Semi live from Azamara Pursuit May 17th Athens to Barcelona

[Baynanno1]

16 hours ago, travelberlin said:

Thank you for following!

The application is called Komoot. It is very good. I have bought many years a package which covers the whole world. I have used it every where even for hiking in Switzerland and Austria. 
Ivi

 

Ivi, thank you very much for the information. I am sure it will be useful in the future.

 

Trish

[travelberlin]

Good morning 🌞 i am posting early because internet seems to work better at this time.

 

Yesterday was our second day in Livorno and our last day in Italy.

 

I had my breakfast at the Discoveries restaurant. I have not eaten there before during this cruise because I am enjoying the terrace of the Windows restaurant and also the concept that you can order a la carte there and not just have a buffet. The weather is nice at this time of the year in this region and the terrace is perfect.

 

But yesterday morning I wanted to have shakshuka and this is only available at the Discoveries restaurant. It was very tasty.

 

After breakfast I decided to go to the Museo Cívico, which apparently has good works of art. This was about 2 kmts walk from the ship. I have grabbed  a bottle of water on my way out, which Azamara always has ready for us in all ports of call.

 

Unfortunately I have forgotten that it was Monday and on Monday museums are closed😔. There is a small park there, where many people were walking their dogs. Afterwards I went to the Terrace Mascagni, a nice promenade along the sea.

 

Overall I have walked 6 kmts yesterday morning. I have to admit that I arrived quite tired at the ship.

 

My stay in Livorno was fine but it is not a port, which I find attractive. I prefer to stay overnight in ports which are smaller and which allow for a better destination experience in the evenings.

 

One thing which I noticed last evening at sail away time is that Azamara did not play a sail away song like other ships. MSC plays Con te partiro, Windstar plays Conquest of Paradise, Mein Schiff plays Grosse Freiheit and Crystal used to play Wonderful World. All beautiful songs and when we hear them we remember our cruises. Does Azamara have one song for sail aways?

 

Ivi

 

 

 

 

 

 

[travelberlin]

9 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Thanks for continuing this great 'live from' thread, it is really appreciated!

 

I'm assuming that you took my earlier advice about composing off-line and pasting into Cruise Critic.  The unanticipated side effect is that your last few posts have been set to 11-point type, which comes across as very small even when I increase my screen zoom.  So I edited them and set the type size to 'default' – that allows each reader to adjust the type to fit their eyes [including my increasingly aged ones...]

Yes I took your advice. Now I have increased the size to 12. Is that better? Shall I increase more?

thank you! 
Ivi

[Noggins]

Thanks, Ivi. We have been having breakfast on the rear terrace too but this morning have planned to head to Discoveries. We were robbed of an hour last night as we are now in Greece. Apparently we can have it back on Saturday when we get home.

Enjoy your day.

Adrian

 

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 hour ago, travelberlin said:

Yes I took your advice. Now I have increased the size to 12. Is that better? Shall I increase more?

thank you! 
Ivi

Please just use 'default.'  That allows the settings of each reading to adjust the type to the preferred size.  Any particular size you select will lock it  in to your setting, and you don't know how that looks on my screen.

[LDaQuirm]

19 hours ago, travelberlin said:

I know many of us have been very disappointed about the pre cruise experience with Azamara. I know many first time cruisers with Azamara are wondering based on the pre cruise communication if it was a good idea to book with Azamara.

 

Here I would like to post my impression on the people working on the Azamara Pursuit right now and who are one of the main reasons why we return.

 

After I arrived at the terminal and was waiting to board, I was approached by a friendly lady who offered me some water. She is Ngawhira from New Zealand, the hotel director in this cruise. I did not know at that moment that she was the hotel director but I have remembered her from previous cruises. I have always liked Heike, the previous cruise director on this ship who just left for vacation and I was not sure how things were going to work with the new hotel director. In my opinion, Ngawhira is doing a very good job. She is friendly and attentive. Everything seems to be running smooth and the crew seems to be happy.

 

There is also Juan from Honduras who is my cabin attendant and keeps my cabin clean and tidy.

