How was the Iceland cruise?

[Benita]

I guess everybody is back from that unique itinerary. How was the cruise?

[LittleMissMole]

Just back from the Iceland cruise on Journey. I had to join Cruise Critic just so I could post about what a great time we had - I normally never post on Forums, but thought I would on this occasion.

 

It was our first Azamara cruise. Just to put you in the picture we are 45 and 50, a professional couple from Surrey, no kids (3 cats). We have been on Celebrity 11 times, also on Norwegian and Fred Olson.

 

I was unsure at first about booking a smaller ship, having enjoyed the Millennium class on Celebrity very much, although we are not especially big on entertainment or on board activities, I like the buzz of the different things going on, the shops, and also the formal nights, dressing up etc. We usually book a balcony or suite on Celebrity so we can get away from it all if we are feeling anti-social!

 

To be honest, I could find very little fault with Azamara. I am a fairly relaxed and realistic person, I don't complain or act like a prima donna unless there is good reason. The staff were exceptional, so friendly and helpful. The food was fantastic, especially in the main dining room, where it is often more difficult to suit everyone. We are Elite with Captain's club and I don't know if that helped, but we always got a table for two, usually by the window, although we did not press for it. I am a veggie, although I will eat fish for a change. The Veggie menu was good, nothing was too much trouble. I enjoyed the presentation and choice available in the food. Some have complained that Azamara food is too 'fussy', but I liked the European influenced dishes, often with a 'contemporary twist'. I was always a fan of Michel Roux's menus when he was teamed with Celebrity.

 

The ship was not full, about 100 off full. I guess it is not an intinerary that would appeal to everyone and this may have made it more pleasant. Sometimes the buffet (Windows) was rather crowded on the few occasions we did have rain or wind but we were incredibly lucky with the weather - sunny and quite warm considering where we were! Plenty of space up on deck even when warm and there probably still would be also if, say a Caribbean trip and ship full. Hardly any kids, one under 5 I think I saw. There were a couple of very well behaved girls of about 10/12-14. It suited us perfectly, but might not suit those with big family groups and lots of little ones. Another route (warmer) and in school hols might be different though I don't get the impression that is the market they are cultivating - I guess plenty of RCI and some of the Celebrity ships are better for that. Great sunbeds. Sea was kind to us, choppy on a couple of occasions only.

 

Entertainment: there was usually something on every night. Singer or comedian. I'm not that bothered about being entertained to be honest - we went a couple of times and it was nice enough. quite a few lectures, talks, cooking demo's etc, so plenty going on around and about.

 

Not many formal dresses around - I was a bit disappointed as I like to make the effort when on board. Still, I just went ahead and wore whatever I wanted and most people were smart, I didn't see people trying to wear jeans/shorts in the dining room.

 

My only real criticism was the bathrooms are SMALL - you do have an intimate relationship with the shower curtain, even as a regular sized person.........!. My husband is tall (6ft) and found it rather cramped. Having said that I soon got used to it, and there was actually plenty of space to stow wash things etc. Balconies in the regular rooms are small (like the new ones on elongated Century), but adequate. Suite balconies did not seem to be much bigger unless you were on the back. Butler was very efficient but VERY busy. We did not call on him alot, he booked an evening in Prime C for us. The butler is not really a butler as we know it in the suites in Celebrity where you also have a stateroom attendant and assistant. We saw him making the bed one day, something I am quite sure on the mainline Celebrity ships would not happen. However, room was spotless and the other helpers although we rarely saw them were lovely, polite and helpful. Room Service (we had breakfast in room on several occasions since Windows can seem crowded again at peak times at breakfast if you cant sit outside or don't want to go to the Dining Room.) Food was hot, tasty and prompt. Table in cabin a bit small to eat on but there you go - if its Caribbean route I guess you eat on your balcony!

Prime C and Aqua Lina were excellent, not quite your speciality restaurant as on Millenium Class (nothing could beat that) but pretty damn good - we enjoyed our 2 or 3 nites there - no problem getting a table. Drinks were a little pricey I thought, with the 18% service charge added. the wine list could have been a bit wider, but those Martini's - boy o boy ..........

 

Shore excursions in Iceland were pretty pricey, but it is a pricey place generally. Tours in Scotland and Norway were average price. All tours we did were excellent. Getting to and from them was a breeeze after the bigger ships!

