This was cruise number 11 for us although we had not been on Azamara before. We have done large ships from RCCL, several of the Celebrity fleet and several from Silversea. Our preference is for smaller ships now.

Dining : Breakfast Buffet was the usual mixture although the Smoothie maker was doing a brisk trade. Freshly squeezed OJ was always available although the quality varied on some days. The range on offer at the Pool Grill for lunch was more than adequate and the ribs were the best I have tasted in a long while. The Discoveries Dining Room food was very good although the service was a bit haphazard on some days. Sometimes it felt as if we, the customers, were being used for "on the job" training. The tables were a little close together in some areas. The main problem I found was that as it was on deck 5 at the back, there was a constant noise from the engines or propellers or the water - it was hard to tell but was very noticeable. Aqualina was a perfect evening out - we used it twice and weren't disappointed either time. Prime C however was a different story - they need to get their act together here. I didn't have any issues getting the wines we wanted each evening although I must say that 18% service charge is a bit steep. Even in Michelin Star Restaurants in London it isn't that high. Open seating dining worked well for us and we were happy to dine with others each evening. The Maitre D' worked hard to ensure that people were seated "appropriately". Public Rooms : fairly large lounge / bar / dance floor up front which on our ship appeared to be very poorly frequented. We went for drinks with some people we met a couple of times and there were probably less than a dozen people there. It made it a bit impersonal. The library was well stocked although like most cruise ships you had to get there early to get the pick of the books! Quite a lot of sofas and chairs to use. The usual shops and casino none of which we used. Computer area was quite big - we didn't use it and preferred to find an internet cafe at each port if we needed to send emails.

Entertainment : I'm not a fan of shows, so my views must be taken with that in mind! However, in my view the entertainment was a bit mediocre. The two highlights on our cruise were the Scottish singer and the concert pianist. As for the rest, they managed to fill the time and generally the theatre was busy, so they can't have been all that bad. Shore Excursions : I felt the excursions were a bit overpriced. They did the trick though in my view and you could have always opted for something locally if needed. In fact, I did exactly that in Istanbul. What surprised me though was the real lack of in depth knowledge by the Shore Excursion team! For several of them it was their first time visiting those ports and so they were unable to add any value to what we could all read about anyway. I listened to the Ports of Call broadcast several times to get a flavor of the next port - but found them to be of little value, with the guy simply reading from his notes. Read more