Live - Pursuit, Norway 1-13 August (Maiden Voyage)

[Alsun]

Do you know if you're sailing without cushions for the loungers or were they just not put out yet? That material doesn't look too terribly comfortable to me.

So far we haven't seen any cushions on the loungers. Only on the "swings/hammock style" seats

 

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[cinnamon]

Richard Twynam yesterday promised that the cushion pads were on their way. Just didn’t specify when. [emoji57]

 

 

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[Alsun]

So far we are enjoying being on Pursuit. We have now been on board for a couple of hours so here are some first impressions.

 

To us the ship looks and feels like a boutique hotel, with lots of different areas to enjoy & relax.

 

Favourite place so far (aside from our room) is the drawing room, I can imagine spending a sea day here, curled up with a book! Btw, there seems to be a wide selection of books available to choose from.

 

But there are lots of other nice places too, including little hanging "seating baskets" on the top deck.

 

Our room is very nice & the bathroom (with bath and no shower curtain but a glass panel/divide) is larger than I expected.

(Btw we are in a club continental suite)

 

There is plenty of storage space (3 deep drawers, 2 shallow ones) and enough hanging space (and hangers - proper ones, not those annoying ones that are fixed to the rail).

 

There is a big "love" seat (which I think can be turned into a sofabed) and a comfortable desk chair. We initially couldn't decide whether or not we liked the tv "frame/backpanel", but it seems to grow on me, quite restive to look at.

 

Balcony is great, and I especially love the little comfy (swivel) chair in addition to the dining table & chairs.

 

Some minor things - we understood that delivery has been delayed of some items including binoculars and alarm clocks (and probably those sun lounger cushions) which wil hardly be an inconvenience but still strikes us as odd as one would expect that it would be relatively easy to order those in time. But as said, just a minor issue. (Following advice on CC, we brought our own pairs of binoculars anyway).

 

The Meet & Mingle was well attended & led by Lee (assistant cruise director?). We learned that Tony was unexpectedly unable to be on this cruise due to an eye operation but that Amanda is taking over during this cruise. Not clear when Tony will be back.

 

We didn't stay long (to mingle) as I was very hungry and wanted to try out the seafood buffet. Main courses were great but desserts were slightly disappointing - sticky toffee pudding with vanilla custard!!! (Brits will know that a sticky toffee pudding should always be served with a sticky toffee sauce..)

 

We are now enjoying a cup of tea before checking out the evening entertainment, although we will probably have an early night (given I was awake from 4 this morning!)

 

Finally, all crew we met have been confirming Azamara's reputation of being friendly, helpful, with a sense of humour and extremely likeable!

 

See below some photos (internet seems to be okayish - it's a bit slow and also seems to be hit & miss with uploading photos)

 

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[marinaro44]

The Meet & Mingle was well attended & led by Lee (assistant cruise director?). We learned that Tony was unexpectedly unable to be on this cruise due to an eye operation but that Amanda is taking over during this cruise. Not clear when Tony will be back.

Would be very interested in any updates on Tony's condition. Really sorry to read that he underwent surgery and missed the maiden

 

Amanda is a real sweetheart and a welcome addition to the Azamara family.

[Silkroad]

Following. We’re looking at two Azamara itineraries, both on Pursuit, so your review is very welcome indeed.

[iata]

Thank you so much for taking the times. I can't wait to be onboard in march .

[cinnamon]

That’s very strange that Tony is missing. He boarded at the same time that we did yesterday morning, along with his wife.

 

 

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[Lottie A]

Tony has posted on Facebook that he has a detached retina so it's not confidential. He is taking some time off to rest his eye.

 

He is very sad to be missing the maiden cruise on "his ship" but is hoping to be back onboard very soon.

 

Amanda Poulson has taken over as CD and Lee Hetherington is there as Assistant CD. I'm sure they will do a great job until Tony comes back,

[Melissaghoti]

Thanks so much for letting us all be virtual stowaways! Love the food pictures and seeing familiar places with a shiny, new, Pursuit spin. You couldn't have made a better first cruise choice! Enjoy every minute.

Melissa

[procter]

Hi all,

We are on board for Barcelona cruise in Owners and would be interested to know who maitre' d s are.

i.e Main dining room as well as Aqualina and Prime C plus any well known characters i.e spirits bar man as well as patio bar.

please enjoy and keep ship tidy.

