Jeep61

Just received the check-in notice from my airline for our trip from California to Athens where we will board Onward on October 1, 2022.  Sounds good?  But, do I schlepp the four proctored Covid tests which I already paid for, or do I believe what other cruise lines have published about testing no longer being required and numerous Azamara passengers who stated they did not need to present a negative covid-19 test result when they embarked Journey and Quest within the last few days.  The communications with Azamara corporate has been difficult - either they never answer your call or they fail to respond to an email or they fail to post notices pertaining to your cruise in a timely manner?  Do they realize those of us about to embark in Piraeus/Athens in three days would like some official information pertaining to our cruise when certainly the corporate office is aware of the lack of verified official information on this very specific matter of Covid testing. Do they even bother to look at what we their customers might be saying on this board?  Remember the days of Bonnie?  So sad they ended!  This pre-cruise frustration could be avoided if Azamara paid attention to its customers.

Does anyone have phone and email contact information if travelers encounter an emergency prior to the cruise, or family members must contact passengers onboard during a cruise.  I am surprised this information if not available for passengers.  Please provide it if you have this contact information.

Furthermore, in light of the fact that passengers who embarked an Azamara ship in Athens (Piraeus) this past weekend were no longer required to provide a negative test result for a proctored test.  That's is very concerning for those of us who will be boarding on October 1 at Piraeus.  The lack of official notifications from Azamara is shameful.

Since we use private guides for our excursions it was an unpleasant surprise to learn that three of the ports were impacted.  The Roman amphitheater in Pula when pula became a replacement for Trieste would have been a highlight, but Opatija sounds lovely and we already found a private guide.  Let's hope there are no additional changes to the itinerary.

Never received any communications from Azamara about the Venice-Ravella change, but did get this one this morning.  Curious how the change of three of the seven port calls comes within days of Final Payment.  I don't have a warm and fuzzy feeling about Azamara right now.  Will also post this on scant roll call page... 

BTW, has anyone learned if the port call actually occurs in Opatija or Rijeka - the latter looks like it has port facilities.  Nothing on the Azamara web site about excursions at either one.

I just received a set of six Binax proctored tests to use for a three generation visit to Paris and Rome in July/August and an October cruise Athens to Ravenna.  The boxes, which we are not allowed to open until so instructed, are rather large.  The six test boxes filled a 12"x12"x6" carton!  For those of us who pack light and use roll-a-boards this item will have an impact.  Plan accordingly!

10 minutes ago, suewheldon said:

This came out today. 

Finally a clear definition of "within three days" so where was this message from the Azamara Team posted and does it have a date stamp as to when it is valid? Thanks.

8 hours ago, harrodsfan said:

We have stayed there three times and loved the location. Nice rooftop restaurant. This year we couldn’t get reservations so we are trying the Grand Bretagne. 

You will be impressed with Grand Bretagne too!

Great information about the bus schedule to the Venice airport.  Does anyone have info about the bus schedule for transfers from Ravenna to the city of Venice?

Does anyone know the hours the Azamara transfer buses will be running between the ship in Ravenna and the Venice airport on disembarkation day?  From 6am to 10am?  Or, maybe from 10 am to 2pm?  When???  It would be nice to be able to plan that day.

Be aware that Venice is off the itineraries and Ravenna is the new embark or disembark port for Azamara in 2022.

I second the Electra Palace - great location and some wonderful views from the roof top terrace or from some rooms.  We stayed there for a week in 2013.  

OBC might be a nicer option rather than a $300 FCC.  

Well, before this thread peters out completely I want to say that it has been very informative reading the energetic dialogue.   We booked the 2021 7 night Journey’s Western Med cruise that became a chartered with an 11 night itinerary of nearly all repeated ports for us.  That cruise was not for us.  Based on the various comments about the pricing circus Azamara has been performing, we took some of the advice on this thread and looked at Oceania as a replacement.  Found a 12 night one that traveled from Barcelona to Istanbul and we realized we could finally get to see Istanbul from the comfort and security (if there is such a thing any longer) of a cruise ship.  The bundled airfare and included wi-fi also caught our attention.  Per night costs were reasonable, but then we saw there were 1250 passengers. 

We were not willing to go back to larger ships after our October 2019 cruise in Southeast Asia on Quest.  Then someone on this thread mentioned a good deal on an 11 night round trip out of Athens that had an overnight in Istanbul on Azamara Pursuit.  Sounded perfect and we were able to move all of the incentives from the on board booking of the defunct cruise plus the so-called 40% off special fare.  We get to stay on the smaller Azamara ship; we get to see Istanbul and several other new ports; we get to return to Ephesus (where I am guessing the Azamazing event will be held); and we get to spend about the same for the longer cruise compared to the original booking in the exact same verandah cabin.  Done deal!  Now all we need to do is wait almost two years, but that’s how far in advance we booked the 2019 Quest cruise.  So, I send many thanks to all who contributed to this thread.

Let’s get back to the original issues raised by this thread.  Azamara chartered a 2012 Journey cruise, then added four nights to the itinerary, and changed many of the ports.  This annoyed those who had booked the original cruise, B2B cruises related to the now-chartered cruise, and those impacted by the changes that had a ripple effect for other Journey cruises and also impacted the some itineraries for Quest.  Basically, Azamara offered $250 OBC for those who had already booked the 2021 seven night Journey cruise.  To receive this compensation, clients needed to decide whether to accept the eleven night itinerary, transfer the booking to another Azamara cruise, or to cancel and request a refund prior to December 30, 2019.

