norn iron

Fantastic story. I'm so glad it had a happy ending.

It's a good rational to convince passengers to carry photocopies of their passports when ashore.

This thread would not be out of place on the Azamara v Oceania thread.

Whilst I do not know how Oceania crew would react, it is a great story to show the extra mile the Azamara crew go, and what sets them apart.

Thanks for sharing. I have seen the other videos produced by that couple, that one is definitely the best of the bunch.

43 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

 

Sad but true.

I often wish the waiting staff were as quick at offering another drink or a top up of a wine glass, as they are at offering to clear tables.

7 hours ago, Lottie A said:

OK...don't faint everyone but there is even a bottle of Silent Pool gin onboard...but I will have drunk it all by the end of the cruise! Sorry! 

The Silent Pool has been on board for a while. Nobody would buy it at the risk of having it ruined by Royal Club.

13 hours ago, Lottie A said:

My Hendrick's gin and Fever Tree tonic served by the utterly marvellous Ruby in Prime C bar tonight. 

You will all be glad to know the hideous Royal tonic is no more! From now on it will be Schweppes, Canada Dry for the diet variety and a small stash of Fever Tree if they have it! 😄👏🍸

 

This might make me upgrade to the Ultimate Drinks Package. Maybe not for a Hendricks (although the Advisor is very partial), but for a Tanqueray 10

On 7/15/2019 at 10:54 AM, oddjob16 said:

Ohh, I was just trying to make a joke. The lighthouse outside of Bud could have beeen called Bud Lighthouse but it is called Storesundet Light. Just a pun. 

I thought it tasteless! (the beer, not the joke!!)

1 hour ago, uktog said:

Wise move given the disappointing news from Norway

Maybe Richard Twynham need a memory jogger about his promise of last year. (That whilst the ships are in Europe, they will serve Schweppes).

I read on another thread were Gymfreak was weighing the option of buying the Ultimate Indulgence package. I am considering the same purchase, however, I won't waste the money if there a risk of a poor quality Tonic water.  

1 hour ago, nordski said:

Oh no! I see those infamous and ersatz “butter tarts” on the Canada Day dessert table, the tarts I criticized on another thread.

 

Glad for the recognition of our history, but Azamara must lift its game here! 

 

Also, where are the Nanaimo Bars?

 

And yet, despite those failures I would love to be on board! 😄

 

Do you have a recipe for a Butter tart you can share?

Who knows we could have a cookery thread.

I eagerly opened this new thread expecting to read the breaking news of Azamara (following the trend of most cruise lines and)  endorsing Fever Tree as their preferred pouring choice.

I can still live in hope.

Based on the OP's original attachment, has any one checked the survey at http://*****/azamarabath

??

They are not digging too deep with their questions.

14 hours ago, uktog said:

I can happily confirm May 11 and 28 sailings on Journey the vile monster was nowhere to be seen.  Shhhh for the tonic drinkers and Canada Dry for my ginger ale man ruled the waves.

But are you telling me I have to return and inflict myself again on my Kiwi family with an empty suitcase to find perfection?  We do have some next after next generation backpackers (scary thought) heading over but I doubt for various reasons any bottle would even reach Thailand- ah well. 

Ann, try ASDA. They have discontinued Scapegrace. Probably a bit too expensive at £40. It is being cleared at £30 and well worth it.

I was recently talking to a friend who is as well travelled as I am. We had a challenge of how many countries around the world.

It worked out I had visited 68 and my friend 62 so we have a great on going challenge.

That got me thinking, yes I'm Irish and we are known to enjoy a drink. I must have visited bars in virtually every country I have visited with the exception of 'dry countries', and that would amount to bars in about 60 countries.

Not once on my travels have I ever seen Royal Club served in a bar, anywhere, not even in the Netherlands where the parent company Heineken is based.

I appreciate Schweppes is now being served in Europe, but how in name of a good gin and tonic are Azamara getting their eye wiped by a salesman with a brown envelope to stock what is a truly unacceptable product outside of Europe?

16 minutes ago, Sujormik said:

I'm afraid to admit I don't do gin (nasty incident with it 35 years ago) but I'm looking forward to trying this Fevertree with my grey goose vodka.😉

Good luck, its a rare beast on Azamara. Try it shore side.

A lot of cruise lines now serve Fever Tree it as standard, Azamara unfortunately not. Apparently it's too expensive for a premium line to serve.

5 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

One final thank you to all the G&T mavens [sorry, that's probably not the right word in British English ] who steered me to the ultimate G&T recipe.  I now keep a bottle of Silent Pool and a supply of FeverTree Elderflower in my fridge.  I make a G&T with a 1:3 ratio of the above, no ice and no garnish = heaven!  In theory, the lack of ice means I could sip it slowly as it won't dilute.  In practice, the lack of ice makes it even easier to knock it back!

 

But of course one can't always find either Silent Pool or FT Elderflower, so I was very pleased to find that FT has published this handy chart of dozens of gins with their appropriate FT tonic:

 

Host JazzBeau, thanks for posting. FeverTree have definitely taken the pleasure of Gin too new heights.

