Benthayer Gonbak

The problem wasn’t particular about a safer port but closed or recluses ports that were swapped out for non Africa ports.

Thanks, I’ve wanted to find some of the Caribbean voyages again. Some used to go to the Amazon. Thanks. And yes we are on the Summit late May. We go to Morocco in June, with a group.

Up until this year I would have agreed! But with an arm in a sling it isn’t that easy! I pack with packing cubes so it’s easier to allow someone just to plop them somewhere, of my choosing, of course.

Our crossing, some years back had a geneticist as a speaker. He talked about the evolution of DNA as proof etc and each talk included why the number of markers went up ot other things that changed. The cases were interesting and the Cabaret was packed! For what it is worth, we did start into some rougher seas but were able to divert a bit. Much better than the North Atlantic where we hit 28-30 ft waves near the Shetland Islands! .

Yep, I just never researched wifi packages, just used minutes or the all included. We always had minutes left over even when I had a closing that was happening, supposedly, while I was away. at that time I think we got 90 minutes pp. we however were not paying bills online at the time. It takes a bit more time for that. And, now with the secondary authentication we suspect we will not be able to pay bills online anymore as my iPad doesn’t accept texts or phone calls!

Ive had the Azamara app for some time. I’m not sure what it ever did but I’m guessing if they expanded it for the Pursuit, when it launched, it was indeed a mess.

There are cruise lines that deliberately do not have apps! They claim they want their passengers to be involved in the experience. last night I noticed the app is being expanded first on the Pursuit. It was unclear what it might include. It came up with my next voyages though I don’t think I could explore much.

Thanks, i should have been clearer about the spa, they indeed are on selected treatments. And yes, lately I’ve seen the free internet specials.

@ Dudejo Wow! Sorry to hear that. We didn’t know to tell anyone on our first cruise and we got distilled water and the extension cord. On our last Azamara cruise, b4b, we pre asked for an extension cord but then didn’t need it because we had at least 1 plug near the bed in that room. We carry a short power strip, that runs on 220 and has the requisite European plug, so we can have multiple plugs since we both have CPAPs! We always ask for permission to use it, but because it isn’t ground faulted and is in good condition it passes. To date no one has seen that one in the luggage, although I had a curling iron questioned for some unknown reason! Hope you enjoyed your cruise. And yes, all the distilled water does is keep your chamber a bit cleaner, so bottled water works. We had one case where the water chamber turned quite cloudy with supposed distilled water, but that wasn’t Azamara.

Its worth noting that the internet time you get with your loyalty status is measured in minutes. Seems like it’s 120 minutes per person for Discoverer. The book onboard reduced deposit and extra OBC never seemed to be different by status. But some spa treatments are certainly discounted. The bag for laundry is quite small but if you roll you clothes you’d be amazed how much you can get in it as it’s cloth! Hope it works out for you, where are you headed? Or which ship?

Interesting! I did it the other way around, with Royal being the courtesy level. Of course because my points are Celebrity too I’d still get the Diamond on Royal, even with an Elite plus. My Diamond status has been overcome by events now though. im not sure how much benefit the status gives you on Azamara, although I remember needing/wanting the internet and laundry. That perk is certainly better on Azamara than even celebrity was. Internet is still measured in minutes too, yea! And, it seems, that more and more sailings are coming with unlimited internet which nullifies the status benefit. My first Azamara only had beer and wine and only at meals, now that it’s pretty much all day status doesn’t help much. Since we didn’t have laundry we used the one on the ship, early morning as the cruise was about 41 days long. It was nice to do your own sorting and I’m thinking to stop some labeling damage I will return to the self serve for my blouses. I’ll be interested in hearing what actually happens to you after sailing on Azamara no longer gives you Celebrity points, and vice versa. I’d hope the courtesy status remains for at least a year if it’s not permanent.

That “trick” we were taught in Toyko! 2019. In Peru they sent medical grade water which was truly expensive. In Scotland slight cheaper but 1L bottles.

i know I’m late but yes fill out the special needs form. And ask for distilled water. You may want a plug adapter to European too as the plugs by our bed were 220, something most CPAPs have no trouble with. The brick in the power line normally says 110-240. i always file the paper early, but I also have a wheelchair. Filing early can help with the distilled water but Azamara has always been able to accommodate that request —- I assume you found that out!

