koconnor214

Based on a message on Twitter, sounds like new ports. i.e. maybe Martinique, etc. 

Awesome review, Sleep7! Loved reliving the cruise and viewing your photos. It was great meeting the two of you; hope to see you again on an upcoming Azamara cruise sometime!

Was looking at their website/app and the possibility of using them for arranging rides from Marseille, etc. to nearly towns. Thanks for any info!

8 minutes ago, excitedofharpenden said:

They do, but there are some timescale limitations depending upon when you booked them. The main one is if you booked one later and within 90 days of sailing it should be done within 14 days of booking. Check the terms and conditions. The way you have done it is entirely correct. If you use a travel agent I would check with them. If you made the booking direct then I would check it with Azamara directly. 
 

https://www.azamara.co.uk/plan/back-to-back-voyages
 

Phil 

Thank you!

We are on two upcoming consecutive cruises next month. Had booked one cruise originally, then decided to add the second cruise later to stay on the ship another week. I assume separate bookings qualify for the OBC offer? I’ve tried to fill out the onboard form to claim the onboard spending credits with the two booking numbers several times but it doesn’t seem to process and nothing has shown up in my account. Thanks for any guidance!

25 minutes ago, Jem 12 said:

Did you by any chance do a screen shot ? 

No, I could kick myself!!

7 minutes ago, uktog said:

Did you book direct or through a travel agent?

If through an agent you might have got caught out by something they have done re the booking

We booked it directly on the Azamara website. 

A friend and I were on the Quest Barcelona cruise last week (2nd Quest cruise in 6 weeks); we booked this online back in February during their limited time offer of $1000 OBC per cabin. Long story short—-there was no OBC in our accounts when we boarded the ship and we were not able to get the Guest Relations Desk to remedy this; they said we booked a “last-minute voyage” (which was inaccurate). I have emailed Guest Relations and the Loyalty department; anyone have any suggestion on best way to handle this? 
 

Several of us were planning on booking another cruise on their current special, but now are apprehensive!

Thanks, everyone! Coincidentally, I was on an AA flight this morning back home; I got off the flight and went directly to the Admiral’s Club…was able to speak with a great agent there and she got on the phone and went to bat for me to find a later, better connection (one seat opened up on BA while she was speaking with them). I quoted you guys as to definitely not being able to make the earlier flight!
 

It’s still somewhat early (11:30am) and through Heathrow on BA but much better than 9:40am! Thanks again!

My airline (AA) changed the time of my flight from Barcelona on June 4 from 1:30pm to 9:40am. The ship docks at 6am; is making that flight at all possible if we arranged for a private transfer? The later options are weird connections or on other airlines so I thought I’d ask the community. 

I always take my hair flat iron on Azamara and have never had a problem. 

I realize Italy’s restrictions expired 3/31. Is Azamara allowing passengers to disembark for individual shore excursions now? Have a cruise leaving 4/23 and hope to be able to explore on our own and take advantage of local tour operators. 

11 minutes ago, excitedofharpenden said:

Yes, you are still eligible for the b2b OBC. 

 

Phil 

Thank you, Phil!

Hi, I wanted to see if anyone could weigh in whether solo cabins on back-to-back voyages are eligible for the OBC bonus or is that restricted to double occupancy cabins? Thanks in advance!

On 8/20/2019 at 8:26 AM, Host Grandma Cruising said:

He hosted our dinner table in July but I can’t remember his name either.

Finally remembered the Safety Officer’s name—-Vangelis! He was really fun at dinner and we were all impressed he followed up with the bridge tour invitation. 

1 hour ago, laurieb said:

“Food was great; especially the Signature Chef’s Table”

is this a new chef’s table?

Yes, they told us it was a brand new one and Chef Iwan was the first to offer this. The idea is for the chef to design the menu and prepare anything they’d like; i.e. signature dish, etc. The menu was mainly seafood; scallops, monkfish, etc.; absolutely beautifully presented. Each course was a work of art with lots of detail....gold, caviar, edible flowers, etc. 

4 hours ago, norn iron said:

Fantastic story. I'm so glad it had a happy ending.

 

It's a good rational to convince passengers to carry photocopies of their passports when ashore.

 

This thread would not be out of place on the Azamara v Oceania thread.

Whilst I do not know how Oceania crew would react, it is a great story to show the extra mile the Azamara crew go, and what sets them apart.

Thank you!

And, she had a copy of her passport; we thought that would be sufficient. That’s the reason I was planning to go back to the ship to get her essentials (just in case) and the copy out of the safe.  No go! 

4 hours ago, uktog said:

What a happy end and a wonderful story.

was the safety officer George from Greece.  He cohosted his first table a couple of months ago with the Captain and we said after, he’s going to be an awesome host.

And yes, we always mention the security team, they are wonderful absolutely on top of the job, always diligent but with a smile and a lovely welcome. 

Yes,  he is from Greece; but his name wasn’t George. It’s driving me crazy that I can’t remember his name! 

Cruised with a friend of mine on the recent 7/29 12 day Baltics cruise, including 3 days in St. Petersburg. Itinerary was awesome, including what we thought would be a really boring day down the Kiel Canal...ended up being a had a great day watching the locals waving enthusiastically as we made our way down the canal.

