steilkurve
June 10th, 2007, 07:48 AM
My parents just returned from Journey's June 2nd sailing. I thought I'd write on the observations they shared with us as they are not (yet anyway!) good with the board thing!
A few words on the cruisers, first! My parents have become regular cruisers after we reintroduced them to this type of vacation a few years ago (shouldn't it normally be the other way around?!!!). They had sailed Song of America years ago and were not thrilled by it. We much later took them along with us on Norwegian Sun and they fell in love with the big ship life and variety. They went on to sail with HAL, Princess but really got hooked on Celebrity.
Ok, Azamara now.
- Overall, they enjoyed their voyage and thought Azamara delivered a quality experience. They did not feel it was that big of an upgrade from Celebrity though. Sure there were a few added touches such as the flowers, fruits and canapes in the cabin, but no dramatic changes compared to Celebrity.
- There was no major work taking place on the ship and it seems most of the upgrade is over. They felt the ship had a nice, more upscale, subdued decor. They picked up some desgin flaws however. For example, there are apparently no washrooms near the main theater. One has to walk half way across the ship to find one. And I'll talk about the buffet later. Not a major problem, of course, but reminds us that Celebrity is dealing with a ship they didn't design from the ground up. Also, note that mini-bars were still not installed though, at least in their cabin.
- They were extremely pleased with the food, rating it between very good and excellent, in the main dining room as well as Aqualina. They consistently got a table for 2 in the main dining room, without waiting 3 nights out of 6. And when there was waiting, it was around 20 minutes which they spent at the nearby bar. They'd usually go around 7:30 pm.
They were disappointed with the buffet. Beyond how cramped that area is, they thought the food was average, and a step down from the Celebrity buffets. Not as much variety and food was sometines 'dried out'. Their conclusion was that the buffet's installations just weren't up to the standards required to deliver, minimally, Celebrity-level quality. That was exacerbated by the fact that the dining room was closed for lunch the four days they were in port. So options at lunch were limited.
- They really liked their cabin. They were in between two suites on deck six forward. Their balcony was larger and they had front view of the ship. Aside from a little noise from the show room below, they thought it was perfect. The beds, as reported by most, were extremely comfortable and, althought they said cabins didn't get a complete facelift, they did feel like the upgrade of the soft goods was noticeable and made for a fresh looking cabin.
- They thought the spa had some nice features such as the thalassotherapy-like tub, the variety of showers and the turskish bath. They felt the pool was small and it apparently made some loud noise for half the cruise. Water quality and temperature were fine, it just didn't make for a quiet swim.
- The service was impeccable across the board. Staff was corteous and did seem to try harder than on other ships they felt.
- They thought the entertainment was ok, nothing more, likely due to how the ship lacks, because of its size of course, a large theater. They enjoyed the musicians, especially the pianist and harpist at Cova Cafe.
My parents concluded that this was a great vacation and a lovely ship but that sailing her likely started prematurely. Again, it was a great vacation. There were just a few things that seem like they needed more time to work out (Personally, I wonder how a huge line like RCI could have let that happen. They have so much exprience with launching massive vessels, how could they mess up the introduction of a 700-passenger ship?).
As for sailing Azamara again, my parents will likely pass. First, the small ship experience lacks the choice in amenities they've grown to enjoy in larger vessels and how the experience doesn't, for now anyway, seem to justify a price premium. They plan on going back to Celebrity's main fleet.
That's all for now!
Any questions, let me know.
A few words on the cruisers, first! My parents have become regular cruisers after we reintroduced them to this type of vacation a few years ago (shouldn't it normally be the other way around?!!!). They had sailed Song of America years ago and were not thrilled by it. We much later took them along with us on Norwegian Sun and they fell in love with the big ship life and variety. They went on to sail with HAL, Princess but really got hooked on Celebrity.
Ok, Azamara now.
- Overall, they enjoyed their voyage and thought Azamara delivered a quality experience. They did not feel it was that big of an upgrade from Celebrity though. Sure there were a few added touches such as the flowers, fruits and canapes in the cabin, but no dramatic changes compared to Celebrity.
- There was no major work taking place on the ship and it seems most of the upgrade is over. They felt the ship had a nice, more upscale, subdued decor. They picked up some desgin flaws however. For example, there are apparently no washrooms near the main theater. One has to walk half way across the ship to find one. And I'll talk about the buffet later. Not a major problem, of course, but reminds us that Celebrity is dealing with a ship they didn't design from the ground up. Also, note that mini-bars were still not installed though, at least in their cabin.
- They were extremely pleased with the food, rating it between very good and excellent, in the main dining room as well as Aqualina. They consistently got a table for 2 in the main dining room, without waiting 3 nights out of 6. And when there was waiting, it was around 20 minutes which they spent at the nearby bar. They'd usually go around 7:30 pm.
They were disappointed with the buffet. Beyond how cramped that area is, they thought the food was average, and a step down from the Celebrity buffets. Not as much variety and food was sometines 'dried out'. Their conclusion was that the buffet's installations just weren't up to the standards required to deliver, minimally, Celebrity-level quality. That was exacerbated by the fact that the dining room was closed for lunch the four days they were in port. So options at lunch were limited.
- They really liked their cabin. They were in between two suites on deck six forward. Their balcony was larger and they had front view of the ship. Aside from a little noise from the show room below, they thought it was perfect. The beds, as reported by most, were extremely comfortable and, althought they said cabins didn't get a complete facelift, they did feel like the upgrade of the soft goods was noticeable and made for a fresh looking cabin.
- They thought the spa had some nice features such as the thalassotherapy-like tub, the variety of showers and the turskish bath. They felt the pool was small and it apparently made some loud noise for half the cruise. Water quality and temperature were fine, it just didn't make for a quiet swim.
- The service was impeccable across the board. Staff was corteous and did seem to try harder than on other ships they felt.
- They thought the entertainment was ok, nothing more, likely due to how the ship lacks, because of its size of course, a large theater. They enjoyed the musicians, especially the pianist and harpist at Cova Cafe.
My parents concluded that this was a great vacation and a lovely ship but that sailing her likely started prematurely. Again, it was a great vacation. There were just a few things that seem like they needed more time to work out (Personally, I wonder how a huge line like RCI could have let that happen. They have so much exprience with launching massive vessels, how could they mess up the introduction of a 700-passenger ship?).
As for sailing Azamara again, my parents will likely pass. First, the small ship experience lacks the choice in amenities they've grown to enjoy in larger vessels and how the experience doesn't, for now anyway, seem to justify a price premium. They plan on going back to Celebrity's main fleet.
That's all for now!
Any questions, let me know.