LT Hambone

16 hours ago, Bimmer09 said:

You were in the Sydney suite to my right, aft when I was recording the sailaway?

Ahhh - nope. I was up on deck 11, guess it wasn't you then who was next to me recording!

On 11/10/2021 at 8:33 AM, Bimmer09 said:

The folks who had planned to meet up in a group to hire a van to visit Cinque Terre etc were out of luck. I think they got their deposits back. Hope no out of pocket.

Can confirm - we all received a full refund, nothing out of pocket. Good tour company to work with, hope their fortunes improve in the new year.

On 11/10/2021 at 8:33 AM, Bimmer09 said:

There's a point when you crest a hill when you come off the highway at Civitavecchia and you see the harbor from on high. I laughed. There was the tiny Quest docked in

front of Harmony of the Seas. What a size differential!

Too funny - we had the same reaction when we crested the hill!

On 11/8/2021 at 12:43 PM, Bimmer09 said:

Red wine in a plastic cup-hmm?

Can confirm - had you been on the 25 Oct flight, your red wine would have been in a proper glass. Also, where is your ice cream? Or was that only offered on the 25 Oct flight? 😛

Norris -

Enjoying the recap thus far, looking forward to the rest!

Funny how our paths crossed so many times and I never realized it! Your original flight to Rome from Newark, same as ours. The restaurant you visited in Testravere? Right next to our hotel! The video you took of the sail away? I was right next to you! And of course - lunch at the winery (spoiler alert), I was at your table! Wonder where else we crossed paths?

Can't wait to see the rest!

@biksgirl - To answer your questions -

1)  The tour started promptly at 9:30 AM outside the Metro station station across from the Colesium. The tour ended around 5:30 PM at St. Peter's Basilica. It might have ended earlier IF the door between the Sistine Chapel and St. Peters was open - we spent a good 20+ minutes walking AROUND Vatican City to get back to the main entrance for St. Peters.

2) Restaraunt - we had some input on what type of restaraunt, but couldn't pick a specific restaraunt because we had to be close to the Vatican museum for our time entry. We asked for a grab and go place with pizza by the slice, and they took us to an awesome little place that also had pastries, pasta, and other goodies.

3) Cost - I do not have the exact cost because we also booked a Florence tour for a discount. I think the tour cost was around $400 for the two of us, and worth it! The tour included all tickets, but did not include lunch.

Hope this helps - any other questions?

My wife and I were on a LivItaly Rome in a Day Small Group Tour for a pre-cruise tour of the city.

Our guide for the day, Dario, met us promptly at the designated time and location, and gave us a quick description of our tour. Our first stop was the Roman Forum, followed by the Colosseum. Dario showed us all the little details you might miss, like the Roman numbers above the arches (gate numbers!) and why there are so many holes in the stone (thieves stole the iron connecting pins!).

Afterwards, we met with a private driver who took us an hour and half driving tour of Rome, stopping where we wanted to stop so that we didn’t repeat seeing sights we already saw. Our driver dropped us off at a restaurant near the Vatican for lunch on our own, and Dario rejoined us as we finished our lunch.
Next it was off to the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter’s Basilica. Dario was again in his element, showing us all the little details along the way. When we finished, Dario made sure we had good walking directions back to our hotel before saying arrivederci.

Can’t say enough positives about Dario! On our morning tour were two ladies who were on a Vatican tour with a different tour company in the afternoon. One of the ladies did not have the correct COVID test for entry into the Vatican, so before she left our tour Dario gave her directions to a local pharmacy for the correct test. On our way into the Vatican, Dario saw the lady waiting for her tour to start, asked her if she was successful (she was not), and then found her tour guide and explained to the guide her situation. After we entered the museum, Dario found the tour guide to see if the lady was able to make it through security (she did not). Dario went above and beyond to help her out – now that’s customer service!

If you are going to be in Rome, I highly recommend LivItaly tours – they are an amazing local company who will ensure you have the best possible time seeing the Eternal City!
 

We had also booked a non-refundable Florence in a Day Small Group Tour with LivItaly for our stop in Livorno, but about a month before our cruise we were informed that due to an Italy regulation we could only do ship sponsored shore excursions. I contacted LivItaly to cancel the tour with the full understanding I would not receive a refund (which was ok!). The owner of the company, Angelo, replied back and offered to give me a full refund (minus the cost of all pre-paid tickets). Wow - I was NOT expecting that to happen!

