terry&mike

We are sailing away from Manaus now. We tendered, and used local boats for the tender operation. They took us to a floating pier. Guests were then loaded onto shuttle buses at this lower pier area, and driven up a somewhat steep roadway to the bus parking lot just at the top of this lower pier area. They then boarded buses for their tours and went off, or if independent touring they boarded a shuttle bus for a very short ride to the cruise terminal. So - tender, shuttle bus up river bank, bus out of the port area. We chose to walk up the river bank road, as there weren’t many shuttle busses and lots of people. We then had to take the shuttle bus for independent touring to the cruise terminal, where we were dropped off. DH and I then took a walk to the market, up through town, past lots of street vendors, some street murals, interesting buildings, parks, churches, and so on. We strolled using a route I had mapped out for about 2.5 miles. The city is gritty and worn, with some poverty, but also with a few glimmers of interest. There is some criminal activity, so have your situational awareness on. You may see some fully naked people walking around. It was very hot with no breeze. Mostly, we just needed a good walk, so it worked. I’ll try to post photos of boats for tendering, and pier so you can see how low river levels are.

Onboard Quest now. We are due to arrive in Manaus at 1:30pm today, will overnight, and depart tomorrow at 10:00am.

There isn’t a casino

We are on Quest, and our OBC is wrong by a lot. I have all my documents, and am keeping good notes on our spending, and will get it sorted later. We are on day 6 of 22 days, so have some time. It is going to become complicated, as they have changed our itinerary several times, cancelling excursions and rebooking excursions.

We are on Quest, and have Whispering Angel.

Captain just said we will port in Boca de Veleria tomorrow! Yay!

In looking at the TV this morning, although it hasn’t been announced yet, it appears as though our stop in Boca tomorrow has also been cancelled. Currently, we are cruising up the Amazon, and can see houses along the shore, jungle, and a few small boats about. The air is heavy with smoke from the wildfires.

And on top of all that, he’s walking around on the pool deck having some swirl ice cream visiting pleasantly with guests, while occasionally taking calls on his phone. Grace under pressure.

We are having some mechanical issues that affect our propulsion, and speed, which will result in a few hours delay in our reaching the mouth of the Amazon. Probably Tuesday evening now. There could be some further issues due to this problem, once a further inspection has been done. Time will tell. For now, we are just sailing along headed south, enjoying ourselves.

Currently on Azamara Quest, and as of today we are still planning on porting in Manaus in a few days.

When we visited Bordeaux last year, I found it much cheaper to arrange our international air to/from Paris. I then used discount airlines for the leg from Bordeaux to Paris.

At least the ship will be there for us to board on Saturday!!

$300 Shore Excursion On Board Credit total. https://www.azamara.com/booked-guests/onboard-packages

Yes, this has always been the case. You cannot use OBC to purchase Experience More packages until you are onboard. You can purchase Experience More packages in advance of the sailing, and pay for them with a credit card though. In the past, you were always able to use the Shore Excursion OBC credit from the Experience More packages to purchase shore excursions in advance of the sailing, as soon as you purchased the package. Then there was a period recently of a few months where people were being told "no, you cannot use these funds for shore excursions in advance, you must wait until onboard to use them". As Grandma Cruising reported above, it seems like things are back to normal with this benefit.

This communication from Azamara today in regards to using OBC to pay for shore excursions: 1. Booking Shore Excursions: The process for booking shore excursions remains the same as before. Shore excursions become available to book once the first deposit on your clients’ cruise is completed. Most excursions are available to book six months prior to sailing. Your clients may book shore excursions online by going to Manage My Booking, calling our contact center who will gladly assist with recommendations and booking, or, contacting you, their valued Travel Advisor to assist. Excursions may be booked up until 7 days prior to sailing. 2. Paying for Booked Shore Excursions: If your clients have an Onboard Credit (OBC) and wish to use it to pay for their booked shore excursions, they may contact you, or give our contact center a call for assistance. Their OBC will be available to use 24 hours after the first deposit on their cruise is completed. If your clients do not have an OBC, they may pay in full via credit card online. They may contact you or give our contact center a call for assistance. Payment must be completed within 72 hours of booking shore excursions to secure their spot. 3. Shore Excursion Payment Policy (New!): Please be aware of our new payment policy - any unpaid shore excursions will be automatically canceled after 72 hours. To secure their spot, please remind them to promptly complete payment. 4. View OBC Balances Online (New!): Your clients can now keep track of their Onboard Credit (OBC) by logging into their web account. There, they can easily view the total and remaining balance of their OBC per cruise.

