Tips for Azamara Newbies

[uktog]

53 minutes ago, tonyl1956 said:

Hi all, I'm not sure this is something for the Tips for Newbies thread but rather than start a new thread for what I hope is a simple answer which may be useful to others, I'll ask it here.

 

We're boarding Quest a week on Saturday in Auckland and seriously considering the Indulgence package. We have some cabin credit, so want to use that towards the package. 

 

We will also need to make dinner reservations as soon as we get on board, so intend to join the queue in Windows.

 

Can we 'buy' the Indulgence package at the same time as making the PrimeC/Aqualina/Chef's Table reservations? Or do we have to join two queues!

 

Thanks

You can ask but I suspect they will tell you to go to guest relations to set up the package 

[DgBg100106]

I am new to Azamara and I will sail on my first voyage on Tuesday the 17th of January out of Miami.  I have made it to page 29 of this thread and have reviewed the spreadsheet, and cannot find the answer I am looking for.  I am hoping y'all might be able to help me.

 

I saw that someone mentioned you could bring your own alcohol on board.  Then I see that everyone mostly talks about wine, and bringing wine onboard. I even saw a mention that Miami likes it to be in your checked luggage not your carry on.

 

My question is - Can I bring spirits on board?  Can I bring a bottle of whiskey in my checked luggage onto the ship for my consumption in my cabin?

 

Thank you in advance for your help.

[lisiamc]

18 minutes ago, DgBg100106 said:

I am new to Azamara and I will sail on my first voyage on Tuesday the 17th of January out of Miami.  I have made it to page 29 of this thread and have reviewed the spreadsheet, and cannot find the answer I am looking for.  I am hoping y'all might be able to help me.

 

I saw that someone mentioned you could bring your own alcohol on board.  Then I see that everyone mostly talks about wine, and bringing wine onboard. I even saw a mention that Miami likes it to be in your checked luggage not your carry on.

 

My question is - Can I bring spirits on board?  Can I bring a bottle of whiskey in my checked luggage onto the ship for my consumption in my cabin?

 

Thank you in advance for your help.

Yes, you can bring whatever you like on board to drink. Spirits, wine, beer, mixers, etc. I don’t know about the recommendation to put it in checked bags in Miami, so I can’t help with that. We have brought on champagne, rosé and rum in our carry ons, the champagne and rosé at Miami, with nothing said by shoreside staff. 

[DgBg100106]

31 minutes ago, lisiamc said:

Yes, you can bring whatever you like on board to drink. Spirits, wine, beer, mixers, etc. I don’t know about the recommendation to put it in checked bags in Miami, so I can’t help with that. We have brought on champagne, rosé and rum in our carry ons, the champagne and rosé at Miami, with nothing said by shoreside staff. 

Thank you so much, that is much appreciated

[Benthayer Gonbak]

5 hours ago, DgBg100106 said:

Thank you so much, that is much appreciated

It might be of interest that you don’t have to bring it on just in the beginning!  I purchased a 2 bottle special liqueur in a port mid cruise, in Turkey.  I tried to check it and was told no need, just take it to my room.  

[federalexpress]

7 hours ago, tonyl1956 said:

Hi all, I'm not sure this is something for the Tips for Newbies thread but rather than start a new thread for what I hope is a simple answer which may be useful to others, I'll ask it here.

 

We're boarding Quest a week on Saturday in Auckland and seriously considering the Indulgence package. We have some cabin credit, so want to use that towards the package. 

 

We will also need to make dinner reservations as soon as we get on board, so intend to join the queue in Windows.

 

Can we 'buy' the Indulgence package at the same time as making the PrimeC/Aqualina/Chef's Table reservations? Or do we have to join two queues!

 

Thanks

 

Well I've not cruised on AZ but that's my plan. Wife to go to do restaurant reservations, me to buy the package and book the excursions with the credit provided. It might be different for me because I'm in a suite so don't pay for the speciality restaurants (but would for the chef's table, without the package)

 

The way I see it, I'm onboard, I can use my OBC at that point and they can do the accounting in due course...

