mare s.

It was a thread called "Can Onboard Credit Be Used For Anything" her post dated 7/17/17. Bonnie stated "Good News! Yes, the old EBB OBC can be used for anything onboard (with the regular exceptions of the Casino or future booking deposits) I've just had this confirmed by our Hotel Department management. And I apologize for the conflicting information. I'll make sure we are all on the same page."

 

I printed the post and put it in my binder to take with me on my T/A in November as we have that type of OBC. LuAnn

Thanks LuAnn! I guess Bonnie answered this while we were away on our last cruise and I never saw it. I too will be printing it out and taking it with on our cruise. Just in case.

mare

I believe that Bonnie confirmed a few weeks back that the OBC no longer has a "shore excursion only" restriction. We have a substantial amount that was likely going to go to waste, since I loathe large excursions, but there may be a Go Pro in my future. Not to mention a bottle or three of really nice wines! :-)

was that confirmation retroactive or just for obc going forward? can't find the post from Bonnie.

Luckily mare s. my rather large amount of OBC this time can be used for anything and is not limited to shorex. I don't usually do ships tours, preferring smaller private ones but we would probably do some next June to spend some of our OBC. That is, if Azamara allow us to pre book them online and pay from our OBC. If not, they will be losing out and I will spend my OBC on handbags and jewellery.

we generally don't have OBC...we'd rather have a lower price for the cruise. But for our next cruise in January, we have a lot...from Azamara (which can be used for shore excursions only) and from our TA. We generally do private excursions too, but I've held back a couple of ports figuring I'd use the dedicated OBC there and, if necessary, part of the regular OBC...I don't know how else to spend it...don't do spa, am happy with the included drinks, and will eat at specialty maybe once or at the most twice. Rarely see anything in the on board shops that I want. It's a nice problem to have, to be sure, but I sure wish Azamara would hurry up with the permanent fix. For as long as we've cruised with them, their IT has been pretty poor. You'd think they'd realize it by now and do something about it.

Ditto Phil. We need a LIKE button here.

 

I have a lot of OBC to use for my B2B next June and was planning to use some of it for ship's tours. It seems like we have been waiting for ever for the facility to book tours online prior to boarding and using our OBC.

 

Surely it shouldn't be that hard to update the system? :rolleyes:

It really shouldn't be that hard, especially as RCI has it in place already. If I were cynical it would occur to me that Azamara wins financially by not putting this facility in place. 1) They can "give" OBC which can only be used for shore excursions and then take it back because when people get on board the shore excursions they want are no longer available or 2) the new work around allows Azamara to increase the cost of the shore excursion once people are on board (since you have to cancel and re-book), thus reducing the "buying power" of the OBC.

Rabin1, I've not heard back re points 1&3. Sorry.

 

Uktog, the screenshot will be helpful. I'll send that off today.

 

Mare S., you are not alone in waiting patiently for the OBC fix. The work-around was extended through all 2017 voyages. When I hear something more, I'll post.

And, of course, our cruise is in January, so the work around won't work for us. Since the extension is now for all 2017 cruises, I'm kinda losing hope that anything permanent will be done this Fall. Still, I'll continue to wait and watch. thanks.

I'm sure hoping that the changes will ultimately include the ability to use our OBC for the shore excursions. I've been semi-patiently waiting for the magic "around September" fix so I can get our excursions booked for our January cruise.

mare

And it shows they can update the website quickly when they feel it's important to Azamara!

ooh.....good one.

We booked the original circle Japan cruise when it was first published and, though expensive, we got a good deal (we thought.) We looked at Regent and thought that the itinerary was not as interesting. Also looked at Celebrity and were tempted because of the much lower price, but we just like the smaller ships. Imagine my shock when some friends decided last week to join us....only one cabin left on 7 (and that way up front) a few on 6, and a few oceanview. For a similar cabin to the one we booked, $1600 pp more than we paid! Ridiculous.

Haven't most of these changes been fairly minor though? For example, swapping Catalina Island for Ensenada? Disappointing and annoying I'm sure, but not as bad as having your whole cruise cancelled.

