Other (Asia/Africa/Middle East) Cruise Reviews

The cruise ship was excellent with more than enough facilities for all tastes. the food was very good, great choice and service. The itinerary was my main reason for booking the cruise and most ports of call were very good and enjoyable to visit. However I did not know that Bangkok was so far away from the port and we had very limited time to enjoy it. I was disappointed with a couple of things. I thought prices were high for alcohol, shop goods  and excursions. Another thing I was really disappointed in was that there was no free wi-fi, it was 79 cents per minute or a package of minutes could be bought. Because I had no mobile phone connection on the ship I needed to contact home using internet services and I was annoyed at having to pay for it. 

The cruise was OK but fell far short of expectations.  This was our first time on Princess.  (We have sailed with HAL, Celebrity and Crystal: 10+ cruises) Had heard that this line was very good.  There were no substantial enrichment events.  The Internet connection was spotty and very hard to use and more importantly costly.  We felt that the ships' shops were overpriced and  invaded us with their non-ending sales.  The artwork overall  was not enticing and the Kinkaid authorized copies were poorly replicated and were not as vivid as copies we have seen elsewhere.  The wine and spirits packages would only work for someone who is a heavy drinker. 

The food was great, better than used to be. The service was impeccable from room to dining. Overall, the ship was well maintained.

The downsides are the gym and the entertainment. The spin bicycles are locked up because you need to pay $11 to use them, so are other group exercise classes that you need to pay to attend. It seems like what you pay for the cruise is not enough. Entertainment not like used to be.

I was impressed with the ship and helpful staff in all departments. The four tender ports in a row was a bit of a pain and could be split up. Food was good and I enjoyed the Windows lectures. The excursion prices were very high for all stops and not worth the money when not much of interest was offered.  A provided shuttle bus from the port was excellent to the local mall from where you could pay for a taxi to visit any sights in the centre.

We booked this cruise for its exciting, but challenging itinerary through not one, not two, but six countries. Most stops, though, were in Indonesia and Vietnam.

Unfortunately not all ports could accommodate the Volendam and we had to use tenders, sometimes with long lines and discomfort.

The crew was excellent, food was great, so was entertainment. Negatives were the excessive cost of some Shore Excursions (US$220 pp) even for simple bus tours, partly due to distance and added security (police escort), but some simply overprices (e.g., Komodo Island).

The ship was new and nice and big but we had the worst group of passengers one could ask for... rowdy, impolite, noisy.  The ports selected were not as interesting as expected especially as in Miyazaki and Busan where the ship arrived in the afternoon there was not much daylight left to explore. To make the experience worse food onboard was totally disappointing...the menu in every restaurant was basically the same throughout the 8 days and it was not even good... especially the Chinese menu was completely a disaster compared with the Chinese food we got ashore prior to the cruise.  The only saving grace was the service onboard.. most staff did their best to provide great service. And the shows helped to make the cruise less of a disaster. 

I enjoyed the variety of food choices. I think there needs to be more things to do for children under 5. Would also be nice if the kids splash zone area could be indoors.  The days at sea were all very windy, so due to weather conditions it was always closed. And there is a new no diaper in the pool policy, so the kids could not swim at all. I would recommend this cruise ship to families that have older children (around 8 seems like the perfect age to enjoy all the children amenities)

Petra was the best stop

Internet service needs work

Food better than great

Crew very friendly

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Stopping off at the ports the shopping and meeting the different cultures of people the excursions were well organised and the guides were very informative 