Feel free to ask me any questions about this tour or the company!

Now, I know there are folks out there right now who saying, "Just cancel!", or "What do you expect, this is a fluid situation in a pandemic!". But I think everyone is ignoring the elephant in the room.

So this restriction has been in place for SIX months, and this is the first mention of the restriction by Azamara. My expectation would be that months ago Azamara would have informed everyone of the restrictions and offered additional tours which met those restrictions. If they would have done that, then yes, I would have been throwing plaudits at them hand over fist.

Instead, the Quest will be docked in Livorno for 36.5 hours, and Azamara is now only offering seven shore excursions in Livorno, five of which are private guides and two are guided tours. For a cruise line which prides itself as Destination Immersive, this seems to be going in the opposite direction.

2 hours ago, LT Hambone said:

My frustration is not that their efforts aren't perfect, it's just the general lack of consistent information across the board.

Here's a great example! Just received this from one of the tour companies I am working with -

In Italy there aren't any rules against cruises. Cruise are same as Plane and people can enter in Italy with one of these supports:
- green pass
- negative test in the previous 48 hours.
This is the unique thing you need to have if you want to visit Italy (by cruise, plane, ferries or car) if you are from the USA, Canada, South Africa, Australia, Europe.

What is important is you know the real rules. Cruise Company prefer you use their services
 

Left hand, meet right hand!

8 hours ago, laurieb said:

And then being belittled by some because their efforts aren’t perfect.

I too applaud Azamara for all of their efforts - when you look at the whole cruise industry, Azamara is at the top of the list for how they are handling a restart during a pandemic. Kudos definitely go to Azamara!

My frustration is not that their efforts aren't perfect, it's just the general lack of consistent information across the board. Think about it - it's now late September and this is the first many of us are hearing about Italy's shore excursion requirement that's been in place for six+ months! In fact, the local tour companies we booked with didn't even know about this requirement!

Thanks to the awesome reports from @Huntingdon1701 and @uktog, I am very excited to be boarding in six weeks, knowing that once we get passed all of the "red tape" we will have an amazing and worry free cruise.

2 minutes ago, Jim in OR said:

My guess is, it’s because the web pages are created by humans and humans sometimes make mistakes. 
 

For my part, I’ll be preparing for the more restrictive and hoping it doesn’t come to pass. 

Same with me - I did book Azamara excursions as a back-up, but - I have two tours I booked on my own that will need to be cancelled in the next few weeks for a full refund. Don't want to hit a scenario where I cancel my own tours only to find out I could have gone on them!

I am still staying optimistic, and refuse to do otherwise!

Quick question for the group at large -

Has anybody called Azamara yet and asked them why the web page is saying two different things?

My brain is starting to really hurt......

But - I did find a live image of the web page editor for Azamara -

Annnnddddd......

Yup - it's back to what it used to say.

I'm tellin' it DID say it, it DID say it! I'm not makin' this stuff up! I am NOT crazy!

Sigh.....

Another Update !!!!!!

Just checked the Azamara web page (https://www.azamara.com/booked-guests/before-you-board/explore-well-at-sea/explore-well-travel-requirements), and it now says -

SHORE EXCURSIONS

Views on independent exploration by international visitors vary by country and by departure port. This remains a very fluid situation. Guests visiting an Italian port will be able to go ashore either on an Azamara shore excursion or independently, at their leisure. All guests must follow local health and safety requirements.

Whoo-hoo! Looks like we don't have to change our plans!

@uktog &  @Huntingdon1701 - Thank you for the clarifications - looks my thought is nowhere near the truth!

Going to just sit back, relax, see how this pans out, and start packing for our cruise in just six short weeks!

Quick question for those who were on the Greek cruises -

Were any of the ports you visited Azamara Shore Excursions only?

Asking because as you might have noticed, Azamara annouced the Livorno port call is now Azamara Shore Excursions only - but multiple people have confirmed through multiple sources this might not be an Italy imposed restriction. So I am wondering if Azamara messed up - they copied and pasted the guidelines for Greece, changed Greece to Italy, and forgot to delete the part about shore excursions?

@excitedofharpenden - Well said, and I agree! I'm just scratching my head the more I read into the fine print, doesn't make much sense, but it is what it is and is for only one port.

I'm also curious if local tour providers are aware. We've booked a shared group tour with pickup at the port, and they have not contacted us about the change or changed their website. Maybe they are like me - optimistic things will change!

