Journey mini-review Santos 11/29: Expectations exceeded

[owl61]

I'm submitting a review here inasmuch as the "write a Member Review" function seems disabled.

Wife and I boarded the Journey in Santos on 11/29 and as we live in Rio disembarked in Rio on Dec 10, a day earlier than the scheduled cruise end date in Santos. I've been on over 50 cruises on almost all lines ( including 1 Oceania crossing). I believe that while everyone is entitled to their opinion, some opinions are more credible than others. In my opinion this cruise experience will soon equal that of Oceania although it is not quite there now. I hope you find it credible.

 

The embarkation process was only mildly flawed by a delay of an hour in the promised start time. I attribute this to it being the first time the ship was boarding at this port. Getting things done in Brasil can sometimes be a challenge. The process was slightly delayed by the addition of a table at which one was asked to make a first night dinner reservation - a well meaning effort by the dining room teams to avoid an unmanageable rush at any one time on the first night. As the ship was carrying less than 500 pax I am not sure this was necessary.

 

The most outstanding feature of the onboard experience was the excellent attitude of all staff and crew. While they may not have always hit the mark, every single person I encountered sincerely endeavored to please as much as possible. When it occurred, failure to please was as a result of inexperience, not for want of trying. I was sufficiently impressed by this excellent attitude that it made for easy acceptance of things that were not as good as I would have liked , e.g., food, table or room service, guest relations requests, etc. The effort to provide good service is so palpable that one feels comfortable in bringing constuctive criticism to mgrs at every level when someone shows they need some help/training. They are eager to improve which is why I opine the overall Azamara cruise experience will get even better soon.

 

In fact, many mgrs seemed to be recent arrivals. I was informed that the Hotel Mgr had boarded less than a week before we sailed. He was an extremely affable and apparently very capable guy. The home office Exec Chef was also newly aboard to tweak the menus. Tweaking is both required and anticipated. I think the Cruise Director, Andrea, was also recently transferred from the Quest. They and the F&B and Dining Room Mgrs were all first rate. All of these senior officiers hosted a group of Cruise Critic partcipants at which many issues were discussed and considered. I think the majority opinion of those present was that at that point in time our expectations were exceeded ( perhaps because expectations had been tempered by so much negative criticism on these boards).

 

I did not think the food at any of the venues except the Waves buffet (wow, what a breakfast!) was as good as what I experienced on Oceania, but certain dishes at each of the various venues were very good or excellent. The roasted sea bass was up there with the best fish dishes I have ever tasted. A seafood boulibaise was to die for. I think the Exec Chef will be working to achieve greater excellence thoughout the ship. Hopefully, the company can purchase better steaks and add more lobster to the menus in the specialty restaurants. Desserts were disappointing in those spots. Timing in the kitchens and table service needs to be ratched up as well. I had fabulous service 3 of the 4 times we dined in the specialty restaurants as well as some nights in the Discoveries dining room and mediocre service just once in each place.

 

We occupied an aft Sunset Veranda cabin and enjoyed room service breakfasts on our stretch veranda all but one rainy morning. The bed, sheets, and pillows were super high quality. Everything worked as it should. Our butler, Natasha, had an innocently charming personality and accepted my small challenges with just a twinge of bewilderment which she quickly overcame with my encouragement (and bonus tips). I didnt expect a butler to look at me like a side dish she didn't order simply because I asked her to sew a button on my shirt. Natasha and my wife and I enjoyed each other throughout the cruise. It makes for a much more pleasant trip when you can have fun with your cabin steward.

 

The cabaret shows presented by the ship's cast were similar to those on the Oceania ship, except perhaps the Journey cast was even a bit more talented. Broadway level singing and dancing though I thought the production values (staging, lighting and costumes) could have been better. I didn't catch much of the other shows though my Brasilian wife told me the young group of Brasilian dancers that performed when we were ported in Itajai were very good. The orchestra was one of the better ones I have heard on ships although I would have liked more pre-dinner dance opportunities. The talented band that played poolside made a lot of music for a trio.

