uktog

yep

But it’s not quite correct there’s no ground transfer for our cruise unless we choose to fly (to America including a transit flight) on the day of embarkation As always bring sensible and going the day ahead you forfeit your ground transfer even though Viking do your air do it’s misleading advertising

if there is a walk of more than about 1.5 km Azamara will provide a shuttle provided local taxi unions allow that. They do not allow it in Gibraltar or in Barcelona if they do not have a berth in World Trade Centre. There are no taxi unions operating in UK

I’m confused are all the places you suggest open again as Facebook and Tripadvisor are giving mixed messages. We want a quieter beach, chairs, access to drinks and toilets. Will want a reliable taxi transfer and a chilled out time not necessarily much time in the water. Thanks

Honestly after a day or so, never needed to show the card. You can also "validate" yourself as a package holder by giving them your room number

I have found the Explora staff excellent when I call with very quick call answering times when I call . Unfortunately my travel agents inexperience with dealing with them and issues with communication between them and us mean we still do not officially know about a cancellation and have no idea where our refund is. Such a shame, if I did not know better I’d blame Explora who actually have been extremely generous. So no problems dealing direct with Explora which I will do next time

Actually the Pursuit app existed three years ago. It did not work, we tried to use it onboard it was a nightmare. It still comes up on some app searches but I understood they were going to start again once they had all the new tech in place

No I think the upgraded lagers are coming via the premium package which of course ultimate gets

Its the lager drinker that is the challenge

Yes I was aware of that and that is the issue - they would probably drink the included drinks only and would feel it was a waste to buy an uncharged version just to be in another venue. Thats why the fact that there are some additional offerings across all the ship is possibly a great compromise for us. I understand the concept whether it works on a personal level we will go and see.

Some do, for example the tours with the ships chef or other "numbers limited" more specialised activities that involve a class or an experience whereas others do not. It also depends on what the availability of guides is like in the location. Certainly more of the "general tours" were selling our pre boarding in Europe this year as there is a lack of competent guides particularly bi and try lingual guides as many have left the industry during the pandemic and not returned

No app as of now, who knows in the future. You purchase shore excursions at the Land Discoveries desk on Deck 5.

It will have an impact but in my experience that will be a hugely positive impact. There will only be one evening when either part of the Patio or Windows will be reserved for their dinner. At all other times you will be surrounded by delightful golfers and their non playing partners. They socialise in the bars and mix with everyone. Perry Golf is a class outfit and take a lot of care not to adversely impact on others enjoyment onboard

That is indeed our plan we will certainly give it a try and see if it fits both the ambience of what we are looking for and also if the selection of non cocktails works. I think our issue might be that one of use will have a package and the other might not as we realised on our last trip how little value one of us got from the package. Funnily enough for us it will be the availability and quality of wines that will determine if we have one or two packages and that will then I think determine where we drink each night. On night 1 we will go without a package as we often do as we gauge things and then make our decisions on Day 2.

I couldn’t be away from family that long, I’d feel selfish or guilty not sure which. Also intrigued how folks manage if they are home owners. We’d need to get new home insurance and set up so many costly checks that all was still well. Never mind the medical insurance. So it’s not just the cruise cost, it’s all these add ons but I hope those who can somehow manage it, enjoy the adventure.

Yes I knew it was from the Atlas Bar menu which they are testing in the Den on Journey. The other special cocktails on Onward are they Ultimate Package priced or just the included or Premium Package ones? If they are of the "specials" calibre on Journey (ie those that were Ultimate Package but not from the Atlas Bar) that will be our ideal compromise on Onward as we prefer live music in the background pre dinner and post dinner tend to stay on Deck 5 or the Living Room so was struggling to work out how I would get "special cocktails" other than in the Atlas Bar whilst others would want music or disco. We might have a solution!!!

They had that feature on Journey as well and I really enjoyed it together with the special menu in the Den where what I call the faffing offerings (smoke etc) were offered. This variety really neatly combined socialising at different venues with enjoying a range of cocktails without impacting on the choices of the non cocktail drinkers. I am not sure if the Den in Quest has the ex Atlas menu but if it does, I thoroughly recommend the smoked Negroni is you are a white spirit drinker. Although it is a little sweet Hearts of Azamara is also lovely

Not quite priority embarkation on Azamara really means a separate boarding line in the terminal. Suites are still given allocated times across the range and it has been reported that some suite guests who went online to secure their boarding times nearer sail date were allocated later slots. But we have in mind for all guests on Azamara the boarding process is generally much quicker than you would experience on Celebrity or Royal Caribbean etc

and their standards

These are the $ prices being advertised so you can work out your £ conversions from that. CLUB WORLD OWNER'S SUITE:$156,999 CLUB OCEAN SUITE:$138,999 CLUB SPA SUITE:$124,999 CLUB CONTINENT SUITE:$90,999 CLUB VERANDA PLUS:$60,999 CLUB VERANDA:$56,999 CLUB OCEANVIEW:$45,999 CLUB INTERIOR:$39,999

Thanks, do they actually have all these wines onboard. That looks like the list they circulated in July but then did not actually have some of the wines onboard. It looks a much more extensive list than Onward

They are very prompt in responding. Here is there response (I also asked clarification on the fact they no longer limit the number of passes they sell. So its $45 pp spend required on food and drink but now no charge for chairs PAYGO is USD45 PP (incl. Gov’t tax): Spending at least USD45 PP at the Restaurant-Bar each , you will have beach chair and umbrella included. The policy is... we dont limit the numbers ....but who will book first will have the best position.. Future bookers might want to check how many bookings are "ahead of them" as there is now a risk given they are happy to accept higher numbers it will not be an ideal spot you get - its all about location, location, location 🙂

I need to check that as it used to be $20 of your PAYGO went towards the chairs. We certainly won’t go if we had to spend $90 on food and drink and are looking around for other options.

Yes there will be various quiz activities including a daily progressive quiz where scores mount up during the voyage, craft activities and talks. The talks are not Azamaras strong suite but you might strike lucky. We did when the onboard magician did talks teaching us basic tricks

The earliest offered in September and October in Europe was 1400 to enable deep cleaning to be fully completed between cruises. I’m happy with that arrangement.