Our cruise was to begin on the 30th of March. We, as always, traveled to Puerto Rico a few days earlier and spent three days at the St Regis resort in the Rio Grande area of PR. I wanted to play a few rounds of golf before the cruise. I was able to get in one round and then the skies opened up for 2 and 1/2 days. Very unusual for this time of year. Through the resort we had contracted with First Class Limo service. So we went shopping on the wet days. They also had taken us from the airport to the resort and from the resort to the ship.
We had originally taken a Club Continent Suite. We were pleasantly surprised to be upgraded to an Ocean Suite. It was a beautiful space with a lot of room. The bathroom had a Jacuzzi tub and shower. Plenty of storage space. Our butler was very helpful and made sure we wanted for nothing. We had a very functional veranda. A table with 4 chairs where we had breakfast each morning and canapes and drinks each afternoon. We also had two chaise lounges with thick padding, covered with clean towels each day. The living room had a 52" Samsung TV. Great for watching the Masters. You literally had to find a reason to leave the room.
We ate in the specialty restaurants each night, except for two. One was special dinner with the captain and some of his staff in the drawing room one evening. The dinner was called the best of the best and it was. The other was one night we wanted to try Discoveries, the main restaurant. My wife and I very rarely eat in the main restaurants on ships, and this was the same. It was noisy and the food was okay, not special. We liked Prime C the best. We are partial to Steak Restaurants. The shows were okay. Typical for a ship, however Hal Frazier was the exception. What a voice.
I am a cigar smoker and found the area near the pool adequate for smoking and having an afternoon cocktail. My wife and didn't do any tours, preferring to go on our own for lunch and shopping. I did arrange for golf in St Thomas and in Bermuda. The concierge was very helpful in Bermuda. My wife and I loved the special attention we received on the ship from everyone and I think we will be hard pressed to find another ship as warm and a crew as nice as the people on the Azamara..
