We have cruised "off and on" for the last 35 years but much more recently on Celebrity, RCCL, NCL, Oceania and now Azamara.
We had a Sunset View Balcony at the front of the ship on Deck 7 - has
the advantage of no cover over so you can breakfast in the sun with
room service. Great to see the crew at work on docking and leaving and
first glimpses of a new port memorable. Bathrooms are small but
adequate and there is enough cupboard space as on fly cruises 23kg of
luggage is all you can take. There is an excellent self service
laundromat on board with American washers and dryers but the ironing
boards are a bit small!!
The ship is extremely well maintained nothing "tacky" or too bright and the staff constantly cleaning. Santizing before all meals and reboarding was mandatory and a good thing too. Open Dining is a big plus as is not having to pack a dinner jacket for formal nights
The staff were excellent and after four days the maitre'd of Discovery dining room knew our name and room number! Nathan in the Martini bar, on my second visit, said "your usual sir!"
Food first class and Aqualina is certainly to the same standard as Michelin star restaurants in London.
Downsides - Brits are a bit aghast at 18% service charge on all drinks and the bar prices are quite high. As there is open dining $12.25 per person per night for gratuities is added to accounts to cover all staff.
Shore excursions are very expensive and there is either $10 or $15 for the shuttle bus into town. The internet is a better source for much cheaper shore excursions and with perhaps 6 people joining up through Cruise Critic get much more individual attention and not hanging around for someone on a coach load of 50 people who has disappeard at the last minute to use the toilet.
|
