Nearly two weeks into our voyage across the Atlantic, from Rome to Miami on the Azamara Journey, we have grown into a community.
We began this cruise traveling separately. On our first morning, many of us, singles and couples, tentatively chose an empty table for breakfast on the fantail, outside Windows Café.
Now, we are traveling together. Having shared insights about our homes, vocations, and families in North America, the United Kingdom, Europe, and Australia, we recognize new friends in the ship’s restaurants (Aqualina, pictured above), lounges, spa, and around the pool.
Some of us know each other’s life stories, who is reading which books, and who is afraid of national health care (Americans, yes; Canadians and Europeans, no).
The harpist sets the tone
On smaller, quieter, less entertainment-driven ships such as the Azamara Journey, you get to know quickly the people whose lifestyles approximate your own – the early risers, the before-dinner workouters in the gym, the folks who take afternoon tea in the Looking Glass lounge, and come early to dinner to listen to harpist Jacqueline Dolan.
Yes, we have a harpist.
Most cruise ships do not offer a musician with a harp. Dolan, who can play from pop to classical, sets the mood for afternoon tea (at Looking Glass, pictured above) and for the pre-dinner hours, as passengers gather in the small lounge outside Discoveries Restaurant.
Every night, a dinner party
Discoveries is open seating, one of the advantages of a small ship, as you may attend a different dinner party nearly every night – though you don’t have to, as some tables are set for two or four. Jackets never are required for men.
The Journey, one of two sister ships operated by Azamara Club Cruises, carries 397 cabins in its 30,777 gross registered tons. For comparison, Royal Caribbean’s new gigantic Allure of the Seas is 225,282 tons, with 2,700 cabins, which, with children, will house more than 6,000 people. On Azamara Journey’s crossing of the Atlantic, we total fewer than 600 passengers.
I like the comfort, simplicity, and classic boutique-hotel feel of Azamara Journey. It’s a ship small enough to feel manageable, yet large enough for a spa, a gym with modern equipment, a cabaret show lounge, two specialty restaurants – Prime C steak restaurant (pictured at right) and Aqualina, with a menu of “American cuisine with Mediterranean flair.” Each charges a $15 fee per person.
Smoothies, orange juice, desert
Breakfast in the buffet restaurant, Windows Café, is one of the best presentations I've seen at sea. Beyond the usual fare and stations for eggs and waffles, barmen mix fruit and vegetable smoothies and they squeeze oranges for juice. Passengers may also start the day with fish and/or cold meats.
Like the other sister ships built about 10 years ago for the defunct Renaissance Cruise Line, the Journey is designed with public areas primarily on three floors, Deck 5 for Discoveries and the Cabaret, Decks 9 and 10 for the buffet and specialty restaurants, the spa and gym, Looking Glass observation lounge, pool area, and extensive library.
By the second day, I seldom made a wrong turn on this ship, because there weren’t that many turns to make. I chose to use the graceful stairways, right, over the elevators.
Bottlenecks and lines are few. I haven’t waited for anything on this ship for more than a few minutes, the longest being a dithering fellow at the ice cream cart. He was choosing between the strawberry and something with pineapple. Finally, I think, after enough time for a short nap, he accepted a scoop of each.
Next: Azamara makes a giant leap to free wine and gratuities
David Molyneaux is editor of TheTravelMavens.com
At left, the lunch buffet parade of deserts.
