Azamara Cruisers - How are things where YOU are

[Host Jazzbeau]

We had a barbeque today with 10 friends – all fully vaxxed and no masks, it felt so normal!  [Made sure I had lots of alcohol, to sanitize my mouth and esophagus against virus particles, you know – no other reason 😉]

[Host Jazzbeau]

2 hours ago, Tom47 said:

DW and I got our 2nd shots on April 11.  We went out to dinner 2 nights ago to celebrate being fully vaccinated and our birthdays.  We have a 52nd anniversary cruise with RCI booked next year with daughter, s-i-l and grandchildren(replacing cancelled 50th ann cruise)   I have att'd a picture of chocolate feast from our last Az cruise, Oct 18, 2019

Phil, I'm happy that you got your shots.  We wish everyone well and hope that you can get your shots also.

I thought you were showing us your nightly turn-down pillow display 🤣

[excitedofharpenden]

2 hours ago, Tom47 said:

I have att'd a picture of chocolate feast from our last Az cruise, Oct 18, 2019

Thanks Tom. I've just put on four pounds looking at that 😄

 

Great to see some socialising and normality return 👍

 

Phil 

[TeaBag]

38 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

I thought you were showing us your nightly turn-down pillow display 🤣

I thought it was the Chocolate Buffet a la Tom!

[NeilWM]

We are finally back on the water though nowhere near as pleasant as Azamara cruise. It is overnight ferry between Melbourne and Tasmania in very basic room with very rough seas but bar still open and great to be travelling 

[Grandma Cruising]

1 hour ago, NeilWM said:

We are finally back on the water though nowhere near as pleasant as Azamara cruise. It is overnight ferry between Melbourne and Tasmania in very basic room with very rough seas but bar still open and great to be travelling 

Didn’t know there was a ferry. When we went from Melbourne to Tasmania (17/18 years ago) we flew. That’s a rough bit of water isn’t it?

[MNgardens]

Ooooo I just looked up the ferry The Spirit of Tasmania. The journey takes 9-11 hours and the cabins look quite nice.  Mentally filing this away...

[TeaBag]

6 hours ago, NeilWM said:

We are finally back on the water though nowhere near as pleasant as Azamara cruise. It is overnight ferry between Melbourne and Tasmania in very basic room with very rough seas but bar still open and great to be travelling 

Lucky you!  Enjoy your trip.  We can't even take the ferry over to Vancouver Island!  We have to stay put for now but there is light at the end of the tunnel.  We have loved our trips to Australia.

[Baynanno1]

10 hours ago, Grandma Cruising said:

Didn’t know there was a ferry. When we went from Melbourne to Tasmania (17/18 years ago) we flew. That’s a rough bit of water isn’t it?

 

It has a reputation as such. We have been lucky on three occasions, the first when we moved from Tassie to NSW. Similar when we did two New Zealand cruises starting from Sydney and Melbourne, south across Bass Strait (the body of water in your post), around Tasmania and across the other "local" notorious body of water, the Tasman Sea. Amazingly calm on both occasions. ☺️

On the other hand, I have seen recent photos taken by a Victorian friend of waves crashing up to the top of the ferry, reminded me of our passage across the South China Sea with waves crashing on the windows of the Living Room.

[NeilWM]

Yes it is a rough bit of water, similar to the rough stretch of water between the North and South Islands of New Zealand some people will be familiar with. It is handy if you wish to take your own car to tour around Tasmania. I don’t know about other parts of the world but it is difficult to hire a rental car in many parts of Australia at the moment. Apparently a lot of cars were sold when travel industry stalled because of COVID and there are supply issues with importing new cars atm.

[NeilWM]

 

 

This was a few weeks ago, not great marketing 

[Grandma Cruising]

1 hour ago, NeilWM said:

 

 

This was a few weeks ago, not great marketing 

Golly - I’m glad we flew!

[Bloodaxe]

It can be just has rough in the English Channel or the Irish Sea, luck of the draw with sea  crossings anywhere.

[Baynanno1]

17 hours ago, NeilWM said:

 

 

This was a few weeks ago, not great marketing 

 

That's the day I mentioned in my post above.

