Trip Report Azamara Journey 04/25-05/03

[jenhem]

Well, I've unpacked and put the suitcase away for now :( but I wanted to share my thoughts and impressions of the Journey Mediterranean cruise 04/25. As a qualifier, I have also sailed on RCCL and Celebrity, this was my first time on Azamara. I chose this cruise for the ports, and I was not disappointed! We had a great time.

Embarcation: It was fast, but no one took my luggage! It was frustrating, and for some reason, some of us were left to drag it along on board. The very nice drummer from the band was boarding in front of me, and carried it up the gangplank for me. Thankfully, it did not set the tone for the rest of the trip!

Staff: The staff went out ouf their way to accomodate, problem solve, and were overall genuinely friendly and welcoming. When the bridge tour was cancelled on our day at sea because of bad weather, the guest relations person sought us out and offered a tour of the engine room instead. Our butler, Mevin, was great! Staff was energetic and seemed to really like their jobs.

Cruise Critic Party: was held shortly after muster in the Looking Glass bar. It was hosted by the Cruise Director, Hotel Manager, and some of the other staff were present. It was great to put faces to screen names and meet everyone! Hot hors d'oeuvres and a (blush champagne? sparkling wine? can't remember) was circulationg for the duration of the get together.

Speciality Dining: all I can say is if you are Captain's Club members, make your reservations now. I did not pre-book reservations, and we were unable to secure any reservations for either restaurant for the duration of the trip. We tried right after the muster drill on the first day, and periodically throughout the trip. Oh, well, I heard it was good!

Food: I found the food to be good, but nothing special. The presentation was nice, I enjoyed using room service for breakfasts occasionally, and liked the afternoon savories. We divided our time equally between the Discoveries dining room and the buffet. We also tried the pool grill, and had room service for dinner one night. I think they try hard, but especially in the Discoveries restaurant it was hit or miss. I had an omelette one morning that was not cooked through (actually runny in spots), and a fish dish one evening that was so dry it was inedible. I also had terrific beef one evening, and loved their french onion soup! You have the choice in the dining room of eating with others, or alone. It was fun to share a table and meet different people every evening, but even if you chose to dine alone, your table is a mere 2 feet from the next set of diners!

Activities: We went to some of the shows, and some of the afternoon activities that were usually around the Cova Cafe. The evening shows were well done, mostly musicals. I was hoping for more comedy, but the ass't cruise director was a great magician!

The Ship: The ship itself was kept immaculate, no worn out areas noted, and it was pretty without being overdone. I liked the size, and for the most part sailing was smooth, even in some high seas. Except for our day at sea, it was 60mph winds and high seas for a good part of the day. I was queasy, but did not get sick. Many did, including our butler! The staff was great about it though, coming on the PA system to let us know when the Captain thought the weather would calm down, and offering ginger, apples (that's a new one for me!) and of course, meds, for anyone who needed it.

Rooms: Our room was 8016, under the pool deck. It was quiet, and I loved the verandah. I agree with everyone else, bring your own alarm clock, I couldn't figure out how to set the alarm on that room clock,either! The electrical outlets were at the desk, and one on the ice bucket shelf.

Excursions: We only did one ship sponsered shore excursion, in Split, the Off Roading Land Rover Safari "adventure". I was not impressed, if fact I thought it was downright dangerous. I did let Azamara know my concerns, I realze they have no control over independent tours, but they do contract with them to provide the experience. Many of the shore excursions sold out early in the cruise, something to keep in mind.

Overall impressions: I throughly enjoyed this cruise, the ports were wonderful, I loved, loved, loved, Montenegro! We had a great time on the Amalfi Coast with Merlot101 (Carmen and Mike) but then we never saw them again, so strange! But would I cruise Azamara again? Hard to say.

I feel I had a comparable experience on Celebrity, if not maybe a smidgen better on Celebrity. I think if Azamara is going to try to fill a niche market of "deluxe cruising", as I understand it, a higher end from Celebrity, but not quite "Luxury Cruising" of say Seabourn, then I don't think they hit the mark. This is a small ship, they should have cooking for 600 down so it doesn't seem mass produced or inconsistent. They push the specialty restaurants, even on the ship, when mathematically it is probably impossible to cycle everyone through when the ship is full. We found that out! Little things, too, like the shore excursion desk not opening until 8 am when most excursions leave at 7:45am. Frustrating if you have a question or change a plan. Or the wierd luggage thing at embarcation. Someone should have taken my bags. Overall, there were little examples like this, not enough to ruin a trip by any means, but when examining if Azamara is worth the extra money for their "deluxe" brand, I think they are trying, but I don't think they are there yet. I understand all boats/trips have glitches, and nothing is perfect, and again, overall, we had a great trip. If I choose Azamara again, it will be for the ports, not for the ship experience.

