kimberlydrzymala

So happy to see another review from you. They are always so entertaining and fun! We are boarding the Edge in Sydney in two weeks and your review is just what I needed to get me very excited! We did the ABC islands in December on Silver Sea and had so much fun. Thanks for sharing!!

We will be arriving in Chioggia May 18th and have booked a hotel also in Chioggia for one night. I see lots of options for trips to Venice or the airport but I have not seen anything about local transportation from the port to the hotel. Can anyone tell me if there are typically local taxi's available? I have emailed the hotel but had no response yet. I appreciate any input that anyone has.

We are ending our cruise in Chioggia and we have booked a hotel for one night in Chioggia before we head home. Can someone tell me if there are readily available taxis when we depart that can take us from the port to our hotel? I believe it is only a couple of miles.

We MAY be sailing on journey May 6th from Barcelona. The reason why I say MAY is because my business class airfare that was paid for months ago has now disappeared. The flight was booked on Delta and we contacted Delta as I have been watching this as I was afraid it might happen. Everything was there until 4/15 and Delta says that Choice Air basically removed the booking. I reached out to my TA and have not heard back, I called Azamara and they are not taking calls today. Please someone tell me this is going to work out! We still see the return trip from Venice but that will not do us much good if we cannot get there! This is so frustrating.

We purchased the Indulgence package for our cruise prior to the migration and the reservation is showing the Essentials package. (1,000.00 less cost) I have talked to my TA and called several times and this is still incorrect. I am just going to show up with my receipt from Azamara and hope for the best. I already contacted my credit card company and worst case scenario I will charge it back. Has anyone else had a similar issue to this and had it resolved once on board? We are in the owners suite so I am hoping our butler can help get this sorted out along with missing OBC.

Do you have any information on the best of the best dinner? Are they doing this again? Thanks in advance for any information you can provide.

Happy to follow along on your journey. Thanks for doing this!

Thanks so much for your replies. Now that I understand what is included it makes it much easier to compare the packages. Our cruise is a 12 night cruise and we have already spent all our OBC from Azamara and still have 5 ports to go so the additional credits to spend on shore excursions will not go to waste. I cannot wait until we get on our first Azamara cruise!!

Sorry in advance as I am sure this has been covered before but the more I read the more confused I am becoming. We are frequent Celebrity cruisers and have traveled in the lower cost Suites in the past and I guess because of what automatically comes with Suites on Celebrity I assumed Azamara was the same. (I know bad assumption) This is our first Azamara cruise. This is our 30th wedding anniversary so we splurged big on an owner's suite on Journey traveling in the Med and again I assumed we would have the highest level drink package. Now that I am sure that is not the case I am wondering instead of spending 600.00 to upgrade our drink package it might be better to purchase the indulgence package which also includes the ultimate drink package, an OBC, a night a the chief's table, ETC. I thought the unlimited wifi was included with our cabin but honestly I am not even sure about that. Also, can someone tell me if we did upgrade the drink package either just the drinks or the indulgence package would we be able to get a better selection of bottles in our room? I understood in the upper level cabin's you could also order off the specialty menu and you could have this served course by course in your room. If that is the case and we purchase the ultimate drink package would we get the wine we are looking for served with our meal? I appreciate any insight the experienced Azamara cruisers can provide!

Thanks for confirming - I was sort of afraid that is the case. I guess we will just book on day one and work around it.

Question about booking specialty restaurants as we are new to Azamara. We are also staying in the CW Owner’s Suite so we will have free access to the specialty restaurants but since the menu does not change we would like to be able to book them after we can see what other things are available that day. I understand that the Chef’s Tables need to be booked quickly after boarding but are the specialty restaurants flexible about booking?

Thanks so much for posting this incredible review. We are taking our first trip on Azamara in May and we are traveling on Journey and staying in the same suite you stayed in. Even more excited now than before!

I was actually a little bummed we have been there several times but loved the city. When I sign into the web site it is still showing the original schedule. I am anxious to see what is offered in Portovenere.

Really enjoyed your review and your photos. We are doing our first Azamara cruise in May and reading your review made me even more excited! Thanks so much for sharing and taking the time to do this.

