Ten Days of Seafaring Bliss in the Mediterranean - Journey Sept. 3rd cruise review

[Spursgirl]

Deirdre, thanks for the tips on Valencia. We were not sure what to do there. Did you go into the city on the shuttle and what did you think?

You are one brave woman to climb the Rock!!! Congrats! We are going to Gibraltar but don't think we will do that. Did you go into the tunnels?

You write such wonderful reviews, thank you. You are getting me anxious to get back on the Journey! Six weeks to go

Cheryl

 

Cheryl,

 

Valencia is a lovely city. You will have no problem having fun there. Looking forward to seeing you again on our Nov 6 cruise.

 

Deirdre,

 

As usual your review is a delight and your pictures wonderful. Loved the Desigual top by the way.

 

Sounds as though the Journey had the sparkle missing on our May cruise. Am really looking forward to sailing on her for a second time in a few weeks.

 

Hazel

[CintiPam]

[/size]

We made it to the top where we found incredible views and better yet' date=' incredible breezes! (Somewhat) refreshed, we set off down the Rock and hadn't gone very far on the paved road down when we came upon a tour taxi driver. He rolled his window down and asked us where we were going. We said, "Casemates Square." To which he said "Let me give you some advice. GET IN THIS CAR. I'm not even going to charge you. Just GET IN." Rob refused at first but I gulped and said yes yes yes. I can only imagine how sweat-drenched and bedraggled and pathetic we must have looked if a Gibraltar cabbie gave us a free ride down. Enough said. We'll climb the Rock again, I'm sure, but maybe not in the heat. [/font']

 

What a fabulous story, Deirdre. ROTFLOL! :)

Edited September 20, 2014 by CintiPam

[dln929]

Sea day. Let's talk housekeeping. Rob and I have cruised with Royal Caribbean and later, Celebrity, and after that, Azamara. In the pecking order Azamara comes out on top. We've been well fed on all these lines. The most memorable piece of beef I've ever had at sea was actually on the Brilliance of the Sea. The best dessert I've ever had was at the Tuscan Grill on Celebrity. And you know the best soups are the ones Chef Frederick dreams up. Working from the premise that within the Royal Caribbean brand you'll be well fed, what differentiates the three? My opinion is that it's the graciousness of the service and

setting. Royal Caribbean's buffet is going to give me sturdy melamine. Celebrity is going to give me a cloth napkin. Azamara gives me a placemat and stemware. Well. Sometimes. Here's the lovely table that greeted us on the Quest in December.

 

When Rob and I walked through Windows Cafe on Quest, it felt like a real restaurant. There was none of that cafeteria/ship buffet feel. Look at this table. There's a placemat, a well-folded napkin, and plenty of sparkling stemware. It's elegant and welcoming. The Sunset Bar tables were no different. They were so posh. Hardly a wonder that while on the Quest we ate more outside in the Sunset Bar than inside in the dining room!

 

 

 

[dln929]

You can imagine my surprise and disappointment when we walked on the Journey in May. This is the standard for the Journey? Hey brother can you spare a dime...or a placemat or some stemware? The miserliness of the table setting suggests that Ebenezer Scrooge was in residence.

 

 

[dln929]

The pool deck dining in May on the Journey fared no better. Really now. Can we make a little more of an effort?

 

[dln929]

I was happy to see an improvement in September. Not quite up to the standard of the Quest (and now you know why Quest Is Best) but far better than what we'd seen in May.

 

[dln929]

I'm still waiting on a gracious table setting on the Sunset Bar. As it stands, the best thing on this table (compared to Quest) is the cold beer. ;)

 

[dln929]

And now on to veranda cabins, most specifically the outside. Two types of railings. We've had both and I have no preference but other people might so I shall show you the two. Count your railings. Do you prefer more or less?

 

[dln929]

This is a V3 veranda #6085. Towards the aft. More horizontal railings and open space.

 

[dln929]

This is a V3 also, but toward the front of the ship. #7015. Two horizontal railings and a higher lip coming from the floor. See the nice bottle of sparkling wine on the counter? Azamara's treat to us as Discoverers in Le Club Voyage. I sincerely hope that this will not be the last time I see this bottle greeting us in our cabin as we embark.

 

[dln929]

A view of the last veranda cabins with the obstructions. When we were docked in Valencia the gangway was on Deck 5 which gave us a very good view to the side of the ship.

 

[dln929]

Are you ready for Suite Bingo? We played and alas! we did not win. It was still fun touring the cabin though. It's large. Sumptuous. Luxurious. And, may I say, just the teeny tiniest bit dowdy and sedate in its decor? You be the judge. I'd have preferred a splash of contemporary art on the walls, such as they have in the stair landings. And more splash in the couch cushion fabric. The suite is lovely but so.....safe.

 

 

 

 

[dln929]

 

[dln929]

The balcony of the Ocean Suite is magnificent. The stuff of dreams.

 

 

With a view to the bow of the ship.

 

[dln929]

Jazz Brunch on sea day!!! This is a wonderful event held in the Discoveries Restaurant on Deck 5 and It Is Not To Be Missed. The food is good (as it always is) but there's the added bonus of beautiful floral and ice sculpture displays and the fabulous Journey Orchestra to entertain you. It starts at 10 am and has plenty of breakfast offerings and carries on to the afternoon until 1 pm with lots of lunchtime food. In short, there's something for everyone.

 

 

A beautifully set table (you know I approve).

 

Edited September 21, 2014 by dln929

[dln929]

The Jazz Orchestra plays at the aft section of the dining room.

