norn iron

13 hours ago, federalexpress said:

 

Is that one of the included wines? I'd be OK with that on the Ultimate list, it's better than some showing on the most recent menu for those. It's the entry level wine of Cotarella, a very respected Italian winemaker.

 

Yes, its on the included list.

These are three screenshots from Vivino of the Shiraz currently being served onboard Quest.

Well sourced and of good quality. I wont post the price in case it offends those who believe house wines should be expensive.

Currently on Quest and there are a few new names

Captain. - Johannes Tysse

Hotel Director - Marcelo Afonso 

Cruise Director - David Bradshaw (first cruise with AZ, ex Cunard and Crystal to name a few)

Executive Chef - Zarko Lukic

F&B Manager Alex Brotsman

23 hours ago, Grandma Cruising said:

My fingers are  crossed for you 🤞

Unfortunately no success. I’m changing my handle to ‘dissapointedofBelfast’ 😉

1 hour ago, Grandma Cruising said:

Check your credit card bill. I just p looked at our November credit card bill and realised Azamara took the upgrade money 2 days before they told us our (very low) bid was successful.

Nothing through yet Denise. Good tip re checking my credit card, but again no charges.

There is no access to available staterooms on the Azamara website, however, on the German site that can't be mentioned all the available staterooms are still for sale.

There are some grey areas of the upgrade system.

We sail on Quest this Saturday and at no time did we get the invite email to upgrade.

When I accessed the upgrade page on the Azamara website upgrade page I was denied access.

I followed this up with a call to Azamara (early morning!) and they could find no reason why I couldn't apply, yet they couldn't amend the no application status.

I then emailed the Azamara Circle and got a reply of apology within 24 hour, two hours later I got the email inviting me to apply for an upgrade.

Did it work? All should be revealed in the next twelve hours.

13 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

They never said [admitted] that cost was the issue.  They always claimed it was too difficult to ensure supply throughout the world.  HAL sails all around the world too...

If my memory serves me right I started one of the original Tonicgate threads (happy to be corrected) and one of those who contributed was the then UK MD for Azamara Richard Twynam, (BTW the new MD of Scenic Cruise UK and Ireland).

He did state that the price of Fevertree was an issue, however, (and I have posted this a few months back) he offered that Schweppes would be stocked fleet wide by Azamara.

On 11/3/2022 at 11:34 PM, Host Jazzbeau said:

My experience when you get the Connoisseurs Wine Package is that the entire stock of wine is made available to you — far beyond even the ‘by the bottle’ list.  And at the end of the first meal, they have a gizmo that sucks out the air from the bottle so it will stay fresh until you finish it. 

I’ve never had a bottle that wasn’t finished!

During June we spent ten out of eleven nights dining in Prime C and Aqualina. Our bookings were made for 20:30 every evening, however, we arrived anywhere between 19:50 and 20:20 and were welcomed with  greetings and smiles every evening. 

7 hours ago, Belfastman said:

Just checked living room ceiling and they look very neat and freshly painted.

@Belfastman thanks for the update. In June the corners of the Living Room just hadn't been touched during the refit.

It's reassuring that Azamara are addressing the few issues that there were, and doing a good job of it.

2 hours ago, Belfastman said:

Many of the issues have been sorted out however a few minor things are still needing attention. Eg. The rail in the elevators are going to be replaced soon as they are very poor and the rail along balconies need varnishing. Staffing is now full complement. The Atlas bar is lovely and  great addition.

Belfastman, check the forward port and starboard corners (ceiling) of the Living Room. They were in need of a real tidy and upgrade of paint etc when we onboard earlier in the year.

If they are fixed and tidied that's a good sign of ongoing repairs and maintenance.

17 hours ago, Belfastman said:

The offer runs until 20th of November 22 but only applies to Europe cruises in 2023.

That's a pity. We board Quest on 26th Nov. I'll check it out first day onboard in case there is an extension.

11 hours ago, combine said:

I’m sure your TA will enjoy sorting this one out ! .  If the fcc numbers are the same then you  are still quids in. 

I won't hold my breath on that one, my TA is on borrowed time.

What I will do is make a booking onboard in November and check how valid the FCC actually is.

5 hours ago, malcliz said:

We have received two emails with the exact same wording which were our notification of FCC following two cruises with the Venice/Ravenna change. The amount of £430 was the promised FCC of $500 for the inconvenience of this change. We didn’t know why it said it was for feedback. But if you’ve already had your FCC it seems strange that you’ve had another email?

