As first time cruisers we had no idea what to expect or how "you cruise". We deliberately chose the Azamara Journey because of its size. We didn't want to be on one of those larger liners and after seeing a couple in ports, we were glad we chose the Azamara. The organization of EVERYTHING was great, the staff were super friendly, the food met our needs and was tasty, the ports we visited were well chosen, the entertainment was a bit cheesy but served its purposes and we met some great people that we had a lot of laughs with.
We didn't book any of the shore excursions as we just did our own thing. The complimentary drinks list was more than adequate and we didn't feel the need to up-grade. We also didn't book any nights in either of the special restaurants. We could not fault a single thing, except perhaps a bigger self service laundry is needed.
Of course it was compact but it suited us. All our cases could be stored under the bed and plenty of space to unpack. Loved looking out the stern of the ship.