Luxury Travel Advisor - September 2007 - (Page 62) JOURNEY’S OCEANVIEW STATEROOMS measure in at 170 square feet. doors have detailed paneling. After a quick lunch, we were ready to give the ship a good once-over. Only minutes later we were finished, which was appreciated, as the ship is quite accessible and easy to get around. With a maximum passenger count just north of 700, it’s not huge; it is intimate and well laid out. Recent annoying neck and upper-back pain gave us the impetus to pop into Journey’s AquaSpa for a treatment. We opted for the sports massage (the spa offers an exhaustive menu of options, from facials to haircuts to shaves for men). The spa itself is cozy, with a smattering of treatment rooms and a well stocked gym off to the side. Our massage therapist, Erin, went to town, popping knots and breaking up scar tissue (we have a lot of that, she said; great, thanks!) before finally telling us more work is needed—rain check, please. We left not knowing whether she had done wonders or whether she had just put us through some Draconian torture method. After our spa visit, we went back to relax in the room until dinner time. The rooms are well apportioned, not huge by any stretch, but just right for a couple. A king-size bed lays facing two semi-mirrored walls (nice touch), and a flat-screen TV is mounted between. A smart glass table sits outside on the room’s verandah, while the bathroom has its own glass accents and paneling. Shower products are by Elemis. The evening culminated with dinner in one of the two specialty restaurants on board. Located side by side on Deck 10, you have the steak house, Prime C, and Aqualina, which serves up a Mediterranean-inspired menu. We dined in the latter restaurant the first evening (not fretting, as we knew we’d get to eat in the other the following evening) and opted for the lobster bisque, Caesar salad and diver scallops to start before our main course: the osso bucco, which was delightfully crispy and tender. Later, we just about inhaled the chocolate soufflé for dessert. Compliments to Chef Rodrigo Fereira and Maitre d’ Dominique Gamba—keep up the good work. After a long—and we mean LONG—meal, it was time to hit the hay. If your clients are film buffs like we are, they’ll appreciate the rotating movies that are offered across three movie stations. We dozed off to the Emilio Estevez-directed Bobby, readying ourselves for day two at sea. Day 2: Rain, Rain, Go Away If this were a themed music cruise, Credence Clearwater Revival’s “Have You Ever Seen the Rain?” would be the anthem. Steady rain and gusty winds forced the ship to scrap its scheduled visit to St. George and head on to Bermuda’s capital city, Hamilton. Looking down from the deck, we were excited to see that the ship was moored right alongside the town, rendering a taxi unnecessary—always a big plus in our book. Note: One item we must not fail to mention is Azamara’s butler service, which is new to the fleet. Each stateroom has a dedicated butler; ours was a nice fellow named Lyric, who, without fail, made sure we were taken care of. The butler’s job is to take care of all guests’ needs, whether it is in-room dining or 62 LUXURY TRAVEL ADVISOR | September 2007 http://www.seadream.com http://www.seadream.com
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