sailco

Yes, Petunia. Just take everyone's cruise card with you to the bar but it's easier if a waiter comes to you 😂

We travel with heaps of Australian fridge magnets to hold bits and pieces to the cabin walls including our itinerary, a map of the world, a map of Australia (our home) and one of the region we're travelling in eg Europe, the Americas, and so on. Without fail, the room steward, breakfast and room service crew stop to point out their home and find different places they've sailed to.Towards the end of the cruise we ask if they'd like anything and we're often surprised by their choices. 

One of the best non monetary gifts we've ever given was to a room service girl on a lengthy b2b. She used to come to "collect" non existent dishes just so she could talk about the maps and her dreams for the future. She chose a small magnet but was thrilled when we said she could take the map of the world and a half dozen Aussie magnets to attach it to HER wall.....if she wanted it 😂. We'll never forget her excitement as we folded the map and put the goodies in a bag for her.

Goes without saying that at Easter and Christmas we have a large bowl of eggs, bunnies and santas for the crew to help themselves.

We love a good piano bar too but as Jelayne pointed out Celebrity don't have one. The Rendezvous Lounge has a band every evening but on the Infinity at the moment they are very loud and settling for a quiet chat is impossible unless you're in the chairs around the corner. It's also a really dark room but there is a small dance floor.

What about the rest of my post?

21 minutes ago, Lottie A said:

 

Yes the shower is small...no big deal. It gets you clean. 

 

At this stage it's null and void but my husband is a big man. For him, not being able to shower in comfort is a deal breaker.

Let's not get lost here though. We're cancelling because of Azamara's tendency to cancel ports or whole cruises any time they like and leave potential passengers picking up the bill for associated prebooked flights, accommodation and land tours. 

In our case Azamara's first mess left us with flights and a $10,000 land tour. We were able to transfer the land tour and fit a Celebrity cruise into the flights.

Unfortunately the second cruise was linked to the newly transferred land tour. It's costing us a couple of grand but we are so over the Azamara swap and change system we're just going to use our $10,000 land tour and forfeit $2500 in Azamara and flight cancellation fees.

20 hours ago, lisiamc said:

  The ships are older, but beautifully maintained.  The showers are small, but that’s not a secret.  I can’t think of any other modernisation needed.  

Maintainance does not equal update. A small shower that everyone without exception complains about? In an ever increasing and competitive cruise market maybe you could try to think about it. It might help Azamara improve their public image.

2 hours ago, pamelab said:

Please tell me everything about MSC Cruises. We have only cruised Royal, Carnival and NCL. Would venture MSC, but haven't researched yet - wondering what you all have to say! TIA

How long is a piece of string? What do you really want to know about?

All I can say is you'll love MSC.

7 hours ago, petuniaflower said:

Thx!  Any guesstimate of how much?

 

And I assume there will be signs for taxi area?

 

Also, would we just say to the cruise port, or is there a particular/different ports?

 

 

It was about 30 euros from memory. 

BCN is a big airport and really well sign posted.

The cruise port is also massive and there will be more than one ship, possibly five or six! It helps to have your docking information but the taxi driver will know where your ship. Don't worry if the taxi appears to drive past your ship. The road network in the port area is excellent!

When do you leave? Enjoy your cruise Petunia.

The taxi line at the airport and the port is well supervised. They will put you all and your luggage in a mini van. The taxis in Barcelona are metered so depending on traffic it'll probably work out a lot cheaper than a pre booked transfer.

19 minutes ago, TXU2 said:

Some of us have moved on, but hope for better days at Azamara as they try to build their brand with additional ships. The large number of posts, compared to earlier Azanara cancellations suggests a perception that things are getting worse (e.g. later cancellations with limited response by Azamara to the issues). The posts also suggest how Azamara could better address the issues. While posts tend to exaggerate the negatives, the embedded FACTS do help to understanding how a company like Azamara is doing. Draw your own conclusions as some of us book early b2b itineraries and others wait for cruises offered at fire sale prices.

And we've just chosen to cancel for the second time. We cancelled for the first time because Azamara changed the ports so much the cruise no longer resembled the original or held any appeal for us.

This time we cancelled because we're more knowledgeable. You here on CC have convinced us that Azamara are not the luxury cruise line we were led to believe, the ships are old and badly in need of modernisation and the onboard experience is definitely not all inclusive. We're not so wealthy we're prepared to throw money away on a second rate experience but we're also cancelling because we're not prepared to go through the stress of having Azamara cancel the desired ports or the entire cruise after we have prebooked the associated flights and accommodation.

Recently in Barcelona we saw graffiti in the small alleyways around the gothic quarter telling tourists to go home.

