lolau79

Dissapointed. Just booked South America a couple of days ago and the reduction in the number of included cocktails is staggering.

 

Cant help but feel we’re being short changed.

Same feeling here!

We also booked our 3rd Azamara cruise a few days ago...

(In 12 months). First was on Quest in the Med last may, 2nd was on Journey in Asia last december and next one on the new Pursuit next October. ALL the drinks we like are now excluded from the included list...At the price point Azamara now think they can charge, it is getting ridiculous..

If these are really the new “menus” for the drinks I dont understand how Azamara can justify the higher prices...

Yes, its true, service on board is great and we really love their smaller ships, but, we still have a few weeks before final payment for our October cruise and we will wait and see , if it stays like this, we will be really sad, but we will cancel our cruise and move on to another line... Sad!!!!

Thank you Henk123, i think we will be happy with this one. Thanks for your help.

Louise

hello everyone,

We are have been in Thailand for nearly 2 weeks now touring by ourselves before boarding Journey in Singapore on dec 09 for the 14 nights Singapore to HongKong cruise. Wifi is not working very well from our hotel, but, just got a email from my travel agent that we got upgraded to V2 category cabin #7090. I’m trying to check it out on the « cabin thread » but wifi keeps cutting and i cant get any infos. Can someone tell me if that cabin is ok? Is it noisy? I do feel from motion sickness and kind of worried about it. Thanks to all that can help.

Louise 😊

I will take the time to think about it.. but, my original oceanview cabin looks more and more appealing now...

That's " food for thought" ... i'll sleep on it.

Thanks to all of you for your good remarks and suggestions. :cool:

If it's a port intensive cruise I personally would keep the ocean view. We were in an ocean view on d close 4 for a 16 night New Zealand cruise and it was just fine! Spend the difference on chefs tables!!

 

 

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Thank you LaurieB

We had an interior cabin last cruise,use the money we saved for Chef's table + 2 ( twice prime C ) and one Night in Private Places( Awesome +++++++) It was wonderful... but we still miss the "light".... just not sure what to do for the next cruise. Just a little stress about the noise issue. And yes, it is port intensive ....:)

Thanks

Thanks for your answer,

I did search the thread, and i find the exact same review you are talking about, i was just hoping for a more recent comment than 2008 . Just wondering if we should keep cabin 4020 or upgrade for a gty veranda instead for our next cruise at the end of 2017? This itinerary for Asia is new for us, as the last cruise we did on Azamara was in the Med in an interior cabin #8018, we liked it, the cabin was find, no noise really but we missed the "light" , the feeling of not knowing if it's day or night since it was always dark did bothered us a little. Just want to know if this cabin have a "noise" issue...

Thank you

hello everyone,

This will be our 2nd Azamara cruise.

We have been allocated cabin # 4020 on our next before Christmas Asia cruise on the Azamara Journey. Any of you experienced that cabin? Just want to know if it's noisy or a lot of people going by since it's near medical center / elevators/ anchors? Azamara did send us an offer maybe try to upgrade to Veranda for a fee. Is a balcony a "must" for an Asia cruise? Or should we keep our ocean view cabin? It does'nt seem to be obstructed view... I did read the 25 pages (yes 25 pages) of the post about cabins above, but not a lot about cabin 4020... maybe i missed it, after 10 pages i could'nt read anymore....

Thanks

Thank you lolau79...I'm so glad we could provide a cure to your travel fever! We look forward to welcoming you back aboard in December :hearteyes:

Thank you Bonnie,

Could not be more happy :cool::D

Beware, you have the Azamara fever now, and there is no cure! Thanks for sharing your wonderful experience.

 

As for the two ships, our first cruise with Azamara was on Journey, and we loved it. However, itineraries led us to Quest for the next six weeks onboard, and because we got to know the crew (Russ is everywhere!), it became our favorite, but we're back on Journey this year and next.

Hi,

We were feeling a little feverish yesterday, the only solution was a trip to our TA office this morning..... and we did find a cure ;)...

We booked the Thailand/Vietnam cruise next december, on the Journey this time. So within less than 8 months, we will have experienced both Azamara ships. Not bad for "newbies";p ( and i'm not even totally unpacked from the 1st cruise ).

