DS

6 minutes ago, takemewithyou said:

Did you hear who the crew may be for Christmas?  Thx for your reports.

I know that on the Dec 3 cruise, Stephen will be gone and, I think, Grace will be CD.   Abby will be gone and Justin will be ACD.   All this info from discussions with Stephen, and subject to change by ???  As to Christmas time.... NFI.

3 hours ago, takemewithyou said:

I actually think the menu looks nice, especially as you say, if you have OBC to burn. The wine selection looks …meh! 
I wonder, since we are on for the Christmas and New Year’s cruise in the Caribbean, if this dinner might be offered under the stars on deck?  It seems like it would be better suited to a dinner out there..l…

I don't think that either Steven or Abby will be on board then.   They did not know if the new crew would pick up the idea...

We got off the Journey on Friday in Miami. As previously noted, there was "A Night of Muscial Theater" in Aqualina on the last night onboard, with special food and CD and ACD ( Stephen and Abby) singing.  This was the third time they have done this ( admitting that they stole the idea  from Tanya on the Pursuit).   Attached is the program and menu.   In some ways its like a chef's dinner, but not as extensive ( nor in my opinion, as good).   The wines were better than MDR standard fare, but again, not up to chef dinner standards in variety or taste.  The program was nice, although there is no shortage of Broadway singing on other nights of the cruise; perhaps a wider variety of songs?  My only complaint was the volume.   The two singers are professional singers;  their audience was all seated within 30 feet of them.   Why do they need microphones and amps?   Sometimes it sounded like the "party band."  No wonder there were complaints from Prime C in the past.  At $95 per person -- same as chef's dinner, I think -- it was a good use of excess OBC, but I probably would not pay 'real money" for it.

Musical Dinner program and Menu .pdf

We are on the Montreal - Miami cruise coming up, when the AzAmazing "evening" will be onboard in New York:  a history of Broadway.   I just hope that it is an order of magnitude better than what Eric and the other cruise directors give us every cruise!  As I've posted before, a true AzAmazing Evening needs to have 3 components:  an amazing venue, an excellent performance, and an activity for the guests, other than a hurried dinner in the MDR.   Broadway history on board meets AT MOST one of those conditions!  We'll see how it comes out...   

( P.S...  we've had 6 cruises in 2024 and NONE of them have had an off-ship Azamazing evening...)

8 hours ago, GoSeeDo2 said:

I don’t know what they have fixed on the internet, but on our laptop and IPad, the internet is working much better.  iPhone is still having trouble connecting and yes, my vpn is turned off.  

Which ship?

34 minutes ago, wjfan417 said:

Does the loyalty discount apply to the $25 per day charge?

and is the basic internet free?    The $25 is about what the basic (7) + upgrade(19) cost before...

4 minutes ago, tgg said:

We've gone through full hurricane prep here in Sarasota. We'll see what Hurricane Milton brings on Wednesday and hope for the best. I've never been through this before and it is terrifying. Hope you stay safe in Ft. Meyers.

Its little comfort, but NO ONE still alive has gone thru something like this before.  This will probably exceed the 1921 Tampa Bay hurricane.   I hope you are at least a bit inland, and not on one of the barrier islands.  We're a bit inland ( having moved from downtown condo a couple of years ago) so surge should not be a problem.   Hunkering down!

1 hour ago, Jackieayz said:

I washed mine out pretty well but still tastes bad.  I have a similar one at home and never had a problem with it.

 

We’ve entered the storm zone after a beautiful sunny and warm morning has been replaced by rain and high winds.  Decks are covered in water, pool is closed, things are falling down as we bounce around, and we have the occasion jerk and reverberating thump as the bow rises and falls.  Kinda fun to watch these giant swells though.

Stay safe... as we await Kirk big brother, Milton-- with 175 mph winds....gulp...