The way I look at it, we're on a floating hotel travelling between wonderful destinations and I have a choice of meals, served by polite waiter in a nice dining room or a choice of meals where I can put as much or as little on my plate as I choose, and I don't have to cook any of it 🤗

9 hours ago, carriosity said:

Hi!  My family and I are going to spend a few days in Barcelona pre and post cruise.  We have decided to rent apartments instead of hotel rooms to have a home like atmosphere with multiple bedrooms.  I would love it if anyone can share their experiences/tips with doing this in Barcelona.  I have been to Barcelona before, but stayed in a hotel.  Logistically, I am most concerned with how you stored luggage with check-in time constraints, any issues with basic groceries/cooking, or anything else you may find helpful.  Thanks in advance!  Carrie

We recently stayed at the Citadenes Apart Hotel on Las Ramblas. The location is excellent and there's an enormous supermarket directly opposite. The staff were great. We were in our spotless studio apartment by 10 AM. There's also a luggage storage area.

3 minutes ago, campolady said:

Have never seen the HOHO bus actually at the terminal car park (we live near Malaga so have sailed from there many times) and according to the website the nearest stop is still La Farola (the terminal building is just below stop no. 7) but the route could have changed recently.  https://city-sightseeing.com/en/24/malaga/230/hop-on-hop-off-malaga

We were there early May this year and we definitely boarded in the carpark. In fact, we walked towards the lighthouse and asked the little trolley driver where the hoho was. He told us to turn around and go back towards the terminal. That's where it was.

You might have more luck posting on your roll call. It would also help share the cost if you had another 4-6 people travelling with you.

We caught the City Sightseeing hoho from the car park just outside the port doors. Look over your shoulder to the right. You don't have to walk down to the lighthouse. 

The Alcazarba is not to be missed. You can spend an hour or three here. Lots of tiny cobble stones, stairs and some steep inclines but if you take your time it's very doable and rewarding.

The buffet is open and full of rotating fresh food almost 24 hours a day. The bigger ships like the Seaview have 2 buffets on two different decks.

Announcements are in at least three languages, reasonably brief and I'm sure they won't worry you.

Can't comment on smoking except I didn't smell any, anywhere I went on the ship.

Just adding..... Depending how fit she is, your mother may not be able to get to the top of the ampitheatre. It's really, really steep and if you go up you have to come back the same way. There's a sort of rope but no rails. Please don't miss the ampitheatre though. It's one of the best preserved you'll come across.

It's also a lovely town to just sit and people watch...have a coffee, beer or wine and maybe a shared snack. There were locals everywhere going about their daily business and a couple of weddings in the beautiful church in the main square.

6 hours ago, YoungDubFan said:

I will be visiting Cartagena next June and will be in port from 8:30 am - 6:00 pm. I will be traveling with my 79 year old mom. We should have access to a shuttle from the port to the center of town. We normally like to walk around and do an overview. I would love to know what are the top 3 things to see. Thanks for any suggestions. 

Our ship made an unscheduled stop in Cartegenia due to bad weather and it turned out to be one of the highlights of our cruise! It's an easy walk from the port to the city and its wonderful ampitheatre and excavations. The town centre is small and very walkable. There's a lift that takes you higher for views but if you're able to climb to the top of the ampitheatre you won't be disappointed. 

There's a short bus tour that takes about 45 minutes to travel around the highlights with a nice commentary that gives some history of this ancient port. It was quite cheap but popular and you should buy your tickets and select a time for the tour when you first arrive. They have a small kiosk just outside the city walls near the main entry and you can't miss them. There's only a couple of spots where you can hop off the bus and most people just stayed on for the full loop. Enjoy. And it's pronounced Cart a hania.

25 minutes ago, Bloodaxe said:

 

 

Yes, There's a separate post about this if you scroll down the pages.

Sorry, I just keep missing it. Am I being cynical or does it look very much like the Oceania logo?

On 7/5/2019 at 8:32 AM, hubofhockey said:

With talks of a new fourth ship, it's unlikely that Azamara is hurting.  Of course, treating booked passengers poorly will catch up with them.  We have our first Azamara cruise in 100 days, but I am not going to spend this kind of money again and take on that risk.  It might open me up to Oceania though.

Is it my imagination or has Azamara recently changed its logo?

We were on the Seaview in the Med in mid May and absolutely loved our first MSC cruise. The food in the MDR was a bit so-so except for pasta and other Mediterranean inspired dishes which we thoroughly enjoyed. Neither of us liked the buffet pizza but the variety and quality of fresh produce in the two buffets was outstanding.  Overall, the food quality compared favourably with other cruise lines we've sailed - Princess, Celebrity and RCCL.

On 7/3/2019 at 3:11 AM, Host Jazzbeau said:

Thanks for the info about the Columbus document, BTW.  I plan to go see it on my next trip to Barcelona later this summer.

Hope it's still on display and that you manage to find it.

Not sure all these numbers for flights really count that much. After all, Azamara has cancelled the cruise you chose to fit in with your holiday dates, made PLANS around and looked forward to with excitement.

PLANS is a simple word for lots of stuff including booking flights, land tours and accommodation, making sure you weren't going to miss a family celebration and ensuring you weren't required to babysit the grandkids that month and that someone was available to look after the dog! It's just so disappointing.

I wonder if he fell on the stairs in the main atrium. They're always so shiny and the lights can play tricks with your eyes. I never go up or down for fear I'll slip, whether I've had a drink or not.