Live (soon enough!) from Journey, Panama Canal 12/18/08

[ellbon]

Carol

 

thanks for the email. will send you one tomorrow. I have used a gym for the treadmill but prefer walking or some hiking. I want to be close or in town to for dinner etc.

 

I like to see the countryside, but like being in a city. I am thinking anything from the Westin to...

 

in Vancouver I like Canada Place.

[critterchick]

Ahem...

 

Jean,

You are a woman after my own heart--I, too, felt the shore excursions in Costa Rica & Nicaragua left way too early in the morning for someone on vacation & we decided that we were going to pass them up (after I read what you heard from some of the passengers, I think we probably are making the right decision.

I have a few questions:

What time are the shows in the evening?

Is there a CD player in the cabin?

Is the airconditioning very cold in the public areas of the ship (bars, restaurants, etc.)? Sometimes it is so cold that you definitely need a wrap of some sort.

Does the laundry room have an iron & ironing board? Hopefully, I won't be using that, but just in case.

We depart on January 3rd from San Pedro, so your information has been very helpful.

Enjoy the rest of your trip.

Donna

 

I have no regrets about missing the long tours. Most of our vacations are very active, but we've had a really tiring year, and this vacation was planned so that we wouldn't have to get up early. We did so yesterday in Huatulco ("early" being 8:00, mind you), and I suppose that they'll kick us off the ship early in LA, but then we can go home and go back to bed!

 

As to your questions:

 

Sometimes there is a single show, usually around 9:00, and sometimes there are two, at 8:00 and 10:00. Tonight's show is the world-renowned banjo player (I kid you not), Peter Mezoian.

 

There is a DVD player in the Sky Suites and higher, and in theory you can play your CDs through the TV. We haven't figured out how, though. Part of the problem is that the remote control isn't the one that came with the TV, and some of the functions are only accessible through that remote. A more motivated butler than ours might be able to help you, though.

 

The AC is inconsistent, but so is my internatl thermostat these days, so I always have a wrap and a fan, because I never know which one I'll need.

 

The laundry room has 2 irons & boards.

 

I was wondering if you could tell me (if you remember) what the company name was for the river rafting in Costa Rica? Or, if you have any more information on it at all - so that we can try and contact someone prior to our trip January 3rd?

 

River rafting wasn't offered. As I said before, the shore excursion offerings were 95% passive activities.

 

December 27, Sea Day (again)

If I don’t write things down the same day, I have trouble remembering what the heck we did, although it’s usually eat, read, eat some more, let it settle, go to the gym, shower, nap, dinner. Today was the Captain’s Club reception, which was very, very nice. The top cruisers had 31 credits, which I thought was low for this group, but lucky them. They received a bottle of Veuve Clicquot (as opposed to Korbel on the Vision of the Seas). We saw the Captain for only the second time this trip – he’s not exactly out and about the ship. Sue Denning came over to sit with us a chat for a bit, which is always fun.

We also had a chat with the Chief Engineer during the day, and he told us that this ship was the former R-6 Renaissance. He has been onboard since then, living through the Pullmantur years as well.

We crashed early, so can’t comment on the Rock A Rokie night in the Looking Glass.

December 28, Huatulco

What a great little port! It is picturesque, clean and nobody is hassling us to take tours. There’s the usual “buy my crap” from the shopkeepers, but they can’t leave their stores to chase you down the street, so it was a very nice atmosphere indeed (I’m writing this as we got back from Acapulco, where the hustlers are merciless, but more on that in a bit).

We took the ship’s snorkeling tour, which was quite fun, after the initial chaos of getting us fitted for masks and fins. There were 21 people on the boat, and it was just Journey folks. It was Sunday and a holiday week to boot, so the place was packed, and we saw a lot of “sardine” trips going out, but ours, thankfully, was not one of them.

We had two stops for snorkeling, in the city of 9 bays (so they call themselves). There were plenty of colorful fish and the water was warmer than we found in Nassau, although it was a bit cooler than other parts of the Caribbean. The second stop was a at glorious multi-colored coral reef, with fish to match, but also a huge colony of sea nettles, which to us were jellyfish by another name. The primary difference was that their stings don’t contain venom, but they were nasty little buggers who feasted away on us, so that stop ended up being only about 20 minutes before we’d had enough of being the featured buffet item. The guide, Carlo, did mention that, if you are sensitive to mosquito bites, you might find the sea nettles equally irritating.

We actually did a little shopping to pick up a souvenir of our trip, a little turtle made from abalone and onyx. If you just stare stupidly at the prices for a bit, they will offer a 20% discount. You could probably get them down lower, but that was good enough for us.

