newcruisermom

Thank you for sharing this information.  This will be very helpful for our Barcelona cruise in a couple of weeks.  Sangria sounds good! 🍷

I sailed several times pre-COVID and found Azamara very accommodating of my gluten-free needs.  I'll be sailing again (Pursuit) in about a month, so it will be interesting to see how it's currently handled.

Just a follow-up to all who gave me insights.

We decided not to use the LCV "two free nights" because we didn't find an ideal itinerary/price point this time around.

Thanks for your time and help.

Thank you, all, for giving so generously of your time and advice. You have correctly clarified that I can apply my "two free nights" to most cruises...including those with BOGOHO. I just can't use BOTH these discounts at the same time.

So tonight, I am going to select a few intineraries that interest us, and then I will calculate if the "two free nights" actually benefits us over any other current discounts.

If I don't see a clear benefit to the "two free nights"

discount, we'll simply skip using our two free nights. No need to force a vacation simply to use a discount.

By the way, Azamara is our cruiseline of choice, and we hope to continue to do an annual cruuse on them. We were just hoping to save a few $$ on the next one.

Thanks to all for the helpful points of view and suggestions. Sam and I will consider all this and look at the available cruises again.

We'll let you know what we decide. :)

Thanks,

That is a good way to think of it. This weekend, I will look for a cruise that is probably rarely discounted. That might be a smart way to use the credits.

I appreciate all you do as a host!

Hi,

We were excited to finally earn two free nights last year. We need to redeem them in 10 days or lose them.

The challenge is finding a cruise that is not already on special. (As many of you know, the free nights cannot be combined with any other offer.) Over 110 cruises are listed with "half off 2nd guest and free wifi", so we cannot use the free nights on those. We had been waiting for the BOGOHO special to end on February 28 so we could reevaluate our choices, but the special has been extended until March 31.:rolleyes:

I hate to discard this benefit, which is definitely worth a lot of money. Is my best strategy at this point to look for a (relatively!) inexpensive seven-night cruise with low port fees? For most, we would have to factor in airfare from the United States.

At the very least, I want other board readers to be aware that it can be challenging to redeem the free nights.

P.S. We already booked a 2018 Azamara cruise because we wanted to go with good friends; that cruise wasn't eligible for the free nights, because it was BOGOHO.

Thanks,

Mary

We enjoyed 4054 on our most recent cruise last year. We had researched all the helpful information on this board (thanks, Phil!) and decided we would take a chance on the location. We would not hesitate to book it again. We really liked the location.

It was close to Guest Relations, but we didn't have any noise issues. It was convenient for getting on and off the ship, and it was a very quick trip to Deck 5 for the Mosaic Cafe. (I do love my coffee...) We found the location was stable...not rocky.

On the flip side, we ate most of our meals on Deck 9, so we were navigating the stairs or elevators for most meals. (No big deal, though.)

We are sailing Azamara again in September. There was a big price difference between OV and veranda, so we booked OV again. 4054 was already taken, so we chose 4053 this time. That said, I do love a veranda, so we have applied for the LCV upgrade--just in case one opens up for us. :):)

Thank you for your entertaining and informative review and the great photos, Steve! By the way, we also used SPB tours on our Baltic cruise last summer. Our guide was excellent, and we packed a lot into our two days in St. Petersburg.

-Mary

Newcruisermom,

Thank you for your review. We are sailing on the Spain cruise next September. I'm curious what you did in Ibiza and what you thought of it as it was an overnight stay? Ours will be overnight as well. All I know about it so far is that it is know for its nightlife as a major party town. Like you we are not major partiers. So will be doing a great deal of research when we get closer to the cruise to see what there is to do. Great to hear from someone with first hand experience.

 

Thanks

Brian

Hi Brian,

Good question. I love to research ports; this cruise itinerary had fewer "blockbuster" attractions than most of our previous cruises. I must admit, it was tricky to find attractions for some islands. I looked and looked. We spent more time exploring the port towns than seeing big attractions this time--with the exception of Livorno/Florence and Rome (where we stayed overnight before flying back to the United States.)

For Ibiza, we walked around the old town (Dalt Vila). That involved a lot of uphill climbing. We also went to a small museum called the Necropolis of Puig des Molins. My husband and I like history, and we tend to spend our shore time "looking at old stuff", rather than shopping, fine dining, or viewing natural scenic attractions. We often grab a quick lunch or stop at a cafe for a glass of wine or beer.

I have the printed schedule of the complimentary Azamara shuttle in front of me right now. It says the shuttle started running at 9:00 a.m. The last pick up from town is listed as 8:30 p.m. (20:30) We did not spend the evening in the town; we had dinner/show on the ship. I hate to keep bringing up the hot temperatures that week, but we were tuckered out after doing all that climbing in the heat earlier in the day. I'm not sure if we would have called a taxi to go into town if it had been a cooler day. I would be curious to know if others went into town and had dinner/nightlife. As I mentioned, there were more young adults (as well as children) than I've seen on our other 6 Azamara cruises. It would be interesting to know if people stayed onshore late to enjoy Ibiza's nightlife.

