uktog

1 hour ago, manc said:

In  the UK I booked using OBC and a few days later received an email for the small amount outstanding. When I phoned to pay was told £1800 to pay. We depart soon and paid final invoice long ago. Was eventually able to sort it but office still not great. Hoping ship will be usual high standard. 

At least you managed to pay - its a problem linked to Seaware.  Explora Journeys also has this issue but unfortunately they cannot take any payments, you have to contact your travel agent and pay them so they can pay Explora.  Also Explora you cannot even search for excursions against your booking as it says you have an outstanding balance and you have to pay that before you can do anything.  Travel agents can send you a PDF .....  

Seaware has a lot to answer for, at least Azamara has put in place some work arounds 

As part of a service recovery after shortening our cruise by three days EJ offered us their pre cruise package. We accepted (still to have it) but we aren’t impressed. 

No airport transfer included (that’s ok I know transfers in from the airport and they are easy to set up)

Then the gem a few weeks later, although it’s supposed to be bed and breakfast they’ve only got room only rates at the hotel. The only solution they could propose was to give us OBC (hmm not really useful for our cruising style) to cover breakfast costs. As it happens we aren’t really breakfast people so can work round it but it’s not impressive 

My advice would be you or your agent will be able to set up the equivalent hotels and transfers for less, it will be properly set up and you will have much more control/flexibility as well 

For most people the EES will mean little difference, every year the ETAIS gets pushed back but when it comes in, for us, it’s no different than we already have for coming to the USA or Canada. Yes another authorisation to get and watch the expiry of. At least they are planning to have the validity for 5 years and the cost lower as Canada extends to us and not the 2 year higher cost of the USA. 
 

5 minutes ago, blag said:

Other guests have received the same letter today.

Yes it’s a standard issue most cruises- if it doesn’t happen it’s got overlooked by the Cruise Sales Manager 

51 minutes ago, Grandma Cruising said:

There was Fever Tree on our West Africa cruise in Feb/March this year

Until it’s consistent it’s not progress sorry 

We had an excursion we cancelled that was paid pre cruise at a sterling price (UK booking) on our credit card. The refund went to our onboard Account in Euros. At the conclusion of the Cruise as the refund had been done in euros we opted to withdraw the euros cash which was then going to be useful for some other travel plans we had rather than leave it for our credit card to convert it to sterling  

1 hour ago, CDNPolar said:

Feels like a very honest review of Viking.  Thank you for this.

 

This is how we feel about Viking.

 

There are always "haters" around that will criticize everything, and it is true that occasionally Viking do miss the mark slightly on some things, but we as a couple cruising are not looking at individual misses but the overall experience.  This is why we are approaching our 14th cruise with Viking. 

Thanks. Particularly frustrating are the turncoat haters who used to sail on Viking and regularly pop up to emphasise why they no longer cruise with Viking and run down the product. 

Move on, stay away from the Viking board and let’s focus on the current and balanced reviews like @CRF has given us. 

Excellent balanced review- thank you! 

1 hour ago, blag said:

I can confirm that that is the current protocol. I don't understand why Azamara would choose to do it in this manner. It would be so much easier for everyone concerned if the 10% were applied at the time of booking. 

I discussed this with the Head Office senior manager responsible and it is due to issues with the configuration of Seaware software and accounting for the costs and the discount. It is something they are trying to have resolved in a future software release. 

If you look at the upgrade thread there is an issue. Back to back cruisers cannot apply for upgrades. Even if you get the email bids get cancelled 

22 minutes ago, conman said:

Beware of the “bandit” taxi drivers if you disembark from Lisbon and going to the airport.  I would suggest a prearranged ride.  

They are shockers! Excellent advice 

Alternatively photograph the driver and plate before getting in. The genuine ones don’t mind. The bandits either behave or rant and shout so you don’t get in that car and as everyone else in line has seen it the bandit has to drive off 

15 minutes ago, Dynacruiser said:

 

 

Interesting.

 

If Europeans book through US agencies, do they also enjoy the lower penalty if they cancel the cruise before full payment (is it $75 for US and $500 for UK?), or does that amount depend on the country of origin of the person?

 

And I also wonder, is it worth for US folks to look at booking through travel agencies in other Countries (Canada?) if there are better deals?   I don't think I have read anything about US cruisers booking outside of the US, so probably no better deals available.

They certainly get the lower cancellation charges but lose all the protections and take the currency hit if the exchange rate moves as Jazzbeau highlights so its swings and roundabouts 

46 minutes ago, uktog said:

Deck 5 for an open deck is a great place to see at least one lock. 
We’ve done 4 transits now and our advice would be try and see every lock from a different spot. So front, back, high, low etc
At least with Azamara moving from port to starboard whenever you want only takes you 30 seconds 

Oops meant to say a lock I wasn’t suggesting running around during a single lock though you can do that. 
We would typically start a down flight at the front, see one chamber, maybe then do a side then do the final chamber at the back. 

Deck 5 for an open deck is a great place to see at least one lock. 
We’ve done 4 transits now and our advice would be try and see every lock from a different spot. So front, back, high, low etc
At least with Azamara moving from port to starboard whenever you want only takes you 30 seconds 

7 minutes ago, Rosroz said:

I did know about this fund, can anybody tell me do you contribute to this as well as tipping say your favourite bartender , room steward etc.   and do the front facing crew know if you have done this

If they have done more than just what is expected of them by the cruise line yes. If they just do their job effectively and not above and beyond I transfer what I would have given them to the general donation. I come with a budget based on the number of days the cruise and use it all but the vast proportion is to the general fund 

9 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Many cruise lines (most? all?) have this, but only a few make it visible to passengers.  And the cruise line doesn't want to subsidize it, so my experience has been that you can't use left-over OBC for the donation.  In fact if you wait until the last night you may not even be able to use a credit card (happened to me recently – they had 'closed the books' so it was cash only).