 

Uktog, we also sailed on Oceania for the first time last year. I wrote a short review at the time but just briefly, we did enjoy the cruise very much, the itinerary was good, cabin attendants were excellent, the ship was well maintained and we found the crew to be very pleasant. Food is so subjective but we actually preferred Oceania, particularly the buffet where we were able to have lamb, fish, steak, shrimps or lobster fresh cooked each night. The biggest downside for us was the cost of the drinks which we thought were very expensive. The shore excursions we did were very good, well organised and some bit different choices than I've seen before for these ports.

 

There were things that we missed about Azamara, but we were sufficiently happy with our experience on Oceania that we now have two more cruises booked and are planning on booking at least one more when we are on board again later next month. One of the itineraries is an Iceland/Greenland one so I was happy to read that you liked the ports, mare s. Thanks very much for your review.

I agree with you that food is subjective but it was strange to us that the experience varied so much with the venue on board. And it wasn't just us....even loyal Oceania cruisers (with whom we shared tables) said some of their meals had been pretty bad. So maybe something was going on on this particular cruise. I do wholeheartedly agree with you on the buffet....it was terrific, especially at night. We only occasionally eat at the buffet on Azamara but we ate almost every night there on Oceania. And Toscana was fantastic. Ditto your remarks on the shore excursions...we were pleasantly surprised how good they were.

You will love Iceland and Greenland and if Oceania is offering the pre-cruise land tour, I can highly recommend it.

We can't fit any other cruises into our schedule (with the two Azamara we've already booked and some land trips) before 2020 but Oceania is definitely on our radar.

Thanks so much for this review. The itinerary sounds very attractive. We're there any stops in Newfoundland?

 

On our recent Azamara cruise the new art dealers on board were exceptionally low key, in fact so much so I don't know how they will survive.

 

Also, there was a new approach by the ship's photographer who was very discrete . By the way, she provided a workshop in smart phone photography which was well-attended and very helpful.

 

Thus I hope you enjoy these changes policies as well as the new decor.

 

I particularly appreciate your comparison of the "R" ships in both fleets. When talking to Oceania fans, they usually discuss their "O" models.

 

 

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Well, I'm pleased to hear the art auction folks are more low key...so no more art on easels everywhere in Mosaics? (By the way, I must say the food offerings in Barristas, Oceania's Mosaics, were not as varied although the coffees were very good.) Also happy to hear about the photographer, although the past ones on Azamara weren't pushy, it just felt obtrusive walking to the lounge or to dinner and seeing a wall of photos!

As for the itinerary on Oceania, there weren't any stops in Newfoundland (there could have been, though, as we spent two sea days traveling from Nuuk Greenland to Sydney, Nova Scotia) but there were two ports in Iceland (including an overnight in Reykjavik) and three in Greenland....Qaqortoq (my favorite), Paamiut, and Nuuk. Those were the highlights for us (including the three day land pre-cruise in Iceland) and Sydney was delightful, although we didn't spend time in Sydney proper...we had a private tour to Cape Breton. We'd been to Halifax, Boston, and New York before, but still found new things to see and do (especially the JFK Presidential Library and Museum....celebrating the 100th anniversary of Kennedy's birth...wow!)

Did you meet lily? she is still in NYC having fun. She picked this cruise for the ports. saw some great pictures by her.

I was on an O ship the year it came out. very different ship. enjoyed the cooking classes and i do not cook. the spa lay out on the O ship is weird. did not like the ipad music upstairs.. the food in Red Ginger is good. the rest.. hated the buffet. i d not like being served- either got to much or not enough.

i was on the redone Serina in Jan. i loved the storage in bathrooms and cabin. the public bathrooms were a wow.

 

i agree about shows, hated the piano player. i saw at bar and got good drinks. 18% tip is normal .what AZ charges per drink.i upgrade booze on AZ. on O paid one at a time. no tour package all OBC. spent it all.

did not realize you had not seen the redo on AZ. to modern for me. storage is lacking in cabin and bathroom for me. i like more folded clothes space. dec k5 just not to my traditional taste at all.

