Cruiserbornin75

I do not think a Mudslide would be an included cocktail because I believe one of the ingredients is Baileys

Correct!

Our first time on Azamara was last week. I really wanted to love it. There were a number of benefits, but I didn't walk away feeling as though I had been on a luxury cruise.

Pros:

*small ship no embark/disembark lines, even when tendering. No lines for anything on board.

*great itinerary

*partially included beverages. Especially appreciated the coffee selection

*dining room was excellent and staff were reminiscent of the level of service from 20 years ago - where they remember your name and preferences after the first or second night (if you ask to be seated in the same section as we did)

*room service options were better than any other line. They won't deliver beer, but they will deliver wine?!

*azamazing night was excellent! As was the white night. Definitely do it!

Here is my list of cons...a very odd list in my opinion!

*i have never experienced "last call" on a ship before... Not even on a river cruise! The blink the lights and everything - every night.

*casino closes even though still in international waters... I guess taking money from just a handful of people isn't profitable enough.

*drink service is slow... From coffee and juice in the morning, to pool side and at the grill. I guess when it is included there is no reason to expedite. The selection of what is included at the various levels is also incomprehensible and there were no local choices included, which seemed counter-intuitive to the immersion approach.

*while I was a first timer on this line, my status on another line translated to this line, which was nice. But the returning guest reception required us to return almost two hours early from the port. If you like the port, don't come back early for the reception. You aren't missing much. They even took away already poured drinks rather than give them out. Maybe they would rather dump them out, but I couldn't help but think they were recycling them.

*as someone already mentioned, you have to seek out port maps instead of providing them in room. Strange approach.

*the time on port seemed off. Ports where there were many things to do time was short. Where there wasn't much the departure was late. When I say there were things to do, most of what I refer to is activities we would plan on our own. The excursions were geared towards a much older crowd. No beach excursions, no volcano/hot spring excursion which were things we had found on our own but couldn't schedule due to departure times.

*no storage in the bathroom. Two women sharing a cabin doesn't work with this bathroom configuration.

Overall, a good experience, but not a luxury line.