Post Journey Reviews From May 12 Sailing Here

[californiacruiseluvrs]

Anybody off of the May 12th Journey sailing who would like to post a review? If so, just curious about a few things...

 

1. Any word if the teak deck furniture and balcony furniture was to bo loaded on May 19 in Cape Liberty to replace the old Pulmantur stuff?

 

2. Was construction going on during your sailing?

 

3. Were the cabins complete (i.e. working televisions/safes etc...)

 

4. Did the cabins (other than suites) have complete refurbishments (i.e. carpet/furniture/upholstery/beds etc...)

 

5. What exactly did the butler service consist of? Was it available or were the "butlers" pulled for refurbishing duty?

 

Thanks in advance for anybody off of Journey today (May 19) willing to share some thoughts.

[ella99]

Anybody off of the May 12th Journey sailing who would like to post a review? If so, just curious about a few things...

 

1. Any word if the teak deck furniture and balcony furniture was to bo loaded on May 19 in Cape Liberty to replace the old Pulmantur stuff?

 

2. Was construction going on during your sailing?

 

3. Were the cabins complete (i.e. working televisions/safes etc...)

 

4. Did the cabins (other than suites) have complete refurbishments (i.e. carpet/furniture/upholstery/beds etc...)

 

5. What exactly did the butler service consist of? Was it available or were the "butlers" pulled for refurbishing duty?

 

Thanks in advance for anybody off of Journey today (May 19) willing to share some thoughts.

 

We just returned from the May 12 sailing. Yes there is a huge amount of painting, varnishing and construction going on. Every crew member on the ship was multi-tasking. To me the butler and the cabin steward were one in the same. They really weren't as attentive as they should have been. I think they did the best they could considering there was so much still to be done on the ship. We had a balcony room. It was not completly refurbished. Only new carpet, wallcovering, bedding and drapes. The furniture was original. I'm not sure about the bathrooms. They seemed to be in decent shape, I couldn't tell if anything was replaced. The balcony need some attention though, some loose strip of plastic on the floor and the doors were filthy. Our TV needed to be fixed a couple of times. We had it for only about 4 days. The safe were working fine. No refrigerator in our room. People we were traveling with had a suite, completely redone with new furniture. They had a fridge, but it was empty, only to be stocked the day before we left.

 

Only certain areas of the ship were redone. The theater(caberet) was not. Same old furniture, round table with a big hole in the center, it was probably supposed to have a light in the middle.

 

The pool area was dirty. It sorely need a refurbishment. We didn't use it anyway.

Clearly this ship wasn't ready to sail. It is still a work in progress. There was a slight improvement by the end of the week as far as the service. There just didn't seem to be over 300 crew onboard.

Although we felt the food was very good in the dining room, as was the service, the buffet definetly needed attention. Nothing special there. No fancy displays and you never knew what type of food they were serving. Everything was covered halfway with no little signs to let you know what anything was. You had to ask. They had a sandwich station and a pizza/pasta station. Only pizza, no pasta. Hot dogs and burgers outside on the grill. But no French fries only chips.

We still enjoyed ourselves and had a good time, but it just wasn't quite up to the elegant standards that was expected.

[Gypsy2]

The televisions working as hit or miss, ours was fine. the picture clarity was not the greatest as well as choices. The captain did say in St George they have no satelite reception. We did not stop in St George but just passing the area the tv went out.

 

On the very top deck they still had a container up their and you could not go up to the top. Painting was done all through the day and the metal partitions were replaced with a frosted glass type on the first day in Hamilton.

 

I am not sure what the last poster considered a dirty pool, nothing to out of the ordinary that I saw. The lounge chairs were still the blue and white web.

 

I will try to answer anything else if I could, it was our first time on Celebrity so maybe I see things in a different way.

[tnomred]

Anybody off of the May 12th Journey sailing who would like to post a review? If so, just curious about a few things...

 

1. Any word if the teak deck furniture and balcony furniture was to bo loaded on May 19 in Cape Liberty to replace the old Pulmantur stuff?