You can use refundable obc 

It’s about expectation levels about the “culture” on Azamara not about tipping. If you’ve cruised predominantly on lines where tips are add ons and some guests avoid what they should rightly be giving crew then maybe you come to Azamara with the view of the poster that money talks and the butler is the route to something special. It’s not. 

@dynacruiser captured it so well talking about the “how” with staff (smiles etc) not the “what” (extra tips, expecting personal introduction). 

Azamara guests do tip in addition to the included gratuity but not as an upfront bribe and usually for something above and beyond the high service levels seen.

 
@denverbri69 might like to consider looking after all staff that make his butler look good (those favours that may happen aren’t solely the butler’s efforts) by contributing to the Crew Fund rather than solely focusing on individuals. That fund pays for crew parties celebrating national days etc - and that’s probably one every cruise - excursions, buys prizes for the very popular crew bingo etc and is managed by the crew not head office. 

The Azamara model works for crew far better than for mass lines (which from the profiles it appears the poster is used to) The evidence is it is a line where probably as many don’t tip extra as do, in an industry where there are opportunities on every line, but Azamaras staff retention and re- sign on rate one of the highest in the industry 

1 minute ago, Denverbri69 said:

i agree with you. I will ask my butler to introduce me to the dining room managers. 

Do it yourself on the first night. Your butler will not have time to do that on embarkation day. They look after up to 12 suites each 

12 minutes ago, federalexpress said:

As UKTog and an earlier poster pointed out, if you leave your butler to sort out your booking, very likely you will find at least some of your preferred dates and times are already gone as people book them at the table before your butler appears. Better advice would be to use your early access because of suite status to be first up to the booking table.

 

Butlers are a great service and can do lots of things for you, including serving up a proper dinner in your cabin, but with the speciality restaurants, better to get to know the restaurant manager.

 

Possibly AZ is not the cruise line for you...

I would agree. It is a line where behaviours driven by tipping will not get you anywhere. It’s a gratuity included line and the staff focus on treating everyone regardless of their room category as equal. That’s what makes Azamara such a relaxing line to be on. As you say if you are someone who wants to be treated as special over everyone else Azamara is not for you 

50 minutes ago, Denverbri69 said:

I have never been on AZ. But I travel extensively.  Here is a sure fire tip on how to get the best service available.  Always go through your butler. Ask the butler if he knows anyone of the servers in a specialty restaurant or even the MDR. The crew is a very tight community,  they all know each other. Ask who they know & who they would recommend to serve their own family. Then have the arrange your reservation and they will request the server theybknow to be excellent.  For the butler is makes him invaluable to you & for server it is a big compliment to be recommended. You will receive great service, and the server might share with the chef that a special guest is in the dining room. Don't forget to to show your appreciation with a tip. For those of you that will flame me for tipping, enjoy your mediocre experience,  I will be enjoying our lavish dining experience.  🤣🤣🤣

On Azamara what you describe is not within the power of your butler.  It’s also not the expected staff culture to highlight one employee over another.
All guests in the Speciality restaurants are treated equally vs a vs the chef. The butler has no pull on even getting you bookings never mind getting you a particular server. 
The form would be to work out what server works for you based on an early cruise experience then ask the Restaurant Manager (not the butler) if you can be seated in that person’s section again. They will try and place you there but it will depend on table size, whether the waiter is allocated to other duties such as Captain hosting/Best of the Best events etc. 

Regardless of a tip or not - again the usual is end of cruise not up front bribes- I doubt anyone who has cruised with Azamara thinks they’ve had a mediocre experience because they didn’t bung someone enough 

2 hours ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

Currently on Venus. Last night was a song review of Broadway and London musicals. So far no Beatles or ABBA in sight.

We must be the only people who want to see those two shows!  Everyone talked so much about them but when we were on our first cruise it was during Covid restrictions and both nights we tried to get into the theatre, it was at capacity and so for understandable safety reasons we are not allowed to join to watch the show.  
On our second Cruise there were technical issues so we didn’t see them.  We are looking forward to third and it sounds like we have missed the boat if you pardon the pun.
We are just too fond of 60s and 70s sounds to move to some of the modern stuff just yet but we will be willing to give it a go if required 

2 hours ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

Did you drink from the waterfall?

I did indeed so pure

Isafjordur was one of our favourite ports - we also enjoyed the Viking included excursion which took us to these beautiful places. Some ports are small and it’s a good idea to take the included trip to highlight what you might explore in your own later 

19 minutes ago, Dr. Cocktail said:

1000% true!

 

I enjoy personalized service but hate obsequious and fawning staff.  I don't need to be told what to do and where to go.

 

 

 

 

Oh you have so hit the nail on the head. I hate also being challenged about my choice of drink aka you had X yesterday don’t you want that?  Err no I flip and choose it’s the fun of the holiday. 
 

I really enjoyed the vibe of service on EJ. It was exactly the balance I like and am looking forward to enjoying it again. 
 

I also loved that drinks were properly mixed. Sadly on Azamara they often confuse giving good service with being heavy handed with the spirits bottles 

4 minutes ago, CJANDH said:

Does that mean the cruise is sold out? Just being difficult in my opinion.

I think the category we booked in is sold out other than rooms above the smoking area. Anyway we will work around it. We may hardly be in the room