A first timer’s first thoughts on June 17 Journey

Mostly quite positive.

Our initial impression was just terrible with the very worst embarkation either one of us has ever seen across a dozen different cruise lines. Once on board though, things have improved greatly (thankful sigh)!

Staff, food, drink, and service are all very good to excellent. As oddities would have it, we are dealing with serious deja vu as unbeknownst to us, we were on a sister ship to the Journey, when we were on the Adonia to Cuba last year. Cuba was fabulous but the Adonia left a lot to be desired so we have to struggle to shake our old bias.

We loved Prime C on all counts and look forward to Aqualina tonight. We found the food to be good in the buffet but find the layout and size of the food area awkward at best. This would be a huge first nod to Viking who has a spacious, modern, and just fantastic buffet, one of our favorite areas on their ships.

We’ve had no trouble ordering our complimentary martinis (yay!) so I recommend that you are clear with the bar staff ... for example: ask for a dirty martini made with Finlandia vodka. Btw, Finlandia is pretty darn good! The included red wine was surprisingly good too and there was no hesitation to pour and keep pouring at dinner. This poster admits to getting over a good size complimentary first day hangover.

More later :)

Thanks for sharing your experience. We have our 1st Azamara cruise booked for December.

So pleased to hear that, once onboard, you are beginning to enjoy Azamara. Have a wonderful time. If you have time, would you please let us know about the entertainment. We board in Copenhagen at the end of August and debark at Greenwich in September.

Enjoy!

Lynne:)

Mostly quite positive.

 

Our initial impression was just terrible with the very worst embarkation either one of us has ever seen across a dozen different cruise lines. Once on board though, things have improved greatly (thankful sigh)!

 

Staff, food, drink, and service are all very good to excellent. As oddities would have it, we are dealing with serious deja vu as unbeknownst to us, we were on a sister ship to the Journey, when we were on the Adonia to Cuba last year. Cuba was fabulous but the Adonia left a lot to be desired so we have to struggle to shake our old bias.

 

We loved Prime C on all counts and look forward to Aqualina tonight. We found the food to be good in the buffet but find the layout and size of the food area awkward at best. This would be a huge first nod to Viking who has a spacious, modern, and just fantastic buffet, one of our favorite areas on their ships.

 

We’ve had no trouble ordering our complimentary martinis (yay!) so I recommend that you are clear with the bar staff ... for example: ask for a dirty martini made with Finlandia vodka. Btw, Finlandia is pretty darn good! The included red wine was surprisingly good too and there was no hesitation to pour and keep pouring at dinner. This poster admits to getting over a good size complimentary first day hangover.

 

More later :)

Very interesting! Thanks.

We'll be first timers with Az in 2020 (Portugal to Cape Town) and aprreciate your views. Keep them coming ----if you have time between sips, swigs and guzzles!

Omigosh, curiousty got the better of us and we just did some research ... we’ve learned that the Adonia that we were on to Cuba actually IS the Azamara Pursuit!

Agree with you about the boarding arrangements. A very second class first impression belying a very first class experience.

What happened during boarding? We have always thought that the Azamara boarding process was great.

Sounds like the Greenwich port does not have the infrastructure to disembark and then embark smoothly a 680 passenger ship.

Omigosh, curiousty got the better of us and we just did some research ... we’ve learned that the Adonia that we were on to Cuba actually IS the Azamara Pursuit!

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Last night’s dinner in Aqualina was extremely good and the service was excellent. We may have a preference for Prime C and look forward to a couple more times in each to help us decide! All in all, the food and drink are just great. We didn’t care much for yesterday’s featured red wine but no problem ... our server at dinner grabbed a bottle of the red we had enjoyed the day before for us. Now that’s service!

We’ve been very impressed with the array of snacks and small plates throughout the ship. The tapas in the Living Room Lounge are wonderful and make for the perfect cocktail hour before dinner. We’ve loved that lounge and have so enjoyed the live band with our cocktails before dinner. This point easily goes to Azamara over Viking: Best Cocktail Hour.

I’m also curious about the embarkation issues. Where did you board? We are booked on the Journey in April and will be boarding in NYC. We have boarded ships there many times, but mostly much larger ones. I am hoping, if nothing else, to encounter smaller crowds [emoji16]. We have found the NY port to be quite efficient at moving people.

We are looking forward to our Azamara cruise, so I will be following your posts with interest! Thanks for the review so far!

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I’m also curious about the embarkation issues. Where did you board? We are booked on the Journey in April and will be boarding in NYC. We have boarded ships there many times, but mostly much larger ones. I am hoping, if nothing else, to encounter smaller crowds [emoji16]. We have found the NY port to be quite efficient at moving people.

 

We are looking forward to our Azamara cruise, so I will be following your posts with interest! Thanks for the review so far!

 

 

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Greenwich ----the orginal place on tthe River Thames!

Greenwich ----the orginal place on tthe River Thames!

Ah! Quite far from NYC! [emoji16]. Thanks!

