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37 minutes ago, Toronto Guy said:

Cancelling a cruise that is scheduled to stop in Israel is not in any way suprising to me.  I can't imagine many people would be interested in booking that itinerary in the foreseeable future.  I'm assuming the October 2024 Red Sea cruise will be cancelled in the coming weeks...why they haven't already is what I find surprising.

I don't find it surprising Azamara would cancel a cruise with ports of call in Israel (even though the departure date is a year and a half after they cancelled it).  What does surprise me is the fact this cruise is still on their website and apparently bookable.  I also find it surprising to give "unrest in the Red Sea" as the reason for cancellation when the cruise doesn't go into the Red Sea while at the same time not cancelling a cruise scheduled to go through the Red Sea in 6 months.

Most of us on the October 2024 Ancient Trade routes cruise who post on CC believe it will be cancelled at some point.  Some decided not to wait for Azamara to cancel the cruise and did so themselves.  If Azamara doesn't cancel this cruise before the final payment is due I will.  

Regards, Paul

5 hours ago, Symmes99 said:

My cancelled cruise was an Egypt/Israel cruise on the Journey round-trip from Athens, departing on 10/30/25. Azamara had not said what the journey would do instead.  

Something doesn't seem right about Azamara's cancellation of this cruise.  As you mentioned in an earlier post this cruise is still available for booking on Azamara's website.

I'm booked on a BtoB from Athens, through the Suez and Red Sea, to Dubai scheduled to depart on October 26, 2024.  I can't help but wonder why Azamara would cancel a cruise in October 2025 that doesn't go through the Red Sea "...due to unrest in the Red Sea." when they haven't cancelled a cruise in October 2024 that does go through the Red Sea.

Regards, Paul

22 hours ago, Cruisedreamer1 said:

Does the bar have a signature drink we should try while aboard? Would it be available during happy hour? Best bar to order it?

 

We will be boarding this Saturday!!!

Hi Cruisedreamer, Here is a list of the signature drinks for the different Oceania ships.  I would imagine they've come up with one for Vista by now.  Regards, Paul

1 hour ago, SeaDayLvr said:

We are sailing in December and talked to our agent about this 10% promotion.  He contacted Azamara and they told him if we go ahead and pay in full now to get the extra OBC, then it automatically puts us in the “after final payment stage” and it is all non-refundable, should something happen and we need to cancel.  Has anyone else found this to be true?  A lot can happen between now and when we originally need to make final payment, not sure it’s worth the extra obc?

In the offer email I received it specifically states the following; “Guests who choose to participate in the Offer will retain the normal cancellation policy, and the refundability of the cruise fare will not be impacted.”.

Perhaps you or your agent should call Azamara again to clarify which of the following is accurate - what they wrote in the offer or what they said to your agent.   Regards, Paul 

I came across a B.B.C. article on the sinking of the Oceanos a couple years ago.  I had never previously heard of the ship or its demise but found the account quite interesting.  Here is the link to the B.B.C. article.  Regards, Paul

The guitarist who saved hundreds of people on a sinking cruise liner (bbc.com)

4 hours ago, deck chair said:

Hi

 

I will be taking my third Oceania cruise this January on Insignia.  One of the calls is Tristan De Cuna, a very sparsely populated isolated island in the middle of the South Atlantic.  Obviously, weather dependent, I have seen nothing about our day long visit in shore excursions and so am wondering how we will be getting ashore to explore since there does not appear to be any formal landing area that could accommodate the tenders.  The island only has a population of about 300 people living in a small village.  Your thoughts please.   Thank you and be well.

Deck Chair.

I haven't been to Tristan da Cunha before, (although I visited St. Helena on Azamara last month) but just looking online it appears to have a small harbour.  Calshot harbour appears to be large enough to accommodate a tender providing the sea conditions cooperate.

At the end of January this year I was on a different Azamara cruise with port calls at Easter Island and Pitcairn Island.  We were able to tender ashore at both places but it was a near thing due to borderline sea conditions.  There were no ship excursions offered for our visit to Pitcairn but the ship supplied maps showing points of interest we could walk to.  Most of the 47 residents set up souvenir and handycraft stands either on the ship or at the harbour.  All the small, lightly populated, remote islands I've been to appear to have a small harbour to accomodate fishing and rescue boats.  I hope you are able to make it ashore at Tristan.

Regards, Paul

8 hours ago, debcip said:

I am currently on the Journey, sailing for the first time since the pandemic. Both DH and I think the food is substantially better than in the past!

on a slightly disappointing note, I asked about the Reistafel and was told that “since COVID” these have been disbanded. 

