azalice

I just want to say that my DH and I have reached a point of time where we also pay attention to having less intensive cruises. Some lines have made a point of having intensive cruising with few sea days. So when we look at itineraries in Europe we now check for less intensive days so that we have a few extra sea days for some rest. So recently, we cancelled an Oceania cruise in favor of a HAL cruise which has an interesting itinerary along with more rest between ports.

Rotterdam 23-Sept-23 Jewels of the Baltic  

azalice

60th anniversary cruise

7 days to find out if my DH gets seasick.He avoided cruising for years but finally agreed to try a west coast 7 day cruise. He was just fine.

We just used Luggage Free from Arizona to Amsterdam port for our cruise. It worked well. However, our luggage was to be picked up at the cruiseport at the end of the cruise in Bordeaux France - but no one was there to pick it up. We had to take it ourselves to Paris and we had to rearrange for pickup for our Paris hotel. It did arrive at our home very quickly. So, perhaps pickup at cruise ports that are smaller might not work well. I would not do it again unless it is to be shipped to major cities.

I do not have celiac, but am sensitive to gluten. I just want to mention that I have had more problems finding non gluten foods at airports and during flights. I bring some of my own sandwiches when I start my first air flight, but if more flights are needed during my trip, I end up having issues finding appropriate foods. My time on cruise ships has been much easier regarding gluten free eating.

My jet lag was very bad a month ago after cruising from Amsterdam and going to Paris after. Home is Arizona. I am thinking of staying an extra day at a Heathrow hotel next trip before continuing on to Athens. Have you tried just adding a day in a time zone to try to mitigate jet lag? It was the first time jet lag was that bad for me.

Does Azamara typically have a shuttle available to go from Ashdod port to Jerusalem? I am hoping they do so that we can do some independent touring in Jerusalem.

Go to your cruise roll call to get participants.

Got word about our future booking commitment from Azamara. They had promised the loyalty discount up to two weeks after the cruise because they had no one functioning as future cruise consultant on our last cruise. They owed us a 5 percent discount as we are what they call “adventurer status.” They just gave us 4%. Why 4 instead of 5%?  Who knows. Really out of touch with what their staff has promised onboard. I know the 1% is not a big deal, but the principle of it still bothers me. We are rethinking using Azamara next year even though we will lose part of our deposit if we cancel.Even that seems unusual. Do most cruise lines charge for cancelling when you are 13 months from the cruise?

Lizee1979, We were also on Pursuit Sept. 6-17. Contacted our TA to future book and he said no one at Azamara knew about their statement that we had two weeks after cruise to do an official future booking. They gave us extra time because no one onboard our cruise was available to do it. The lady had the job of concierge and was not able to function as future booking also. Azamara staff announced the extra time to book during the cruise. So far, no word from our TA that they will honor their commitment. 

We have used Premier Inns near Heathrow for years. Very comfortable beds, queen to king size, never got a US double size. Only thing I ever found lacking was a time many years ago when I had a cold with sneezing and there were no tissues in the room. 

No, our cruise starts Sept. 25, 2023 and is called Middle East and Holy Lands. It starts in Athens and ends in Haifa.

Thanks to all. Glad to know something is available. 

We used to see tote bags given in our cabins by some cruise lines, but that practice may be gone. Does Azamara give you a tote bag for your convenience when on excursions, etc?

Because we book our own air flights ( due to the way we only book day flights), and do not drink alcohol, there is not much in the OLife offers that interest us. So for our first Oceania cruise in 2023, we just booked our basic cabin and did not concern ourselves any further with their pricing structure. We will check out their shore excursions as we get closer to the cruise date. It is the itinerary that made us decide to book Oceania for the first time; we could not find another cruise line doing the Middle East and Holy Lands in the same way O has it for 2023.

We have spent a week in Prague and a week Budapest a few years ago and loved them both. Definitely try to add them to your trip.

We had a meeting the afternoon prior to the changeover day. You need to go to the meeting. The day of changeover we were free to come and go.

We are going to book with Luggage Free, another ship your luggage company. We found it less expensive than Luggage forward. Check it out.

We also decided on Luggage Free for this year due to all the airport issues. We also priced Luggage Forward and found Luggage Free 150 dollars cheaper.

I sent another email and got their automated reply. So I guess I have now notified them.

September 6 is the sail date. I will try their email site again.

I emailed their Special Needs dept.(whatever they called it)  weeks ago, but never heard back. I may have to just tell them onboard that I eat gluten free.

To date, my favorite has been our Norway cruising, one that did not go far north and the one in 2019 that went far north. Loved the scenery, sitting on some days for hours watching that part of the world.

I tried the kind that you throw out. The fit, for me, was awful. I just bring enough cotton panties to either have the ship do the laundry or I use the self service laundry on the ship - if there is one.

IMO, as long as the cruise line might quarantine me if I test positive on the cruise, I would prefer to have a Covid positive person stopped before getting on the ship.I might have a better chance of a Covid free cruise.