Azamarajunkie

Agree wholeheartedly with UK Tog, it can easily be done on your own. After our first visit there by Cruise ship, we have twice stayed in Monemvasia for a couple of days on our yearly land tour of The Peloponnese. If you're feeling energetic and are reasonably fit, then the climb up to the top of the old town offers great views. If you walk through to the end of the town by the Hotel Malvasia there is a bar that sell excellent fresh Lemonade.

Thanks for the reply, Rooibos now packed in the suitcase. We join Ovation next Saturday so looking forward to warmer climes. In the past on Odyssey I used to make my tea at the early risers facility in the Observation lounge before breakfast so will go armed with Rooibos teabag this year. 

I regularly drink Rooibos (Redbush) tea, can anyone confirm or otherwise whether this is available on Ovation, or should I bring my own?

Currently on Journey, Schweppes Light and Canada Dry light tonic freely in use. Our fridge has been stocked well with Schweppes Tonic since we boarded  3 weeks ago by our able butler Angelo. 

212 on board Journey this week, not sure about the Greek Health Officer but  masks are mostly being worn so far with the odd rebel. 

Just joined the Journey in Athens today with LFT test from Chronomics which was done at 4pm yesterday and printed out resultant certificate from their lab. Certificate was scrutinised at check in and accepted without issue.   We used the same provider on our recent Onward maiden voyage again without any issues There were a lot of people having tests done at check in. 

22 hours ago, uktog said:

Unfortunately I have read a report elsewhere that the Chronomics results were not accepted by Azamara at the weekend and guests were made to pay the $59 at the port (Athens) for a retest.  This inconsistency is getting beyond a joke!

Yes, we read that too, however looking at my Azamara Guest Ticket booklet for my upcoming cruise clearly states “The negative test result must be from a test laboratory or a licensed testing site. At-home or self-testing kits without a test certificate are not accepted.”

Chronomics provide a test certificate which we had printed out and used for our recent Onward cruise without difficulty. We will use this again as planned. We have a fall back of taking one at our hotel if more reliable information to the contrary becomes available. What is not clear from the posts made on Facebook is whether the Athens boarding check in staff are using the 24hour rule or previous day rule to refuse the test. The original poster did not give the reason why her test was not valid. We have our fingers crossed!  

On 6/1/2022 at 3:14 PM, yogagal47 said:

The Navica app stores your results and you also get an email-I'll be overnighting at Hotel Alex at Piraeus so perhaps they can print it  for me

We stayed in The Alex last September whilst on our land tour of Greece. We had to do Lateral Flow tests for our return to the UK which the receptionist kindly printed out for us when we received the email results from our test provider (Chronomics). 
 

We are staying again at The Alex prior to joining the Journey in 3 weeks time and will be doing our pre boarding LFT there. 

2 hours ago, excitedofharpenden said:

Steve, thanks. I guess my question is given the extra CC suites on Onward, is the spa deck crowded?  Sounds like they've had a change of heart, maybe with comments onboard or observation as to what little use it gets with just the large suites. Or maybe it's WIP?🤷‍♂️

 

Phil 

Only the 4 of us on the 3 occasions we used it. There are 16 sunbed with the new cushions but definitely WIP, no pool bar service yet in there and the phone didn’t have their number. 

This is the letter we received in our CC suite clearly stating the Thalassotherapy pool and spa deck is included. For most of our cruise that ended today, it was not available until 3 days ago due to ongoing works. Entry had to be made through the Gym as the changing rooms are still being refurbished.  There are still various works in progress around the ship but be assured the Azamara crew, waiting staff, butlers, room stewards etc are as good as they’ve ever been. Just don’t assume you’ll be able to use the Internet as you do at home, it’s not brilliant and is clearly affected by the ships position, especially in places like Kotor.  

We arrived at Venice airport at 11.30 having used the included transfer from Ravenna. We left slightly later than planned due to the arrival of Oceania Nautica putting out her lines at 8.50 am. The coach stopped for a quick comfort break after an hour.  As our Azamara booked flight isn’t until 6.55pm we are using a dayroom at the Hilton North until 4pm rather than hang around the airport until check in/bag drop opens   

On board Onward at the moment in a CC Suite we have a letter from the Hotel Director welcoming us to the ship confirming the Spa is a suite benefit. Sadly we can’t currently use it as its one of the small things not finished. 
 

p.s Internet is very slow so resorted to using phone data whilst in port. 