We are on that voyage and so hope this is true! Counting the days!

73 October 10, 2016 Cape Coral, FL #1 Posted 3 hours ago (edited) This cruise was originally planned for August 2020 and of course COVID caused the trip to be pushed out to 2022. After months of worrying about air transportation everything worked out fine. We arrived in Seward a few days prior to boarding, and everything went well. We had not been on any ship since 2019 so we were all excited to do this trip. This was our first time in a Celebrity Suite, and we were not disappointed. The suite was beautiful, and it was great to have a little room to move around inside a cabin. Our daughter, son-in-law and grandson also joined us on the trip to we were all super happy to be there. They stayed in a Family veranda and had a beautiful aft view from their cabin. Our food and service were amazing at Lumine and while I realize the service is obviously a little better in the Suite class my daughter was happy with all meals, she had in the main dining room. We were a little concerned bringing an eleven-year-old on a Celebrity ship, but he met some friends at kid’s club and said this was his best vacation ever. My grandson started having some horrible glutton issues prior to the cruise and Celebrity did their best accommodate him. All food in the buffet was very clearly marked. I am told there is no bad weather in Alaska – only bad clothing choices. We did have rain pretty much every day except for the last two days. It did not stop us from doing anything we had planned but did get chilly much of the time. Layering is a must and decent raingear is highly recommended. I made fun of my husband for buying rain pants and additional rain gear and it turned out on several days he was the only one that was dry. I thought the ship was in very good condition. You were welcomed on arrival, and everyone was thanked when departing. The staff was amazing. I do know there were some complaints for specialty dining and getting reservations was not easy. We did it on the first day and had to wait until day four to get a table. The specialty dining at Tuscan was not as good as I have had in the past. What really surprised me was how empty the place was since getting a reservation was not easy. I believe they were understaffed and wanted to provide the better service to a smaller crowd. We were also happy with each port and did the Celebrity excursions as we had a bit of nonrefundable credit we needed to use. This was our second cruise on Celebrity in Alaska, so we had been to all the ports in 2019 but Skagway was new for us. Unfortunately, on the day we boarded our preplanned excursion in Skagway was cancelled. This caused some scurrying for us to find something else we could all do. The viewing at Hubbard Glacier was magical and amazing. It is luck of the draw as we did not see as much calving as we did in 2019 but it was still great to view from our balcony with the family. We did whale watching at the Juneau stop and it was very good. We did not see any breaching but still plenty of tails from a close view. The Skagway stop was where things got interesting. As I said, our original excursion was cancelled so the one we selected I thought we could do easily turned out not to be. The description said short canoe ride to view a glacier. There would be some walking over rocks but no real concern for someone with a bad hip. (me) When we arrived after a one-hour boat ride to get there the skies opened, and we had very hard rain and gale force winds. We walked up a hill through this and they gave us gear for the canoe portion and once I got the rain boots, rain pants, raincoat I felt like I was the little boy in Christmas story who was over dressed, and it made walking difficult. We then proceeded down a very muddy steep hill and I was honestly very scared of falling. By the time we got to the bottom I was close to a panic attack from my fear of falling as I have had several broken bones in the last few years, and I did NOT want another one. Do I regret doing this excursion not at all. We made another family memory that I will cherish. Would I do this one again? That would be a big fat HELL to the no. Last port to stop at was ISP and this was my favorite stop. We did the Whale watching and bear viewing combo trip and it said whales were guaranteed and bears were not. That made perfect sense to us as bears do not come out on demand unless you’re at a circus. The whale watching portion was very disappointing there was no participation from the crew telling you where to look and we saw a few spouts but from quite a distance. We were all disappointed and brought back to shore for the bear portion of the trip. My son-in-law and grandson bailed at this point because we were sure there would be no bears. WRONG – this was the best part of the entire trip. We had a fabulous guide, and he clearly knew his stuff. He was interesting and passionate about the bears. We saw a female from all three viewing platforms, and it was great. She was in the creek getting her share of Salmon and getting fattened up for winter. It really turned out to be our favorite excursion and I cannot recommend it enough. Maybe the key was we had very low expectations. Last day was a sea day and my son-in-law started feeling bad I am sure there will be no surprise since arriving home three out of five of us tested positive for COVID We are lucky that none of us have had any serious symptoms. Now for the bad news - internet was HORRIBLE. We had the ‘high speed’ package, and it was just as bad as my daughter’s ‘low speed’ package. If I paid for the internet, I would be demanding my money back. We also had a few glitches with our on-board credits, but our concierge got it sorted out. The moral of the story is watching your account and monitor what you are charged for because it could be wrong.

