ECCruise

My first response was "yes, that sounds right." But then I did a bit of research re: credit card debt and realized that my first response would have been flawed. Badly. And these numbers have likely gotten worse since CC debt has absolutely exploded in the last 3 years to $1 Trillion in the US. Americans who are 75 and older have the highest average credit card debt, according to the Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) by the Federal Reserve Board. They had an average balance of $8,078 as of 2019. That's the most recent year when the Federal Reserve conducted the SCF

Curious how they stiffed you on a refund and should this be a warning to us.

5 sailings on Azamara since the restart. 10 cruises overall in that time. All lines are having varying degrees of issues. But I would not be concerned about the onboard experience on Azamara, since it is largely as it has always been. Yes, there definitely have been (and unfortunately, still are) some challenges with the shore based operation, but not enough that we don't have 8 sailings booked with them, starting in less than 90 days and continuing through the end of 2025.

Or it could simply be that, for the vast majority of pax, somewhere you spend a few minutes out of a 24 hour day is not a major concern.

You definitely qualify for the $400 for each sailing. It may require some following up (I spent some time today doing exactly that with one of our bookings) but you are due it.

Yes, you are not alone. We do the same.

Have you tried a Kindle Fire? I find it very similar to reading a conventional book that is printed on a white page. Even to the turning of the pages.

Our problem with the destruction of the Drawing Room on Onward to replace it with the Atlas Bar has less to do with the books (I have well over 500 on my Kindle Fire) but with the loss of a quiet retreat which is offered almost nowhere else on the ship. And unfortunately, I believe that the change will continue with upcoming dry docks. We will be on Quest for about 30 days before the dry dock scheduled for April 1-14, 2024. Hopefully we don't have to watch the start of the destruction during the crossing from Rio to Lisbon.

Of course everyone can have their own opinion on what matters them. But I don't think Azamara, or the industry in general, is going to suddenly recategorize the experience from "premium" to something much less simply from the footprint of a shower in the cabins. When the overall experience, in the opinion of the vast majority of those who sail the line, falls firmly within those lines. We all have choices of where we spend our money for travel. So for those who make their decisions on shower size (or omelet preparation or theater decor or whatever) there are lots of ways to go.

Honestly, I cannot get my arms around the notion that the size of a shower, where you spend a few minutes a day, as a deciding force of booking or not booking a cruise. But to each their own, I guess.

We had been on similarly tiny showers on Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Princess and Celebrity before we took our first cruise on Azamara in 2009. Ships like the Celebrity Zenith. Royal Caribbean Vision Class, NCL Dream, Princess original Royal Princess. Then we encountered the onboard experience on Azamara and it was game over. Happy to accept those pathetically tiny showers. With a smile on our faces.

The whole point here is that you are railing against the classic "square peg, round hole" scenario. There literally is nothing that Azamara (or Oceania) can do about the size of the showers save gutting the ship from bow to stern, removing all ~300 cabins and starting from scratch. The footprint is what it is. Ands like @Grandma Cruising said, Oceania replaced the curtains with solid doors and it is like being trapped in a clear sarcophagus and way worse. We have also sailed Azamara numerous times in non-suites and really have no issue about the size. Would we prefer that the showers were bigger? Of course. But it ain't gonna happen. Square peg, round hole.

No worries.

That is for the 18 day Los Palmas --> Cape Town. I was referring to the 12 day Africa Intensive that follows. We've been booked in Walvis Bay since it was added months ago.

Yes. We booked it as soon as it was available. But strangely, the 12 day Africa Intensive following had an Azamazing Night in Durban scheduled (and we booked) and then it disappeared and now no Azamazing Night shows. And definitely not a crossing.

Yes we are doing the same on a B2B2B sailing. Invoices on 2 of the legs show the B2B credit, one doesn't.

I can only relate the experience we had. As @excitedofharpenden said, perhaps it was location dependent. We were in the East China and South China Seas, the Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Aden (!), the Red Sea and the Mediterranean and it was 90+% fine.

What Ryszard told us is that when the Starlink is not at optimum, then the system automatically switches back to the original (and deathly slow) provider. I believe that is also the provider that the crew uses if you hear them complaining about the speed, as we have. But ours was fine 90+% of the time from Tokyo to Pireaus in Asia, Middle East and Europe. When it was obvious that we were on the old provider, we didn't attempt anything bandwith intensive until it switched back (although we never went much above 3MPS, nothing like 1 or 2 of the other ships and mind boggling speed).

Just a heads up. Not sure if you've sailed since the upgrade to StarLink, but the internet is anything but slow now. We were able to stream (with no buffering or jitter to speak of) virtually every day of our 40 days on Quest in April/May.

I am guessing that those $300 OBC on the invoice is for the booking OBC promotion. The 2 $400 B2B credits would be listed separately.

Actually, those sailings would qualify for $400 OBC each since they (26 day + 11 day) are both 9+ days. 9 NIGHTS OR LONGER Earn $400 OBC* Per stateroom, per voyage

It is not universal. We have sailed 3x since the conversion (cruises booked long before February) and have had nothing but very minor--and easy to correct--issues. We have done the opposite. We no longer book Oceania after our last 30+ day sailing. It was our 8th O sailing and just did not hit any of the right buttons for us. So it was back to Azamara.

We've brought foods on ships all over the world, to sample some special treats (Pao de Queijo in Brazil, cured meats in Portugal and Spain, wacky Lay's flavors all over Asia and many more) but would not consider dragging food on from home. As others, we travel for different experiences, not something we can do every day at home. But to each their own.

These are not good numbers. Virtually every other line, including the 3 others we've sailed with the last 6 months, are at capacity.

Hi there.... Do what I do. Check one of the online TAs that show cabin availability (there are dozens that do so). Find the availability of cabins. Pick the one that is available that works for you. Phone your TA. Book. Did this 3 times last week with 2025 sailings. As @Host Jazzbeau said, we had confirmations, invoices and OBC amounts in 20 minutes. A snap.