uktog

It’s one of these unknowns. I’ve done 4 transatlantics on Azamara and 4 Bays of Biscay (a known one for swells) two on Azamara and two on Celebrity Eclipse. Our Azamara experience re the TA is exactly as @vanman the north route does rock and roll. We had to change ports enroute each time to avoid storms. It seemed worse going East to West each time (done two each way) but that was just probably unfortunate weather circumstances. Interestingly on the Bay of Biscay each time we’d pretty rough weather and Azamara faired far better than Eclipse. So size didn’t seem to matter! What I did feel was Azamara captains really closely study wave forecasts and look for deviations if they can.

I am not sure I am following you - there is no price on the upgrade system as such what you would have been sent is a link to a website. It shows the minimum bid you can enter, however its up to you how much above the minimum you bid. There is no guarantee your bid will be accepted and you will not hear until immediately before sailing sometimes as late as 24 hours to boarding. Your bid might not be accepted because either there are no available cabins or all the cabins that were available for upgrade were allocated to people who bid more than you. The price the cruises are selling for when you bid is irrelevant. However if you have been bought a guarantee cabin, even if you got a link to put a bid in, your bid will be ignored because guarantees cannot bid for upgrades,

Yes, like Viking they call it General Manager. There is no big scale entertainment on Explora, much more individual performers in various locations so the cruise director may be a different sort of role once it is announced

Guarantee cabins are not eligible to take part in the Upgrade scheme.

If you go on you tube and search Voyager 1 it’s former name you find good videos. As they’re travel agent sites I can’t link them here. They’ve certainly helped me get a sense of what we are heading for in May and I’m really excited

Californian was wonderful as was Arabian

Standard dress code. Wear a blazer only if he wants to. Some dress a little more that night as it’s their special night others do not

The only line I know that is different appears to be the American Queen Voyages where I can book one of the premium excursions but there is no billing until onboard when it is passed to my onboard account automatically

Thank you. As that’s not what is published and certainly not my experience on very recent trips that’s why I follow up. Not saying it is the case but I have known Shore Ex managers onboard punt out spurious claims that are not policy to cover over local situations in the past. Im not defending the indefensible I’m trying to separate out the good Royal - old Azamara/ very evil Sycamore new Azamara emotion and get to published fact and policy. I will contact my HO contact for clarification of the policy and report back

Thanks. I know they have had issues getting providers to deliver in South Africa. Certainly in October 2022 they were still using RC excursion providers so the move wasn’t complete then. Indeed you are correct to warn but in the case of some locations the tourism infrastructure is not yet able to support the cruise tour industry. Private providers are also harder to find post pandemic. It’s not however in this instance a Sycamore issue. So for all excursions be prepared for what you did not plan for!

When and where did this happen? Will help us know what to avoid thanks (Mind that also sometimes happened in the past and I’m not sure when they split off to their own shorex arrangements so it may have nothing to do with the new owners)

Thanks I can see now why you might be concerned but be reassured status means nothing on Azamara in terms of dining, accessing excursions, being spoken to by the captain getting on a tender, walking up a red carpet to board in port (we all do!) etc. That’s what so many love about Azamara it’s an “all for one and one for all” experience. If you’re someone who wants lots of extra attention because you’re at high end loyalty Azamara is not the line for you. No one bothers about stupid pins or badges and it’s a far nicer atmosphere onboard in my mind than on other ships in the RC stable. Hope you enjoy your cruise

It is indeed a fabulous bed with lovely bedding. For those used to super king I’m surprised if 8cm (3.5 inches) makes a significant difference. It certainly would be an understandable issue for some if Azamara dropped to 150 cm

I cannot agree with @ghstudio assessment of Azamara. I like Azamara but I also recognise their faults. But I also realise there has been a pandemic and uncoupling from a vast monster, its controls and IT system is one heck of a challenge whilst keeping the show on the road. Names are well known and they do communicate with guests. Does it matter who is calling the shots - I do not need to know "who it is". Rates of response may not be perfect but then the response rates from most cruise lines is not what it used to be like. The fact that the programmes were being separated has been clearly communicated for several months on Azamara's website - funny no reciprocal communication on Celebrity. But changes affecting potential loyalty benefits happen and sometimes you are a loser. Just like there was no communication from the airline I accrue loyalty with when they stopped allowing flights on another airline to count towards my loyalty when I had flights booked or from the hotel I booked believing it would have IHG perks reflecting my loyalty only to find my free breakfast has gone because the hotel has now left the group. I cannot believe losing a bag of laundry is leading to such a big trust issue. There has to be a cut off date ok some fell on the wrong side of the line, happens in life. And is this not all a bit premature, it has been said that there is new information to come both on loyalty and benefits.