Andrea Oliveti was a capable, good humored cruise director. His competent staff conducted numerous activities through each day though there was little in the way of enrichment lecture. Wife and I even briefly manned an orientation desk to provide tips for when we ported in Rio. I would have liked to seen a better stocked library especially with some travel books of which I found none.

The internet connection aboard ship was so notoriously bad that the computer room was hardly ever occupied except for the occasional free class offered by the host. I am not a fan of pay TV movie programming, but if it helps to hold down the base cruise price I can suffer through limited non-pay movie programming. Just as I can opt to forego all ship excursions as I have for the past 40 cruises. For that matter no one seemed to object to the bottle of scotch I kept in my room and which helped keep my bar bill down. Wine with dinner ( and auto tips) constitued the lion's share of my final bill. By the way, I recommend the RCL shareholder benefit program to those who are unfamiliar with it ( good for a $200 shipboard credit on this cruise).

 

Due to the quirks of the calendar (or shortsightedness of the homeoffice planners), the ship ported in both Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro on Sunday when many shops and entertainment venues were closed. Both are world class cities with lots to see. Conversely, we overnighted in Itajai, a small town in southern Brasil from which a small group (I believe 30) paid approx $1400 pp for an overnight trip to Iguazu Falls. The falls are a great sight, but rational travellers can make a more relaxed, independent overnight excursion from Sao Paulo for about 1/4 that price. Just plan to arrive or stay a couple days extra on either end of the cruise that leaves from Santos, the port for Sao Paulo. Hopefully this peculiar scheduling can be avoided on future runs. We also ported for a day in Paraty, a colonial town about 140 miles from Rio where one could hop a schooner for $15 for a full day of sailing, swimming and snorkeling among the many small islands dotting the seacoast. A great way to spend a sunny day.

 

Prior to sailing on the Journey I had grown weary of reading reviews that excused deficiencies in accomodations, food and service with " it's a work in progress". It is a work in progress, but the accomodations, food and service are all fine now and will be very good in the near future. It 's a good value now and will be excellent if they can hold down the prices especially in view of what has happened to the US$ and the cost of land travel in europe and other parts of the world.

[51topjjb]

Dear Owl61: Thanks so much for another even-handed and very credible review of your Journey experience. These recent, upbeat responses (from Journey's last two cruises) to what was beginning to seem an unending string of negative posts have us feeling about 1000% better about our upcoming South America/Antarctica cruise. MY QUESTION: Which Sunset Veranda did you occupy? I booked us into SV 6093 and our travelling companions right next door to us. Also, did you encounter any rough sea; and, if so, how did the ship handle it? (We are fully aware of the potential for high seas in the Drake Passage and around Cape Horn.) Again, thanks very much for your review. It was enormously helpful and informative. Pam & Charles (1/10/08 Vaparaiso-Buenos Aires)

[owl61]

We occupied 7121. Wife and I both got a bit queasy on day 1, but frankly that may have been for reasons less to do with excessive movement/ pitch/rolling etc than our bumpy bus ride to Santos the night before as well as being unaccustomed to any movement whatsoever. After that it was smooth sailing. As we didn't encounter rough seas I can't opine how it would be to occupy the aft verandas were the seas to get rough.

Have a fun cruise.

[Andy]

Hi Owl !

 

Thank you for the update. Have a wonderful Cruise !

[Old Broad]

Since you live in Rio, do you by any chance have any recommendations for a tour guide in Salvador? I realize that's a bit like asking me (a Californian) what to do in New York City but it sounds as if you're a pretty independent traveler and most likely have visited Bahia.

[dabear]

thanks for the balanced report, which I think has credibility ( I usually toss the best and worst reviews and look in the middle). By the way, were you able to bring you scotch on board? If yes, how are prices of spirits in Ar and Br ?

[owl61]

Since you live in Rio, do you by any chance have any recommendations for a tour guide in Salvador?

 

information upon it."

Samuel Johnson.