Jenny

[Paulchili]

jenhem,

Thank you for a very balanced review. It is this type of report I find most helful as it is unbiased. I am planning our first Azamara cruise next year b/o of the itinerary (after 4 Oceanias, and many others) and it helps me to set my expectations at the right level.

Thanks.

[world~citizen]

Thanks for the great review.

 

I am surprised you couldn't get into specialty dining. I think that is just plain not right.

 

I am happy to hear about Montenegro. They got their act together very quickly.

 

Glad you are home safely.

[susiesan]

We were on this sailing with Jenny, as well as the next week, as back-to-backs. Hi Girls!

 

We dragged our own luggage on board at embarkation Civitavechia too but didn't mind as we didn't have to wait for it to get unpacked. We also could not figure out the alarm clock in our room but had brought our own. So no problems there.

 

We did no ship excursions the whole two weeks and never do because they are always overpriced and discouraging. I made arrangements with private tours or rented cars and hooked up with other people we met here on CC to go with. Everything worked out perfect.

 

People were bringing all sorts of wine and liquor onboard at every stop and security didn't say a thing to anyone that I saw or heard about. Europe is a good place to sample the local wines and over these two weeks we stopped in 5 countries so there was a lot of variety.

 

The second week's cruise, two times dinner reservations for Prime C and Aqualina showed up on our door. We didn't make them and the butler says he didn't. Of course, we used them. I had made reservations through CC before sailing so over the 2 weeks we dines in the specialty restaurants 4 times. Friends we met onboard had some trouble getting reservations and they talked to Philip the hotel manager and he got them in.

 

This was my second time on Azamara, last time on Quest, March 1 2008 Panama Canal. I thought it was better than last year. The staff and crew were even friendlier, the food just as good, and the ports were wonderful. Only 2 sea days over 14, which is what I want in a European cruise.

 

I'll write more about doing back-to-backs when I unpack and get over jet lag.

 

Paulchili: I also have sailed O and after this second AZ cruise, I'm a convert. You will enjoy it.

 

Susie

[wripro]

Doesn't Azamara guarantee at least one reservation in each specialty restaurant per cabin?

[world~citizen]

We were on this sailing with Jenny, as well as the next week, as back-to-backs. Hi Girls!

 

We dragged our own luggage on board at embarkation Civitavechia too but didn't mind as we didn't have to wait for it to get unpacked. We also could not figure out the alarm clock in our room but had brought our own. So no problems there.

 

We did no ship excursions the whole two weeks and never do because they are always overpriced and discouraging. I made arrangements with private tours or rented cars and hooked up with other people we met here on CC to go with. Everything worked out perfect.

 

People were bringing all sorts of wine and liquor onboard at every stop and security didn't say a thing to anyone that I saw or heard about. Europe is a good place to sample the local wines and over these two weeks we stopped in 5 countries so there was a lot of variety.

 

The second week's cruise, two times dinner reservations for Prime C and Aqualina showed up on our door. We didn't make them and the butler says he didn't. Of course, we used them. I had made reservations through CC before sailing so over the 2 weeks we dines in the specialty restaurants 4 times. Friends we met onboard had some trouble getting reservations and they talked to Philip the hotel manager and he got them in.

 

This was my second time on Azamara, last time on Quest, March 1 2008 Panama Canal. I thought it was better than last year. The staff and crew were even friendlier, the food just as good, and the ports were wonderful. Only 2 sea days over 14, which is what I want in a European cruise.

 

I'll write more about doing back-to-backs when I unpack and get over jet lag.

 

Paulchili: I also have sailed O and after this second AZ cruise, I'm a convert. You will enjoy it.

 

Susie

 

Wondered where you went.

 

I am looking forward to your review.

 

Smooth sailing...

[123dwj]

We have finally recovered from our trip, having stayed on in Italy 5 days post cruise. This was our very first cruise and here are our thoughts:

Embarkation: Quite simple. We taxied from our hotel in Rome to Termini and took the train to Civitacecchia. We've traveled extensively on European trains over the years and this was an easy trip. Once arriving in Civitacecchia it was a longer walk to the port shuttle than expected but not too bad. I wonder why they can't run the shuttle all the way to the train station? We walked on, got a glass of champagne, and were able to go directly to our stateroom. Our luggage was delivered within 30 minutes.

