Travelergeoff’s Blog

Last night, we ate in the main dining room. The arrangement of tables for two is, in places, awkward. Most are close to tables for four. so you actually have a table for six with a narrow space dividing it 4 to 2. There is a row of single tables for two inside the entrance and to the right, but if you really want privacy, ask for table 35. It’s on the stern wall with good separation from other guests. The dining room itself, even when filled, has a low noise level and conversation is no problem.

We met the head chef when he joined Journey last August. His goal was to make the cuisine innovative, delicious, and visually pleasing. He’s reached that goal and still improving. There are some choices on menus that the waiter will describe as a new dish. What fun to experiment! All I can say is the food is very, very good; some of the best we’ve experienced at sea. My tender and succulent game hen last night was head and wing above any others I’ve tasted.

A word about Bermuda. There’s a lot of traffic on Front Street.

One of the reasons there are so many motor scooters in Bermuda is the legal limit of one car per family. And when you drive either, go any faster than 22 miles an hour, and you will be ticketed. The Bermudan dollar is equal to the US dollar, but Bermudan money is not accepted on board the ship so always ask for change in US dollars. Prices are close to US prices, but there is no tax.

This morning’s rain faded to partly cloudy, and I awoke with a dull ache in my lower left jaw. Nevertheless, it was straight to Flanagan’s for their Bermuda style breakfast. Two eggs, two fishcakes, avocado, banana, and tomato, all fried, plus french-fries.

Because we slept late, this served as lunch. And were we to be here tomorrow, I’d be heading back to my Irish Pub, owned now by native Bermudans, and except for Guinness on draft, quickly slipping away from the influence of Leprechauns.

My jaw pain worsened during the day, and I asked the man handling Guest Services if the ship knew a dentist in Bermuda, after all they’ve been spending 3 days a week here for months. I was told to go to the medical office which would open at five, and maybe the doctor could direct me to a hospital that had a dentist. I suggested that he call the Port Agent and check with him. He said he had to ask his colleague who was at lunch, but he’d call me.

We waited for a bit by the cabin phone, and then Michael suggested we Google dentists in Bermuda. Calling one, we were referred to a number for tourists, and within moments I had an appointment for 2 PM with Dr. Alfred.

The cab driver said most tourists didn’t go to that side of town,

but six dollars later we arrived at the office.

In a short time I was ushered in to the chair and Dr. Alfred started to probe. Since the pain was general in the lower left, the best he could come up with was that I had been grinding my teeth in my sleep.

Dr. Albert said, “You ought to see a dentist about this.”

He then said, “There is no charge for this, just spend a lot of money on the island.” Michael smiled

He prescribed a pain killer…Advil in comparison, and $6.00 later we were back in town.

As there was no charge for his service, and Michael and I think that dentists rotate to deal with tourists. With socialized medicine they are not set up to take money directly, or something.

This, our last day in Hamilton, gave Michael “this is the last day I can ever shop” jitters, but a few bags of stuff calmed her down and it was back to Journey for another sumptuous dinner.

A phone message awaited us in the cabin. If we wanted to make a dental appointment in Bermuda, it would cost $300 plus whatever the dentist charged us. I guess there are some set up to take money.

We sail at 8:30 Wednesday morning. Our southwesterly path will parallel that of the northeast track of Tropical storm Noel. We should pass sometime late tomorrow night about 50 to 100 miles between us, unless Captain Smith makes a detour.

There are some other journalists aboard. Last night Hotel Director Niyazi Korkmaz put us all together for dinner. We first had cocktails and introductions and were joined by an old friend, Ramon Santos, who is Celebrity’s Corporate Manager of Restaurants. Our paths have crossed many times during the years, but nowI would get to talk to him at length. He chatted with me over drinks and then at 9 PM, we all moved into Discoveries Dining Room. But first, of course, a group picture.

You see the two lovely ladies in red? Well, that’s the last I saw of them. Ramon sat at the far end of the table for 11. His was the red end of the table.

Niyazi and Eddy on his staff told us with great pride about the changes that had happened on Journey, including the dishes, and even the silverware. I looked closely at a knife and said, “Why does this say Holland America?” We were off and running. Great food and company.

So far we have been impressed by all the staff we’ve encountered. Our Butler, Caetano, is wonderful. He constantly checks to see if we need anything, and makes the Azamara branding of ‘deluxe” just that.