I was recently on Pursuit and thoroughly enjoyed the Rijsttafel held on March 3, 2024 at the Patio.  The variety of food was impressive and very tasty.  Regards, Paul

White Night on Pursuit in The Gambia and lobster tails are back!  Regards, Paul

1 hour ago, BuddyR said:

I assume you are currently on board the ship if you were able to get your loyalty discount?  So, is Azamara testing the waters to see how much the market will bear?

You assume correctly.  I boarded Pursuit a few hours ago and dropped by the Pool Bar and upgraded to the Ultimate package.  The transaction, including the application of my loyalty discount, was completed in a couple minutes by a barman using a tablet.  I’ve attached the advertisement for beverage packages from today’s Insider.  They well could be testing the waters but there has to be a better way then upsetting all the guests considering an upgrade on one ship.  Regards, Paul

I just purchased the Ultimate beverage package on Pursuit for $26.95 USD per day with a 20% discount on that price for my Discoverer Plus loyalty level.  Regards, Paul

6 hours ago, Catchum said:

Just taken this picture from our balcony in Cape Town where we are spending time after our (not Azamara) cruise. 

Hi, That’s Pursuit and I’ll be on her for an 18 night cruise sailing tomorrow for Grand Canary. Regards, Paul

I just completed a BtoB on Onward and upgraded to the ultimate beverage package on both segments for $26.95 per day with 20% off that price for my Discoverer Plus loyalty level.  I first noticed the upgrade price for the ulitmate package had been increased by $3.00 per day to $26.95 in November last year when I received an email from Azamara.  Why would they implement another, more severe, price increase 3 months later?  Regards, Paul

4 minutes ago, Kiwifruit said:

We’ll be joining for Tahiti to Auckland leg if any team needs new players 😉

The “United Nations” team will have at least 3 vacancies starting in Tahiti and there are 4 New Zealanders remaining on the team.  Regards,  Paul

Hello.  I’m currently on a BtoB on Onward from Fort Lauderdale to Tahiti and have enjoyed the cruise immensely.  I’ve met and befriended many folks on the full world cruise and enjoy their company.  I’m part of a progressive trivia team with six world cruisers and play trivia in the Den and the Living room almost everyday sitting anywhere seats are available without issue.  I have had no negative experiences doing the first two segments of a world cruise and believe I’ve benefited from Azamara upping its game for these great itineraries.

Here are a few pics from our last port-of-call at Easter Island.

Regards, Paul

Here’s one from today on Onward.

Regards, Paul

12 hours ago, Kayena Kevin said:

We (a group of 6) are also booked on this cruise. Petra and Egypt are the main attractions so a direct transit from Dubai to Athens would be unacceptable to us. We would really like Azamara to make an early call on this as connecting flights, pre/post cruise accommodation, visas and excursions need to be organised in the next month. On another matter I have not been able to find out anything about the on board program for sea days. Given the large (and possibly larger) number of sea days a lecture program, bridge lessons, language courses, art programs would all interest us.

Here is today’s activity list for Onward.  As you can see there are plenty of options on a sea day.  Regards, Paul

17 hours ago, columbus1492 said:

Source please?

I’m not sure what the poster’s source is but my source is Oceania.  They cancelled Riviera’s Middle East/Red Sea cruises scheduled for November and December 2024 and replaced them with month long cruises from Barcelona to Cape Town and Cape Town to Singapore.  I booked the 32 day CapeTown to Singapore cruise shortly after the new itineraries came out around the beginning of last month.  Regards,  Paul

On 1/8/2024 at 8:21 AM, tgg said:

Boarded on 12/12/23 and disembarked on 1/5/24. I felt queasy and tired on the last day of the cruise. We drove home on Friday (1/5/24) and called my doctor's office. They suggested I get tested for Flu and Covid at the Urgent Care associated with Sarasota Memorial Hospital. They called me early Saturday morning to tell me I had Covid. (I have had 4 inoculations and 2 boosters.) Spent the last two days with fever, chills, headaches, and vomiting. Feeling just plain tired this morning and I've started to eat again.

 

If someone reading this is on the world cruise, could you let our cabin attendant (Agung) cabin 7049 know that he has been exposed to Covid. My husband is fine so far and maybe Agung will be too.

