Tips for Azamara Newbies

[excitedofharpenden]

12 hours ago, islandwoman said:

Does Azamara provide transfers from the airport or hotels to the port?  I'm looking for a transfer from Athens to Piraeus.

If you have an Azamara package then they will arrange the transfers. If not and you are doing yourself then you will need to arrange.  If you DIY I would highly encourage you pre-book something. I have had too many scary taxi journeys from Athens airport. I've used these people and they are excellent. 

 

https://www.welcomepickups.com/athens/airport-taxi/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=map&utm_campaign= places

 

Phil 

Edited August 2, 2021 by excitedofharpenden

[Twiga]

I agree with Phil.  Welcome Pickups is great!  I've used them from the Athens Airport to my hotel in Athens and also to the ship in Piraeus.  They are reasonably priced and dependable.

[seahappy08]

We have booked our first cruise on Azamara Journey. We are Elite +on Celebrity can we still use this status on Azamara. How do we use it and what does it entitle us to?

 

We are really looking forward to trying out Azamara.

[luv2travel90266]

The bottom of this link says yes! https://www.azamara.com/loyalty/azamara-circle/member-benefits

 

[Grandma Cruising]

In a topic headed First-timers on Azamara cjajoh asks about OBC for B2B cruises and Phil (excitedofharpenden) tells him that there is OBC available. It’s $150 per cruise for cruises of 4 days or less, $300 per cruise for cruises of 5-8 days and $400 per cruise for cruises of 9 or more days. There is a form on Azamara’s website that you can complete to apply for the OBC. https://www.azamara.co.uk/plan/back-to-back-voyages. The OBC  for each cruise has to be used on that cruise.

I have added this to the ‘Tips’ spreadsheet.  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15Deg-GaeZYLml8NN3PVwoh_jUkQ8QmYUe1wxnVAlODE/edit

Edited August 10, 2021 by Grandma Cruising

[Tripgalrf]

Read through and just terrific info. Thank for the time and work to put this together and update it. Much appreciated!

[Grandma Cruising]

Glad you found it helpful. I suppose I should also say that the spreadsheet was put together pre COVID and when Azamara was still part of RCCL. It doesn’t include anything about COVID systems & procedures, partly because they seem to be a moving target and partly because it’s unclear how long they will remain in place. So far Sycamore don’t seem to have changed much, if anything, but that may well change in future. If so I’ll do my best to keep it up to date.

[Grandma Cruising]

Seen on another thread that a poster was not allowed to upgrade a premium drinks package to the ultimate package when they bought it as part of an Experience More package, so I will remove that from the spreadsheet.

[supsarap]

Just wanted to say how grateful I am for all of your hard work in putting this together!  I am an Azamara newbie but have been on many, many other lines.  Have never seen anything like this before!  Thank you for your kindness!

[Grandma Cruising]

On 8/17/2021 at 10:42 PM, supsarap said:

Just wanted to say how grateful I am for all of your hard work in putting this together!  I am an Azamara newbie but have been on many, many other lines.  Have never seen anything like this before!  Thank you for your kindness!

Delighted that you’ve found it useful.

[islandwoman]

When is the latest that Azamara might cancel or change a cruise?  (I don't mean cancel or change a port, I mean cancel the entire cruise or change the entire itinerary)

DH and I are booked on the Azamara Journey Black Sea in June 2022.  At this time, the COVID situation in the ports of call is not good.  If Azamara is going to cancel or change this cruise, they cannot wait until the last minute to see if the pandemic improves in that part of the world. I can only imagine the time and work that must be involved in changing or cancelling a cruise. And we cannot wait until the last minute to change our plans - we have a B2B cruise, independent air, and hotels to consider, among other things.  Our final payment is due in January.  Can anyone make an educated guess about when Azamara might finalize plans?

[Grandma Cruising]

On 11/9/2021 at 5:13 PM, islandwoman said:

When is the latest that Azamara might cancel or change a cruise?  (I don't mean cancel or change a port, I mean cancel the entire cruise or change the entire itinerary)

DH and I are booked on the Azamara Journey Black Sea in June 2022.  At this time, the COVID situation in the ports of call is not good.  If Azamara is going to cancel or change this cruise, they cannot wait until the last minute to see if the pandemic improves in that part of the world. I can only imagine the time and work that must be involved in changing or cancelling a cruise. And we cannot wait until the last minute to change our plans - we have a B2B cruise, independent air, and hotels to consider, among other things.  Our final payment is due in January.  Can anyone make an educated guess about when Azamara might finalize plans?

Really impossible even to guess. In the last 18 months there have been cruises cancelled a long time ahead and some cancelled fairly close to sailing date - these are challenging times for everyone. The main thing is to make sure that you have good travel insurance. 

[blag]

For those that don't have annual travel insurance it can be difficult to obtain travel single-trip insurance several months in advance of the trip! In these specific circumstances, sadly, it works to the traveller's advantage if Azamara do delay cancellation!

But... a lot can happen in six months.