The robes are Frette, the towels soft and absorbent, and Caetano brought us down pillows to augment the comfy duvet. The flat screen Samsung TV is on a flexible mount and can be viewed at most angles. Anything more, and I’d have to pry Michael out of the cabin. Good news for this blog, the Internet so far is speedy, and at 38 cents a minute for a $100 package, relatively economical.

We had some rain last night, and there is a tropical storm that is forecast to dump a lot of rain on Haiti. It should be gone by the time we get there on Friday, but if it turns north and develops into a hurricane, we are going to bounce around. But today it is lovely in Hamilton.

The entrance to Hamilton is flanked by lovely homes, but we saw no people until we docked.

The town is full of motorcycles, cars and pedestrians. Parking areas are filled, even for cruise ships.

Each of us was searching for a particular something in Hamilton; Michael for a necklace, me for Bermuda Stew.

Michael found a necklace that she loved. Last trip here we hit every jewelry store in town, but nothing clicked with her. I am so proud that I found the store today that had exactly what she wanted. She bought a beautiful piece; I went ooh and ahh. After the transaction, she told me the price. As the saying goes, pride goeth before the SHOCK.

Also, the last time we were here, I asked a store salesperson where I might find Bermuda Stew. She actually stared down her nose at me, and told me I’d have to go out of town for that.

Today, on the way from ship to town, I asked three Bermuda security agents where I might find Bermuda Stew. None of them knew what I was talking about, then one suggested I must mean Bermuda Fish Chow(der). So I set out to find Bermuda Fish Chowder. All the restaurants along Front Street have menus outside, and most had Bermuda Fish Chowder, but one said, “You’ve tried the rest, now try the best.” Up the stairs to the second floor restaurant we went.

The chowder was astonishing. It’s made of different Bermuda fish like Wahoo, Rockfish, and anything else with fins that took the bait. It’s served with two pitchers, one with cherry pepper, and the other, rum. Pour them on, stir it up, and change your life. Now, remembering the hassle trying to find traditional Bermuda Stew, can you believe I found it in an Irish pub? We also had crab and shrimp cakes; the best I’ve tasted. Tomorrow, I’m going back for a traditional Bermuda breakfast.

On the way to dinner tonight, Michael wearing her new necklace, we took the elevator. Each elevator has three waist to ceiling mirrors, so she could admire her new baubles from all sides. I, on the other hand, confronted by my reflection, front, side, and back, had a serious dent put in the self image I carry around that was formed and preserved in brain cells about 30 years ago.

Tomorrow another day in Hamilton, and I take the stairs.

Last night I had my Martini. It was a Lychee Martini, sweet, powerful, and although my father would have disowned me for calling it a Martini, I loved it.

I also had, and did not have my Kobe beef. I ordered the Kobe, which had an 8 dollar surcharge over and above the $25 at Prime C”. It arrived, about ¾ of an inch thick and rare, but not Kobe. Apparently it is from Idaho, where the cattle are raised “Kobe style”, and while they don’t massage the animal like in Kobe, they are really, really nice to them. It was chewy. By the way, the entry floor to Prime C is very slippery. I am not exaggerating; it is like walking on ice. I literally slid my shoes and skated to the table.

Now for the big thing. If you are going to go on Journey in the near future, there is a work in progress that can trip you up. I bought an Internet package for $100, which reduced the rate per minute from 65 cents to 38 cents. Each time I logged in, the home page told me how much time in dollars I had left. On Thursday it said I had over $50 left. That same day a pre bill arrived, and I was being charged a couple of hundred dollars for the Internet. I went to the desk and they told me that they would check with the “Internet lady” and not to worry.

I worried, so later in the afternoon, I went to the Computer room, met Isabel from Manila, and showed her my problem. Apparently, the internet software sometimes recognized my lower rate package and sometimes it did not. But, that was all behind the scenes, I kept seeing all this time left. She said not to worry, but to see her Friday night and she’d take care of it.

Last night at 6, I met with Isabel and we went over, and over, and over the problem. She admitted that the Internet program had a “glitch”, but was not that quick to agree that I should not pay for the glitch. At 6:30 she said she would remove the hidden charges, even though she might get into trouble, and she hugged me. She is quite attractive, so I went off to my Lychee Martini feeling pretty good about life.

This morning the final bill came. No change, charges were still there. I went to the front desk, Matt called her on her pager, and she said she had to check her records. I headed to the computer room. Oh yes….she remembered me…hug….and would take care of it…hug, and was sorry…..sad face…no hug.

Back to Matt, a lot of the charges were removed, but a few big ones from yesterday were still there. Let me say that the Internet was very slow, and I had been on for an hour doing about 15 minutes of work, BUT my home page still showed I had 20 some dollars left.

