uktog

I have a Hilton honours level of loyalty. That’s the only reason

The Miami International Airport Hotel is situated in the airport so no transport but a long walk. We do not go there but used the shuttles over to the Hilton and back as we want a pool for the day.

Your room type makes no difference on Azamara in terms of when you can disembark.

Yes

Unfortunately Miami is a port where immigration authorities can be a challenge. Worst case ever I saw there was disembarking not starting until 9. Even if you didn’t clear the port until 0930 or even 10 a 1325 flight should be fine

Good luck!

They will contact you onboard for this. Their system has to have all the flight details I suspect to “cover their backs”. That was certainly the case each time we pre booked the drop off excursion before boarding

I think this is because they want to have a check your flight is after the earliest flight allowed time and they do not want to commit to a transfer if there is a risk you will not make the flight. Typically, this is around allowing three hour check-in time at the airport, which is far more than needed. The same applies if you book on board or book the excursion which dropped you off at the airport and they can be very strict not agreeing a transfer if you missed that cut off by five minutes. we also discovered as you have to put your flight number in that claiming your flight left five minutes later to allow you to meet there three hour check-in room gets you caught out because it gets rejected you must have to claim to be on a different flight to get the excursion that drops off at 1500 for the 1755 flight back to the UK

I answered because you asked for experience out of Miami. Sorry I did not realise I had to clarify that. Certainly in Miami last time the only free transfers where those UK guests who had used Azamara for their air. We used Uber. We went to the airport hotel as we had a day room. Had we used the Azamara shuttle on that occasion we would have then used the hotels hoppa bus over to our day room. Our previous Miami experience was when we said no more shuttle to the airport due to cost, waiting around for others and no support from onboard staff when an issue arose (we had paid but were not on the bus list, I had to eventually somehow call up our ship account on my phone to be let onboard, no tickets are issued for the buses)

You will be allocated a time to disembark by Azamara - for an 0900 shuttle that is usually around 0815. You will have a luggage tag that aligns to that departure/bus. They do not ask shuttle guests to meet in a given area onboard, rather they expect you to disembark on time and make your own way to the bus, collecting your luggage, clearing any customs and taking your case to the bus. Porters may or may not be available to assist you. Insight - once off the ship you will find very few if any shipboard staff there to help, there will be a shorex person looking out for the tour people but they will not get involved with the shuttle which is run ex Guest Relations (know this from experience) Tip - do not expect the shuttle to depart at 0900. The ground based staff focus on ensuring the correct number are on the bus. So if someone is tardy leaving the ship (or worst case decide to make their own way to the airport but do not tell anyone you will sit and wait and wait...) Personally its quite a lottery and self organised taxi is usually better. Of course if you have air with Azamara and are on an included transfer that is very different.

You can upgrade, your wife does not need to

In which case Azamara should be able to regularly source stock. I’m not schlepping round ports to find it although I do admit out of desperation to heading to Morrisons in Gibraltar but then we would only have been staying onboard all day otherwise. (Done Gib nothing more to see)

In my view journey and quest who have both been in Azamara’s hands, the longest are in the best shape so you are lucky with journey on your cruise. They do maintain them as well as they can. You do have to recognise that some of the fixtures and fittings are an older design so do not expect to see a lot of Chrome and sparkle. I also prefer any ship, but onward because I like the library and it has been taken out an onward and a bar putting its place. There’s plenty other options without it.

DH always wore a jacket (we were in the Caribbean) and I wore a range of weights of evening wear and never felt uncomfortable

I am aware of several instances particularly from people who were first timers. For others it was one thing that combined with a couple of other minor issues. It’s not a reason for us but it can matter a lot for others

I was booked through an agent for our April cruise but could manage my excursions direct HOWEVER they would not send any confirmations direct to me and I had to chase the agent for them. I was paying for some by my credit card so the transaction was nothing to do with the agent in terms of payment but that made no difference.

I think you need to phone to use OBC

Our experience onboard is often less and always more expensive though there are exceptions with the occasional offering added

I agree however there has been quite a bit of evidence of people not rebooking because the quality of included wines had dropped. There’s been a lot of negative feedback in the last year. Secondly they will look at the ultimate package wines as they can retain current upgrades and encourage others. So I think the upselling of bottles will be a lower priority

My comments were not about new focus on selling wines, the focus was on getting the right included wines.

No unless the ship provides them for an excursion as part of an arrangement. Many countries prohibit bringing food off the ship and fines if detected (usually by a sweet little Beagle) are significant

I am not sure anyone can accurately answer this question for when you are on board. The reason is that all the time they are tweaking and adjusting what is there is not part of their inclusions in terms of spirits in each class of suiteet cetera. My advice is just ask your Butler host - if you don’t ask you won’t get, if you ask you might well get I think you have to work on that basis for now.

Eric de Gray has posted he is moving to Pursuit in September for two years. He also indicated the Captains will be Carl and Michael with Ryzard and Tony as Hotel Directors so musical chairs is happening again

The very pink rose is milder than it look implies From all the new CEO said, they are looking closely at the wine offerings and I would bet the family nest egg that it’s on the new Head of Hotel Operations to do list. So what we are seeing as the offerings today may not be what is onboard down the line. I wouldn’t be surprised if they test out some wine options in the coming months so if you like or don’t like something say so (and not just to the server, use the more documented feedback routes eg the onboard forms).

Given there are no destination experiences for our September and November cruises you are in for a long wait 🤣