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Azamara Cruise Caribbean 2010 January FABULOUS
 
Reviewed By: kendall, Newcastle on tyne on 15th Feb 2010
Cruise Line: Azamara Club Cruises Times cruised before: 6-10
Cruise Ship: Azamara Journey Sailed: January, 2010
Destination: Caribbean Age: 65+
Cabin: Balcony
Neil And Ida, Bosscat
You are right !!!
Azamara cruises are great. Just returned from Caribbean 12 day on-board Journey.
Flew Club from Heathrow which was great. Do not let BA say they cannot produce good airline food.
Stayed 3 nights in Miami but had to pay high price for rooms as Miami boat show, Football game and 15,000 person ING marathon all on that weekend. Will not make that mistake again!!
Getting from Marriott down town to port was nightmare and took us 45 mins for 5 min journey as police kept diverting us in a circle!!!.
Passed our hotel after 20 mins but arrived in plenty of time to be able to walk straight through all check in procedures etc.
Greeted by champagne and left carry on luggage for cabin delivery.
Spent some time exploring ship which is easy to navigate as lot smaller than previous Celebrity or Holland America ships from previous cruises.
Swimming pool is tiny but the wooden steamer chairs with proper 3-inch cushions ad sep headrests which are then covered with Azamara signed white towels really set off the deck.
There was always space even on the sea days as a lot of passengers were quite happy to sit/sleep/doze in the shade.
Ate in open air Waterfalls aft café whilst waiting to sail which had their signature great waiter service.

Down to cabin on deck 7 midship which was in great condition although the balcony is a little small as enough space for table and 2 chairs but not room for loungers.
Adequate storage space although a little tight for all my wife’s dresses etc!!!
General condition of ship was great with what appeared to be a lot of new carpeting in corridors etc.
Perhaps getting ready for relaunch in April of Azamara Club.
Free bottled water and free wine with meals and included tips being main selling points.
Not sure if they will be able to achieve their occupancy as brochure rates for balcony cabins is slated to be $510 per day per person not including flight!!

I am now convert to open dining as you can pick your companions if you wish or else simply take pot luck with sharing.
All companions were great except 1 night we had an OCD English man who insisted on 6 courses including cheese and biscuits after his soup.

He also INSISTED on cutting up ALL his food including lettuce into portions smaller than my little fingernail.
Watching him cut 3 great slices of prime rib into ¼ inch strips before then cutting in opposite direction was torture!!!
It took the waiters nearly 3 hours to serve us as we had to wait for OCD UK to finish each course before next course served.
All food was great with also non standard items of plainer variety if preferred i.e plain grilled chicken breast.
In addition if you gave 24 hours notice they would prepare anything you wanted. For instance 1 companion diner requested a roast chicken rather than chicken breast and was told no problem for tomorrow.
Their take on British fish and chips whilst tasty did not hit the mark with 2 inch portions of fish and slightly mashed petit pois for mushy peas.
Oh for a tin of Batchelors.
Maybe next time I will take them a tin to show them real mushy peas!!???
Breakfast were the usual dine in dining room (did not use),
Room service perfectly adequate or Waterfall café
20 item fresh smoothies prepared while you wait.
You did not have to have all 20 but could choose your own fruits (in front of you) and juice, milk, yoghourt of your choice as well as freshly squeezed orange juice.
Server fed oranges in and you got orange juice out.
Usual dining stations for eggs waffles toast etc but café never got too busy and seats always available if you were prepared to share.
Lunch options were the same (dining room available on sea days only) but food perfectly acceptable in Cafe as well as usual burger /hot dog serving station on deck which in the interests of this review I was obliged to sample!!???.
We also ate 4 times in Prime C restaurant which at $5 cover charge should satisfy the most parsimonious Brit.
We were able to mix and match dishes from the other fine dining venue Aqualina so we were able to have goats cheese soufflé and Grand Marnier soufflé to go with our fillet steaks etc.
They also do the best French onion soup I have ever had.
A great thick layer of caramelized cheese on top of wonderfully soft onions. Beautiful!!!
The most impressive thing about all dining venues including self service areas was the constant presence of catering managers.
We usually saw all 3 at breakfast time and patrolling decks at lunch times etc.
We would finish dining at 11.00pm and the maître'd was on duty next morning at 8.00 am.