From my perspective, I have an outlay of just under £15,000 with Azamara which has been transferred between four cancelled cruises, including Black Sea in July next year.

[islandwoman]

34 minutes ago, Grandma Cruising said:

. The main thing is to make sure that you have good travel insurance. 

I have checked on travel insurance and have been unable to find any that included cancellation for COVID and that didn't require purchasing the insurance within a short time of booking the cruise.  We booked these cruises years ago (then they were cancelled and re-booked) Also, most travel insurance will not cover pre-existing conditions (Who at my age doesn't have pre-existing conditions?)  and it is extremely expensive for older people

[Grandma Cruising]

11 hours ago, islandwoman said:

I have checked on travel insurance and have been unable to find any that included cancellation for COVID and that didn't require purchasing the insurance within a short time of booking the cruise.  We booked these cruises years ago (then they were cancelled and re-booked) Also, most travel insurance will not cover pre-existing conditions (Who at my age doesn't have pre-existing conditions?)  and it is extremely expensive for older people

It does seem to be dearer in the US - possibly because of your medical system. We have annual travel insurance through our bank at a cost of £18 (about $24) a month which covers all our existing conditions (which are many!). It does include COVID cover.

[Bloodaxe]

42 minutes ago, Grandma Cruising said:

It does seem to be dearer in the US - possibly because of your medical system. We have annual travel insurance through our bank at a cost of £18 (about $24) a month which covers all our existing conditions (which are many!). It does include COVID cover.

Does that include age loading?, ours went up considerably once we turned 70.

 

[Mackdogmolly]

8 hours ago, Grandma Cruising said:

It does seem to be dearer in the US - possibly because of your medical system. We have annual travel insurance through our bank at a cost of £18 (about $24) a month which covers all our existing conditions (which are many!). It does include COVID cover.

Wow, that’s a bargain! My (single cruise only) covers preexisting conditions, but was very expensive. Thank you, US health care system 😟

[margo2011]

9 hours ago, Bloodaxe said:

Does that include age loading?, ours went up considerably once we turned 70.

 

We are  covered on my credit with marks and spencer  .It covers  us up to 80 and any grandchildren under 18 travelling with us .There was no extra charge for Covid cover .We pay £25  per month and receive other benefits with them .

[Grandma Cruising]

10 hours ago, Bloodaxe said:

Does that include age loading?, ours went up considerably once we turned 70.

 

No, cost remains the same, but it only goes up to 80.

[blag]

Here's some info on the M&S Credit Card T&C:

 

M&S Club Rewards with insurance customers: if you took out cover or booked your trip on or after 8 February 2021, you are not covered for travel that goes against the advice of the FCDO or the local authorities in the area you want to travel.

 

https://bank.marksandspencer.com/insurance/travel-insurance/covid-cover/

[margo2011]

Thanks for the  that information but we obviously would not travel against FCDO  advise .We have had this insurance over 10 years now and it has lived up to all our expectations .We were pleasantly surprised that the Covid cover meant we didn’t incur any further costs .

[KiniShakenBake]

SO glad to have found this board!!! We're likely converting over from Princess to Azamara, ironically following the same ship we fell in love with at Princess as our first cruise with Azamara looks to be the Onward. 

Will also be searching for this - How soon will we know what evening(s?) are going to be AzAmazing? I'm trying to figure out whether we're going to do something different in Alexandria and struggling with it mightily because we don't know what night the White Party will be, nor do we know what night the AzAmazing evening is. 

 

Thoughts? Thanks!!! 

[Grandma Cruising]

You won’t know which night will be White Night until you get on board. It’s likely to be a night when the ship is in port until late (mostly, but not always the case).
The Azamazing evening always used to be advertised well ahead - you could look in the excursions brochure for the free evening excursion, but things are different currently with the evening being held on board the ship due to COVID.

Having not cruised since COVID I don’t know how far ahead these new evenings are advertised. Maybe someone who has cruised recently will be able to answer that one.

[Mackdogmolly]

6 hours ago, Grandma Cruising said:

You won’t know which night will be White Night until you get on board. It’s likely to be a night when the ship is in port until late (mostly, but not always the case).
The Azamazing evening always used to be advertised well ahead - you could look in the excursions brochure for the free evening excursion, but things are different currently with the evening being held on board the ship due to COVID.

Having not cruised since COVID I don’t know how far ahead these new evenings are advertised. Maybe someone who has cruised recently will be able to answer that one.

It seemed like the Destination Celebration (Azamazing Evening in times of COVID) was in the shore excursions section pretty early on (for my cruise anyway). You could sign up for one of 2 seatings. However, once on board, they had divided us my muster station A and muster station B. It’s anyone’s guess what they will be doing by the time Onward sails though. Just keep an eye out for a zero cost excursion.

[bobbyd6363]

Another Newbie Question (probably been asked 1000 times already):

 

In the amenities for our Azamara Journey Club Verandah cabin, I saw one amenity is Self Service Laundry.  I was unaware Azamara ships had self service laundry! Is this true?

Edited January 7, 2022 by bobbyd6363