Go to the "Salvador" forum in the State of Bahia on www.tripadvisor.com and search "tour guide". Several recommendations will pop up.

[owl61]

By the way, were you able to bring you scotch on board? If yes, how are prices of spirits in Ar and Br ?

 

I believe the official company policy is that a couple of bottles of wine pp are allowed to be brought on board. As is my custom I packed a bottle of my favorite scotch so the wife and I could partake of a pre-dinner drink in our cabin. In actual practice I don't believe the company distinguishes between wine and liquor especially if it is consumed in the cabin although, to be perfectly honest, the hootch was in my checked bag so I can't be absolutely sure about that. We didn't secret the bottle and no one seemed to mind least of all our butler who kept us supplied with ice and glasses.

Due to heavy import duties liquor prices in both Argentina and Brasil are 3 to 4 times higher than the prices in duty free stores in airports. Premium brands are also hard to find shoreside given that kind of pricing. If you want to bring spirits on board you would do well to plan ahead.

[dabear]

Owl161: thanks for the practical info. It also has been my experience that if you do not abuse or flaunt the situation, they will permit a bottle unofficially. FRom your price info, it sounds like the best move is to go to the duty free shop in the US after customs and security and make your purchase. thanks and great sailing!

[P&M Cruisers]

Hi Owl61,

 

It was nice to meet you on the cruise, I enjoyed reading your review. Agree with you, we too were uneasy about all the negatives reported previously. While perfections is very hard to get to, this came as close as we have seen. We had an exceptional time and for us it was our best cruise to date. We even ran into a couple that had been on 30 cruises previously and they thought it was the best they had experienced as far as personal service.

 

We will look for your posts as you have a wealth of travel info. Happy Travels!

 

P&M Cruisers

[owl61]

Thanks and happy travels to you too.

I would be interested to hear from anyone who took the Iguazu excursion.

[stanjj111]

Thank you for the review. We are doing a similar trip in March. A couple of questions if you have time. Did you take ship tours or did you use private operators? In Parati can you tell me how you found the schooner trip for the day? What is there to do in Itajai if you do not do the two day trip to the falls? Thanks for the information.

[travelerchris]

We are on the 12-23 sailing on Journey from Buenos Aires to Valparaiso. Like several others we were apprehensive, but after your review it sounds like things will be just fine. As long as they're trying and the crew doesn't have an attitude, we're good.

You mentioned you took some Scotch on. We would like to take some Vodka, but wondered if we should. Do you remember if room service has liquor by the liter? I understand if it's not at duty free pricing. HAL on the 15 dayHawaii cruise last year did, and it came in handy.

Are there irons in the laundry room now? We'll be gone over 3 weeks and I don't want to pay to have all my clothes pressed. If I iron here, they'll be a mess when I get there anyway.

Is the "Butler" really a Butler, or just a new title for the cabin stewart, with a higher tip?

Thanks again for your review and I think you may have your hands full in the next couple of days answering various questions. :)

Happy Holidays

[owl61]

We would like to take some Vodka, but wondered if we should. Do you remember if room service has liquor by the liter? I understand if it's not at duty free pricing.

Are there irons in the laundry room now? We'll be gone over 3 weeks and I don't want to pay to have all my clothes pressed. If I iron here, they'll be a mess when I get there anyway.

Is the "Butler" really a Butler, or just a new title for the cabin stewart, with a higher tip?

 

Did you take ship tours or did you use private operators? In Parati can you tell me how you found the schooner trip for the day? What is there to do in Itajai if you do not do the two day trip to the falls? Thanks for the information.

 

The ship does offer room service setups of liquor bottles at typical hotel setup prices which are several times the duty free store prices. Whether you should bring your own bottle on board is a question you alone can answer. There are numerous threads on this subject. I (and countless others) have done it and never have had any problem especially if the bottle(s) is securely packed in checked luggage. I think the practice is tolerated by the ship's management as long as one acts responsibly, i.e., not getting drunk and consuming it discretely if not entirely within one's cabin. As a practical matter should you bring it on in your carryon and be apprehended by an overzealous security team I can't imagine any penalty other than having it sequestered until the end of the cruise. Some people are very touchy about this. Not me.

