Like Soylent Green...

...Azamara is people.

Although this was my first time on +Azamara Club Cruises  , I already understand why there are so many former  +Celebrity Cruises passengers that have made the switch and won't sail with anyone else.

It's a combination of the size of the ship and the people onboard all mixing together in such an intimate space. It doesn't feel like you're crowded together--not at all, but you do get to see the same friendly faces and the the culture is to get to get to know one another. Whether it's fellow-passengers, an Officer, a crew-member or a contract entertainer, it's rare not to get a smile and you're often greeted by name.

Cruising to Taiwan, the seas were churning even more than the night before. The spray blew past my window like powdered snow drifts and waves occasionally splashed up like a car wash. It's true that on a smaller ship, you can feel the motion a lot more than on a larger ship. It really doesn't bother me though.

Because of the lousy conditions, we lost time. The Captain announced this over the PA system and warned that we all needed to take a seat in the next few minutes as we were about to make a 90 degree starboard turn and there would be a discernible list especially on upper decks.

I was on deck 5 at the Mosaic Cafe at the time. We made the impressive turn smoothly but yeah, you could feel it.

Moments later, the Staff Captain emerged from the bridge and sat down next to me at the coffee bar. I thanked him for the amazing roller coaster ride.

I let him know how I had nested in the window ledge of my oceanview stateroom and that nothing made me happier than to have the spray splash up into my face on deck.

He said "so you've got sea legs then..." and I volunteered the story of how my then nine-year-old immigrant grandmother was the only passenger to have an appetite on the crossing from Poland to Canada.

That is what being on Azamara Journey is like. You can have intimate chit-chat with the ship's second in command and only need two minutes to walk from stem to stern. On the bigger ships, you might never even see an officer outside of the organized photo-ops and folks are renting scooters just to get from their cabin to the buffet without having an angina attack.

Speaking of which, I have to say that the waiters on Azamara are evil. Not only do you risk getting a surreptitiously-poured, infinite glass of wine, if you ask for a recommendation between two main dishes, they will simply bring both. They size you up and know that you don't really mean it when you say "no French fries, please." They know what your preferred condiments are. By day three, everyone seemed to know to bring me sambal with my eggs and black coffee...no need to ask.

So I totally abused my body that night with a samosa starter, oxtail broth and both the vegetable croquette healthy choice option AND the seabass and some kind of obscenity for dessert. 

On another occasion, upon returning to the ship we were offered hot ginger tea or hot chocolate to warm up. I joked with the crew-member serving, asking what kind of rum was in the chocolate. He was embarrassed and said sorry, there was no rum...BUT...no joke...guests arriving back on board later that day reported that they were offered shots of rum with their chocolate!!!!

That is Azamara. I rest my case.