ONWARD and Upward.. our Azamazing "Italy Intensive" Week - April 22 to April 29, 2023. Full Trip Report With Tons of Pix.

[Sleep7]

8 hours and 39 minutes flying time from FCO to JFK.

🇮🇹Arrivederci Roma!🇺🇸

 

 

[Sleep7]

Lunch on board.. vegetable lasagna.

 

 

There has definitely been a post COVID change in the meals that airlines serve.

Here is a picture of a lunch from a Delta flight to Venice way back in 2015.

Remember when coach meals included a little salad and a roll and cheese and crackers?

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sleep7]

I remembered to wear an extra sweater for the exit row freeze!🥶

That's the price you pay for lots of leg room.

Almost there.. 2 hours to go.

 

[Sleep7]

And here we are.. landed and laughing and exhausted yet still smiling ear to ear.

It was a perfect week filled with all delightful things.. glorious weather.. mostly smooth seas.. beautiful ports.. lovely accommodations.. relaxing tours... sweet new friends.. outstanding food and drinks.. fantastic service and of course the BEST company! ❤️

Thank you for coming along with me and for sharing a week's worth of wonderful waves.🌊

Wishing everyone "Calm seas and prosperous voyages."

Goodbye for now.🤗

 

 

 

 

[Azulann]

Thanks you for your trip review.

As a Viking cruiser, I appreciate your detailed photos and description of Azamara Onward  ship. 

Thanks for providing the menus, so I can see the variety  and themed dinners  offered on board.  

Azamara is on my list of other cruise lines to try, especially for their in depth itineraries. 

[Sleep7]

👋Hi Azulann!!

Thanks so much for your sweet compliments about my review and of course I remember you from the Viking board.😍

There are some differences but many similarities between the two lines and we really love them both.

Thank you for sharing the smiles with me.🤗

[Work in to Cruise 2023]

Thank you Sleep7 for the detailed, well written and informative post - with lots of stunning photos! 😍.  We LOVE Azamara having cruised many times with them. Our first time aboard the Onward will be November 30 for the Caribbean Breezes cruise.  This trip will be extra special as we are taking our 9 year old granddaughter with us, this is her 1st cruise!  Looking forward to a wonderful experience once again with Azamara.

[Sleep7]

1 minute ago, Work in to Cruise 2023 said:

Thank you Sleep7 for the detailed, well written and informative post - with lots of stunning photos! 😍.  We LOVE Azamara having cruised many times with them. Our first time aboard the Onward will be November 30 for the Caribbean Breezes cruise.  This trip will be extra special as we are taking our 9 year old granddaughter with us, this is her 1st cruise!  Looking forward to a wonderful experience once again with Azamara.

👋Hello Work in to Cruise 2023!

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and for your sweet compliments about it.

Oh my.. how exciting that you will be bringing your granddaughter along with you for her first cruise!

Truly a time to treasure.. lucky you.. lucky her!

November will be here before you know it.  Enjoy Enjoy Enjoy!!!🤗

[Ithikan]

Thank you so much for your review and photos, Sleep7!

Like GrandmaCruising, I managed to interest my husband in another Med cruise with Azamara simply on the basis of your Shrimp-travaganza pics 😁

However, I do have one question:  in your post #138 there are some upholstered chairs lined up on what I believe might be Deck 5.  We've sailed on Journey, Quest and Pursuit and I've not seen chairs such as those placed on an outside, albeit covered, deck.  Any thoughts?  

And again, thank you for sharing your cruise via CC!

 

Teri

[Ilovesun3438]

Hello Sleep7,

Thank you for answering some questions I had since I am unable to get a hold of anyone at Azamar.

Question; how did you track your luggage? Is that a Delta thing or an Apple tag?

Thank you! 

Donna

[Sleep7]

47 minutes ago, Ithikan said:

Thank you so much for your review and photos, Sleep7!

Like GrandmaCruising, I managed to interest my husband in another Med cruise with Azamara simply on the basis of your Shrimp-travaganza pics 😁

However, I do have one question:  in your post #138 there are some upholstered chairs lined up on what I believe might be Deck 5.  We've sailed on Journey, Quest and Pursuit and I've not seen chairs such as those placed on an outside, albeit covered, deck.  Any thoughts?  

And again, thank you for sharing your cruise via CC!

 

Teri

👋Hello Ithikan!

Oh you're so welcome.. writing the review was so fun for me.  Thank you for your compliments.

I am honored that the "shrimp-travaganza" pix pushed your hubs over the edge of considering a future Med cruise. Yay!🤗

It's funny you mention that long chair in the deck picture.. I noticed it too.  I had never seen anything like that on the other 3 Azamara ships.  I guess it was a leftover from it's former owners days.😊

[Sleep7]

12 minutes ago, Ilovesun3438 said:

Hello Sleep7,

Thank you for answering some questions I had since I am unable to get a hold of anyone at Azamar.

Question; how did you track your luggage? Is that a Delta thing or an Apple tag?

Thank you! 

Donna

👋Hi Donna!

I'm so glad that I was able to answer a few questions for you.  Don't fret if you have an upcoming cruise coming soon.. everything was in order when we got on board.

The way I knew our luggage was on the plane was on the Delta app.

You click the lines on the bottom right of the app and this menu comes up.  The second line is "Track my bags." It shows real time info RE whether your bags have been loaded onto the plane or not.

Good luck!😊

 

 

 

[MikeyB]

Hey Sleepy!

"Well, there you go again".

Thank you for providing the invite over at Viking.

