Live from Azamara Journey thru Nov 15th

[Skeezics]

I am so jealous. Back in 1996 we spent four nights at the Mena House and dined every night in the Indian restaurant...haven't tasted Indian food like that since. FYI, we took this itinerary in May and loved it. However, skipped Cairo, since we have done an intensive land trip in Egypt. Elected for El Alamein instead..was interesting. Loved Israel and floating in the Dead Sea. Bringing back great memories. Love the Quest. Thanks for posting.

[vi1234]

I am especialy enjoying your posts for 2 reasons.

 

1. They bring back great memories both of Azamara, and of your ports.

 

2. We have friends who are on your cruise.

 

Would you do me a big favor? Look up Tom and Mercy Joyce and tell them that Woody and Vivian say "Hello". I think they would be very pleased and very surprised.

 

Thanks,

Vivian

[Bill Leiber]

Kalimera Cindi and everyone else

no self promoting...but I;ll share this with you..when we were heading into Chania today.. I saw 2 different sets of people with a print out of my sights to see list that I had posted on our website for each of the ports!!!!!

it appears a few people out there have found our research to be helpful with their trip planning....

which of course is why we did the website, blog, and as my DH says...spend waaaaayyyy too much time on CruiseCritic

because I honestly like helping others.

i took some great videos of a mass in Rome, the tender coming back to the ship in Amalfi port with waves across the bow...and i will be doing more along the way!!!!!

On Amalfi day, we headed to Paestum we were the only ones there

and for lunch we picked up prosciutto and buffalo mozzarella paninis from the buffalo mozzarella farm that the cheesewas made that morning. Couldnt get any fresher than that and we saw the buffalo that made our cheese!!!!

Lots of gems on the road south of Amalfi at the end of the day we stopped into Amalfi wandered the town and then brought back to the ship

the limoncello infused lemon cream lemon cake from the town bakery!!!!

I have absolutely no complaints about AZ, the only thing that I think needs improvement is the merchandising of the gift shops..painfully understocked...Also, the photo department needs to sell CDs of stock photos...lots of money making ideas floating in my brain.

Bill, tell the powers that be I want to spend money onboard!!!!!

You dont even have a AZ keychain or magnet...sad, sad, sad

Bodrum in the morning..the 1st stop of the 5 out of 7 Ancient Wonders of World sites we will be visiting!

 

Paul..just mixing things up...its also the background on our brand new youtube channel...which is still in the infancy stages

Ciao Ciao

 

K

Hi whee2next and all:

 

Thanks to all of you for pointing out to me that Azamara Club Cruises is leaving money on the table by not offering a wider variety of merchandise and keepsake items to purchase in the shops. Onboard revenue is an important component to achieving our revenue target, so we should be able to rectify this problem somewhat swiftly. In the cruise business, it’s very unusual to have “demand” but little or no “supply!”

 

I’ll forward your ideas to our executive team by passing on some of your comments:

 “Bill, tell the powers that be I want to spend money onboard!!!!! You don’t even have a AZ keychain or magnet…sad, sad, sad.”

 “Azamara is missing lots of money making opportunities as there was nothing to purchase in the shops.”

 “I cannot believe that Azamara are still missing this opportunity to make a little money….People want little souvenirs of their time on board - keyfobs, fridge magnets, Christmas Tree decorations all take up little space.”

 “I would like to see range of small. light good quality items that would make nice gifts and that there is a little variety in this range so repeat cruisers can find new gifts.”

 

Thanks again for letting me be the “ears” for our executive team.

 

Bill Leiber

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

(*CBO is an authorized and compensated representative of ACC)

[crzrr]

Thanks Bill. K is absolutely correct - many want to spend on board on momentos and there is little opportunity to do that. We have Christmas ornaments for each ship that we have been on - except our Azamara cruises. My husband wanted a nice quality t-shirt - not available. Looking forward to seeing all kinds of goodies on our cruises next spring!

[shoesonfire]

Momentos of the ship and Keepsakes are wonderful things to purchase and bring back home, however, shopping in ports is not always the way one wishes to spend precious tour hours. It would be great to have an opportunity on sea days to purchase items representative of the countries, cities recently visited. Surely, staff members would enjoy perusing the nooks and corners of ports to bring back little gems for all of us to shop and enjoy during a more leisurely time on board ship.

[California Native]

Day 2 Egypt is about to come to a close it;s 10:39pm and sail away is scheduled at 11pm

We arrived at 9:05pm and I have to tell you I was getting a bit nervous

at some points with the traffic we hit...

The 2 days were WOW!

Just WOW!!!

