My Two Cents on Sep 8

[CrabbyHarper]

Overall: a very pleasant experience

 

Positive:

1)Attitude of crew - very friendly and helpful

2)Food in Windows café was wonderful, although pasta bar was disappointing - no additions such as crushed garlic, only pasta and sauces. Sushi was great. We ate there three nights.

3)Food in Aqualina and Prime C: beyond excellent and portions not too large.:)

4) No lines anywhere - size of ship is terrific!

5) No formal nights, although most people did seem to "change for dinner" - we certainly did.

6) Cabin on deck 7 was very quiet. Bedding was very comfortable. The cabin IS small, but there is plenty of storage space, and the size of the amenities was so generous that one did not really need to have them replaced every day, although we did shower in the spa several times because the showers in the spa are quite roomy.

7) Very few loud-speaker annoucements.

8) Breeza a nice alternative to Discoveries - although one does have to make a reservation, these were easy to get and I think had someone just waltzed in looking for a table, especially in the earlier hours, there were plenty of tables available. We ate there once and liked the open, airy, quiet feeling.

9) Priest from Adelaide Australia was excellent and his daily Masses inspiring.

10) Cruise Director Andrea was the best and most personable I’ve had and this was my 15th cruise.

11) Had no problem getting a table at 6:20 in Discoveries the one night we ate there. Don't know why folks start lining up at 5:30. There were tables still available when we left at 8:00.

 

Negative: the small details that make a cruise experience special:

1) No bar snacks. OK this is nit-picky but we all like a munch and crunch with our drinks.

2) Very little help in Windows - including carrying plates or bringing drinks such as iced tea

3) Hot tubs not hot. T-Pool is great and finally got warmed up by the last day.

4) Alcoholic drinks were expensive.

5) Too many puffy pillows in the small stateroom. Where to put them?

6) "Butler" is a bad idea. Our guy was always cheerful but he seemed overworked and it was silly to have him in a monkey suit with tails.

7) Just like Jan Cruz said, tables needed to be wiped up more frequently. The servers in Windows were anxious to take your plate away, often before you finished eating, but wiping up the tables after you left was not done. Often the tables in Looking Glass were not wiped up from the night before when we had Daily Mass at 9:00 am. Jan was right also about the art work. It looked to me like flea market quality. The ship itself is so beautiful that she deserves something better.

 

Did we have a good time? Absolutely!

 

Would we cruise Azamara again? Yes, but I am not sure we would pay premium prices for an experience that is not premium. To be honest, I rate this cruise slightly below other Celebrity and HAL cruises, although the potential is there for an outstanding experience. You can't beat the size of the ship!