The price is pretty good, the itinerary is fabulous, we wanted to visit Halong Bay for a long time now.

Talk about "Love at first sight":hearteyes::hearteyes::hearteyes: What a great Christmas gift.

Thanks to all

Thanks Phil! We've had this one booked for years, I'm really excited about this itinerary! It's in Oct, that's why I asked about the 4:30 sail away, I think by 8, we will be well past the views unless we were sailing to or from a brightly lit city (thinking like Venice or Budapest) I don't think we'd see much, so Hvar could work, except we have Dubrovnik at 8:30 AM the next morning, and a very busy day planned and unfortunately, record numbers of other cruise ships :( that day, so want to get an early start! I think I'd like to pick a day we won't be rushing off in the AM, so we can enjoy the breakfast. Our actual anniversary is on the Valletta day, but we are signed up for the Azamazing evening...chamber music, how did you find it , Phil? I know the AEs are hit or miss...

 

 

Of course all this depends on how popular it is and who else is signed up from the spa suites. I'm sure it would be lovely on any night!

If sail away is at 4:30 from Kotor you wont be anymore in the fjords around 8:00pm for sure. But, as you say any night will be lovely.

One hint, you can trust Phil "excitedofharpenden" judgment, he's the one who suggested to do NIPP in Kotor to me - Thanks again Phil, it was a GREAT idea;p

And Familygoboston, its not to many questions..

I'm just returning the favor, you're the one who did the Azamara/Paul Gauguin compare for me. That's what this forum is all about.

Thanks ;)

Thanks! We will give it a try, hoping for our the night before our anniversary, because we depart on the early side and arrive late. But we could possibly do it in Venice, which would be very scenic, we have an overnight there. Do you think that it would be too public with the ship docked in port? Is it better to be sailing away?

Hello,

We did it while sailing away in the gorgeous Kotor Montenegro fjords!!!!!! Amazing scenery.... Actually Kotor was my favorite of the entire cruise:hearteyes::hearteyes::hearteyes: Beautiful little city with steep roads/stairs, nice little shops and cafes and nice people. We also hired a private driver who showed us around fro 3-4 hours, all of Kotor area, Perast in particular, was very nice. The color of the water all around Kotor was incredible.

Venice is also unbelievable but if you are dock in San Basilio (and i think you will be), at least that's where we docked last may. The view of the Grand Canal is beautiful but there is also a LOT, and i mean a lot of traffic on the canal. Vaporettos, water taxis and private boats etc...all togheter doesnt make it as "private". There is more traffic during daytime but there's still big traffic at night....:rolleyes:

We stayed in Venice 5 days prior to the cruise and the Grand Canal was always very busy except perhaps from 1:00 to 7:00 am.

So, where are you cruising to next? ;p We love Prime C also.

One night a few years ago, we were celebrating our anniversary early. The night we ate in Prime C was our anniversary dinner. When we sat down, I asked the maitre d about the sunset and he said we would have had to eat in Aqualina to see it. He knew I was disappointed. A few minutes later an announcement came over the loud speaker. Captain Johannes announced he was turning the ship because a couple was celebrating their anniversary. He also said he would charge us a dollar for the fuel. ;) You won't see that happening on another cruise line probably.

Hi,

Perfect example of " they go above and behond to make their passengers happy ". Great story.

Night in private places cost around $400 usd( for the both of us ). Not cheap but money well spent...

We are not sure yet of our next destination, but it will probably be Australia/Asia or Thailand/Vietnam... Decisions decisions... but what a great dilemna:hearteyes::hearteyes::hearteyes:

We would like to,try private places, we also have a special anniversary. I've been told it can only be booked on board. How did you manage it? We're you already in a spa suite? I feel like I read somewhere they get first dibs, but I could be wrong. Let me know how early you had to book and who you booked with. I'm concerned because we have a morning activity in Venice and might not be among the first on board, we might miss out.