If Agnello Chief housekeeper is seen tell him that Freda is looking for her mirrors!!!

[Alsun]

Day 2, at sea, clocks have moved 1 hour forward.

 

We are now set at the Mosaic cafe, very comfortable seats and it is a lovely location for people watching [emoji4]

 

The sea is very smooth, had a good - albeit short - night's sleep. Aside from an occasional vibration it's hard to believe we are on board of a ship, not a hotel on land.

 

Not sure where we are, google maps actually says we are in Belfast but if that's the case it would be a very circuitous route to Norway [emoji6]

Am trying to find out whether there is a way to actual know our position! There is a tv channel which shows the view from the stern/bow (?) which also gives out coordinates but find these hard to "translate" into a "map".

 

Further observations so far:

 

Entertainment: went to comedian/magician Peter Wardell, our verdict: pretty harmless, ie not good, not bad but guess this would be a personal taste.

 

Living room was pretty empty despite the Chilean trio. They had a hard job giving the lack of audience, and we also thought they needed a second person of the trio for additional backing vocals. Felt the one Spanish song they performed whilst we were there was the best out of their repertoire.

 

Sail away party: ehh which party? Again, Living Room pretty much empty.

 

Breakfast: we went to Windows, plenty of choice including both English (back) bacon and soft & crispy bacon (American).

 

Not happy with the Earl Grey tea served at Mosaic though, brand is called Fields & Select and it is absolutely disgusting. A very flowery, perfumy, artificial taste. Luckily the Earl Grey tea at Windows was much better, can't recall the brand.

 

Finally, as asked on the Pursuit thread: there is no (dutyfree) alcohol/tobacco shop on board. When asked they told me that any purchases off board need to be declared, will be put in hold and returned upon disembarkation.

 

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[Duck Duck Cruise]

Thank you Alsun for taking the time to do this Live From.

 

We will be taking our first Azamara in October and are very excited to follow your pictures of things on the ship and in Norway!

 

I know you are busy, but if you have a moment could you please post a picture of the Smoothie Menu? Unfortunately, my body has issues with many foods :( and my saving grace is smoothies.

 

Have a wonderful trip!

Lin

[excitedofharpenden]

Glad you are enjoying a smooth ride. You are here at the moment.

 

Phil

 

 

 

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[excitedofharpenden]

Re the Earl Grey tea, if you’ve found some you like in Windows take a few bags with you for Mosaic. It’s probably Twinings.

 

Phil

[marinaro44]

Tony has posted on Facebook that he has a detached retina so it's not confidential. He is taking some time off to rest his eye.

 

He is very sad to be missing the maiden cruise on "his ship" but is hoping to be back onboard very soon.

 

Amanda Poulson has taken over as CD and Lee Hetherington is there as Assistant CD. I'm sure they will do a great job until Tony comes back,

Thanks for posting this.

[Alsun]

Thank you Phil, good to know we are heading the right direction!

Lin: Smoothie menu: will try to find out but where would these be served? Ie, where would I find this menu?

Proctor: Maitre d's: as we haven't been in any of the restaurants yet we don't know, but will try to remember to answer your question later into the cruise.

[marinaro44]

Thank you Phil, good to know we are heading the right direction!

Lin: Smoothie menu: will try to find out but where would these be served? Ie, where would I find this menu?

Proctor: Maitre d's: as we haven't been in any of the restaurants yet we don't know, but will try to remember to answer your question later into the cruise.

Smoothie's are served in Windows. On Quest and Journey, smoothies are made in the area where the liquor bar is now on Pursuit. You may have to ask someone to get a smoothie menu.

 

Thought I recognized Mustafa in one of the Pursuit drydock photos. If so, he would be the restaurant manager for the ship.

[Thelma600]

Re alcohol and tobacco being declared and put on hold -

I do wonder who told you this as our experience is completely different. On our Norway cruise we travelled with my brother who smoked. When he ran out of cigarettes that he brought with him he bought some ashore, no problem. We have bought alcohol on Med and Caribbean cruise and passed through the scanner upon return to ship (no way not to). No problem. When we brought one bottle home we then declared it at customs. Perhaps this staff member is new and from another line ?

[Grandma Cruising]

Try Vesselfinder website here https://www.vesselfinder.com or their app to find out where you are.

 

 

 

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[Grandma Cruising]

Re the Earl Grey tea, if you’ve found some you like in Windows take a few bags with you for Mosaic. It’s probably Twinings.

