TalaTraveller

It took the approval of the ship, the municipality, and the port authority, but it was approved! Have a look at the video:

 

 

Thanks for watching! :)

Thank you very much for posting this we will be aboard next week and it has boosted our excitement no end. :):):):)

If I remember correctly, once a favoured wine had been introduced, it can be requested on subsequent days, if one doesn't like the daily choice.

We found that the the wines of the day change, but, if the wine available is not to your liking then they will be able to get one that you prefer for you.

Brandies are not available on the list, not even the cheaper brands, we spoke to the hotel manager, Phillip, he said it is a gap in the menu but the premium brands are available at the extra cost.

Not all cocktails are available but if you know the recipe then you can mix it yourself, e.g a Cosmopolitan you can get a vodka with Cranberry juice and a separate Cointreau and there you go, stirred not shaken.

Package beers were Budweiser, Beck's and Bud Light, there beers had to be purchased.

I hope this helps

Cheers!

Gary

Hi Travels with Lisa

We were on a HAL ship in November, the ship went into 3 parts of Fiordland National Park, Doubtful Sound, Dusky Sound and Milford Sound where the ship does a 360 turn to come back out, it was really great. In effect it isn't 3 hours it's the whole day.

There was some show on the top of the mountains, and some water falls but you need to have rain in the area before you get there to make the waterfalls flow. It is a truly beautiful place to visit.

The Tasman sea was rough while we were there, in the Fiords it was very peaceful and tranquil, enjoy your trip.

Gary

You are welcome Nanwicha we hope you do enjoy your trip.

Just to help this is a video on Youtube of the Costa Atlantica we travelled on

You may have already but there are lots of films of the cruise ships on You Tube [as well as destinations] with reviews I use Popular Cruising videos to get a really good 'quality video' idea of the ships, they also publish newsletters if you subscribe to their channel.

Happy Viewing

Gary

Dear Namwicha

I feel that it might help if I input here to try to allay your fears.

Yes I am a Euro [british] and have experience of American and European shipping lines, there is not much difference really, you will get good service and an excellent holiday on the Costa ship.

In 2012 we booked a 1 week cruise on the Costa Atlantica from Limassol, we live in Cyprus so it is only 45minutes to the port so very handy for us. We were really wowed by the decor of the ship all that Glass and Marble it is really something to behold. The staff showed us to our stateroom as is the norm and were very courteous.

The ship has over 2,500 passengers that were mostly European cousins from France, Germany and Italy; we as British were in the minority as will be expected from an Italian owned cruise line.

All the staff spoke excellent English, most of the wait staff, bar staff and cabin staff are from the Indian sub continent or from Asia we had no problem communicating with them at all they spoke great English, the senior staff all spoke English very well.

On Most cruse lines English is the only Unifying Language, on our recent Azamara Quest cruise, they have about 70 different nationalities working aboard, they all spoke English.

The ship was a very busy one, there was a lot going on with the animations team doing the entertaining and a a lot of locations it became crowded, I don't like crowds so I tend to avoid them.

The Buffet dining was a problem partly because of the Layout of the serving areas also our European Cousins do not like to wait their turn so they push in line to get served first; I suggest if this is a problem go early or later to the buffet to have an easier time, alternatively find somewhere quieter like the Pool Bar or MDR.

The entertainment aboard is mostly non-Linguistic Because of the many different languages of the passengers the shows are Singing, Dancing, Juggling [one was with Live Chainsaws!] and Acrobatics. The bars all had music in them, mostly live music which could be over loud sometimes but it was entertaining.

We went on some Excursions on the Cruise and yes we did find that one was cancelled in Heraklion to Knossos because not enough English speakers were on the tour. We now research before the cruise to see if there are any trips being organised through CC and the role-call or what the main attractions are in the ports of call. In most cities these days there is a Hop on Hop off bus that will take you around the main sights so you can make the day of your visit. I spend a lot of time doing this research, it has proved very valuable.

Like life, there will be things that you will not be happy with but we can live with it, if asked to rate this cruise I would give it 8/10. We did a MSC cruise in 2013 which we would rate lower primarily that the crew weren't very happy, but that is another story.

As a closing comment, on the last but one night before we debarked the ship, the Mater'd came to us and asked that because we were English, an Indian Chef had asked if we would like a special Curry prepared for our last night aboard, as they know us Brit's like a good Curry, we accepted the offer and it was great. That is what I call thoughtful good service.

I hope this helps with your future thoughts for your Up coming cruise. We have seen the MS Deliziosa cruise from Miami to Venice in March next year... we are tempted, we shall see

Good Luck with your further plans.

Gary

We are on the March 16th Journey sailing and not sure if this is something we should book. Did they mention any improvements to this experience? From what you posted, does not sound like the typical Azamara special experience.

Dear Loucat, we were on a Quest cruise last year and had a great Az-Amazing evening in Kerala India, we were met by Painted elephants an were entertained with local Dancers even the Kathikali performers in very high temperatures.

We are currently en route to our second Azamara Quest cruise to Astralia and the great Barrier reef, the Az-Amazing evening is in an Aboriginal cultural centre in Cairns.

