Café Society @ Sea

By Bonnie MacLaird on Friday, September 19, 2014

The other night I watched Jerry Seinfeld being interviewed by Bill Maher about Jerry’s comedy series “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee”. They were laughing about how as they get older they enjoy coffee more than ever. Me too!

And I have to confess my favorite guilty pleasure while onboard the Azamara Journey recently was the Mosaic Café. At least once a day I would gravitate there to enjoy a fancy coffee drink and a miniature pastry.

Regular coffee with biscotti

I'm a café patron wherever I go, whether traveling or at home. I love to people-watch over a cup of coffee usually with whatever book I'm reading sitting at my elbow just in case the people-watching is unsatisfactory.

So imagine my delight to have the perfect café onboard and not having to pay a dime extra for it. I was the stereotypical "kid in a candy shop". Every day I would order a different “fancy coffee” and took my time selecting the perfect pastry to go with it (mini pastry, mind you.)

Owen the Barrista

And I wasn't alone. This seems to be the favorite spot of many. It's not large, but is well-situated on Deck 5, just at the top of the grand staircase above the Lobby. Like in the states, people pop in for a quick coffee or a short sit & relax. Many Mosaic Café patrons get their coffee drink and wander outside to a deck chaise lounge or to their staterooms.

Guests getting a coffee

Since I'm writing about cruising it goes without saying that I can afford to buy a daily coffee (and do so almost without fail) but I found it thrilling to have cost removed from my decision at the Mosaic Café. As a point of comparison...after sailing the British Isles on Azamara we sailed back to New York on a well-known ocean liner. Seven days at sea and not once did I gravitate to the ship's café. I couldn't bring myself to add another four plus dollars for a fancy coffee to our shipboard tab, and what’s more, the liner's café was cavernous compared to "my" Mosaic Café. The liner carries thousands of passengers so I rarely saw the same person twice. In my mind, the best part of frequenting your hometown coffee shop, or the Mosaic Café, is you recognize a few faces and you greet and acknowledge each other. Thus, the concept of "society."

Socializing in the Mosaic Café

Our modern day coffee houses are descendents from the original European literary cafés where locals and dignitaries met to discuss current events, and I imagine the last book they read. In the 1930's the term Café Society referred to the people; the celebrities and the slice of society which frequented nightclubs and cafés. Today I think of it as those of us who carve out a few minutes to sit drinking coffee and chatting with others about the weather and the current state of affairs, and yes, about the latest good reads. That is my idea of Café Society. I’d love to hear about yours.

Mosaic Cafe

Note: Jerry Seinfeld’s series “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee” is shown on Crackle.com.

Speaking of coffee, Azamara Club Cruises has a raft of upcoming voyages that visit coffee-growing countries:

Bonnie MacLaird is Azamara's Chief Blogging Officer. She has worked in the cruise industry for over 20 years and shares a passion for travel with Azamara guests. You can most often find Bonnie offering helpful tips and sharing Azamara news in the Cruise Critic online forum.