Just a quick note...the Mena Oberoi was phenomenal! We skipped the Indian restaurant because of timing but went to the other one where the breakfast is held..

Anyway, ordered the Moroccan Clay Pot Chicken..simply delicious!!!

We said to the waiter that we thought it was excellent and our compliments

to the chef..a few minutes pass...the Executive Chef comes out, we compliment him and thank him for such a delicious dish he mentions that one of his chefs is from Morocco and created it and he tries his best to follow her instructions.

He then asks me what my room number is and offers to send me the recipe!!!

So if anyone is interested in that just let me know!

Need to get some sleep! 2 sea days coming up, so I will have time to catch up ports and thoughts on AZ

Bill, I have another recommendation for you....

How about setting up something on the AZ website as a store to purchase logo merchandise????

We are heading to Sorrento arriving Nov 13th for 2 days...

Ciao Ciao

K.

[150edmiston]

Quote - He then asks me what my room number is and offers to send me the recipe!!!

 

 

So if anyone is interested in that just let me know!

Hi K, if you don't mind (when you get back home is fine), please add me to the mail list for the recipe. Thanks, and keep posting. We're really enjoying reading about your latest adventure. d.carson1@sky.com

David

[California Native]

Today was a sea day and the entire ship was basically down for the count

Just sleeping in, laying out on deck since the weather was wonderful and then catching up on each others excursion experience etc etc

Activities were plentiful, but after 4 days of your mind and body in overdrive

it all seemed to be such a mellow pace

Though, DH and one of his onboard buddies played shuffleboard and

ping pong together. I think we might need to start pricing out ping pong

tables!!! Last week there was a tournament with a funny story attached

to it…hopefully I can get DH to do a blog about it on our website

when we return…

We went to the fancy high tea today which was in the Looking Glass Lounge

with a beautiful ocean view. Its set up as a buffet and very deluxe..

There is a dress code of no shorts, tank tops or jeans.

Then they bring to your table the tea case which has over 20 tea options

To choose from ..mine was Mango and DH picked Raspberry.

Shortly after your personal tea pot arrives so you can brew your

tea to your preferred taste. The buffet décor has ice carvings along with some amazing fruit/veggie carvings …

There’s quite the selection of little delights…scones, desserts, and Open faced nibbles that were almost too beautiful to eat! I didn’t have the camera with me so we are going again tomorrow

We then did the Galley tour which was very good and then there was

The Q and A session in the Discoverer for about 20 minutes

-I found the information quite interesting about AZ food policies

He covered in depth the procedures for food allergies, disposal, safety, food budgets, storage, Menu creations to name just a few topics

He was funny and informative…

As soon as he closed the door behind us when the tour started …he says…

Now you are all mine…and I plan to have you crying by the end of the tour…

He pauses for a second and then says because I have 50 pounds of onions

that need peeling!!! There were fresh baked cookies waiting for us and we witnessed

The bakery department hard at work…one of the treats was blueberry empanadas

which were on the dinner buffet dessert section this evening!!!

So, I picked up some free souveniers in Egypt…about 20

mosquito bites…which are rapidly becoming welts.

I’ve applied topical benadryl and we stopped by the Guest Relations desk to check on the

medical center hours tomorrow, but the girl at the desk looked at some of them and promptly called the nurse. Saw the nurse, she gave me oral benadryl if the topical doesn’t work ..i need to monitor them and if it gets worse I have to come back..she was surprised how big they were but we did explain how this has happened to me in the past.

My friends and family joke that I’m better than a citronella candle!

If you don’t want mosquitos biting you, just invite me to the festivities!

For some reason they think I’m a yummy treat and ignore everyone else

NEWS FLASH…I heard there are magnets onboard with the old logo, along with keychains, Playing cards, tote bags…all will be on sale tomorrow for 50-75% off. Today, I got a preview sale and purchased 2 keychains, deck of cards, and a ball point pen/small note pad combo. CHEAP!!!

This is all old logo stuff and they had in stock but have decided to pull it out!!!!

THRILLED!

Tomorrow,

we have a few things to do

At 9am the shops open, so I will check that out…

at 930am is a coffee social for cruise critic, this is our 2nd get together.

This has been a GREAT roll call so we will do that.

Need to start thinking about the packing process…ugh..reality is beginning to zoom

up on us!!!!!

Oh, tonight we set clocks back 1 hour…woo hoo!!!

Tonight for dinner we were invited to join several other couples

but I’m trying to limit the sitting after the last 4 days…but we will all do dinner Sat. night together.

John and I love sitting outdoors at the buffet when we go there.