Onboard they are starting to offer more ballroom opportunities. I may have mentioned earlier that some passengers (not us) had complained to Sue about the paucity of such offerings, and she has responded accordingly – the Journey Orchestra played a 45 minute set last night, and there will be several recorded ballroom sets tonight.

The evening’s activities were a repeat performance by the Russian pianist (we’ve missed both of her shows now) and Dancing Under the Stars. It was a little too hot and humid for me, so we crashed early again. I need to take more naps!

More thoughts on the ship: it is wonderful how eager management is to make sure our experience is a good one (such as adding dancing to the entertainment lineup). Philip Herbert always has his notepad handy for comments and requests, and at the Captain’s Club reception asked if we’d been to the bridge yet. When we said no, he whipped out his notepad and said, “consider it done!” Hopefully it’ll happen during one of our last 3 sea days.

I have seen a little too much public scolding of employees and bickering between them. Example: we were waiting for the elevator yesterday (sorry Carol, my legs were killing me), and one was blocked by somebody cleaning it. The chief housekeeper happened by and lectured her in front of us. Yes, she should have moved aside, but I also think that she should have been reprimanded privately – public humiliation benefits nobody. And we’ve heard (and seen) a few loud “discussions” in Windows, which would be better off conducted in the crew only area.

I do hear a lot of grumbling from passengers who have sailed on Oceania, Silversea, Crystal, etc. Some simply state that they prefer the other lines, but others are grousing about everything (and I’ll bet they have clean bathroom glasses, so I don’t know what they have to moan about, LOL). From my perspective, moving “up” from RCI, this is a totally different, much more low key experience, and I’m enjoying it a lot (in case anybody has missed that). Would I prefer Silversea or Regent? Possibly, but if we sailed on them it would mean only one cruise every three years, so I think we’ll be more than satisfied with Azamara as a “luxury” line, and spend the money saved on a few shorter cruises annually.

December 29, Acapulco

Please join me in wishing DH a happy birthday! We were off the ship for an hour. We thought of going to see the cliff divers, but they only have a single 1:00 show, according to everybody we’ve talked to, and the thought of that crowd is too daunting for us. Now, I suspect that they actually offer more shows than that, when you consider that the ship’s tour left at 7:45 am and it only 2 hours and 30 minutes long. So we hopped off the ship, took a little walk, fended off guide after guide, let one fellow walk with us for awhile and cut him loose with a small gratuity. It was hot and humid enough at 10:00 that we were back onboard by 11:00. So it’s laundry day!

[gillianrose]

Do not expect the glitz and formal nights you would on Celebrity, it is more Country Club Casual.

 

As I said before although Azamara quotes dress formally if you want and we encourgage that, for the most part on Az. you will find slacks and polo shirts in the dining room.

You know is it almost like comparing children, each has their different personalities.

Az. is a upscale line w/o the pomp and circumstance.

 

I wish it were sort of in-between. Most men (especially men of "a certain age" or "a certain body type" or the tatooed or especially hairy ) do not look their best in short-sleeved polo shirts.

 

I would prefer to see men wear long-sleeved shirts or if the style is flattering to them, then long-sleeved sweaters at dinner.

[dirtgirl]

Example: we were waiting for the elevator yesterday (sorry Carol, my legs were killing me),

 

You, you.....took the elevator????!:eek:

[FL_Cruiser64]

Happy b'day Don.

 

Have one on lil' ol' me.

 

:D

[uktog]

Happy Birthday Don

and to Jean - we have sailed with Philip Herbert before he is wonderful and his eyes are everywhere - as is his little notebook. And when things go in the book they happen which makes you feel even happier he is taking care

We wish he was on Quest next week but we will have to wait a little longer before sailing with him again

Ann

[Happy ks]

Hi, Jean and Don :)

 

Happy Belated Birthday to Don from Kathy and Steven!!!

 

We'll have to get together for dinner sometime soon. Will it have to wait for DG to come down in April?

 

Maybe, even though I know you are booked on Radiance in November....you two would consider the September 30th Radiance 4 nighter out of San Diego? We just booked this for ourselves (no kids) a couple of weeks ago.

 

You could take the train down, we'd pick you up at the station.

[critterchick]

and to Jean - we have sailed with Philip Herbert before he is wonderful and his eyes are everywhere - as is his little notebook. And when things go in the book they happen which makes you feel even happier he is taking care

We wish he was on Quest next week but we will have to wait a little longer before sailing with him again

Ann

 

Does he go between the ships? If so, we'll cross our fingers that he comes back from his holiday (at the end of January) bto the Quest and we'll see him in May!

