Japan Intensive from Hong Kong with Stay, 4 March 2024 (16 nights)

We have been on Azamara before and like the informal but good cruise experience. On this occasion the current situation meant that we wondered how it would all work with restrictions. However Azamara Journey and its crew made us feel safe and the service was excellent. The ship was very quiet due to low numbers but this was good for the passengers, not so good for the Azamara business I am sure. It felt almost like normal life, except for the masks so it exceeded our expectations

Only one complaint that they did not offer any transport for passengers to explore ports on their own. Many of the passengers were senior citizens and the walk to reach nearest town to port was too hard and also I travelled with a members of my family who definitely could not walk more than a few hundred yards. Even if there was a small charge to get us into nearest town to port that would be acceptable

Due to less than half the amount of passengers it seemed to lack the normal sparkle and buzz. It seemed pretty safe and people generally played the game. Entertainment was not end to end with gaps. But we felt it was a good holiday and worth doing all the paperwork! It's nice to be back after nearly 2 years - hopefully more to come.

The onboard experience was really good but shore-side, up to and including embarkation, was a complete shambles. It took repeated emails and telephone calls to Azamara to get the Guest Booklet / luggage tags sorted. We were supposed to have priority embarkation as we had booked a suite but this didn't happen; we sat in a queue for nearly two hours after arriving at the check-in (no refreshments were offered at any point until after we were onboard). Azamara state "more inclusive drinks" in their advertising. This is simply not correct. The basic package includes cheap beer (only 4 varieties on offer - everything else charged at full price) and spirits. I don't know who Azamara are competing with but they really need to up their game if they want to challenge some of the other boutique cruising companies.