Belfastman

Looks like BA got the NF supplies as we got today on our flight to Italy.

On 10/3/2022 at 4:43 PM, uktog said:

They are done on White Night as is flame barbecue. OK the barbecue is deck only but if it’s a wet night the crepes are done in the Caberet indoors 

The crepes are prepared on an electric hob when they are done inside.

We had an ice bucket on our June cruise in a suite. It was replenished everyday by the butler.

There was a shuttle in Honfleur when we were there in June this year.

When you book the specialty restaurants you will see a plan which shows which night the white night is on.

Azamara will not be returning to Venice next year it will either be Ravenna or Trieste.

I have it on good authority that Azamara will not be returning to Venice next yea r but are undecided whether it will be Ravenna or Trieste.

As I said earlier Tony will be HD from November on Quest.

16 hours ago, Norwegian Cruiser 73 said:

Have a great cruise and let's us know if they have the model on the Pursuit as well 👍🙂

This is the model on sale on Pursuit in June.

The mini bar only includes non alcoholic drinks that are not charged for. 

Some appear to get a loyality discount for the upgrade!

The list is posted in the Current Wine list help thread but this may be subject to variation when you are on board.

The fcc is determined by the cabin you were in when the port was changed not for a  future booking. I spoke to an Azamara rep who explained this to me and also told me that you should receive it about 45 working days after completion of the affected cruise. Therefore it couldn't be determined by a new booking.

5 hours ago, Cooper2020 said:

Just recently returned from Onward and was unable to use the Terrace area at the front of the ship (in Club Continent Suite) as one of the benefits.  Also the 4 bottle of complementary drinks in the suite are now just one large bottle of your preferred tipple (these not being Premium beverages).  

 

Has anyone had any experience on Pursuit recently into whether Club Continent suite's are able to use the private terrace as part of the benefits, and what complementary drinks available in the continent suites please?

 

 

We were on Pursuit in June and there was no access to the spa terrace except for the big suites. All suites had the four small bottles of liquor as before.

Spoke to Azamara yesterday and was told the FCC for the Venice/Ravenna change would be sent out within 45 working days after the end of the cruise that started or finished in Ravenna.

7 hours ago, uktog said:

It used to say there was on the off ship events but that was never applied in practice.  For an event on ship, they’d never be able to apply a charge as they don’t issue tickets that can be traced back to you so no way of knowing who went or did not go. 

On our recent cruise tickets were issued for the event and collected at the door.

6 hours ago, Grandma Cruising said:

You can order any drink you like with dinner. The included drinks are:

- 2 red & two white wines, a sparkling wine and a rose wine

- some beers - from memory it’s Budweiser and draft Newcastle brown plus a couple of other beers

- certain spirits - Gordon’s & Beefeater Gin, Famous Grouse Whisky, a US whiskey (can’t remember which one) & Smirnoff Vodka

- sodas such as Coca Cola, Sprite, tonic water, ginger ale

- fruit juices including fresh orange juice &  fruit smoothies at breakfast

 

Although there  is a priced cocktail menu, you can ask them to make cocktails with the included spirits & these are included. Note there is no Brandy in the included spirits so obviously you can’t have a brandy based cocktail included.

 

it’s up to you to decide if you are happy with these drinks or want to buy one of the two upgrade packages. You can buy it from any day of the cruise and it’s possible for only 1 passenger in a stateroom to buy it.

 

As a first timer on Azamara I suggest you look at the Tips for Azamara Newbies topic.

It is now four reds and four whites which do not change throughout the cruise. Along with a sparkling and a rose.

We got Antigen tests carried out by a health professional on the morning of embarkation in Lisbon. The results were emailed one hour later and were readily accepted at the port. Our test was carried out at 10.00am and we boarded the ship at 1.30pm.

2 hours ago, uktog said:

Thanks, the issue was on Pursuit people were being told it was no longer an option.  Just working our how I will survive on Quest soon, but it sounds like it is good news there

Having been on Pursuit last week Whispering Angel was listed on the ultimate package but the bar staff told us that they didn't have it on board. We never saw anyone drinking it either.