 

More...

 

On Acapulco day, it was nice having the ship almost to ourselves. There are a few bottlenecks onboard, including the buffet at lunchtime, but one manages. A few people tend to cut in line but for the most part we’re a pretty good herd.

We had another dinner in Prime C. The specialty restaurants have proven to be very popular on this cruise and both have been booked solid since after Christmas. I have read here on CC that it’s usually not a problem to book at will, but that’s not proving to be the case on this cruise. They do take a waiting list, so when we cancelled the other night, somebody took our table. My advice to anybody wanting to dine there is to book your two or three guaranteed reservations on the first day, then check back a few days into the cruise when they open up the bookings.

December 30 – At sea

Where is the time going? We had yet another issue with our phone, and have finally convinced our head butler that it isn’t us. Of course, it didn’t help that somebody had unhooked it from the jack and then put it back in so loosely that the connection wasn’t made. Fortunately we didn’t miss any invitations to the bridge or dinner with the Captain, LOL.

Another rant: I finally popped on the chair hog issue at the Thalassotherapy pool today. We usually go late in the day, but I wanted an hour of fresh air this morning. All of the loungers were full, mostly with people, but there were a few chairs with just stuff on them. After determining that the same problem existed at the main pool, I went back to the front desk and asked them to intervene. As the young lady was removing some belongings, a woman came back and said, “oh, that’s my husband’s chair. He’s just at bridge.” Well, that started at 9:30, and here it was 11:00. So the young lady, bless her everlasting soul, told the woman that he couldn’t keep the chair, whereupon she said, “oh, you’re welcome to use it until he gets back.” I don’t think so. I settled in and he arrived about 15 minutes later (having been gone for well over an hour), and I just ignored him. Having the iPod on helped. I’m sure they were saying mean things about me, but I paid just as much to use the chair as they did, and it’s incredible to me that people are so selfish as to be such hogs.

On the first two days of the cruise, notices were posted in the Pursuits that unattended belongings would be removed from loungers and kept at the Pool Bar until it closed, then sent to Guest Relations. By all accounts they didn’t enforce that rule, and not (probably after somebody complained that they weren’t doing so).

We’ve enjoyed the cooking demonstrations that we’ve been to. The executive chef, who is a “floater” has a nice way about him. When somebody asked him why his risotto recipe was more complicated that Julia Childs’, instead of copping an attitude he said that it was great that she got the mass market interested in cooking, but that his was a lot tastier.

Don took a photoshop class and learned some good things. Which reminds me – Elite members didn’t get a coupon book, just a couple of coupons – one for $10 of free laundry and another for 30 minutes of free Internet plus a complimentary class, which didn’t include Photoshop. Having not sailed Celebrity or AZ before, I don’t know if there’s usually a book provided.

[ellbon]

i read on a Solstice thread about chair hogs. I will not put up with it. I hate it when peopel leave forever.. it is oen thing to bee swimming or grab lunch.. I bring mine back but 2 hours come on..

 

i have no patience for that at all.

 

as far as the food goes but next year another chef will be there.

 

jean

 

how many books have you read on thsi cruise so i can guess how many i need.

[rednancy1]

Belated Birthday Greetings to Don!

 

Dan and Nancy

[hmorrow]

I am totally enjoying your "non" review. lol

We're booked on the Journey for the March transatlantic. We've been on many cruises, and have finally decided we will no longer cruise on the large ships. (Unless we just HAVE TO have a fix!)-cruise fix that is......We cruised on these ships when they were Ren, and are so looking foward to being on them again. We love the size, and so many less people than the bigger ships. Much more managable. Hopefully the problem in the main dining room will be solved before March.

 

Thanks for all your input......Helaine

[dirtgirl]

Hi, Jean and Don :)

 

Happy Belated Birthday to Don from Kathy and Steven!!!

 

We'll have to get together for dinner sometime soon. Will it have to wait for DG to come down in April?

 

Maybe, even though I know you are booked on Radiance in November....you two would consider the September 30th Radiance 4 nighter out of San Diego? We just booked this for ourselves (no kids) a couple of weeks ago.

 

You could take the train down, we'd pick you up at the station.

 

Hiya Kathy!:)

 

Looking forward to seeing you guys for dinner in April!;)

 

Kathy, I wish you had booked Nov. 16th!:(

[critterchick]

Hi, Jean and Don :)

 

Happy Belated Birthday to Don from Kathy and Steven!!!

 

We'll have to get together for dinner sometime soon. Will it have to wait for DG to come down in April?

