarding, as that is a longer cruise.

 

Assistance at ports: Great help was provided for my wife who has mobility issues. We were able to use the tenders every time, which had been my worry. One of the security staff in particular, a lady called Monica, went out of her way to help, but they were all very good. On the subject of security, the scanners were never used at any port.

 

Cruise Director Darren was everywhere with his signature shirts and jackets, always happy to chat. We (or most of us!) enjoyed both his shows, one in the Cabaret Lounge and one in the Den. We only saw one other show (something Crooners?), which was OK. The singing staff were excellent at the loyalty cocktail party, though, so maybe we should have gone more often. Son and girlfriend went to see the Asst Cruise Director (Abby) sing on the last night and said she was excellent. We didn't go to the Destination Celebration show, so can't comment on that, but the singers brought on board for the Destination BBQ night were pretty good. Jose playing piano in the Den was also very good value and interacted with the guests much more than we've previously seen from the pianist on board. 

 

The age range on this cruise was unlike our previous Azamara cruises. It was quite a bit younger and there were even a few children on board. Our mid-30s son and girlfriend quickly befriended some fellow travellers. Our daughter and boyfriend are a bit more reserved but still really enjoyed the whole cruise. Zadar was the highlight for them, I think, as he proposed while they were ashore.

 

Disembarkation at Chioggia was a bit of a mess, probably not all of Azamara's doing. We'd all paid for Azamara transfers, 4 to the city and 2 to the airport. Most of these transfers timings very close together which made baggage collection crowded and difficult for many. I'm not sure how easy it would be to fix, given the size of the 'terminal' at Chioggia. However, nobody died and we all made it to our destinations!

 

Next cruise 3rd May 2025, Tokyo, 33 days to Singapore on Pursuit - can't wait!

[blag]

12 minutes ago, tonyl1956 said:

I noted minor rust marks around the thread when we arrived home

Ours were the same.

Plus, we discovered that ours are not watertight! 

Edited July 27 by blag

[tonyl1956]

51 minutes ago, blag said:

Ours were the same.

Plus, we discovered that ours are not watertight! 

We were lucky in that respect. Our cabin steward did say that if there was a problem with them, he'd change them, so I wonder if they've proved a bit troublesome.

[Toronto Guy]

The difference in price between the indulgence and essentials package is $900, so they weren't offering you any deal after after a few days - unless I am not understanding.

[susiesan]

Tony, I am on a Croatia intensive cruise leaving from Fusina Sept. 8 for 9 nights. I am interested in what you did at the ports you stopped at. The only ports I have excursions lined up for are Zadar and Sibenik.

 

Thanks in advance for the info you provide.

[cayman09]

May I ask where the transfer to the city dropped you off?

[tonyl1956]

3 hours ago, Toronto Guy said:

The difference in price between the indulgence and essentials package is $900, so they weren't offering you any deal after after a few days - unless I am not understanding.

The only deal was that an upgrade was formally offered at all. I didn't mean to imply that it was either cheaper or more expensive than it would have been. 

[tonyl1956]

1 hour ago, susiesan said:

Tony, I am on a Croatia intensive cruise leaving from Fusina Sept. 8 for 9 nights. I am interested in what you did at the ports you stopped at. The only ports I have excursions lined up for are Zadar and Sibenik.

 

Thanks in advance for the info you provide.

It was so hot that we didn't do much! We simply walked at all the ports. We took no excursions at all, so I can't really help. Sorry.

[tonyl1956]

1 hour ago, cayman09 said:

May I ask where the transfer to the city dropped you off?

At Tronchetto. From there, there is the People Mover to P. Roma, which we took. There is also a water bus stop on Line 2 (I think), with ticket machines to buy whatever tickets you needed. As we had a wheelchair and qualified for the 1€50 rate on the water buses (only available from manned booths), it made sense to take the People Mover and buy a number of tickets in Piazzale Roma.

[crzrr]

If you receive the Essentials package as part of a booking bonus, the option to upgrade to the Indulgence package is in the add ons section of your booking when you go into "manage my reservation".  It is at the price of $900.  We do this each time and then have the added shore excursion credit to use pre cruise.  

[LWhit]

Hi, we were also on board this trip and thoroughly enjoyed it.   We also used Welcome Pickups directly off our flight from LHR, which was very easy with lots of contact from the driver whilst awaiting our bags.

 

Our boarding in Athens was not so good. Quickly checked in but waiting for the border team to process us was very slow.  There were 2 queues - we got the slow line where our guy processed 1 person every 5 minutes, compared to his colleague who got through about 6-8 in the same time.   They had to open 2 more desks as we got near the front.   Check in for the 2 Emerald Yachts was also taking place in the same area.

 

It was very hot, which is to be expected in July, and it was nice just to be able wander around the ports at leisure. 

 

Kotor is always such a beautiful sail in/out and we went up the cable car and rode the Alpine coaster whilst up there.

 

Dubrovnik - just love walking around the old town and stopping for a drink.

 

Hvar was lovely and very much geared to the beach crowd out of the main town.   I say beach, more huge rocks to lay out on.  We walked around the coast pathway and swam in the sea off a rocky outcrop which was so nice and refreshing.

 

We climbed the bell tower in Split. We overnighted there, so the crew all went out at night to party.

 

In Sibenik, we walked to St Michael's Fort for some great views.

 

Zadar poured with rain first thing but brightened up to be a beautiful hot day. I stood on the sea steps near the sea organ and got absolutely drenched but it was lovely to cool off.

