Azamara Journey Brand Experience

Review of Azamara Cruise by Mike Graham and Stuart Pearce

30th of August – 1st of September 2008 – 2 nights

Overview

This product is definitely ‘ premium luxury ‘

At first you realise how much more compact it is ( but this is versus Royal ships – which I know we cannot really compare against ), however after 24 hours you realise it has a real ‘ country club ‘ feel to it with a taste of what cruising was like in the old days.

We met Niyazi Korkmaz ( the hotel director, who has been with the company 18 years, 3 yrs Royal, 14 yrs Celebrity and 1 yr on Azamara Journey ) He kindly spent 45 minutes with us discussing the guest profile, main competitors, feedback from guests and what makes Azamara so different to other cruise ships. I have met several people on Royal who have always been very helpful but I couldn’t help but feel that he was giving us a much more personal service and he was extremely proud of the Azamara Journey.

The 1 hour Bridge tour was fantastic and they also do this for guests if they ask for this ( and galley tours ) – which they do not do on Royal or Celebrity.


General Feedback

• Glass of champagne when you first step onboard.
• 1.5 litre bottle of mineral water which is complimentary is in your stateroom on arrival.
• Rose on pillow and bed turned down on returning to stateroom at night.
• Daily flowers in a vase.
• The butler is dressed as a butler and consistently asked if there was anything he could do, I had no pen and he came back with one within 15 minutes
• The announcements are limited to the Captain, no tannoy announcements around the pool, the atmosphere is very relaxed and on the day at sea there are still sunbeds free.
• The towels in your stateroom are real bath towels, double the size of towels on Royal and Celebrity.
• In suites the guests are given a bottle of their favourite spirit complimentary for their stay.
• Age of guests mid 40’s upwards.
• Guests can order free espressos, cappuccinos after their meal in any restaurant.
• Penthouse and Royal suites each cruise are invited to have dinner with the Captain where the library room is converted to a private restaurant where the chef flambés the food and the Captain and officers host the suite guests.
• Diesel converts to electrical power to propel the ship along which is better for the environment.
• The highlight for both Stuart and myself was the specialty restaurant, Aqualina. The service was outstanding, I would honestly say one of the best meals I have ever had – we had 8 courses, the wine sommelier gave us the history of the wine chosen and was very knowledgeable, the Food and Beverages manager, Restaurant manager and the Executive Chef came to see us to ask how our meal was which was a lovely touch.
• We were invited to, and attended the Captains Club and Elite Party where me met a lovely couple from Ireland who were very impressed with Azamara. They had only ever travelled on Royal and Celebrity in the past and definitely preferred this type of cruise.
• Specialty restaurants – guaranteed 2 sittings ( 3 if in suites ) However if there is availability guests can dine there more than this for just the 5 dollars per person gratuity ! – This really is something we need to shout more about.
• Most people are in bed by 11pm ( after dinner ), the busiest place was the casino.

Overall I would call Azamara Journey a luxurious ‘ floating boutique hotel ‘ at sea.