Azamara Journey 5/2-5/9 Venice to Athens

[desert traveler]

Returned from our week cruise, recovering from jet lag but here are some thoughts: (this was our second Azamara cruise-previously on Quest -Panama Canal 2008)

Embarkation: So easy and smooth. We arrived a Piazza Roma and found a free shuttle bus that took us to the pier. We were directed to drop off our luggage and then reported upstairs for clearance. It was very smooth. Then we walked on board ship at 2pm and were greeted with glass of champagne.

Staff: Friendly and helpful from Captain on down to butler/room stewards. Everyone greeted you. We were fortunate to have John Howell for a cruise director-as he was the cruise director from our Panama Canal cruise. Just a really pleasant person who tries to please. I don't know where he gets all his energy! Captain Georgios Theodorou was very funny and always every present. When we told him we were going to Greece for the first time his eyes light up and he told us we would really enjoy his home.

Cruise Critic Party: This was the first night and was good-chance to meet other CC members-unfortunately we had to leave early for a dinner reservation.

Specialty Dining: We ate both in Aqualina and Prime C. We may reservations for 1 about 30-40 days prior to leaving. And we were part of another CC reservation the first night. Both dining experiences were very nice and the food was quite good. Since it was my birthday the night we were in Prime C they presented me with a wonderful choc cake--after we had already eaten our dessert--but we still ate some and took the rest back to our room for snack the rest of the trip. We met some others who were not able to get reservations in either of the restaurants so would recommend calling or emailing in advance.

Food: We found the food to be quite good. We ate breakfast in Windows most days and found the choice of food extensive. We ordered room service breakfast one day and it was quite nice. Our only comment is on the coffee--see later post. Dinner in Discoverys was ok--some really nice items and some just so so. The fish I had one night was overcooked. We ate lunch rarely as we were mostly in port-did have buffet for 1 lunch and a couple dinners which was ok. The Greek night buffet was pretty good.

Cova cafe made up for poor coffee in Windows.

We had afternoon savories but after a couple days we asked not to have them--we didn't care for them. One time we ordered just a cheese plate and that was quite nice to have with our wine in our room.

Activities/Entertainment: WE found some pluses and minuses with the entertainment. We really enjoyed Doug Cameron (electric jazz violinist)--we had seen him previously on a Celebrity cruise. The comedian who was on for 2 nights was not very good (can't remember his name) and we found is humor directed at Americans and there were quite a few non US cruisers on board.

Some of the other programs-Celebrity singers/dancers were the same program we saw on the Quest so we did not attend. Enjoyed very much the orchestra, Dan Hodge (piano) and Jacqueline Dolan (harp). We love to place trivia but with such a port intense cruise there wasn't much time-the few games we played were quite fun.

Stateroom: We had a balcony room on deck 7. It was quite nice. The towels are amazing and the Elemis products are a nice touch. The bed was comfortable with great sheets but the mattress sagged-still slept ok. Our room was provided with an umbrella which came in handy once.

Ports/Excursions: WE found the ports to be great as this was one of the reasons we chose this cruise. We did not do any of the ship sponsored excursions except for Athens so can't comment on them.

Koper, Slovenia we took a private tour with others CC members-went to Ljubljana and Lake Bled-it was nice to get out and see some of the rest of the countryside. We had a great tour and a wonderful lunch in Lake Bled. Great local wine. The downtown area of old Koper was quaint but I am glad we didn't spend our whole day there. It was nice and sunny and there were lots of people out by the sea.

Zadar: Again we toured with other CC members-went out to the countryside for wine tasting and had a wine pairing lunch in Sibenik(?) Again great tour and tour guide who was very informed. Saw lots of areas devasted by the Serbo/Croatian war.

Dubrovnik: we walked the wall and just toured around the old town. Enjoyed the amazing views from the wall and took way to many pictures!

Santorini: Since there were about 5 cruise ships in port it was very crowded. We rented a car with others and drove to Oia and enjoyed the views. Still lots of people/tourists.

Nauplion: rented car again with other CCers and drove out to ancient Mycenae. The drive was complemented by the orange groves fragrance from being in bloom. Drove also to Palamidi Fortress and had great views from up high. Then toured the local streets of the old town--very charming and one of our favorite stops.

Athens: ended at last minute taking ships city tour with hotel drop off. It was fine but as is typical with the ship's tour overpriced. It was convenient as we hadn't planned much for this portion of the trip but again would have been far less expensive to plan on own.