This cruise was originally planned for August 2020 and of course COVID caused the trip to be pushed out to 2022. After months of worrying about air transportation everything worked out fine. We arrived in Seward a few days prior to boarding, and everything went well. We had not been on any ship since 2019 so we were all excited to do this trip. This was our first time in a Celebrity Suite, and we were not disappointed. The suite was beautiful, and it was great to have a little room to move around inside a cabin. Our daughter, son-in-law and grandson also joined us on the trip to we were all super happy to be there. They stayed in a Family veranda and had a beautiful aft view from their cabin. Our food and service were amazing at Lumine and while I realize the service is obviously a little better in the Suite class my daughter was happy with all meals, she had in the main dining room. We were a little concerned bringing an eleven-year-old on a Celebrity ship, but he met some friends at kid’s club and said this was his best vacation ever. My grandson started having some horrible glutton issues prior to the cruise and Celebrity did their best accommodate him. All food in the buffet was very clearly marked. I am told there is no bad weather in Alaska – only bad clothing choices. We did have rain pretty much every day except for the last two days. It did not stop us from doing anything we had planned but did get chilly much of the time. Layering is a must and decent raingear is highly recommended. I made fun of my husband for buying rain pants and additional rain gear and it turned out on several days he was the only one that was dry. I thought the ship was in very good condition. You were welcomed on arrival, and everyone was thanked when departing. The staff was amazing. I do know there were some complaints for specialty dining and getting reservations was not easy. We did it on the first day and had to wait until day four to get a table. The specialty dining at Tuscan was not as good as I have had in the past. What really surprised me was how empty the place was since getting a reservation was not easy. I believe they were understaffed and wanted to provide the better service to a smaller crowd. We were also happy with each port and did the Celebrity excursions as we had a bit of nonrefundable credit we needed to use. This was our second cruise on Celebrity in Alaska, so we had been to all the ports in 2019 but Skagway was new for us. Unfortunately, on the day we boarded our preplanned excursion in Skagway was cancelled. This caused some scurrying for us to find something else we could all do. The viewing at Hubbard Glacier was magical and amazing. It is luck of the draw as we did not see as much calving as we did in 2019 but it was still great to view from our balcony with the family. We did whale watching at the Juneau stop and it was very good. We did not see any breaching but still plenty of tails from a close view. The Skagway stop was where things got interesting. As I said, our original excursion was cancelled so the one we selected I thought we could do easily turned out not to be. The description said short canoe ride to view a glacier. There would be some walking over rocks but no real concern for someone with a bad hip. (me) When we arrived after a one-hour boat ride to get there the skies opened, and we had very hard rain and gale force winds. We walked up a hill through this and they gave us gear for the canoe portion and once I got the rain boots, rain pants, raincoat I felt like I was the little boy in Christmas story who was over dressed, and it made walking difficult. We then proceeded down a very muddy steep hill and I was honestly very scared of falling. By the time we got to the bottom I was close to a panic attack from my fear of falling as I have had several broken bones in the last few years, and I did NOT want another one. Do I regret doing this excursion not at all. We made another family memory that I will cherish. Would I do this one again? That would be a big fat HELL to the no. Last port to stop at was ISP and this was my favorite stop. We did the Whale watching and bear viewing combo trip and it said whales were guaranteed and bears were not. That made perfect sense to us as bears do not come out on demand unless you’re at a circus. The whale watching portion was very disappointing there was no participation from the crew telling you where to look and we saw a few spouts but from quite a distance. We were all disappointed and brought back to shore for the bear portion of the trip. My son-in-law and grandson bailed at this point because we were sure there would be no bears. WRONG – this was the best part of the entire trip. We had a fabulous guide, and he clearly knew his stuff. He was interesting and passionate about the bears. We saw a female from all three viewing platforms, and it was great. She was in the creek getting her share of Salmon and getting fattened up for winter. It really turned out to be our favorite excursion and I cannot recommend it enough. Maybe the key was we had very low expectations. Last day was a sea day and my son-in-law started feeling bad I am sure there will be no surprise since arriving home three out of five of us tested positive for COVID We are lucky that none of us have had any serious symptoms. Now for the bad news - internet was HORRIBLE. We had the ‘high speed’ package, and it was just as bad as my daughter’s ‘low speed’ package. If I paid for the internet, I would be demanding my money back. We also had a few glitches with our on-board credits, but our concierge got it sorted out. The moral of the story is watching your account and monitor what you are charged for because it could be wrong.

