Endorable

I have no idea if this is allowed or not.  I'll be travelling with my 94 year old mother.  She eats so little... when we eat out at home we normally share a meal. I'd love to try the specialty restaurants, but mom, being a thrifty and light eater, isnt so keen on paying extra.  She's a depression baby and is already missing her prepaid meals at her independent living home, so I can't blame her for being cheap.  Would the specialty restaurants allow us to share a meal?  Has anyone done this?

I'm the OP and I appreciate all the opinions expressed here!  It's been a loooong time since my last cruise, and back then it was all about the envelopes on the last day.  Since then I've been on lord knows maybe 50 AI vacations where it was never SAID but certainly the expectation was that you'd tip regularly if not hugely.  Thank you for easing my mind that on Azamara it won't be an issue!  But old habits die hard, and I still have a wad of 'wallet fillers' ie $1 bills left over from my trip to the Dominican.  So I'm assuming now that since tips AREN'T expected, a small tip of $1 or so would not be seen as an insult, but a compliment?

I'm really excited to be going on my first Azamara cruise.. July 2 to Alaska!  I LOVE the all inclusive aspect because AI resorts are what I've been doing since my last cruise, over 20 years ago.  I think that the lack of a huge bar tab at the end of the trip is what encouraged me to stay land-based!  What really blew me away though was that they allow you to take your own liquor onboard!  I'm going to be travelling with my 94 yr old mom, and she doesn't drink a whole lot, but does enjoy her Baileys in the evening!  I actually bought those booze cruise flasks to sneak some aboard before I found out that I didn't have to sneak at all.  And we plan to go to 'white night' because apparently it's a fabulous experience and we'll be 'whiteish'

From everything I have read, the answer is NO.. for which I'm profoundly grateful 🙂

Damn so would I!  But for now I think that Azamara is as luxurious as I can afford!

Wow so many cruises!  My last cruise was over 20 years ago, and at the time the grand total was 8.. which makes me a total noob here!  Then I discovered all-inclusives.. and I loved them.. totally lost track of how many because really it doesn't matter!  But on July 2 I'm off to Alaska on Azamara and maybe I've found the best of both worlds.. an all inclusive cruise 🙂  I'm REALLY looking forward to it.. hoping it's the best of both worlds:)

Marinaro44, I was talking about All Inclusive packages in resorts.  Sometimes they say that gratuities are included, but most guests (from N America at least) still tip.  Tipping isn't such a part of the culture in other places where service staff gets paid more appropriately!  I'm hoping that the crew on the Azamara ships are paid more than the workers in the Caribbean.. they LIVE on their tips.

It's been 20 years since I've been on a cruise!  I've been doing the AI thing in Mexico and the Caribbean, and even though most packages say 'gratuities included', tips are DEFINITELY still expected.  I don't want to be either a tightwad or a sucker 🙂