We arrived in HK 5 days earlier visiting friends and staying in a hotel in Kowloon not far from Harbour City Cruise Terminal. Our 13nt cruise then commenced with a quick embarkation in HK. As we had a late check-out included with our hotel room rate, we decided to leave for the port around 2pm, the first taxi driver shrugged his shoulders when I verbally asked him for transport to the port, even the concierge at the hotel tried communicating with the driver. The concierge then ran around the corner from the hotel and within a couple of minutes a replacement taxi was found, by this time I had found directions/address in Chinese that Azamara had supplied. The taxi took us straight to dockside and to the luggage drop point where porters were waiting. We then put our luggage through the scanners and exited this area into the shopping centre! There were port staff with signage and ten minutes later we were boarding the ship and check-in was in the cabaret lounge complete with sparkling wine.

Staterooms: We were in V2 (7089). We haven’t sailed with Azamara since the refurbishment. I liked the colour scheme overall throughout the ship. However, on looking more closely at our room, the fascia on the wardrobe doors were peeling away, the seal in the bottom of the shower was discoloured (this was later replaced mid-cruise throughout these rooms) and the veranda appeared in poor condition around the metal work where the balcony divider was, drain area and pipes above. Our room had a solid metal divide between our cabin and 7091. This was great for noise insulation and privacy. I would not hesitate in booking this room again. Further down the corridor toward 7095 the stewards parked their trolley all day and appeared to work from this point. Also in this area, beyond the firedoor on the corridor (left open) there was a loud drone when we were under way. We could not hear it in our room at all. The bathroom is as small as ever but overall the room had good facilities. The interative tv worked well.

Improvements? Place soft close shutters on the stateroom doors, why is it other guests allow their doors to slam shut, if they just held the door back from slamming it would make everyone happy! Read more