Wonderful itinerary; great service; highly recommend cruise line
Azamara Pursuit Cruise Review to Europe - Eastern Mediterranean
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 47
9 Night Dalmatian Coast To Athens (Venice To Athens)
Sail date: June 10, 2019
Ship: Azamara Pursuit
Cabin type: Oceanview
Traveled as: Family (older children)
Reviewed: 5 years ago
Review summary
Great cruise line; nice staff and decent extras on board made it a classy cruise ship. Not much onboard glamor like the bigger ships but good enough. Our emphasis was on the itinerary and shore excursions. The places in Croatia and Montenegro were astounding...was completely azamazed!Embarkation
efficient, easy, and kind people to assist us as we arrived too early for checking into our staterooms in Venice
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Only one bad meal throughout the entire cruise; exceptional variety; specialty restaurants were not evaluated for this commentary due to constantly reserved nights ahead; but the buffet and main restaurant was fantastic with good tasting meals. Drinks were authentic and not watered down. Service was awesome.
Onboard Activities
The Azamara Pursuit is a small ship with 750-800 passengers so not aiming for onboard entertainment; pool was nice (salt pool) and two small jacuzzi were perfect for this ship; sun deck had plenty of lounges/chairs, shuffle board. Ping Pong table on pool deck was available at all times. Fitness gym was good with free weights, universals, tread mills and ellipticals. Separate 'yoga/fitness' room adjacent. Great view through windows to the open ocean. Spa was not done but the fitness/spa shower/sauna/locker room was very good.
Entertainment
The singers/skits, magic show, musicals were Okay...entertaining but not the same caliber as the bigger boats ie RC Oasis of the Seas or Disney Magic. DJs were Okay as well...a bit dated in selection but most of the passengers were older adults. Bars were always well stocked and great service... no problem there! Lounges and sitting rooms were comfortable and tastefully designed.
Children's Programs
none on this cruise; not intended for younger kids.
Service and Staff
Not one rude or inattentative person; room stewards excellent and always helpful and smiling; food/beverage staff awesome and amicable/kind. Captain and crew interactive and genuinely caring in their service for us...the customers! Well done and professioanl!
Ship Quality
Really enjoyed a smaller cruise ship versus the others I have been on; would do it again .
Cabin / Stateroom
Comfort: good; nice beds; imaginative design for closets, drawers, storage areas. Size was a bit small; bathroom small and shower very small...tangled up with the shower curtain frequently. Spa showers were better and had improved shower pressure unlike the stateroom cabins. Really liked the USB ports under the reading lights!....great idea. The desk size was small and the clutter of the ships directory, activities of the day, shore excursions, etc made it really a mess. Saving grace was again the great design for storage. Pillows could be more fluffier...by the morning, the pillows were virtually flattened to the mattress. Otherwise, slept well for most of the nights.
Ship tip
This cruise line was a real positive surprise for us. The ports along the Dalmation coast are magnificent and Azamara had a lot to do with our amazing trip.
Thumbs up
0
Ports of call
wonderful city and historical place; private tour of St. Mark Cathedral and Doge's palace made this visit special. Wondered through the mazes of streets and canals. Jet lag made us somewhat limited in the hours we could spend withint the city. Would return without reservation.
Pula, Croatia
Great place...incredible ruins... loved the fruit/veg market with ancient Roman arches dotted here and there. People are kind.
One of our absolute best ports to stop and visit; awesome history and walled city; plenty to see within the walls; charming seaside town with aqua clear water to dive and swim; we had a blast here and talked with local people and children. My teens enjoyed this stop. Eating a pizza to go with drinks after an invigorating swim off the town's fortress walls was memorable. Had a tasty lunch along the marina; great trinkets and paintings for reasonable cost; people are polite, engaging, and kind. No crime.
Private tour of the walls and the Stradun were excellent (ToursbyLocals - Marijana Sdgota was awesome!); fantastic town...the walls are not to be missed. Beautiful place besides the infatuation of Game of Thrones hysteria. Only negative was the cable car to Mt. Srd was not operational; we did take a taxi to Saint Jacob's beach...unbelievable clear waters, lounges/umbrellas for rent, restaurant there as well as changing rooms. Careful to take water shoes...pebbly small rock beach. My teenagers rented a jet ski and had a great time in the cool clear ocean. People were the kindest! All speak English. Great meals/gelato. Heaven. We returned during the evening for a private Azamara excursion featuring a local well known celloist who performed under the town lights and church backdrop...pretty cool.
Besides the local tour companies practically assaulting you as you get off the tender, this small wall fortress was a good place to visit. The town's intricate alleys and squares reminded you of Venice; the eats/restaurants were very good...the overhead spray misting system in the restaurant we chose for lunch was great to cool off; the fortress hike up is well worth the exhaustion and sweat...the view is incredible and you can get your exercise in for the day!
We did a private tour to the beaches/coves of Paleokastritsa (?) - we hired a captain and a small outboard. Our captain, Spiro, spoke great English and took us all along the coast line, to beaches only accessible by boat or foot, into and out of small rocky coves, and showed us underwater caves to swim in...hot sun, cool, clear aqua marine waters made Corfu a memorable visit for us. This was one of our highlight excursions. Photos do not do any justice to the beauty of the beaches and water! Lunch on the boat while we explore was fantastic. I still can't believe that I could see our anchor and line which was well down over 40 ft.
Pretty place and when you are there at Fira or Oia, you are all caught up with those postcard photos of this beautiful cliffside place; plenty of stores, shops, boutiques, hotels, BnBs, and restaurants to explore. The negative on this stop was that four other ships were in port and nearly several thousand people were visiting Santorini simultaneously...also, the ship left by 6pm so we could not watch the much anticipated sunset...
Fantastic city; lots to do and see; perfect ending to our cruise. Had an excellent private guide to take us to the sights including acropolis & museum.
Disembarkation
no issues