 

Maybe, even though I know you are booked on Radiance in November....you two would consider the September 30th Radiance 4 nighter out of San Diego? We just booked this for ourselves (no kids) a couple of weeks ago.

 

You could take the train down, we'd pick you up at the station.

 

Tempting! Right now we've booked on the 5-nighter right after that, for our anniversary. But I'll check it out.

 

I've read 4 books so far, counting the one I read on the plane. I heard of one woman who has read 12, but she must not be doing anything else. Don has read 3. None of them is really long, maybe a few hundred pages each.

 

We're finally going into some Pacific swells, so I'm pinching pickled ginger from the sushi bar just as a precaution. This little girl really rocks and rolls (the ship, not me, as I am neither).

 

Oliver, I forgot to thank you for the virtual drinks for Don's birthday. We enjoyed them, LOL!

 

Helaine, lots of people are enjoying the main dining room, so don't be put off by my non-review of it.;) I think we just had a run of bad luck, but we're quite happy with the ultimate outcome.

[dirtgirl]

I've read about 12 pages of the book I semi-started on the Vision with you last month.:rolleyes:

 

Jean, I sent Don Happy Birthday greetings over Facebook, as I see he has been on there on the cruise. Fancy that!:rolleyes:;):D

[Ginnylou]

Don wishing you a belated Happy Birthday!

 

[dirtgirl]

Don wishing you a belated Happy Birthday!

 

 

 

Hi Ginny!:) Long time no see!

[rednancy1]

Happy New Year!

[critterchick]

Happy New Year to all! We'll have 2 sea days to get back to LA, and, although it's been a marvellous trip, I am ready to see my dogs and cats again. I'll post a few more updates, since I have lots of time left on my Internet package, LOL.

[dirtgirl]

Happy New Year to all! We'll have 2 sea days to get back to LA, and, although it's been a marvellous trip, I am ready to see my dogs and cats again. I'll post a few more updates, since I have lots of time left on my Internet package, LOL.

 

 

Happy New Year, Jean and Don! Have a good one!:D

[Pengawin3]

Happy New Year to all! We'll have 2 sea days to get back to LA, and, although it's been a marvellous trip, I am ready to see my dogs and cats again. I'll post a few more updates, since I have lots of time left on my Internet package, LOL.

 

Happy New Year to you!

Thank you for all the great info on Journey. Can't wait to sail on her Jan. 3.

[Ginnylou]

Hi Carol :) Wishing everyone a Happy New Year !

[critterchick]

Here's the final installment, finishing off yesterday and today's events so far...

The wine tasting, which was a food and wine pairing event, was fun, notwithstanding a drunken Dutchman who told a joke including my least favorite racial epithet.:eek: Aimed at my ethnic group, I might add. We had a tour of the bridge at 3:30.

The evening’s entertainment was a singer whose credits including singing with a number of stars, all of whom died years ago. She was truly awful, and it was actually embarrassing to listen to her. It was a blip in what has otherwise been some terrific entertainment.

January 2 – Sea day

If you’re a die-hard Azamara fan who doesn’t want to hear any criticism of this line, get out your flamethrower. Here comes my final installment and it’s going to have some less than flattering things in it.

Hallelujah, we’re almost home!! I’ve never wanted a cruise to end before. We had a fantastic 14 days, but these last two have become interminable. This is the ninth sea day of the cruise and I’m about to go barking mad. I’ve read all I can (5 books), I don’t want to do needlepoint, the idea of trivia, bingo or listening to a talk on Claude Debussy bores me to tears and I just want to go home and pet my dogs.

The ship has been running out of food items for a week now. Olives in the salad bar were the first to go – we had a great selection of kalamata, jumbo green and black olives for a week. Now they’re stealing the cocktail olives from the bars. Honey was the next to go (they bought some bottles of it in Mexico, I guess, as the labeling is now in Spanish). They are now using milk in the cartons that don’t need to be refrigerated (they ran out of the fresh stuff four or five days ago). There is no more fresh orange juice because the oranges are all gone, peanut butter or sushi ginger have gone the way of the dodo bird, and the buffet offerings are getting fewer (they seem to have recycled the breakfast sausages many times as I could now use them for the soles of my shoes). We had ample time in port in Acapulco and/or Cabo to make sure that these items were replenished, but apparently the ship decided that we could just make do with less (or Miami made that decision for them). I would expect this from Royal Caribbean (and it didn’t happen on our 14 night cruise last year, BTW), not from Azamara, which is supposed to be a cut above.

Some of the machinery is breaking down, too – one coffeemaker has been out of service since the first day, the soft serve ice cream maker has been out of commission more often than not, and the couple we had breakfast with searched in vain for a working hot water dispenser in Windows this morning.

