Port info

[suec12]

We will be on the Journey soon with numerous stops at ports in Greece. Some large / popular ones, some not so much. I have done some research but esp. the smaller ones, not always a lot of info. What can I expect from Azamara? Info on a daily ship's paper? Pre-arrival port talks although almost every day is a sea day - maybe in the evenings? Might there be a local representative that comes on board? (I can't remember if it was Azamara or Oceania that used to do that). We are doing some ship's tours but would also want to do some exploring on our own. Thanks!

[blag]

https://www.whatsinport.com/ is a great resource. 

[uktog]

Azamara do one talk about shore excursions. They do not do pre arrival talks as such. They have a “destination specialist” on board who does lectures about ports. These are recorded so if you are busy you can watch them on a catch up under free videos in your room. However a word of warning they’re a very variable quality of speaker/presentation content. As a Scot and resident of Edinburgh I was extremely sad to see the talks the elderly gentleman gave on my recent cruise. He included information and photos about places in  Orkney when we were visiting Shetland (quite a gaff) and his guidance about Edinburgh had plain wrong content. I’d had issues with this presenters content in other parts of the world but had thought maybe things had changed between him writing the material and us traveling but now I’ve heard him on something I know about I would say do your own research. 
 

There were no local representatives onboard in Norway or Shetland but I noticed one onboard in Edinburgh but that port is very well geared up to support tourists. 
 

The daily ships paper has no information but maps are available for each port on a table by the concierge desk 

[Melissaghoti]

Here’s the Onward’s daily paper when we were in Santorini in June. The onboard lecturer was excellent on this cruise. His information about our stops in Croatia and Turkey were very informative. He’s a good presenter who uses lots of slides to support what he’s saying. I’ve seen him on several cruises and always enjoy him.

[harrodsfan]

I would suggest do your own research! Especially with maps for local areas. But every morning at a new port guest relations in the fourth floor will have some maps and port information. The port info is ok.l found most of the maps for our med cruise not too helpful. There are some good port websites to check online. 

[Charlies Aunt]

II have just recently returned from a Greece Intensive on the Onward and a port information pamphlet was awaiting us in our cabin which gave very useful maps and information for each port we would visit. Very informative and so useful I have brought it home with me for future reference.

[Charlies Aunt]

Just worked out how to send a photo of the said pamphlet.

[blag]

46 minutes ago, Charlies Aunt said:

II have just recently returned from a Greece Intensive on the Onward and a port information pamphlet was awaiting us in our cabin which gave very useful maps and information for each port we would visit. Very informative and so useful I have brought it home with me for future reference.

Unfortunately the maps can be of variable quality. Occasionally they are not really of much use!

[FlyerTalker]

6 minutes ago, blag said:

Unfortunately the maps can be of variable quality. Occasionally they are not really of much use!

 

Pro tip:  Even if you do not have a data plan that works when ashore, you can utilize the map and GPS function of Google Maps.  Just create an offline map that you can reference when ashore.

 

Go to the Google Maps app while on the ship wifi.  Press the circle at the upper right with your initial - you will then see the option for "Offline Maps".  Press that.  Now, press "Select your own map".  Navigate to the area you want to download, then press the blue "Download" button on the bottom.  It will now be stored on your phone, where the phone and GPS signal will give you your location.

 

You can even download the maps at home in advance of your trip.  Points of interest can be added through the desktop version of Maps.

 

One caveat.  You will have the map.  You will not have the lookup functions that require a data connection.  But that map+GPS combination has proven useful to me in the past.  YMMV.

 

 

[blag]

8 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

Pro tip:  Even if you do not have a data plan that works when ashore, you can utilize the map and GPS function of Google Maps.  Just create an offline map that you can reference when ashore.

 

Go to the Google Maps app while on the ship wifi.  Press the circle at the upper right with your initial - you will then see the option for "Offline Maps".  Press that.  Now, press "Select your own map".  Navigate to the area you want to download, then press the blue "Download" button on the bottom.  It will now be stored on your phone, where the phone and GPS signal will give you your location.

 

You can even download the maps at home in advance of your trip.  Points of interest can be added through the desktop version of Maps.

 

One caveat.  You will have the map.  You will not have the lookup functions that require a data connection.  But that map+GPS combination has proven useful to me in the past.  YMMV.

 

 

Duly noted and I've done this many times in the past!

[suec12]

Oh that info on the Greece itinerary looks great - I hope they do that on our upcoming Journey sail!

[Desert Cruisers]

Have you posted on your sailing's roll call?  You may be able to get some info there.  Also try the Europe/Greece thread here on CruiseCritic.

[suec12]

Thank you for your suggestion and I have done so. Some of our ports are just not often visited by the main cruise lines which is why I am so hoping what Charlie's Aunt posted above is true. So far Tripadvisor has given me the most info on the "off the beaten track" ports.

[CynthiaP]

The pamphlets for cruise excursions are available online: https://www.azamara.com/ebrochure/

[Host Jazzbeau]

2 hours ago, CynthiaP said:

The pamphlets for cruise excursions are available online: https://www.azamara.com/ebrochure/

One caution:  I can see the brochure for my cruise with any browser, but I can only download the pdf with Google Chrome [on Safari and Firefox the download just spins in an infinite loop].

[FlyerTalker]

2 hours ago, CynthiaP said:

The pamphlets for cruise excursions are available online: https://www.azamara.com/ebrochure/

 

Which is completely different than the "port information" booklet that was referenced throughout this thread.

[suec12]

Yes, I read all the tour info on the website - gave me some good idea - it was helpful but I want a booklet in my cabin with more port info!