I think I got lucky, maybe because my TA went chasing the FCC before payment was due on a November cruise, and this additional amount arrives.

1 hour ago, combine said:

Interesting indeed ! 

The wording is the exactly the same as the fcc given for change of port from Venice to Ravenna. Does the new email have the same format with booking ID etc and is the Certificate Number different or the same as your previous certificate? Does it look like picture below? 

Possibly a duplicate or indeed you got lucky! But it is unlikely that it is for a post cruise survey.
 

Thanks combine, you have helped me piece together what has happened.

Yes my email was the same as yours, what confused me was the fact that I had already received my FCC for the move to Ravenna. It totalled £253 for booking a Balcony. There was never any documentation as my TA spoke with Az before the final payment for Novembers cruise and the credit was applied.

The email I received (the same as yours) is £430 FCC, which approximately coverts to $500 and we did upgrade to a CC Suite.

So maybe we got lucky and got two FCC's

What was confusing was the wording of "as promised, due to your feedback" the only feedback I had given Az was on the post cruise survey.

Is this something new from Azamara?

We sailed on Onward departing Ravenna June 18th this year, nothing unusual in that.

We were given an FCC against a future cruise due to the inconvenience of moving from Venice to Ravenna and we have already applied that to a cruise in November.

Yesterday I got a email with an another FCC, only this time it was a thank you for completing the post cruise survey, I have copied it below.

Dear Guest,

As promised, due to your feedback on your recent Azamara cruise, below is your Future Cruise Credit (FCC) to plan another cruise vacation with us. We appreciate your understanding during this very fluid situation, and we hope you'll use this credit to sail with us again soon! 

Firstly, the amount was very welcome, £430 and will be put to good use.
Secondly, I was very complimentary in all my feedback, with the exception of stating that I would not purchase the Ultimate Drinks package whilst Az continue to serve Royal Club tonic water.

Did I get lucky, or has this happened before?

33 minutes ago, OC Cruisers said:

Hi everybody☺️
 

We’ve enjoyed many Azamara cruises, but Quest is our favorite. We’ve been eyeballing an October itinerary but are spooked by the reviews on this site that say it’s not up to Azamara’s usual standards. The 2.9 overall rating is 😱 Has anyone who’s an Azamara regular been on Onward lately who can shed any light? Thanks!!

2.9 is totally unfair. We sailed on Onward in June, it was either the 4th or 5th cruise since the maiden voyage.

We had no issues with the crew, in fact they were great.  There were lots of familiar faces from other ships in the fleet and they were hands on guiding newer members into the Azamara way.

The issues, and yes there were some, were more to do with the workmanship from the refit in Amsterdam.

If you looked carefully there was substandard workmanship, especially compared to Pursuit and I am not being prejudiced. There was major work being done by the crew, on an ongoing basis to rectify the issues.

We had a conversation with Tony Markey in his role of HD and when discussing the final finish he actually refused to comment (in a humorous way).

4 hours ago, paisa1969 said:

Currently in Azamara Quest.. service is excellent and food is wonderful.. no complaints.. I think everything is better with the new ownership.

 

Thanks for sharing this. My sister and her hubby are onboard for their first Az cruise and are more than impressed.

2 hours ago, Norn Iron Man said:

Having been lucky enough to have known a wine importer and had many opportunities to sample wines of all types and prices I can honestly say that wine is like beauty. It is in the eyes (tastebuds) of the beholder. Drink what you enjoy regardless of price. What to some may be greatest vintage ever produced to others it may be complete rotgut.

Spot on.

I remember around 12 years ago Victoria Moore the Daily Telegraphs wine writer reviewed Tesco's own label  1994 Vintage Port, and it retailed for £15 per bottle.

She wrote if the label said Taylors instead of Tesco this would retail at £90 per bottle and be worth laying down for 20 years, the following week Tesco put the price up to £19.

It proved the point that wine snobs are more interested in the label than the contents.

By chance the same week I drove through Crossgar and dropped in to Nicholsons (local wine importer for non norn iron folk!) and there on the shelf was a bottle of Taylors 1994 vintage priced at £95 which made me laugh.

ps I still have four bottles of the Tesco port left 🍷!!

47 minutes ago, woodards said:

On the Quest now. White night is on Friday in Bordeaux and haven’t brought anything white (never have TBH). 
 

First night evening meal in Discoveries was exceptional. Great service and food. Short wait to get seated but nothing major. 
 