My wife informs me there are irons in the laundry rooms (before I'm accused of being a chauvinist I was there, but forgot).

I never had a butler before either on ship or land so I can't provide much insight into whether Natasha was "really a butler." On day one she explained to us what the scope of her butlerian function was, but I don' t remember much past shining shoes, making dinner reservations at the specialty restaurants, and bringing afternoon tea service. We immediately relieved her of the latter. She had a helper whom I'm pretty sure did most of the nitty gritty bathroom cleaning. I assigned Natasha various supplementary tasks, e.g., ice and glasses daily as prearranged, sewing a button on my shirt, packing a large jar we brought on board, arranging to have a luggage cart take the jar off 2 days before the cruise ended, coordinating with guest services to fix my air conditioner, etc and she performed all satisfactorily. What more would a real butler do? (I would not want her unpacking/packing my bags if that is an option.)

 

As mentioned originally I stopped taking ship excursions many cruises ago. My understanding is that aside from a ranch visit excursion in Montevideo the ship's excursions were nothing to write home about (still waiting for someone who went to Iguazu to report on that).

The ship's tenders in Paraty stopped at a dock where all the schooners tied up. You could simply walk along that dock and choose a schooner after discussing price and duration of trip. Some schooners held many more passengers than others. My wife and I were lucky enough to hook up with a group of a dozen other Journey passengers. Together we negotiated a trip tailored to our specific needs including an immediate departure with just our group and a return to the dock sufficiently early to allow time to walk through town before boarding the Journey. The cost was R$20 ($12) for a 4/5 hour trip with snorkle gear available for a buck or two and an option for a simple lunch ($10) and drinks. The weather was great for swimming and sunning. Everyone had a real good time.

In Itajai we teamed up with another couple from the ship and purchased the services of a private cab to take us to Blumenau and to stop at other local sights. We were lucky to find a pleasant driver ( my wife is Brasilian- that helped) who gave us more than our money's worth ( $40pp incl a generous tip for a 7 hour day). Other than some very nice beaches there was not a whole lot to see or do in Itajai . When it rained the next day we didn't mind too much as we practically live on the beach in Rio.

[travelerchris]

We appreciate it. I've never had a butler either, so I wondered what they do. No packing or unpacking. We have our system and they have theirs.

[dabear]

owl61: When we take Journey in Feb, we will not be able to comment on the ship's Igusau trip as we are doing it independently from Buenos Aires. We are interested in doing Blumenau. Was it hard to find a taxi with an English speaking driver in Itajai ?

[owl61]

Was it hard to find a taxi with an English speaking driver in Itajai ?

Numerous taxis were lined up single file right near the dock exit. As the wife is Brasilian, and even I can mumble a few words of Portugues, we didn't require an english speaking taxi driver. It didn't appear that there were any in the line. At the taxi stand there was a published price list for trips to nearby places incl Blumenau, but you would need to negotiate the price/duration for a stay there and return trip. Blumenau is less than an hour away. Asssuming you want to spend a couple of hours walking around or lunching you might want to disembark with a very brief note in Portugues in hand stating something like:

" R$ 240 ida e volta a Blumenau num total de 6 horas." (US$ 130 round trip to Blumenau with total of 6 hours).

My sense was that the taxi drivers in Itajai were an honest bunch, but one never knows for sure based on a single experience.

[dabear]

Thanks again. While I speak a little Spanish, I never learned Portugese. I assume that the $130 was for the total taxi for 6 hours and not pp and I can pay at the end to be assured that we will have a ride back to the ship..

[owl61]

. I assume that the $130 was for the total taxi for 6 hours and not pp and I can pay at the end to be assured that we will have a ride back to the ship..

Affirmative. (Our trip was 7 hours.)