The weather has been great, there’s candles on the table and from 6-930pm

There is a guitar player/singer who entertains and interacts with all of us

This entertainer is new to AZ with this cruise and will be onboard for 6 months.

We have a sushi chef every night in the buffet and he will make you whatever you want if he has the ingredients Tonight I had cucumber and avocado roll and a mild level of the spicy tuna roll. I don’t do sashimi, but those that do seem to be happy with it.

I went to go back to get a sweet treat

and I ran into the ice cream cart enabler/pusher

I told him I was craving chocolate

and would skip the ice cream and he steered me to the chocolate lava cake

Which he insisted I should try one part of it with a small dollop of vanilla

Ice cream and then on the other side with a smidge of caramel sauce

Delicious, and I savored every bite..because when I get home the only chocolate

I will be tasting will be by Ultra Slim Fast!!!!

So, we ran into some of the security girls making their rounds..I asked if everyone

made it back to the ship last night and she said yes…all aboard at 930pm..

so they decided to start packing up the gangway earlier..

Turns out we were one of the last to make it onboard at 9:05pm

Eygpt was sensory overload..but I want to begin with this..

I saw a review that stated Cairo was uncivilized.

It is not uncivilized, I told DH and others about that comment and all of us

agree that is NOT an accurate word to use

Its is a VERY poor nation, Cairo has 18 million people. Not all of them

are Eygptians but people from all over Africa who have come to this country and city

in hopes for a better life. As with all human beings anywhere in the world behavior

is based on the social economic surroundings they grew up in and acceptable

norms in each of their cultures that have now merged together in one city.

What you see there is poverty and overcrowding. This breeds an overabundance of trash and no where to put it. You will see it on the sides of roads, in the river or smell it being burned.

It is a place that you are completely out of your own reality.

You can be stuck in traffic and one one side of you is a small pick up

with a large cow in the back, the next side is a city bus, which is actually

a very small van with 25 people in it, then you see a guy on a bicycle whiz by you balancing plywood on his head.

You will see the little Tok Tok’s, the whole lamb carcass just hanging next to the

10 lane created roadway in the local butcher shop. You will see women in sweltering

heat completely covered up, buildings that you wouldn’t use as a garden shed

but an extended family is living in.

Begging is rampant and there’s overbearing merchants. The fact is they need the money

to get out of these horrific living conditions.

However, every single toilet that I used was a porcelin bowl, toilet paper was either provided or someone would sell me a sheet. The fact of the matter is …these bathrooms were FAR SUPERIOR than the ones I had to contend with all over Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria when I had food poisoning last year.

The children were full of smiles, many of them would approach us and ask for pictures to be taken with us. They wanted to practice their English and talk about

American TV shows. Many times our guide had to explain to them that we were on

a schedule and we wanted to chat, but just didn’t have the time.

If we were in our van and traffic was at a stand still they would wave to us with smiles on their faces, making sure we saw them and heard them hollering hello, Hello! HELLO!!!! You could tell their hearts were warm, innocent and no different than any American child.

Eygpt is one of the ancient civilizations of the world. Our guide spoke 7 languages.

DH loves archeology and history and has studied each topic extensively. DH, was impressed with the wealth of knowledge our guide had as a young man in his 20’s

This was also reported back by fellow CC members and their experiences with their guides..In fact we’ve all been claiming that each one of us had a guide

that deserves the title of THE BEST

We were also impressed with our guides desire to further his knowledge

When we had downtime with long drives, he showed us his vocabulary list

that he had created from reading English magazines and books that he

wanted to learn further clarification on and also gain a better understanding of our

slang sayings…

So, in return for all he gave to us..we got to play professor to him for a little bit.

We are very aware that the English that US Citizens speak can be VERY difficult to learn. It was a reminder how words in the English language are perceived by others and how confusing simple words can be depending on the context.

We wore our archeology hats all day and felt quite protected from the sun

they kept our eyes from feeling any strain. I asked him why the guides weren’t wearing hats like ours and he said that they were very expensive there…almost 50USD or higher

for a Columbia one like ours. I asked him if he was able to get it at a more affordable price would he really use it and he said absolutely, but he usually saves his money to buy shoes because they wear out so fast

I paid 6USD for each of ours at Kohl’s when it was on sale with a coupon. At then end of the day I gave him my hat.

This is the way I see it..

Don’t go to Egypt

if you are unable to step out of your reality for 1-2 days

Coming here puts what we would consider difficulties in perspective

If you are not into history, culture, appreciation of craftsmanship and artistry,

Archeology, architecture…

There are so many sites and activities that this country and the city of Cairo have to offer

Pyramids may be your primary reason for visiting, but there are so many options to expand your itinerary that will make your experience memorable.