 

2. Was construction going on during your sailing?

 

3. Were the cabins complete (i.e. working televisions/safes etc...)

 

4. Did the cabins (other than suites) have complete refurbishments (i.e. carpet/furniture/upholstery/beds etc...)

 

5. What exactly did the butler service consist of? Was it available or were the "butlers" pulled for refurbishing duty?

 

Thanks in advance for anybody off of Journey today (May 19) willing to share some thoughts.

 

1. No sign of the stuff. Thursday morning the deckhands started really going to work on the eleventh level sundeck. They appearred to be ripping up the old carpet and preparing the steel decking beneath it for some sort of new installation. Perhaps more of the same indoor/outdoor polypro type carpet that was up there before. Also still up there lashed to the deck is a large container, probably still holding materials or maybe some of the promised new deck chairs.

 

2. More construction on the starboard side, maybe the 8th deck or so, consisting of grinding and banging and who knows what else inside. Perhaps they are still getting things squared away as I believe level 8 was where they cut things apart to move in the new staterooms. The construction seemed pretty constant during daylight while docked in Hamilton. Some people have remarked about painting and varnishing going on around decks 9 and 10. I've never been on any ship where the deckhands weren't scraping, sanding, painting or varnishing something. That kind of maintenance is needed pretty much constantly.

 

3 & 4. Our oceanview stateroom on level 4 was complete. It appeared to maybe have had new carpeting, possiblynew wall covering, new art, new mattress, and new linens. The bath didn't appear new but was in very good shape, clean, functional and not worn looking. The armoir and night tables appeared to be original, not new but again in excellent shape. The small sofa did appear to be new and was comfortable. The safe worked fine for us.

 

5. Butler service? What butler service? Our cabin was made up in a timely manner in the AM and our bed was turned down in the evening. Other than that...not much else to report. Yes we did get a fruit plate on our first day out and when we ate the orange it was replaced. The small flower arrangements were freshened every few days or so and were appropriate to our oceanview cabin, not extravagant. Overall I have been on several RCCL trips where I have been much more impressed with the cabin attendent's efforts to please us.

[californiacruiseluvrs]

Thank you to those who have answered my questions...I look forward to any other answers...

[bec1758]

Agree with others, alot of work still going on, wet varnish, and paint, slippery floors, two people feel and were hurt.

Pool area was terrible, old and broken furniture, and dirty, and not enough. Horrible music played, where is that great pool music.

Butler service no way, we have had better cabin stewards, all promised never received, first day plate of fruit, never replaced, no canapes. yes a pillow surprise your normal candy, no refreg,etc.

Customer service desk not friendly, Only got results from speacking to David Kelly.

Sorry to say, this ship need work still,

Food was good, but again no signs on what it is, and could not understand some the crew to what it was.

If they are going to charge big money, they better get act together

[patpaul]

Agree with others, alot of work still going on, wet varnish, and paint, slippery floors, two people feel and were hurt.

Pool area was terrible, old and broken furniture, and dirty, and not enough. Horrible music played, where is that great pool music.

Butler service no way, we have had better cabin stewards, all promised never received, first day plate of fruit, never replaced, no canapes. yes a pillow surprise your normal candy, no refreg,etc.

Customer service desk not friendly, Only got results from speacking to David Kelly.

Sorry to say, this ship need work still,

Food was good, but again no signs on what it is, and could not understand some the crew to what it was.

If they are going to charge big money, they better get act together

Leaving on Sat. was hoping for better reviews. Who is David Kelly and where can we find him?

Pat

[LHT28]

Leaving on Sat. was hoping for better reviews. Who is David Kelly and where can we find him?

Pat

He was chief Purser/manager on Oceania in charge of the refit.

Now on AZAMARA

There is a video clip of him

http://www.cruisecritic.com/features/articles.cfm?ID=453

(pink shirt) then you can recognize him in case he is not wearing his kilt!! ;)

[rebeccalouise]

I imagine that they are going to copy Oceania because it is a very successful line.

 

Things that will be missing from Azamara if this is the case is poolside music. There will be zero. There will also be few onboard activities. The ones they have will be along the line of bridge lessons and trivia games. We attended the trivia games and many of the passengers attended.

