mara01

We've done it both ways, definitely the Tender option is the best, however AZ lays on its own shuttle from the ship when it's docked. The worst bit is waiting for the return shuttle from the town.

You beat me to the punch! Here's a bit more information:

 

Wildlife presenter and enthusiast Nigel Marven presents brand new series ‘Cruise Ship Adventures’ which debuts on UKTV's Watch on Tuesday 5th May at 8pm.

 

Received from UK MD Richard Twynam:

The programme starts on Watch TV on Tues May 5th and can be found on

Sky TV- Channel 109

Virgin TV - Channel 124

BT Vision - 407

 

The best thing is that it features many of the guys from the ships, including but not limited to Captain Carl, Captain Jose, and Cruise Director Eric, to name just a few.

Thanks,

Richard

We were looking forward to that but don't get those channels on Freeview, which is all we have :(. Will have to hunt around and find someone to record it for us!

For me it was cinnamon ice cream :)

Hope she does Mascarpone ice cream - that's my favourite! :)

Just been reading the RCCL board and it sounds as if the new captain will fit in very well!

"He has to be one of the most personable and visible Captains out there and such a funny guy".

Looking forward to meeting him on the Journey. It looks as if he will be on both our May and September cruises. Welcome Captain Sindre and good luck for the future to Jason.

Steve, I'm pretty sure it's still there and one outside on the counter at the Sunset Bar. I'll check when I go to breakfast and report back. The ginger energisers that they have as you walk past the Windows Bar are delicious if you haven't tried them and a good kick!

 

Phil

Well that's a relief and we look forward to confirmation! Yes, we love the Energiser and in fact we can claim the special accolade that we introduced them to the Journey. After having them on the Quest, we were disappointed to find the Journey did not make them so we mentioned this on our mid cruise comment form and lo and behold, in true Azamara fashion, they contacted the Quest for the recipe and "the rest is history"! Another example of Azamara 'doing their best for the guest' :)

To the OP, I'm sorry you had such a poor cruise that would make you not wish to sail on Azamara again. I post this not to doubt you, but hopefully allay fears that some reading here may have.

 

I'm currently on Journey. The loos are working, the crew are happy and engaging (well, they are wonderful actually) and the food both in the main dining room and buffet has been excellent. I've been on Journey about a dozen times. I love this ship. It's true to say it's not brand new, but it is very clean and I think charming. It will be nice to see it properly refurbed, but in the meantime I continue to be very comfortable. Since I have read bad reports (including one person via another review medium who called it small and old and a bathtub) I've made a point of asking other passengers how they are enjoying their cruise and it's been a unanimous positive response. Everyone seems very happy.

 

So don't panic. All is well here. Oh and so far the weather across the Atlantic is beautiful. Smooth and sunny, warm skies.

 

Phil

Phil, your post was very reassuring as we're on the Journey in May. Can you just tell us if the fresh orange juice machine is still present and working in Windows at breakfast time? We read on one bad review that it had been removed :eek: Breakfast wouldn't be the same without it! Enjoy your cruise.

Thanks for posting the link.

That was a very interesting read, and I look forward to more of their observations.

 

The corned beef hash benedict that her husband ordered from the in room breakfast menu sounds like something I would really like.

Hopefully it's not only on the menu for suite guests.

No, anyone can have it and it's delicious! :)

Hi and welcome to one of our favorite cruise lines.

 

There are no formal nights and dinner is by seating or open seating, you choice at reservation time. The two specialty restaurants are open seating at all times, they take reservations. They are free for Suite guests, or for a charge for non Suite guests.

 

.

Just a very small correction, it is Open Seating at all times in the MDR, there is no reserving of tables, although as you get known as the cruise goes by you can often get the same table if its free. You can only (and often need to) reserve tables in the speciality restaurants. It's wise to book a couple of these at check in where there is usually a table for this purpose, otherwise there is always one on board.

Have a great cruise, you will enjoy it:)

Istanbul is beautiful. Unfortunately, it is not safe. When I asked my TA ti book a cruise that embarked in Istanbul, he told me to pick a different cruise. If you follow events in Turkey, you can understand the changes. Be happy that it does not go to Turkey. Last fall I went to Israel. It was after the war. The tour company assured us that it was safe. It was not safe. There were still demonstrations, bombs, and unrest. I was happy to come home. As much as I wanted to see Israel, I would have had more respect for the tour company if they had canceled the tour. My advice is to stay away from Turkey. The middle East is not safe.

