Cruise Ship Reviews
Azamara Journey - Summer 2007
Jon and I sailed "Journey" this summer and have been meaning to put out a review. Assume many of the East Coast agents were able to do an inspection and have lunch on her, but don't remember seeing more than one or two reviews, so here's my take. Note: we were on the first travel agent seminar at sea offered direct by our local Celebrity rep-in fact, she's just been promoted up to the Boston area and will now have d.s.m.'s reporting to her-she's Crystal Campbell, so if you get to meet her or work with her, say hi for me-she's great.
Having sailed Oceania several times, I can say, that going on Journey physically, like going on any other brand ship of the same size...once you've been on one, you've been on all of them...with the exception of a few signature Celebrity type additions, such as the Cova Cafe, it could've easily been the Regatta. In fact, in my opinion, my guess is it's exactly like going on one of the same size Princess ships, like Pacific, but since I haven't been on them, I can't say for sure.
The ship itself-the artwork, upholstery, bedding, etc., again, very similar to Oceania. The library, which is a beautiful room is not as well used as it was on Oceania, but think that is due to a bit of confusion as to what it really is - is it a library, or is it as it is now labeled, Michael's Club, another Celebrity signature name. The books were not easy to navigate and it was not as well stocked as it should have been. I think the books in there were probably a carry over from the previous life of the vessel w/Renaissance and the years after. I also don't think it's as well used on a 7 night Bermuda run as it would be on a longer 12+ night trip.
The computer center was used by a few guests, and there was no charge for classes. These were run "in house" by a gal who we knew from the computer room on Oceania.
They offer packages and they can be used w/laptops around the ship-believe most if not all of the ship, including the cabins are wi-fi now. We purchased a mid range package for about $ 100, and ended up w/pretty decent service-only a couple of glitches during the week and the manager of the computer center adjusted our bill.
Dining:The dining rooms were just like they were on Oceania - OPEN dining in the main restaurant, and while on Oceania they are all w/o additional fees, on Azamara they offer the non-suite guests one complimentary night in either of the two upscale specialty restaurants on deck 10, The suite guests receive two nights at no charge. Otherwise, the charge is $ 20 + depending on if the guests want a wine tastings dinner vs just a regular dinner (in the steak house only) One change is in the steak house, different from my experiences on Oceania, Azamara has added a see through wine cellar, along w/ a very long table that seats at least 12 if not more right in front of the wine room. very festive and apparently already very popular.
For casual dining upstairs by the pool area, thre is an outdoor grill, and then inside the more typical buffet. The week we sailed, Azamara was introducing a new concept w/ half the lido area offering waiter service, tablecloths, limited choice menu, but served...If one wanted to help themselves to sushi, pizza, pasta or other foods, they can get up in between courses and help themselves in addition.
For those who do not make reservations (no charge by the way), they have the other half of the dining area w/the traditional buffet choices.
on the nights in port in Hamilton and St. George they also offered wait service outside on the aft deck. only problem there was the lights were off, so it was just a bit dark out there after 8:30-just the lights of the streets below to illuminate along w/some interesting candles on the tables that were battery operated and yet flickered-they were also on all the tables in the various restaurants-thought it was a nice safey measure I wouldn't mind having in my own home! a touch of romance w/o threat of fire!
Staterooms were not too different from what I experienced on Oceania although they now offer "butlers" for every stateroom, not just higher level concierge or suite staterooms. Our butler who was accomodating, was really just a really good steward-not sure I would have tested her to see if she could make reservations for me, etc. says they can and even unpack for you, but we didn't need anything special. She did have an assistant but he was not any different than the traditional larger ships where they seem to have a steward and an assistant these days. Beds were new of course and comfortable-linens and duvet also high quality, similar to all high end ships.
Room service was available 24/7 and decent choices there...they also offered tea service every afternoon upon request. This in addition to high tea upstairs each day.
Fresh fruit in the rooms and fresh flowers...very nice but sort of expected w/this line. Reminds me more of the CC level cabins on Celebrity.
Entertainment-cabaret style as the room only holds about 300, but the quality was excellent and the rooms tended to fill up. the singing troupe was great, no room for dancing so they used stools and then moved about the room to engage the audience. mostly young kids from Disney, Broadway, etc. two guys and and three girls-but again, very high quality as one girl had played a lead role in Les Miz and one of the men played lead roles in various shows...the comedian was someone I think I've seen on Celebrity ships but the magician was very different and well received...all clean fun too...they had kids on board as a lot of folks had been originally booked on Zenith, so maybe they felt they shouldn't offer any "adult" humor per say. No one seemed to mind if kids were in the audience and in fact it made the acts of both the comic and the comedian even funnier as they were up close and personal so the kids could literally be grabbed out of their seats and on stage in a second.
if anyone has any questions, I'm happy to share my thoughts and experiences while on Journey in addition to the above.
Suffice it to say, Jon and I love this size ship, enjoyed the high quality of service, the cruisine, and the entertainment....that plus we love Bermuda as it does fit w/the more upscale island image that works w/Azamara...I think Oceania will have some good competition and I noticed already that Azamara seems to be replacing Oceania in South America for holiday '08. Not sure if that was planned but for the past three years Oceania has been a staple down there on one of her three ships and she is not going to be there.