[excitedofharpenden]

On 5/27/2021 at 8:11 AM, Bloodaxe said:

It can be just has rough in the English Channel or the Irish Sea, luck of the draw with sea  crossings anywhere.

I think sometimes it can be the way of the waves rather than just the size of them. I have a friend who describes that body of water as being in similar to a washing machine. 

 

Phil 

[mamacampesinos!]

This is Oosterdam on her final night in Torbay, with a lovely message for the bay using the ships balcony lights, TORBAY WE ❤️YOU

[TeaBag]

What a lovely tribute done with a lot of coordination.

Edited June 4, 2021 by TeaBag

[Host Jazzbeau]

On 5/30/2021 at 5:12 PM, excitedofharpenden said:

I think sometimes it can be the way of the waves rather than just the size of them. I have a friend who describes that body of water as being in similar to a washing machine. 

 

Phil 

Absolutely!  When we were in Iceland on Ponant, the Captain showed us the wind patterns and explained the different between having the wind and waves from your back, in your face, or from the side.  Stabilizers try to help, but I suspect that a 45 degree angle or constant wind shifts [that 'washing machine' scenario] would be the worst.

[excitedofharpenden]

On 6/3/2021 at 11:58 PM, mamacampesinos! said:

This is Oosterdam on her final night in Torbay, with a lovely message for the bay using the ships balcony lights, TORBAY WE ❤️YOU

That is so cool!😎

 

Phil 

[nordski]

Especially for Mackdogmolly, I received a notice that Vermont PBS is running a special Rick Steeves programme tonight (June,7) called something like "Return to Europe".

 

I know that the same show is available tonight on our Buffalo-Toronto station so it may be running in other regions.

 

Rick isn't everyone's cup of tea, they will be taking pledge breaks, and it will most likely be a compilation of episodes from previous shows, but anything that helps us dream....

[Mackdogmolly]

2 hours ago, nordski said:

Especially for Mackdogmolly, I received a notice that Vermont PBS is running a special Rick Steeves programme tonight (June,7) called something like "Return to Europe".

 

I know that the same show is available tonight on our Buffalo-Toronto station so it may be running in other regions.

 

Rick isn't everyone's cup of tea, they will be taking pledge breaks, and it will most likely be a compilation of episodes from previous shows, but anything that helps us dream....

Rats! We have 1 tv, which is usually in our living room, which has been completely dismantled as of this morning. We are getting a new ceiling, walls painted, and the floors refinished. Really nowhere else to put the tv, so we had resigned ourselves to going without for the next week or so. Netflix, etc, we can watch in my office on my 2nd (large) monitor. Maybe we can watch it later On Demand.

[excitedofharpenden]

I'm noticing a lot of Facebook posts from friends who are crew showung them travelling to Glasgow, so things are getting moving. Meanwhile. here I think the hopes of removing all Covid-19 restrictions on 21st June are fading and it could be another month at least, what wth the variants causing concern of a third wave. It just goes on and on😔

 

Phil 

[mamacampesinos!]

Police have hired a cruise ship, MS Silja Europa, to accommodate officers working during the G7 summit in Cornwall 😉

[Mackdogmolly]

We reached a milestone here in Vermont today. We were the first in the nation to reach 80% vaccination rate for eligible citizens (age 12 and up). The Governor announced that after 15 months, he is ending the State of Emergency as of midnight 6/15. Further, he is lifting all COVID restrictions, unless Federal restrictions override - mostly transportation rules. A big day! 
And, icing on the cake, our twin grandsons graduated from middle school, with honors. And we got to hug them!

Betsey

[nordski]

1 hour ago, Mackdogmolly said:

We reached a milestone here in Vermont today. We were the first in the nation to reach 80% vaccination rate for eligible citizens (age 12 and up). The Governor announced that after 15 months, he is ending the State of Emergency as of midnight 6/15. Further, he is lifting all COVID restrictions, unless Federal restrictions override - mostly transportation rules. A big day! 
And, icing on the cake, our twin grandsons graduated from middle school, with honors. And we got to hug them!

Betsey

What a memorable day!