In May several people who’d done their own pre cruise, and had free bus shuttle opted to form groupS to share a taxi ride. They wanted the convenience etc. i think maybe dropping off luggage and back to the town. They started building those groups a couple of days before they needed the transfer because they were worried there were too few such taxis, but had no trouble finding at least 2. And the passengers to fill them. I think they put 8 in 15 passenger cars just so there was extra room.

beore COVID the celebrity Silhouettes first stop from Venice was Ravenna. We did a San Marino trip, but there are other things to see in Ravenna. LAST May we had a cruise that was over to Ravenna so they cruise line bussed us to Ravenna. We returned to the airport to connect with the busses. The scenery is fairly bland. i have friends currently on a cruise out of Ravenna. They flew to Bologna and were going to take the train to Ravenna. Their very early morning flight was delayed and then cancelled. They were rebook to leave about 11 hours later which meant they couldn’t do the train. The hotel told them a taxi was €150. They did find a taxi but lost a day of sight seeing.

Royal is a courtesy status match and it has a cap of Discover. My points for my December sailings, on Azamara will be reflected on Celebrity, after the merger that stops.

The precruise is in Morroco.

Yikes! I’m normally leery of milk anyway as I still remember not being allowed to drink it in Italy, decades ago, due to tuberculosis in the local dairies. And, as a child I hated hot milk which was often served elsewhere. Of course, I don’t drink things with ice in them either unless I’m positive of the safety. In Thailand, by land, we were warned that the high end hotels occasionally had water filter failures that made it better to not trust it. Similarly, in China we were told not to trust the water in the container that said boiled water which had been cooled! Only the hot water was considered safe. On our China tour we were served hot Tang! Not a favorite of many but safer😂 our best rule is if in doubt, don’t!

Thanks! I was thinking if a Bloody Mary was common why not champagne!

Azamara originally was only lunch and dinner and the website read a glass of wine or beer. I couldn’t figure out what a glass of wine meant and when I got onboard I discovered that it was more of a bottomless glass of wine! Everytime my glass got down a bit it was refilled - I have no idea how many glasses I actually had! I got so that I use said no more if I even saw them filling my glass - they were pretty stealth! It’s now much easier to keep from having too many refills too. And now, the standard alcoholic drinks are pretty much whenever a bar is open🤫. I haven’t tried getting sparkling wine for breakfast, it hasn’t been obvious that might be an option. 🤣

There was a time when those booked B2B could get a specialty dinner the first night. If there were too many the other nights were available. The reason for the first night was because it had fewer reservations and they wanted the boarding passengers in the MDR to have more room! The feature has long expired but I suspect the first night is still the least book time. Good Luck!

UV doesn’t necessarily kill everything but is used on wells in the US to a very high result. I believe backpackers are told to not try the UV on cloudy water. And yes, I own one just haven’t needed it but I still pack it! When I first travelled with Azamara on some tours they supplied water for the bus. I got the impression that this was because they couldn’t procure predictably safe water within the country. i learned when I was young if it wasn’t very hot to be suspicious and not eat it. Of course, most pealed fruit where we were was safe but there are some stories from countries where fertilizers are unprocessed human waste. As for lettuce my mother got extremely ill in Egypt after eating it in a hotel. It was about 8 months before she got rid of the parasite. The parasite was not found in the US. She insisted that the travel books said it was safe in the hotels! When she went with me to Bangkok she asked me continually what was safe, so I assume she learned from her mistake. All of this was years ago, but the rules still work even if they are at times a bit too paranoid. As for how to test call one of the well known backpacking, camping stores and ask them more about how they are tested and when they are past their usage life. I’d worry more about how to tell when I should stop using it!

If they act fast they may be able to preserve their current status! i too love traveling Azamara most recently, but both are favs. sorry to hear about the medical emergency, hoping everything works out well for those involved.

yep, when we did a TA immigrations in Miami wanted to clear crew first and also didn’t come in on time!

i remember Hawaii being schedules as a first stop Hilo which is tender! They brought immigrations onboard but it was a quick punt to do that! Ft Lauderdale I remember sitting in the terminal for over an hour for some glitch, and that Florida always requires going into the terminal Now that I think about it we may have come straight back from Canada to Bayonne, although I thought we stopped in bar harbor before that. Boston did require passports to board, not our final stop on the cruise, but it wasn’t clear that if you didn’t get off their was a check. Hawaii clearly checks in Maui seemingly even if you’ve come from another island. I expected agriculture on boarding but not immigrations on landing.