1 hour ago, Pirokp2 said:

Yes I was on this cruise, we docked right next to central station, right in town, it was great.   Copenhagen we docked about a 10 minute walk from the little mermaid.  We walked there and also into town.  

Strange we were also on this cruise and it was a 30 minute walk from the ship to central station.

12 minutes ago, uktog said:

Was there contradictions on acceptable tests in Lisbon?  That seems to be adding to the confusion in Athens plus it’s a series of tents not a dedicated building. 

We had delays in Athens last year. Everyone seemed to have stuck to their times we made good progress through the processes (everyone was being tested then) then it ground to a halt. Eventually the Hotel Director was seen shouting over from the ship to the port agent (they’d no clearance to come down) to sort it. The issue was the immigration people were booked for 1330. They eventually arrived at 1500 by which time the back up was massive. 
When we boarded in Lisbon in April the officers were in the terminal and the immigration people were at their posts. 
 

So Athens seems to be the challenge and the testing people seem to contribute to it  Hopefully Azamara can escalate this to the right people and also sort out their  own disastrous communications re acceptable tests whilst they are at it. (The email I got this week the inexperienced cruiser could believe they could turn up with a test cassette showing a negative test or an NHS email confirmation of reporting a negative self administered test) 

I wasn't aware of any contradictions in test acceptance. We had negative antigen tests carried out in our hotel the morning of embarking which we used.

16 hours ago, les37b said:

 

It was poor in Lisbon also, taking 2 1/2 hours to get on from arrival. I initially thought it was the third party staff, but the bottleneck was the final part and getting on the ship.

 

It was a repeated topic I heard guests complain about. 

 

Luckily after the first day (massive queues at the MDR), service generally improved. There were some minor niggles, but generally it was fine.

 

Having boarded in Lisbon for same cruise I think the problem was made worse by the fact that a lot of people turned up early instead of sticking to their boarding time. We were amongst the first group to board but when we arrived at the port we found about 100 people already there. The system was managed by Az officers fairly well and I witnessed the Hotel Director telling the port staff to commence boarding. From this point we were on board the ship in about 20 minutes.

2 hours ago, uktog said:

Just say at the start to avoid any confusion I want to leave this booking with Azamara

Theres been a few “urban myths” generated by some future cruise staff this last year.  They lost some good ones and some others didn’t get retrained before starting up again. 

Yes I think we have one of those non retrained future cruise reps on board now. When we went to ask questions we were met with "I don't know" or you can check that yourself. We also tried to book another cruise and discovered that our on board loyalty benefits did not apply nor quarterly savings which were on the particular cruise.

7 hours ago, azalice said:

Once onboard and interested in the 19.95 per day full internet package, can we buy only part of the total trip days. So if our cruise is 11 days, can we skip the first couple of days and then purchase it for the next 9 days?

Yes you can. If you purchase the full unlimited package say three days into a 11 night cruise you pay the pro-rata rate for what is left.

2 hours ago, les37b said:

I did also and never had any problems doing the test.

 

Going forward, I'd be ok with the removal of testing. It kills travel enjoyment when you can arrive in a port and be denied entry because you had close contact with someone testing positive.

 

But it's a case (in Europe at least) Azamara and all CL following the mandate that testing to board is a legal requirement. Our boarding last week, it was the Portuguese passport control officials checking the paperwork.... All of which to me seems to be a money making exercise for testing and hotel accomodation if your luck is out.

 

So until the EU lifts this, European cruises will remain to have a test. For departing the UK, I don't think it's needed... But suspect CL are choosing to make mandatory.

Agree it was the local authorities checking the negative tests but not sure if this was at the request of Azamara.

8 hours ago, uktog said:

How are they tasting to you?  Is there no rose at all? 

The Syrah and the Pinotage are very acceptable and the Sauvignon Blanc also. There is a Rose but we haven't tried it.