little britain

So, with a slight hangover we reached Sevastopol, and the first part of our two day tour with Sergey Sorokin. This is young Sergey and not the historian Sergey and he was great! We went to the site of the Charge of the Light Brigade, a church built into the limestone in the 8th century, the Balaclava submarine base ( very James Bond and eerie) and the Panorama museum which was incredible, unlike anywhere we has ever seen before. Google it!

Day 2 we were in Yalta which is only 80km away - the ship sailed very very slowly that night. We went to the Massandra Palace (built for Russian tsar Alexander III who only had one lunch there),

the Livadia Palace where the Yalta's Conference of 1945 was held,

we had lunch overlooking the Swallow's Nest Castle ,

then on to Vorontsov Palace in Alupka which is an amazing palace in English-Scotish styles built in 1848 and on the way back we took a short look on Chekhov house in Yalta.

Lunch was an interesting introduction to Ukranian cusine. We had meat soup and then meat dumplings, and sampled 3 types of Ukranian wines – the red was dry and the whites were very sweet to our western tastes. The white had 3% sugar….Sergey said his wife likes white wine with 18% sugar. :eek:

We paid $170pp for the 2 day tour and cannot recommend him highly enough.

Next there was Constanta Romania. When researching this port I did find a comment that said it would be best to bomb the place which I thought was a bit harsh, by the end my assumption was that is exactly what they had done! The shuttle bus with the cracked windscreen built in the 1960s gave us a clue as to what is ahead..... There was little to see or do. On the plus side there were no tacky tourist shops....primarily because there were no shops at all!!. We did discover a new marina area, where there were cafes and bars (free wifi) which was a pleasant destruction from the depression of the city.

As Eric reminded us that night...." You love where we take you...!!!" There was free wifi in the cruise terminal which was the only redeeming feature. Others who took the excursion into Bucharest said it was well worth it though.

The Casino

Odessa....what a beautiful city ! We docked right by the Potemkin steps, which led up to elegant tree lined boulevards, wonderful architecture and colourful gardens. In many ways it reminded us of St Petersburg but with the difference that there was a real cafe society. One of the joys of Azamara of course, is the late nights in port, this means you get to experience the city by day and by night, and Odessa had a great buzz in the early evening sunshine. We ate in town at a restaurant called Jardin, very pretty and good service. Waiter spoke good English, not something that was common in many other places we stopped at in the Ukraine, thus adding to the feeling of truly being in a foreign county, and 'travelling'.

Beautiful Opera House

It was the signature White nights party that night on board with a crew member doing a very energetic performance of Gangnam Style!

The atmosphere on board generally was more lively than on our previous 2 Azamara cruises, and I can only put this down to the free booze!!

However, they really were pushing the drinks packages available on board, and one passenger we spoke with on around day 4 didn't even realise there was the semi inclusive element outside of the wine!! The complimentary selection of drinks is on the last page of the drinks menu whereas the packages were being advertised on the first page. Crafty. Even the welcome letter in the cabin only mentioned the boutique wines with lunch and dinner so this had not been updated. The wine selection and quality was excellent and the measures of G&T were huge. Consequently our account was the smallest it had ever been, on any cruise, with only a few Baileys on the rocks being bought ay $5.50 each. We asked why no 'bubbles' and the reply was because they wanted to keep that for occasions such as the Captains evening. Oh well, back to the G&T....

Our first stop was Mykonos, an island we have visited before, an efficient tender service meant no waiting ( unlike waiting for 45 mins to tender into Villefranche with RCI a few weeks before ). A pleasant day walking the picturesque alleys. Wifi was freely available in every restaurant cafe and bar. Pleased to say Petros made an appearance too.

Through the Dardanelles and the Bospherous into the Black Sea where we spotted dolphins. We tendered into Nessebar, Bulgaria. A very pretty town, with cobbled streets, old churches and timber framed houses reminiscent of a Harry Potter set! It was also full of shops selling tourist tat and copy designer items which did detract a little from the charm but nevertheless, it was a pleasant little town to spend a few hours in and have a cold beer.

