Azamarajunkie

It’s not confined to North America, we’ve got the same problem in the U.K. it only affects My Azamara, it’s still possible to access individual booked cruises on the Voyage Planner with your reservation number. Sadly the link from there to My Azamara is also broken:mad:

Glad you found it useful, the ACM website also has details of the race timings which may be helpful in planning your day(s). Now let’s hope for dry weather:D

Sorry to hear of your trials and tribulations, must admit I decided to do my own thing there.

I ordered my tickets for Grandstand V for Saturday and Sunday direct from the Automobile Club de Monaco a few months ago for only 80 Euro. There is no allocated seating on any of the grandstands,it’s open seating. Looking at the website this evening there are plenty of seats available on both days in the swimming pool complex of the circuit. At present, the Monaco Port arrivals states that the ship is tendering into the Fontvieille port which is 15 minute walk to the circuit.

Hope this helps

http://www.formula1monaco.com/

There is another R ship on QPS, looking at the photos of the interior it appears to be Pacific Princess. Unless of course the website hasn’t been updated!

http://www.qpsships.com/copy-of-passengercar-ferry-2230-passen

You can have as much sparkling wine as you want whenever you want. There are 2 white wines and 2 red wines per day, which change from day to day (although the waiters can often find you one you liked from another day). There is also a rose and a sparkling wine that remain the same every day. You can have any wine, or any other drink in the included list, at any time from any bar. The only thing you can’t do is order it on room service. If you do, you will be charged.

 

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I assume if when in a suite and you ask your Butler to get a couple of glasses of wine to have with the afternoon canapés you won’t be charged for those.

I agree. He is born entertainer and one of the nicest, kindest and most intelligent men I know.

 

All three of Azamara's CD's are outstanding.

+1 and when he is onboard with his wife Christine they do an incredible double act.

The lecturer is Chuck Richardson. He did a very good lecture about the Panama Canal on the first sea day. Tomorrow (second sea day) he is doing "Golfito and Quepos: Gateways to Costa Rica's Natural Beauty." One of the things I really like about Azamara's lecturers is that they have no idea whether the sights they describe are available on shore excursions – these are NOT adverts for the Azamara shorex office.

 

 

 

Entertainment is basically what we remember from Norwegian Fjords 18 months ago. Two differences: the Azamara house band is much better, and the guitarist [who is still present] no longer plays outside Discoveries [for which we are grateful, as it was actually disruptive to this space while you waited for a table to open up].

 

 

 

Sadly, when I raved about Alex and Alina to Russ and strongly suggested that their contract should be renewer, he confirmed that all entertainment was going to change in the near future. But no details. Both of our guest musicians have had their own pre-recorded backing tapes with the Azamara house band filling in. The first was a successful blending of recorded violins [Russ suggested the artist probably recorded it himself] with the horns and rhythm section of the house band. Tonight's was not successful, as the artificial sound of the recording was eclipsed when the live musicians played their fill-in parts in 'real' high-fidelity. If Azamara decides to eliminate the live musicians, they will have to significantly upgrade the sound system in the Cabaret Lounge.

This following information was posted on the Roll Call for the 25th March cruise from Singapore which is a part of the World Cruise, if it is an accurate statement it appears to bode well for the future.

Apologies for hijacking your thread Jazz

Hi all,

I contacted our Azamara rep who has been assigned to us to answer questions on the world cruise. His response was

"There are some entertainment changes. The small production show group, that performed the same shows each sailing, has been replaced with more guests entertainers, to add variety. The piano player and solo guitarist have been replaced with a trio that will perform throughout the ship, with vocal and instrumental performances. The band will be reconfigured a bit, but the nightly dance music will not be affected.

The live gaming in the casino has been replaced with 100% electronic gaming, although there still will be a small casino staff to assist."

We went on our first Azamara cruise over Christmas/New Year and loved it so booked for next Christmas whilst on board which includes an overnight in Havana and this is where I need some clarification. I understand that we have to pay $75 each for a visa which was never mentioned by the girl that did the booking for us but my main concern is that I have just read on another thread that we are only allowed off the ship if we are doing an approved tour does that mean that at no time are we allowed to wander round on our own if so that is a huge disappointment as the length of time in Havana was the main reason for booking.