Food was great; especially the Signature Chef’s Table ...first Chef’s Table either of us had attended...my best friend and her husband who were on a France-Intensive Cruise recently (at my recommendation...they had never been on Azamara and her husband hated cruises) highly recommended doing this. We met some wonderful people including our next door cabin neighbors; who we continued to speak with throughout the cruise. Iwan, the chef, was great; it was a wonderful meal and we were proud to be a part of the first Signature Chefs Table! But, the best part of the meal was meeting our table host, the Journey’s Safety Officer..the first time he had ever hosted a table.  He was an absolutely charming host....funny, sharp and self-effacing at the same time...and obviously so proud to be on the Azamara team. After a few rounds of wine which we all enjoyed, he invited us all to attend a private bridge tour, and to our surprise, a few days later, an invitation appeared in our cabin. What a great guy and the bridge tour was so interesting! Captain Johannes was there and everyone answered all questions so patiently and of course, we have the obligatory photos of each of us steering the ship with huge smiles!

And, to come to how valuable a knowledgeable and caring crew is—-my roommate had her passport (and credit cards and money) stolen our last day in St Petersburg. For those of you who have been there,  YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO LEAVE RUSSIA and board the ship.... She discovered it at lunchtime; we called the emergency numbers at the US Embassy in Washington DC and the US Embassy in Moscow; got voicemail at both. We called the emergency number on my ship keycard (since hers was stolen); Azamara told her they would send someone to meet her at Immigration at 4:30pm before the ship was due to leave Russia. 

I’ll cut to the chase...she was told by the ships officers who met her at Immigration she was stuck in Russia and would need to head to Moscow that night ( a 8hr drive) to be at the US Embassy the next morning to apply for a new passport. Separately, when I went through security to get back in the ship (I thought I was just packing an overnight bag in case she needed it...haha) I was instantly summoned into a meeting with the chief officers of the Journey, who reintegrated the need to make sure my friend had a secure and safe passage to Russia (via taxi, since you had to have a passport for the train!), a safe hotel for several days, etc. and that I needed to go pack her bags since she would not be able to rejoin the ship...it would take several days to get the new passport!

And, kudos here to TJ Travel, our St Petersburg tour company, and the wonderful fellow people from our cruise in our tour group...everyone helped in trying to help out with cash for her to take to Moscow since she had no credit cards/money.. I.was in tears at the generousity of you all! 

And, the story had a happy ending after all! If any of you who were on the cruise you already know how it ended ( we were a pretty infamous at this point!) Jan was in a car on the way to Moscow (she never got upset; I think she was in shock!), and I was in the cabin luxuriating in a room by myself (haha) —-it was about 10 minutes before we were leaving port. The cabin phone rang and it was one of the officers saying the Hermitage Museum had found her passport in the trash (whoever stole it just dumped it and kept the cc/cash) and there was someone on the way to the museum to retrieve it and they had called the car to Moscow and it was turning around....and, no matter what, THE SHIP WOULD WAIT FOR HER. 

So, she made it back to the ship. Our officers were absolutely wonderful; our fellow ship passengers awesome....we both made so many friends! Special thanks to: Fred, the Hotel Manager, Tiago, Guest Relations; Danny, the Cruise Director (what a sweetheart!), our Safely Director (can’t remember how to spell his name, sorry!), the Port Security  guy (I know he has a title; he was great!), the Security folks at the scanning stations when you reboard the ship who had to relive me getting on and off the ship with my roommates’s bags (damn, she had a lot of crap!) and the Head Bartender who actually brought a glass of wine down to the gangway upon hearing the situation!

So, what could have been a disastrous ending to a great trip ended up being a great travel story! It was SO great meeting so many new caring, fun friends and hope to see you all soon!!!! And, I think this whole “adventure” shows how you can’t recreate the camaraderie and caring from the crew and fellow passengers that you see on an Azamara Cruise!

And, apologies for the long post!! Thought it was important to call out the crew and all the friends we made for all the caring and fun!!

1 hour ago, Salf777 said:

FYI to all helping out in this thread. I contacted Azamara directly and this was their response:

 

Thank you for contacting us regarding the above referenced sailing.

 

We appreciate your interest in our bedding items used onboard. These were obtained from Standard Textile. Their main telephone number is 1-800-999-0400. Please feel free to contact them for information about their products.

 

Thank you for allowing me to address this concern.

 

Sincerely,

If you find the pillows there, please let me know. I’ve been in contact with Pacific Coast and gave them the UPC code—they were very nice but told me that the pillows were purchased by Azamara from a wholesale distributor (maybe Standard Textile?) and are not available for direct purchase. She recommended a pillow they have that is similar, but since I’ve bought so many pillows in the past that I end up disliking, I’d rather wait and try and find the exact Azamara ones!

Thanks,

Karen

Thank you Ithikan and Lottie A! 

7 hours ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

02552134503. 4

Thank you SO much!! Have a great rest of your cruise!

Karen

Enjoying your posts/photos!

I have a huge favor to ask—I absolutely LOVE the pillows on Azamara and am trying to order some from the manufacturer, but they need the UPC code off the pillow tag  to determine which ones they are. If you get a chance, could you take a look? It is found under the bar code on the “Do Not Remove” tag and should look like 0 25521 xxxxx x per the company. 

Thank you so much in advance! I have bought so many pillows and none of mine are as comfortable as the ones on the ships! 

2 hours ago, Lottie A said:

Karen, I'm on Pursuit in 9 days and if no-one else replies to you then I will have a look for the UPC number on the pillows and post it here. 

Thank you so much! 

Karen

If anyone on the ship could give me the UPC number on the Azamara pillows, I would appreciate it! I called Pacific Coast—they need the code to determine which pillows Azamara Is using since they are not buying directly from Pacific Coast. The code is found under the bar code on the do not remove tags and should look like 

this—

             25521 xxxx x

Thanks  for any help with this! Karen