Riocca

But most other cruise lines with smaller ships restrict the number of times you can use speciality restaurants by cabin grade including suites and also give priority booking by grade. If Azamara have to restrict each table to only being used once per evening then that’s going to happen on Azamara as well.

Spot on Phil, we seem to have lost the perspective that these are specially restaurants not main restaurants. I don’t know of any cruise lines where you don’t have to book speciality restaurants in advance in fact with many you have to book months before you even board the ship. Azamara main restaurants are anytime dining, if you are in a suite of any grade and want to use the specialities as your restaurant then you need to follow the rules.

Probably very relevant to this topic, Onward has an additional 18 CC suites over the other ships so a 40% increase in the number of suites having access to the speciality restaurants. Veranda Plus also have one free night per seven days but that’s the same for all ships. Back when the upcharge was $5 pp the speciality restaurants were often quite very quiet but when they increased the cost they became much busier. So originally it was not difficult to get a time that suited, now to cope with demand they’ve increased the number of tables and introduced times to allow table turns. We usually book for 8pm which gives a window of 7.30 - 8.30 which works fine for us, we are quite flexible. Over the years we’ve noticed that quite a few cruise lines try to work the same way with speciality restaurants not only to meet demand but to maximise their revenue.

No we will be boarding Onward.

Press release on another thread says they will be using Fusina and Chioggia, hopefully ours stays as Fusina as it works better for the hotel we’ve booked.

There’s a ferry from Fusina to Venice, website says it takes about 30 minutes and the cost is only €2.

Our cruise is the 4th October 2023 starting in Venice (Fusina) we booked direct with Azamara so all communication comes to us. For anyone booked with a travel agent the email will have gone to them so there can be a delay. Fusina might not be Venice but it’s better located for Venice Airport than Ravenna, we’ve booked a nice villa hotel in Mestre pre cruise.

Email just received from Azamara. October 17, 2022 Dear Azamara Guest, We're writing to inform you of an important update regarding your voyage scheduled to begin and/or end in Venice, Italy. We announced earlier this year that we were no longer able to dock our ships in the heart ofVenice for our 2022 season due to new regulations adopted by the Italian government and, many of the guests who have booked voyages that included Venice in 2023 questioned how this would impact their travel arrangements. Due to our long-standing relationship with local officials and port authorities of Venice, we are thrilled to announce that we will be able to stay in this historic canal city in the neighboring town of Fusina, where only smaller ships can visit. By taking a ferry across the South Lagoon, you can go from Fusina to the heart of Venice in just under 30 minutes. In the meantime, we kindly ask for your patience as we finalize and prepare to share more information on our pre/post transfers and land experiences. We will contact you with more details soon. As always, we take great pride in bringing you and every Azamara guest unforgettable experiences both on board our ships and within our destinations. We can assure you that your future Azamara vacation will deliver the highest standards of service and quality for which we are known. Should you have any questions, please contact your Travel Advisor for more details specific to your country of residence or visit https://www.azamara.com/contact-us for your local Azamara call center number. Sincerely, AZAMARA®

We were on Onwards maiden and return to the ship in a couple of weeks so it couldn’t have been that bad. Regarding the deck rails they were being finished with teak oil not varnish, this is a longer job as they have to be stripped right back but long term maintenance should be easier. We preferred the matt finish looked much better than high gloss varnish in our opinion. We were in a CC suite and the USB ports were on the bottom of the bedside light fittings and easily overlooked.

Our White Night starts with a social drink at the Pool Bar then a meal in whichever speciality is open then back out to join the party, I know many enjoy the deck buffet and we respect this but it’s not our thing. As someone who doesn’t look good in white I would prefer something like a Bright Night, would mean not having to take something to wear for just one night. We were caught out on our first Azamara cruise as we knew nothing about it actually wore black and nobody batted an eyelid 😁

Thank you, shame I love a discount 😁

Any idea how long this will be running for? We board Onward two weeks today with plans to book a 2024 cruise.

When you look at booking Azamara online you get an option to add flights: So it’s totally optional and you can see the flight details to make comparisons, incidentally we book directly with Azamara by telephone these days and have never been offered flights let alone that we have to book them. However there are a number of travel agents in the U.K. who package cruises with flights, hotels and transfers, with a number of cruise lines not just Azamara. Unfortunately shall we say they are not always as transparent as they should be and customers may believe they are having to accept these packages as the cruise lines insist. We are aware of the culprits and avoid them but others probably won’t be.