[lisiamc]

9 minutes ago, federalexpress said:

 

Well I've not cruised on AZ but that's my plan. Wife to go to do restaurant reservations, me to buy the package and book the excursions with the credit provided. It might be different for me because I'm in a suite so don't pay for the speciality restaurants (but would for the chef's table, without the package)

 

The way I see it, I'm onboard, I can use my OBC at that point and they can do the accounting in due course...

Is your on board credit from Azamara? If so, you can book your excursions on line in advance if you want to, and pay for them with the OBC.

[Gardendog]

7 hours ago, DgBg100106 said:

I am new to Azamara and I will sail on my first voyage on Tuesday the 17th of January out of Miami.  I have made it to page 29 of this thread and have reviewed the spreadsheet, and cannot find the answer I am looking for.  I am hoping y'all might be able to help me.

 

I saw that someone mentioned you could bring your own alcohol on board.  Then I see that everyone mostly talks about wine, and bringing wine onboard. I even saw a mention that Miami likes it to be in your checked luggage not your carry on.

 

My question is - Can I bring spirits on board?  Can I bring a bottle of whiskey in my checked luggage onto the ship for my consumption in my cabin?

 

Thank you in advance for your help.

Yes, as the others have said, you may bring spirits on board. Azamara includes spirits in the cruise fare, and also wine, so if you are not particular in the brand you prefer, they will have whiskey for you, included in the fare, at every bar.

[laurieb]

On 1/10/2023 at 5:52 PM, takemewithyou said:

Really?  Journey used to have it.  We love to watch from our cabin as we sail into ports 

It was there in August

[tonyl1956]

9 hours ago, federalexpress said:

 

Well I've not cruised on AZ but that's my plan. Wife to go to do restaurant reservations, me to buy the package and book the excursions with the credit provided. It might be different for me because I'm in a suite so don't pay for the speciality restaurants (but would for the chef's table, without the package)

 

The way I see it, I'm onboard, I can use my OBC at that point and they can do the accounting in due course...

Thanks. An abundance of caution suggests that it would be best to have the package in place first, though I might try your suggestion depending on queue length and how agile my wife is feeling on the day. If she's using her wheelchair, I am chief pusher, so we have to stay together unless I abandon her somewhere! We'll use the excursion credit if and when we can but we will get the value from the package with drinks, internet, hairdo and chef's table.

[federalexpress]

14 hours ago, lisiamc said:

Is your on board credit from Azamara? If so, you can book your excursions on line in advance if you want to, and pay for them with the OBC.

It's a bit more complicated than that. I want to use my OBC to buy the Indulgence package which it seems can only be done onboard. Then use the excursion credit provided for my tour. The tour I'm after in non cancellable so I can't book it then cancel and rebook onboard and other than this particular tour, I don't otherwise have use for the excursion credit.

 

To be honest, I think this is all a bit of a tortuous way to do it and maybe new IT will make it easier in future....

[lisiamc]

20 minutes ago, federalexpress said:

It's a bit more complicated than that. I want to use my OBC to buy the Indulgence package which it seems can only be done onboard. Then use the excursion credit provided for my tour. The tour I'm after in non cancellable so I can't book it then cancel and rebook onboard and other than this particular tour, I don't otherwise have use for the excursion credit.

 

To be honest, I think this is all a bit of a tortuous way to do it and maybe new IT will make it easier in future....

Yes, I hope it will make things better in future too!

[Mackdogmolly]

48 minutes ago, federalexpress said:

It's a bit more complicated than that. I want to use my OBC to buy the Indulgence package which it seems can only be done onboard. Then use the excursion credit provided for my tour. The tour I'm after in non cancellable so I can't book it then cancel and rebook onboard and other than this particular tour, I don't otherwise have use for the excursion credit.

 

To be honest, I think this is all a bit of a tortuous way to do it and maybe new IT will make it easier in future....

That’s a pain! My plan was to book a couple of excursions using Azamara OBC and then cancel and rebook once I have purchased the Experience More package onboard. How do I find out if the excursions can be cancelled or not?

[federalexpress]

5 minutes ago, Mackdogmolly said:

That’s a pain! My plan was to book a couple of excursions using Azamara OBC and then cancel and rebook once I have purchased the Experience More package onboard. How do I find out if the excursions can be cancelled or not?