It did not start well with the cab driver advising us that LHR was closed due to an emergency landing. Thankfully no one was hurt and our plane to Athens was one of the few that were not cancelled or severely delayed that day. On landing we took a cab to the Athens Marriott. A good hotel, but a bit isolated out of town on the main road between Athens and Piraeus. We could see the Acropolis from the nice rooftop pool area, but that was as close as we got, and we ate at dinner a nearby Italian restaurant which was the only restaurant we could find in the area. After breakfast in the club floor lounge we caught a cab down to the port.

Having sailed from Athens before we knew it was usually a speedy efficient boarding process. There were 2 lines, one for suites and one for everyone else, so no recognition for LCV members here. We were on board by 11:30. Time to see the changes! As others have said, they are pretty understated, or even underwhelming. DH didn't even notice any of them, but that is men for you. The carpet in discoveries was not as garish as I had expected, the painting is horrid, ( he has just read this review and said "what painting"...) but I did get used to the spikey lampshade!! The balcony table is too big, rounded edges would have helped manoeuvre around it. I think there are new bedroom doors and new room number signs (someone will no doubt correct me if there aren't), but why have they not done something about those tacky laminated "make up my room " signs....I'm sure they could so something funky with magnetic signs instead.

Food was very good as usual, Aqualina far exceeding Prime C, and Windows proving a very varied selection especially the Fish buffet on the first night that provided more prawns and mussels and calamari than I have seen before. I wonder why don't they set the outside tables with placemats and those nice coloured water glasses any more though?

Entertainment many have said is quite poor on board, but on this cruise they had a very good lady magician called Mandy Muden, the first lady to be in the Magic Circle. Her act did suffer a bit because of the very diverse nationalities on board, with Japanese, Scandinavians, ( as well as Australians, and of course Brits and Americans), And the Swedish gentleman plucked from the audience did not do as expected. Or did he....? There was a singer who sang like Nat King Cole, the singers and dancers performed a very Glee-like show with funky animated backdrop. And of course there was Eric! He had a fabulous voice well suited to the show tunes he performed.

We also appreciated the daily banter between him and Captain Johannes. And his grandfather tales.....

Mosaic Cafe had lost all atmosphere with the demise of Jim Badger and sadly we never went there.

But this cruise was always going to be about the itinerary. A trip to the Black Sea to visit countries that would have been impossible to visit just a few years ago. The demographic on board therefore made it very much about 'travellers' and not about 'cruisers'.

More tomorrow......

A truly fabulous review with awesome pictures(you could teach some people who try to do live blogs with dire pictures a thing or two ;)). Keep it coming!

I'm doing a Western Med cruise from Barcelona on Liberty in September. In your experience, is the Spanish tax on drinks etc applicable for the whole cruise if sailing from a Spanish port, or just in Spanish waters?

 

If it's only applicable in the Spanish waters, when do you know that it is no longer applicable - at the first non-Spanish port (ie; for us that will be Tulon), or will they announce when the ship is no longer in Spanish waters?

Spanish VAT is payable on the entire voyage, if ship leaves from Spain and returns to Spain, and if it is not visiting a non-EU country. I'm on LB this weekend which goes to France and Italy, and will post if there is anything different but I'm now fully expecting to pay 10% on top of the 15% for the duration:eek:

Could you please check on this? I have done many Transatlantics and never seen this tax. Is it something new?

Mark - thank you for the info about the rose on board.

:confused: I'm bringing back an older thread here. We started a cruise in Istanbul last year, arrived by air and got our visas at the airport. That was easy. We even did another cruise that called at Kusadasi and no visa was required because it was just a port of call. Now we're considering starting a cruise in Athens and ending in Istanbul, flying back to Canada from Istanbul. Can anyone please reconfirm that we'll be able to pay for the visa at the Istanbul cruiseport before we go the the airport for our flight home? The cruise overnights in Istanbul but just to clarify, after overnighting on the ship we'll disembark, ending the cruise in Istanbul and then fly back home from Istanbul airport. Thanks for any input!

