Cortesefam

This is very helpful!  We plan to spend one night at this hotel before our departure.  We will travel up from Maryland, and determined it was easiest to rent a car one-way to avoid the airports or getting from Penn Station across to Brooklyn.  There is a Budget Rental car office at the hotel, so we will drop off the car as soon as we check in.  I will report back on how this arrangement works.

Thank you for your posts and insights.  We're now booked on the EB transatlantic departing August 23.  We're in a "PG guarantee" booking, with the specific suite to be assigned before departure--evidently we snagged the last one available.  It doesn't seem there are any bad PG locations so we're fine with this arrangement.

Just a couple of additional questions--how is the Grills Lounge, and have you done the Wine Tasting Lunch offered in the Verandah Restaurant?

We're excited to cross again on the QM2!

We mostly sail on Seabourn and Windstar, but are looking at a QM2 crossing to visit our daughter in the UK.  We last did a QM2 crossing with the family in 2008 in Britannia Club, and would like to try the Grill experience.  I've not found many reviews posted from recent Queens or Princess Grill travelers--we welcome any comments on the suites, restaurants and lounge, and the differences you've experienced between the two categories.

Thank you in advance for your help!

We’re departing on the Quest for 46 days next month—I plan to make a stop at the CVS near our hotel the day before we board to pick up bar soap—purely a personal preference, but its worth it to have what I like! Will also use the stop for sunscreen and other heavy items to avoid packing for the flight to Miami.

We're on the Quest next month for Antarctica--looking forward to the replies!

Thank you for posting this link to your photos!  We are getting ready for our first Seabourn sailing on the Quest in January--E&O looks like a great venue for outdoor dining.

Thanks,

Steve

We were in an "original" balcony cabin on the Star Legend in April, 2022.  There is one U.S. style plug at the desk in front of the bed--the remainder are all european style two-prong outlets.  There are several USB ports for charging devices.  There was one euro-outlet by the nightstand on one side of the bed--there was not an outlet by the other nightstand.  Definitely bring adaptors. 

We recently returned from 23 days on the Legend.  We specifically booked an "original" configuration cabin w/balcony, as we share the preference for the seating area by the window/doors.  Our bathroom was completely redone, and outstanding.  All the outlets are the same--European plugs--except one U.S. outlet and two USB ports.  No trouble charging our electronics.  We will probably stick with this layout for future Windstar cruises.

As far as I know, there were no positive tests on the Star Legend.  If there were cases, we didn't hear of them.

We disembarked from the Star Legend on Monday, April 11 in Lisbon.  We had our antigen test on board Sunday afternoon for our Monday flight back to the U.S.  Several passengers made arrangements for tests at 7:00 a.m. on Monday, for flights Tuesday.  The medical team on board was great, very professional and handled all the testing very well.  I'm not sure how many tests they could do on departure day so you may want to make the arrangements early on the cruise.

We're on the Star Legend for the TA crossing later this month and plan to download new episodes for some series on Netflix & Amazon Prime for the 11 sea days.  Has anyone tried connecting their laptop/Surface to the cabin TV for viewing?  I assume the TV will have either USB or HDMI ports and we can get a connector cord compatible with the Surface we use for traveling for one of those formats.  Welcome any advice/experience from Windstar veterans!

Newgolfr—we spoke with our agent, and cancelled this afternoon.  Just too much uncertainty about where the ship can stop and risk of quarantine ashore if we tested positive.  We’re fully vaxxed and boosted, but there are so many breakthrough cases we know directly here in Maryland, it seems a reach to think we’ll never test positive.  Seabourn was accommodating, providing a split refund and FCC.  A feeling of relief that this is resolved, though intense disappointment that we won’t be on the Ovation next month!

We face our 30 day cancellation decision in 48 hours for our February 13 sailing on the Ovation.  We booked in early November, when all the trends were positive, and are comfortable with the Vax/Mask/Testing requirements.  Our major concern now is the risk of testing positive or “inconclusive”, and facing onboard quarantine, or worse, being put off the ship and subject to the local port health authorities.

We will talk with our TA today—who is outstanding—and figure out our best option.  I’m sympathetic to the challenges all the cruise lines face, and want to resume cruising as quickly as is safe and responsible.

Thanks to reviews on this thread we used Blackberry Cars for our transfers from Heathrow to Norwich last month.  Blackberry's website made the reservation process easy, with specific rates for the transfer in each category of vehicle.  They followed up with good email contact, which was critically as we had to change our arrival flight twice due to visa delays.  We used Blackberry for our return to Heathrow from Norwich, and had the same driver, who was great.  We will use Blackberry for future visits to the U.K.