Boarding was pretty straightforward 20 mins wait in queue for check in and then a short wait for an escort onto ship. Then straight into Discoveries for the safety briefing which took about 15 mins tops. 
 

Full lunch buffet was provided plus the Patio was open too. As far as we could tell everything was as per our previous experience with Azamara with exception of crew wearing masks. 
 

Very few guest mask wearers currently. So keeping everything crossed it stays that way.

 

Great to be back onboard after a three year hiatus with lots of familiar faces from a crew perspective.

woodards, thanks for the update from Quest.

My sister and her hubby (for Uktog's benefit, a Wee Gee from Gifnock) are on board Quest for their first Az cruise. We had a What'sApp running commentary until around 21:30 last night and they seem to be loving it.

As they toured they ship after boarding they stopped at a few bars and met fellow passengers from Ayr and Glasgow so you can imagine what carnage that will lead to (see above) as the cruise continues.

However, this is what makes Azamara special. When we were onboard Onward in June we got talking to one of the senior officers and I explained about my sister and hubby having booked their first Az cruise. I was asked to write a hand written note welcoming them to their first Az cruise, and when they arrived onboard yesterday my handwritten note was waiting for them at their cabin.

On 8/25/2022 at 4:59 PM, Grandma Cruising said:

Don’t know for sure but I think it’s likely you’ll need a full tourist visa.

On 8/26/2022 at 2:21 PM, excitedofharpenden said:

You'll need a full visa I'm sure. 

 

Phil 

I beg to differ.

Every time we have cruised via India we have used the Transit Visa with no issue.

A business associate of mine, his father is the Honorary Indian Consul to NI (surname Rana) kept me in the loop years ago.

If you are travelling via India from departure point A, with final destination point B with no more than four days in India then a Transit visa is fine. Effectively you are in 'transit'. 

1 hour ago, Bimmer09 said:

Thank you sir for thinking of me re Kelly's. The fleet will always live within me. I had many memorable voyages with my dad.

 

I have a busy day planned when we are in Belfast and have a driver who is at my disposal for the day. Someone I've known since age 5 but haven't seen since 1994. Also my younger sister and her husband will be joining us for a day of exploration and dining. I'm not planning any ship's excursions for those reasons but will have control over where we go for a relaxing day of catching up.

 

All the best,

Norris

 

Not a problem Norris, I hope you have a great day - you've got a lot to pack in.

On 8/18/2022 at 3:58 PM, Bimmer09 said:

Thanks for the good wishes MJ!

I didn't visit any cruise ports in Germany so no plans to write anything on CC.

We are very keen to sail on the Apex as it is so different and we have an aft balcony ("Sunset verandah") thereby avoiding the goofy Infinite Balcony cabins that are in the majority on the ship. We expect good food and service, maybe not as intimate and personal as Azamara but of a good standard. We've sailed Celebrity 3 times since 2016.

 

 We are going to Amsterdam 2 days early as air travel is so issue-prone today. For example of the 5 Munich flights before ours in late July, 3 were canceled on the day. Our flight flew but an hour late and our return flight was 2 hours late leaving the gate. Hopefully by June airlines will have hired back more staff and be more reliable than currently. We have added two days in Amsterdam when the ship returns June 18th.

 

As it's a new ship class to us plus Iceland, Belfast, Liverpool, Dover and Amsterdam I will be taking a lot of photos and video so imagine a huge review to follow on the X Board next June.

 

Can't wait!

Norris

Norris, when you are in Belfast, should you want a quick reminisce with Kelly Wilson (from Kelly's) let me know and I'll check if it can be done. He lives in East Belfast relatively near the docks.

On 8/6/2022 at 5:27 AM, Port Power said:

I don't mean to be rude to anyone, but I am astonished at people wanting to know, down to the nitty-gritty, every little thing on the ship before boarding.  What happened to being surprised?  Or finding out new things as you make your way around the ship?  Cabin views I can certainly understand, but drinks?  On the Azamara website the included spirits are well laid out.  Also the included brands in the Ultimate package.  Does it matter finding out if a favourite soft drink, for example, is not available?  Will it make you cancel your booking?  Will you cancel because waffles are not available for breakfast?

 

Relax and enjoy the anticipation.

 

(I really, really am not having a go at anyone.  This is just an observation from someone who likes a few surprises when going somewhere new.)

The worst surprise you could ever encounter on an Azamara ship is Royal Club Tonic water!

Onboard Onward in June Captain Gianmario announced on day two that an undisclosed number of crew had Covid and were isolating.

That was the last we ever heard of Covid for the remaining nine days.