4 hours ago, travelberlin said:

By now some cruisers have already embarked on an Azamara ship under the policy that guests should bring their own test results. Can you please share your experiences made at embarkation?

Ivi

We are currently on board Onward, we took a LFT 1 day before boarding with Chronomics which is a home test that you upload a picture of the cassette showing your result into their system. They then send you back the result onto your account showing date and time of the result which you can print out. We showed this at check in at Monaco who noted down the negative result and date taken. Provided this was the day before all was fine and we were allowed to board. The test did not have to be proctored.   Hope this helps. 

Sorry if I’ve missed this information, is The Patio restaurant in operation during the day and evening?

Also it will be handy to know if it is possible to get some of the included drinks offerings in the Atlas bar, as not everyone will want/can have heavily sugar laden cocktails.

3 minutes ago, Riocca said:

I’ve just spoken to Azamara and it’s anytime the day before embarking not 24 hours.

Thanks, that’s a great relief. 

15 minutes ago, suttonrunner said:

I have just received an email for my upcoming 8th May Cruise.  Azamara informed me that they will no longer be processing pre boarding Covid tests.  They will still need proof of a Negative PCR test taken within 72 hours pre boarding or an Antigen test  taken no later than one day pre boarding.  I am quite pleased about that as I  always worry  what may happen if I  test positive on the pier.

We have just received that letter, is it 1 day or 24 hours before boarding for an Antigen test. This has an impact if we are staying at an airport hotel before flying on the day of embarkation.  

I could understand if it’s COVID related, but Financial as well?  I agree with UKTOG , You need to speak to Heike for the definitive answer she will also want to know if any Butlers are giving incorrect information. Not great if it’s true, was looking forward to next weeks cruise and our summer ones, now not so much if we lose the Spa perk. 

2 hours ago, Riocca said:

Our cruise planner is now showing an AzAmazing evening for Onwards maiden 2nd May, it’s in Livorno and different from the ones we’ve had in Livorno before.

 

OVERVIEW

Discover the charms of Livorno at night during this exclusive evening event. A pleasant walk brings you to Livorno’s Old Fortress, which dates to medieval times and has witnessed many historical events. Explore the monument and its spaces, taking in every detail of the castle, which has been described as a “symbol of Medicean Livorno”. Indulge in a Tuscan aperitif made from fresh, local ingredients, and sip on a glass of wine as you explore the fortress. Afterwards, take a seat and enjoy a performance of La Traviata, a beautiful Italian opera featuring one of the most iconic, and tragic scores of all time. The Renaissance setting, Tuscan flavors, and romantic opera combine to immerse you in an authentic Italian experience and leave you with memories that will last forever. LVNO

We too are looking forward to this on the Christening Cruise, interestingly if you zoom into the Old Fortress on Google Earth, you can see a stage and seating set out in the open for a previous event. Fingers crossed the weather is good.

2 hours ago, Mrs Miggins said:

I would like to do the same but our flights were booked via Azamara as I was worried about our eventual docking area and transfers. which I knew were tenuous.   We are on the 17.15 from Marco Polo.  

 

We also booked ours with Azamara  but they have given us the 18.55 flight from Marco Polo to Heathrow. We’re hoping they don’t transfer us to the airport too early.

Last time we went to Ravenna on AZ , there was an excellent shore excursion to the Ferrari Museum in Bologna. Thoroughly enjoyable and well worth the money for petrolheads like me!  Will be interesting to see if it’s repeated this year.

We use Chronomics who have been very reliable for us, but I’m not sure you would get them in time. They have always delivered to us by DPD, but you have to order them at least 5 days before travel.

Having considered all the responses and opinions on this thread and having checked our annual insurance with our bank, we have decided to use the discounted fit to fly tests from British Airways for the Onward christening cruise. We have used these on our last three holidays since September 2021 and they have met our insurance and travel requirements in the past. They are also very reasonable at £13.50 each, It’s a small price to pay for peace of mind.

We received the email direct from AZ then had another sent by our TA. We are booked on the Journey Black Sea cruise on the 27th June, we originally booked this cruise on its original itinerary back in 2018, and this is our 3rd attempt to go, to be honest, so long as the cruise starts and ends in Athens on the same dates as planned (we are on a B2B)) we will be happy to go anywhere!