Met some delightful people, but Azamara does not measure up.
Embarkation
3 out of 5
OK until I got to the room and the safe did not what else and room was too warm. Spent more than 90 minutes taking care of that.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
Food was too often tepid, not hot. Took many minutes to obtain mint jelly to go with lamb. Fish prepared with a lemon flavor (per menu) was served without lemon wedges. Specialty restaurants were better, still not dependably hot. Some meals were excellent but it was hit or miss. I’m not fond of buffets generally. By the time the food is selected and taken to the table, it has cooled off, understandably. There is sometimes trouble getting water or coffee.
The bars were inconsistent. Drinks were a little short on liquor. Not all bartenders knew how to mix a drink correctly, sometimes serving a martini without chilling it. We shopped around and then stuck with a good bartender we found. I ordered doubles to address the shortage of liquor. Different bars charged different amounts for the same non-included drinks.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
Trivia quizzes. Fun but inaccurate approved answers on occasion.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
Some better than others although I find entertainment on cruises does generally need to be graded on a less rigorous standard.
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Generally outstanding. There was one man as Client Relations who was quite difficult to deal with. There were evidently some limitations on the concierge, Guest Relations that prevented them from giving full information and required them instead to push the cruise’s profit-making offerings.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
No complaints
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Quite small, especially compared to other cruise lines. I saw another cabin, a “suite,” belonging to one of the friends I met, and was quite surprised to see how small even that cabin was, on deck 7.
Ship tip
Don’t expect to be able to get helpful/useful information once onboard, just what the cruise line chooses to share. The ATM for euros did not work; euros had to be purchased at Guest Relations. For ports where pounds were needed, these could not be obtained on board. Nor was there specific information on ATMs in town, just that you could find them. Walking with a cane and limited in how far I can walk, it would have been nice to be directed to an ATM near the bus stop. Surely staff has (or could readily obtain) this kind of information. In Dublin, we asked about getting a taxi to our hotel near the port and were repeatedly assured that we would not be able to find a taxi but should instead hire what Azamara had for sale, a town car or some such for $250 or $175or something. Taxis were swarming when we reached the port and we paid 10 euros.
Very bad tour guide. Would not shut up and voice became irritating. Provided misinformation. Said that best author was Jonathan Swift, mentioned no others. Incredible!
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