Im afraid I can't agree with this statement. Turkey is a very large country and the only British FCO advice is not to go within 10km of its border with Syria. Yes there have been demonstrations and the occasional suicide bomber in Istanbul, but is this any more serious than what happened recently in Paris? We have two holidays booked in the next 6 months to Turkey, one is on Azamara, the other is a family holiday to Bodrum with our children and grandchildren. Over 2.5 million Brits go to Turkey every year and it still remains as safe as many other countries in that part of the Med.

If you want to go with your TA's advice that's fine, it's your choice.

We tip the butler extra at the end of the sailing, not each day.

Agree👍

Azamara did our visas for Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Indonesia on our recent cruises with them. The only ones we have needed to do in advance are India and Turkey.

Hope this helps

Steve

Looks as if the only two cruises not affected are the two on our B2B on the 23rd June and 3rd July! Wonder if this will change?

I'm sorry to have to write this, Bonnie, but this is a very short-sighted policy on the part of Azamara. Whether you want to encourage "this practice" or not is not the way this issue should be looked at. Rather, Azamara should be prioritizing what makes your customers satisfied and happy. This policy surely does not.

 

We are about to leave for a 35-day cruise on a competing cruise line. We have booked shore excursions on-line in some ports already. We have not been made to pay for these in advance. We will pay for these with our on-board credit once we board. Doing it this way would eliminate the "extra work for onboard tour staff" and certainly eliminate all "unnecessary credit card fees." And that's in addition to pleasing your customers instead of alienating them.

 

As for your last sentence as quoted above, are you implying that shore excursions are not intended " to enhance your cruise experience?"

 

Edit: Here is how that other cruise line phrases it on their web site:

 

Pay Before You Sail, Or Pay Later Onboard

 

You have the option to pay for shore excursions in advance of your cruise. If you wait, we will add the charges to your onboard account which is settled at the end of the cruise.

Thanks for the very interesting and constructive response. That's a very sensible attitude of the 'competing cruise line'. We know OBC means on board credit but after all, a shore excursion can only be taken when you are on board and a shore excursion does 'enhance your cruise experience'.

Thanks also to Bonnie for 'sending it up the flagpole'. Will be interesting to see how it is received. We know that Azamara are very good at listening to feedback from guests, so fingers crossed!

Look through these pages on our Azamara website: Dining & Beverages

I notice the photo for Aqualina shows a lobster dish. We must have missed that on the menu - would have chosen that if we'd seen it. Unless maybe it was a 'daily special'.

The question is: If you book an excursion before boarding and charge it to your credit card, then cancel it after boarding and re-book it while on-board in order to use OBC, how is the refund for your cancellation processed? Is it credited to the credit card used when you initially booked, or is it just added to your nonrefundable OBC amount? If the latter, cancelling and re-booking after boarding would do nothing to help you use up your OBC.

 

Can you get an answer to that for us, Bonnie?

Thanks Marinaro - yes, that's the exact question! 😀

Yes there are photographers on board, but they don't pester you and are very personable like all the staff on board. If you don't want your picture taken I would suggest just let the photographer know and I'm sure he'll comply.

Nope! The only lobster we had was the Surf and Turf in Discoveries, we were told that they had kept parts of the original menu, but we weren't impressed by what little was left, no Towers of Brie either.

My wife had the special pasta appetiser that was made fresh that was very nice on the first weeks menu, we ate twice on that menu. It was our third visit to Aqualina that was disappointing, there was Venetian Seafood which was deep fried calamari, shrimps, scampi and Lobster which didn't appeal to me personally as I always liked the Dover Sole and that is where the problem lay. The Lobster Bisque was very nice as well, but no Bouillabaisse now either, but the peas soup remains and the Limoncello Soufflé was delicious.