Absolutely, also if demand is high they want to please as many passengers as possible. We always book for 8pm but if we turn up earlier we’ve never had a problem getting a table. They work on the principal that the average meal time is 2 hours, but some will take longer some quicker, in very busy periods we have seen a table turned 3 times. That said we’ve never seen anyone pressured into giving up a table. As a comparison we are currently in a hotel owned by a well known U.K. celebrity chef, the restaurant is total chaos, last night we waited an hour between first and main course tonight they completely forgot about our dessert, and we weren’t the only ones complaining. Management disappeared when complaints happen and wait staff are like headless chickens, food ranges from weird to awful. We don’t know how lucky we are with the general standard on cruise ships.

We’ve experienced the Aqualina breakfast onboard Onward and Quest, it’s supposed to be relaxed with everything cooked to order so is slower than other breakfast venues. The menu does look to be limited but we found they could cater for any requests.

Not an area we used that often but think Azamara needs to think very carefully about that move.

No she was more taken with dogs running on the beach 😄

Unbelievably it’s only temporary opened at the beginning of October and closes on the 5th November took longer to assemble!

Took our 2 year old granddaughter to our local seaside resort, Weston-Super-Mare to see an art installation of a decommissioned oil rig called See Monster.

It’s not that you’re not allowed to criticise but you have to accept why others choose a cruise line. As they say there’s a cruise line for everyone you just have to find the one you like best and human nature is to defend your choice. We have tried almost 20 lines over the years and Azamara is the one that suits us best. Friends love NCL we really didn’t but that’s their choice and it’s fine, we’ve been on Viking both oceans and river wouldn’t rule them out but only for the right itinerary. For us as Viking have new bigger ships there is more space but we found them bland, management was weak and unresponsive and main restaurant food was always served cold, on the up side thought the Chef’s Table was fantastic.

As it only started post covid I’m not sure if that was the driver or it was the increased number of suites on Onward, that said we did enjoy the relaxed atmosphere. It’s certainly taken the load off of the Butlers who were often faced with a dilemma when multiple suites wanted breakfast at the same time. Princess have had this set up for many years now and I haven’t heard it referred to as elitist there, as you say it’s done discretely most passengers wouldn’t know it existed. In reality is any more two class than the in suite afternoon tea served by the butlers?

Very fair assessment of our experience of Viking versus Azamara, on Quest recently at the Captains Q&A we were told there’s always a plan B & C for every port especially those known to present potential problems where they may have a plan D as well.

Same for Onward, cut & paste brigade have been on duty, the description is copied from the original “3 sister meet” that was going to happen in 2020 😂 Embrace the musical traditions of Slovenia and make history in the process. Join us in Koper for a Grand AzAmazing Evening to celebrate our Destination Immersion® experiences. We will bring our three ships – Journey®, Quest® and PursuitSM – together in port for the first time for an unforgettable night. Available on our “Sisters Meet” voyages, we’ve pulled out all the stops for this once-in-a-lifetime event commemorating a decade of our commitment to Destination Immersion. We’ll transform Ukmar Square into an enchanting private venue, inviting guests from all three ships to an evening of fine wine, local cuisine, and live music starring Perpetuum Jazzile, an a cappella ensemble dedicated to preserving Slovenian vocal traditions. Revel in the enchanting melodies. Soak up the surrounding architecture. Savor superb cuisine and sensational sweets. As a special treat, we’ll debut an exclusive wine bottled locally for Azamara President & CEO, Larry Pimentel. On this occasion, we proudly honor our past while looking forward to a new era that will take our guests further than ever before. KRTM

It was planned to happen with 3 ships in 2020 before Covid stopped the world then there was going to be an AzAmazing Evening in the main square in Koper. From what’s being posted elsewhere this time it sounds like it’s going to be White Night on all the ships, hopefully the locals won’t object to the noise as we will be on Onward when it’s repeated next year.

Yes, currently 2 pm is the earliest embarkation for all but there should be a priority line for suites.