TIA

Hi,

We were not in a suite. Indeed, night in private places can only be book on board. We book it the 2nd day of the cruise with the concierge Yasmine, her desk is near the reception on deck 4. She is very sweet and kind, she will really try to do the best to accomodate you. I heard that on some itinerary booking that night is very popular, but on our cruise it was not the case. We chose a night mid cruise, we followed good suggestions a few CC members had given us, and booked a night we knew the scenery would be awesome.. And it was... The weather was perfect and the sea very calm. Sleeping under the stars on a cruise ship is a very special feeling...We enjoyed that night a lot, it will always be one of our best memories of the whole trip. Go ahead, do it, if its anything like "our" night, you wont have any regrets.

Have fun;):D

My husband ordered it and I only had a taste because I ordered lobster. I'm going to have it in Sept. :D

OK!!!!! I am so jealous at the moment...

I am having regrets now.... But Prime C was really good.

One more reason to go back on that beautiful ship ( like if we needed any ) :D:D:D

We took our first Azamara cruise last may, here are our impressions.

The 1st glance of our cabin was pretty good, the space was large enough for the 2 of us, the bed was very comfy and it was very clean. The bathroom, well, one word...Small, but it's fine. On the other hand, the shower is really tiny tiny tiny, and the Dreadful plastic shower curtain:eek: .... Someone on CC commented that if you drop your face cloth while in the shower it will become " wall to wall carpet ". funny enough this is true BUT it is manageable and was not a real issue. For us, this was the only "flaw" on that ship. We can now truly say, we would prefer sailing Azamara even with the small shower/bathroom, than sailing any other cruise line with a big shower....

We bought the Chef's Table plus 2 package

French Chef's table - The food was very good, exception for the fish which was not to my husband liking ( but he is a fish fanatic). Wine pairing was great. We had a nice group of people that night very interesting & funny, everyone talking to each others, so, bottom line - Great people, Great food, Great laughs = Perfect evening

We did at first book the 2 specialty restaurants, one each night, but we liked Prime C so much that we cancelled Aqualina and went back to Prime C. Both times, food was spectacular, we loved it...

We had a special anniversary to celebrate, so we booked the Night in Private Places venue in the Sanctum spa..... WOW!!!!!!!! ( And NO, we are NOT the couple everyone's talking about from the "View from the living room" post earlier..) We were on the Med cruise.... Just one advice to anyone thinking of booking that event... DO IT!!!!! It is wonderful and romantic. That night the weather was great, the sea was calm and flat, candles everywhere on the terrace, it was beautiful. Our private Maitre D, Anson, was terrific. Champagne & Chocolate dipped strawberry offered while in the spa/pool before dinner.... And then, the main course... Anything and Everything you wish to eat, its ALL there, pairing with wine, alcohol, specialty coffee and great desserts.. Amazing , just Amazing..... We did sleep under the stars for the whole night, sleeping like babies ( maybe it's the wine?) The next morning, Anson came back, woke us up (gently) and we had private breakfast of fresh berries, eggs Benedict and Mimosas... and back to our cabin to began a great new day...

I would like to specify, regarding the " view from the living room" post. When you book this event, all the blinds from the living room are closing around 7:45. Yes, this does mean everyone in the living room are "shut out" of the view, and Sanctum gets the privacy. All the security cameras are covered with layers of tapes (in the Sanctum Deck area) to insure privacy. They really put emphasis on this to reassured anyone booking the event that it will indeed "be private". After all, you are sleeping there........

The ports of call were great, we did get to enjoy the Stromboli Volcano erupting, the slippery walk up to the castle with Captain Carl and his crew, in Kotor Montenegro, the surprise on White night, a special delivery of Cannolis by private boat from Taormina Sicily (that port was cancelled due to G7 summit restrictions), the Azamazing night with the 3 Tenors... You get the picture, it really was a fabulous cruise.

From the cleaning crew to the funny and charismatic Captain Smith, the restaurants staff all through the day & the great bartenders, even the security crew are always chatty and smiling....All of the staff will go above and beyond to make their guests happy and make this a 5 stars experience.

I will elaborate here, cause it seems to be a concern in a lot of posts on CC. The included wine, always 2 reds, 2 whites, 1 rose and 1 sparkling, each day. It does vary from day to day and can be different from one restaurant to the other. Some nights we had really great wines and we also had what I would describe as "table wine". We always found the wine to be good and enjoyable, this was not a problem at all, if you don't like a particular wine ask for another, they will try to provide you something you will enjoy.....

