Tips for Azamara Newbies

[Tahitianbigkahuna]

I'm going to miss the perks I get on Ponant/Paul Gauguin. 

 

I booked the Azamara simply because I wanted to offer something different for my group. 

 

Almost everything is included on PG ... after the 1st cruise you even get free laundry (5 pieces per day). 

[Ellwood56]

Weird question: has anyone ever asked to have their bed turned around by 90 degrees? My first time on Azamara, our bed (in an inside cabin) was turned in the direction I was not expecting, after being in an inside cabin of a sister ship with Oceania, and I ended up getting seasick for the first time ever on a cruise. I'm worried it may be the same situation on our next trip. Pictures of inside cabins on Azamara's website show the beds oriented the way I would expect, not the way it was.

[Benthayer Gonbak]

25 minutes ago, Ellwood56 said:

Weird question: has anyone ever asked to have their bed turned around by 90 degrees? My first time on Azamara, our bed (in an inside cabin) was turned in the direction I was not expecting, after being in an inside cabin of a sister ship with Oceania, and I ended up getting seasick for the first time ever on a cruise. I'm worried it may be the same situation on our next trip. Pictures of inside cabins on Azamara's website show the beds oriented the way I would expect, not the way it was.

I’ve not been on all of the versions of Azamara, yet😂   But the only problems I see are where the lights are and where the plugs are, for their ships.  I was recently on a newish RCL that had a sort of headboard alcove built to the walls, including the nightstand. We couldn’t really even move the bed over so you didn’t hit the window cornice.  
 

On my first celebrity there was a mirror at the head of the bed on interior rooms.  (That really helped brighten the interior room.) The bed was oriented with the head at starboard side and with pulman beds it wouldn’t have been easy to turn their orientation even with enough room.  We did separate the beds so there was not only more walking space but we didn’t bang our heads on the top “bunks” when getting out of bed. 

Your travel Agent should be able to get you an answer about the room you have booked.  

[Host Jazzbeau]

6 hours ago, Ellwood56 said:

Weird question: has anyone ever asked to have their bed turned around by 90 degrees? My first time on Azamara, our bed (in an inside cabin) was turned in the direction I was not expecting, after being in an inside cabin of a sister ship with Oceania, and I ended up getting seasick for the first time ever on a cruise. I'm worried it may be the same situation on our next trip. Pictures of inside cabins on Azamara's website show the beds oriented the way I would expect, not the way it was.

Do you remember which cabin that was with the bed the 'wrong' way?  Maybe some one else has had that cabin more recently and can update the orientation – also it should be noted on the cabin spreadsheet.

[DS]

On 1/13/2023 at 10:47 AM, 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?

Just FYI....excursions are usually cheaper to book on line pre cruise....once on board the same excursion is $10 per person or more.   That wold be like throwing money away to cancel and rebook...

[Mackdogmolly]

9 hours ago, DS said:

Just FYI....excursions are usually cheaper to book on line pre cruise....once on board the same excursion is $10 per person or more.   That wold be like throwing money away to cancel and rebook...

Well, for what I’m saving with the E.M. package, it will probably still be worth it.

[islandwoman]

I have question about Azamara shore excursions.  We booked several online for an upcoming cruise.  Nowhere in the description could I find what times the excursions would be, although there was "duration" information.  After we booked, the shore excursions appeared on our calendar along with their times.  Would these be the only times that these excursions will be available or does Azamara just assign passengers to an excursion time?

One of our excursions turned out to be 7 AM to 12:30 PM.  This seems unreasonably early given that the ship will be in port until 6 PM.  Also, several other excursions that we booked are at inconvenient times.  Can we change the times without losing the excursions? If so, how?  And how do we find out what other times might be available?