I’ve just begun composing my Egypt days offline..i will try to have that done tomorrow

But if time doesn’t allow then it will be when I return home. So while it might not be

a live from I will post further updates on this thread regarding info on AZ and this itinerary, also check AZ facebook page and our website….

(it bears repeating that our website is not commercial, there is no advertising, and we are not played to pay. We will state the good, bad, ugly and most importantly excellent that we experience as we travel throughout the world)

for those that have sent me an email requesting the sights to see lists

I will send them out when we return. All information will be loaded back up

On our website,

We pull this stuff down along with our pictures When we travel for security purposes.

Recipe will also be posted on website, but I will advise when

Also, we have saved all paperwork that AZ provided, so that will eventually find

Its way on our website review…

Lots of pictures and videos to go through once we get home, but I think all of you

That are interested in AZ and this itinerary will be thrilled once everything is completed

Keep in mind when we return we will have been gone exactly one month.

So, we need to face all that reality will bring….inbox, grocery shopping, cooking, laundry. Sadly, our phone system at home does not have the room service, cabin attendant, spa, and guest relations speed dial buttons!!!!!!

So, we will have a bit of catching up and adjusting to do! I appreciate your patience

as we manage that and getting the information uploaded!!!

Ciao Ciao

K

[xplrcrzn]

Not sure about Azamara but the shops on many ships are run by contractors who establish their own merchandising "goals" and the cruise line is usually only interested in their percentage of the sales. But, of course, if sales are greater the cruise line gets more. So more quality and variety can mean more money to the line.

[California Native]

Egypt Day 1

We exited the ship about 7:15-7:20am, there was a bit of a delay while

We verified that my meds could be brought into the country. I had checked

with the embassy ahead of time, but needed to confirm while on the ground

We missed the 1st convoy by 5 minutes and the next one didn’t go until

9am. This time isn’t decided by AZ, the tour company, the guide or you

It is decided by the tourist police when they feel like they want to go.

and it can be done at a moments notice, so no shopping the street vendors

just outside the van to kill time. You sit and wait and wait.

We ended up doing our Day 2 itinerary on Day 1,which worked out

fine.

The convoy begins and there is 6 private tour vans. If you have driven

the autobahn…then that’s just an appetizer to what driving a convoy

on freeways with potholes will be. Every prayer you have ever learned

in your life will be thought of,..What driving laws there are Egypt

are not enforced and you will find in your next 2 days this concept is embraced thoroughly

This is one of those countries that I have talked about in past post regarding

private tours that your driver is just as important as your guide..plan on tipping

accordingly by the end of these 2 days, he has probably saved your life a dozen

times that you are unaware of.

We loved our driver..he was thoughtful, considerate, understood English

and funny! After the 1st time our guide and driver said to us how do you feel about

a shortcut..we knew it was going to be an adventure that no shorex would every see.

and yet, this is exactly the experience we wanted and you will see that in some of our pictures

The joke said to us when the convoy started was..welcome to Egypt’s asphalt amusement park

…when the short cuts were implemented to avoid the horrific traffic

our guide says…no more asphalt in this amusement park!!!! So awesome!!!

By the end of day 2..our driver asked us if we thought we could drive

in Egypt since he had heard drivers in California were crazy. We both

said NO WAY. We asked him how he does it and he said…

Good eyes, Good Brakes and Good Luck!

Our 1st stop was the Citadel and all that offers, we had hoped to visit the Jewel Palace

within the citadel, but it had been closed for renovation 4 days prior.

We then headed to the Egyptian Museum. No cameras are allowed in the museum

What struck me about this museum was it was like taking a step back in time.

A large amount of items are not behind cases, ropes or any other type of protection

Those that are, the cases are old wooden frames with sliding doors. I’m sure there

is security but definitely not the state of the art we are accustomed to seeing

in other museums.

Our guide takes us to each of the MAJOR key pieces and explains them

which is quite beneficial. He has also begun to get a sense of what we already

know and then tailors his lectures to build onto that.

We could have spent the entire day in this museum. There was so much to

see..

We had visited the King Tut exhibit in San Francisco last year and to see more

of the pieces was extra special. Our guide gave us time to wander in the museum

on our own. John wanted to go to the mummy room and I headed to the antique

Egyptian Jewelry room. We also were able to see the famous Tanis silver coffin!!!

Our guide has set up our time for us to follow this pattern…

We arrive at a location…enroute he has given us some information, when we

Get there he points out more…history, culture, facts, figures, he has a notebook

and draws in it to give us not only audio but visual reinforcement, we ask questions

he patiently responds and then we determine how much free time we want/need…

It works out perfectly…though there were a few times he had to come round up

his baby ducklings as we wandered to long….

