uktog

19 minutes ago, Bobpell54 said:

 EJ pictures show an aft infinity pool with loungers

Are the chairs open to first come?

Bob

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 

11 minutes ago, blag said:

In the light of what you have told me, it

looks like I'll follow your advice and will be arranging my own transfer from the ship.

Good luck! 

20 minutes ago, blag said:

But, see my screenshot in post #3, above.

Furthermore, in our next cruise (not this one), there was a fee from the ship, and no fee to the ship. I cannot make sense if this.

AFAIK Azamara has no flight information whatsoever for either cruise. 

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 

5 minutes ago, roberts2005 said:

For some reason, Azamara does not quote a fee until they have your flight information.

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

9 hours ago, luv2travel90266 said:

Bring your favorite mixer on board.

 

Schweppes is sold in many countries, including:

• Europe: Schweppes is a leader in the tonic category in France, Italy, Iberia, Poland, Scandinavia, and the DACH region. It is also available in Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, The Netherlands, and Norway.
• North America: Keurig Dr. Pepper distributes Schweppes in North America.
• Australia: Schweppes Australia, a subsidiary of Asahi Breweries, distributes Schweppes in Australia. 

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) 

6 hours ago, Karen Lynn said:

Looking at a South Africa sailing in January 2026 and wondering what people think of this ship? She’s an older gal 🤭and reviews suggest she’s showing her age and looking tired … 

 

Anyone have any experience on this ship recently ?

 

thanks ! 

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 

34 minutes ago, Mackdogmolly said:

Is this true? That is the last reason why I would choose not to rebook!

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 

32 minutes ago, hamrag said:

 

 

Thanks both. I guess it needs to be my TA then, as most cruiselines only deal with the party who does the booking.

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.

12 minutes ago, hamrag said:

I've tried booking a couple, and it appears to confirm the booking, but going back in to check there is nothing showing as booked! Any advice please, maybe not doing it properly. We have excursion credit and OBC, so there's no way I'm making a payment and perhaps that's the issue.

I think you need to phone to use OBC 

29 minutes ago, hamrag said:

Are all excursions available on a sailing listed on the 'View Excursions' section of Manage my Reservation? Or, is there generally a fuller selection once on board?

 

TIA

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

10 minutes ago, Bobreg said:

I understood your comment, but mine was that they won't focus much on the included wines if their goal is to sell more expensive wines that benefit the crew who push for better job and pay.  What is the best for the company and the shareholders is more money in revenue.

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 

23 minutes ago, Bobreg said:

Let me say that I have not the same opinion as yours. There are two ways to see it.

We are just off the Quest and mid cruise, we spoke with a server in the windows cafe about if a good reference help with promotion. He told us that it is still helping but that selling wine is more important now. We experienced it on the last dinner night when after 45 minutes we had finished our complementary glass and when the server finally brought our entree, we asked for some more wine. He replied that his assistant would come. His assistant was busy with a neighbouring table that was ordering wine like they had OBC to spare and never came to our table. We waited 10 minutes and left the dining room.  Sure the restaurant manager chased after us to apologize.

The point is that if selling wine in the venues is important for the company, they will just find the balance between drinkable wine that will not bring too much complaints and of enough low quality to encourage some to spend money on a better wine.  Let's hope I'm wrong and that they listen to their customers.

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

33 minutes ago, candkd said:

Does anyone know if box lunches are available?

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 

2 hours ago, Sololux said:

Are you able to have more choice if you are booked into one of the residences.  I’m thinking about Pimms, for my English side, and French dry white wine and crème de cassis for a kir, reflecting that I live in France.

 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). 

1 hour ago, Grandma Cruising said:

I agree with you, their IT is not good. We had a similar issue with getting into our accounts. After three sets of back & forth emails my account now works, but my husband’s doesn’t.

However there’s not much to see on the account and there seem to be no ‘Destination Experiences’ (shore excursions) available for our April 25 cruise, despite having just had a general email from them saying they now have ‘Destination Experiences’.

The account and booking side of the website is Veronix Seaware, which Azamara are also using. It works better on Azamara, but it took a long time for a Azamara to improve it and it still doesn’t work properly for everyone.

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

26 minutes ago, Riocca said:

I understand the problem cruise lines have with Fever Tree, with Royal Club coming from Heineken and Schweppes from Coca-Cola with bulk buying the cost is going to be very low. But Fever Tree as an independent brand is going to be very expensive in comparison, a compromise for Azamara would be to offer it with the Ultimate Package as they do with the premium bottled waters. I’ve seen this working with another cruise line where fountain Coke was included on the basic package but cans on the upgraded package.

 

 

I don’t know how many times I have suggested that both pre and post pandemic to no avail however with someone from the UK now heading up Hotel Operations in Miami I’m a little more hopeful he understands speciality vs run of the mill G and T. 

UK prices are up again this morning- I suspect ahead of a “promotion” so they stay the right side of the law. 

4 minutes ago, futian said:

 

Oh dear  ....... the mysteries of Fever Tree and cruise lines.....(they seem to treat it like gold dust)

Azamara Quest in April this year and the first response from bar waiter was "Sorry we don't have this onboard!". After pursuing this with barman I found they did have it onboard and was able to have Fever Tree for the rest of the cruise no problem.

 

Seabourn recently and same initial response ("not available)" from waiting staff....spoke to Bar Manager and Fever Tree was available for the rest of the cruise no problem.

 

Saga at Xmas and New Year, same thing, had to speak with bar manager to get success.

 

Oceania Vista ....Just off after 3 weeks and guess what...initial response in Horizons lounge  was "sorry not available" followed later by "well we only stock it in our mixology bar!".....spoke to Bar Manager and hey presto, it was now available in Horizons lounge for the rest of the cruise.

I should also say that in all 4 cases, they all kept the Fever Tree under the bar counter and was never on display. (Very precious stuff that FT)

So the motto of this story is ask and escalate to the bar manager.

And once located always have your +tonic in the same bar