I'll let you know in early June!

We are doing the same Athens to Istanbul. The cruiseline says they can get us a visa for US$50pp but the Turkish Embassy in London assures me that there is somewhere at the port where you can buy your visa for £10 (which is US$15pp).:rolleyes:

We get on as you get off! Please can you let me know what rose wines are on the main dining room wine menu and an idea of costing please - French, Spanish or Italian ones if possible please!:)

As I see it now price of the cruise is Interior from £729. Book more than 6 months in advance and get a C&A discount of £150, = £579, On board booking Bonus $150, and Balcony Bonus $225 gives a total of $375 = £242 = £337 now I think that is a good price. Upgrade for Balcony is £200 so gives a total of £537 / £600. Now this sounds reasonable.

Sorry but your prices are a bit out.

If the interior is £729pp then you would not get the £150 balcony discount as you are not in a room with a balcony.:rolleyes:

Also the £150 balcony discount is £150 total and not pp.

The onboard booking bonus is on board credit and not a discount off the cost of the cruise; and you only get the onboard booking bonus if you book a cruise when on board. Finally the $225 balcony bonus is exactly the same as the £150 balcony discount, so you cannot count that twice I'm afraid.

Prices are not known for balconies until tomorrow, so not sure where you have got the info that you can upgrade to a balcony for just £200 from, but I am expecting balconies to start at £1000pp for the 5n cruise. If they are any more than that I won't be booking...

I think this is all getting rather silly and, dare I say it, somewhat snobbish.

 

Whilst I have yet to experience the new system, I have sailed with Azamara a number of times. I have never had a problem getting one of the wines on the included list, whatever the wine of the day might be. That includes the first day of a cruise. If you don't want Cabernet, Chardonnay or, in my case, American wines (I find them overblown) then just ASK. I have never been refused and, in some cases staff have gone to a great deal of trouble to track down a chilled bottle of the white I requested. I would point out that I have always done this discretely and politely and never demanding. It works wonders.

I totally agree. I loathe Chardonnay but have never had any problems getting the wine from a previous day (the NZ SB being my wine of choice). Some people appear to be making mountains out of mole hills and trying to find fault and issues where there are none.

Happy Easter.:)

Cabin Number 7121

Ship Quest

Month/Year sailed Mar 2011

Would you choose this room again Y/N Most definitely

Is noise an issue Y/N No

Balcony size Normal/Larger/Smaller Large aft

Any other comments (keeping these succinct so the spreadsheet does not grow too much) Middle of the 3 aft cabins, good view, no issue with vibration when turning as others have reported

At the Cruise Show today [London] I tried to establish whether all the wines would be available at the bars each day or only those two on the daily rotation. The "off the cuff" response from the lady I spoke to was that they would all be available. However, when she looked at her paperwork it appeared to suggest that only the two wines of the day would be served. [so perhaps you won’t get your Chardonnay every day]. She is going to try to find out and let me know Monday.

 

I said that I was surprised that there was no sparkling wine included [not even Prosecco or Cava] and that even the wine package only included one sparkling. She was unable to give me the price of the wine packages and said that they were still awaiting the information from Miami.

 

She was very helpful but clearly was lacking a lot of essential information - as are we all. :)

 

She did say that the head of Azamara in the UK is at the cruise show tomorrow so anyone visiting then might get more information than I did.

I would think that it was only the wine of the day that is 'officially' available at the bars, during opening hours (and not just meal times). However in the past we have always been able to get the wine from another day, if you did not like the daily swill (aka Chardonnay!;)). I wonder how this will work now?

Totally agree about the lack of Cava/Proscecco.......this is so much lighter and easier to drink than some of their heavier whites, especially in the early evening or at lunch.

Thank you Bill for posting this list.

I am glad to see that most of the wine selection has not changed,(IIRC it was a Italian rose before and now it is French); but I am very surprised to see that they could not include a basic sparkling wine in the selection.