This is important to point out..its very easy to lose sight of your time perameters

when you are here. Your guide and driver understand the time and traffic issues

better than you ever will. There are not rushing you to be difficult. They

are just trying to help you see everything you want to see without hitting

too many “roadblocks” along the way.

That evening we were scheduled to visit Khan el Kahili Bazaar for 1-2 hours.

This was something that I was interested in, since its suppose to be one of

The great bazaars of the world. Unfortunately, my pain levels were sky high

and I decided it would be better to rest up for the big day tomorrow.

We arrived at the Mena Oberoi House at about 7pm…just WOW!!!

We were in a Garden View room in the expansive new wing.

We did take video of our room and the view which will be posted on

Our Youtube channel upon our return. We quickly changed our clothes

freshened up a bit and headed over to the main building for dinner.

We had originally planned on eating at the famous Indian Restaurant but

They didn’t have reservations until 9pm.

So, we headed over to the restaurant named Khan el Kahili!!!!

And that’s where we had the Moroccan Clay Pot chicken that I mentioned in my

other post…DELICIOUS!!!

After dinner we wandered the hotel a bit taking pictures and then back to our room

to fall asleep on Egyptian cotton sheets with the most incredible pillows

that I wanted to swipe, but I didn’t!

Day 2 coming up…..but it’s now time for dinner…

We are heading to the dining room tonight as DH loves quail and its on the menu!

Also, later tonight we will finally pop open 1 of the bottles of champagne we have remaining…

Sadly, we are being punted off of this ship in 3 days….

So its time to make a toast to such a wonderful adventure…

Ciao Ciao

K.

[crzrr]

It sounds as though you are having a fabulous time. I can't wait to see your pictures.

[Jade13]

Did you do a private tour with just the two of you, or with others from your roll call? So, it sounds like because of the delay you may not have gotten to Cairo until about 12:00pm (it's 3 hours, right?), so only time for the museum the first day?

[California Native]

Did you do a private tour with just the two of you, or with others from your roll call? So, it sounds like because of the delay you may not have gotten to Cairo until about 12:00pm (it's 3 hours, right?), so only time for the museum the first day?

 

 

It was just the 2 of us.

We booked only the 2 of us for a couple of reasons

1. the savings to include others was minimal for us

and not really expensive

2. we knew because of the timing of 2 days of Israel and how my pain levels would be I would be moving slower and we didnt want to impact anyone

3. we were concerned about carrying my meds and if it would be an issue

and didnt want anyone else involved with that.

We saw the Citadel and on the citadel 2 mosques and we tried to get into the Jewel Palace then we went to the museum.

everything that was scheduled for day 2 was completed on Day 1

and yes we got to Cairo about 12 noon. We were at the museum at about 2:15pm and stayed until close at 5:30pm

[California Native]

It sounds as though you are having a fabulous time. I can't wait to see your pictures.

 

 

We are! We dont want to leave!!!!

DH has bonded with AZ more than I ever imagined.

there was a discussion many months ago would you pay the higher prices

in the future...

Our answer!

ABSOLUTELY!!!!!

[Larry Pimentel]

Great insight! Nothing like guest feedback from those onboard.

 

Thanks,

[California Native]

oops need to do this offline

[California Native]

Please excuse all mistakes..typing on netbook and word doc ..

c and p

In addition to the fact that I had A LOT of limoncello today!!!

Buon Sera Larry, Bill and everyone one on CruiseCritic!

 

Its day 1 in Sorrento!

And 10:52pm… we are onboard the ship and while on deck you can see the twinkling

Lights of Sorrento

We overnight here, so if you would like to head out for a little night life

The opportunity is there!!!!

 

Today we sipped liquid sunshine as we strolled Sorrento!

 

but lets work our way backward for a bit...

 

We arrived back onboard around 7pm to be greeted by one of the crew wearing an Italian apron and hat that you can find in all the gifts shops in town

reminding us that the Italian extravaganza buffet was upstairs...

 

Last segment they did the same theme, but today I heard the restaurant manager went shopping!!!

Really, I think he tapped into his inner Martha Stewart/Food Network/HGTV

persona

 

We had ceramic garlic, onion and pepper braids hanging from the ceiling throughout the buffet, ice carving of (I think) Christopher Columbus, for those that have been to Sorrento you know all of the cool and unique pasta they have here...well, he used all shapes, sizes and colors for decorations in jars, baskets etc etc. All the chefs were wearing Italian aprons and we were greeted and thanked in Italian!!!

