Leaving on July 7

[cruisingdelt]

My family and I are sailing on July 7. We all love cruising and will have a great time. These message boards have always served us well. The following is a compilation of items, with the names of the contributors, we will use on this cruise. I will return the favor and post a review upon our return. The next two days at work will be tough!

 

Azamara Journey

It was often too cold in the common areas on the ship and I was glad we brought sweaters-dickensthedog

Cova Cafe has delicious tea sandwiches, scones, and all manner of pastries out for everyone from 4p to 1am. It's a busy spot after 10p. No charge, no limit, and constantly replaced so it's fresh-wheeler63

Grill is on Deck 9 port side. Hot dogs, burgers, fries, and usually at least something else - from 11 -4.

Pizza in Widows Cafe/Breeza Deck 9-wheeler63

Dining

Dinner is served from 6PM to 9:30PM.

In my experience, you were generally able to get seated quickly as a party of 2-4 any time before 7PM. If you got there around 7:15 PM, there could be up to a 45 minute wait. It seems to open up again after 8PM.

We were seated immediately at a table for two (at our request) in every case but one when we were asked to come back in 1/2 hour-dickensthedog

Open seating is not great, but we found a wonderful table the second night and were able to request it (with success) each night. Super waiter and asst-waiter. (Ask for Vernon and Leandros)-kelmac

We ate at both Aqualina and Prime C. We enjoyed both, but preferred Aqualina. The foie gras appetizer at Aqualina was stellar and the steak fries at Prime C were addictive-dickensthedog

Aqualina -

Standard menu (four courses) - $20.00

"Tastings" menu (seven courses) - $30.00

"Tastings" menu with wine pairings - $60.00

 

Prime C

Standard menu - $25.00

 

For Aqualina, in order to partake in the "Tastings" menu, all individuals at the table will have to order the "Tastings" menu.

 

The complimentary dining applies to the "Standard Menu" only, and not to the "Tastings" menu.

 

Upgrading to the "Tastings" menu for an additional fee will not be permitted during the complimentary night of dining

Have a wonderful cruise, and if I could put my two cents in, ask for EDWIN in the main dining room (Discoveries). He is a lovely person and his attention to detail was fantastic - please tell him "Miss Melinda and Mr. Frank" send their love!-Melady

From Spengle (Shelia)

Restaurant descriptions …..All restaurants are quite attractive. Aqualina is, as you might imagine, light with sea colors and Prime C has lots of dark wood. Seating is good – lots of windows and not crowded. Discoveries – the main restaurant/dining room – is attractive with tables quite close together. Suggest you ask for a table of size you wish in the back section (right side is a bit quieter) and chose an early or late time. Most crowded during the 7:15-8:15 hour with waits of 30-45 minutes which makes the Martini Bar crowded and noisy . We found having Martinis in the 10th deck Looking Glass Lounge each evening was quiet with lovely views and a wonderful bartender (Marco from north of Dubrovnik).

Having just returned, I have a few suggestions. It's easier to be seated in a reasonable amount of time if you go early (between 6:30 and 7) or late (8:30). If you wish to eat between 7:30 and 8, there will likely be a 30 minute wait - good for a drink before dinner, just remember to put your name on list promptly 1/2 hour before you wish to eat. If you are served by a waiter whose service and personality you like, ask to be seated at his table when you arrive at the dining room. We found one (recommended by a friend from our Roll Call) on the 3rd day and ate at his table every meal in the dining room thereafter. The maitre d' recognized us and, most nights, automatically seated us at his table. We tipped him extra at the end of the trip (something that is not happening often when changing waiters each time). Hope this helps in your planning.

From lisiamc (Lisa)

Our other concern was that we like having the same waiter and assistant waiter every night, so that we all get to know each other, and they get to know our preferences. We found a waiter we really liked, and had no problem with our request to eat in Brian’s section every night.

The buffet offered a nice selection of food for lunch (we never ate there for breakfast or dinner.) The layout is slightly awkward, but there seems to be plans to improve things in the future. They did offer sushi every night, the same types we’ve had on Summit in the past. Very tasty!

On our Summit cruises, we have been great fans of the Martini Bar. So we were disappointed to find that the Martini Bar on Journey had rather gloomy décor, and was basically a holding room for those waiting to be seated for dinner. We found the atmosphere we were looking for in the Looking Glass, Deck 10 forward. This is also the disco later at night, but it makes a nice place to go for pre-dinner drinks, and Alex, the cocktail waiter, is very entertaining.

 

We liked the Cova Café for post-dinner music. In the daytime, it is full of people reading, knitting, and occasionally napping. There is a shortage of quiet places to go in the daytime, especially if there is an activity in the Looking Glass.

There were only a few evenings where the shows were offered at two times, so unless you eat early, you will miss most of the shows. We did see the comedian, who was great.

Soda Sticker

From miamigirl814

When we bought the stickers, we were told that they didn't have the tall coke cups and did we still want to do it. I didn't ask if they won't ever have the cups, or if that was just on the sailing we were on. So, anywhere I went to get a soda, they poured out the can, and gave it to us in the cup/glass with ice.

 

They did not charge a gratuity each time... I should have been more clear. When we bought the sticker, our card was charged $35, plus 15%. Then, each time we got one, they asked to see our sticker, but that was it.

 

In general, we actually found it difficult to get sodas sometimes. In the dining room, the sommelier wouldn't get it for us, and it was usually hard to find a bar server that we could ask. There was no bar area open in the lunch buffet area, so we had to walk out to the pool bar and then back to the buffet to get soda.

 

Also, it took a lot of tries asking for the sticker before we got it. They kept sending us to different places. We were finally successful in the Martini Bar outside the main dining room. He had a whole drawer full of rolls, so you should start there first.

[mringenoldus]

This was a great idea to summarize the feedback from CC posters.

 

I know it will help me when we leave in October. (just made the final payment!)

 

Have a great time!!