In a nutshell: Consistently best food we’ve had on a cruise ship. Special events were well above most other cruise lines. Service was good, but lacked the “sparkle” of other high end (and more expensive) cruise lines that try harder to exceed your expectations.
We took this cruise because it was my mother-in-law’s 82nd birthday and Tahiti has been on her bucket list since she was a child. We’ve been looking for a good itinerary to visit Tahiti and this cruise through Hawaii fit the bill.
----- Ship Review -----
A little larger than our last cruise 12 years ago on Azamara. We were glad to have a balcony this time. The bathroom is still one of the smallest at sea, but this time we knew to bring magnetic hooks to keep the shower curtain from getting “fresh” with us. Fresh flowers arrived with the first daily service and refreshed as necessary. Fresh fruit and afternoon snacks are now available only on request, which I think is a good compromise solution to avoid wasting food. New bedside wall-mounted light fixtures with directional reading lights and USB chargers were a nice improvement—another example of how Azamara is listening to its guests to improve the product.
Shuttle bus into town. Heavy rain had flooded streets. Went to Farmer's Market on Saturday. Buy bucket of flowers for $6 for your cabin! Lots of things to do in town.
Booked through Intercontinental Hotel. Very thorough tour by a very knowledgeable tour guide.
Ocean wall dive. Lagoon wreck dive.