Fruit and Veggie carvings Ive never seen before…and yes I got pictures of everything!!!

 

We then wandered downstairs to listen to Dan Hodges rock the piano

and had my evening cocoa to help put me to sleep! The Mosaic Cafe Barristas have my cocoa temperature down perfectly..112 degrees is the magical number...which is basically a kids cocoa...they will tweak your beverage to your specifications just make sure you speak up!!!

 

We ran into Niki Sepsas and his wife, they do travel between a few lines and I really think Azamara needs to lock him in as a permanent Enrichment lecturer. He is a true asset to the company!

 

We will really miss Guy and Liesl at Guest Relations. It;s a difficult job they have to do and they do it with a whole lot of grace and patience.

 

So, back to Sorrento!

 

Today is a tender ticket day.

 

I would like to make a suggestion that Discoverer members get priority tendering. Princess does this for Elite members and its a nice benefit that I really enjoy..

The 1st tender went out apprx at 11:15 and the second shortly afterwards

We met up with our driver right at the tender dock area. This is the same driver that we had for our Amalfi day on the last segment who took us to Paestum and that Buffalo Mozzarella farm for sandwhiches. It was like visiting with an old friend.

Keep in mind he saw us on day 2 of our 24 day Azamara adventure and now he ends

our adventure on the 2nd to last day. We,ve just about come full circle!

We wanted to visit an inlaid wood factory, but didn’t want the typical shorex tourist stuff. Since our guide is a Sorrento native he knows people who know people. And we wind up at a 4th generation family business. That does not cater to tourists.

We are thrilled for one on one demo and lecture! He showed us some music boxes

and we asked if we could purchase one..sure, no problem he says and now we have an absolutely gorgeous souvenir that plays Return to Sorrento..and we know we will

as we love this region. Oh, I videotaped the demo, so you will find it on our youtube

channel upon our return

Andiamo!

We are now heading to Positano…

We arrive in Positano and our driver has gone over our Sights to See wish list with us

And given us specific directions and suggestions.

We begin wandering down to the beach area..shortly down the path we see

Hotel Palazzo Murat…make note of this hotel name.

If you step into the doorway and immediate look to your right you will see what appears to be a restaurant patio leading to a garden path..TAKE IT!

As you continue down the path you will see gorgeous bouganvilla, hibiscus, lemon trees and the hotels herb garden…keep going!

You are now staring at the back end of the famous church in Positano

With the yellow, green and blue dome. The picture taking opportunities

Are plentiful and you wont see this angle or be this close up anywhere

Else!!! Once my pictures are loaded you will see what I mean.

This hotel is actually the former convent to the church.

Continue down to the beach..at the beach area veer to your right, and start walking the path up to the Tower Trasita for stunning views. The path reminded us a bit

Of the Via del Amore in Cinque Terre

We then headed back to the beach area, we contemplated having a lunch in one of the restaurants and while the view was nice there, was a MUCH BETTER view at the very end of the beach area by the blue dressing room doors..so instead of spending a lot of time and money in Im sure a very delicious restaurant. We grabbed 2 slices of pizza for 3 euros and sat on the beach breakwall and took in the view all by ourselves.

We also wandered through the stores and couple of churchs to balance out our culture immersion. I wouldn’t plan on souvenir shopping in Positano..

You are paying a lot more because of the location!!!

It was time to meet our driver for our trek back to Sorrento. He decided to backroad some of it so we can get a skyline view of the Sorrento region. We watch olives being harvested and lemons groves galor! He drops us off around 330pm and now

Its time to wander..

Im just about out of hair conditioner and we wander into their local version of a Walgreens…I was able to pick up a bottle of Garnier Fructis for ½ the price it is at Target!

We then are wandering on Via S. Cesareo and come across Lucys Linens -

The store and family are FANTASTIC!!! You know the Italian tablecloths that are at Williams Sonoma and expensive…Well, she has them there, along with table toppers and napkins..and you guessed I took pictures…excellent prices and she has all sizes!

(side note to my mom… of course we got you something, but you will just have to wait until

Christmas)

There was a museum and a few churches we wanted to visit, the guide book said they were open, our driver said they were, the sign outside of each place said opened…but they were closed…what are you going to do, but embrace that its

Italy and just shrug your shoulders…

Plan B, since our cultural plans have closed up shop…

We will drink….Its time to do a limoncello crawl…

There are at least 10 stores that specialize in getting you toasted on limoncello

So you will buy at least one of the 100 variations of limoncello and limoncello

Items..cookies, candies, cute souvenir bottles, LARGE drinking bottles of straight up limoncello or Cream limoncello (which is easier to go down, but packs a potent punch) Consider yourself warned!!!

