Azamara Journey Review
Wonderful Jam Packed Itinerary on a Great Ship
Rating by category
Additional details
We thought this would be a lovely start to an 8 week trip to Europe and help us relax and unwind at the beginning. How wrong can you be.
From start to finish this itinerary is full of wonderful ports, sometimes 2 in a day, so you never get a chance to unwind and relax! This said we loved it but thought if it was spread over 9-10 days it would be much more enjoyable especially in the heat of summer.
This was our second cruise on Journey and our third on Azamara but the first in the Med. We were exploring the beautiful Adriatic coast with ports of Zadar, Split, Hvar, Kotor and Dubrovnik with an overnight in Venice on the last night. All ports were fabulous and even though we had visited three before we enjoyed revisiting them.
Cabin Review
Club Continent Suite
Everything worked and was kept very well by our cabin attendants
Port Reviews
Hvar
Had booked a private tour with Simon from Secret Hvar for 8 of us. We walked through the old town of Hvar, walled and very beautiful, then boarded our 12 seater bus and were driving to the top of the walls to the Fortress above Hvar for beautiful views over the Pakleni Islands and Hvar town and harbour. Then we drove via lovely terraced hills and lavendar farms to the very old town of Stari Grad, which is much quieter and more traditional. 'We had lunch at a restaurant there, recommended by Simon, but service was very poor and we wasted a lot of time here unnecessarily, but the food was good and it had free WIFI. We visited another seaside town and then a winery, which was really lovely and bought a bottle of their local liqueur, Brosec. Would recommend this tour as Simon was a good guide, but pick your own restaurant from tripadvisor reviews!
Dubrovnik
We had been to Dubrovnik before and walked the walls so we decided to take the cable car up to the top of the mountain above Dubrovnik. This was easy to find using the North city gate Buza and cost 108 Kuna for two return tickets. Amazing views from here and great photography stop. Returned to the old city and visited the Cathedral and Church of St Ignatius then found Buda bar, down steps outside the southern wall overlooking the sea. Lovely stop and ice coffee.
Kotor
We did a private tour with 6 others with Tony from Adventure Montenegro. We had a 1 1/2 hour walking tour of the old city of Kotor first, visiting St Triphans Cathedral and the Church of St Nicholas as well as the Maritime Museum, all very good. We then met our driver and 8 seater bus for a drive around the fjord to Perast, overlooking the Church of Perast built by fishermen in the middle of the bay. We went by boat here and visited the tiny church with a magnificent painted ceiling and which holds a museum. We then enjoyed lunch on the fjord overlooking the church, in Perast at Palace Perast Restaurant, delicous food, wine, free WIFI and great service. Then we drove back to Kotor and over to Budva a very popular beachside holiday resort, but with a lovely old city. We then drove back via the High Road which overlooks Kotor Town and had stunning views over the fjord and the 3 ships in port.