Maverine

I, like you am not on the ship at this time so our information is only coming from those posting here.

 

 

 

But apart from those people who booked top suites and had to be accommodated elsewhere which is very upsetting the issues do appear to be of a fairly minor nature.

 

 

 

The self service laundry is not operational so they are doing people's laundry free of charge. The slots pay out coupons rather than coins - hardly a reason for a cruise to be spoilt.

 

 

 

Yes I am sure there are some more niggles as there always are when a ship comes out of dry dock. However, the ship is in the beautiful Caribbean sunshine and I am sure the wonderful crew are doing everything to ensure guests enjoy the best cruise experience possible.

 

 

 

30% off a future cruise is generous IMO, so surely it's time to make lemonade out of lemons.

[emoji106][emoji898][emoji267]Absolutely my thoughts!

[emoji106]

Check out how many ships are in port (especially in St. Thomas). If there are approx 20.000 pax it's a good idea to avoid the island. We took a great catamaran and snorkel trip to St. John. Beautiful beach and much less crowds. On Aruba we rented a Jeep. We came back dirty but happy and saw a lot of interesting places.

Sorry, but the airport - I assume it will be Fiumicino - is not 2 h away if you take a car. We did a limo service (I think it was Bob's Limo), it didn't cost a fortune and the transportation time was approx 1h 15 min to the port (with some traffic delays). The driver was waiting just outside the security area. It took us less than an hour to get our luggage and leave the airport. Of course if your flight is delayed and you are struck in traffic there is a risk of missing the ship. But so far we never had a problem with a same day flight in Europe. With the flight arriving at 11am you have more than 4h to go. It might be stress but it's possible.

If the buffet is too crowded you can go to the bistro on five. Is has an additional charge of $5 for the really good crepes and soup (as much as you like). Nice quiet place. But if your planes arrives at 11am don't expect to be on board before 1:30 pm or more likely 2pm. At this time your cabin should be ready. We liked the Reflection very much. Have fun!

Haha, could be us. For me it's part of the pre cruise excitement to start taking out the clothes. Maybe not 4 weeks but at least two weeks before departing.

I will post some photos after the cruise as I do not have much Internet time left. I will try to remember to take some menu photos and post them post cruise. We are enjoying this cruise.

Thanks in advance!

I also saw the pictures you mentioned but after some research it looks like these are actually old pictures of the Continental Suites. Not sure why some sites show these as VX. Maybe an old error that was just copied by others.

Hello Kaz, thanks for posting your experience. Glad to hear that the veranda cabins are nice. We have also booked a veranda cabin on the journey for March. Do you think you can post some pictures? Or tell us more about the MDR menus. Please don't feel pressure to do so, first of all enjoy your cruise! I think it's a matter of perspective but for me are a TV not working for one day on a cruise in the Caribbean and some inconvenience by using the slot machine minor issues that won't ruin my cruise. I hope that they will fix the hot tubs soon and probably you can get some free laundry (just my thoughts). Again, enjoy!

So far we also got 6001 for our upcoming cruise, we also booked balcony guarantee. Now I'm a little worried about all the negative posts. Have you tried to be moved to another cabin?

Have a great cruise! Thanks for showing us the dry dock, now we'll follow your experiences on board.

I hope it is not the same evening as Amazing or white evening.

I don't know when the white party will be but at least it's not the same day as the azamazing night.

Thank you for your fast response. We'll try to get a reservation asap after boarding.

Hi, we are first timers on Azamara. During our cruise on Azamara Journey in March/ April we'll have our anniversary. For this evening we would like to book Prime C or Aqualina but I have not found if I can do this before boarding. As I learned from some posts the suite guest will book most of the tables on all days since they have complimentary access to this venues. Is there an opportunity to pre book a table if you don't stay in a suite ( we will be "just" in a veranda stateroom.)? Or can we / have we to do this right after boarding?

Everyones opinion is welcome! Thank you for your reply.