 

My interaction with the guest relation personnel has been positive. I have met German from Costa Rica, the guest relations manager, in previous cruises. He is approachable and able to quickly find solutions to problems we might present to him.

 

Nathan, the executive chef, together with the people working with him is spoiling us with good food and is responsible that I will leave this ship with a couple of kilos more.

 

The waiters are friendly, efficient and pay attention to details. I have met some of them also in previous cruises. For example Irina. I am glad there are back.

 

The officers make a very  good impression. Captain Mikael gives the impression we are in good hands. I like also how the Cruise Director Ernest approaches his job.

 

And finally there is Elisa, the cruise sales manager who has helped me book my next cruise 😃

 

As you see, I am a happy cruiser until now 😎.

 

Ivi

I agree with all you have said .. we've only sailed Silversea until now (apart from a brief trip on the QE2 in 2008) and we've felt the vibe on Azamara to be a bit more lively, the staff and food easily as good. Our butler and room steward are wonderful and the officers very approachable.. We're already looking at more cruises with them. 

[marinaro44]

Please, no sailaway songs.  While I really enjoy Windstar, the fuss made over that pretentious song at sailaway I find laughable.

[travelberlin]

For those who are wondering about the toiletries onboard, I found that the body lotion and the soap are fine. Thanks to UKtog who advised us on shampoo and conditioner, I have brought mine. I have tried them once and I agree with Uktog. Better bring yours. 
 

Ivi

 

[travelberlin]

9 hours ago, Noggins said:

Thanks, Ivi. We have been having breakfast on the rear terrace too but this morning have planned to head to Discoveries. We were robbed of an hour last night as we are now in Greece. Apparently we can have it back on Saturday when we get home.

Enjoy your day.

Adrian

 

 

Beware of the Greek taxes Adrian if you want to buy something from the shop onboard. I have bought perfume, which was supposed to cost US 62 and because of the Greek tax which for some reason is valid during my whole cruise although we have long left Greece, I ended paying US 77.

Ivi

[travelberlin]

5 hours ago, marinaro44 said:

Please, no sailaway songs.  While I really enjoy Windstar, the fuss made over that pretentious song at sailaway I find laughable.

I have only cruised once with Windstar. It was the Star Legend. They have played Conquest

of Paradise and I did not notice any strange. I think the composer is Vangelis? He just passed away😔

 

Ivi

[joyride]

Hi Lvi! So excited to hear that the white night is back. This will be my first Azamara cruise and I was really looking forward to the White Night! 

 

I was wondering, I have another wine question. I saw that you posted the reds that are included daily, and I was wondering about the whites. Do they have a chardonnay or pinot grigio? I don't care for sweet white wine, I prefer dry....

[les37b]

9 hours ago, marinaro44 said:

Please, no sailaway songs.  While I really enjoy Windstar, the fuss made over that pretentious song at sailaway I find laughable.

 

Nothing will ever top Rule Britannia sailing under Tower Bridge on Silver Wind into the pool of London.... A homecoming that gets hairs standing! Very emotional personally as we berthed right in front of my office and brought great joy even when just watching.

 

4 hours ago, travelberlin said:

Beware of the Greek taxes Adrian if you want to buy something from the shop onboard. I have bought perfume, which was supposed to cost US 62 and because of the Greek tax which for some reason is valid during my whole cruise although we have long left Greece, I ended paying US 77.

Ivi

 

That doesn't sound right. Taxes must be charged in port, but shouldn't be once you've left, unless you are not visiting another country during the voyage. It was Spain who initialised this in 2016. 

 

I remember Carnival pulling a similar stunt illegally charging guests with drinks packages a VAT bill on the "what it would have cost you" charge. If the drink has no charge, the tax should be zero.... But they charged it anyway. .

[Host Jazzbeau]

26 minutes ago, les37b said:

 

Nothing will ever top Rule Britannia sailing under Tower Bridge on Silver Wind into the pool of London.... A homecoming that gets hairs standing! Very emotional personally as we berthed right in front of my office and brought great joy even when just watching.

 

 

That doesn't sound right. Taxes must be charged in port, but shouldn't be once you've left, unless you are not visiting another country during the voyage. It was Spain who initialised this in 2016. 