[bbcstt]

Well travellled, well heeled criuser, bailed out of Journey cruise to Bermuda last June, first Journey cruise in June and then had 8+ cruises to determine if thing were right or if things were not right.Never happened. Still hearing posts to this date that AZAMERA or what I call (******* CRUISE Lines), Still to this date don't have it together, even remotely so. Cancelled Cruise, June 6, Penthouse suite,(7114), 25th wedding anniversary. Took many months, and threats of several lawsuit's, to get my money back. Three days proior to sailing. Stay away from AZAMARA. For this money I will sail Silversea,Chrystal,Yaghts of Seabourn, etc. But for their fares, 3ertainly not on AZAMARA.

[factor30]

Well travellled, well heeled criuser, bailed out of Journey cruise to Bermuda last June, first Journey cruise in June and then had 8+ cruises to determine if thing were right or if things were not right.Never happened. Still hearing posts to this date that AZAMERA or what I call (******- CRUISE Lines), Still to this date don't have it together, even remotely so. Cancelled Cruise, June 6, Penthouse suite,(7114), 25th wedding anniversary. Took many months, and threats of several lawsuit's, to get my money back. Three days proior to sailing. Stay away from AZAMARA. For this money I will sail Silversea,Chrystal,Yaghts of Seabourn, etc. But for their fares, 3ertainly not on AZAMARA.

We sailed on Quest 24 Nov. and had a great time. Some kinks, yes, but didn't spoil our trip. The good things certainly out-weighed the few, not so very bad. Your loss, our gain. We've booked on Quest again next June, so it can't all be bad!

Are you trying to say that you can get Silversea, etc. for Azamara prices?

You must be a magician! Your message is unclear as well as your spelling!

[Tricia724]

Great review, Owl. We just booked a cruise for March on Journey and have been combing the boards looking for information. We have found several of your responses to others seeking information about Rio and South America and find you to be a great resource as well as a poster who makes sense. Your review is one of the most balanced that I have read so far.

 

I was so pleased to read your comments that the staff is giving it their all to make things work. I think that makes a huge difference when your expectations aren't met. If there is a problem and you perceive that the people don't really care, you have an entirely different feeling than if you realized they had knocked themselves out and fell short. We've all been there.

 

If people have pride in themselves and their work, then it will come together......providing management gets it. That's the biggest challenge I see to Azamara or any new startup.....that the people in charge have a clear vision about where they want to go and have a game plan to get there. It doesn't matter if a waiter or cabin steward bends over backward if the people in power have their heads in the sand.

 

We have enjoyed all of our cruises, and we're looking forward to sailing Azamara and to spending time in Brazil. Thanks for your valuable input.

[owl61]

...for the kind words.

I submitted a lengthy review of our Journey cruise which was published , then pulled at my request in order to edit a few lines and reinsert the paragraph breaks. Let's see if it gets reposted.

I'm an American expat living in Rio and regularly contribute to the Rio forum of http://www.tripadvisor.com. I just acquired an apt in Buenos Aires and will be splitting my time between Rio and BA, two interesting, but totally different cities. It's a pleasure for me to share my knowledge of these places and cruising in general with those who frequent these boards and an occasional compliment like yours is a great reward.

[stanjj111]

We have 3 couples going on the Journey in March. We are interested in going to the beach one day and Blum*** the next. Can you tell me whether there was a van for 6+ people available and what the price might be? Thank you. Stan

[factor30]

We sailed on Quest 24 Nov. and had a great time. Some kinks, yes, but didn't spoil our trip. The good things certainly out-weighed the few, not so very bad. Your loss, our gain. We've booked on Quest again next June, so it can't all be bad!

Are you trying to say that you can get Silversea, etc. for Azamara prices?

You must be a magician! Your message is unclear as well as your spelling!

Host Andy

 

Have just noticed your editorial comment.

 

Do you mean MY original post or that of bbcstt? Quite honestly, I really don't remember quoting any rude comment in my posting and would certain apologise to all and sundry if unwittingly I did offend.

 

Rita