Simone's Three Day Club Cruise from Greenwich
Wednesday
It was a real novelty leaving the office and arriving to the cruise terminal in Greenwich just 45 minutes later, so easy to get to and a beautiful place to embark. Guests onboard the Azamara Journey had enjoyed a busy couple of days and nights in London exploring the sites. Checked into my cabin, an outside cabin, which is fairly standard, small, yet perfectly formed. It's very traditional but has the added extra touches of oversized Elemis toiletries, Frette bathrobes and luxury bedding.
Dinner was in Aquafina, a superb mainly seafood speciality restaurant. I opted for a seafood platter followed by tuna tartare (very healthy), but other options included lobster and salmon. Only $15 per head surcharge and of course the house wine was included. Evening entertainment is very low key. This is not a cruise for those looking for glitzy entertainment and west end shows, there's a cabaret lounge and a couple of bars. We spent every evening in the Looking Glass lounge, which had tremendous views and live music plus a dance floor.
Thursday
Up at 5 am to get on deck and enjoy sailing out of Greenwich at sunrise, past the O2, Canary Wharf and through the Thames Barrier, a fantastic experience. Followed by a ship tour and a training session. The training included a session with the marketing team to gain understanding of who the Azamara target market is (a 58 year old middle class married woman called Susan I think). We also had the opportunity to have a Q and A session with the cruise director, and so far the feedback from customers has been extremely positive. We had a fascinating wine tasting session followed by a meal in Prime C, a steak restaurant. The meat was tremendous although I could hardly move after the meal in typical cruise fashion. I enjoyed onion soup and Kobe mini burgers, delicious!
Friday
Amsterdam for the day, so we chose between a city visit or relaxing on the deck. I opted for a relaxing day enjoying the sunshine on one of the padded teak sunloungers around the pool. Lunch was in the buffet and wine again is included. I also enjoyed a bridge tour and met our Greek captain. Sampled elegant afternoon tea in the restaurant, what a very civilized day! For dinner, we opted for the main restaurant and the lobster, but many couldn't resist the freshly cooked food in the Indian buffet.
Saturday
We sailed down the Kiel canal all day on Saturday. I hadn't realised that Germany was so beautiful. We were joined on deck by a German brass brand, and German food was also served on deck as we sailed slowly down the length of the canal. This was one of the highlights for me and only a small ship could manage this. We also enjoyed a galley tour, always fascinating to see behind the scenes.
I've come away from the trip with a completely different understanding of the Azamara brand, I think it's been confusing as the positioning of the brand has changed a couple of times. To be honest, I had in my mind that this was going to be luxury six star cruising, which is wrong: Azamara Journey is extremely comfortable and traditional with a relaxed, clubhouse feel for those looking for an intimate, small-ship experience with lots of time to explore new places and immerse yourself in local culture. There is nothing formal, the dress code is fairly relaxed (jacket and tie not required) and you can turn up for dinner when you wish.
Customers will love the semi all inclusive element with the following included: gratuities (which a hot topic at the moment), shuttles to the ports, cans of soft drink in your cabin, soft drinks, bottles of water, gym classes, wine with dinner and more. I can personally confirm that the wine with dinner is extremely high quality! There's wine from a different country every night plus a choice of half price wines at around €14 a bottle. People will also enjoy visiting exclusive and different destinations; Sorrento rather than Naples, St Tropez rather than Villefranche, London instead of Southampton...
Service on the ship was superb, low key but very personal.
Written by Simone Clark