The ships actually dock at a pier with a terminal in NY, so I’m hoping there won’t be that kind of situation.

We actually booked this cruise because it leaves from the close to home Manhattan Cruise Terminal and because the ship will dock in Hamilton, Bermuda - a kind of rare occurrence these days!

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We left from Greenwich and more detail can be found in the thread titled Pandemonium. We are trying to forget about it!

Today we had our first Azamara shore excursion and it was flawless. Beginners luck or will tomorrow be just as good?

Wait til you meet Captain Carl and you will understand why Azamara is so beloved!

All the captains and HD and CD"s are great.

the Greenwich story should be buried .

I just got off the Journey in Greenwich. The cruise and the ship were about the beat I have ever had. The staff is outstanding and I really meshed with the passengers. Different clientele cruise with different lines and I found the clientele on Azamara generally had alot in common with me. So I met very interesting and accomplished people and that made the difference, along with the very friendly crew. I also loved how the buffet was set up at dinner with tablecloths and candles, similar to a rstaurant and not a cafeteria like on Celebrity. I think that is why the buffet is so popular on Azamara in the evening. Azamara is definitely a step above Celebrity and two steps above RCCL, in my opinion.

The two negatives were embarcation and disembarcation which were not smoothly handled. I think some of the problems with embarcation had to do with the fact that the staff did not seem experienced. But the problem with disembarcation was that there were no clear instructions where to meet private transfers, and I had to stand out in the rain until my driver called me and told me where to meet him. This should be corrected by Azamara so as not to leave a sour taste at the end of the cruise.

But as for the cruise itself, it was absolutely fantastic, so much so that I booked three more AZ cruises onboard. As one of he regular cruisers mentioned to me, Azamara is an experience rather than just a cruise.

I just got off the Journey in Greenwich. The cruise and the ship were about the beat I have ever had. The staff is outstanding and I really meshed with the passengers. Different clientele cruise with different lines and I found the clientele on Azamara generally had alot in common with me. So I met very interesting and accomplished people and that made the difference, along with the very friendly crew. I also loved how the buffet was set up at dinner with tablecloths and candles, similar to a rstaurant and not a cafeteria like on Celebrity. I think that is why the buffet is so popular on Azamara in the evening. Azamara is definitely a step above Celebrity and two steps above RCCL, in my opinion.

 

The two negatives were embarcation and disembarcation which were not smoothly handled. I think some of the problems with embarcation had to do with the fact that the staff did not seem experienced. But the problem with disembarcation was that there were no clear instructions where to meet private transfers, and I had to stand out in the rain until my driver called me and told me where to meet him. This should be corrected by Azamara so as not to leave a sour taste at the end of the cruise.

 

But as for the cruise itself, it was absolutely fantastic, so much so that I booked three more AZ cruises onboard. As one of he regular cruisers mentioned to me, Azamara is an experience rather than just a cruise.

Hi Anne.....thanks for sharing your experience. We're newbies to Azamara after 31 years of cruising other lines so any/all information about getting on and off the ship is appreciated.

All the captains and HD and CD"s are great.

the Greenwich story should be buried .

Buried? You don’t think that the bias on this forum has made it less useful than it could and should be? Your product is good, very good really but you dilute that with this Stepford Wives mentality. It also renders these boards useless. When the negative is hidden, the positive is doubtful. You do yourself a disservice.

Buried? You don’t think that the bias on this forum has made it less useful than it could and should be? Your product is good, very good really but you dilute that with this Stepford Wives mentality. It also renders these boards useless. When the negative is hidden, the positive is doubtful. You do yourself a disservice.

Absolutely correct, people need to be made aware of the negatives not just the positives.

Buried? You don’t think that the bias on this forum has made it less useful than it could and should be? Your product is good, very good really but you dilute that with this Stepford Wives mentality. It also renders these boards useless. When the negative is hidden, the positive is doubtful. You do yourself a disservice.

Agree. These forums are for people to express their own experiences and opinions. Useless without that.

Have you had any experience in ordering drinks - other than the included wine offerings? Recalling the "new drinks menu" and the (apparent) necessity of ordering drinks "with included spirits".

Every drink we have ordered on Quest this week with the included spirits has been served with a smile and..... "it's no problem madam".

We have only paid for the Frozen Sangria (delicious) and the Gin Prosecco cocktail I had last night. We knew these were from the "paid drinks" menu of course.

We drink martinis and have had no problem at all. We have been specific to say a Finlandia Martini so that might be a helpful tip.

We left from Greenwich and more detail can be found in the thread titled Pandemonium. We are trying to forget about it!

 

Today we had our first Azamara shore excursion and it was flawless. Beginners luck or will tomorrow be just as good?

Glad you are having a good time after an awful embarkation. I know there were issues going through the Kiel too. Hopefully this spoil things with that and the knock on for Copenhagen.

Currently on Quest and I’ve not had any issues with the included drinks either. All the bar tenders and servers here are great.

Phil