Fortunately, the shortage hasn’t extended to Prime C, which has cranked out superb meal after superb meal for us (what was I thinking, packing a skirt that was a snug fit to start out?). Our final dinner of the cruise will be up there tonight, and I’m looking forward to stuffing my face with macadamia-crusted prawns and perhaps a filet before I return home to oatmeal and salads for the next 8 weeks.

We did attend the hilarious Iron Chef contest between Sue Denning and Philip Herbert, cooking crepes under the watchful eyes of Kyle, the executive chef. Kyle had been scheduled to give a demonstration on mushroom soup, but they probably ran out of mushrooms, too.:rolleyes:

The crew is exhausted. There is lots of bickering among them, many can barely summon a smile any more and they have a return trip with another 9 sea days to look forward to. I truly feel sorry for them right now. I’m not one to take out my dissatisfaction on the guy who brings me coffee (especially since they still have half and half for it) or clears my plate away, but I see a lot of passengers doing so, and it’s really a shame.

We have noticed that, in spite of the roughly 2:1 passenger to crew ratio, many areas seem perpetually understaffed. The casino bar, for example, has had a single bartender who also doubles as the bar server. There is no roving drink server (given the size of our drink tab, that may be a blessing in disguise). Yesterday we encountered the man who repairs the slot machines frantically looking for somebody to serve one of the high rollers. He was in Discoveries, trying to poach somebody from there. That’s the kind of short staffing that costs the line actual revenue, and it makes no sense to me.

Even the specialty restaurants have been slammed – demand has been very high as people tire of Discoveries or Windows, and when we have dined late, there are many empty tables – the maitre d’s don’t wish to overbook because service will suffer, but the result is that many people who didn’t book early aren’t even getting their two “guaranteed” seatings. And we see lots of staff eating up there – IMHO they shouldn’t be allowed to take tables ahead of the passengers who wish to eat there.

Remember that we had a GREAT TIME up until these final two sea days. The ship is very easy to navigate, there are lots of corners to do quiet things, and the entertainment has by and large been very, very good indeed. Sue is an amazing talent all by herself, and she is a joy to watch at work. Philip Herbert is one of the most responsive Hotel Directors I’ve ever met and everybody we’ve spoken with who has reported a problem to him has had it resolved. But IMHO it shouldn’t take going to the top to have functioning air conditioning or a telephone that works properly.

I’m sorry to end the cruise on a down note, particularly when it started out so brilliantly. It’s a grey day outside (to be expected at this time of year in the Pacific) and a little of that grey has seeped into my psyche. Plus I’m bored silly and want to go home to my critters and my garden.

So, I will write a review in due course, pointing out the good, the bad, the ugly and the odd. My final thought in this diary is that we are still looking forward to our cruise on the Quest next year – the small ship will be perfect for a 12-night cruise with only 2 sea days and overnights in 3 of the ports.

See you all on the high seas!

[Susan-M]

My final thought in this diary is that we are still looking forward to our cruise on the Quest next year – the small ship will be perfect for a 12-night cruise with only 2 sea days and overnights in 3 of the ports.

 

Hi Jean,

I agree ... we did a 14 day with 2 sea days and didn't have time to get bored, or witness some of the things that you have (although we did run out of some herbal teas and granola before the end of our cruise ... but thankfully nothing else that I noticed.) I'm glad I followed your diary because I am sometimes tempted to do a cruise with a few more sea days than what we normally have, but I have to say that your diary cured me of that desire. I will continue to look for port intensive cruises! :)

 

I wondered if there were children on board since it was a Christmas cruise ... I remember this being a problem (for some) last year?

[Andy]

Hi Jean !

 

I've read most every post on this board. That I can recall, this is the first time I have heard of an Azamara ship running out of a number of items. Somewhere along the line, a poor decision was made. I wouldnt have a problem with it (within reason) on a Mainstream line such as Princess or Royal Caribbean... but on Azamara, it shouldnt happen. The only way I'd accept it, was if there were several Sea Days, and there wasn't an opportunity to replenish items. This happened to us a few years ago on another line. They ran out of far too many items half way through the Cruise, and it made passengers very unhappy.

 

Thank you for your updates, and have a good trip home. I look forward to your review.

[mommykim]

I have seen food run out on 3 different cruises. Twice on Princess and once on Carnival. The thing each cruise had in common was a LOT of sea days. twice thru the canal and once to Hawaii. I think it comes down to cost and supply chains. if it's not a normal port they don't re-supply in it even if that means running out.