[lisiamc]

6 minutes ago, islandwoman said:

I have question about Azamara shore excursions.  We booked several online for an upcoming cruise.  Nowhere in the description could I find what times the excursions would be, although there was "duration" information.  After we booked, the shore excursions appeared on our calendar along with their times.  Would these be the only times that these excursions will be available or does Azamara just assign passengers to an excursion time?

One of our excursions turned out to be 7 AM to 12:30 PM.  This seems unreasonably early given that the ship will be in port until 6 PM.  Also, several other excursions that we booked are at inconvenient times.  Can we change the times without losing the excursions? If so, how?  And how do we find out what other times might be available?

When I book an excursion online, it comes up with the time(s) it is available. If there is only one time, then there is only one shown. If there are more, then there is a box to select the time. 
 

 

[PirateWife]

5 hours ago, islandwoman said:

I have question about Azamara shore excursions.  We booked several online for an upcoming cruise.  Nowhere in the description could I find what times the excursions would be, although there was "duration" information.  After we booked, the shore excursions appeared on our calendar along with their times.  Would these be the only times that these excursions will be available or does Azamara just assign passengers to an excursion time?

One of our excursions turned out to be 7 AM to 12:30 PM.  This seems unreasonably early given that the ship will be in port until 6 PM.  Also, several other excursions that we booked are at inconvenient times.  Can we change the times without losing the excursions? If so, how?  And how do we find out what other times might be available?

The excursions only happen at the times listed. Sometimes there is more than one of the same excursion with different start times, but not usually. We have one booked at 6:30 am on a future cruise.

[Mackdogmolly]

1 minute ago, PirateWife said:

The excursions only happen at the times listed. Sometimes there is more than one of the same excursion with different start times, but not usually. We have one booked at 6:30 am on a future cruise.

Well, I certainly don’t see how that will be happening!

[luv2travel90266]

On an upcoming cruise there was an excursion that began at 8:30AM but the ship docked at noon. I desired to do it and sent Azamara an email asking if they were picking us up by helicopter from the ship 😁

 

2 weeks later I got an email response and the excursion was moved to 1 hour after docking and I booked it. They do look at their emails !!

[PirateWife]

16 hours ago, Mackdogmolly said:

Well, I certainly don’t see how that will be happening!

It is a ship excursion. We dock at 6 am. We've done this excursion once before and enjoyed it so much, we are doing it again.

[Benthayer Gonbak]

On 1/16/2023 at 6:53 PM, luv2travel90266 said:

On an upcoming cruise there was an excursion that began at 8:30AM but the ship docked at noon. I desired to do it and sent Azamara an email asking if they were picking us up by helicopter from the ship 😁

 

2 weeks later I got an email response and the excursion was moved to 1 hour after docking and I booked it. They do look at their emails !!

We found one that was on a sea day, some years back, so we could also include a tender or speedboat pickup!  

[Benthayer Gonbak]

On 1/17/2023 at 10:21 AM, PirateWife said:

It is a ship excursion. We dock at 6 am. We've done this excursion once before and enjoyed it so much, we are doing it again.

Sunrise adventures are hard to schedule later in the day!  Cooking classes where you show the markets first need to be there when the markets open, often quite early!  And I remember a museum where we needed to be early before opening, but that may have been 7:30.

[aliaschief]

We just finished an Onward cruise. Ship is looking great and we had a great time.

One heads up. After getting to our cabin one of our I Phones needed charging so we plugged into the USB port ( underneath bedside lamps) and neither USB port worked. Our cabin steward came by and stated those USB ports are not compatible sometimes with I Phones! We mentioned this at our Meet and Mingle and other I Phone users stated not true their USB ports worked.
Saw our cabin attendant and told him that other guest stated their phones charged in USB. Within 15 minutes a electrician arrived installed some parts in each USB and phones charged as they are supposed to.

So if this happens to you don’t accept the I Phones are not compatible phrase. Ask to have them repaired.

[uktog]

16 minutes ago, aliaschief said:

We just finished an Onward cruise. Ship is looking great and we had a great time.