But now the systems are separate, how will Azamara know anyones loyalty level with Celebrity? So they had to make the break at some date. If folks were that worried about the paltry loss they would make in having less benefits, they should have got some protection in writing when they booked - well actually they could not get that - so it was a risk they took in booking and in these things sometimes you fall on the right side of the line and sometimes you do not. I am struggling to understand what has been lost by the newcomers from Celebrity post 1 February that is causing them to cancel?

Interestingly Celebrity did not send a similar letter. So anyone booked on a Celebrity cruise and new to them but with status on Azamara will be equally affected. I cannot understand why anyone would cancel a cruise just because some benefits were not being given to them, particularly given how insignificant the onboard benefits are. And "status" means nothing on Azamara (thank goodness)

Anyone from the UK care to chip in how is Buenos Aires for British guests. Our cruise to Antarctica next year starts/finishes there and we have to think about days pre cruise in particular. We have done all the tourist spots so do not need long but as a cruiser who likes contingencies, we will want to arrive well ahead "just in case" flights go wrong. Last time we stayed in BA in 2014 we experienced a lot of unprovoked hostility to British travellers even though we never raised the "small island" issue or mentioned Margaret Thatcher (!). In 2019 we flew home direct from the ship so weren't "mixing around" as much. Just curious And really looking forward to reading this live from

I was unsure about Grits having read about the recipe and fearing the texture, then when in Louisiana last year I tried them and was hooked. Unfortunately I then had them on another cruise line in September and they certainly weren't what I had enjoyed in Louisiana so its one of these dishes I guess be careful where you try it first! On the subject of breakfast if I am on a very early start for an excursion all I want is coffee and a pastry or equivalent. Viking ticks the box in terms of the coffee maker, Azamara ticked the box for early morning trips in having a coffee juice and pastries section at the back of the lounge you gathered in to join excursions (and folks going on private trips would swing by and grab and go from there as well). I hope to be reacquainting myself with the Viking coffee maker this summer.

They have not been putting it in Discoveries there due to Discoveries being used for the rolling safety briefings and using the bar area for the briefing waiting area. They seem to want everyone away from the deck 5 areas as both are used for briefings and were also using the specialities as they didn’t have to move laptops etc. but it’s out of the way so we’re also trying the Pool area

The reservation desk is usually at the entrance to Windows cafe not Discoveries. On boarding you must first attend the safety briefing. To save going to the wrong place ask a member of staff as you leave the briefing to check where to go. Recently they’ve been running two places the second being either one of the specialities or I saw one time it was the Pool deck. Good luck getting a reservation

Be careful, they may tell you one thing like 40 over 3 buses as they did for us and then all 40 of us were on the same bus due to "local difficulties".

Absolutely!!!! Anything you want and as much as you want

Agree the benefits aren’t nearly as good on Azamara. If you do upgrade your drinks package you will get a 25% discount that helps a little. If you do not sail in a big suite the gap in laundry benefits plus the drinks package issue does put some Zeniths off. There is also no discount on Speciality dining although it’s free for all suites not just the big suites However you also have to consider that all round the onboard experience is a very different proposition on Azamara

And it’s disappointing when an agent that is involved in less than scrupulous activities the cruise line will not go into bat for the guest. I think oldco Azamara struggled by being part of RC and even though their business support team might have been upset by how your booking or money was handled, they knew the agency had the upper hand due to the volume of sales made for RC group. It would be fantastic if newco Azamara could set some higher more ethical standards (eg forbidding additional deposits) but then they’d risk losing some business from agents. I’m not sure they would be confident they’d capture all that by additional direct sales.

Exactly. I’ve switched agent again. This one seems ok because my “agent” is their Head of Cruise Sales of a very large agency but they are on one strike and they are out with us so I’m watching like a hawk. It’s also the abject ignorance about the product and the laziness of many agencies - claiming Azamara said x when they’d never even called them that’s far too prevalent.