 

I would definitely book Azamara again. We thought it was great, a step up from Celebrity, (which I still really like by the way and have rarely had a bad experience on either and we have 2 cruises booked with them next year already), but not to the standard of the real luxury lines eg Silversea or the like. I guess another time,another place might be different again,we might not have liked it so much I can only speak from the experience we just had. People are all so different and like different things, get annoyed by different things etc. And there is always someone who is complaining about something. If you can get the right price on an intinerary you want to do, I don't think you'll be sorry. 50 per cent of the Iceland cruise pax were repeat cruisers and Azamara has only been going a couple of years so that seems like a good advertisement to me.

 

A bit rambling but I hope this review has been helpful to anyone thinking of booking on Azamara. :)

[Benita]

Thanks for the review. We have booked this cruise for July 2010, but may not be able to go, as work commitments may preclude that time and that is the only departure date. We are thinking about taking a land tour to Iceland, instead in June or August. Not too many companies offer it, but there are a few that spend between 10 and 14 days there.

[shoshona2]

Hi Benita,

 

I posted on your roll call for next year to email me and I'll give you any info you would like. scorpiosheila at yahoo dot com I'll give you the names of some guides.

 

I also suggest you go to our roll call and read the last several posts about how happy our little group of Cruise Critic people were with the cruise and Azamara. Melissa has posted her husband Norman's photos there.

 

To Little Miss Mole:

 

Wish you had posted on our Cruise Critic roll call so you could have taken advantage of the two parties that the ship hosted for us -- one was the first night and the second was for breakfast halfway through. We had 34 people on the roll call.

 

We loved our first Azamara experience. Having been on Oceania three times, we were used to the size of the cabins, the size of the ship and the size of the bathrooms. The crew was exceptional -- "no" was not a word in their vocabulary. I believe it was due to the wonderful experience with Crystal of Phillip Herbert, the Hotel Director. The Captain Georgios Theodorou did a wonderful job keeping us informed of any weather conditions. Our journey was very smooth. We were very happy we gave up our aft cabin for a mid ship cabin since our friends had one of the big aft suites on Deck 7 and the vibrations would have kept me awake at night. We had two aft cabins on Oceania and the vibrations weren't that bad. We liked John Howell the Cruise Director very much. His sense of humor is terrific. I fell mid cruise down one step and John was there to pick me up. He wanted me to see the doctor right away, but some ice and elevating helped a lot. My husband bought me a cane and I hobbled around for several days. Didn't hinder my cruise at all.

 

The ship had only about 180 English speaking people -- the rest were Asian and European. The staff handled it all with ease. The only problem was in the Looking Glass deck 10, where the smoking area was more than full. One night we went up to dance and stayed about 10 minutes. Phillip said they were aware of the problem of so many smoking passengers. I suggested hepa filters might solve the problem and he said he would request them from Corporate.

 

We ate in the two special restaurants twice each and the dining room the rest of the time. We never had to wait for a table for 6 or 8 at any time. The food was very good in all the restaurants.

 

The ports were very interesting. We took two tours with the ship and two independent tours. We were happy with all of them.

 

If you ask me to describe our experience, it was good food, great crew and service and very nice new friends.

 

Sheila

[andyonli]

The cruise to Iceland was terrific. Almost all the passengers I spoke to, even those who had 25+ cruises under their belt, loved the itinerary.

[shoshona2]

Hi Andyonli,

 

Read your nice review of the cruise posted on the CC review board. Sorry we didn't meet you at the Cruise Critic party. I really don't think the average age on the ship was in the 80's. Our friends ranged from 40's to low 70's. We also have traveled on almost 40 cruises and loved the experience on the Azamara and the intinerary.

 

Sheila

[Andy]

Hi Everyone !

 

For those on this sailing, I'd like to thank you for posting your comments. It's always great to hear about your experiences, and that you had a great Cruise. Welcome Home !

[shoshona2]

Hi Andy,

 

We had a really good time on the Azamara Journey and the crew was really wonderful. Just want everyone to know that someone from Azamara or Celebrity is following the reviews on the CC boards. So, they are very open to any suggestions to improve the quality of your experience on Azamara. I didn't find anything wrong with the coffee which people had said would be awful. I guess someone changed the brand of coffee before our cruise.

 

Sheila