Entertainment
Did not go to main shows but saw Pearl Kaufmann twice (piano player for Dr Zhivago( amongst other things) .Another great piano player as well as cruise director Tony's show. A local boy from Wallsend done good.
He was not intrusive with announcements but was always around.
Best entertainment for us was Carlos the piano/accordion player in Cova Cafe at nights

Tours etc
We did not bother with but simply got taxis at ports.
My wife got off on the island of Dominica but was hassled by locals as being on her own and returned in tears within 10 minutes.
We complained to guest relations as well as officers on disembarkation duty as we has specifically asked if it was safe to get off as we needed some sun cream. My wife said she would go ashore for it as ship did not have a sundry shop but just the usual perfume/watch/handbag shop..
We also spoke to 2 Danish ladies who felt exactly the same who also returned early.
Guest relations need to up their game as another couple asked for advice on good beach / hotel and when taken there by taxi driver found out the hotel was demolished 2 years ago in previous hurricane!!.
I would certainly have wanted refund of my taxi money!!!

St Barts was good but EXPENSIVE!!!
On our beach we shared a taxi with a couple from Denmark and hired chairs and umbrella but found out from other people that they were charging $30 per chair!!.
After haggling we got that down to $25 for 2 but 2 English couples had lunch in the adjoining restaurant and were charged 350 Euros!! for spaghetti etc.
If you got your coffee refilled it was 8 Euros a time
In the bay at the time was the yacht Indian Empress (google it) rental rate $245,000 per week) No doubt dining at above restaurant.

On Antigua we also shared taxi as above to beach with chairs at $6 rental.
Taxi driver stayed on beach all the time so if we had wished to go early we could have done so.

All in all a great cruise and we too will almost certainly return if price is right but $6000 or £4500 for 14 days is dream time.
Quality of Food5
Entertainmentn/a
Shore Excursionsn/a
Staff5
restaurant managers ALWAYS around
Children's Facilitiesn/a
Onboard Activities4
Cabins5
Overall Rating5
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Comment by kendall, newcastle ontyne (16 Feb 10 13:57) about this REVIEW
Bosscat Just looked on american site for this time next year and they are quoting at current exhange rates £1532 for 12 days with balcony so looks as if they have given up already!!!. If so so silly to have brochures available on ship giving indicative pricing of $510 per day per person as every body I spoke to said they could/would not consider them for next year. We certainly will if £1532 is available!!!
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Comment by Bosscat, Argolida, Greece (17 Feb 10 08:49) about a COMMENT by kendall (16 Feb 10 13:57)
That IS a good price is it the same cruise you've just done or a different itinerary? We're booked on a transatlantic aboard Journey later this year and got what we considered a good price for a flycruise balcony with some onboard spend - 1399. Transatlantic reposition cruises are always cheaper than 'normal' cruises, of course.
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Comment by kendall, Newcastle on tyne (18 Feb 10 08:06) about a COMMENT by Bosscat (17 Feb 10 08:49)
Price is cruise only. on the famous to go site.(we make own fly arrangements) Timing is actually 14 days later i.e. valentine cruise which is normally £200 pp more hol so awaiting our UK TA to come back from Dubai to check if she can match. Did so last year and got gratuities included then. Grats inc.from April together with free wine and water. Not sure if that is miracle or not?
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Comment by Bosscat, Argolida, Greece (16 Feb 10 11:09) about this REVIEW
So glad you enjoyed it! I'm also interested to see if the suggested high prices will be met with full ships...
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