 

I remember Carnival pulling a similar stunt illegally charging guests with drinks packages a VAT bill on the "what it would have cost you" charge. If the drink has no charge, the tax should be zero.... But they charged it anyway. .

I thought I had read that if a cruise calls on only EU ports, VAT must be charged for all onboard purchases.  Only if the cruise has at least one non-EU port do you escape VAT while at sea.  [I still don't have a grasp of all the qualifying non-EU ports, but I'm pretty sure that Kusadasi and St. Peter Port are on the list, as examples]

[Baynanno1]

15 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

I thought I had read that if a cruise calls on only EU ports, VAT must be charged for all onboard purchases.  Only if the cruise has at least one non-EU port do you escape VAT while at sea.  [I still don't have a grasp of all the qualifying non-EU ports, but I'm pretty sure that Kusadasi and St. Peter Port are on the list, as examples]

 

That sounds like our past experience.

If I remember correctly Valletta is also one of the ports that effectively removes the taxes.

 

Further, depending on your total spend (at one time) you should be given the necessary forms to reclaim some of that tax when you leave the EU. We have done so in (again if I remember correctly) Lisbon and Athens before boarding our homeward flights.

[Host Jazzbeau]

57 minutes ago, Baynanno1 said:

 

That sounds like our past experience.

If I remember correctly Valletta is also one of the ports that effectively removes the taxes.

 

Further, depending on your total spend (at one time) you should be given the necessary forms to reclaim some of that tax when you leave the EU. We have done so in (again if I remember correctly) Lisbon and Athens before boarding our homeward flights.

So I'm hoping that the stop in Kotor (Montenegro) will provide the qualification for my Oct. 6 Adriatic Wonders cruise!

[travelberlin]

Good morning. Thanks again for following my cruise.

 

Yesterday we have docked in Nice. I love Nice. I have been there before for a long stay, but it is the first time that I have arrived by ship. The Azamara Pursuit docked directly on the port of Nice and not in Villefranche Sur Mer, like other bigger ships.

 

I went to Cours Saleya, which is a nice market. From the ship it was a good 45 minutes to walk there. Near Cours Saleya there is a place where I found a table cloth Provence Style, which I was looking for. After buying it, I continued to walk in the area of old Nice and the Promenade d’Anglais. Many people in the area. Early in the morning mainly locals. Later on mainly tourists.

 

I had booked a table for lunch in advance at a restaurant where I had eaten before. It is called Terre des Truffles and it serves all its dishes with fresh truffles. I had a nice lunch with champagne there. I was impressed how empty it was! All other restaurants in the area had more guests. Ok, maybe it was because it was more expensive than the others but we are talking about fresh truffles…

 

For the afternoon I had booked a spa treatment on the ship which was kind of luxury manicure and pedicure. Kharen from Philippines did a very good job. After walking yesterday more than 9 kmts my feet were thankful for the pedicure, which included a good massage.

 

Last night it was the white party on deck 9 around the pool. Unfortunately it started to rain. The party moved inside to the Living Room. Since I avoid interior rooms with lots of people, I did not participate in the party. I had however a good meal before the rain started. I have not seen lobster tails but there were other seafood. The white party on the Azamara ships are the best on any ship according to my opinion. 

 

During the cruises with Azamara, I have never seen king crab legs in the restaurants. I have seen lobster tails but never king crab legs. I would love to have them included in the menu. Maybe in Prime C?

 

Overall it was a lovely stay in Nice. Only last night I have got an email from Lufthansa informing me that my flight to Berlin has been cancelled. Not sure yet how to solve that. This is one of the reasons why I would never fly  to take a cruise on the day, the ship departs. Fortunately, this time I am returning to Berlin.