DH is surprised not to see Baileys included, or beers like Corona/Peroni or even a cider in the list.

Hi

 

We are booked on the Journey Nov 25th Singapore to HK and very interested in the private guides information- do you have any email addresses etc for these guides so we could follow up- would be much appreciated

Zoom - http://saigonprivatetour.com/wp/?page_id=39

Tong - http://www.tourwithtong.com/ Insist on Tong herself if you can and tell her Fat Gary sent you....;)

This has been happening with the Royal Caribbean site for some time. I tried every way to log in - clearing my cookies, changing my country in the options but every time it would revert back to the UK site.

 

I find that using a proxy site such as kproxy.com allows me to log into the US site.

That worked! Thanks! :D

one thing i am noticing in most of these replies most of the dislikers seem to be from My side of the pond

most of the likers from the american side

 

is it a cultural thing perhaps?

 

he appeals to an american audience more than a british maybe?

 

i guess i will get to see for myself in 2 weeks time

 

 

be interesting to actually have a point of view on this debate

 

From the couple of u-tube videos i can't see me spendign 14 nights watching him but maybe be amusing for a wee half hour?

 

maybe not :)

LOL -he is like a camp Larry Grayson or Dame Edna(:D)....harmless entertainment who 'picks' on members of the audience; he is a good singer - sort of Neil Diamond ol' fashioned sing-alongs. For a Brit it does help if you have had a few drinks before hand (or DH says you should be ver' ver' drunk..) and then just go with the flow.

Seriously you should see him at least once.:cool: He does throw himself into it, every night. You have to admire him for that.

Positions Please....

Anyone done any of the shore excursions - are they worth doing or better to do private tours ?

Not sure of your ports but we did:..

Hoi An - on your own with the ship - purely an exercise to get to the town. It did take us via a marble shop which was annoying and wasted time in that most gorgous little town.

HCMC- private tour for 2 days with Zoom...Fantastic

Bangkok - private tour with Tong for 2 days ....More than Fantastic

You can find my review here ...http://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=81608 ....hope it helps.

I really enjoy Jim Badger too. Interesting he is currently on Eclipse. Perry Grant is going to "home" there I think. Perhaps Jim is doing a recky.

 

Phil

Jim Badger and Perry Grant.....now I would love to see that show!!!;)

Deck - 8

Cabin # 8321

Class 1C

Starboard or Port Side - Port

Bed near?(balcony or bath) – bath

Quiet Cabin (With comments on problems. Note if connecting. ) –new connecting door in the cabin wall. No noise heard.

Balcony View - non obstructed

Balcony Size? Normal or oversized for class? - normal

Was wind a problem? No

Any other comments? Changes noted to other s-class ships: tap in bathroom sink is smaller. No glass to the cupboard door in bathroom. No little cupboard for the toilet cleaning brush so this is on display. Shower head is on a movable bar now and is adjustable. The bedside light is now either on or off- it does not have the little 'pin prick' small beam any more like on Silhouette.

And I must confirm they have changed the doors on the Reflection.

Now the connecting door is inside the room.

You saw it good on the video.

Gitte

...... Just as 2 people said on the other post but no one believed what we said:confused:

#9292 is one of the best rooms on the ship with a super-sized balcony which is about 3x bigger than the normal balconies. I have booked it twice and would happily do so again. Cabin is the same size as any other cabin. Where ever you got your info from about it being smaller...that is wrong!

Great review so far. Did you happen to notice where the car hire /Hertz office was in Geiranger please?

Deck - 7

Cabin # - 7264 (on Silhouette)

Class – 1A

Starboard or Port Side - Starboard

Bed near? (balcony or bath) – Bath

Quiet Cabin (With comments on problems) – NO

Balcony View - First off the hump to the front so great views to the front of the ship

Balcony Size? Huge oversized balcony - at least 12' deep.

