Live From Azamara Journey - Nov 29 to Dec 11th

[P&M Cruisers]

Hi Everyone,

 

We are at the end of our Journey....sad to go.

 

It was an excellent trip. We made a few new friends and truely enjoyed our cruise.

 

The staff is outstanding, I mean really outstanding, they are friendly and go out of their way to ensure everyone is having a good time. The personal attention we received on this trip far exceeds anything we have experienced on our 6 previous cruises.

 

I, like many of you, have been reading the comments on cruise critic for insight into our cruise. Well, I have to say I was very much releaved once we started cruising. I feel like I am reporting on a completely different ship and experience then some of the previous cruise critic reports.

 

First of all, the dining experience was outstanding. Starting with the embarcation process, Azamara has added a new feature in which they ask you what time you would like to dine at, on the first night only. This seems to have resolved any previous issues with line-ups especially on the first night. We rarely saw anyone waiting, if they did it was not more then a few minutes. For us we chose to be at the same table each night and it was always available and the staff seemed to know we would eventually be there. We dined at Aqualine one night and really enjoyed it, one recommendation, make sure you try the soufle, it is out of this world! Domenic was on this voyage and he is excellent as some previous critics have reported. We very much enjoyed afternoon tea in Aqualine, again a highlight, the Harpest is very talented.

 

The entertainment staff and the Cruise director Andrea and his staff were all excellent! The Cabaret is very intimate and gave us a feeling of being part of the show for each performance. We enjoyed all of the shows. The performers are very friendly and are often at other events off hours and interact with the passengers on a regular basis, much more then we have ever seen.

 

Special mention to the following crew which we very much appreciated their personal attention: in the Dinning Room, Csjoka (hard worker and always upbeat), Nitish, Ghanowa, Mario, and Maria the bar waitress from Columbia, our butleress, Maria Franco, George the officer who I was lucky enough to dance with we even won 4th prize!!

 

We will submit a full report upon our return but for now I wanted to pass on to all of you not sure what to expect, I really think you will love it.

 

I can tell you we loved our Cruise and would recommend it to all!

 

I hope your cruise is as wonderful as ours!

 

Maria & Paul

 

Bye for now.:) :)

[Andy]

Hi P&M Cruisers !

 

Thank you for your excellent update. I am happy to hear you are having a wonderful time on Journey. The mystery of where Cruise Director Andrea is, has been solved. We were wondering why he left Quest so suddenly.

 

Please say hello to Dominique and Andrea for me if you see them again. We have sailed with Dominique many times before (most recently on Quest), and he is a great asset to Celebrity !

[dabear]

thanks for your short report and I am looking forward to reading your long one. I am becoming somewhat relieved as to the overall experience on the Journey now being reported (after so many mixed reviews). We sail 2/27/08 and are getting excited. Open seating can work (as it does on O) and X fans who expect fixed seating should adjust or stick with X. I also hope the secret dinner reservation system is eliminated as nothing irritates people more than matters like this.

[Old Broad]

thanks for your short report and I am looking forward to reading your long one. I am becoming somewhat relieved as to the overall experience on the Journey now being reported (after so many mixed reviews). We sail 2/27/08 and are getting excited. Open seating can work (as it does on O) and X fans who expect fixed seating should adjust or stick with X. I also hope the secret dinner reservation system is eliminated as nothing irritates people more than matters like this.

What secret dinner reservation system?

[P&M Cruisers]

This wasn't a secret, for the first night only, you were asked what time you would like to have dinner and were given a small reservation with the time on it.

 

If you mean why when we showed up our table seemed to be available, I think that had much more to do with the fact the ship was sailing at about 70% capacity and some passengers don't even use the dining room and prefer the buffet (not us but some do) so the dining room wait was really not an issue and there were 4 of us eating at the same table.

 

In any case I would say for sure try the dining room, it is worth the little extra time it takes compared to the buffet. However, make sure you try Aqualina for the souffle.

 

Enjoy your upcoming cruise. Wish I could say the same....

 

:)