Connie Mayer

Age: 50
Occupation: Program Director
Number of Cruises: 4
Cruise Line: First European
Name of Ship: The Azur
Itinerary: Eastern Mediterranean

In April we took a 10 day cruise through the western Mediterranean on the Azur (First European Cruise Line under Festival Cruise Company). We were a couple taking our first cruise together for vacation.

Previous cruises were:
Alaska – Regency Cruise ship
Panama Canal – Regency Cruise ship
Caribbean cruise

We had no previous experience with First European. The itinerary and the time line were the reason we chose this cruise. Venice to Dubrovnik,Croatia to Katakalon, Greece to Egypt, to Cyprus, to Anatalya, Turkey to Rhodes to Athens through the Corinth Canal back to Venice. We booked the package which included airfare from NYC to Venice via Frankfort Germany.

Our flight was changed so that we arrived somewhat late for boarding and were escorted to our cabin fairly quickly and smoothly. We were then rushed to the mandatory safety/evacuation/life jacket drill which was somewhat confusing but necessary. Multiple languages slowed this process down.

Our cabin:
We had an outside cabin on the lowest deck (sport deck) which was fine for us since we didn’t mind using the stairs to get to the upper decks but for older folks it could be a problem. The cabin was small with very limited storage space. The beds were even smaller, 2 lower, and one could pull down 2 upper bunks. But, the beds were comfortable. There was a porthole which you had to struggle to see out of since it was high. The bathroom was adequate with good light and wonderful water pressure and plenty of hot water. We did have problems the toilet which was somewhat cranky and inefficient about disposing of all the waste.

Our luggage arrived in a timely manner but there was no room to store all of it so the cabin attendant obligingly offered to stow one bag elsewhere. Considering the small size of the room we were glad to get rid of it.

Our cabin steward was a plus, always helpful, and kept track of our comings and goings discreetly and always managed to have fresh towels, ice, etc. ready for us.

The fitness center was a joke, but we got plenty of exercise walking the decks.

The restaurant was fine the food was very good with lots of variety. We did however find certain things like soups very salty. Tap water was safe to drink but one of us chose to stick with the safer (but expensive at $3 for a 1.5liter bottle) bottled water. Tea was hard to find as there was usually only one waiter going around with hot water and a tea box. We were surprised that there was not an area where one could always get tea/coffee other than at meals or teatime.

The one problem we did have was with the seating arrangements. We had requested a table for 6 at the 2nd seating many months before. We were however assigned to a table for 8 (even though most tables were for 6) and were put with 5 other English speaking people (1 single woman, and a couple with one child). The family requested a table change after the first night and we another American couple joined our table.

I didn’t think it was fair that a single person was seated with couples as it was awkward for her when the couples were talking with each other. Single people should be seated with other singles or adult/grown children mixes of which there several. The onus shouldn’t be for couples to have to entertain singles when they are on the cruise as couples. Or they could eat with some of the crew who dined in the restaurant. At any rate the cruise line should work this out ahead. As it was we finally requested a table change and did receive gracious help from the maitre de.

The excursions or tours were good overall. Some of the guides were better than others. We found that with having to give the information in different languages it got boring to have to stand around through the other dialogues. One tour guide did not take us on what the tour was advertised for. The tour buses were all clean and very comfortable. Drivers were good and safe and you could have the option to purchase drinks.

One problem we had was with the reception/information desk on board ship. They bordered on unfriendly and were very unhelpful about parting with information. There were guides and booklets available that we didn’t find out about until the end. When asked questions they barely gave you an answer and did not elaborate or add useful hints, etc. We would have liked to have seen presentations of ports of call ahead of time. There was only one excursion that was cancelled. Excursion arrangements were very efficient and timely. We could have used better weather information since we were never told how to dress. We got caught with this problem the last day.

The gala dinners were fun and nicely presented. Attire surprised us as being more informal than we expected for Europeans. Folks came to table in t-shirts and very casually dressed even on semi-formal dress nights.

Embarkation for tours and ports of call were very efficient even with heightened security levels. Security was excellent. Overall the staff were very friendly and efficient. The waiters were very attentive and efficient. The Maitre de was always on hand and a presence.

Our biggest aggravation was the tremendous smoking on board, and the lack of smoke free areas. The lounges all had smoking and the air became unacceptable. We even had to complain that the one small smoke free lounge was being used by smokers. But staff were attentive and responded when we complained.

We were two out of twenty English speaking people on board. Most were German, Swedish and then Italian, French & some Spanish, etc. We found the Swedish generally the most friendly and they do speak English.

Overall we rate this cruise ****. This was due to the itinerary which was excellent, general efficiency and friendliness of the staff, the ship itself, the food and the tours.

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