Hi Phil

What do you think of the new menu in Aquilina? We liked the first weeks menu but on the second week we felt pairing Dover Sole with strong flavoured tomato and olive sauce and Risotto was a step too far in that you lost the delicate flavour of the sole. next time I'll order it with just a few vegetables instead - like it used to be!:mad:

Also missed the choice of Lobster, thermidor, broiled or otherwise, and the seafood platter. Souffle was up to standard though.:)

Steve

We have the same dilemma for our 2017 Seychelles cruise as we have $1200 OBC and have booked a CC suite. With this itinerary we will want to do trips so spending it will be no problem, obviously the best way to secure the trips you want is to pre book and pay cancel onboard and rebook can't say that I am happy with this and it provokes two questions:

 

Firstly if the trip is waitlisted and you cancel once onboard there could be other passengers who have priority over you rebooking so you may not get the trip you want anyway.

Secondly the refund will be made as refundable OBC (Azamara could always change this of course!!) but when using OBC to rebook will they allocate it to your refundable or non refundable OBC first?

 

Surely as this OBC situation is created by Azamara in the first place it would be much simpler all round if you could book trips (or any other bookable onboard spend) in advance using your OBC.

Very well put Riocca and thanks for your post uktog. Provided the refund goes onto your account as Refundable OBC, I think we would rather book ahead to get the excursions and times we want and hope we can rebook the same.

With the current $1000 OBC promotion I think many people will be in this situation. Perhaps Bonnie could comment?

We have booked a couple of cruises under the 'choices' promotion and find ourselves with the non refundable OBC . as we are in a suite this limits the onboard opportunity to use it on board. My question is if we book shore excursions before we go, and subsequently cancel and rebook on board to use our onboard credit and the credit refund goes against our shipboard account. If we rebook the shore excursion, does this come off the OBC and leave the cancelled charge on the account to be credited back against our credit card?

Does this make sense?:confused:

Hi Alfredo1, thanks for writing.

I've not heard of this problem before. I'll send it up the flagpole and see what I hear back.

Bonnie

We have exactly the same problem Bonnie, I tried to prise off the labels and they left a sticky mess on the back, so have given up on subsequent voyages. I think it may be due to the amount of time they are left on. We are just joining the quest today so will see if the labels have improved!!!

Yes there is a duty free shop in the Harbourfront cruise terminal, at least there was last year. We bought some Gin there when we joined the Journey. As we're joining the Quest next week we may well do the same if we haven't bought any on the way out. The prices in the shop were very competitive compared to UK duty free

Having a great time here on Quest. I know there have been mutterings of the ship not quite, how shall I put this? Shipshape? Well I am happy to report that from this cruiser's perspective it is really excellent. I have now worries. Everything looks sparkle clean and the crew as you'd expect from Azamara is engaging.

 

I've been eating in the Specialties and enjoying some great food. Fabio is Exec Chef and as per usual his influence is a very positive one. I'm particularly proud to have tackled some fish in Aqualina. The Dover Sole was delicious.

 

I've booked the follow on and a Captain Carl will be superseded by Jose in Fujairah as will Ryszard Gussman for Philip Herbert. The delightful Bar Manager Alme will also join in UAE

 

Security arrived onboard today. Pirate watch to follow soon.

 

Phil

Lovely to read your live report and to hear that everything is as good as usual. Looking forward to our Quest cruise to Burma in January and especially pleased to hear that Alme will be on the Quest. If you see her, can you find out if she will still be on for the 20th January cruise. Please say hello from Rose and Steve and assure her that Steve will be there to help her fold the towels again! 😄 Last saw her on a day visit on the Journey in Southampton in August when she was just going off duty. Enjoy your cruise!

Yes, very well deserved recognition. She is a lovely lady. We first met her on the Quest on the Best of Italy cruise in 2009 and have sailed with her several times since on the Journey.

I did mine the day Bonnies link was posted on these boards

 

There was no confirmation on line on submission and I've had no email. I am in limbo in that I don't know did the form get there but it will not be until 4 weeks before the cruise we might get a reply (that's ok) or did it not get there. (Given it was so early in the process I fear disconnections in the ether :) )

 

Life's been distracted this last month when things change I may call and see if there is a note on our three bookings or not but it would be good even to get a pop up on submission that confirms receipt - a suggestion Bonnie might like to take onboard

Perhaps we'll fill in the form again, just in case, and see if it says we've already done it. Probably irrelevant anyway for our January cruise as the suites were all booked up months ago and there aren't even any balconies available now. Only the big CW suite and somehow I don't think they'll upgrade us to that - but would be nice! 😀