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Azamara Journey Cruise Review to Europe - Mediterranean

Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Reviews: 0
Helpful Votes: 17

Overall rating:

4 out of 5
Verified Review
Azamara Journey

7 Night Mediterranean (Athens To Rome)

Sail date: May 09, 2009

Ship: Azamara Journey

Cabin type: Oceanview

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 12 years ago

Review summary

The ship was phenomenal! I loved having a smaller ship where I never had to fight for a beach chair (even on the day at sea). Friendly, friendly people everywhere. The specialty restaurants were to die for. I'm pretty difficult to please and I had no complaints when it came to the boat. They were organized and getting on and off the boat was easy. Check-in was amazingly fast - maybe 10 minutes, no lines.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5
Not having a set time for dining every night was fabulous. We could return from our excursions/ shopping any time we wanted an not worry about missing dinner. We only shared a table once!

Entertainment

3 out of 5
Each excursion we took left a little to be desired. Helen of Troy was good (I like ruins, my husband was bored). Panoramic Istabul wasted two hours (could have done on our own better). Pyrgi, Mesta I wouldn't do again. I would either do Chios on my own, do the monastery or stay on the boat. (Our least favorite port.) Rome was just the Vatican and the Colosseum, but it's hard to pack more in before 2pm. Pompeii was great but due to problems with the port authorities we didn't see the Amalfi coast. Good thing, just Pompeii exhausted us.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5
See butler comment. Super friendly. Great service.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5
Beautiful.

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5
Comfortable beds!!! Our butler even folded the clothes that we left out! We had new towels twice a day!

Ports of call

Istanbul, Turkey

3 out of 5
Panoramic Istanbul will waste your time although I think Hagia Sofia is closed to all but tour groups on the date we were in port, so at least we saw that.
Thumbs Up
Don't Miss: Blue Mosque (it's free), Grand Bazaar, Hagia Sofia, Topkapi palace can be run through in 30 minutes

Mykonos, Greece

3 out of 5
Paradise Beach was wonderful. I wish that we could have stayed the night in this port as it seems everyone sleeps until 10am and nothing really gets going until the nighttime.
Thumbs Up
Don't Miss: Paradise Beach and the windmills are neat up close

Cannakale (Troy), Turkey

3 out of 5
You better appreciate how old it is or like ruins, otherwise you won't like this port. Many on our boat did not.
Thumbs Up
Don't Miss: Troy is all there is.

Chios (Khios), Greece

1 out of 5
I was really disappointed in this port. The Pyrgi/ Mesta excursion was a waste.
Thumbs Up

Sorrento, Italy

5 out of 5
Pompeii was exceptional. Be ready and capable for some serious walking over uneven surfaces. Our guide (Ugo) was great.
Thumbs Up
Don't Miss: Pompeii

Pros: The boat! The food was excellent. The beds were comfortable. The staff were friendly.

Cons: I would have skipped Chios and added an extra day in Istanbul. The Panoramic Istanbul tour wasted 2 hours of our time taking us across to Asia and didn't go into the Blue Mosque (which is free).

Recommends Azamara Journey? Yes!

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