 

Ivi

 

 

Edited May 25, 2022 by travelberlin

[joyride]

Hi lvi. Thank you again for your travel log! Sorry to hear about your flight cancellation. Did you book it on your own or through Azamara Choice Air? In many years of travel, I have booked my own air most of the time. This time though, with COVID and everything else going on, we did book our air using the cruise line's Choice Air. I am usually our travel planner, but my husband had booked our cruise as a surprise for me for Christmas. He had us flying in from the US to Barcelona on the day of the cruise. The FIRST thing I did was change that. I NEVER do that, too many things can happen. Going home after isn't a big deal, but getting to the ship is. LOL

[travelberlin]

11 hours ago, joyride said:

Hi Lvi! So excited to hear that the white night is back. This will be my first Azamara cruise and I was really looking forward to the White Night! 

 

I was wondering, I have another wine question. I saw that you posted the reds that are included daily, and I was wondering about the whites. Do they have a chardonnay or pinot grigio? I don't care for sweet white wine, I prefer dry....

I have drank Sauvignon blanc, Pino grigio and Chardonnay. I like the Chardonnay the best.

 

I have not seen that wines are changed every day as they advertise in the included package. They have been the same for the whole cruise.

 

Ivi

[joyride]

1 minute ago, travelberlin said:

I have drank Sauvignon blanc, Pino grigio and Chardonnay. I like the Chardonnay the best.

 

I have not seen that wines are changed every day as they advertise in the included package. They have been the same for the whole cruise.

 

Ivi

Oh good. I will be fine with all of those!! 🙂

 

[les37b]

10 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

I thought I had read that if a cruise calls on only EU ports, VAT must be charged for all onboard purchases.  Only if the cruise has at least one non-EU port do you escape VAT while at sea.  [I still don't have a grasp of all the qualifying non-EU ports, but I'm pretty sure that Kusadasi and St. Peter Port are on the list, as examples]

 

You are correct. It was Spain who first pulled this apart in 2016. 

 

I remember Carnival Vista was due to call in Turkey but because of unrest didn't and passengers ended being stung. 

 

Luckily the UK is not in the EU now, so our St Peters call will save guests from VAT.

 

So I'm guessing this cruise doesn't visit a non EU country? (I thought it visited Kusadasi?) If it doesn't, then VAT was correctly charged and the embarkation country gains the revenue. What a scam!

 

Edited May 25, 2022 by les37b

[travelberlin]

40 minutes ago, joyride said:

Hi lvi. Thank you again for your travel log! Sorry to hear about your flight cancellation. Did you book it on your own or through Azamara Choice Air? In many years of travel, I have booked my own air most of the time. This time though, with COVID and everything else going on, we did book our air using the cruise line's Choice Air. I am usually our travel planner, but my husband had booked our cruise as a surprise for me for Christmas. He had us flying in from the US to Barcelona on the day of the cruise. The FIRST thing I did was change that. I NEVER do that, too many things can happen. Going home after isn't a big deal, but getting to the ship is. LOL

Thanks Joyride. I have booked my flights independently. I am waiting to see if Lufthansa offers me an alternative flight. I am a frequent traveler with them. They are supposed to do that. If I do not hear from them until lunch time, I will contact them. 
 

Ivi

[joyride]

Good Luck. If you can't get a flight, I think we have a sofa in our cabin and you would be welcome to hang out if you need. I would love to meet you, as I am of German descent and Germany is on my bucket list. LOL

[travelberlin]

3 hours ago, joyride said:

Good Luck. If you can't get a flight, I think we have a sofa in our cabin and you would be welcome to hang out if you need. I would love to meet you, as I am of German descent and Germany is on my bucket list. LOL

You are so kind😊

 

Lufthansa did not contact me to offer an alternative. My husband called them from Berlin and they told him it was not easy because the flights from Frankfurt to Berlin have been cancelled due to bad weather in Frankfurt. My flight from Barcelona however was expected to arrive in Frankfurt anyhow. I wonder how if there was going to be bad weather 🧐

 

Since I am flying business they promised my husband to put me in the only flight leaving from Frankfurt to Berlin later in the evening. I have not received any confirmation yet that this is the case. So I am still in Limbo…

 

Ivi

[Keith1010]

Ivi....I am just starting your thread and plan to read each any every post.  Many thanks for taking the time to share your experience.

 

Keith

[travelberlin]

Today lunch special Bouillabaisse in Marseille 😋 I had a nice riesling with it.

Ivi

 

Edited May 25, 2022 by travelberlin