Isabel came down, and said she couldn’t take those charges off. I said, but you are charging me the full rate. She said because your package has run out. I said not according to the home page. She said there’s a glitch in the system.

There is no way to shorten this story, but condense it I shall. After 45 minutes of haggling, threatening, pulling the journalist card, I got the charges taken off.

“I am so sorry for all of this.” Isabel said, actual tears were forming in those now really liquid brown eyes, and then a monster hug.

All problems gone, except of course, how to keep Michael from reading this.

This is being written in the Admiral’s Club at Newark Airport. We’ve been here 4 hours and only two to go until our nonstop to LA.

Debarkation was smooth at nine AM. A shuttle bus took us to EWR and we rolled our three big bags to the AA counter. Usually I use curbside check in, but I wanted to get an earlier flight. That, apparently was impossible, as a Chicago flight had been canceled and all seats were full going out of Newark. Disappointing, but the next news was bad. The baggage belt was having problems (a new system) and four hours before our flight was as soon as we could check in. We rolled our luggage, the three big bags, and now a more noticeable carry on bag, and Michael’s purse, and a beach bag with “stuff” in it, away from the counter.

Then it hit me, the curbside guy! Back out, wheels groaning, we parked in front of the podium. “Where are you going?” asked the handler.

“LA.” said the gypsies.

“There’s a four hour window….the baggage belt…yada, yada.”

“Would 20 dollars help?” smiled the gypsy leader.

Handler frowned, then smiled and the process began. I won’t put you through the rest, but when he tried to check us in, he discovered the “system” had dropped us from, well, the system. Had we not been early, I’d be writing this tomorrow, from Newark. A glitch?

We got our boarding passes, luggage was tagged, and I gave him the $20.

“Oh,” he said, “there’s a $2 American Airlines charge per bag.” Another six dollars; it was worth it!

Newark not withstanding, we will go back to journey with Azamara to view the finished product, men at work signs taken down, at the end of October. The trip will be 14 days from the Bayonne terminal with a stop in Bermuda, on to South America, ending in Miami.

Michael and I are looking forward to this coming trip. Journey’s going to be awesome

I still didn’t get that Martini, but tonight for sure, as we are meeting friends in the Martini Bar at 6:30.

The surprise last night was magician Carl Andrews doing close up magic for our table at the cocktail party. There were five at the table and he was clooooooose up.

Absolutely amazing sleight of hand! He did dice and card “magic”, and as far as I’m concerned, it could well have been magic.

We all went to the show, which was actually a repeat of one earlier in the week. This is not lavish costumes, moving scenery, and chorus girls rotating in big hats. There are five, count’em, five in the entertainment group; three women and two men. They are attractive, energetic and just plain fun. The music is live, not tracked and you can count on a good time. I mean when was the last time you heard a hip version of “boop boop dida dada wadam chew”? When was the last time anybody even tried to spell that?

This morning I had a complimentary spa treatment. I get confused in Spas. I am never sure what to take off, what to leave on, whether to shower first, last, or not at all, and I’m always afraid I’ll snore and drool during a facial. I got around my fears by choosing the Pro-Collagen Grooming Treatment With Shave. Wow! One hour and twenty minutes of shave, rub, pat, stroke, and pamper. Spas on ships are not cheap, and the $95 dollar cost of this treatment is about standard. I’ve had this on three different ships, but nothing like this. If you make this trip, her name is Laura.

Lots of sunshine today, the pool was busy, the band playing, and a light breeze easing the heat. Journey is about full, but never seems crowded. We have yet to experience a line at the buffet or any event.

The early afternoon was set aside for wine tasting. Five wines, two whites, two reds, and champagne were offered up. The sommelier was careful to say that this was a tasting, not a “drinking”, but there were more than a few empty glasses. Hey, we’re travel writers after all; can’t write about half a glass.

More good stuff will be poured tonight in Prime C as we gather for the last time. Then a show, then pack (Oh No), and get ready to debark in Newark.

This ship, as a work in progress is changing as we go. (The new pool lounges just arrived last week.)

The specialty restaurants, Prime C, and Aqualina were $30 surcharge including gratuities. Aqualina is now $20, Prime C is $25. Each cabin gets one free specialty reservation; the suites get two, gratuities not included. The tasting menu at Aqualina is $50, and is not included in the complimentary offers.

An officer of the Azamara Cruise line told me that by the end of August, this ship will be awesome. I have no doubt.

