Azamara Journey Reviews

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Just completed an 11 night cruise on Azamara Club Cruises Journey from New York to Rouen France. It was a very enjoyable transatlantic crossing where I met many very nice people, both passengers and staff. It was my first time with Azamara. Ship: Journey is a very nice ship that provides an intimate environment for cruising. When I'm on a ship, I am there to enjoy the sea so loved many of the rooms that gave nice views, especially the sunset Bar, the Looking Glass Lounge, and Discoveries Dining Room with windows in three directions. I hadn't been on a small ship before and certainly enjoyed the ease of getting around and the nice flow. The pool area is very nice and sheltered from the wind. We had great weather for a crossing and I managed to spend many hours outside, in the sun deck on deck 11. It was very quiet which was perfect for getting some sun and reading. I enjoy exercising daily so took advantage of the running track as well as the fitness center. The running track is short so it's really best suited for walking. The ship doesn't have a promenade deck which was unfortunate. The fitness center is very nice with great views of the ocean. I never found it crowded. The ship was full but only felt crowded to me at breakfast and lunch in the Windows cafe, but never enough to cause any kind of waiting. The staff did a great job of assisting people with food, or helping them find a table. We had some rough weather for a day. The ship performed well but it did have more movement than I expected on the smooth days. I guess that comes with a smaller ship. But thanks to the Captain and crew who took a longer, and more expensive route, to avoid the bad weather. It was greatly appreciated! Stateroom. I had a cabin with a balcony, midships on deck 6. The room was small but comfortable with a decent TV on the wall. The bathroom was quite small and a bit dated but worked out fine. The bed was a little uncomfortable, probably time to replace it. The bed linens were fantastic which made it more comfortable. The room was well taken care of the steward and his team who kept the room stocked with bottled water, ice and soft drinks. The balcony was nice and with the weather I was able to sit out several times on the trip. One word about this room: It is above the piano that is played in the Mosaic Lounge through the day and in the evening. It's not loud but the speakers are in the ceiling so you will hear it. If you go to bed early, as I tried to one or two nights, it could keep you awake. My mistake, I knew better and should have booked a room with staterooms above and below. Food: Excellent! I loved every meal I had. Ate all but one dinner in Discoveries. It was so good I didn't have a need to go elsewhere. I found the menu varied and still, once I asked for a change to the pasta dish and they did it no questions asked. Food was always served hot which some larger ships don't seem able to do. It also helps to have wine included with lunch and dinner. I found the wines to be better than expected. They change them daily keeping it interesting. I always had their wine with dinner. Also ate one meal in Prime C. It too was very good and I'm glad I tried it. Try the Stilton Bread souffle as a side dish: wow! The casual atmosphere for dining was fine, though I do like to dress up for dinner from time to time. And the discoveries restaurant has a more formal feel to me with the wood walls, it would have been nice to be formal for a night. Most people I talked to greatly preferred the casual dress code. Bars: Enjoyed the Sunset bar outside and the Discoveries lounge. Nice location and nicer staff. Activities: Lots to do, but not really to my liking. I found there were a lot of games, trivia etc., which I don't play. In fact, I found they would play these games, or have events in all the rooms, making it difficult to find a quiet place, say in the afternoon, to sit and read. This was one of the negatives for me. Eg. I would have a wonderful spot in the Looking Glass lounge reading and watching for dolphins only to have games or talks take place. There were even talks/meetings in the library from time to time. I did like Tony the cruise director. He was friendly and very approachable. He hosted a dinner for solo travelers which I attended and had a great time. It was nice of him and Azamara to do that. Entertainment: I really liked the comedian and magician. Some of the shows were average but I think that's what you get on cruise ships. I found the ship musicians average at best. Lectures: didn't find the topics interesting but I did attend some, though I didn't enjoy them very much. Passengers: on this cruise they were definitely a well-traveled, friendly crowd. I met many nice people and it truly makes a difference when you enjoy the people you are on board with for 10 days! Staff: Fantastic. Professional but also approachable. I do think they enjoy what they do for the most part. In summary: the big pluses for me with Azamara are: - Extras that are included: wine with meals, specialty coffees, water etc. - Food was excellent - Wonderful service everywhere, all the time. - Seems to attract friendly, well traveled, adult passengers. - Azamara really listens to passengers. I met people that had asked for some changes/additions to the daily program and they were made. Only negatives for me: - Noise in my stateroom from the Mosaic musicians (I should have known better, my fault on that) - Enrichment and music on board could be better - Too many activities crowding into rooms that would otherwise be great to sit and read.