 

The food in Prime C and Aqualina was good and Seliton at Prime C bar always looked after us well for our pre-dinner drinks.

 

White night was great, and everyone had so much energy. It was swapped from Zadar (due to possible incoming bad weather) to the night before in Sibenik and the weather was glorious for the whole evening.

 

We had a drink in Hvar with Roberto (Guest Services Manager) and Darren(Cruise Director).  It was lovely to catch up with them both as we'd sailed with them last year on Journey when the 4 ships met in Koper.  We also invited them to dine with us 1 night in Aqualina.

 

Pula was our final port of call - had a mooch around the amphitheatre and back on board for a swim and the joys of packing.

 

Our only glitch on the return was the private transfer arranged with Azamara to the airport.   The car broke down and they wanted to put us in a van with a family of 5.   Roberto thankfully got involved and arranged a new transfer for us, albeit 45 mins later than the original time, but we were so grateful for his assistance. 

 

Michelle was great and arranged a new cruise booking for next year on embarkation and we loved catching up with her, when seeing her around the ship and when she and the captain hosted the loyalty drinks in the cabaret lounge.

 

What was unusual on this trip, was there were more UK passengers than US.   UK 217, US 210, Australia 88.  Many other nationalities on board but these were the top 3 in numbers.

 

Overall, a great trip, gorgeous ports and wonderful crew, which made the trip very special. 

 

We've booked a similar itinerary next year on Onward (our only ship left to try) at end-July.  Can't wait.

Edited July 28 by LWhit

[aussiedisneyfan]

6 hours ago, crzrr said:

If you receive the Essentials package as part of a booking bonus, the option to upgrade to the Indulgence package is in the add ons section of your booking when you go into "manage my reservation".  It is at the price of $900.  We do this each time and then have the added shore excursion credit to use pre cruise.  

Thanks for posting this comment, I wasn't aware that we could do that in our booking and is something which we will consider.

[Marmaduke]

This is the first time I have seen any reference to refillable water bottles being provided on Azamara. Is this a new system that is avaible on all four ships or only on Journey?

[blag]

1 hour ago, Marmaduke said:

This is the first time I have seen any reference to refillable water bottles being provided on Azamara. Is this a new system that is avaible on all four ships or only on Journey?

AFAIK on Journey only. Water stations in corridors on stateroom decks (and maybe elsewhere on the ship?)

[cavaaller]

thank you @tonyl1956 for. our interesting review and @LWhit for your input.

LWhit may I ask how much your private transport from Azamara cost?

[tonyl1956]

1 hour ago, blag said:

AFAIK on Journey only. Water stations in corridors on stateroom decks (and maybe elsewhere on the ship?)

I suspect it's been quite an investment, as they have also replaced the carpet with plastic flooring beside the machines, which are set into the wall panels of the corridors. The water tasted OK, so I assume they have either run a dedicated drinking water supply to each machine or at least fitted suitable filters. I didn't do a taste test to compare it with cabin cold water, though!

 

I expect they will do the same on all the ships sooner rather than later. I wonder whether they will continue to provide nearly 700 new bottles per cruise for ever, though?

[fruitmachine]

3 hours ago, tonyl1956 said:

I expect they will do the same on all the ships sooner rather than later. I wonder whether they will continue to provide nearly 700 new bottles per cruise for ever, though?

They have been providing many thousands of throw-away bottles of water to date, and I can see - even if the total cost is higher - why they want to burnish their green credentials.  If there genuinely was a contamination issue with the bottled water from South Africa, that may have been the last straw as far as Azamara were concerned.

[uktog]

Quest has now gone to Dry dock. We understood water coolers were being added on each floor then 

[tonyl1956]

1 hour ago, fruitmachine said:

If there genuinely was a contamination issue with the bottled water from South Africa, that may have been the last straw as far as Azamara were concerned.

I did think that when we were on board.

[LWhit]

We were on deck 6 port side aft and unfortunately the water dispenser nearest to us was out of order after about day 4 or 5.   It wasn't a problem as we used the one on the starboard side instead or by guest services on deck 4 as we were leaving to go shoreside. 

 

The private transfer was charged to our account for the car at $220 from Chioggia to VCE airport.

Edited July 28 by LWhit

[Df531]

On 7/27/2024 at 3:05 PM, susiesan said:

Tony, I am on a Croatia intensive cruise leaving from Fusina Sept. 8 for 9 nights. I am interested in what you did at the ports you stopped at. The only ports I have excursions lined up for are Zadar and Sibenik.

 

Thanks in advance for the info you provide.

What are you doing in Sibenik?  We will be there in April

[Grandma Cruising]

1 hour ago, Df531 said:

What are you doing in Sibenik?  We will be there in April

Sibenik is lovely to walk around - you can walk up to one of the forts and get amazing views.

[susiesan]

2 hours ago, Df531 said:

What are you doing in Sibenik?  We will be there in April

Using the AZ shore ex credit to go to Krka National Park. it's using up $278 of the $300 shore ex credit.

[Df531]

1 hour ago, Grandma Cruising said:

Sibenik is lovely to walk around - you can walk up to one of the forts and get amazing views.

Can you walk from the ship or do you need to take some sort of transportation?  

[Grandma Cruising]

9 hours ago, Df531 said:

Can you walk from the ship or do you need to take some sort of transportation?  

Walk from the ship.