You have done another amazing job of allowing everyone to see this cruise thru your eyes.  And very pretty eyes.

The food choices you had were remarkable in their diversity.  Enjoyed reading your comments.

Thank you for all the time spent creating this journey for all to share.

Now, you must comment on this board about how this cruise and a Viking cruise are the same/different.

Sorry to ask and don't ignore me if I ever see you!

🙂

[Mackdogmolly]

11 hours ago, Grandma Cruising said:

Thank you so much for your very interesting posts and photos - it’s got us looking at Mediterranean cruises for next year.

Me too!

[Sleep7]

19 minutes ago, MikeyB said:

Hey Sleepy!

"Well, there you go again".

Thank you for providing the invite over at Viking.

You have done another amazing job of allowing everyone to see this cruise thru your eyes.  And very pretty eyes.

The food choices you had were remarkable in their diversity.  Enjoyed reading your comments.

Thank you for all the time spent creating this journey for all to share.

Now, you must comment on this board about how this cruise and a Viking cruise are the same/different.

Sorry to ask and don't ignore me if I ever see you!

🙂

😊Well aren't you a sweetheart my fellow Long Islander MikeyB!

Blushing here with all your lovely compliments. Thank you and thank you again.🙋‍♀️

I truly loved sharing the journey as it was truly a spectacular week.

A European cruise is my "most favorite" vacation and I am in heaven just being on one.

Thank you again.. I'm truly touched.🤗

[Sleep7]

20 minutes ago, Mackdogmolly said:

Me too!

Ooo!  I love to hear that!!!😍

I'm thrilled that I might be the catalyst for something so fun.🤗

[takemewithyou]

Your review was a breath of fresh air that we all need right now!

It helps restore our faith in Azamara and what we all love about cruising on their ships.  Hope all our upcoming cruises we have booked are as effortless as yours was! 

Edited May 2, 2023 by takemewithyou

[kent4489]

Such a wonderful and complete review of my favorite ship at the moment. We spent 40 nights on her this past year and have 23 nights booked for Nov. I was especially interested in some of your ports as we will also be stopping in some of these ports. Thank you.

[Sleep7]

12 minutes ago, takemewithyou said:

Your review was a breath of fresh air that we all need right now!

It helps restore our faith in Azamara and what we all love about cruising on their ships.  Hope all our upcoming cruises we have booked are as effortless as yours was! 

👋Hello again takemewithyou!

First of all I love your screen name.. so clever.

I'm so glad that my "everything is gonna be all right" attitude came through loud and clear.

For sure there were.. and still are.. a lot of issues and frustration with their IT situation but for some reason their ships are up and running as if none of it ever happened and that bodes well for you!

I'm sure your cruise will be a delight without any snafus besides where to eat lunch that day.😃

[takemewithyou]

@Sleep7 Do you have any future cruises booked with Azamara? 
Thank you for all your kind words, also! 😊

[Sleep7]

14 minutes ago, kent4489 said:

Such a wonderful and complete review of my favorite ship at the moment. We spent 40 nights on her this past year and have 23 nights booked for Nov. I was especially interested in some of your ports as we will also be stopping in some of these ports. Thank you.

👋Oh hello and thanks so much kent4489!  I'm so glad that you enjoyed my review and even nicer that it happens to be about your favorite ship!

That is awesome that by the end of the year you will have been on board for about 20% of 2023!

I think my math correct there?🗓️

Anyways.. enjoy every moment!  Thanks again.🤗

 

[Sleep7]

Just now, takemewithyou said:

@Sleep7 Do you have any future cruises booked with Azamara? 
Thank you for all your kind words, also! 😊

🙋‍♀️Hi again!

No.. no ocean cruises in our future yet.

We are booked on an Eastern European river cruise this fall that sails from Budapest to Bucharest.  I'm super excited about that.  It's an area of Europe I have always wanted to visit.

Hope to get back to ocean in the spring of 2024.🤞

 

[kent4489]

9 minutes ago, Sleep7 said:

👋Oh hello and thanks so much kent4489!  I'm so glad that you enjoyed my review and even nicer that it happens to be about your favorite ship!

That is awesome that by the end of the year you will have been on board for about 20% of 2023!

I think my math correct there?🗓️

Anyways.. enjoy every moment!  Thanks again.🤗

 

Sleep7, in the past year, beginning last June, it was 40 nights (all in the same cabin), so part of 2022 and part of 2023. For 2023, we were on for 18 nights in March and another 23 nights coming up in November. So, 63 nights in 1/1/2 years. We obviously like the ship! 😉

[Sleep7]

4 minutes ago, kent4489 said:

Sleep7, in the past year, beginning last June, it was 40 nights (all in the same cabin), so part of 2022 and part of 2023. For 2023, we were on for 18 nights in March and another 23 nights coming up in November. So, 63 nights in 1/1/2 years. We obviously like the ship! 😉

Wow! Those numbers are travel goals for me for sure.  The staff (I do feel that way about all the Azamara ships though) was just so genuinely warm and sweet.  Really like family.  I know why you love the ship so much.  Enjoy your next 23 nights!  Coming up soon!!

 

[Mackdogmolly]

20 minutes ago, Sleep7 said:

🙋‍♀️Hi again!

No.. no ocean cruises in our future yet.

We are booked on an Eastern European river cruise this fall that sails from Budapest to Bucharest.  I'm super excited about that.  It's an area of Europe I have always wanted to visit.

Hope to get back to ocean in the spring of 2024.🤞

 

We’re starting to think about a river cruise too!