 It should say on the website, for each tour. The reason mine was deemed non cancellable was because it was for a private driver in a port. I can see why they might need that to be a firm commitment. I imagine some other tours may also be non cancellable- on my cruise, there is a highly ambitious one involving a return flight on the day into the mountains. That's another that I guess needs a firm booking.

 

But I believe the vast majority of normal tours will be cancellable so the plan might work for you.

[DgBg100106]

16 hours ago, Benthayer Gonbak said:

It might be of interest that you don’t have to bring it on just in the beginning!  I purchased a 2 bottle special liqueur in a port mid cruise, in Turkey.  I tried to check it and was told no need, just take it to my room.  

That is great too.  Thank you for the info.

[DgBg100106]

15 hours ago, Gardendog said:

Yes, as the others have said, you may bring spirits on board. Azamara includes spirits in the cruise fare, and also wine, so if you are not particular in the brand you prefer, they will have whiskey for you, included in the fare, at every bar.

My DH is VERY particular about his whiskey, to the point it drives me crazy.  I have no idea what the included whiskey is, and that uncertainty is driving him crazy.  lol  So knowing he can bring it on with him is great. 

[Bloodaxe]

35 minutes ago, DgBg100106 said:

My DH is VERY particular about his whiskey, to the point it drives me crazy.  I have no idea what the included whiskey is, and that uncertainty is driving him crazy.  lol  So knowing he can bring it on with him is great. 

 

Unless it has changed recently, it is Famous Grouse.

 

 

[DgBg100106]

1 minute ago, Bloodaxe said:

 

Unless it has changed recently, it is Famous Grouse.

 

 

Yes that is a blended scotch and not something he would go for.  lol.  Thank you for the update.

[bonsai3s]

We are looking at booking our first Azamara cruise...and have been reading this thread. And seriously feel like new cruisers.

 

1. Azamara is no longer owned by RCI...is there still reciprocal perks for Crown & Anchor members? If so, can someone kindly please post the link.

 

2. The only perk we are really interested in is...free laundry. We get it with both Celebrity and Royal Caribbean. (Makes a difference on longer Azamara sailings)

 

Thank you.

[uktog]

If it is your first cruise and it’s after 1 February 2023 there are no perks currently offered. I know it’s not the same but there is a free guest laundry on deck 7 

[marinaro44]

22 minutes ago, uktog said:

If it is your first cruise and it’s after 1 February 2023 there are no perks currently offered. I know it’s not the same but there is a free guest laundry on deck 7 

I don't think anyone gets free laundry on Azamara, even Discoverer Platinum.  One bag per seven days per stateroom is not "free."

[uktog]

45 minutes ago, marinaro44 said:

I don't think anyone gets free laundry on Azamara, even Discoverer Platinum.  One bag per seven days per stateroom is not "free."

I suppose I think of our one complimentary bag each 7 days  as “free” as it makes a big difference in keeping me out of the laundry room. You really miss it if you sail with lines with no perks 

[marinaro44]

1 hour ago, uktog said:

I suppose I think of our one complimentary bag each 7 days  as “free” as it makes a big difference in keeping me out of the laundry room. You really miss it if you sail with lines with no perks 

Right.  But the highest level at Windstar, reached by us in nine cruises (not 40 or so, like Azamara), gives unlimited, free same-day laundry, not one shared bag on a 13-day cruise (as well as unlimited free wifi).  That's free laundry.

[islandwoman]

6 hours ago, bonsai3s said:

1. Azamara is no longer owned by RCI...is there still reciprocal perks for Crown & Anchor members? If so, can someone kindly please post the link.

https://www.azamara.com/de/loyalty/azamara-circle/member-benefits?_aiid=14597&teng=go&beng=g&deng=c&peng=&ieng=&kieng=&cieng=&cpieng=17143435092&feng=&cleng=CjwKCAiAwomeBhBWEiwAM43YIBfag14s3nRbEmVyQXT_dwLsNf-GD7CNR6dQPADf2-tZXOfy5AJAZxoCMoUQAvD_BwE&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=performance_max_non_brand

 

Scroll down until you find "Reciprocal Benefits"

[Rabo]

But do keep in mind that if you have not previous been with Azamara, and you do not cruise by February 1, the reciprocal program will have ended.