Desert Cruisers

Can shore excursions be booked with OBC prior to embarkation? We have done this with Azamara so wondering if Cunard has the same rules. Thanks for all info.

We were also on the October TA out of Southampton. Relatively speaking, the food and presentation in the MDR was better than on a January sailing on the Grand Princess. But, it was still not all that great and the menus were repetitive - e.g., shrimp with the sauce of the day. Some dishes were poorly prepared. We are not talking about gourmet cooking. How can you mess up spaghetti and meatballs? The most experienced chef can only do so much with an inadequate budget, cheap ingredients, and galley staff of mixed skills. We had a long conversation with a Food & Beverage manager who agreed that the quality of the beef served was poor and that there were difficulties in finding experienced galley staff. While the specialty restaurants were good to excellent (we ate at 2 of the 3 venues), Alfredo's served very good pizza, and the buffet was more innovative (with mixed success due to cheap ingredients and cooking issues), Princess needs to up its game in the food arena. The "COVID hangover" excuse is getting old. Food wasn't all that good and exciting prior to COVID.

Thanks. Hopefully that means Terminal C which is near Gate 12.

Just got off the QM2. Even after taking into consideration that we were crossing the Atlantic, the wifi was awful. Sometimes couldn’t even get basic e-mail no matter where one was on the ship. Same problems in Nay on the QE going thru the Panama Canal. Re booking air tickets (or anything using a credit card)…you are using unsecured wifi. Avoid if possible.

Enjoying your travelogue. Currently on the QM2 crossing to Southampton. Getting on the Journey next Tuesday. Please post your Piraeus docking location when known.

Spoke with an Azamara Circle rep this morning. Couldn't get thru to anyone on the main line. Relayed to her what is happening on the Journey. Made no difference to her. Official line is that local authorities have not informed Azamara of any changes and, hence, testing is still required. She also stated that Azamara is not doing testing at the pier. If you are currently on the Journey, would appreciate you taking a few moments to ask on-board management whether there has been an official change in the rules. Thanks a bunch.

Yes, I know that individual posted that she didn't need a test. But folks who boarded October 1 posted that a test was required and that testing was not available at the dock. There's time before my sailing for Azamara to update passengers. Just frustrated and disappointed by the lack of customer attention on the part of Azamara. Combine it with the confusion over the dock location - what a mess.

Good news but I’ll believe it when I see it in writing from Azamara for my sailing October 18. Website has not been updated.

Has anyone who boarded October 1 spoken with the hotel manager regarding the confusion? Maybe the hotel manager can communicate the frustration of passengers directly to Azamara Corporate. I would especially like to get clarification as to whether testing will be available at the port. We plan on testing during our stay in Athens but have been told by Azamara customer representatives that testing would be available at the port. Thanks.

I listened to the analyst call this morning. There was a definite strategic emphasis on the "new to cruising" market. The CEO and CFO emphasized 1)all-inclusive options such as the Plus and Premier packages bought pre-sail, 2) a richer mix of cabins, and 3) opening the "second wallet" (onboard purchases). While all this doesn't mean that existing "loyal" passengers will not be appreciated, future changes in the Princess product will be geared to attracting the "new to cruising" passenger. The new Princess may or may not appeal to the loyal base.

Have a great cruise. When I was referring to "the website", I meant Azamara's website. I'm sure that it will be clarified prior to boarding October 18 but it would be nice for the "boots on the ground" to message the bosses. How many phone calls in the queue to Azamara reps are people trying to get clarification after reading your posting? Oh well...

The folks at Azamara are going by what is on the website - testing still required. Maybe the captain and hotel manager on the ship need to alert Corporate!

I just spoke with Azamara rep. No changes on Greece policy. He said just show up at port and if test is still needed, we can provide. Will continue to monitor situation as some cruise lines are more proactive in changing the rules on their websites.

This reported change occurred over a weekend. Wouldn't expect to have any update from a cruise line until Monday at the earliest.

No final documents yet. The cruise sails October 18th but we leave for Europe October 6th.

Just in case there is a family emergency, we wanted to leave a contact phone number with relatives. Does Azamara in the USA have an emergency contact number? I couldn't find anything on the website and I'm still waiting for an e-mail response to my query. Thanks.

Have been thru the antigen/lateral flow testing with both Princess and Cunard. Same wording used. It is not 24 hours before. It is the day before which means that you could test at 7am Friday and board at 3pm Saturday.

We are not concerned about getting COVID (as we are vaccinated and boosted) but we are concerned about testing positive while traveling and getting denied boarding or kicked off the ship (as we were in Los Angeles in May). Our Fall adventure includes 2 trans-Atlantic sailings as well as a cruise out of Athens. Cruise lines seem to be one of the last businesses to require testing. My spouse recently had elective surgery and was not required to test before the operation.

Your comments regarding the closeness of the 2-tops is spot-on. While on the Queen Elizabeth in May, I caught COVID along with 3 of the people at adjoining 2-tops. Only my husband and another spouse escaped the virus. There was a significant COVID outbreak onboard but people were continuing to be seated close to adjoining tables. Once it was clear that there was a significant outbreak, we refused to be seated close to other tables. The ship was barely at 50% occupancy so why the staff continued this risky practice is baffling especially in light of a masking and distancing mandate in most other public venues. We are sailing the QM2 in early October and will be vigilant regardless of whatever rules are in place.

The menu is pretty uninspiring and not all that healthy. Other cruise lines are offering much more creative vegetarian and vegan food options. The vegetarian dinner options on Cunard were so good that I often selected them over the non-vegetarian dishes.

That's interesting....our travel agent was told $39pp which is about EUR39 at today's rate.

We are also on the October 7th sailing. On Princess [also under the Carnival Corporation umbrella], trans-ocean sailings require monitored testing under this line's rules effective September 6. Might be a similar situation with Cunard.

We will be sailing October 7 on the QM2 out of Brooklyn. If the testing policies effective September 6 hold, we will need to do a monitored/proctored test prior to embarkation. In one section of the website, an antigen test is specified if fully vaccinated. In another section, it lists a NAAT test as an acceptable option. We can easily get a rapid NAAT test. Does anyone have experience using a NAAT test to fulfill the testing requirement?

Azamara has had a bidding system for years. You pick the category and the most that you are willing to pay. Just like a buy/sell order for stock. Don't get to choose a specific cabin. Your credit card is charged immediately. If you aren't interested in bidding on an upgrade or don't like the rules, then you don't participate.

Have you posted on your sailing's roll call? You may be able to get some info there. Also try the Europe/Greece thread here on CruiseCritic.