JYDCruise

At our first night in Prime C, while we'd normally order either a starter or a soup/salad, our server convinced us to order both as they were "small portions". Suffice it to say that the amount of food we received was definitely not a problem . . . well, except in the sense that it was simply too much. None of us ordered dessert that night.

I'm horrible with names but: Ship: Pursuit Captain: Antonio Toledo Hotel Director: Heike Berdos (I think . . . had no interaction, plus she may be leaving after the current sailing?) Cruise Director: Emily Love Executive Chef: Nathan

This (Dublin-Reykyavik on the Pursuit) was our first Azamara cruise (and only my second overall) and while I was generally very happy, the wine selection and availability was one of the few areas where I feel that the line falls short. From the very first night, a number of the wines on the Ultimate Package were not available, e.g. the Matanzas Creek Merlot*, the Pinot as you mentioned (for which was initially substituted La Crema, then a New Zealand Pinot whose name I did not catch), and the Sauvignon Blanc. For the most part, I felt the substitutions were not bad, but yeah . . . the SB Pinot is ~~$30 retail, La Crema $15. Also, it seemed that on multiple occasions they would refill a partially finished glass with the house wine without checking that we were drinking an Ultimate Package selection. That's one way to make a blend, I guess. *Oddly, midway through the trip I saw an open bottle of the Matanzas Creek at one of the bars.

All your chips are belong to us . . . Seriously, we didn't eat any cookies on the trip, but did "sample" a depressingly large number of other, generally quite enjoyable, desserts.

Are you referring to Dublin-Reykyavik, or Reykyavik-Copenhagen? We just completed the former sailing and had 529 passengers.

Ha - great minds . . . 😄 We are taking the same cruise, and just yesterday I was looking around the app store figuring that there must be an Azamara app. It'd be handy to keep track of schedules, dinner reservations etc. but I guess we'll have to cruise like it's 1999 and use paper.

I think their choices are reasonable. The holidays which "outrank" Hanukkah (e.g. Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot) are not ones where strictly observant Jews will be cruising. Passover is a bit of an exception - lots of travel, but it would be surprising if Azamara has Kosher for Passover dining. There's probably a sizable number of Jews for whom that would not be an issue, but still would like to participate in a Seder.

Unless, like us, you're sailing to Iceland . . . 😆

Thanks! That's not a particularly smart policy for Azamara, IMO. Why would I wait until boarding and risk having excursions sell out? If I could use my existing OBC to purchase package *now*, I probably would, and then also use the $700 excursion-only-OBC included in the package (again, ahead of sailing). Azamara would lock in all of my spend. As is, I'm less likely to buy the package, might not pay for all of the included bits'and'pieces such as the spa, and more likely to shop for 3rd-party excursions.

So excursions only, before the trip? I'm looking at one of the "Experience More" packages, but only if I can use OBC, and I'd like to lock it in beforehand.

Thanks so much for posting this! Would it be possible to post some/all of the menus for the various restaurants? We're going to be on the Pursuit in August - I know that things may change by then but would like to get an idea of what we might expect.