New Zealand Intensive from Auckland, 4 February 2028 (10 nights)

We really enjoyed the small ship experience. It was quite a comfortable laid back atmosphere. The food in the self service restaurant was excellent with variety and interesting themes. We found the Discoveries restaurant rather noisy, but the food was good. The entertainment was excellent and the public spaces were fine, we particularly liked the Mozaic Cafe. We thought the trips (in Indonesia) were very good but rather expensive. We particularly enjoyed the world affairs lecture on this cruise.

The ship was excellent and the crew were amazing, but the cruise for us was too long with two lots of three days at sea coupled with unfortunate weather conditions, we had wind force 6to8 Beaufort scale on the bow of the ship for all of the journey from Bali to Sydney. The ship coped very well with the weather but it did make walking around a little difficult! We were not pleased with the hotel in Singapore, it was unfortunate that of the three nights there two of them were blessed with a tropical down pour and as the hotel is a bit out on a limb we were limited to dining in, the catering apart from breakfast was limited and poor quality. The cruise was very good but as I said, especially for first time cruisers was too long , luckily there were plenty of amiable Aussies to chat to.

We had the most amazing cruise. It was a trip of a lifetime. The ports of call were interesting, cultural fascinating and made accessible by shuttle buses etc. it was a shame there wasn’t a port between Gambia and St Helena. But we enjoyed the sea days. The day beds on deck 10 were brilliant. Can we have more! I had an infection on my leg and needed to rest the leg and keep it up. So, these day beds meant I could be out of the cabin and be with friends etc. St Helena was amazing and somewhere I thought I would never get to. So thank you Azamara. I also thank them personally on captain for keeping us informed about the delay leaving St Helena. The lady who gave the captain permission to explain about the death of her husband was so brave. The performers were brilliant. Eric was great as a performer and leader of the performers. The evening shows were fantastic some of the best we have seen. It was good to know that Eric had managed after 15 years to have a cruise choir. I think we could have sung another song, as well as the wonderful song chosen by Eric, may be something from a musical or well known pop song. But, Eric had some interesting and unique ways to improve our singing. The skills of the performers were excellent. The staff were excellent. Dustin was a wonderful cabin attendant. Always helpful especially when I needed to rest my leg. Our staff at our evening meal were attentive and helpful. There were Rumbi, Gedeand Caddiano. The lady who allocated the tables each night was helpful and had a great memory for names etc. sadly I haven’t got her name. I was also very impressed with the nurses and Dr in the medical centre. They were supportive, informative and helpful when my leg came up in large blisters. I did go and thank them personally on the last day but I wonder if they often get forgotten as they don’t see many of the passengers. Best staff, as always are brilliant. Our happiness was so important to each member of the staff. The White night was the first one we had been to. For some reason we hadn’t been to the evening on our previous 2 cruises. I have no idea why. The evening was brilliant. We could not believe all the amazing food the kitchen staff had produced. The waiting staff and those serving food worked so hard to help everyone. The trips I undertook were well lead and organised on board and during the trips. Thank you to Azamara staff and external staff who made the trips informative and enjoyable. Our meal with a member of staff was such a privilege. A first for us. We had our meal with the friendly and informative finance manager. She was in charge on my Gambia trip and really looked after me as I was slower than most of the group due to my disability. The awful thing is we cannot remember her name. It feels very disrespectful as she was such a good host for our brilliant meal and my Gambia trip. Thank you Azamara for giving us a trip of a lifetime.

Great experience on a smaller ship. All staff were very friendly and helpful and overall the Cruise offered excelent value for money.