Hi Toni, I’m currently on Onward and a short time ago I showed your post to one of the nurses in the medical centre.  He read it thoroughly and thanked me for sharing it with him.  He advised there were no known cases of Covid on Onward at this time.  He also noted that based on your timeline anyone else onboard would have displayed symptoms by now unless they were asymptomatic.  I hope you and your husband are feeling better soon.  Take care, Paul

11 hours ago, RetiredLifer said:

We had armed guards aboard.  The Riviera on MarineTraffic.com also showed “Armed Guards aboard”. At one point when we were in the shipping channel just as we had entered the Gulf Of Aden we saw this heading in the opposite direction

 

That vessel appears to be the Chinese guided missile frigate Linyi.  Isn’t there enough tension in this region already?  Regards, Paul

I have been on 16 Azamara cruises and on the majority of them there have been no children onboard.  On occasion a small number of children (2 or 3) will be on a cruise and more often then not they will be the kids of one of the ship's officers.  As you've noted there are no clubs, activities or facilities for children onboard Azamara ships.  I think your kids would probably better enjoy travelling on a cruise line geared more towards youngsters.  Regards, Paul

I was on Pursuit for a cruise from Istanbul to Athens in May this year.  When I got to Galataport it was one of the quickest, hassle free embarkations I had ever experienced.  From the time I arrived at the terminal until I made it onboard was approximately 20 minutes.  There are a number of factors capable of impacting your embarkation experience.  Regards, Paul

Although a rare breed, long haul business class Aeroplan rewards are still out there if you're patient and persistent.  A couple days ago I booked an Aeroplan business class reward from Dubai to Kelowna for 80,300 points and $44.70 in fees for a November 2024 trip.  Fortunately I'm traveling alone since there was only one seat available for this number of points.  After making my booking I checked the same itinterary and it was now available for 256,000 points.  My itinerary was routed DXB-YVR-YLW and I noticed one seat was also available on the same day for 80,000 points on a DXB-YYZ-YLW routing.  The different flights have scheduled departures from DXB within 35 minutes of each other and the final flights of the itinerary are scheduled to arrive at YLW within 34 minutes of each other.  This would have allowed a couple to book two 80K business class rewards if they didn't mind traveling separately.  Regards, Paul

I had to renew my passport recently and it was very simple.  I booked an appointment online at Service Canada in Kelowna for October 18th.  A week prior to my appointment I walked into the local BCCA office and had the required photos taken at a cost of $10.08.  I arrived for my appointment a few minutes early with my completed renewal application and my photos and was on my way out within 20 minutes.  I retained my old passport after a few holes were punched through it.  My new passport was delivered to me on November 6.  Regards, Paul  

I've had mixed results with Azamara's best price guarantee this year.

After final payment:  In early March 2023 I noticed the fare for an oceanview stateroom was now the same price as the interior stateroom I had booked and the interior stateroom price had been reduced in price by approximately $600 CAD for a cruise departing at the beginning of May 2023.  I had my travel agency contact Azamara to see if I could either be credited OBC for the amount of the reduction for the interior price or be upgraded to the oceanview at no cost.  Azamara would not give me the OBC but did upgrade me to the oceanview stateroom at no cost.

Before final payment:  In October 2023 I noticed the fare for a March 2025 booking had been reduced by about $3,000 CAD.  I had my travel agency contact Azamara and my booking was repriced at $3,000 CAD less then the original booking.  Currently, the fare for my category stateroom is even higher then the original booking price.

After final payment:  This past week I noticed the fare for a V3 verandah stateroom was only $600 CAD more then the fare for the interior stateroom I've booked on a February 2024 cruise.  I had my travel agency call Azamara to see if I could upgrade my booking to a V3 stateroom by paying the $600 CAD difference reflected in the current Black Friday double upgrade sale.  Azamara told my agent I would have to cancel my original booking and incur the current penalties (which I believe are 25% of the fare or more) and rebook.  I declined to do so. 

It appears the way Azamara handles change requests for post final payment bookings has changed between March 2023 and now.  The other possibility is some of the numerous new staff brought onboard are not interpreting the policy correctly.  Regards, Paul

18 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

In the US we don't need insurance in case the travel agency folds, because the travel agency doesn't hold our money.  All the TAs I have ever used take my credit card info and input directly to the cruise line – my credit card receipt shows the cruise line, not the travel agency.

The Travel Industry Council of Ontario (TICO) has a compensation fund that gives limited coverage (up to $5,000 per person per booking) to consumers who incur a loss due to the failure of a travel agency, airline or cruise line provided the booking was made through a member agency.  I was able to recover the amount of my deposits for 2 cruises through TICO after Crystal's bankruptcy.  The credit card payments I make through my travel agency also go directly to the cruise line.  Regards, Paul