Music bounced off the buildings and into our cabin around 6 PM. A food and music festival was underway on Hamilton’s water’s edge street.

The food carts and trucks reminded us of Tahiti’s every night doings along the waterfront. Although the food looked interesting, seeing the slices of fish flipped into the bubbling oil from our cabin’s altitude

set us in motion toward Breeza, which is actually half of Windows Café transformed into a dinner bistro. We ate outside, under a single star poking through the clouds, and ordered from the four course menu. Dinner was good, but interrupted by a sudden rain which dampened the tablecloth ambiance. We scurried into the other side of the room which is a non-tablecloth sushi, pasta, and stir fry buffet. I did have a Martini, not so great, and decided to give up my scientific experiments, at least for this night.

The next stop was the game show. We were not there for the rules explanation, and could not figure out what was happening. The cruise staff has taken a bit from trivia, mixed in some Pictionary, and a non mute Charades. There were three teams, but no score card. Team Blue won in the end, but we don’t know why. Everybody had a great time, and then it was, for them, on to the Bermudian Folkloric Event and BBQ on deck. Since we had earlier walked by the single Weber BBQ being frantically fanned to no avail, we passed and headed for the cabin. I think they had forgotten to open the bottom vents on the Weber.

This morning featured a galley tour where Michael spent a lot of time hovering around the chocolate.

For me, although a semi-vegan, the Kobe beef looked delectable. I’ll have it tomorrow night in Prime C and I don’t care!

This is not a huge ship, and the galley is compact, with no wasted space. Head Chef, Pales Milos from Slovakia, has only been aboard a week or so, and has major plans for the near future. By the end of August, there will be new dishes on the menu, and a new food presentation. And I thought the kitchen had arrived, but the goal is loftier than I imagined. This will be a culinary experience once Pales’ tactics become reality.

Tonight we will do the buffet, then go to a 7:45 pm cocktail party (after dinner Martini?) where we are promised some surprises. From there to the show, “from the Cotton Club to Sinatra”. Fifteen minutes after Candice, Kimberly, Natalie, and Rob leave the stage, it’s the “Amazing and Amusing Carl Andrews”. Funny magic from what I’ve heard. I hope the Martini works.

On the way to the Martini Bar last night, we passed through the Cova Café, where a table of friends asked us to join them. The bad news, Cova serves wine, not Martinis. The good news, Geoffrey Tozer was at the piano ….he’s good, but wasted, (OK he wasn’t wasted, I mean not used to his fullest) at the piano. He will be on stage again before we leave. Nonetheless there we were, my scientific Martini analysis halted for the night.

I think you’ve discerned that Journey is the result of a concept quickly realized, and is still getting things together, but there is no doubt that the kitchen has arrived. The food and choices in Discoveries are on the higher edge of the new “Deluxe” category. The cuisine is certainly equal to, if not better than what we have experienced on ‘luxury” category ships.

And speaking of coming together, today no rain, and all the outside tables at Windows Café were set and paid attention to. Today, we ate inside. The interior of Windows feels like a private club. In fact all the public rooms of this ship have that old, established, country club feeling.

We shopped in Hamilton, Michael for a necklace and me for a shirt.

As I’ve mentioned, Michael is the world’s best negotiator. She has never failed to get a price reduction, even in US stores like Neiman’s. But, my friends, Bermuda has stopped her cold, whereas I, the clod shopper, got 10% off on a really cool shirt from Mambos.

Now, granted, Mambos is not her type of store, but I didn’t even ask for a deal. The saleslady admired the jade hanging around my neck and said you have such good taste; I’ll give you ten percent off. It will be awhile before my lovely wife recovers.

The staff of the Bermuda shops is far different from what you find in the Caribbean. There is no sales pressure, in fact in one jewelry shop we almost had to plead for help. But then, the saleslady knew us better than we thought, as we were not ready for the prices being charged. There are no bargains here, except of course, at Mambos.

Ship’s decorative art is not usually reviewed. Some ships are known for their collections. On some the art on the wall jumps at you; on others it is just strange, but on Journey It is subdued, sometimes humorous. It’s attractive and in keeping with the private club feeling through out the ship.

I’m not sure what we’ll do tonight. Michael is worn out from banging against the wall of “Sorry, we don’t do that.” Tonight, there is what is billed as a new game show unique to Azamara. I’ll try to make that, and hope I have to pass through the Martini Bar on the way there.

The entry to Discoveries is the Martini Bar. It felt like the gathering room in a Hearst like mansion, with dark wood and comfortable couches and chairs. The martinis, well, I haven’t finished tasting them all yet.

