norn iron

Is it fair to blame Azamara for the lack of communication or does that rest with inefficient travel agents?

There are six (three parties of two) of us travelling on the same cruise as the OP.

We all booked with three different TA's. One TA has updated their client to the changes, the other two have said nothing.

Why do I blame the TA's and not Azamara? Because in March we cruised with Azamara and applied for the upgrade program, and ten days prior to sailing I contacted LCV to ask what the chances of the upgrade where only to be told that Azamara had made the offer of an upgrade to my TA two weeks earlier and I hadn't taken it up, why? because the TA had not communicated it to me. Thankfully it was applied after I contacted the TA who was very embarrassed.

I have used the same TA this time around and have been told nothing about the changes to the itinerary.

I most likely will not use the same TA again.

I am sailing on this cruise and was somewhat surprised to read about the changes on CC rather than hearing from Azamara or my TA.

In these situations (like everything else in life) there are three things you can do

1 Let it bug, and frustrate the life out of you.

2 Do something about it. Other than cancelling options are limited

3 Change the way you think about it.

I've chosen option 3. I'm still going to have a great time on board, I'm going to enjoy the ports irrespectively, hopefully, meet some like-minded cruisers and enjoy the sunshine.

In relation to Seville, I did some research with a friend who lives in Southern Spain.

Her comments were very interesting and worth considering.

Rivers don't just need tides to allow ship passages, they need the source river to contribute to the water levels.

Considering the summer Southern Spain has had water levels are low in all rivers.

It has been well documented about travel restrictions on River cruises this summer, the same applies to cruising up the Guadalquivir River.

Some good footage from Pursuit and the guests on board last Thursday in Belfast. ( I should have smiled!!)

It is great to read the enthusiastic comments of CC contributors who have had the chance to visit Pursuit in Southampton.

The comments endorse my thoughts when I visited Pursuit in Belfast last Thursday.

Now here is an interesting point for discussion.

Whilst on our tour of Pursuit, our host from Azamara (who should remain nameless) stated there was a desire to grow the fleet and the brand.

When we boarded last Thursday we were taken to the ship by bus along with reporters from the BBC and The Belfast Telegraph (amongst others). All of the journalists got time with Azamara team members and Brian McConville from MJM Group who carried out the work.

One of the reporters, Margaret Canning from The Belfast Telegraph interviewed Brian McConville and I have added a link to the feature below. The interesting comment was,

"Mr McConville said the three ships in the Azamara family will not be due for a fresh fit-out for some years but hinted that the line-up could be extended to include another vessel - bringing more opportunity for work. "

Brain McConville probably has a fair bit of knowledge and access to Azamara, so it definitely a case of watch this space.

https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/northern-ireland/luxury-liner-sets-sail-from-belfast-after-50m-fitout-gives-hope-of-more-to-come-37158574.html

Richard Twynam has posted a link to the item that was on BBC Northern Ireland lunch time news: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0bbxjkc/bbc-newsline-lunchtime-news-26072018

You will need to sign into the BBC to watch however, item is about 5 minutes in.

 

 

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Thanks John

There may be a bit more on the 18:30 news

I really appreciate the time and effort being put forth by our community by providing us with their initial observations about Pursuit. It is this attitude of cooperative involvement that makes this such a helpful forum.

 

So here’s my selfishly personal question, and it may not be answerable until the maiden voyage on August 1, but are there bar servers waiting on the Sunset Veranda?

 

 

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I can't fully answer your question, however, I did ask and there will be additional staff working in the Windows bar.

The Tapas counter in The Living Room has changed. It is a much smaller counter, slightly set further back than on Journey and Quest.

The intention is to offer waiter service rather than self-service.

Thanks for your reply. Today's visit must be slightly different to the LCV visit on 31st as it includes lunch, which I believe is in Aqualina. Hope it's not just pastries!

Food wasn't really an option because of the 13:30 sail time from Belfast.

A few more thoughts.

There is now an extra window at the back of MDR.

New oceanview cabins on 4 work well and a few have a larger bathroom.

Shower curtain still present in veranda cabins.

New much better sized tables on all balconies.

The heavy metal chair in the CC suites has been replaced.

Don't like the effect of the Art gallery beside Mosaics.

 

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Good comments.

On the other hand, I do like the Art gallery where it is. It is enclosed, not intrusive and easy to avoid if you want to.

To UK CC contributors, if have satellite or cable tv, this evening go to your extended TV menu and choose (regional) BBC Northern Ireland news at 18:30.

The BBC had a camera crew on board and interviewed Richard Twynham amongst others today.

Quick question. How was the food?

