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westcoasttech

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About Me

  • Location
    The Olympic City of Vancouver
  • Interests
    Travelling and planning my next trip!
  • Favorite Cruise Line(s)
    I'll tell you once I've tried them all!
  • Favorite Cruise Destination Or Port of Call
    Tahiti and her islands

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Cool Cruiser (2/15)

  1. I'm still waiting for a promised call back ("quelle surprise" 🙄)... While I cannot see any OBC listed anywhere, some of the extra tours I moved into my account appear to have been paid off by said supposed OBC, as I have a zero amount showing. My "invoice" on the system shows "paid in full" (including several tours) with no separate line for OBC anywhere. I would just like to know one way or the other ... I don't want to get onboard to find I have no tours and have lost the opportunity to book cheaper private options! I'm used to dealing with "messy" websites and chaotic situations ... (I've sailed with MSC, several times!😲) but this is really not giving me a good impression of Azamara ... perhaps I should have sailed them while they were still RCCL and got my D+ benefits then ☹️!
  2. See this thread in the West Coast forum … Harbour Centre has a basic selection, for a better variety head to Alberni branch.
  3. On the phone Azamara has confirmed it is valid and actual OBC that can be used pre-cruise for excursions and onboard for other things. I was advised that once you have "booked" the coupons you SHOULD be able to see it as a pulldown option on the credit card payment page when paying for excursions. In my case it is not working due to the currency differences - I see the pricing for excursions in CDN$ and OBC is US$ - apparently the website can't deal with currency exchanges! Even the Azamara agent couldn't work out how to use the OBC for excursions! They have said to "give them a few days" to convert the OBC to CDN$ and then it should become available on my account for booking or at least available for an agent to make the bookings for me! I have no idea what will happen once I'm onboard and the OBC is then CDN$, but one issue at a time!
  4. I’m currently dealing with some OBC issues (detailed in other threads). I found OBC items (coupons with a zero cost) under the Add In sections of my account, select book on them and assign them into your account. Once you have them there I am advised that the OBC option should appear on the credit card payment page as a pull-down option when paying for the excursion. Mine is not working due to currency differences (I’m in 🇨🇦) … after a phone call Azamara is arranging the conversion. As you’re in the US you shouldn’t have that same problem.
  5. If I go to Categories, I get “no categories found…” message. I did book as a guarantee category, but now have a cabin number assigned… I’m not complaining … I’m very happy with the price I paid and any OBC is just added cherries on top of the Azamara sundae!!!
  6. Well … phone call made … and I do have a whole whack of OBC! No idea why and there’s no logic to it, but I’m not going to question their wisdom! There’s enough to cover most if not all my port tours, and leave some for some fancy cocktails onboard! Cancelled already booked on CC tour and will transfer to OBC … however small complication in that OBC is in USD and as I booked in Canada tour pricing is in Canadian$, which apparently is why I could not connect tours to OBC when booking. I have to wait for them to convert the OBC to CDN$ to get it linked up. The other OBC coupons listed with a price attached are credits that you do pay for, so pre-purchased credits. One interesting point the OBC can only be used to pre-purchase tours before boarding - I can’t use it to pre-purchase dining packages. Once onboard I can use some of the OBC for other onboard packages. Agent I spoke to said that the pay with OBC option should show on a pull-down menu on the credit card screen for payment during the booking process … mine was probably not showing due to the currency differences. Hope this might be of help to others😀! She did recommend moving the tours I want into my account and then they can be processed once the currency issue is sorted out … so I’m going to go ahead and do that! Weird though, this seemed to be a new issue to her and she had to get assistance from other “teams” … I guess their new website can’t deal with multiple currencies😲!
  7. I guess I will have to … they are closed today. I just wanted to make sure there wasn’t something that is well known to previous Azamara pax!