1 hour ago, Whitby100 said:

Just a quick question about the metallic taste in the water bottles. Many have reported this 😞 I am wondering if it’s still there after washing? I planned to bring a little dish soap, but if others have tried this I guess I’ll have to lug my Emerald cruise one which works well . 

We found that if you leave the little screen off, the taste is not so metallic.  I guess those little pieces of metal are worse than the big walls??

Jackieayz, et al.   

     Your mentioning that you were just leaving the Azores brought back memories of our first TA, a long time ago.  It was maybe our fifth or sixth cruise ever, and the first one anywhere near this long, in distance or in time.   We were off for an adventure!  Little-did-we-know…

       Like you, there was a hurricane out in the middle of the Atlantic that we would have to go around on our way to Boston;  we were, however, on a bit bigger ship, the RC Grandeur of the Seas. 

       We left the Azores Monday night.   Tuesday morning, we had a bridge tour scheduled—back in the day when these were common—and free!  We did not realize that this would be ours – or anyone’s—last bridge tour for years.  Shortly after lunch the captain came on the PA and gave us the first hint of the events of September 11, 2001!

     Needless to say, that was the topic of discussion and concern for the rest of the cruise, and little concrete information to work with.  We were heading to Boston, the origin of some of the 9/11 flights.   Would they let us dock?  A large number of the passengers were from New York, all worried about friends and family back home.  The thoughts of the hurricane vanished from our minds.

     Recall that back in those days, there were no smartphones, there was no WIFI onboard the ships.  We were, for the most part, limited to what information came from the bridge.  There were however, a couple of public computers in a lounge with unreliable internet access.  (At that time, there was virtually no internet coverage in the middle of the oceans— why would there be? no paying customers!)  Periodically someone would be able to connect and print out the latest report from CNN or some similar web site.  The Grandeur, like many RC ships, has a multi-story central atrium, and the computer lounge was just off the top floor of this.  The Town-Cryer was reinvented, as someone would stand at the rail up there and recite the printout from the computer.  That’s how we got our news!

     The rest of the trip is mostly lost in memory.  After the delay in getting around the hurricane and the VERY slow intake at the port, we were finally allowed to dock at 4 or 5 PM on Friday.  RC took us all to a hotel where they had rooms for us (remember all flights had been cancelled).  There we crossed paths with all the passengers—at least those who had made it to Boston—scheduled to board for the next cruise.  I think they were allowed to board later that evening—not sure.

     We were fortunate in that a few flights began again on Saturday.  We had a flight from Boston to Baltimore, where we lived at the time, on Saturday morning.  I must say, it was one of the easiest trips through an airport we ever had!   Our 737 had about 10 to 15 passengers on it.  We flew directly over NYC, where the remains of the Twin Towers were visible and still smoking, five days after the events.

     So, you see, it was indeed an adventure to remember, even if the hurricane is all-but forgotten to almost everyone (its name was Felix—I had to look it up!).   I do hope you will have Kirk as your talking point for years to come!

Anyone on the Journey for the crossing?    How are the seas and the weather?  Any effect from "Kirk"?

24 minutes ago, BuddyR said:

I’ll be on the Journey for both the November 8 and November 20 sailings.  Does anyone know about any of the other senior officers?

We will only know fragmentary info on these cruises until they occur.   In the spirit of oddjob16, please post the answers to your question once you are onboard

2 minutes ago, oddjob16 said:

I rest my case. Horse is dead.

Ah, but you get credit for the return-to-purpose-- not the killing of the horse!

On 9/7/2024 at 6:19 AM, hamrag said:

First world problems, tbf they are irresistible....just bring your own! 🤣

Ah-hum... if you have a good relationship with your waiter-- and ask nicely, they are often, in fact available--- especially on the next day ...  (We had them every night on a recent Journey cruise, although they were not in the "standard" bread basket...).   Its yet another example of Azamara Relationships...