We have begun looking for the shuttle stop, we think we know but we ask a store right near it that says Welcome Azamara Journey they point us to it.

We wait and wait and wait…ahh forget this..lets walk it..

I will have to take a picture of those stairs…we are crazy..but we are walking down

If we walked up it..we would be certifiable…

As we hug the roadway after we descend the steep steps..we have seen no shuttle go by in either direction. We finally make it to the tender and still no shuttle.

Maybe since we didn’t take the shuttle in and it is privately owned, not provided by AZ we didn’t get the memo on this random, if any night time schedule.

As we arrive to the tender we are greeted with a Welcome Home…

And then again when we get off the tender and by security…

Every single day, for the last 22 days we,ve heard Welcome Home

and we feel it. Azamara has been a home to us..We have been pampered, spoiled,

the doctor took care of my mosquitos bites so I would feel better, The pasta

guy in the buffet took care of carb cravings. Our cabin has been spotless,

and laundry done…(it’s not like I press my DH’s boxers at home though)

The AZ tagline has been you will love where we take you,

Which we have.

But you should really add..you will love how we take care of you

Honestly, we don’t want to leave this ship

Many months ago I said that AZ had the perfect opportunity to win over the Princess Elite crowd who love the small ships and they need to go after them

I’m a Princess small ship cheerleader, but after these 24 days onboard

Azamara Journey, this will be the 1st cruise line I look at in the future.

You did your job of wooing and now I’m won over.

I would like to touch on my DH for a moment…

He has traveled the world by land and had one horrific cruise before this of epic proportions, unfortunately for us it was our honeymoon. I didn’t think he would cruise again…

And the rest of my life I would be stuck shlepping my suitcase up and down train station and metro steps. Dining would be eating jambon e fromage panini’s

on pigeon pooped church steps.

This cruise on AZ was going to pivotal in my future travel options.

DH does not want to leave this ship, he is already plotting where to next when it comes to a cruise

We are not quite AZ's initial demographic when it comes to age, not for a couple of years..but we felt very comfortable will all of the age ranges onboard

So, thank you to all the crew onboard especially Alex the headwaiter from the Ukraine and to Meghan in reservations. Thank you to shoreside operations and our Captain for the fireworks in Istanbul.

As I said I will write a full review upon return.

Larry, after multiple hotel inspections while at Classic Hawaii and then my career in Hotel Management…I saw a couple of tweeks that could be made…

but I’m being nit picky…but for those that sail Regent and Seabourn they might be picked up on.

Anyway…back to our locale…

In the morning we are going to Herculaneum…We plan on getting up early and taking the train.

And then spending more time in Sorrento…

All aboard in 4:45pm and then we set sail for Rome.

We haven’t begun packing yet (perhaps we are in denial, that reality is around the corner)

Ciao Ciao from Sorrento!

K.

[chicotam]

Karen - All I can say is WOW - I feel like I've been on the trip with you - thanks for your reviews. When we got off the ship in Athens, I too felt like some horrible mistake had been made - it couldn't possibly be over!

[California Native]

It’s official we are packed and the bags have been placed outside our door

Tomorrow morning we depart at 7am and fly home on Tuesday morning

Today was Day 2 of Sorrento

and we took the train to Herculaneum.

We left the ship on the 730am tender and went to pick up this imaginary shuttle bus

We see some of our CruiseCritic buddies on a bus and their pretty savvy travelers

So we hop on the bus with them…

At almost 8am the driver starts the engine and we are psyched…

and we are off…for approximately 4 feet. He then turns off the engine

gets out to chat with a friend and have cigarette.

I decide to take the lead on this one..

Mi scusi signore…per favore..and I point to my watch.

Apparently he has decided he will leave at 8:30am

However, we are in luck another bus driver..his friend that he

Just “had to” chat with says if we go in his bus he will leave at

8:15am.

Yeah right…love the Italy, but the Italians are not the Swiss

and nothing runs on precision only a shrug

ahhh forget this, lets just walk..

Remember how I said we were crazy not certifiable regarding the staircase

Turns out We ARE certifiable!!!! and we climb up and up and up

We reach the top ..

We then head to the train station and catch the train to Herculaneum

and Im sure you guess it…it wasn’t on time. Anyway, the train

is the same as Pompeii..several of our fellow cruisers are going

there and we are 10 stops after them.

We absolutely loved Herculaneum there was maybe 25 people on the entire site

So peaceful and calm…AMAZING frescos, bathhouses, mosaic floors..

