We just returned from the 12 night Chelsea Flower Show cruise from Amsterdam to Southampton aboard the Azamara Journey. Two years ago we were on the Quest for the Best of Italy cruise and loved it. To sum it up:

Embarkation: Arriving passengers were seated in the terminal and provided with complimentary coffee and pastries. You are given a number to board based on (I believe) your cabin number. We began the boarding process at about 11:30 a.m. which went very smoothly. At that time we were given our cabin keys and allowed to make reservations for 2 nights at the speciality restaurants. We boarded the ship and were greeted with smiling faces and a glass of pink champagne. Although we couldn't go to our cabins, we were happy to relax in the Windows Cafe, have a few glasses of complimentary wine and help ourselves to the lunch buffet. At approximately 1:30 p.m. an announcement was made that we could proceed to our cabins. Our luggage was brought to the room almost immediately. We met our cabin steward and our butler. Our butler, Alwyn, was very helpful with all of our requests and was able to reserve additional nights in the specialty restaurants for us because we were in a suite. There were fresh flowers and a bowl of fruit on the table as well as complimentary waters and soft drinks in the refrigerator.

Cabins: Had a Continental Suite 8063 and previously had Veranda cabin 7029 on the prior voyage. Suite has more amenities and more space (see Azamara description), but a Veranda cabin is perfectly adequate for us. Read more