DiamondDiva

Finally got thru just now.  Unfortunately no Lift and Shift available.  Oh, well.

Last 2 days I have tried two different numbers I have used before.  More than an hour wait each time and then disconnected. Going to try others noted here tomorrow. 

Does anyone know if there is a certain number to use if this is in regard to a "booked on board" cruise?

Thanks for any help.

Thanks so much for this.  Despite several cruises with Azamara (last in 2019 to Cuba...fantastic trip), we do not get this newsletter nor most notifications or emails mentioned on CC.  Same with the rest of RCL, despite being quite high on the combined loyalty program and many discussions by phone.  I have come to depend on the "kindness of friends" in posting info here. 

Did this trip in 2019...agree with posters above that your view is better from other areas of the ship than your balcony.  Plus, in the glacier areas, they turn the ship several times so that all have a great view for some of the time without having to move across the ship. 

Thanks so much for the referral to the voting page!

Would have voted for Discovery, but as usual, no email for us from Azamara, despite 3 sails with them, the last in 2019. 

We were in 6122 in Aug 2019.  We found many of the changes disappointing and difficult.  The arms of the desk chair were of such a height that the chair could not fit into the slot in the desk area, so it jutted out into the already narrow  walking aisle constantly.  The mirror there was so high that a shorter woman could not sit to apply makeup, as only the very tip of my head was visible in the mirror. While my husband used the shower, I stood at the desk to apply makeup with not very good lighting. We also felt that the room was very dark in general, even with drapes open on a sunny day...blah color scheme.

As others have said, the couch was very uncomfortable and too deep for anyone to sit with feet touching the floor if under 5'6" or so. Many useless  and breakable decorative items that could move about in heavy seas (coral, plastic plants, large white vase, etc)  had to be stored in cabinets.  No table or side spot to put a drink, a book, a pair of glasses, or anything were at the couch area unless one brought in the balcony table as described above.  So if trying to enjoy a drink with a book, one had to balance a drink-in-hand on the arm continuously. Balcony chair was just an upright chair....we were told by our butler the first afternoon that nothing else, not even a small footstool was available. 

There was however, a bit more storage with the large cabinet along the balcony wall (tho it did have the above-mentioned moveable items in it!)

We also found the chairs in the Lounge very uncomfortable and the room was not used often by our fellows for anything but drink times for the most part.  Few came by to just sit and read or chat as we have in the past with fellow Suite guests at many times on the voyage. 

However, the beauty of Alaska helped!  We dealt with the changes, enjoyed the staff and the trip and will deal with it on our next one as well. 

Thank you for posting this. 

3 Azamara trips (the last a very special one  to Cuba almost exactly 2 years ago)  and we have never gotten an Azamara newsletter or email.   But we don't get Celebrity or RCL either and have many more trips on those two lines!   

Thank goodness for CC....

On our trip on Millenium in Alaska, Aug 2019, the elevator up to the Retreat had been broken for months, so the winding outdoor long stairway was the only option.  Since this was in Alaska, it was quite windy and cold and a difficult climb for many, so the Retreat area was rarely used.  The windbreaks up there make photography very difficult and in scenic Alaska, this was a real problem. This has been reported as  a common occurrence  on several of the M class ships in particular since the refurbs. 

We have used Bonaire Vista tours twice in the last 5 years or so.  Once we traveled alone as a couple and once as a group of 8.  Great guides, excellent service, and yes, a booth along the pier.  Owners are a married couple with a young family, Barbel and Brian.  Can highly recommend them.

https://www.bonairevistatours.com/

Loved our 16007 location early this year, but agree that a similar one on Starboard would have been better for Ocean Cay at night.  We booked early, but none were left when we tried.  They go quite quickly.

Yes, ours was due Oct 6th for early Jan 2021.  Enjoy your trip.  It is nice have something planned....

I just did a Life and Shift today on our Connie Tampa trip from Jan 2021 to Jan 2022.  Was able to keep the onboard pricing and perks we had, which was very good compared to a regular price for that trip in a Sky.  Took a bit of work, as there was an issue with the first printout not matching what was said on the phone, but it was corrected quickly when I called back.  Wait times were minimal. 