Yes, I think it was Lily....very nice! we shared a couple of excursions with her. I rather liked being served in the buffet and never had an issue getting extra helpings (especially the lobster tails and shrimp!) and the waiter in the stir fry section was adorable....kept insisting I try his nightly specialty and wouldn't take "no" for an answer. Yes, 18% is normal, but on Azamara we generally drink the complimentary offerings so it was a bit of a sticker shock to us when 18% was added to a run of the mill wine. I am looking forward to seeing the new décor on Azamara, but I am afraid I won't be a huge fan either. Storage in the staterooms was similar to what used to be on Azamara and was definitely ample. I posted a few photos on Facebook...check them out.

I'm an Azamara enthusiast (as you can tell from my signature) and with two more Azamara cruises already booked, I thought I'd share my thoughts on our first Oceania cruise.

We booked the cruise because of the itinerary; Iceland and Greenland, then over to Nova Scotia and then finishing in Boston and New York. It also included a three day land excursion in Iceland pre-cruise. Unfortunately, Azamara wasn't offering anything like it. The itinerary turned out to be absolutely wonderful although 5 at sea days was a bit much and we missed cruising Prince Christian Sound because of ice and fog. But Iceland and Greenland were revelations and we enjoyed every second of our visit there.

There were aspects of Oceania that we liked. The ship, Insignia, is a sister ship to Quest and Journey, so we felt very much at home. We haven't yet seen the new décor on Azamara ships, but we loved the traditional feel of Insignia. Service was excellent (with just a couple of exceptions...a rather surly barista in their version of Mosaics and a snippy Destinations person and spotty service in the dining room) and our cabin attendants were as friendly and efficient as any we've had on Azamara. Wait staff in their buffet equivalent were also quite outstanding.

Oceania still has a string quartet playing in the evenings and during "tea." They were wonderful and made us miss even more the departure of the harpist on Azamara. Oceania does not have art auctions and no photographers...two of my pet peeves on Azamara. So there is more space for comfy chairs and for people to sit and mingle. Shore excursions were actually pretty good. We had five free excursions as part of our package and I must say they were well organized and informative. The food, as I will expand on below, was not great but they did offer freshly grilled (in front of you) lobster tails, shrimp, and lamb chops in the buffet every evening and they were excellent. Desserts were also quite good (my opinion is that on Azamara desserts don't always match the rest of the food offerings.)

Now the negatives. Despite its reputation of having "the finest cuisine at sea," we were disappointed. Some of the offerings were frankly inedible (for example, chicken that was so highly salted that I spat it out) and a rather "off" tasting salmon on two occasions. Dining room menu choices seemed overly fussy and not having as many choices as Azamara (my husband loves his shrimp cocktail appetizer on Azamara. It was not offered in the dining room on Insignia.) In fact, we ended up eating in the buffet for most dinners after having a very poor experience in the main dining room, both culinary and service -wise. Their specialty restaurants are free but we were very disappointed in the steak house, Polo. My husband's steak came out terribly over cooked and my fish tasted off. However, their Italian specialty, Toscana, was outstanding on both occasions we ate there. Another negative is that wine and cocktails are not included and there is an 18% gratuity tacked on to every drink, so a bar bill can get pretty big.

Entertainment was rather spotty. The "house" singers and dancers, while very good, only performed a few times on our 15 day voyage. We had a good magician, a terrible comedian, and a so-so violinist as the rest of the entertainment, and there were a few nights there were no shows at all (unless you count canned music in the lounge for "dancing") The piano man was good, but had no personality and basically played background piano.

We greatly missed White Night, and the deck barbecue, and the Azamazing Evening and though the cruise director was quite pleasant, he was not Russ or Eric. The atmosphere on Insignia was quite sedate and, although we appreciated this, we found we missed the more lively feeling on Azamara.