 

 

And this is totally random but look who manufactures the Lucite salt and pepper shakers. Who'da thunk it. ;)

 

[dln929]

Suitably fortified by our Jazz feast we waddled at 1 pm to the Cabaret to view--notice I say "view" not "do" the Waltz Lessons. Confession time. I can't dance. I'm left-handed and I'm married to an engineer. Can you spell HOPELESS on the dance floor? Between the two of us we haven't a chance. I mean, we can shimmy and shake with the best of them but when it comes to formal dancing we are sub-par. That's putting it kindly. A slow dance comes on and Rob and I clutch each other...and move around in circles on the dance floor like Dervishes without direction. It was time to learn the box step.

 

Our intent was to hide in the back of the Cabaret and watch the other people as they learned the rudimentary waltz steps. No such luck. Azamara's star dancer, the beautiful Maria, has eagle eyes and she spotted us lurking in the dark corners and would have none of it. She urged us forward. I wondered if she knew exactly what she was getting herself in for.

 

God love her. That's all I can say. There's a special place in heaven for someone who can teach two left-footers the box step.

 

She did.

 

Eventually. :D

[J.E.C]

So loving your review, makes our up coming holiday on the Quest seem even closer :). As ours is a repositioning cruise we have lots of lovely see days to look forward to.

 

Looking forward to the next installment.

 

Julie

[Freckles49]

As always your review brings such pleasure to so many people. Thank you so much for taking the time to do this.

 

Yourself and Rob look so well!

 

Im now feeling very guilty about not yet submitting my Quest review.... But I will!!!

 

Very best wishes to you both.

 

Jen and Pete

[dln929]

So loving your review, makes our up coming holiday on the Quest seem even closer :). As ours is a repositioning cruise we have lots of lovely see days to look forward to.

 

Looking forward to the next installment.

 

Julie

 

Thank you Julie. I love sea days too. On those days our favorite place to hang out with a book in the afternoon is the Deck 5 promenade. Though it seems that our "secret" hiding place is no longer a secret! It used to be that you could always find a lounger there (well, ok, based on my extensive experience of three Azamara cruises ;)) but now they get taken pretty quickly. Given how quiet and relaxing Deck 5 is, hardly any wonder the word's out.

 

As always your review brings such pleasure to so many people. Thank you so much for taking the time to do this.

 

Yourself and Rob look so well!

 

Im now feeling very guilty about not yet submitting my Quest review.... But I will!!!

 

Very best wishes to you both.

 

Jen and Pete

 

Hi Jen. It's good to hear from you. Hope our paths cross again some time in the future!

[dln929]

Sunday brought us to Valencia. Of course there's never any telling at which berth a ship will be docked and what view you will be getting that morning. We were delighted to see that our balcony overlooked the harbor and that we could even see the City of Arts and Sciences.

 

 

A zoomed in view of the City of Arts and Sciences taken from the Sunset Bar.

 

[dln929]

It was such a bonus to be closer to the city this time around. We had been to Valencia last fall on Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas and it was a long shuttle ride to the medieval city center. The Journey brought us within walking distance of the beach and the City of Arts and Sciences (caveat: too far walking for some though not for us...:p ). Proximity to the places you want to see and go is one of the best selling points of Azamara. The sheer convenience of getting off the ship quickly and getting to your destination just as quickly cannot be beat. I didn't think this would matter to me, to tell you the truth, but I've come to really appreciate it.

 

For some reason Valencia didn't give us the "wow" factor when we saw it first. We thought it was a nice city, sure, but it didn't talk to us like some places do. I was scratching my head at why this itinerary would put us there for an overnight. To that end, we made plans on our full day in Valencia to go to a small town called Xativa. It was a short train ride away and there was a huge castle on the hill. We like castles as much as we do caves so off we went.

 

I had to eat my words about Valencia being only "nice." What an incredible city! We'd only been in the small medieval center before (on a not-so-exciting free walking tour) but this time we had to walk a lot further out to get to the old train station to catch the local to Xativa. Valencia has some magnificent boulevards and grand buildings. Beautiful little tree-lined side streets with intricate wrought iron balconies too. My eyes were popping. It made me glad that we'd signed up for the ship's tour of Valencia the next morning because I wanted to see more.

 

 

 

 

[GreenEyedKat]

How lovely to read such a positive review after all the negative and gloomy threads on here recently. It should remind us all that THE CRUISE is what really matters. Thank you for taking the time to do it Deirdre. I can't wait for your next installment.

[TravelBugM]

Very nice (positive) post. We are sailing on the Journey late October and are very much looking forward to our first Azamara cruise.

 

We've sailed with Viking twice before and read numerous negative posts before and after both cruises. We enjoyed both immensely and had very positive experiences. We believe we will have the same with Azamara.

[dln929]

How lovely to read such a positive review after all the negative and gloomy threads on here recently. It should remind us all that THE CRUISE is what really matters. Thank you for taking the time to do it Deirdre. I can't wait for your next installment.

 

You are welcome. It is my pleasure to write about cruises--such as this--I've enjoyed. It's a way of prolonging the moment.

 

Very nice (positive) post. We are sailing on the Journey late October and are very much looking forward to our first Azamara cruise.

 

We've sailed with Viking twice before and read numerous negative posts before and after both cruises. We enjoyed both immensely and had very positive experiences. We believe we will have the same with Azamara.

 

If you have half as much fun as we did, you'll be glad you took the plunge with Azamara. :D