Traveling Fools

Have done 1 Azamara cruise in Nov 2023, TA from Lisbon to FLL, aboard the Onward.. Everything seemed fine to us. Because it was a TA there was no Azamazing evening. Have another booked in Feb 2025 aboard the Quest.

Just got this response regarding private tours out of Kavala. Dear Joseph, Thanks a lot for your message below. Yes, I'm booked to guide on many long tours across Greece in the fall and I have almost no free dates, including the 26th September, when I'll be in the south of Greece then. Unfortunately, Kavala port has only a couple of local certified guides around and these are always booked by the cruise ship companies for their group tours for the whole season. It is the busiest time of the year for us in September and October and most guides are away on their long tours. I know the place and local guides and agencies well, I've been guiding there in the last 35 years whenever I'm around northern Greece but it is problematic in spring & fall. I recommend that the easiest way for you to have a decent guided tour to Philippi is to book via the cruise ship to all the ancient site & St. Lydia's baptistery. Otherwise you'll have to end up with the Kavala taxi drivers who are not guides and are not allowed to guide anywhere around Greece in sites. Most of them do not speak English either. Best regards, Efi Kalampoukidou, Dipl. Qualified Tourist Guide in English, German & Greek President of European Federation of Tourist Guide Associations (FEG) FEG European Tourist Guide Trainer WFTGA National Tourist Guide Trainer Mobile: (+30) 6974 098805 https://efiguide.com/

And, not Shoot the Moon?!?😆

Davey Wavey, PLEASE post your findings. We are booked on the same cruise, boarding after you disembark.

Really enjoyed reading your live review! Thank-You for all the time and effort you put into it. DW and I will be on Infinity in September of this year. It is a "Greek" intensive cruise, but, with a couple of exceptions, we will be making different port calls. We will be arriving about 10 days before our cruise, renting a car and, at our pace, visiting sites that are either no where near or difficult time wise to get to from our ports of call. Having sailed at least once on all the M Class ships, we too find them a good fit with lots of charm. Cheers!

Yes and have also gone thru the associated photo album that has many pictures with captioned reviews. I know the hotel recently underwent renovation and am curious if the renovation project is complete.

Has anyone stayed at the Astor Hotel in Athens and can you shar with me your review of the hotel?

Regardless of cabin/suite status, you can only book specialty restaurants after you board. (A real PITA in my opinion!) My last cruise on Az (also my first), the booking table was located in the Aqualina Restaurant. When you board ask the staff when the booking table is. Do not assume it will be in the same location others (me included) say it was for them. I was fortunate that I went directly there after dropping my carry on off in my suite. When I got there there was one couple in front of me. When I finished booking my reservations the line stretched out the door of Aqualina into the elevator lobby. One couple with whom we had been on a land excursion before the cruise elected not to stand in line and asked their butler to book the reservations for them. The butler was only able to secure 8 o'clock or later seatings for them. This really interfered with their plans to watch the evening live entertainment. We were luck enough to overcome that hurdle by showing up together at the maitre Di's desk at the same and asking for a table for 4. Worked every time.

On April 5th we returned from a combination land excursion in Rio and cruise from Rio to Miami including the trip up the Amazon. The cruise was on Oceania, and unlike our first cruise with them, Oceania snobs weren't a factor. The majority of the passengers were a fun bunch! We didn't chose to book on Oceania, the booking was part of the total package. NO Yellow Fever vaccine was required. In fact, the requirements for getting that vaccine have also changed. It is now considered a one and done vaccine. Water levels were not not an issue. We thought this was a fun and interesting cruise. For the most part we avoided ship sponsored excursions and booked small group excursions. I think that mad a big difference in how we ended up viewing the cruise. For us cruising that section is a one and done experience. We will consider cruising the upper reaches of the Amazon.

I don't know if this will meet your scheduling requirements, but Enrichment Journeys is offering a 10-day pre-cruise adventure & 12-night cruise combination beginning on Jan 30th. The cruise is aboard the Quest. Here is the pre-cruise itinerary: 10-night pre-cruise land program in South Africa and Zimbabwe o Johannesburg, South Africa: 1-night hotel stay § Welcome Dinner o Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe: 2-night hotel stay § Sunset Dinner Cruise § Full-day tour of the falls with visit to local community § Boma Dinner o Kapama Wildlife Reserve, South Africa: 3-night hotel stay § Morning and Afternoon Game Drive § Morning and Afternoon Game Drive o Cape Town, South Africa: 4-night hotel stay § Immersive GOLD Dinner Experience § Full-day tour of Cape Town § Full-day tour of Cape Peninsula § Full-day tour of the Cape Winelands & Stellenbosch

Good to know, Thanks

Ritz Carlton. Very nice hotel...defiantly 5 star. It is relatively easy to get around in Santiago. It is almost European. Museums are closed on Mondays.

I asked my TA this very question yesterday. She told me to book it directly with O, either on-line, by phone, or on board.

That is good to know! We leave the 15th on a 21 day cruise and about choked at the $69.95 listed price pp to upgrade.

Here is what happened to me on a Jan 7-14, 2024 cruise on the Epic. DW and I booked a DOS and adjoining suite in the Haven. We also paid for all onboard expenses. Cost us beaucoup bucks. We were celebrating DD's, GD's, & GS's birthdays. Both our suites came with 2-specialty dinning dinners for 2. To supplement our specialty dinning packages, I purchased an 2 additional specialty dinners for 2. Whereas the grandkids (11 & 14), aren't big eaters and will in most instances will order off the kid's menu, I did not purchase extra dinning packages for them. And it is a good thing I didn't! Unbeknownst to me, NCL's policy (as stated on their T&C for dinning packages) does not permit transfer of those meals. I was not a happy camper to be told this by both the hostess and restaurant manager of the Le Bistro. I was told they couldn't be transferred to anyone not booked in our suite . Le Bistro's manger was put out by our request to speak to us and rudely delivered the news and told us we needed to address the issue with the concierge. This happened the night of DD's actual birthday. The next morning (the day before disembarkation) I brought the issue up with the concierge. He told me he would look into the matter, I told him that given our 10 year history of sailing exclusively in suites or the Haven, and given the money I had forked out for the cruise, I had faith in him and the hotel manager to find an agreeable solution. Through the course of the last day on board, the concierge did an admirable job of avoiding me....even when he saw me. The morning we disembarked I asked him what solution had been reached. Unfortunately, he told me corporate policy prevented anything to been done. In all it cost me close to $500. Not a huge amount relative to what all I spent, but enough to disappoint me with the lack of loyalty by NCL to me and my family and make me question our future loyalty to NCL. A letter to Katty Bird resulted in a blah blah response with an offer of $300 in OBC, "if we ever booked with NCL again". That's all it would have taken for the hotel manage and concierge to have done onboard to satisfy us. And, we would have left the ship happy that the onboard staff did something. Bottomline, while never is a long, long time, DW and I have reevaluated our continued loyalty to NCL and have decided to take our money elsewhere.