I'm joining the Quest next week as well, you must be headed to the Amazon and Brazil!

Azamara Black Friday Sale, November 15-December 1, 2023 AzamaraBlackFriday.pdf

You must be talking about the Journey, May 29-June 8 sailing. That sailing is not sold out, but has been removed from the system. My guess is that they are possibly reworking the sailing that is before this one, as it is Singapore to Athens, May 3-29, with several days near the end in Egypt, Jordan and Israel. Once they have those changes sorted, then this may lead them to tweak the May 29 sailing/departure.

Hello Jazz, DH and I just returned from a 5 week trip in September where we spent a week touring around in Puglia (and several days in the Amalfi area). We had not visited this area of Italy before, and found it very interesting and diverse, with it's own food and wine culture. I think you will love it! Cheers!

Last year, Azamara was running a Double Upgrade plus $300 per cabin OBC promo coming in to November, but they had a Flash Sale/Black Friday event for several days that took the OBC up to $1000 per cabin, while still keeping Double Upgrade, and the prices did not change. From my notes it looks like the flash sale started around November 15.

We sail Cunard's transatlantic run between Southampton and New York occasionally, which is a 7 day sailing. Sometimes they have a 2 day extenstion from Southampton to Hamburg, which can be booked as a total 9 day sailing, or as just a 2 day sailing. We sailed this in September as a 9 day sailing, from Hamburg to NYC (with a stop in Southampton). About 1/3 of the passengers debarked in Southampton, and new passengers boarded for the 7 day crossing. The first 2 nights the ship was very active, with all venues feeling busy and buzzing. The clothing felt a bit more casual. Then when we left Southampton, things settled down, venues were quieter, and dinner clothing was a bit more elegant. We think a lot of guests bought the 2 day sailing as a way to "sample" Cunard and were getting in all the restaurants, bars, shows, venues they could in 2 days. From our point of view, I would not say it was a negative thing, and we would certainly do it again, we just noticed that things were a bit busier for those 2 days. From the crew point of view, we heard that they really don't like the 2 day sailings as it makes much more work for them in turning over cabins, service, and so on.

Excellent news!

Done!

Hey susiesan, we have gorilla trekking booked as well, ours in Feb. 2024, and it's a bucket list experience for us. We've also been on several African safaris, and love them. I'm aware that the local tour operators are monitoring the situation, and will make itinerary changes if needed to avoid Queen Eliz NP, or other troubled areas. Although tragic, the incident was a rare one. As the gorillas are in Bwindi NP, all should be good there, and we'll likely encounter greater security when we reach the QENP area a couple of days after Bwindi. Our Uganda safari is part of a longer 10 week trip that starts in Rwanda, then Uganda for gorilla and chimp trekking plus a bird safari for the Shoebill Stork. Then we'll head to Kenya & Tanzania for a big game safari. On to Zanzibar to relax. Next up to Antalya, Turkey to an apartment we've rented for a couple of weeks. Then we'll spend 2 weeks traveling across Poland by train, and a few days in Berlin. We'll end by joining a group of friends in Amsterdam for a bike and barge trip through the Netherlands during tulip time. Lots of moving parts, logistical considerations, and a couple of areas that could pose a problem if things turn bad, but (as we always do), we'll keep an eye on things and check and adjust as needed.

I have used the Passport Health office here in Bradenton, Florida. It was in November 2022 for oral typhoid vaccine. They are a chain, and handle mostly travel medicine. I am well travelled, and keep good vaccine records, and had made an appointment to update my typhoid which was coming due. I had to fill out some paperwork asking where my trip was and when. This was rather difficult to explain in that we go pretty continually and all over, which is the answer I gave, but had to be covered in detail in the consultation. I then had to sit through a consultation with a young medical professional while he read to me off of some papers that had been printed out from a web site. Finally, I was given my vaccine in a cold pack to get it home, had all the directions read to me, and was able to leave. It was a bit basic feeling, but I imagine for people who don’t travel often that it gives them a sense of care and peace of mind. And gives them a reason to hit you with a hefty charge.