Discoveries dining room was superb. Dinner was five courses and although steak was offered, other choices strayed from the usual. We were a party of four at a table for six. We each ordered a different entree; all agreeing it was excellent food. Walter was our main waiter and very sharp. He also acted as wine steward. As on many ships, there is an automatic 15% gratuity added to alcoholic beverages, including of course wine. I ordered a lovely bottle of Oregon Pinot Gris. It was $50, and thus the gratuity was $7.50. But here’s where it gets sticky; the bill said the $7.50 was a “stateroom charge”, and then there was an empty line that was labeled “gratuity”. It stayed empty.

The dining room was full and, although it has a low ceiling one could talk at a normal level and be easily heard across the table. Our table had four chairs and a two person lounge.

Other tables were regular squares and rectangles, but with the lounges here and there, I got a sense of separation from other diners.

I stopped by the show which featured Joe Mulligan, an improvisational comedian doing what was called the Bucket Show. Not listed in the schedule, was Geoffrey Tozer, the nightly piano bar entertainer from the Cova Café. He was the opener for the Bucket guy. It was the first time most of us had seen him standing, and he should never sit again. Terrific showman, good voice, good material, and he swung. He’s a hard guy to explain. He was just on the edge of parody, but had such a good time doing his act, you had to take him seriously.

The part of Joe’s bucket act that I stayed for had him pick a name from a bucket, talk to the person in the audience whose name was picked, and then ask the audience for a musical style. Gospel was shouted out (isn’t it always?) and so he did a song about the guy, gospel style.

Michael and I watched TV for a while. The flat paneled set is an up to the second HD Samsung, and has a great picture — if you are standing. As you know, flat panels viewed from too far to the sides or in this case too far below, lose image. The bed, couch, and chair are two feet below the screen.

Breakfast room service woke us at exactly the appointed time, and we were up and ready for our three stop snorkeling excursion. It was pouring. Intellectually, I figured, so what? I’m going to get wet anyway when I snorkel. Emotionally I thought, yeah right. We went back to bed.

The Windows Café outside area is shaping up. The ice tea glasses today grew to adult size. Used plates were bussed, and all chairs were in place. I blamed the lack of table setting on the earlier rain.

Oh and Peterson is bringing the “savories” and coffee in the afternoon, even though we are in Bermuda.

Tonight the whole group eats at Discoveries, and I shall continue my Martini testing.

St. George is Bermuda’s first capital and historically rich. It even has a replica of the stocks and pillory that was used to publicly punish criminals who missed Sunday church services, or stole a chicken. As the clock strikes noon in King’s Square, a Town Crier shouts out the time (perchance for the hearing impaired), and the days events.

I’d love to tell you more, but we never got to St. George. The entrance to St. George’s Harbor is through Town Cut, and ships of size can not make the passage if the winds are more than a breeze. Our cabin speaker ding-donged and the Captain said we would spend an extra day in Hamilton, and then added his trademark conclusion, “Bye for now.”

We were set for a shore excursion to cruise the St. George area and see the homes of the rich. Instead we had an extra day to shop in Hamilton. And, in inverse proportion to Michael’s delight, the chance of being one of the rich faded quickly.

We docked adjacent to the waterfront shopping area.

The day was cloudy, breezy, and muggy. Actually the prices in the stores were equivalent to those in the US, and we both bought some clothes. Not Bermuda shorts, although all the local men wear them with coat and tie.

Bermuda is actually made up of 300 islands, all within a 20 mile long by 2 mile wide area shaped like a fishhook. If there were an unimpeded road from one end to the other, it would take you over an hour to drive it, as the strictly enforced speed limit is 22 miles per hour.. We did, however, see a few law benders doing at least 25. Oh, and you are only allowed to own one car.

Prior to going ashore, we had lunch on the outside rear deck of the Windows Café (think Lido),. The buffet is excellent with many choices of both hot and cold dishes. The soup is great, and salad selection extensive, but there are no trays to carry your plates, and the plates are not large enough to carry a complete meal (soup, salad, etc.).

If you anticipate impeccable service, you’ll be disappointed. I had to borrow two chairs from others our table had none. Most of the tables were without salt, pepper, or sweeteners, and finished food plates sat during the meal without being bussed. Iced tea glasses were small fruit juice sized, and no one came around to refill them. If Azamara wants to compete in the above premium level, someone is going to have to pay attention.

Tonight we are on our own and will eat in the main dining room, Discoveries. Bon Apatite.