The same goes for drinks and cocktails. There is a menu for the included drinks, but, if you specify you want a particular cocktail not on that list to be mix with the "regular" brand of alcohol, they will do it. No Problems....

NO is not an answer you will hear often, and this seems to be the same philosophy throughout the ship..

Conclusion - Azamara is " TOP NOTCH "....

This was a long review, but in all fairness, Azamara does deserve it. A ++++++ all the way for us.

As " Azamara newbies" not anymore, we liked it so much, we are already checking out the itinerary for next year.

An awesome vacation it was :) :):)

Hello,

We will be on the Quest next may. The ship is scheduled to be in Giardini Naxos/Taormina on may 18. Just learn that the G7 summit will be held in Taormina on may 26&27. Official say the entire city center will be in Total lockdown from may 22nd until may 28th. Preparation and work in town just begun and that from may 15 there will be a first stage restrictions taking place. Even Giardini Naxos will be affected, all hotels there will received the international press.

We intended to book a walking tour of Taormina & visit the Greco Theatro. Anyone with Taormina experience think this is still a good idea considering the first stage restrictions? I know we could do the godfather tour or visit Mt Etna but, we really just wanted to stroll around in a up hill village and take it slow.

Any ideas on other small villages nearby we could visit?

We wanted to visit Taormina for a long time, but now thinking we wont see the "real" Taormina with everything going on.

Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Thank you

Thanks to all for your infos.

I will post comments/reviews when we come back. From all your posts, i'm pretty sure it will be awesome.

Thanks again.

Thanks everyone for all those precious informations.

Mooinmo, about the night in special places, happy that you enjoyed it a lot. This is definetely a " must do " for us on this cruise.

We cannot wait to be on board the Quest, from all of your comments it looks great.

FamilygoBoston, just saw you were in French Polynesia on the Paul Gauguin a few years back. Apart from the destination how would you compare the Paul Gauguin to the Azamara Quest?

This cruise with the Quest will be only our 2nd cruise. First one was 10 days Tahiti/Tuamotus on the Gauguin in october 2013 which we find absolutely incredible. We loved that it was a small ship with excellent crew and services, long days in each port, sometimes 2, it was truly gorgeous.

Since you were on both ships i tought i would ask your opinion?

We did travel a lot since then , but on land. We usually do between 3 and 5 weeks into the same country because we like to "immerse" ourselves into the culture of one country. But we decided it was time to try something different and when we readed about the Azamara ships it seems to tickle all the right boxes for us.

Any suggestions or "tips" is greatly appreciate.

Thank you

Good idea, I intend to be on deck very early on the morning we arrive in Kotor. Dont want to miss when we enter those magnificient fjords. The scenery must be awesome.

Any idea what's the earliest time we can board the ship? The ship is schedule to leave port at 10:00 pm, if we arrive around 1:00 pm is this too early/late?

I really dont want to miss the opportunity to book that event to celebrate "us" and Kotor night would be the ideal date for us, if weather looks good.

Thanks

Bonnie,

We will book first thing after coming on board. Cannot wait til may. Let you know how it turns out.

Thank you

Hello everyone,

We are booked on the Quest Med cruise next May 13 departure from Venice. This will be our first Azamara cruise, we are pretty new at this, first time in Italy too, we only sailed one time, in French Polynesia on the Paul Gauguin 3 years ago, which was pretty amazing also.

I've been reading all the threads and roll call discussion for a few weeks now and it's getting pretty exciting....

Does anyone knows how to proceed for booking the nights in private places on the Sanctum terrace for this sailing? Just went on the Azamara site, said by reservation onboard only, but, do they offer this more than once on the cruise? This is an 11 nights sailing.

Would like to do this either the night before sea day or on sea day's night.

This cruise is for our wedding anniversary, and i'm pretty sure the night in private places would be a very special and romantic way to celebrate it. Sleeping under the star.... Yes...

Maybe Bonnie knows the answer? Do we have to come by early on embarkation day to make sure we are able to book it? You all seem so experienced with Azamara, any of you did this before?

Thanks for your help.... 67 days and counting....