All the nights are different depending on where the ship is on the Itinerary, don't boycot it, it will be great -enjoy!

G

Hi Bonnie

I have now heard from the team to say the points have been added to our LCV total, so we are now all set.

Panic over :0)

We have a problem with our LCV points, we did a Quest cruise last year, in 3 weeks time we go on another Quest cruise from Sydney.

I emailed Nichole Lukas to find out our points balance and what our benefits will be on the next one, eventually I had a message back to say that we didn't have any balance points as the last cruise hadn't been added.

The asked us to provide proof that we did the cruise, photos etc this I have done but a week later and a phone call to the office yesterday has not achieved anything.

How are points added? I have no idea should it be added at the time of booking?

Has anyone else had a problem about adding points retrospectively to LCV or what can we do to resolve this issue?

Have a great trip Andy, try not to drop anything on the new Carpet!

Thanks for all the Photos and burning the midnight Oil for us on the thread.

Best Wishes

G

Hi Andy Thanks for posting this thread on the Journey, it will be great once finished.

We are on the Quest in 3 weeks time and look forward to seeing the refurbishment in December when we sail on her again.

Thank you for all your efforts and for the team effort on the ship, it must be a logistical nightmare but seems to be going very well!

we will be arriving Santorini on 4-27-2016 via MSC Orchestra. Most of the tours I found were "private", the prices are either almost the same or more than the ship charges. Like to know if anyone can show me how to tour Santorini by ourselves, thank you. We would love to go to Fira and Oia.

We have been to Santorini 3 times, the problem when you have a large cruise ship in the port is that you will be tendered in to the harbour, this results in long lines to get to Fira.

There are 2 ways up to the rim of Fira, the Cable Car or the Donkey Derby. The latter is an adventure!

There tend to be long lines to get to the Cable car but an alternative is to get a boat trip from the dock area to Oia, you will be met at the dock by small bus and taken to the bus stop there.

It is very easy to wander around Oia then you can get the bus to Fira, have some lunch there and then walk down or take the cable car to dock to get the tender back to the ship. Check but the bus to Fira might be included in the ferry price

Santorini is an amazing place to visit. Enjoy!

G

Hi Azamara cruisers! My husband and I are seriously thinking about moving a Med cruise in 2017 from Celebrity to Azamara. We're so close to making the move that I thought it was time to stop lurking and start talking!:o

 

If we make the move, it will be primarily because Azamara has the itinerary we want, although I'm also excited to cruise on a smaller ship. It looks like Azamara would provide a great on-board experience and be less chaotic (both on the ship and in port) than the big ships we've been on so far.

 

A couple questions...

 

We're Diamond on RCI/Elite on Celebrity. We'll be on the Equinox in March. Is it worth it to wait until we're on the Celebrity ship to book?

 

We're not currently using a travel agent, but I've read several posts here about that being important so I'm going to look into it. I know the rules don't allow you to recommend or even mention a TA, but I'd like to locate someone who specializes in Azamara as opposed to Carnival. Are there some key words I can use in Google that will lead me to the information I'm looking for? Are the big on-line agencies OK, or do I need to look for someone local?

 

Thanks! I'm looking forward to planning over the next 16+ months!:)

Hi Cindy

In our opinion The Azamara line is very good, we have been on one cruise and have 2 more booked. We are not up to some of the numbers of fellow contributors on these threads but we love cruising and are keen to do many more.

Regarding the use of TA's. My better half is very good at finding good offers on line, we use a TA company that we used a number of years ago and they offer a very good service, so we went back to them.

We discuss the options available with them then they sort out the booking. The price we pay is usually the same as if we went direct to the Operator. We know as we check on the cruise company's website. They then obviously get a commission from the Cruise line. They are also the firewall if there is a problem that needs sorting out.

If you have a good TA then use them if not go DIY. Ours on a recent HAL cruise gave us a free bottle of wine and a Lunch in a speciality restaurant. Little touches, yes, but it is a way of saying 'thank you'

On another note, when we have spoken to the Future Cruise Agents onboard the ships about future bookings, we have found that the price quoted for these bookings was far more than than the ones we subsequently looked at once back home like 'buy one get one half price' or 'two level upgrade'. Has anyone else found this to be so? Anyway, best to do your homework then discuss it with a TA see if they can do any better.

Good luck with your searches.

G

We are due to sail with AZ for the first time next year. We normally cruise with X but felt that the changes that were being made were against why cruised with them originally.

In researching cruises for 2016 we looked at alternatives and found that AZ appealed to us. It had a sound history of very good customer service and quality of food. AZ also had destinations that were interesting with destinations we had not been to before. I review the topics on the AZ page as well as the roll call for our ship. I have been alarmed at several threads relating below quality food in the MDR and concerns of the daily wine available. These are similar to the issues that we experienced on X, smaller portions of food, inconsistent food quality in the MDR, reductions in staffing levels and changes to entertainment, which is why we looked at other cruise lines. We are now wondering if the reputation that AZ had still stacks up and have we made a mistake by cruising with them . This is not a small amount of money to gamble with and we will watching the AZ message board for developments. I have a theory that post ship refurb cruise lines look at rationalising services to off set refurb costs.