You must take the time to peek into each one and twist your body a bit

Looking up and down to catch some of the breathtaking treasures they have

uncovered. Just another WOW day with the fabulous itinerary that AZ put together!

We head back to Sorrento and we are famished theres a take away pizza joint

Called Jhonnys (correct sp) right by the train station…with delicious Pizza Margherita for 1.50

Euro a slice..just what we needed to refuel.

We then begin wandering Sorrento more, though we did quite a bit yesterday afternoon and

evening. We headed to the San Francesco Church and Convent. Take the time to walk

into the park area next to the convent continue to the water area and you will get a phenomenal view of the

ship. Do you even need to ask if I took pictures?

Hey, Bill and Larry how about a picture taking contest..it could be a quarterly thing

and we could win something…like a free cruise..or free speciality restaurants on

our next cruise..No??? too much??? How about a magnet?

We headed back to the ship around 4:00pm to take a rest before we were faced with

the unwanted chore of packing..

We had thought about going to the dining room for one last hooray

but our brains and body are pretty much mush. So, we head to the buffetI

had a little 5 alarm spicy tuna roll, which made it necessary to immediately

grab an apple cinnamon sugar thingy that was out of this world!!!

MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT!

Over dinner DH and I were chatting..

We had told everyone here on AZ that we would be back in 2013 because next year was land

Vacation to Spain and Portugal and then 2012 was RCCL to Aus/NZ for 21 days

We have decide to cancel RCCL for 2012

We will be coming back to AZ for Norwegian Fjords or Black Sea for a B2B once again

Just need those itineraries to open for booking!!!

Well, it’s time to wrap this up and head off to sleep for our rude awakening tomorrow

I’m hoping the Captain will rock this ship just a tad so I will sleep deeply

A hui hou!

K.

[uktog]

So glad you have had such a wonderful trip. We did the Black Sea trip with Captain Carl last year and can thoroughly recommend it

[crzrr]

Have a safe trip home!

[cpgrneyes]

Thanks so much for sharing all your planning and experience with us! I plan to spend some time on your website to see what I can learn as I pla for our 7 day Azamara plus one week inItaly next year!

 

Like you, we cancelled a Celebrity cruise while onboard the Journey in September...couldn't imagine being on any other line!

[Jade13]

 

We have decide to cancel RCCL for 2012

 

We will be coming back to AZ for Norwegian Fjords or Black Sea for a B2B once again

Just need those itineraries to open for booking!!!

 

K.

 

We canceled a SilverSea cruise for 2011, even though it's a dream itinerary with Seychelles, Kenya, Reunion Island and more, to go back on Quest (pretty much to Nowhere with a one day stop in Alexandria). We loved our cruise this past February so much we did not want to leave the ship and suddenly wasn't looking forward to going back on SilverSea. We had been on Prince Albert II and overall much happier with the crew on Quest.

 

Now, if we can just get those dream itineraries. Btw we might be on a Norwegian Fjords cruise in 2012 if we can't get our Israel/Egypt (and ideally Istanbul, Sicily & Malta) cruise in July or August. It is not my DH's first choice as we were just in Norway last year in Oslo and than Tromso to meet PAII for the Arctic.

[California Native]

Thanks everyone!!!

I know I missed several days ...but I hope it gave you a sense of life onboard with these itineraries....

DH says I should still write out the days, so I think I will do that while we wait in the airports...Our routing home as assigned by AA and their frequent flyer depts is .....Rome-Brussels-Chicago-Home..

we have a legal connection in Brussel of 90 minutes, but it took us 2 hours just to go through passport control on our arrival...we have already come to terms that we probably get stuck in the expansive Brussels airport.

Which would be fine because we will take advantage of EU Rule 261 for compensation and take the train into Brussels!

Please be patient with the website as it needs an overall. but i promise it will be worth the wait (at least I hope so) to hold you over you can check out the journal section for some tips and funny stuff

Just 2 more hours and we will have to immediately recall

our skills of hunting, gathering, organizing and planning, and in 2 days

our cleaning and errand skills will be implemented

AZ has done a phenomenal job of erasing these from our memory banks

DH said to his beloved waffle guy who he visits every single morning

that on Wednesday ...he will be thinking of him...when goes to freezer a whips out an Eggo Waffle...

Harsh..just a harsh reality

it,s nice to hear that some of you had the same reaction that we did

about changing our future travel plans.

K

PS..Hi Chicotam!!!!! We,ve missed you on this segment!!!

[SkystheLimit]

Thank you so much for taking the time to write your reviews. We also feel the same way about Azamara after our trip on the Quest in September.

 

I must have missed it somewhere so if you get a chance could your please post where to find your website. Can't wait to see your pictures.