Stateroom: The room was nicely decorated, clean and had adequate room. Loved the verandah. We were on deck 8, right below the pool deck and never heard any noise from above (or below or beside for that matter). Our butler, Mevin, was wonderful from day 1. I don't believe we ever left or returned to our stateroom without him noticing that we were either leaving or returning and talking to us, always inquiring if we needed anything. He learned our habits quickly, and tried to make sure we were comfortable. The bath was small but worked out fine. The shower curtain was annoying as it stuck to you as you showered. We forgot to bring clothespins as someone had recommended and I would imagine that would help. The room had plenty of drawers, cabinets and closet space. The alarm clocks have got to go! A simple old fashioned one that you can actually see and figure out would work better! There was a hair dryer in the bath attached to the wall-but there was a better one in a cabinet near the room safe. The fridge is really small-understandable but challenging for a diabetic with medicine needing refrigeration.

Food: We have mixed feelings on the food. Service was outstanding. We ate in Aqualina once and Prime C once. We went immediately after boarding to get those reservations and could not even at that time get the days we really wanted. But at least we were able to get one night for each. Aqualina was quite good-but not outstanding. The seafood appetizer was very good. The lobster was mediocre. The seafood boullabaise was outstanding. Desserts were pretty good. Prime C beef was outstanding. Other times we generally ate in Discoveries at dinner. Meals there were good as well. The beef was very good. Truthfully, the food must not have been that great since I can't really recall everything I ate even after only a week! The gelato in the buffet was not that good. We ate in the buffet for breakfast a few days-nothing special. They had very good waffles, lousy coffee, and a pretty good variety of standard other things. We had trouble getting a seat at times in the buffet-sort of crowded. We enjoyed breakfast in Discoveries more-but it did take longer and not as much variety. We had room service one morning-that was very prompt and the food was good and hot. Most days we were gone from the ship at lunch but one day we did eat at the pool grill. Our impression there was not good at all. Hamburgers were nasty, as was the grilled chicken. Salad bar was okay. They had run out of glasses so we drank from coffee mugs. I noticed even after we had finished they had still not put more glasses out. The afternoon tea and savories in the late afternoon were enjoyable at first but got a bit repetitive. The tea was good but the treats were hit or miss. My husband and I both lost weight on this trip-a good thing, but sort of strange for a cruise vacation. We ate alot in the beginning but got bored with the food and then cut back and did not go crazy. We did do an immense amount of walking but overall, the food was not to die for by any means.

Entertainment: We went to a couple of the evening musicals. The first one was good. Next one, not impressed. Also went to a game show-that was sort of fun.

Excursions: The one excursion we had booked in advance was cancelled. So we booked another to replace it the night before. It happened to be the Offroading in Split. Our impressions of this were the same as above-quite dangerous to say the least. Also a bit corny. We probably would have enjoyed it more had it been a clearer day as I'm sure the views would have been incredible. We loved most of the ports visited. We arranged tours on our own, rented a car in Corfu, and just did our own thing.

Other: The size of the ship was fine. We will probably try a larger ship next time just to compare but in general it had everything we would need. I believe the two things Azamara seems to have going for them is their service and the itineraries they offer. We will most definitely cruise again. Will likely not use Azamara next time because we are planning Alaska next but would most certainly consider it again.

[jenhem]

Hi Susie; Don and Dawn, (and everyone else):

Glad you all made it home safely,and was nice to meet you all!

Wripro, world~citizen: we were suprised,too, that no specialty dining was available, they assured us that no one was receiving more than their 2 reservations (or 3 for a suite). We spoke with many people who said they couldn't get reservations, either. The Azamara brochure states "Guests who have booked a stateroom will receive two nights of complimentary specialty dining, and guests staying in a suite will receive three nights of complimentary specialty dining. " However, obviously they cannot guarantee that if the boat is full. I think it would almost make more sense to assign at least one dinner when the boat is full so that everyone at least has a fair chance, and then take reservations for the second (and third) meal. Honestly, there was enough choices and variety on the ship, it really didn't matter. It was more the principal of the thing .

123dwj, I thought the same thing about Mevin! I almost wondered if there was a camera somewhere he was watching, because you could not go into the hallway without him magically appearing! I found myself nodding along to your review, very similiar thoughts to our experience!

Jenny

[tawcat]

Sounds like despite the few glitches you all had a good time.

 

We are booked on the Journey for a Fenruary sailing to the Eastern Caribbean. I didn't quite understand the statement about "dragging" luggage aboard. Don't you drop your luggage with a porter and the luggage gets delivered to your cabin like on other cruiselines?

 

I too was under the impression that we get a reservation in each of specialty restaurants, is this not the case? How far out can we make the online reservations?

 

Other than this, I'm guessing ya'll enjoyed the cruise and the ship.