 

 

 

Phil

 

 

 

Or you could ask in Mosaic if they could get some Twinings Earl Grey tea-bags. Say you enjoyed it in Windows.

 

 

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[Grandma Cruising]

Re alcohol and tobacco being declared and put on hold -

I do wonder who told you this as our experience is completely different. On our Norway cruise we travelled with my brother who smoked. When he ran out of cigarettes that he brought with him he bought some ashore, no problem. We have bought alcohol on Med and Caribbean cruise and passed through the scanner upon return to ship (no way not to). No problem. When we brought one bottle home we then declared it at customs. Perhaps this staff member is new and from another line ?

 

 

 

Yes, this is definitely not Azamara policy - at least not for alcohol. This link shows their policy (under ‘Corkage Policy’ tab). As you will see you can bring as much alcohol onboard as you like. If you drink it in your cabin there’s no charge, but there’s a $10 corkage charge if you want to drink it in a public room.

However, it is their policy that if you buy duty free bottles of alcohol from shops on the ship, it would be duty free and would have to be held for you until the end of the cruise.

 

 

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[Alsun]

It was one of the shop staff we told me re the alcohol/tobacco but I think he was referring to duty free buys.

 

Re Earl Grey tea, we have discovered that room service provides an acceptable one, called Bigelow. Not the best I ever had but a huge improvement on the one at Mosaic.

[Grandma Cruising]

You can ask Mosaic to find the one you like.

 

 

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[Wendy The Wanderer]

So far we are enjoying being on Pursuit. We have now been on board for a couple of hours so here are some first impressions.

...

Our room is very nice & the bathroom (with bath and no shower curtain but a glass panel/divide) is larger than I expected.

(Btw we are in a club continental suite)

 

There is plenty of storage space (3 deep drawers, 2 shallow ones) and enough hanging space (and hangers - proper ones, not those annoying ones that are fixed to the rail).

 

There is a big "love" seat (which I think can be turned into a sofabed) and a comfortable desk chair. We initially couldn't decide whether or not we liked the tv "frame/backpanel", but it seems to grow on me, quite restive to look at.

...

 

Nice to hear that the CC suites have been well-furnished. Several years ago on Journey, we had no loveseat, and the shelving and drawers were quite inadequate. Glad they've improved this situation somewhat.

 

...

Re Earl Grey tea, we have discovered that room service provides an acceptable one, called Bigelow. Not the best I ever had but a huge improvement on the one at Mosaic.

 

I know Bigelow, and yes, it's just acceptable. Twinings would be much better I'm betting.

[Alsun]

Day 2 continued

 

Our day so far has been good.

We discovered that a sea day is very relaxing!

 

Mainly we have spent time at various places, reading and enjoying the view (lovely weather and continued smooth sea)

 

We had a (small) lunch again at Windows. Buffet is now more self serve compared to the first day when everything was served by the crew/staff.

 

We also attended a destination enrichment lecture re Oslo.

 

We will be having dinner at Aqualina tonight, it is very popular as the earliest booking we could make is 20.15. This will mean that we will miss Captain Carl's welcome toast but might still have time to see Bill Boyle, the Irish Comedian.

 

To tide us over until dinner time we enjoyed some savouries brought to our room, and we also noticed that the Living Room is offering tapas (see photos)

 

Btw, most of photos will be food photos (at least until we reach the fjords). Mainly because I am a big foodie and also because I know others will/have posted photos of Pursuit herself).

 

Athough most of Pursuit's interiour seems to be new (and very pretty) there are still some signs showing of her previous life. For example the public restrooms near the MDR - the doors /door handles definitely look old and in need of replacement.

 

Aspects of the newness is also showing especially in the carpets, lots of fluff around. And yesterday some of the ceiling lights in the Living Room kept flickering.

 

Re the club continent suite, storage is definitively sufficient for us, guess we are average packers so it might not be sufficient for others.

 

The bathroom bath is quite high, there is a handle on the wall but it might be challenging for some. Also, because the bath itself is higher than the floor, the shower over the bath is also challenging for tall people.

 

We do like the little extra (swivel) chair on the balcony, very comfy.

 

Also, we asked about the smoothie menu but none is yet available.

 

No names of Maitre d's yet but will come back to that.

 

Oh and re tea, the only Twinings tea seen so far are breakfast, green tea and camomile. Other flavours are all different brands.

 

 

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