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We are grreat fans of TA cruises and, having attained Captain's Club top level on Celebrity, this was a natural for us. Check-in in N.Y.C. was an absolute breeze, we arrived at the pier, extremely conveniently located in mid-town Manhattan around 3:30, found noone ahead of us in line, and were aboard within ten minutes and were directed to the Windows Cafe, glass of Champagne in hand, for a late lunch. By the time we went to our cabin our luggage was waiting for us. Our cabin, 8040, although designated a suite, was not really that, as sleeping and living areas were not separated. But it was wider, by three feet or so, than a standard cabin, and the extra room made it much eas ier for the two of us to move around simultaneously. The balcony was also that much longer, which provided room for a lounger, two chairs and a table; unfortunately the weather was never quite mild enough for us to sit outside. The bathroom was of adequate size, had both a tub and a shower, and more than sufficiennt storage space. Storage space in the cabin was ample, our three suitcases all fitted under the bed. Our two cabin attendants were oustanding, giving the room thorough cleanings twice a day. After the first day they had learned our movements so that they were never in the way when we wanted to use the room. Our butler, Sanjiv, was absolutely first rate. He made our reservations in the specialty restaurants for us, brought us breakfast in the cabin on the minute on the days we had it there, and served it with considerable grace, kept our refrigerator stocked with the items we requested on the first day, and always had a snack waiting for us in the late afternoon when we'd return to the cabin. The food: We ate dinner in the Main Dining Room twice, found the choice of dished adequate, the food quite good but certainly nothing to rave about. The breakfasts there offered a wide choice but took rather too long to serve, so that we mostly breakfasted in the Windows cafe which offered a similar choice of dishes along with waiters to carry older passengers' (a category that included me) plates to their tables. The only problem was that, at peak hours (at lunch as well), there weren't enough tables to go around. Not really a problem as, without exception, seated guests were only too happy to share their tables when we asked if we might join them. The lunch buffet at Windows was hit and misss. The cold cuts were always inadequate, the hot dishes were mostly good, but not always, the offerings of the carvery varied in quality, the ice cream was very good indeed. We had the themed dinners at windows on two evenings, when the tables are covered with white linen. The Indian evevning was a big success, the French not so much. The pool lunches, on the occasions when we craved a simpler fare, were very good, with excellent hamburgers, fries and a choice of beef, lamb and chicken kebabs and nice, crisp fries. But by far the best food was to be had in the specialty restaurants where, as suite pessengers, we could eat as often as we liked at no additional charge. Prime C was excellent, with a superb fillet of beef, a lovely saddle of lamb and, since perfection is hard to achieve, a beautiful veal chop which was, however, a bit stringy and certainly badly oversalted. I can offer nothing but raves about Aqualina. Particularly memorable were two different pate de foie gras versions as starters, a splendid osso bucco and a marvelously tender broiled lobster. As for the free house wines (one had a choice of a different red or white each day both at lunch and at dinner at all the venues) they went from barely acceptable to pretty good. (Why, by the way, free wine and not free beer? And I would add that the same wines served in the bars at non-meal times were going for truly ridiculous prices, $11 for a glass of garden variety Pinot Grigio?)) In the specialty restaurants we chose to order from the wine list, it was possible to find good reds and whites for around $30, although only a few. I should mention that we were presented with four half bottles of assorted spirits (which we chose to exchange for four half bottles of a very good Scotch) in our suite, along with two bottles of bubbly and a bottle of wine. We were never in imminent danger of dying of thirst. The free specialty coffees and pastries, available at Mosaics Cafe at all hours, were excellent as well. As our Celebrity Elite Status translated into Le Club Voyage membership we enjoyed a number of additional percs. These included a more than generous free internet allotment a bag of laundry done free and one garment dry cleaned free. Additionally, there were four cocktail hours fo club members, with any drinks you wanted offered free a volonte, and two evenings of "happy hours" with drinks available at half price. The quality of the service throughout was extremely friendly and genuinely helpful. The one exception was a server who refused to honor our Club status at one of the happy hours and was overbearing and deliberately unhelpful in addition. After I reported the incident to the Customer Relations desk I was sought out by no less than three ship's officers who offered their profuse apologies and assured me that they would make it their personal responsibility to see to it that such an incident would not happen again. Apart from this very minor occurrence we had only the most pleasant of interchanges with the personnel aboard and found all the ship's officers, from the Captain on down, to be most friendly and approachable. On the one day that there were rough seas the captain changed course and reduced speed to minimize the discomfort caused to his passengers. The down side of this was that this cost him several hours and that he consequently missed the tide at Honfleur, causing the excursions from Rouen to be scrubbed, but from all I heard, most people were quite happy having been spared a day of utter misery, and from our perspective, it was a real bonus to be able to make the beautiful passage up the Seine in daylight rather than in the night. The quality of the entertainment, especially considering the size of the vessel, was excellent throughout. On the first evening a string quartet from the Julliard Music School, performed and this proved to be a special treat. Eliot Finkel was marvelous, both in his incarnation as presiding musician of the ship's orchestra and in his two classical piano recitals, both of which were truly delightful. How heartening that a cruise line can make the assumption that its guests are not necessarily musical illiterates, to be fobbed off with only the most glaring of schmaltz.The dance company proved to be very good indeed, we much enjoyed that evening. Nancy greatly enjoyed the dance lessons offered most days. Several passengers put together a series of question and answer sessions for the benefit of passengers not feeling entirely comfortable in the use of the French language once ashore and I had the impression that these were well received--they were certainly well attended. Azamara graciously not merely assigned a daily time in the observation lounge for this purpose but also publicized the sessions in the daily newspaper. Even though there were no port stops and that consequently this was not cruising in the generally understood meaning of the word, we were both delighted with our experience and enjoyed it as an extremely pleasant Atlantic crossing. In our opinion Azamara has come up with a most useful and pleasing formula.