One heads up. After getting to our cabin one of our I Phones needed charging so we plugged into the USB port ( underneath bedside lamps) and neither USB port worked. Our cabin steward came by and stated those USB ports are not compatible sometimes with I Phones! We mentioned this at our Meet and Mingle and other I Phone users stated not true their USB ports worked.
Saw our cabin attendant and told him that other guest stated their phones charged in USB. Within 15 minutes a electrician arrived installed some parts in each USB and phones charged as they are supposed to.

So if this happens to you don’t accept the I Phones are not compatible phrase. Ask to have them repaired.

Very poor form by the attendant spinning an untruth. They know they have to call the electrician. I don’t like that kind of service which I also saw on Onward

[loafin]

A question about the Chef’s Table… is there a usual time that the meals start? We’re just trying to think in advance of when to select specialty dining based on our shore excursions.

[uktog]

19 minutes ago, loafin said:

A question about the Chef’s Table… is there a usual time that the meals start? We’re just trying to think in advance of when to select specialty dining based on our shore excursions.

Usually drinks 6.30 dinner 7

[Bobal]

2 hours ago, aliaschief said:

We just finished an Onward cruise. Ship is looking great and we had a great time.

One heads up. After getting to our cabin one of our I Phones needed charging so we plugged into the USB port ( underneath bedside lamps) and neither USB port worked. Our cabin steward came by and stated those USB ports are not compatible sometimes with I Phones! We mentioned this at our Meet and Mingle and other I Phone users stated not true their USB ports worked.
Saw our cabin attendant and told him that other guest stated their phones charged in USB. Within 15 minutes a electrician arrived installed some parts in each USB and phones charged as they are supposed to.

So if this happens to you don’t accept the I Phones are not compatible phrase. Ask to have them repaired.

Definitely not an iPhone issue

 I'm on Onward now and the USB port doesn't work with my Android. Not a problem tho as I was pleased to see a UK power point next to the bed so I plug my phone in there

 

On another note thank you so much aliaschief for all your positive and informative posts from Onward. After all the negativity pre Christmas you really made us look forward to our cruise 

Edited January 19, 2023 by Bobal

[aliaschief]

1 hour ago, Bobal said:

Definitely not an iPhone issue

 I'm on Onward now and the USB port doesn't work with my Android. Not a problem tho as I was pleased to see a UK power point next to the bed so I plug my phone in there

 

On another note thank you so much aliaschief for all your positive and informative posts from Onward. After all the negativity pre Christmas you really made us look forward to our cruise 

Thanks I hope you enjoy your cruise as much as we did. I would still let cabin steward know so the USB’s work for the next person.

[DgBg100106]

4 hours ago, loafin said:

A question about the Chef’s Table… is there a usual time that the meals start? We’re just trying to think in advance of when to select specialty dining based on our shore excursions.

We are on Obward now and our chefs table expedience begins at 6:30 pm

[loafin]

18 hours ago, DgBg100106 said:

We are on Obward now and our chefs table expedience begins at 6:30 pm

Thanks so much. We’re on Onward in April for the Spain intensive. Is there a choice of an Italian and French table? How many people does each event accommodate? Did you have a hard time getting a reservation? We plan on signing up first thing when we board. 

[luv2travel90266]

Azamara offers three different themed Chef's Table dinners on each sailing. Up to 14 diners can book the five-course dinners, and a special guest (such as a senior officer or the ship's guest speaker) also joins. The menus focus on a specific region, centering around French, Italian, or California cuisine.

[asnaleah]

Has anyone posted a recent bar menu with prices? We are trying to decide if we need the Ultimate package. TIA.

[Grandma Cruising]

1 hour ago, asnaleah said:

Has anyone posted a recent bar menu with prices? We are trying to decide if we need the Ultimate package. TIA.

You don’t need to buy it beforehand. You can get onboard and have a look at prices and what’s available (wines etc) before making up your mind.