AllisonJames

So, amazingly I can now see most of the shore excursions for our Scotland Intensive 8/17/23…although it still says we are on a 16 night Norway Intensive! Several months ago I happened to print out from the PDF the summary pages by location with names of excursions, prices, times and length. Started looking these up online and OMG AZ may have finally gone over the edge. The vast majority of the prices are 60-80% more than the prices from the original PDF. There’s barely an excursion under $100…some examples-Cawdor Castle and Gardens, (4 hrs, 15) was $99, now $164; Scenery of Western Shetland (3 hours) was $79, now $129; Nevis Range Gondolas (4 hrs, 45) was $129, now $204. Then in the Glasgow section it actually gets to the point where I want to believe the prices are just completely in error….Stirling Castle (4 hrs, 30) was $99, now $249; Glasgow & Pollok House, (5 hrs 45), was $169, now $324!!! And WAIT FOR IT - Glasgow on Your Own, which I took on my last AZ cruise and is merely bus transportation from Greenock to Glasgow - was $79, now $174!!!!! On the smaller Islands they really have us over a barrel as there aren’t many private tour providers, however…Stirling Castle (very common tour) and Glasgow???? And can I just say I miss the days we had Bonnie monitoring this board and would answer questions and get us info? Because at this point a tin can and string would be as effective as trying to get them on the phone right now.

Just went on to look at our 8/17/23 booking. First of all, our cruise has two different names, on main page it is correct — Scotland Intensive, when I click on Manage my reservation, apparently I am actually going on Norway Intensive despite the fact that not a single one of our ports is in Norway. Did not see onboard credit anywhere, tried to click “Book” on one shore excursion just to see if somehow credit would appear on booking page..booking button did not work at all, nothing happened. Guess I will check back in a little while. Also, shore excursion descriptions are not showing and most of the names appear as numbers/letters (like AEJ14 or some such) so apparently we just guess what we are booking. Definitely still a major work in progress!

Wow…quite a lot of conflicting info/opinions on this one! We like to try different cocktails (although I have become quite the fan of rum drinks inspired by trips to Hawaii in 2021 and 2022 so would like to see more of those…) and yes, better wines and the Atlas Cocktails definitely are playing a role in us leaning toward getting the Ultimate package on our next cruise (Journey, Scotland Intensive, 8/17/23). I remember we really enjoyed the Den on the Pursuit (were very happy to see the casino go) and then went on Journey after that before the Den had been done there and it was a bit of a let-down. So I was just thinking about Atlas and if we will get a chance to try it out and if the other ships will have it. Does anyone know when drydock are scheduled? Any upcoming?

I was getting excited to try the Atlas Bar but then I realized my next cruise in August is not on Onward and the other ships don’t have it…yet???? Are there plans to add it? Even though some guests don’t like that the drawing room was turned into a Bar, it seems from most reports that overall it is popular.

This is wonderful news! I am glad these vessels will be all together and cruising the rivers again! We were booked on our very first river cruise, Crystal Bach, for June 2020…well, we all know what happened with that plan. Thought we had missed our opportunity to experience those gorgeous boats…now, who knows? Might get to try them after all! Will be anxiously awaiting reviews and photos!

As I was reading this thread, it reminded me I owe all the Fever Tree fans on this board an expression of appreciation. 4-5 years ago Fever Tree was not widely known in the U.S. My husband and I were in Scotland prior to an AZ cruise and we were buying gin to enjoy in our hotel room. I said “let’s get this Fever Tree tonic that’s what everyone on Cruisecritic says is the best”…well of course we will accept nothing else now and were very happy when it became more available in the U.S….although we admit to a little hoarding due to occasional supply chain issues! Azamara…PLEASE OFFER FEVER TREE!

Pre-Covid, I was critical of AZ’s “sales” that weren’t actual sales to those of us who track prices on certain sailings. However, I have found the Double Upgrade Sale to be an exception (if you had a booking on an eligible sailing). We are booked on 8/17/23 Scotland Intensive (already a rebooking of a rebooking due to Covid)…Friday our travel agent was able to rebook us at savings of $3,000 and our friends (this will be their first time on AZ, actually first time on a cruise!) as well…we had to give up the Essentials package offered when we rebooked initially) but since it only costs $599 to purchase we are still way ahead from the ability to do this. Pre-Covid we were also considering some other lines (mostly due to what we considered to be poor quality included beverages)…but between the Perry Golf offerings, the rebooking policies and offers with included premium beverage package & ability to spend only a little more to upgrade to ultimate package…we are considering booking another 2/3 more AZ cruises for 2024 (and hopefully more to come as we may be retiring in next 2 years or so…) Thank you AZ and we are sticking around!

We love AZ, but if I was going on a crossing or a World Cruise I would probably choose Viking. The ships are so gorgeous and have more facilities (especially pools indoor and outdoor) than AZ. We sailed Viking in the Med in December and it was perfect for slightly chilly weather with the heated outdoor infinity pool and the indoor pool/sauna/snow room facilities open to all guests (not just those with spa appts). But I agree with others that we found the service and guests less friendly than on AZ.

Here they are….

On Thursday we got an email with a preview of the April - Dec 2024 golf cruises —Jan - March was already up. Did not include complete itineraries but did include dates and general itinerary highlights. Just sharing because that seems like AZ might launch the complete list for April - Dec relatively soon…and if anyone is interested in certain golf cruises I can provide you with dates. Or possibly could attach a screenshot but wasn’t sure if that was allowed on this board, since it is an outside vendor…