New to Azamara-some questions

I just booked my first azamara cruise on the quest for may 26 nice to rome.

i found out the boarding in nice is from 6:30pm to 10:30 pm with a 11:59pm departure-kind of disappointed since i wanted to relax on the ship that day. For such late boarding how is dinner handled? would there still be a muster drill so late? will they store our bags earlier so we can do something in town?

also

-for the overnight in livorno we'd like to take a train to florence and stay overnight, is this ok or would we have to notify the ship that we are planning this in advance? departure time is next day

-is there a white party on each cruise?

-i know these are smaller ships but is there any dancing in the evenings (not just ballroom but more like dj)?

-are there hot breakfast options through room service?

-are the gratuities included in spa treatments and if so are the prices a lot higher than celebrity spa prices?

-can i book transfers into rome while onboard? would like to use cruise credits for this

i'd appreciate any tips :)

thanks!

jennifer

Can't answer all your questions but what I can, I will. So. Yes to White Night. It's lots of fun. Most people join in the spirit of the night and wear white. We danced our fool feet off at ours. Boarding? There will be plenty of people boarding on the earlier side of your time slot and 6ish is dinner time so yes they will feed you!!! The food is pretty good, too. :) Dancing to the DJ, yes, yes, yes, and I hope you get a lively sailing like we did because we wore out our dancing shoes. I've heard that it's not always like that but I hope that's not the case with you. You'll find the DJ every evening up on Deck 10 forward in the Looking Glass. Breakfast? Yes you can order hot breakfast. The order card should be in your binder that is on the vanity desk with the mirror. If you want, you can even order steak and eggs. It's actually pretty tasty. Transfers? Yes you arrange that on board using your OBC . There's some info about transfers on the Azamara website under "Plan Your Voyage." For newcomers to Azamara, there's a heap of useful basic info to be had on several topics including transfers. http://www.azamaraclubcruises.com/plan-your-voyage Spa gratuities? 18% gratuity is added to base price. Look on the Azamara spa website for different treatments: http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/5d3a63e2#/5d3a63e2/1

We are sailing from Nice on April 22 on the Quest, also with a late departure. Someone from our roll call has stated that last year they were able to board before noon. I'm hoping that this will be true this year as well as check out times from hotels are before 12. I realize that staterooms won't be ready until later. Does anyone else have experience with this situation? Thanks.

We are sailing from Nice on April 22 on the Quest, also with a late departure. Someone from our roll call has stated that last year they were able to board before noon. I'm hoping that this will be true this year as well as check out times from hotels are before 12. I realize that staterooms won't be ready until later. Does anyone else have experience with this situation? Thanks.

Airhose,

I am sure you will be able to board from about 11.30. Staterooms are normally ready between 1.30 and 2pm.

Have a great cruise

We are sailing from Nice on April 22 on the Quest, also with a late departure. Someone from our roll call has stated that last year they were able to board before noon. I'm hoping that this will be true this year as well as check out times from hotels are before 12. I realize that staterooms won't be ready until later. Does anyone else have experience with this situation? Thanks.

was their boarding time also listed so late? if it was and they were still able to get on early that would be great for us also. such a port intensive cruise we were hoping to have some time to enjoy the ship :)

thanks for all of the answers, very helpful!

Hi

we boarded early and as Spurgirl says, boarding early will be fine. It's the first time I have seen a time stipulated and last time did not even look for one. I can't help thinking its more about making sure everyone has boarded by the latest time. Azamara is very relaxed and accomodating, they would not have guests hanging around the tent waiting.:)

Yvonne

Please can you let us know how this turns out as we have a similar boarding time given in August. We have an Azamara pick up from Nice airport in the morning so were wondering what they were going to do with us until our boarding time of late evening.

i had heard something about possible drills that day? but that seems kind of late to have drills and to let people start boarding if they've flown in or had to check out of hotels. would think it would be better to do those in a place with a long port day?

Hi Jennifer,

Looks like you've gotten quite a bit of information. Here's what I can add:

I don't think the ship will sail until the muster drill is completed.

If you are staying in Florence overnight, it would be a good idea to let the ship know your plans, including the name of the hotel.

Have a wonderful time.

On a late departure we had the drill at 5 and they had a catch up briefing for those who were not on board at that time on the next day

Jennifer - You may have misinformed about your boarding time. I'm on the same cruise - May 26 from Nice to Rome & Azamara told me they board between 10 am and 2 pm, and once you drop off your luggage, you can leave and come back later. You can also board after 2 pm, but you may have to transport your own luggage to your room. I hope that helps and I hope the information Azamara gave me is correct. Steven

My husband and I are also on the May 26 cruise starting in Nice and are wondering about the correct boarding time. I took the liberty of posting the question to Bonnie, "New Girl on the Blog,(Blog #1) thread.

I guess we should wait for her response.

Pat:)