During the cruise I had the flu and visited medical and my cost of that visit was over $950.  What a profit center NSC has was very over priced.    xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 Misinformed us from the beginning before leaving home that we would be able to go back to the airport on day of embarkation to purchase transfers at the airport, as long as we arrived before 12 noon.   To be sure that we would be able to do so, we arrived much earlier that morning at 10:30am.  There was no Celebrity agents at the terminal as they stated that there would be.   I spent 11/2 hours walking back and forth in the terminal, asking at all the stalls there, if they knew where Celebrity cruise agents were located;  No one knew!  In the main dining room, all the meats were dry and tough, to the point that they could not be cut with a steak knife and a fork could not be used to poke into meats.  Pasta dishes--pasta was overcooked and rubbery and dry because of too little sauce.   Fish was overcooked and dry and tasteless.  No service in the Oceanview Buffet and Guest Relations gave wrong information several times (for example, trying to get to Macau should have taken us 3 hours from the terminal but because we were given incorrect info, it took us 7 hours and by the time we checked into the Sheraton Macau, we were too tired to go sightseeing).  Wrecked our clothing a couple times but they reimbursed us for the damage)   Wrecked our suitcase in which they also gave us an cheap one to replace our Samsonite one.  We got a call from a Guest Relation agent 11:15 pm the night before we disembarked, apologizing for misinformation and hanging up on me, when I told her to hold on, because I had wanted to write her name down.   Accepted her apology for her behavior and mistake and told me that it was not protocol for her to even call us that late in the cabin.   Many, many people that we met on first segment were also upset about the food being so bad and the daily activities in the schedule  were to sell their services and products.  

we enjoyed everything from our penthouse suite to dinning. The production shows where by far the best. We have cruised many times and this was the most friendly staff all over the ship we have ever encountered. The casino staff was great.

The cruise itinerary was the reason for choosing this cruise and that was an excellent choice. The ship was as expected well appointed and had all that was expected. Boarding took far too long. The downsides were the excursions which were expensive and all included visits to lacquer or silk factories where prices were expensive and detracted from what we went to see. There was obviously a benefit to the guide. I could not complete the majority of staff any higher with the exception of shore excursion, who had to be chased if you had a complaint and in my case failed to answer it after 7 days. I would have expected hosted bridge with 9 sea days.

Our reason for choosing the Azamara Journey cruise was ease of access to Middle East countries: Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, and the UAE were our destinations. We learned a lot about the customs and traditions of the area. Since ,most days were spent in port, it was unlike a traditional cruise with lots of onboard activities.

Very  enjoyable Asian cruise,Need more clothing for sale on trip and I LOVE CRUISING BAGS.Room kept clean and all request responded to promptly .Food was good.staff always greeted you with a smile.Used good tour companies and guides used good understandable English.

With the exception of the Diamond Princess Players and a few 'professional' acts - too many acts were like 3rd rate AMATEUR HOUR - have seen better when I was a 12 years old in camp!  And - the Cruise Director was himself just a complete mistake!  Even the Wheelhouse singer and musician were incompetent, and the lounge singer/guitarist in both the Wheelhouse and the Pizzeria were horrible! As to our Jr. Suite - it CREAKED AND CRACKED ALL NIGHT LONG - for 6 nights - even through they could have moved us on the 5th night, but DID NOT!!!  Yeah, they tried to stop the squeaks, but could NOT.  

More time in each port, not enough time to see each country.  Missed seeing Hong Kong because of bad weather, all tours were cancelled.  Bus taken to a huge shopping mall that could be from any big city in the world, complete waste of time!

South Africa was fantastic. The cruise ship was not the best we have been on. On board spend was expensive, £15 four AA batteries, £3 for 8 in Isreal. First time we have had to buy water in the restaurant.

The last week of the cruise the ship was running out of butter, coffee, tea etc.

entertainment was good and the staff was very good.

Azamara did a great job selecting the ports on this relocation cruise.  From the ports of call in Italy, Crete, sailing through the Suez Canal and the ports in Jordan, Oman and finally Dubai were amazing.  The port information provided by the staff and onboard port specialists made touring the towns on our own easy and very interesting.  

My only suggestion for the ports would be to spend more time in each port, but that would add many days t o this 17 day adventure.  Great Job Azamara!

We were so impressed by the service quality of celebrity cruise. The dining experience was on point, the service impeccable and the talent hired for the shows was as you'd expect paying at a high-end show anywhere in the world. The company has gone out of their way to make us feel like celebrities in sense of the word. I'd highly recommend a trip with them if you have a chance.