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Our cruise was to begin on the 30th of March. We, as always, traveled to Puerto Rico a few days earlier and spent three days at the St Regis resort in the Rio Grande area of PR. I wanted to play a few rounds of golf before the cruise. I was able to get in one round and then the skies opened up for 2 and 1/2 days. Very unusual for this time of year. Through the resort we had contracted with First Class Limo service. So we went shopping on the wet days. They also had taken us from the airport to the resort and from the resort to the ship. We had originally taken a Club Continent Suite. We were pleasantly surprised to be upgraded to an Ocean Suite. It was a beautiful space with a lot of room. The bathroom had a Jacuzzi tub and shower. Plenty of storage space. Our butler was very helpful and made sure we wanted for nothing. We had a very functional veranda. A table with 4 chairs where we had breakfast each morning and canapes and drinks each afternoon. We also had two chaise lounges with thick padding, covered with clean towels each day. The living room had a 52" Samsung TV. Great for watching the Masters. You literally had to find a reason to leave the room. We ate in the specialty restaurants each night, except for two. One was special dinner with the captain and some of his staff in the drawing room one evening. The dinner was called the best of the best and it was. The other was one night we wanted to try Discoveries, the main restaurant. My wife and I very rarely eat in the main restaurants on ships, and this was the same. It was noisy and the food was okay, not special. We liked Prime C the best. We are partial to Steak Restaurants. The shows were okay. Typical for a ship, however Hal Frazier was the exception. What a voice. I am a cigar smoker and found the area near the pool adequate for smoking and having an afternoon cocktail. My wife and didn't do any tours, preferring to go on our own for lunch and shopping. I did arrange for golf in St Thomas and in Bermuda. The concierge was very helpful in Bermuda. My wife and I loved the special attention we received on the ship from everyone and I think we will be hard pressed to find another ship as warm and a crew as nice as the people on the Azamara..

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I was convinced to take a cruise on the Azamara Journey in March this year to the Caribbean. Having only been on two previous cruises, both larger ships, Adventurer of the Seas and Granduer of the Seas. I was slightly apprehensive as to the stability of the smaller ship as I get sea sick. I say smaller ship, that is a bit tongue in cheek as the Azamara is not a small ship. It turned out that on the first night at dinner a did feel a bit queazy but on a vista to the fist aid on board I was given some pills, very reasonably priced at $3.00 and one around 5 pm did the trick and they weren't needed the rest of the trip. The on board level of comfort and cleanliness is next to perfect and there were portable hand wash machines everywhere. I also noticed the level of hygiene was very good at the serving areas. Although, watch out for your follow passengers as I did witness a guest poke around the cold section at breakfast with their fingers. I did mention it to a member of staff who, to their credit, did follow it through with the passenger. 10 out of 10 there. The quality of food was 8 out of 10 in the buffet, I would recommend when you want eggs to go to the omelette bar and have the made to your own preference. The staff are constantly on hand to take over and bring your food and drinks to you at the table and forever friendly. I did find it difficult to get a aft terrace seat at the busy times but if you are a late breakfaster you should have no trouble, but don't leave it too late or you will miss a hot breakfast. The table are well looked after but don't leave half glasses of drinks for too long as they will be cleared away as the staff are very attentive. The entertainment is fine for a smaller ship but only 7 out of 10. Don't sit too close to the entertainer if you are a little reserved as all the entertainers whilst I was on board did like audience participation. On all parts of the ship there was lots of room with exception to dinning at the peak times.

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We booked the Azamara package so our flights were organised for us. It was a long journey to San Juan from the UK, made worse by a 6 hour stop over in Atlanta. If we cruise from San Juan again, we would consider stopping over after the first flight and taking the second flight the next day. The Conrad Hilton in San Juan was lovely - Azamara chose well and everything about it was excellent. Transfer to the ship and embarkation was also very well organised. Our room was ready quickly and was immaculate. It was kept this way throughout by Mannish and Ever. From the moment we joined the ship we felt relaxed. Senior Officers and all staff were very friendly and welcoming. We were very impressed with staff at every level - nothing was too much trouble. Louise on Guest Relations is also a credit to Azamara and was always very helpful. Food was excellent everywhere on the ship. Room service was the best we have ever experienced and so too was the buffet in Windows. All credit to Heike and her team. Captain Jason must feel proud to lead such a wonderful team. Entertainment was fun - lots to do for those who wanted to join in. Tony worked hard and it showed. We liked the banter between him and Activities Manager Chris on the daily TV reports. The itinerary was special and didn't disappoint. Virgin Gorda, Bermuda and New York were the highlights for us. We didn't do any organised excursions but still managed to see everything that we wanted. The other thing that struck us was how friendly other guests were. We enjoyed making new friends and meeting many lovely people. This was our 10th cruise and so far has been our favourite. We will definitely cruise with Azamara again - you really do feel like part of an extended family.

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