We used the Covid testing facility at Heathrow Terminal 2 the day prior to our return to the U.S.  We were staying at the Hilton Garden Inn connected to T2, so the site was a five minute walk from the hotel.  Tests are reserved and paid for online, so you have a specific time slot.  The process was quick--we were in and out in 10 minutes, and received our results by email in less than an hour.  The Lateral Antigen test for return to the U.S. was GBP 35, which was a standard price compared to labs in the city.  Definitely an easy process, and they do a high volume of tests.

We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn at Terminal 2 Heathrow last month before our return flight to the U.S.  The hotel is a four minute walk to Terminal 2 through a covered walkway.  This Hilton Garden Inn is definitely a level above the U.S. standard, with excellent amenities, including a rooftop bar with great views of Heathrow operations and the London skyline.  You can use the airport luggage carts to walk to the hotel, and there are carts downstairs to use for going to the airport.  Food, service and cleanliness/Covid precautions were all outstanding.  We plan to use this hotel in the future for LHR layovers.

Comex/minidonuts85:  We're booked on the August 1, 2021 "Twice the Tahiti" sailing as well.  We were scheduled for the same itinerary departing September 10, 2020, but conditions made that plan impossible, so we pushed out a year.  This will be our first time on the Wind Spirit and first time in French Polynesia.  We've cruised twice on Star Legend, and this feels like the perfect way to enjoy Tahiti!  We like small ships, especially SeaDream and Star Clippers, along with Windstar.

We're definitely interested in private excursions--we love the time this itinerary provides to experience all the islands.

Steve

Based on several years of traveling to Rome on business, I highly recommend the Hotel Flora on the Via Veneto.  Its at the end of the Veneto, adjacent to the Borghese Gardens.  They have a spectacular rooftop deck, where breakfast is served in the morning, the perfect way to begin the day in Rome.  The Flora has retained its "Italian" sense of style and service, with many of the team there over several decades.

https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/romdt-rome-marriott-grand-hotel-flora/

We were booked on the March 28 Quest sailing Dubai to Athens.  We received our "Indulgence Package" refund on May 9, and the full refund of our cruise fare on May 12.  Under the circumstances, I think Azamara did a commendable job.  We placed one call to cancel our cruise, and received our refund without any further contact with Azamara.

We accepted the FCC for the second leg of our B2B, and look forward to sailing again with Azamara!

We're booked on the Wind Spirit 17 day sailing departing on September 10, 2020.  Final payment is required by June 10, so we have a month to monitor conditions and make our decision.  If the final payment deadline is extended, we will continue to be patient and hope the cruise is possible.  We already have one FCC from an Azamara cruise cancelled in March, and are reluctant to make final payments on additional cruises we have scheduled for September and January until there's more clarity on international flights and port access.  This will be our first experience on one of the Windstar sailing ships--we've cruised on the Star Legend in Asia and the Caribbean.  We thought the Wind Spirit will be perfect for this itinerary!

In these completely unprecedented circumstances, and with the negative impact mass cancellation of cruises with have on all their global team members, Azamara and all the cruise lines have done the best the could, and made decisions as events unfolded.  We’ve only taken one Azamara cruise previously, and were very excited to for the 17 and 9 day b2b.  While frustrated that our vacation is lost, they are making us whole on the cost of the cruise, and we are safe and healthy.

We will not hesitate to sail with Azamara in the future, and look forward to booking another cruise with them.  Keeping everyone safe and healthy is the most important thing now.

We received the email below from Azamara on February 28, but there was no reference to Egypt.  We assumed it was tied to the Azamara COVID-19 update posted on the website on the 28th.

February 28, 2020

Dear Azamara Guest,

We're looking forward to welcoming you aboard! We have important information to share with you on the latest global developments relating to Coronavirus (COVID-19). We are fully focused on protecting the health and safety of our guests and crew, along with the ports we visit.

While this situation remains quite fluid, we wanted to inform you of the latest travel regulations in compliance with guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organization, and other public health authorities around the world.

For the latest travel alerts and regulations, please visit https://www.azamara.com/travel-advisory. We also encourage you to bookmark or favorite this page for reference as we will continue to update our website so you always have access to the most up-to-date information.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

Sincerely,

AZAMARA

Baynanno1:  We're traveling on the 3/28 Quest sailing as well--I'm so sorry your excursion was canceled!  We looked at that option through the ship as well as with Jordan Horizon Tours, who offer an overnight hotel excursion to Petra.  In the end, we're doing the day excursion to Petra, and they've been great to work with--perhaps they could tailor the excursion to exactly your preference.

https://www.johtt.com/our-tours/16-shore-excursions-from-aqaba-port

cinnamon:  On the U.S. website, the Cairo excursion is only listed as one of the Alexandria shore excursion options.  There is not a designated "evening" event showing on the calendar so far.

Jim:  Many thanks for the explanation on the App.  Unfortunately, we're on the Infinity January 13 for a 5 day cruise, and the App is not available for our ship.  Welcome any feedback on whether the Infinity production shows are likely to run at 7 & 9--like many trying to set dinner reservations in advance!

Thanks