I called Azamara and asked for the fares on the lengthened cruise and for a ten night cruise from Lisbon to Barcelona.  When we booked the V1 fare for the original cruise (Islands of the Western Mediterranean) was $3,899 per person.  The lengthened cruise fare for the same V1 was $5,999.  The V1 fare for the ten night Lisbon/Barcelona cruise was $5,599.  The per night costs were nearly equal to one another - $15 difference from lowest to highest per night cost.  I asked for the published fares even though by booking in October during a Quest cruise, I qualified for some discounts and OBC from Azamara – I decided to keep that out of comparison.  The September 2021 departure per night fares, seem reasonably consistent.  Therefore, the choice should logically be based on itinerary and whether you can tolerate a cruise line which imposes such fluctuations in cruise length/port/itinerary after a cruise is offered for bookings.  I am not sure where we stand – we need to study the itineraries and measure our tolerance for such changes! 

Even more frustrated now!  We are not interested in Journey's new 11 night version of the 7 night cruise we booked on the Quest last month.  Too many repeat destinations.  So I thought I found a substitute cruise along the southern coast of Spain to Lisbon.  It's for 10 nights.  I tried booking the same level veranda I have on the recently chartered 7 night cruise that I booked last month.  Unless I am doing something wrong, there were only a handful of verandas available on decks 7 and 8 and it looks like the per night advertised fare for the 10 night potential substitute cruise is much higher.  This is for 2021 so I find it hard to believe that nearly all of the verandas are already booked!  Right now I feel that we will ask for a refund if and when I hear back from our online travel agent.  This entire situation is turning me off completely and that's after only one cruise on Azamara.

We too just leaned the details of the changed itinerary for a cruise we booked last month on Quest for a September 2012 Journey cruise.  Not sure what we will do since the charter lengthened the cruise and changed the ports to places we have visited several times.  We were offered a minor compensation and need to confirm what happens to our reserving on-board incentives if we switch to a different cruise.  A total frustration and disappointment. 

I discovered the change from 7 nights to 11 nights today.   Called Azamara and was told decisions on changes would be resolved in a week and then passengers would be notified.  Not sure what our decision will be until they announce the details.   It is annoying and frustrating. 

Our cruise begins in Hong Kong and ends in Singapore.  We decided to visit Angkor Wat independently after the cruise by flying Silk Air to Siem Reap.  We fly Cathay Pacific from Siem Reap through Hong Kong all on one ticket back to LAX.  We like the idea of the connection in Hong Kong being on one ticket.  The open jaw reservation was not much different from the round trip Hong Kong-LAX.  The strongest determinant in our decision of going post cruise rather than prior since was the lack of backtracking between Siem Reap-Hong Kong-LAX.  Plus, we will be accustomed to the SEA time zone by then, rather than dealing with jet lag and the demands of Angkor Wat.  At our age, comfort and ease are more important than cost for this type of trip.

Lo!o

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Any explanation why Quest's October 16 2019 roll call is no longer listed on Cruise Critic?

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I found this posting from someone who did what we think we want to do independently:

We are thinking about booking the October 16, 2019 cruise to Vietnam and Thailand and would like to fly from Ho Chi MInh City to Siem Reap prior to the ship leaving HCM City. We would spend two nights in Siem Reap and then fly to Bangkok to meet the ship when it arrives in Bangkok.

Can we get "permission" to leave the ship for two nights and are there visa or immigration issues? We would miss a Sea Day and the port call to Ko Samui, Thailand, but we would have two nights and two full days at Angkor Wat!

Thanks.

We hope to cruise with old friends on our first Azamara cruise in late 2019. All four of us have previously cruised on the mainstream cruise lines. Of course we have a few questions...

Does Azamara have fare sales at the same time from year to year? - such as "after Christmas"

Does the Best Price Guarantee "promise" really work?

Do the life boats interfere with views from the Balcony cabins on deck 7?

Can you have a non-cruise excursion 3 day private tour in the middle of a cruise - like leave the ship in one country and return to the ship at a port in another country?

Is there a web site such as Seat Guru that provides unbiased info about specific cabins?

I know there will be more questions brewing as we consider this cruise but that's it for now.

Thanks for for whatever help you can provide.

OP here. Thanks for all the comments... Even the ones that question our priorities!

We got a Hoo Too and it works with phones, tablet and laptop. We will take your advice and not expect speedy connections. We will enjoy the quiet pace of the cruise as well.

We are getting ready for Zuiderdam's NYC to Quebec City cruise in about ten days and the critical question just surfaced...

Can multiple devices use the same wifi connection at the same time?

We will seek wifi during port calls but we want to know if a laptop, a tablet, and/or a smartphone use the one account simultaneously. Do you need a hot spot to have multiple connections on one account?

This is a relax and take it easy trip for us but we cannot exist without a connection to the world and email. Help!

Thanks for your help in maintaining domestic bliss!

Please try to return to Athens! It is a city that deserves much more time than a few hours. Two years ago we spent a week in the city and it was worth every moment. The same holds for Rome - I hope you have more time there but I doubt it considering the distance from the port. Enjoy the rest of your journeys; I bet you will appreciate the days at sea as you cross the Atlantic after the pace of the rest of the cruise.