PLUS/MINUS Thoroughly enjoyed the size of the ship and attention to detail. Staff goes out of their way to be friendly and meet your needs. We appreciated the non smoking presence. The ship is not geared to families with children although there were several young children on board they were not all over the place. Enjoyed the choice of ports. This cruise line is one of our favorites.

Coffee: I guess we are coffee snobs (we roast our own beans) but it isn't that difficult to make good coffee. We found the automatic coffee machines --when they worked-- to produce either a liguid tea looking substance or a sludge. The other regular coffee machine was somewhat ok-so that is what we would try to get. When all else failed we would get a coffee in Cova Cafe which was quite good--but you had to pay for it but it was well worth it. The barista told us that the coffee in Cova is a different coffee then what is served in the restaurants.

Thoroughly enjoyed our trip and we are looking forward to sailing again on Azamara in the future.

[susiesan]

Ditto to everything Christy said. This goes for the prior week's cruise too which we were on.

 

Regarding the shows: I wrote on the comment card and mentioned to the entertainment staff about having the same production shows on 14 months later. We spoke to the performers too about this and they said it was frustrating for them too. They want new material!!

 

Regarding service from butlers: we asked ours to bring 2 wine glasses and a corkscrew the day we were opening a bottle we brought on board. Not only did he bring them and chill the wine in an ice bucket, he brought us a nice fruit and cheese plate to go with it. The he kept bringing us a sliced fruit plate every afternoon without being asked to. We were in cabin 8000, our butler was Mevin from Mauritius. I wanted to take him home with me!

 

As there were over 100 people on this sailing who had been on the week before, the staff went out of the way to thank us and welcome us as back to back pax. It made us feel very welcome. I'd do another back to back in a flash. The only downside with this was the Discoveries menus and buffet themes (except for Greek night) repeated from the week before. If AZ knows there is a sizeable number of back to backers, maybe they could treat them like a 14 day cruise and use a different menu for the second week. I know they have them onboard as the journey was going on to do longer cruises in a few weeks.

 

AZ is now officially my favorite cruiseline. Sorry O, I've defected.

[molfetta]

it is amazing how differently people rate this cruise line.for the life of me i cant see how people can call this their favorite cruise line unless money is the main priority.how can a cruise line have the same entertainment for 14 months?how can the food be so mediocre?how can the coffee be like mud?how can they call azamara a luxury cruise?

[karolm]

Regarding service from butlers: we asked ours to bring 2 wine glasses and a corkscrew the day we were opening a bottle we brought on board. Not only did he bring them and chill the wine in an ice bucket, he brought us a nice fruit and cheese plate to go with it. The he kept bringing us a sliced fruit plate every afternoon without being asked to. We were in cabin 8000, our butler was Mevin from Mauritius. I wanted to take him home with me!

 

We will be on the Journey May 23rd in cabin 8000. I hope we get Mevin.

Any problems or comments about 8000?

Thanks,

Carol

[First in Class]

Christy and Susie - Thanks for the review!

 

Carol - We'll also be on the May 23 sailing - see you onboard!

 

Dustin & Alicia

[Sparkle 123]

Susie

Glad you enjoyed the 2nd half of your back to back, wished we could have stayed on too!

We had Mevin as our butler too (8020). He was great, we also came back to our cabin one afternoon and found the lovely tropical fruit plate, it was a nice surprise.

I am now suffering from Butler withdrawal symptoms!;)

Lisa

[featherwatcher]

We were in 8024! Mevin was terrific. Promptly took care of a problem I had with one of the closet drawers. Always pleasant and helpful, but not intrusive.

 

Barb

[karolm]

:)When I see Mevin on Saturday May 23rd, I will tell him he is the talk of cruise critic. He has a reputation.

 

Thanks,

Carol

[uktog]

Hi did John Howell say when he is getting his next break as he seems to have been on board both Quest and Journey almost without a break since January - he must be exhausted

[acruisergirl]

Hi Susie and Christy,

 

Had a wonderful time on our cruise and private tours. Thanks again Susie for arranging the excursions. Arrived home last week and I am still recovering.

 

Another vote for Mevin. We were in cabin 8030, and I agree he was the best. He greeted you with that wonderful smile each day and could not do enough for us. With all these compliments maybe he should be "employee of the month".

 

Pat