Another great resource is www.theginguide.com which is great for experimenting with garnishes to match the gin

Silent Pool is a wonderful Gin, however just this weekend we discovered yet another amazing tongue tantaliser, Scapegrace from New Zealand. Unfortunately I think its going to be hard to find aside from mail order.

I would appreciate some feedback from CC contributors who have sailed this summer on either Journey or Pursuit.

Last year Richard Twynam assured these forums (possibly via Bonnie) that Schweppes would be use whilst the ships are in Europe, is that the case this year?

I'm hoping if it was the vile Royal Club we would have heard about it on these forums.

If the ships do have Schweppes it will off set the need to bring my own tonic with me.

On 2/27/2019 at 4:16 PM, BBMacLaird said:

On Pursuit in November the bar tender at the entrance to Windows Cafe had FeverTree tonic water. My DH asked and received a couple small bottles to take to our stateroom. 

Surely the Azamara personnel who read this forum (Bonnie and others) must be embarrassed when they read about their customers having to bring their own Tonic water onboard what is deemed an upmarket cruise line? 

2 hours ago, nordski said:

I now realize that I was a real pessimist compared to the hopes expressed by others. Was that a result of being raised midst dour Presbyterians? 😄.

 

Having read what is a very depressing thread, this quote, (especially as I live in Northern Ireland) definitely put a smile on my face. 

22 hours ago, excitedofharpenden said:

Hi David.  Is that the only Royal Caribbean cruise you’ve done?  Their points are cruise days rather than points per night as it is on Azamara or Celebrity and are totally separate, except for their reciprocal arrangement.  I’m Diamond on Royal. It’s the highest I’ll ever be with them as I no longer take Royal Caribbean cruises. 

 

Phil

 

 

17 hours ago, cruisestitch said:

All the points you earn on Royal stay on Royal. They do not migrate into Celebrity or Azamara.

 

Royal Caribbean will match status up to a point (diamond level).  But you must earn all your points on Royal to move above diamond level.  

 

Celebrity and Azamara co-mingle points.

Thanks Phil and Cruisestitch, 

Your replies have confirmed what I thought, that irrespective of my status with Az and X because my points were accrued with those two cruise lines the highest level of reciprocal benefit, is Diamond on RCC.

We have only taken the one cruise with RCC and are unlikely to again (unless it's a silly price). I have no idea why their C&A home page states 15 more points for the next level, especially as the cruise we did was only seven nights.

15 hours ago, excitedofharpenden said:

Not true.  There is no points accumulation between Azamara and Royal.  Only Azamara and Celebrity.  There is no accumulation between Royal and Celebrity.  Only reciprocal arrangements up to a maximum loyalty level (Celebrity Elite and Royal Diamond).

 

Phil

 

Phil, I'm glad this was raised, and your reply may well have answered part of my query. If you could confirm or expand that would be great.

We are Discoverer + with Az and X however, two years ago we booked a late RCC cruise to the Baltic and our Crown and Anchor level was Diamond. As it turned out this was excellent, as there were only 19 passengers on board with the required points to use the Diamond lounge, so it was very much a private sanctuary with added benefits. 

The points accrued on that cruise never appeared on our cruise history on either LCV or Captains Club, however, if I log in to RCC C&A we need 15 more points to reach the next level? Can this be correct?

The cruise was on Serenade of the Seas and allowing for the differences between AZ and RCC we had a great cruise. To some extent, our judgement could have been clouded because of the small number of Diamond and above cruisers onboard. There is no doubt if that number was 10 or 15 times higher the lounge may not have had the same appeal.

thanks

David

4 hours ago, uktog said:

Thats interesting Bonnie, on that cruise we were told there was none onboard anywhere as they had run out on the transatlantic and no more had come onboard in Miami.  They did find us some schweppes but that too ran out after Panama.  Wish we had known that there was some other places onboard that had stocks.

Ann, obviously Bonnie didn't look after you the way I did ex Singapore last year. lol

13 minutes ago, roberts2005 said:

Then why do they bother having a stage?

To start with, White Night

This is great news re Fever-Tree.

I should have posted two weeks ago when we got off Journey. Schweppes was in abundance. 

Even more pleasing during the cruise, not once did I see a tin of Royal Club of any variety.

In hindsight, I should have asked for Fever-Tree, but the Schweppes made a real welcome change.

I posted earlier this year, having received a case of Schweppes in our cabin courtesy of the 'Bar Manager' (whose name I forget) on Journey.

During our conversation about Tonic water, he commented "Head Office don't listen"

The same can be said about a quality Scotch (or an Irish!) and Brandy,

We got off Journey Sept 10. Regular Tonic was Schweppes....in a can....and Diet Tonic was Canada Dry....in a small bottle.

Thank you suzyluvs2cruise, that's great news. I don't care for diet products on a cruise. Full fat Schweppes will suffice.

We are due to board Journey in three weeks, can any recent cruisers update me on the Tonic Water situation?

I know Richard Twynham stated earlier in the year that all the AZ ships whilst based in Europe would serve Schweppes, yet Riocca posted from Pursuit's maiden voyage that the dreaded royal club (it doesn't deserve capitals) had appeared.

I just don't fancy trudging around Barcelona looking to bring on my own tonic water supplies.