  8. I’m also attempting to make sense of the website as a 1st time Azamara booking. Under the Add ons list I have various amounts of ‘Coupons’ showing titled either OBC or onboard credit with a ‘price’ of zero. There are also 2 coupons listed titled OBC and bar credit with a ‘price’ of the equivalent of about US$25. I booked the cruise on the day they moved from one deal (4 nights free) to the current OBC deal, but due to the timing I wasn’t really expecting any particular OBC - booked direct without a TA [long story … TA I was trying to use wasn’t being helpful!] I booked a tour, before I tried ‘booking’ the OBC coupons, and had to provide a credit card and that charge has gone on my CC. I later ‘booked’ the zero cost OBC coupons and they have gone onto my booking list on the website. So … do I have the OBC or not??? If I do, I would like to cancel my paid for tour and use the OBC instead … which I guess I would have to do by phone as I can’t see a Cancel option on the website? if I do have that amount of OBC, it is quite an amazing amount, so I don’t see how I can have! I guess I will have to call them, but if they have mistakenly provided too much OBC, I’m not sure I want to tell them that they’re wrong😜! Any advice?
  9. I’m looking for penguin viewing tours for my “Christmas with the penguins” cruise with Azamara … in puerto madryn the ship is offering 3 different wildlife tours - San Lorenzo reserve, Punta Ninfas, or punta Tombo. The latter 2 seem to involve long drives. Anyone have any experience with these? Is it worth the extra $ and time to go the extra distance? For the San Lorenzo reserve there is the alternative of using Sentir Patagonia as recommended above - which is significantly cheaper than the ship tour.
  10. Sailed with Katerina Line, Acquamarin in September 2019. Dubrovnik to Split route through the Dalmatian Islands. I had booked it through a ‘clearing house’ type of website - which I can’t name here - and had no idea what to expect. I was blown away by the actual ship and cruise and would do it again in a heartbeat! Can’t recommend it high enough! Very different to the ‘usual’ - food options onboard were more limited and somewhat basic, but every day had a port stop so lots of restaurants to choose from on land. Price was very good for a solo. I’m happy to answer any specific questions … attached a few pics … my room (which was a basic category)… daily schedules … and a couple of exteriors.
  11. I would 2nd the recommendation for the Alberni/Bute branch over the Harbour Centre location, if you are looking for a reasonable selection of vino. Harbour Centre is fine for the basics but not a great variety. If you are particularly wine focused, I would also suggest Everything Wine (998 Marine Drive, North Vancouver) - it’s a short bus or taxi ride over the bridge, or seabus/bus combo - and has a varied selection of international and BC wines.
  12. Celebrity have been doing this (certain cheaper categories not bookable by solos) for a long, long time! 1st cruise I tried to book on Celebrity (20+ years ago) advertised a late bookable guarantee rate of around $750, cheapest available to a solo was $2100+ … they seem to be doing it even more now! I’ve seen RCCL do it more recently. On MSC in 2017 the only way I could book a certain category (in this case YIN in YC) was to make up a ‘pretend’ companion who then ‘couldn’t come’ at the last minute! Yes it makes me 😡😡😡 … I’ve accepted that for a cruise I really, really want to do I’ll pay the 200% but now it’s getting ridiculous. I’ve got several next cruise deposits for RCCL which I’m struggling to use due to their solo “overpricing” … I’ve started looking for alternative cruise lines that offer lower percentages for their solo pricing and just booked my 1st Azamara - the base price might start higher but the lower solo supplement gives you a better price for a better product! In the past I have found that there will be solo deals on the more unusual repositioning routes, and/or last minute timing, but of course then you might have less choice of cabins!
  13. Questions from a 1st time Azamara pax … If you book the package that includes 1 chefs table are you then guaranteed a spot? When do you get to choose which cuisine you want? I’ve seen (on various postings) that French and Italian options seem constant - are other cuisines dependent on what route you are sailing? If sailing a longer route (say a 20 day sailing), I would presume there’s more opportunities? There are certain things I don’t or can’t eat, so am hoping I can see all menus to pick the best option!
  14. On my previous cruise, there was also a get together for DBE sailors mid cruise with champagne and Sangria drinks included. Look for the invite.
  15. Yes, you can get Siggi's here at most large foodstores ... Canadian Superstore, Save On, Whole Foods all carry it that I've seen - in the large pots only though. My "go to" is the Vanilla Cinnamon flavor ... when I can find it in stock!
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