Travel Maven blog

Cruising, life aboard Azamara Journey

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.

Azamara Journey is sunny on the port side

If you are considering a trans-Atlantic repositioning cruise, stick this reminder note in your planning file: In spring and fall, in the Northern Hemisphere, the sun rises and sets on the south side of the ship. The closer you are to winter, the farther south the sun gets.

Cruising a rhum line, eschewing Earth’s curve in Atlantic

As we sail across the Atlantic toward Miami from Tenerife, in the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa, the ocean often seems nearly flat, but the swells are powerful enough to rock our 694-passenger ship. It’s not a violent movement. It is a motion that never stops.

During the first crossing night, as we left the craggy volcanic mountains of Tenerife, beginning the 3,135-mile run to Miami, I slept like a baby.

Goodbye Europe, heading west from Tenerife:

 
 
Our voyage on Azamara Journey is steady, measured, and relentless.

Azamara’s Journey continues, with fewer dinner plates

Aside from some turbulence in the Mediterranean the first night out of Rome – the TV on my cabin wall swiveled back and forth for hours – we faced gently rolling seas and chilly air on our way toward the Atlantic at Gibraltar.

We made port stops at the walled city of Cartagena, Spain, and at Gibraltar (pictured at right), the huge rock that has played a role in battles for the Med for centuries.

“I hope the Atlantic is nicer than the Med,” said a passenger at breakfast, after Gibraltar, as we headed south along the coast of Morocco toward the Canary Islands, our last spot of land before the seven-day run west to the Bahamas.

The temperature would climb toward 80. First, however, the Atlantic exacted a toll on the dinnerware.

Cruising across the Atlantic on Azamara Journey

Along with all the other signs of approaching winter comes fall’s march of the cruise ships across the Atlantic Ocean from Europe. I am a passenger on one of them, the Azamara Journey, headed for Miami.

From late September into December, a majority of the American-based  cruise ships that plied the waters of the Mediterranean, as well as the seas of Northern Europe from spring through early fall, head for the better weather of the Caribbean and South America.

Some ships do remain in the Mediterranean for winter cruising. But most move south for the tens of thousands of vacationers who themselves will be making escapes from the frozen parts of North America.

Rome on a budget by the train station

When choosing a hotel room for a short stay in one of Europe’s major travel destinations, location is always the key for me.

Yes, I want a clean room in a friendly place. But I start with location, which, for a budget room, usually is near a train station or a subway stop.

Some of the best sources for budget lodgings are guidebooks such as the Rick Steves series and online sites where you can read the reviews from other travelers, including TripAdvisor and Booking.com. Both have worked for me.

Rome is one of the more expensive cities in Europe, but don’t let anyone tell you that you must spend $350-$400 a night. I recently slept two nights in Rome at Hotel Mediterraneo, a fine old establishment where single rooms start at less than $200. (I found a room on the Internet at $160.)