 

 

 

( I'm always freezing and would rather have no air conditioning ever, but my DH tells me all the time that I'm not normal lol )

 

 

 

Happy cruising and thank you all for your replies :)

Lol, I'm the same, not a fan of AC.

We don't come from a tipping country like the US but always had an extra $2-3 at hand when we ordered room service for breakfast. I'm sure you will get your service without extra tips but I know that the crew is working hard for long hours and is not paid a fortune. On a 7 day cruise that's less than $ 20 and a small percentage of my bill but for the waiter it might be a lot and most are supporting their family. We also tip our cabin steward and have sometimes tipped a waitress when we had special requests or if they were just exceptionelly. Just our opinion, no need to put out the flame throwers.

For honeymooners Venice is in Europe the spot to go. Maybe you should consider a smaller ship like Oceania or Azamara ships. They can often dock closer to the town (even go up to Sevilla on the river) or go to different Greek island than the bigger ships which makes the experience much more unique. Since you often get the same perks in a Veranda Cabin than in a suite on the bigger ones you budget should be fine. I personally would avoid MSC or Costa (even as an European). We did Celebrity and HAL in the Mediterranean. HAL was nice, not as old pax as people often tell you but probably Celebrity would suite you better. If your wife loves the Spa, consider Aqua Class. It's a regularly Veranda Cabin but with some nice perks, f.e, unlimited access of the Persian Garden and to Blu-Restaurant. We did this for an anniversary and really enjoyed it.

We have been to Norway last summer (August) and had really warm weather during the day (t-shirt, shorts). Some people even went into the water and a lot were sunbathing. But it depends. April will be much cooler, you might even have snow and especially early mornings ( don't miss the ship cruising into the fjord!) and nights will be really cold.. I would take a fleece jacket or a warm hoodie and a light weight padded jacket and yes, even gloves. Layers are great and something watertight since it can rain.

Wow, thanks for all the amazing pictures. It's truly unique to be able to watch the progress of a major cruise ship "reimagination". My excitement is rising high, can hardly wait to board this ship in March and see everything personally.

Thanks for all the great pics. We'll be first timers on Azamara in March. Can hardly wait, especially with all that beautiful new renovations. The design reminds me at Celebrity, like that decor. I think the new cabins on 8 will be the numbers 88xx, they already showed up on the booking sites. We booked a Veranda gty, so we'll have a fair chance to try these [emoji6].

Hope it won't be too cool on our cruise in the Caribbean in March. Especially when it's hot outside I'm prone to catch a cold when the AC is set too low. Maybe Europeans are not used that much to AC than most Americans.

Hi, great idea to post pictures of the ongoing work. So exited to sail on this ship in March (first time Azamara Journey).

I can not recommend a car service but Munich airport is some distance away from the center. Traffic is usually pretty heavy. Taking the train is very easy, even if you are handicapped. It departs right from the airport building and will bring you relatively cheap and fast to the city. Maybe you think about taking the train again.

We did the Rotterdam fjord cruise last September. For background it was 95 percent Dutch, only 100 or so Americans on board.

 

I've never seen a more casual cruise in my life. I couldn't care less what others wear so it makes to difference to me, but it was definitely far more casual than any cruise we've been on.

Same experience for us some years ago. On a cruise on the Rotterdam out of Rotterdam with a lot people from the Netherlands it was much less "formal" in the evening. Even on a formal night you could meet people in shorts and checkered shirts (not sure if they were in the MDR) or just changed right after dinner. I personally didn´t like it, ruine

d the atmosphere of a formal night.

It might depend on the destination, too. In the US people are often payed by the tips, In Europe they are most likely payed by their company and the tip is only on top if the service was good. Tipping is very different in several countries but you will find some tipping advice online.

We are 40+ and travelled HAL twice in the Mediterranean. Enjoyed both vacations and met nice people our age. As many posters mentioned before it depends on length, itinerary and time of the year how old the average age is but IMO that doesn't matter to much. I can not mingle with everybody and as long as we find nice people to chat with or have a nice drink together (oi oi to the Aussies, lol) we are fine.