6 hours ago, ExArkie said:

We generally only book ocean crossings rather than port-to-port cruises. (Many reasons, all irrelevant to this discussion.) The advantage of Celebrity M and S class ships (no interest in the E class, too much “high energy” for my blood) is that their larger-than-Azamara ships tend to be more stable in rough seas. Not a major issue for southern (northern hemisphere south, that is) route transatlantic or most transpacific, but the North Atlantic could be exciting. 
 

We have done the southern transatlantic route twice on smaller ships (Seabourn and Oceania) and have our first Azamara crossing from Lisbon to Boston next month. Should be interesting starting in the near equatorial waters and proceeding north as we cross.

 

Lisbon (38.7 N) is only about 220 miles south of Boston (42.3 N), so, not nearly "equatorial." But you are right that the weather in the northern Atlantic can be different than the "southern route," which tends to end in Miami or the Caribbean.

15 hours ago, ChucktownSteve said:

So that means a mob all trying to funnel through the gauntlet of offerings?

Hummm... its almost 11 PM, and some people ( most people?) will not be queueing up for more food?

2 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

And they clink constantly on the bus ride and the walks.  

 

"The bottles on the bus go clink, clink, clink..."

Very nice!

Just now, Host Jazzbeau said:

When they cancel the cruise, it will probably become impossible to process anymore refunds.  They are trapped by the limitations of the software.  Good thing they knew this before cancelling prematurely!  The virtues of RCL's old [probably COBOL] home-grown software should not be sneered at – but of course Azamara wasn't allowed to take a copy of the code even if they wanted to...

I think you're correct in that.... but it does not make the customers feel any better to keep getting nagged...   They should have told every one in the cancellation email to ignore those software generated emails in the future

A down side is carrying those metal bottles on excursions-- they weigh a lot more than the plastic.   And, if you want some water in the middle of the night or first thing in the morning, you'd better have planned ahead....

We got one of those "final payment" emails for the Dubai-Dubai cruise right after the Suez transit, which was also cancelled.   When I called about it they said that they had to process all the refunds and FCC's before they could "cancel" the cruise in their software.   So, that intuitive software thinks the cruises are still a go and of course send out all the pre-programed "you're late" emails.  In theory, all the FCC's will be done by 7/31 so this "artificial intelligence" will be put down...

Do they give you the reusable bottle?   Are they still providing the plastic bottles?  Advantages and disadvantages to each option...

That cruise is part of the world cruise, so they must be doing something else.   Can someone post the whole email telling you that that particular segment was cancelled?  Any hint of what they are doing?     Not a word about it on the 2025 World cruise CC page !

In Copenhagen we have stayed at Hotel St Anne, a block from Nyhaven a couple of times... nice location, not outrageous price... https://hotelsktannae.dk/

see post # 58 on this board for the new itinerary..

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2935777-pursuit-indai-and-sri-lanka-21-nov-8-dec-2024/page/3/

12 minutes ago, Brynballa said:

Dear Azamara Guest,

 

We hope this message finds you well. Due to the ongoing unrest in the Red Sea, which presents risks to the safety of our guests and crew, we have made the decision to cancel our scheduled cruise on Azamara Pursuit^® departing on October 26, 2024.

 

We understand the inconvenience this cancellation causes as you have made travel arrangements and plans in anticipation of this sailing. We are truly sorry for the disruption to your travel plans. While we regret that we cannot embark on the planned journey, we are dedicated to assisting you in finding alternative options to suit your preferences.

 

PLEASE SEE BELOW FOR YOUR OPTIONS

 

Option 1:

• Accept a Future Cruise Credit (FCC) valued at 130% of the amount of cruise fare paid to date. FCCs will be issued by July 31, 2024. The 100% FCC for the cruise fare paid never expires. The additional 30% FCC must be booked and sailed by 7/31/2026.

Option 2:

• Forego the Future Cruise Credit (FCC) in option 1 and request a full refund of the total cruise fare paid to date. Refunds for amounts paid will be processed to the original form of payment. Please allow up to 45 business days to process.

 

Thanks