Hi Chromered7

Do not worry about the cruise, we were on our first AZ cruise in March 2015. We have our next booked for Feb 2016 and again for Dec 2016.

Yes there will be some points that will be disappointments, but on the whole we had a fantastic time. We found the food fantastic. Their poolside buffets were immaculately planned, and the staff couldn't do enough for you. Try the restaurant brunches - they are awesome with such a choice you won't know where to start!

If you want something special for dinner, if you talk to the Maitre D with 24 hours notice they will prepare it for you, we did with a Chinese meal, it was great.

We found the wines perfectly drinkable, with wines from a different country offered each day.

Go for it and enjoy; and you will have a great time.

G

For those had been to both parks, which one is better?

Our ship is scheduled to stop at Hobart (just hope she will make it there). We are trying to come up with a tour to see the best of the area. We asked for Port Arthur and Bonorong (on the same tour), the company stated Bonorong and Port Arthur is very distance to each others to do both therefore we might have to re-consider either one of those below.

 

1. FULL DAY - Port Arthur with Tasman Wildlife Park

2. Mt. Wellington + Bonorong Wildlife Park

 

Per this board Bonorong is closer and we can see all Australian animals here.

 

The tour company said Tasman Wildlife Park is closer to Port Arthur and we can see the same animals there.

Please give me your opinions.

 

Thank you.

Hi ChattTen

We did the Bonorong - MONA wine tasting trip from HAL, the Bonorong part of the trip was great we loved feeding the kangaroos and seeing the Tazmainian Devils.

We then went to Richmond where they have one of the oldest Goals in Tasmania, we would have loved to have looked around it but we didn't have time.

The MONA part of the trip was to include lunch, the guide said that it would be worthwhile while in Richmond to grab something to eat at the Bakery, very good pies! The MONA lunch would be very light, just cheese, meats and pickles so something more substantial would be needed. We did as she advised and were pleased we did.

The art Gallery at MONA was available to visit if you wanted but you would need to pay for entry and then find your own way back to the ship. The wines were not to our liking at all so we were disappointed with that part of the tour.

If we had a chance again we would have preferred to do the Port Arthur visit, being British anyway, to see what our ancestors did there.

We thought the excursions on the ship to be expensive, there might be less expensive options available to you on other web sites etc.

Regards

G

We will have 3 days (in early March 2016) pre cruise before boarding a cruise ship. As we have never been in New Zealand nor Auckland, we need your recommendation for stuffs that needed to see in or around Auckland to make the most of our 3 days there.

 

Thank you for you helps in advance.

 

Truyen

Hi ChattTenn

We did exactly the same as you are going to, we stayed in the Skytower hotel at the base of the Tower so it was easy to find our way back to the hotel.

Auckland is a very easy city to navigate around, we went to Waheke island on the Fullers wine tasting trip, the guide was very informative, he lives on the island so he should. The wine was good, the scenery was fantastic, it was a very sunny day though. We had the opportunity to leave the island later so we had a meal at the beach club in Onero, good food, great view, then got the ferry back to Auckland

Wynyard crossing will take you to the Marina area, there are a number of Bars and Restaurants there that serve good food.

A nice walk on the second day through Auckland Domain Botanical Gardens then to the Museum was great. A visit to the Skytower is a must once the ship is in dock gives great views of the surrounding area and the ship.

This was our first cruise on HAL we found the trip truly amazing especially cruising through the Fjordland national park. We saw Dolphins on a boat trip in Akaroa which was great

The crew on the ship were very good and were very attentive without being too much so.

We spent 3 days in Sydney at the end of the cruise just to round it off. We love Sydney and will be back in February for the start of our next adventure and looking forward to it very much.

We hope this is helpful for you, we hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

G

We've booked an Eastern Caribbean cruise on Westerdam for this March. I've hear there is a BBQ held one night on deck, perhaps around the pool? I would appreciate any information on this.

 

Thanks.

We were on the Noordam for the New Zealand-Australia cruise in November, on the ship they did 2 BBQ's. The first we couldn't find a table on the Pool deck so we didn't join in.

The second we were already by the pool before the BBQ started. Incidentally the food was ready before the time stated in the newsletter the tables were pretty well occupied before the allotted time I would suggest if you want to join in the BBQ then get there early.

The food was nice, good cuts of meat the salads were great, here is the however! The vegetables were grossly overcooked that were in the heated dishes and the meat once served was cold by the time we got back to the table. A shame really but when you are in the open, although the roof was over the pool, it was disappointing in the end.

The point I am making is one very small point, the rest of the cruise was fantastic the food in the MDR and the Lido was great and the staff were some of the best we have met on a cruise ship.

Happy sailing

G

We are taking our first Azamara cruise next year.

 

I came across a reference to the "White Night" in one of the topics on here. Can someone tell me what that is?

 

 

Oops --- I found an earlier thread where this is explained so please ignore this post.

We were on our first Azamara Cruise in March this year, the White night deck party was great, they had an Indian themed buffet as we were in that area at the time. There was good music and dancing a good time was had by all.