Thanks for sharing that information. I was wondering about that and actually tried to call them but right now they are to busy dealing with actually trip delay/trip cancellations to worry about helping someone who 'might' experience one. That does help!

We will make the cruise as this is 3 days later than the airline travel. However, that does not help the already paid for train ride and fishing trip. I still believe that Delta would have changed this back in May when they made the change but Delta will not speak to her because the flight is owned by Choice Air. I also check my reservation for this trip every day!

Buyer Beware of Choice Air!!! It sounds great when you book it, price is good, no money needed now, changes are free, blah, blah, blah! However, after the ticket has been paid for you then have NO CONTROL at all over your flights. My daughter booked a flight for her family for an up coming trip to Alaska. AFTER, the flight was paid for Delta changed the schedule and now there is 30 minutes between her connections. This flight is also leaving at night so when she misses the connection there is no chance of getting another flight out the day she is supposed to travel. This will cause a chain reaction of other things that are nonrefundable to be missed. (train tickets, fishing trips) She has called choice air at least 10 times since May when her flight time was changed. She has been told the same story - call back in 10 days, call back in 20 days, call the emergency line on the day of the flight. (how do you say this to a customer) I have another European flight booked with Choice Air that I will now be cancelling and booking on my own. I do not ever want to deal with this again. I understand this is a horrible summer for all airline passengers but this is just to much. If she could have called Delta herself this would have been resolved in May when the schedule changed.

Thanks for sharing! We are doing the same in about a month. How was the food on the Millie? Thanks in advance!

We start the Southbound cruise on August 26th. We had planned on traveling on the 23rd so we could take the train and my husband could go on a fishing trip prior to the cruise. We will obviously make the cruise but other things may have to be written off. I am hoping my travel insurance may cover some of this but I would have much preferred a stress free trip. I have made weekly calls to inquire about my change and always get the same story.

We are also finding out the hard way regarding Choice Air. It is a great thing when you can book early and get the better deal on a flight and not have to even pay for it until the final payment is due. The downside is no control at all over the flights. Like everyone else our flight has changed many times since it was booked (Alaskan cruise) The most recent change came when Delta changed our flight time and now we have 25 minutes between connections. This is also an evening flight so the chance of making that flight connection with our luggage is probably slim to none. I called back in May and asked for a flight that we could actually make the connection on and now we are almost two months later with no resolution. If I would have booked directly with Delta I could have easily changed this months ago but still not change from FBC. I understand they are at the mercy of Delta and they have no real need to help me. It is VERY frustrating and the result will be a chain reaction of things that are already paid for (train ride from Anchorage to Seward) that will probably be missed.

This is a big splurge for us and I am not so worried about the decore but we REALLY do want decent food. The big attraction for us was the ports this trip had. We have never been on a small ship and thought it was time to try something new. At this point we are going to keep the trip and hope for the best. Since this is a nearly a year away we are hoping some of the cool perks are back like the Amaraza evenings and the full white night experience.

Following along on this one. We are also booked in the Club World Owners Suite for our May 2023 cruise. I have been seeing some disappointing things on the boards regarding Azamara and I must say I am concerned. We have always traveled on Celebrity and I am hoping we did not make a mistake on switching brands now. Any and all feedback is appreciated!