Apart from pastries and cookies, no food was offered

Pursuit sailing down Belfast Lough

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Lounger mattresses are on there way!!

The LCV tour of the ship this morning in Belfast was excellent.

MJM has done an outstanding job in transforming the ship.

Pursuit is now a clear notch above Journey and Pursuit in its finish.

Journey and Quest will have the upgrades done next year with MJM stated as the contractor.

Pursuit is doing a two-day cruise to the Channel Islands for the travel trade from Saturday

If anyone has any questions I'll try to answer them.

We have always had a good selection of breads in the MDR. We have never had less than a choice of three.

The advisor is particularly fond of the brown malt bread which comes is a mini rectangular loaf shape. It's reminiscent of a malt bread you can only get in Ireland called 'Veda'.

Our last Az cruise was 18 nights and I avoided bread for the first seven days then my willpower gave up :evilsmile:

Doesn't Carl Smith lives in the Czech Republic?

That may have been a joke

Pursuit ship visits in Belfast started today, and are running for three consecutive days.

As LCV members we are visiting the ship on Thursday morning. The arranged pick up point is outside the Titanic hotel which is about a mile from where Pursuit is berthed.

By chance this morning I had a business meeting in the Titanic hotel and noticed a flurry of activity with people registering and been given Azamara stickers to wear, with the dates 24-26th July.

I had to be nosy and ask who, why, what, when, where etc

It turned out to be guests of EY (Ernst and Young) in association with the Young Entrepreneur of the year.

We dropped ours at 09:30 in Sydney this year without a problem.

However, I think Phil is right, it depends on the individual port.

No Photographs

The joining instructions for the visit to Pursuit in Belfast on 26th July have been issued today.

Azamara have respectfully asked that no photographs of the ship appear on social media until after 1st August.

norniron, you have her email address wrong. It is not itopintzis at the beginning but

ltopintzis@azamara.com

The small l stands for liz and is a small l (ell) and not an i or a capital I (eye).

Hope that makes sense!

 

She is a very nice and helpful lady and works directly for Richard Twynam.

Lottie A, thank you.

I did reply last week and if my memory serves me right, I copied and pasted the email address from CC.

I will try again with an L replacing the I ( in lower case).

I have replied to itopintzis@azamara.com re the requirements for visiting Pursuit and the email bounced back as undeliverable.

The original email I received from Eventbrite was from noreply@eventbrite, but when trying to return the email it opened as itopintzis@azamara.com

The email bounced back so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hi norn iron, I think I read somewhere that refreshments would be served on the Belfast visit and lunch in Southampton. Have you any info on parking in Belfast? Thanks

Hi Vival

The details of the visit have been scant. However, on the email from Eventbrite requesting passport details etc there was a link 'contact the organiser' and from that, it opened up a page with more detail than I had seen before. I have attached a link for you https://goo.gl/eJ96sx

The parking arrangements on that page detail parking in Titanic Visitor Centre carpark where shuttle buses will operate. The pickup point will be emailed nearer the time.

Tomorrow, (Monday, July 16th) Azamara Journey will be berthed in Belfast, just across the river Lagan from where Pursuit is being refitted.

It will most likely be the first meeting of the two sisters under the Azamara livery.

I will try to get a photograph of the two ships, however, with angles involved it may not be possible.

I am sure the two crews will enjoy the meeting up, a few weeks back Celebrity Silhouette was in Belfast and the Silhouette's lifeboats were busy ferrying crew over to Pursuit for a look around.

Hi Bonnie,

We have tickets to visit Pursuit at Southampton on 31st July. I have received an email from Eventbrite re Azamara asking for our names and passport details. It says to reply to the email.

The email address that it came from is - Azamara Club Cruises <noreply@eventbrite.com

As it is "noreply" I did not know if replies are monitored?

When I try the reply button, the address changes to itopintzis@azamara.com

Is this a genuine email??

I ask because it is asking for our passport details so I am wary.

Thanks

Sarah

Good question Sarah,

I have received the same email request for the Pursuit visit in Belfast on 26th July.

It also asks for dietary requirements, when we were originally told no food or refreshments would be served.

It does look genuine, however, I share your concerns.

A lot of the staff transfers from Journey and Quest took place over the weekend.

When we were on Journey in March, we met half a dozen staff who were transferring on July 1st.

There was an element of sadness in them all, however as soon I mentioned I lived in Belfast their demeanour changed immediately. Three times I was asked, "Where can I get good Guinness?"

The easy answer was every bar.

Thank you Bonnie. All booked for the 26th of July in Belfast.

The Advisor is now trying to change her plans and get home early from a weeks break in London.