Our final was due in 3 weeks for Jan 2021 and we did not wish to make a final pay at this point.  In some ways we will be happy for the Connie to not have been redone...we were not very pleased with our refurbished Sky, the Lounge, or the unreachable Retreat (long-broken mini elevator) late last fall on a refurbished ship.  Found the rooms very uncomfortable, very tight with furniture and lots of "things" around the room, no bar camaraderie in the Lounge (and bad chairs), etc.  So a bit of spruce-up and cleaning on Connie will hopefully be done and we hope to be good to go in 15 months! 

Yes, we did.  We wanted a stopover for a few days family visit in Minneapolis between Portland and central Florida on the way home.  Very different atmosphere on this size ship, of course, but the HOHO buses worked great, staff was friendly and efficient, and we loved our quiet third floor balcony.

That said, walls are very thin, rooms tiny, but well-equipped.  We loved having our own metal water-bottle to refill each day from the dispensers at the elevators on each floor...use them everyday here at home.  Food menus not as extensive nor as flexible as on ocean cruises, but plentiful and very American.  HOHO tour guides very knowledgeable and helpful.  Any specialty tours we added were worth the money. 

We too had to cancel our RCL 50th anniversary cruise with family for June...total bummer..we only got credit as a choice, and even tho we paid for all down payments (as we were treating for the rooms), they got the credit for their rooms, not us.  Getting 12 people's schedules organized for a trip was hard...thank goodness we cancelled just before final payment for all was due.

16 was a great floor in YC on Mera!

We did this trip last June in the reverse order.  Had a wonderful time.

Several of our first cruises were also on HAL in the 1980s with skeet shooting off the back of the ship.  We were in our mid 30s then, and my husband, who had not shot skeet since his Eagle scout days, once beat out a young mid-20s Marine on his honeymoon.  The new wife and I were in hysterics on the overlooking deck!  My husband still mentions it once in a while. 😊

Fond memories...and I remember the passenger lists as well. 

We were on Deck 16 in YC on Meraviglia this past February.  The entire YC is behind controlled-access doors on all floors, and all floors had elevator access within the YC.  I too have knee issues and always use the elevators.  The YC elevators were fast and easy to use. Service was very good, it was our first intro to MSC,  and we had a wonderful time.  We would have liked a bit more covered seating at the pool deck buffet, but would certainly repeat this experience. 

We have not received any of these latest emails from Azamara, tho we are Discoverer and just sailed on Pursuit last year.  I gather lots of others are not receiving these lately either. 

Looking online,  Dublin announced a while back that it is scaling back their cruise ship portages starting next year.  It seems that their cargo business has boomed and that they are scaling back the cruises for that reason.  The article I just read said that while the cruise lines, specifically Celebrity, were very unhappy about this change, the city agrees with this plan.  The article further noted that the beginning and ending of cruises in Dublin would be most affected, and mostly only day visits allowed. 

This info may explain why the changes are coming.  Dublin is one of our favorite cities and we have done 2 cruise visits there, as well as 2 land -only visits.   However, the port is removed from the city center and as noted above, transportation to and from the port can be difficult. 

Agree our Mera cruise in Feb was clean and very well done.

No problems in YC last week on Mera!

Kind of sad to not see anyone looking for info on the Empress and the NW yet.  We had such a good time, I want others to have one too! 

Enjoy the Mighty Miss, both now and next year. 

Great!  Enjoy it all.

We have stayed in Sky Suites several times, including this past August, and have never been asked about our room bottle of wine ahead of time.  We most often have been left a sweet white or sparkling, which are not our favorites.  Usually we just ask for a switch to a merlot or something similar.  We usually do get it fairly quickly ( a day or so), but on our last trip, it took 3 reminders to get it changed.  Not really a huge problem, but sometimes we also had to

“ convince” our butler to even make the switch. 
 

I hope that these two posts mean that we can request a wine type ahead of time for our next scheduled SS in a few months.  Much easier for all!  

Also, we never had a “personalize your suite” email....what else was in the letter? 
Thanks for the info.