 

Oceania and Azamara are going to be quite and relaxed cruises for people that don't want timetables and loud fellow passengers. In the words of my Aunt, Oceania was "a floating retirement home". For people 65 and over that is a good thing. For 40 somethings (like myself) I enjoyed it but would rather spend less money on Celebrity and have a better time.

[LHT28]

I imagine that they are going to copy Oceania because it is a very successful line.

Oceania and Azamara are going to be quite and relaxed cruises for people that don't want timetables and loud fellow passengers. In the words of my Aunt, Oceania was "a floating retirement home". For people 65 and over that is a good thing. For 40 somethings (like myself) I enjoyed it but would rather spend less money on Celebrity and have a better time.

 

Yes they are trying to be like Oceania.

Oceania has lots of things to do if you want to do them ..not just bridge & trivia.

They are very port intensive.

We are in our 50's and it never felt like a retirement home to me!!

 

You can be as active or relax ..it is your choice.

[cruiseyguy]

Several of Quest's 2008 European itineraries have very few sea days (only 2 out of 14 days in some cases). They also have multiple overnights in port, allowing for extended sightseeing. In many ways, this is less a "cruise" ship and more of a floating hotel, with more land-based activities than shipboard ones. Perfect for folks who enjoy travel (and want to avoid the high cost of European hotels and the hassles of moving from place-to-place) but less suited for those seeking a traditional cruise experience.

[Muster Station]

Getting off the ground can be a little tough sometimes.:)

[1cruiselvr]

I agree that the itineraries for Journey/Quest are very port intenstive so not much time will be spent onboard. Thus not alot of activities are needed to keep pax entertained. From reading all the posts on this MB, i can tell that alot of folks are expecting a large ship experience onboard a small ship. That won't happen and it's not what a small ship experience is about. For those considering Journey or Quest in the future,don't make the decision on price and itinerary alone, be sure a small ship is the right fit for you. Otherwise, you may be disappointed in your vacation. A small ship cruise is very different than one onboard a large ship. Happy Sailing!

[rebeccalouise]

Yes they are trying to be like Oceania.

Oceania has lots of things to do if you want to do them ..not just bridge & trivia.

They are very port intensive.

We are in our 50's and it never felt like a retirement home to me!!

 

You can be as active or relax ..it is your choice.

 

Don't get me wrong- you can read my review of the Regatta under "Reviews". I gave it 5 stars. I had a great experience on board and my family loved it. However, it was a free cruise for me- so why wouldn't I love it! For my money, there is just more to do on Celebrity and especially for a Transatlantic with long sea days- there is no way I would do Journey or any of her sisters. I still like the afternoon steal drum bands. I have a child and actually enjoy seeing younger passengers (not 500 but some).

 

But the older people in my group absolutely LOVED Oceania. My sister (46) and I (42) probably wouldn't pay the high price when we have as much fun on Celebrity (maybe a little more fun). But the food and service and the afternoon tea on Oceania were unparralleled!

[stew949]

My wife and I traveled on Oceania last year for our honeymoon. We had been on Princess, Celebrity, Holland, and Carnival - Oceania was by FAR the best cruise we ever had.

 

We are old souls, so perhaps that is why we liked it so much. We both felt that the Oceania prices were a steal for what we were getting. The beds were the best ever, as was the afternoon tea (a BIG hit with the wife and I). The food was better than any other cruise we had been on before.

 

So, with that said, I see a Azamara cruise leaving in December and I'm thinking about booking it. I'm a little worried the Quest won't be quite ready in December, but the wife thinks it is worth the risk. If Azamara is modeling itself after Oceania, then I'm very interested. The only reason I won't be taking an Oceania cruise during December is because the dates aren't working for us. Hopefully Azamara can hold up to Celebrity.

 

We value no lines, less crowds, NO KIDS, good food, nice beds and nice furniture, and great itineraries - Oceania delivered that for us. I haven't completely decided to book the Quest, so I'll keep reading feedback on this message board. Any insights about Azamara would be appreciated...

 

Almost forgot - has anyone stayed in the veranda cabins on these boats? Is sunset or regular veranda better? thanks