We went on the inaugural cruise to Cuba last year and were able to do our own thing there and took a private tour to Vinales, as well as walked around Havana on our own. Since, then the rules for US based Cruises have been Trumped and have changed slightly. Rather than do a full explanation here, follow the link to this thread which should address your concerns. https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2566150

You will have to purchase the Visa onboard, there doesn’t appear to be a way around that, despite being able to purchase it cheaper yourself.

Have a great cruise, we did

Thank you Uktog, the information is great as always and will be very useful for our forthcoming trip in March, particularly HCMC. We are looking forward to returning to Singapore as well, a place we have grown to love through previous Azamara cruises.

So excited to be back on the Journey again and looking forward to great B2B cruises. But, here is another example of poor communication and how the home office does nothing to help the pre cruise experience. We arrived in Singapore several days prior to the cruise and received an email while we were here telling us that the port had changed. The email included the port name and address. We thought that it was excellent that they communicated what we were sure was a last minute change. Unfortunately, the email gave the wrong name and address of the new port. The information was enough to get taxi drivers in the general area but the address was wrong and the terminal goes under a different name. We ended up at the yacht club and several others that we met ended up in a ferry terminal. Luckily we had enough time because we drove in circles and the driver finally found someone that told the driver where he thought the ship might be. We paid the driver more than we should have because it was not his fault. We gave him the incorrect address provided to us by Azamara. But, as always, once we got onboard all the “bad stuff” went away. Wahoo....we sail in two hours!

So which port did you eventually embark on the Journey? In the past we have always boarded at Harbourfront Cruise Terminal in SG, and that’s where we’re expecting to when we join her in March. In fact that is where the Singapore Cruise Terminal website says she will be berthed..

And here is the link to MJM in Northern Ireland who are undertaking the refit.

http://mjm-group.com/news/first-mjm-group-royal-caribbean-luxury-cruise-liner-set-drydock-belfast/

Good news indeed for the Northern Ireland community.

:confused:

Too much bubbly? [emoji16][emoji6]

Maybe he’s on the Adonia!

One thing to bear in mind, the value of your free days is calculated based on the most frequent category of cabin that you have travelled in on Azamara and does not include taxes.

It’s also very nice to have your dinner served at the dining table in your suite by your butler, you can choose from the speciality restaurant menu’s and also invite a couple of guests to join you.

I agree with Marinaro, the Best of the Best dinner is not to be missed.

As somebody from Azamara said to me, as long as they sell, thefy could charge the higher prices...

Not surprising, I watched a documentary about Concorde last night. When it was operating at a loss, the specialist division that was set up with the target to make it profitable discovered that the people travelling didn’t know how much they were paying for seats as they were mostly corporate types. When asked what they thought they were paying, it was much higher, so BA put the prices up accordingly and went into profit with no loss of custom!

Bring a bottle of Scotch with you as if there is a miniature in the fridge it's chargeable. Also ask your steward if he'll replace a couple of the other cans you don't drink with ginger ale and keep it stocked up for you.

 

Phil

In addition, if you are in a CC suite you get 4 bottles of spirit, one of which is scotch. Your butler can swap the others for scotch if you prefer.

Thank you to the Azamara team for an enjoyable event. Great to catch up with many familiar faces.

Special thank you for the Champagne tasting :)

Vicki

Yes it was a great event, and a special thank you to the Azamara UK team for arranging it. It was a great shame Nicole was unable to join us due to the effect of the weather on flights from the US.

Steve

Can I recommend anyone coming to Edinburgh in particular (but anywhere in the UK) they look for Edinburgh Gin. and anyone cruising to Edinburgh who has done everything else Edinburgh could consider a gin tour. It is a gorgeous gin - some of the blended ones are outstanding. I have just enjoyed their Christmas Gin, but my favourite is their rhubarb and ginger liquor gin.

 

https://www.edinburghgin.com/our-gins

 

One place you can get a free taste is if you are flying out of Edinburgh and your airline gives you access to the No 1 Lounge they serve it there but you have to ask for it as they will otherwise default to Bombay Sapphire

Agree wholeheartedly, we have a bottle of Edinburgh Rhubarb and Ginger Gin in the Christmas booze cupboard.;p

Thanks all! We have arrived Singapore and checked into the Conrad Centennial Hotel. Someone on CC recently gave it a great recommendation. I love what I learn on this forum!

Luckily our room was available for us at 9am so we are now showered and discussing how to spend the day. Any suggestions?

Love Singapore, so much to see.