Bottom line is this - we still get to cruise and we still get to go ashore! While it might not be the way we wanted to see Florence, we still get to see Florence! Our vaction in six weeks is still a go, and we will have an amazing adventure.

Positive vibes everyone!

Something else to ponder - the day before we arrive in Livorno, ALL passengers will have had a negative COVID test in order to board, and be fully vaccinated. Right? So why would a Port Authority restrict a small ship (say around 300 passengers) who are fully vaccinated and have a negative test?

Sitting back waiting to see how this all pans out.....

5 minutes ago, Dr H said:

or through one of our Destination Insiders who can create a customized Private Journey for you

But - how do you contact one of these "Destination Insiders"?

I have until mid-October to cancel my tours, so I have time to wait. Not sure how much energy I want to expand contacting a Destination Insider to create a tour similar to the one I "might" have to cancel.

My only very minor comment is that there are only seven Azamara excursions available, and all but two are on-your-own. Not sure how they can do on-your-own when the fine print also says, "You may be denied re-boarding or may be debarked from your cruise if you leave your tour group for any reason." 😕

Going to just sit tight and wait to see what happens - six+ weeks to go, lots can still change!

To @Huntingdon1701 & @uktog, I say Cheers! Thank you for all of the great details and answering all of our most important questions (like which brand of tonic is available). For those of use who will be cruising soon, you have given us peace of mind that all will be well and we will have an incredibly remarkable and memorable journey! Thanks!

Quick question - masks. Is Azamara providing all passengers with a Azamara logo mask? I think I saw in someone's pictures guests wearing them?

Thanks again - looking forward to our cruise next month!

Well - that's weird.

I was able to check-in last week, now it says "Check-in unavailable".

Is anyone else seeing this?

3 hours ago, Esprit said:

At last! I did wonder when he would finally get sentenced. I often wonder about that Dolphin deck cabin and all the subsequent quests that have stayed in it since unbeknown to them what had occurred.  

1 hour ago, ace2542 said:

It is not like they can take the cabin out of service is it? 

Out of curiosity, what was the cabin number? Does anybody know?

Same here -

Just got the official email from Princess, our August UK cruise is now on Emerald!

VOYAGE REDEPLOYMENT - CROWN PRINCESS
 

Please be advised that due to deployment changes, your voyage will now sail on Emerald Princess rather than Crown Princess. Emerald Princess features many of the same signature Princess amenities as Crown Princess, including the Sanctuary, Lotus Spa, Movies Under the Stars, and Crown Grill. In addition, Emerald Princess has SHARE by Curtis Stone, another fine-dining experience. For more information on Emerald Princess, visit http://www.princess.com/ships-and-experience/ships/ep-emerald-princess/.

You will be rebooked onto the new voyage, and will receive your new booking information no later than May 14, 2021. The cruise fare and promotions have been protected. Once you receive your new booking details, you can verify the cabin location using the deck plans available at http://www.princess.com/deckPlans.do?shipCode=EP.

We look forward to welcoming you aboard Emerald Princess.
 

Thank you for your attention to this notification.

Another price hike?

I might be seeing weird things, but....

Our cabin, with Princess Plus perks, is now up to $3,929! That's a $650 jump since January!

Demand must be the reason why prices are going up fast - even though not a single ship has started sailing!

Glad we booked when we did  🤑 !

53 minutes ago, Tedferg said:

Is it that the Sale that included Specialty Dining and Cabin Location ended yesterday ?

Appears that way - plus a price spike.

Our cruise next August is now $3,723 with Princess Plus (minus the cabin location and specialty dining).

So -

Three months ago when my wife and I booked a 12-Day British Isles with Orkney Islands cruise for next August, we paid $3,349 per person for a Cat BD balcony cabin. Price included the standard Princes Plus perks - drink package, WiFi, gratuities, specialty dining. Not a bad price!

Today, the price is now $3,723 per person WITHOUT the standard Princes Plus perks! I noticed that prices seem to have gone up everywhere, and the Princess Plus package is now limited to a handful of cruises.

Questions - why would Princess raise prices and restrict package offerings when they haven't restarted cruising yet? Will there be another, better sale once cruising resumes?

What about those folks out there who had a summer 2021 cruise cancel with no 2022 replacement? Does this mean they now have to pay more?

Waiting to see how high fares will go - thoughts?

Thanks -

I'll keep watching my Journey planner, just wanted to make sure I wasn't looking in the wrong place!