So, would we cruise with Oceania again? Perhaps, if the itinerary and price were right. We were also told by Oceania old timers that the larger ships were a different experience, so we might end up trying them in the future. But for now, Azamara is still our choice and we are very much looking forward to Costa Rica and Japan aboard Quest.

p.s. We met another Azamara old-timer on board who was on her first Oceania cruise and she, too, was missing our favorite cruise line.

Going on Oceania for the first time next month...on Insignia, so I should be able to do a pretty straightforward comparison. Will report back on our return. (but I have two Azamara cruises booked after that :D)

We're on the circle Japan cruise and received an email a couple of days ago about changes to the itinerary.

Who sent the email? We've received nothing. What are the changes?

thanks.

We were told on the LCV cruise that, because the Japan intensive cruise was so popular, Azamara was looking to rearrange the schedule to create another. That might be what we're seeing.

Now that would be azamazing!

The China & Japan cruise and the Alaska to Japan cruise are still showing on the UK website, but not Circle Japan.

 

 

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Circle Japan is off the Azamara site. The ones prior are showing as sold out (on a European website) Grrrr. I have sent off an email to our TA to ask her to look into it. I was so looking forward to the Circle Japan. Really hoping it's either a glitch or sold out and not a charter.

Wow, it looks like all the Japan cruises for 2019 are now unlisted (including ours...Circle Japan) I am getting very bad vibes. If the cruises are now chartered, I'm going to be very upset!

Osaka easy to do your own thing.trains and buses. Some ports are higher. Lack of English, Mare decided against this for full from Ak Japan and longer.i do know another person going but she does not use CC

sorry we'll miss each other again! One of these years.

We are new to Azamara, and we are booked for the Japan Intensive itinerary on April 27, 2019.

 

Has anyone traveled to Japan with Azamara? How are the shore excursions?

 

 

Thank you.

Hi Maximus....we are on this cruise too. Just started the roll call for it. Shore excursions haven't yet been posted, but as Robin (elbon) said, we try to do private excursions where we can. Plenty of time to plan.

A question about taxi service at the port. 6 of us want to spend some time at the Kennedy Library. Will we have to split up or will there be larger taxis able to accommodate us? Does anyone know how easy it is to grab a taxi back from the Library?

thanks.

Congrats, Denise (Grandma Cruising) We very much look forward to "talking" here and meeting you in Costa Rica!

We will have to disembark by 9 am on a Thursday but don't have a flight from JFK until 3:45 pm. I've read here that we could store luggage at Schwartz's for a few hours but I have some questions. Is Schwartz's within walking distance of the cruise terminal or will we need a taxi (if the latter, I suspect this will take some time)

I did read that one can get a taxi from Schwartz's to JFK. Must this be pre-arranged? If not, how much time should we allow for this process and to get to JFK in time for our flight?

Given taxis and traffic, are we just better off heading straight to the airport after disembarkation and just hanging out at the airport for a few hours?

thanks!

Hello QueenP and Mickey22,

It's because we are working to get the website programmed to take OBC when prebooking tours, and the launch of this is estimated for September or sooner.

But that said, I'll share your wishes with the mgmt that approved this temporary fix. It never hurts to ask!

Thanks Bonnie! We are just anxious that the shore excursions we want don't get cancelled for lack of interest or get sold out before we can book them.

I wish we could do this for our January 2018 cruise if only to ensure that the shore excursions we want don't fill up...I'm hoping that there will still be availability in the Fall when we are able to do this on line.

Interesting conversation today, Azamara Land Discoveries (Miami) rang today enquiring if We were going to book any excursions on our June cruise. When I replied that we were waiting until we board to use our OBC, he stated that we could book them now and the OBC would be credited against our account when we boarded and our prepaid excursions would be refunded. ( provided the account remained in Credit at the end of the cruise)

 

When I questioned whether this was a change in policy he advised that it has only been in place for the last month!

 

Has anyone else been made aware of this?[/quote

 

So you can purchase ahead of time and then be refunded? That is something new and I certainly hope that you have been given accurate information. Perhaps Bonnie can check on this. Not as convenient as being able to purchase and be credited immediately, but still an improvement.