Was wind a problem? No

If an aft cabin, was soot a problem? N/A

Any specific problems with this cabin?

Fabulous location, near lifts and right by Hideaway, with the coffee and tea facilities. It was like having our own private coffee machine for early morning and late evening drinks. Would recommend this cabin to anyone.

Deck - 6

Cabin # - 6144

Ship – Silhouette

Starboard or Port Side - Starboard

Bed near?(balcony or bath) – Balcony

Quiet Cabin

Balcony View - Clear view - the obstructions from the lift boats started in the next cabin - 6146 so you saw if you looked to the right

Balcony Size? Normal

Was wind a problem? No

If an aft cabin, was soot a problem?

Any specific problems with this cabin? New sofa - red colour. No magazine rack on the unit any more

Handy for lifts.

This is taken from my cruise review:

We had a group booked through Zoom. This man is infectious in his enthusiasm and we had all been sent many reports on Vietnamese customs, cusine and history to read before we arrived. Zoom was waiting on the pier for us. We visited the Post Office, Reunification Palace, a Chinese market and temple; then we had coffee at the top of the famous Rex hotel, we had lunch at Pho 2000 which is where President Clinton ate when he visted; then we visited a lacquer ware factory (another purchase), the war museum and the Ben Thanh market. Visas were handled by the ship and cost $40pp. We had a small landing card which we had to keep on us at all times. Traffic was chaotic with motor cycles everywhere. As we were docked overnight Zoom had recommended that we went out for dinner at the Royal Court restaurant in the Rex hotel. They served local cusine and had dancers and musicians. We had his driver, and the evening cost $40pp total including transport, meal, drinks and tip for a group of 15 of us. I’m confident that all of us would happily recommend Zoom – his real name is Tri Dung Nguyen dungzoom@gmail.com. The ship ran a complimentary shuttle from the port to the Rex hotel.

In Bangkok we had a tour booked with Tong from http://www.tourwithtong.com. She was amazing! We were docked right in town at Klong Toey. The ship ran a complimentary shuttle from the port to the Central World Plaza shopping centre on Ploenchit which is just by the Siam skytrain station. Depending on traffic this could take anything from 30 mins to 1 ½ hrs. On the first day we docked around 11am and Tong took us straight to the Grand Palace. This was shutting at 1p due to it being a public holiday and the royal family were visiting. We also saw the huge reclining Buddha in Wat Pho. After a fantastic lunch we had a river and canal tour and then visited the flower market. The official name for Bangkok is actually the longest capital city name in the world and she had us all singing a song to remember it on the journey home.....altogether now....” Krung Thep Manakhon Bovorn Ratanskosin Magin thara Ayutthaya Mahadilokpop Noparat ratchathani Burirom Udom Ratchanivetmahasathan Avatartsathit Sakkathattiya Visnukarmrasit”.....

On the second day we had a 7am start and Tong took us straight to the train market. This is an amazing experience where the locals sell their wares along the train track. Then the 3 minute whistle goes and they clear their goods, pull back their awnings and let the train go through....they do this 8 times a day. Then we went to the floating market which was amazing. Make sure you go in a boat where they paddle you instead of in one with an engine so you can see how peaceful the pace is. After a quick visit to a wood carving factory we were on the way to a fishing village. We set off in another boat to see the oyster beds, and then we had bought bags and bags of bananas to feed the wild monkeys. And there were a lot of wild monkeys along the banks and swimming along side us, and one even climbed onto the side of the boat! Lunch followed and this was held in a fishing platform built on stilts high above the water. A ladder up to the platform was not for the feint hearted but lunch was superb. Back at the ship we freshened up and then caught the shuttle into town. We headed straight for Jim Thompson’s shop which sells the most beautiful silk products in Thailand. After this we walked down Patpong which is famous for fake copies of designer products (and other things....) but I felt that the copies were not as good as those on sale at the floating market (and were not as cheap ). We caught a cab back to the port and this only cost 100THB including the tip – that is around $3.

Both tours were excellent and i would happily recommend both.