8 Night Iberian Adventure that exceeded our expectations Embarkation – Having taken the early flight from London Heathrow, we were soon in the pre-booked taxi from Lisbon airport to the cruise terminal which didn’t take too long and cost 26 euros.
Check in was empty, we got our cruise cards and were ready to board.
There was about a 15-minute wait and we boarded so all very seamless.
We had a little lunch and lay by the pool until the staterooms were ready.
Stateroom – As always clean and well presented.
On this occasion instead of having a sofa, we had a chair which didn’t take up so much room and was better for us.
We noticed that where the recent refurbishment was starting to need attention in the shower room as the wall covering has started to lift tended to look dirty, but this is not due to the attendants, the refit needs revisiting.
The cases soon arrived and were unpacked ready for the evening to begin.
Food – We ate in the WindowsCafeand Discoveries restaurant and found the selection to be more than adequate, good quality, plentiful and nicely presented.
We have been on many Azamara cruises before and eaten in the speciality restaurants, for a short cruise we didn’t find it necessary.
Staff & Service – We found the service throughout the ship to be very friendly and excellent.
From Casino to Dining to Pool Deck.
Out stateroom attendants were efficient and discreet, whenever we returned even if we had been out for a short time the stateroom was ready.
On this cruise we did not notice the presence of the captain and officers around the ship as we have on previous cruises.
Pool deck – We did not experience anyone bed blocking on this cruise which was a welcome change, I would like to think that is because the Azamara staff are enforcing their rules to make it fair for all passengers as you do get those who like to have one bed in the shade and one in sun.
Dress Code – There appears to be drop in the dress code, although Azamara is not formal it is smart casual, but there did appear to be a lot more jeans and trainers than in the past.
Whilst jeans and trainers have their place I don’t consider them to be the attire for a formal restaurant dining but clearly a lot of people do, I think of jeans as more casual.
Many people continue to dress smartly and long may this continue.
Entertainment – Although we missed the usual pianist Max on piano, the Sparkling Trio were very good, and the lady singer offered a great variety for young and old tastes.
The guest entertainer Peter Cutler who was on two nights was excellent, great voice and good sense of humour.
There was only one show by the Azamara team, the new Shorts at Sea which was basically three short straight plays, my husband enjoyed them, but they didn’t appeal to me.
I would prefer to see singers and dancers although I appreciate that the presentations did need to change as frequent cruisers end up seeing repeat shows.
Casino – Love the casino, it is the only time in our lives we go to a casino and it is great fun to play the slot machines waiting for the features to arrive and the excitement if the one gets the free spins and even more excitement if it retriggers.
Just need to ensure that once you win you keep hold of it, although we all know you never beat the casino, so just enjoy it.
We heard from staff that Azamara Pursuit will not have a casino, I think this is a decision that they will come to regret as it forms part of the whole entertainment package.
I also understand that Azamara Journey has removed it gaming tables.
I think it is needed on a small ship as there is limited entertainment and this fills a gap.
The Casino was very busy on our day at sea when the weather was dreadful.
On the same day we even played Bingo as it is Win A Cruise Bingo, although the cruise was not one in the required amount of called numbers, one lucky lady walked away with 700 plus US dollars.
Excursions – Given the destinations, in the main we did our own thing.
We took a ships excursion to Marbella old town which was lovely and to Puerto Banus to see all the wonderful yachts.
Really enjoyed the tour content and the guide was quite a comedian.
We also did Seville On Your Own excursion using the ships bus to get there.
The guide provided lots of information on the 1.5hrs journey.
We met for the excursions in the Cabaret, but it was all quick and after getting our bus numbers we were gone within 15 minutes.
We were told by fellow cruisers that the ships tour around Gibraltar was excellent and good value, but we did not take it, maybe next time.
We did all other ports on our own using walking tours from the internet, we came across Toms Port Guides which we found useful.
Overall, we really enjoyed the cruise