Port Power

NO TIPPING. End of story. Bus drivers and tour guides are paid well. Better than waiters most likely. It is annoying that Americans have brought in the idea of free money, undeclared and untaxed, into Australian society. (This is not a personal attack on you.) No tipping anyone, anywhere.

Tauranga Tourism has a great big marquee at the dock where everyone who has booked directly with their registered people meet up and depart. Guaranteed to return on time. Smaller groups. Absolutely much better than using the cruise lines with their inflated prices. They have a range of other tours as well.

V1, V2, V3 and VX denote where on the ship the cabins are located. Look at the deck plan. V1 are midships on several decks (and possibly also deck 8 IIRM); V2 are deck 7 fore and aft near midships; V3 are forward and aft.

A balcony! "Club Veranda" is just Azamara's terminology for a normal balcony cabin. As opposed to "Verandah Plus" which includes internet, laundry and something or other else.

I will repeat advice given previously up thread. Country Club Casual. NO FORMAL. For dinner at night, that means what you would wear to a nice restaurant. Pants and blouse, nice jeans and a collared shirt, slacks and polo top, a dress of any sort. I am a dressy person by nature. During the day in warm climates, shorts and fancy T-shirt or flowy wide leg pants and a floaty top. At night also floaty pants and top. Dressy but definitely not formal. My late husband NEVER wore a jacket or tie. For dinner, slacks and a button-through shirt, slacks and polo, smart jeans and a shirt. During the day, jeans or denim shorts and polo.

This has reminded me to pop a tote in my suitcase for when I board Quezt next week. I know I’ll want it for taking at least a towel to the beach in Busselton. Now to choose which one? Azamara or HAL? I just don’t need another tote, so would rather leave any new one on the ship.

I might add, as long as existing members are adjusted accordingly.

Those points are consistent with other lines. If you pay more for a suite, then extra points per night are earned and deserved. Silversea is now in the position Azamara was, but there are many more SS ships.. Loyalty levels were reciprocated with Celebrity, but not Royal unless you had the relevant Celebrity level earned. With the number of SS ships, I don’t think I would like a Royal Diamond member enjoying all the perks on their first SS cruise when loyal SS guests have spent more money but might miss out on the perks. I speak as an RCI Diamond member, although also Elite earned equally through Azamara and Celebrity. Sure I would like free laundry, but have I earned it on SS? I don’t believe I have as a newcomer. Edit: However, as a marketing ploy…..

That’s correct, of course you can buy cocktails at the Atlas bar. @uktogwas only comparing inclusions between the drinks packages.

You really need to post this on your roll call. That’s where you will find fellow cruisers.

No. By lodging your bid with credit card authorised, you have accepted the cabin you “win”. If you think you might not like the location, do not bid.

Some ports and counties do still require testing. If you are positive, you are not allowed to board. Many of the current problems with the larger ships are that some passengers did not want to forego their holiday, and therefore still boarded the ship and set about infecting other passengers and crew. Last I heard, Azamara was giving a FCC in the case of being COVID positive at the time of the cruise.

That’s atrocious! I thought ship crews included a carpenter to fix these types of items? It really should have been a very minor annoyance that was quickly fixed. If there is no Champagne on board, I would be asking for a refund of the premium package. Why weren’t stocks replenished after the transatlantic? Not good enough at all!

Just $7.00 per day from Premium to Ultimate.

Surely this is something only you can decide? Only you know your budget. If price is not an issue and you prefer a larger, more spacious cabin, then CC is preferable. Similarly for the spa suite, if the price is worth it for the additional space and features, and you like using spa facilities, choose that one.

Yes, all ships have the white night. Men dress in white, too. My late husband would wear jeans or black slacks, but a white or pale lemon shirt. I would wear white capris, but a pale multicoloured loose chiffon shirt. If you don’t have white clothes, it doesn’t matter. If you have a light coloured top or dress though, go with that.

The weight limit is for the charter flight, not for boarding the ship. Were you on a charter flight from Santiago to Buenos Aires?

This incident has been kept very quiet. There isn’t even mention of it in the Viking Expedition thread. I do hope the lady is comfortable during transit and recovers in due course.

Horizontal Falls can be very rough. “White water rafting” type water and whirlpools. Regulations were tightened subsequent to that accident. However, even with very experienced crew, nature can take its own path.

As I will be on a transatlantic with Silversea immediately prior to flying to Santiago, I plan to leave my second suitcase in storage at the hotel. Boots aside, surely one case plus carry on is enough for Antarctica? Even with some bulky layers?

The train can run twice a day, morning and afternoon.

My next door neighbour is on this QE circumnavigation. She will be so disappointed to arrive home early. I just hope she and her older friends are okay. Now for the bun fight of refunds for a week of lost cruising! With international arrivals not having to test at all, and up until these recent outbreaks, not having to provide a supervised RAT on boarding, large outbreaks are not a surprise. Plus the two main factors you highlighted. I wonder if the situation will be different on smaller ships such as Azamara? They do require a supervised RAT or PCR. P.S. I think the relatively small amount of duty free is a minor problem in the scheme of things. I would bet people will just be able to take their purchases home without having to pay duty.

My husband and I sailed QE from Capetown to Fremantle some years ago with another couple. Port Elizabeth, Reunion and Mauritius. We did a ship’s tour in Port Elizabeth to the elephant sanctuary. It was wonderful. Loved seeing the elephants so close, as well as other animals. The seas were calm the entire cruise. During the many days at sea, there were great lectures. Cunard is excellent in this regard. A former Concorde pilot was able to present all ten of his talks over ten days. I like to dress up, but my husband didn’t, but he took a dark suit and moaned! I didn’t like that during the many sea days, were were still kicked out of the bar at 6:00pm because we were wearing shorts when the early diners in tuxes started coming in! Because of the extended days at sea, we were allowed to buy a duty free bottle of spirits to drink in our cabin. On Cunard you can also buy mixers ashore and bring back on board. I carried a slab of Diet Coke back to the ship so my husband could have his bourbon and Coke. Meals were very good. Our waiter would often bring an extra main course for everyone to taste. We had a fun table, fortunately. If you like HAL, you should like Cunard. QM2 is bigger, of course, but special.

No, the cruise ships contract the whole train, except if Good Tours still has his allocation. Many years ago I booked direct with the railway, but they no longer keep seats aside. if you are staying in a hotel, you take the train on a day there is no ship in port.