[archangelblue]

Hi

 

We were also on the 25th April sailing. Interestingly we would have quite happily carried our luggage on, but my husband got called back as we were entering the building to check in and had to put it with the bags to be loaded.

 

We were lucky and managed to reserve both of the speciality restaurants, we reserved after dinner on the first night, but had to dine at 9.30 on one of the evenings, which is late even for us.

 

We thought the food was better than we had had on Celebrity last October, we had some lovely Tuna in the main dinning room on the sea day at lunch time.

 

Susiesan - Hope you had some competition at the afternoon pub quizzes on the 2nd week:)

[jenhem]

Tawcat, yes, we dragged our own luggage to our room from the shuttle. I tried to give it away, everyone- shuttle guy, check-in staff, dock staff, said to take the luggage with me. Seemed wierd to me, but I did it. I never saw the porter, believe me I would have gladly given up my bags! This didn't seem to happen to everyone, but did to a few of us.

And, yes, you need to make your own reservations for the specialty restaurants. It obviously wasn't a guarantee on this sailing. If you are a Captain's Club member, you can pre book from home, check the boards, I can't remember how far out it is. I did enjoy the cruise, and the ship. The positives outweighed the negatives!

Jenny

[Maine Coon]

We were on the same cruise, my impressions (trying to be brief):

 

Embarcation: Fast and smooth.

Staff: The staff was very nice and did their best.

Cruise Critic Party: nice and short :D

Speciality Dining: Don't know. We didn't even try to make a reservation, I had a feeling it would be next to impossible to get one. Besides, I'veheard it is not that great.

Food: I found the food on Journey nothing to write home about compared with other lines.

It was good, but not outstanding.

Pool Grill was good. But it was the only spot. Other lines usually have several food spots. If one would want to eat something after 10PM, s/he would be SOL.

The Ship: The ship was nice, although a bit small by my choice. It had pluses (no lines) and minuses (not too many interesting spots).

Rooms: Our room was 8001, under the gym. It was quite noisy during the gym open hours. Room itself was nice, and verandah was very nice.

Ports of Call: Excellent. Didn't care for Split, everything else was marvelous.

Excursions: No ship-sponsored excursions for us, although we explored every port of call to the best of our abilities.

 

Overall impressions: Quoting Jenny: "would I cruise Azamara again? Hard to say.I feel I had a comparable experience on Celebrity, if not maybe a smidgen better on Celebrity." My thoughts exactly.

So, was it a luxury cruise? My answer is no. (Keep in mind I might not understand what luxury cruise should be. You might feel differently).

 

Yet it was a great cruise, one of my cruises to remember. Pre-cruise stay in Rome and post-cruise stay in Venice made this trip magnificient.

[Sparkle 123]

Hi all

Glad to see everyone got home safely.

We had a wonderful time on the Journey 25th April cruise. It was our first experience of Azamara having mainly cruised numerous times with Celebrity/RCI.

We enjoyed all of our dining on the ship. The only area that didn't quite live up to our expectations was Aqualina. We enjoyed the food but were not wowed by the service or ambiance. We made one reservation via capt club and another as soon as we got on board so I am basing my opinion on 2 meals there. It just felt like an alternative dining venue rather than anything exceptional and not in the same league as Muranos or the Olympic. That was are only minor gripe though and we would definitely cruise again with Azamara in the future.

Really enjoyed meeting all of you at the Cruise critic party.

We watched the ship sail out of Venice (see attached photo) from the rooftop of the Hilton hotel and I could hear them playing "Time to say goodbye" on the deck. I felt quite emotional, wished I was back on there!!

[susiesan]

Hi Lisa,

I love your photo. Our sailaway from Venice was also a 2 year anniversary party AZ had for us all. We were sipping champagne as we sailed by you. That song was very appropriate for the moment. I'm surprised you could hear it from the hotel.

 

Susie

[susiesan]

Hi

 

 

Susiesan - Hope you had some competition at the afternoon pub quizzes on the 2nd week:)

 

Yes, there was plenty of heated competition during the quizzes. The evening "name that tune" one got quite spirited as did "battle of the sexes". We won even more lovely parting gifts from Azamara. In fact, we gave most back. How many luggage tags and pens do you need??

 

Susie

[girlofthewest]

We were on the Journey the previous 10 days before your cruise and we had trouble booking our two nights in the specialty restaurants. As it was part of our cruise package, I found it to be unfair that we couldn't get in when we wanted and then to have many seats unfilled. We never even got to get to the Prime C as they finally got us booked on the last night and something came up that prevented us from getting there. I would have liked to make the reservations before we left.