Gardens by the Bay both by day and night, the flower dome will be decorated for Christmas.

Marina Bay Sands hotel viewing platform, stunning views of Singapore

Singapore Flyer, Close to the Conrad and very nice at dusk, not so high as Marina Bay Sands but a lovely view.

Would suggest Raffles Long Bar for a Singapore Sling but it’s currently closed for renovations

Just a few suggestions Bonnie, have a great time.

Steve

Ah, sorry, I missed that. On a Mac, once you have clicked on download e-brochure and have it open, if you go to the ‘File’ tab in Safari you should be able to click on ‘Export as PDF’ then be able to choose where you want to export it.

I agree, tho’, that it should be much easier than this.

 

 

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Just been trying on my Mac, if you hover the mouse over the bottom half of the displayed e-brochure a pop up box appears with a series of icons, one of which will download it to the downloads folder on the Mac. So in true Apple style, different ways of doing the same thing:D

For info - my Mac is running latest High Sierra software.

Apologies to all for the thread drift, still it makes a change from the continuing questions about the OBC workaround;p

I’ve been able to download and save the e- brochure to IBooks on my IPad. Once it’s opened I use the send tool to do that.

 

 

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I thought I’d be able to do it that way, but the ‘open in iBooks ‘ option didn’t come up, so I went the pdf into Pages route this time. Not sure whether that was an IOS or Azamara problem

But it won’t let you save it to your pc or tablet at present.

Didi7 I don’t know what cruise you are on, but be careful with the brochure you download, they are notoriously inaccurate- our 8th April one is what I’d describe as a work of fiction. We would be doing scenic sightseeing up to 10pm at night (and no it’s not the floodlit temples) and on the final day most excursions return 4 hours after the ship has sailed. No one checks the accuracy of these things carefully before they are posted live.

Sorry, you’ve found Azamara’s weakest link, try and hang in and not say “goodbye” because the onboard product is good.

 

 

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That’s strange, I’ve just downloaded the shore excursion brochure for the Classic Grand Prix Cruise we are on. I did it on my iPad which gave me an option to save the brochure as a pdf in Pages. As I no longer use Mr Gates products, I assume it is also possible on Windows machines.

I agree some of the accuracy of the printed document can be suspect, however it is always useful, especially when considering arranging private tours.

Honestly, if I were making that decision, I'd opt for a new phone with a great camera or a GoPro.

There are clip-on lenses for phones that allow for lots of zoom. Most people cannot distinguish between the pictures taken with a good camera and the pictures taken with a good phone.

 

I also love my Go-Pro.... It's weatherproof and waterproof, can be used underwater, and is really small and convenient. It's a super travel camera!

 

 

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Agree that the Go-Pro as an action camera is very good, I have the Olympus Tough TG Tracker action Camera which offers similar facilities as the GP, however like the GP the wide angle is too wide for everyday photo’s and there is no zoom facility. I think what Kathy is looking for is a good easy to use point and shoot compact camera, that can easily slip into a pocket. If she wants something robust, the Olympus Tough series are excellent with a short optical zoom and the added benefit of being waterproof.

If you want an idiot proof camera, I would say go for a compact. Bridge and DSLR cameras are weighty and bulky and won’t go in your pocket. Ideally you need one that offers the biggest sensor, 1 inch if your budget runs to it, with at least a 10 Times optical zoom and 18 or 20 megapixels. Have a look at Panasonic Lumix cameras. Look at Steve’s Digicams, it’s a good review site. Link is http://www.steves-digicams.com/camera-reviews/.

 

 

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I can also recommend the Sony Cybershot that my wife uses. It has an excellent zoom and 18mp camera for a compact camera that easily fits in your pocket. I hardly use my Nikon P610 bridge camera these days on holiday.

See http://www.steves-digicams.com/camera-reviews/sony/dsc-hx90v/sony-cyber-shot-dsc-hx90v-review.html. For a review.

Does anyone know what the tipping custom is in Cuba.

 

I found a 6 hour private tour in a classic air conditioned hard top for 100cuc with driver and guide. We're grandfathered under the old restrictions based upon booking date. They are well rated on TripAdvisor.

 

Thankx.

Hi Steve

We gave our driver 20cuc and driver 10cuc when we did a trip to the Vinales Valley last March from Havana.

The air conditioning in our Hardtop Plymouth was a quarterlight propped open with a pencil!

Steve