During the week, there were some shore excursions offered to visit caves/grottoes, as well as wine tastings. They sounded interesting. I heard from some people that the grotto excursion in Bonifacio was good. In retrospect, perhaps we should have taken a couple more shore excursions to add variety to the week. We were still happy with climbing towers and the like. We were that silly couple walking the Stairs of Aragon in Bonifacio, the Fortress in Portoferraio, etc. My husband's pedometer registered 31,743 on our day in Rome.

If you have specific questions, please let me know. We spent more time on the ship this time than we had on previous cruises. Our last two (Australia/New Zealand and Baltic) had a lot of formal (and pricey) excursions and major sites. This one was more about relaxation.

Best,

Mary

Celebrity do this too!

Thanks for the clarification. Yes, I'm sure other lines do this also. I guess the oppressive heat made me extra excited each time I was welcomed with cold water! :')

Thanks for your comments, everyone! Bonnie, I will post a regular review using the link you mentioned. Alfredo1, we liked the Indian buffet too. I am glad you got to enjoy the cruise as well; I like your comments and helpful suggestions. I did notice it felt extra busy at breakfast in Windows some mornings.

As for the intense heat...it is better than rain! When we returned to the ship each day, we appreciated the ice water and cold towels. Examples of the extra touches that make Azamara special.

We just returned from a seven-night cruise on the Quest. It was our 7th Azamara cruise, and we had a wonderful time...as usual.:) There were more children and young adults than on our previous Azamara cruises, perhaps due to the itinerary and summer season. We don't use the pool area, so this didn't affect us. The kids I saw in the dining areas were well-behaved.

The Officers:

Captain Jose, Hotel Director Philip, Cruise Director Russ, Chef Fabio

I had never sailed with Captain Jose before. He has a great personality! We already knew we enjoyed sailing with Philip, Russ, and Fabio.

Our Itinerary:

Saturday, July 29: Barcelona Depart at 6:00 pm

Sunday, July 30: Ibiza 8:00 am to early next morning

Monday, July 31: Ibiza Depart at 6:00 am

Monday, July 31: Palma De Mallorca 1:00 pm to 11:00 pm (Azamazing Evening)

Tuesday, August 1: Mahon, Menorca 8:00 am to 6:00 pm

Wednesday, August 2: Bonifacio, Corsica 1:00 am to 7:00 pm

Thursday, August 3: Portoferraio, Elba 8:00am to 10:30 pm (White Night)

Friday, August 4: Florence/Pisa (Livorno) 8:00 am -7:00 pm

Saturday, August 5: Rome (Civitavecchia)

Our Weather:

I will be concise here: VERY-HOT-EVERY-DAY!:cool:

Check-in:

As usual, registration was quick and easy. We arrived at the port at 1:15 pm and were in Windows Café about 20 minutes later. A breeze!

Our Stateroom:

4054 Oceanview. This was our first oceanview stateroom on Azamara. We have stayed in veranda staterooms (4 times) and inside staterooms (twice). Of course, I would prefer a veranda every cruise, but I don’t mind budgeting to save money for next year’s cruise! Anyway, we already had a realistic expectation about the stateroom and shower size. We were very pleased with the room. 4054 was stable (not rocky). It was close to Guest Relations but it wasn’t noisy. It was very convenient to the Mosaic Café; it was also easy for getting on and off the ship each day. On the flip side, we generally dined on deck 9, so we were navigating the stairs/elevators for meals. The ship isn’t that big, however, so nothing is too far away. I would be happy to stay in that room on another cruise.

Our room attendants were Mario and Satej, and they took great care of our room. Mario greeted us as soon as were settling into our room to unpack our suitcases. He gave us an overview of the room and its features. We asked for cans of club soda for our refrigerator, and we received them quickly. He replenished them later in the week without prompting. We had no issues with our room during our cruise. (We didn’t get room service or have special requests besides the club soda.)

Cruise Critic Social:

We were a small group of only 14 cruisers, but there was still a large officer presence at the social, including Cruise Director (Russ), Hotel Manager (Philip), and LCV and Cruise Sales Manager (Amanda), Concierge (Yasemin?), and Food and Beverage Manager (Thomas). It was held in the deck 10 drawing room, partitioned off so it was cozy and more conducive to chatting for a small group. They officers gave us plenty of time and attention and did not make us feel rushed.

Dining:

We enjoy the quality and variety of the food on Azamara, and this cruise was no exception. We ate most meals on deck 9, at either Windows or the Patio, because we like the casual ambience of the buffets and sitting outside. When tables weren’t available on the Windows’ deck, we ate inside. One day, it was just too hot to eat outside anyway.

The service was quick and friendly, with the exception of a couple of mornings when it was very busy at breakfast and we did have to wait for coffee. There were just too many people for the amount of waitstaff…no problem, we were on vacation!

We had the following meals in Discoveries: jazz brunch, officers’ barbecue, and departure morning breakfast.

I have a dietary restriction, and the Food and Beverage managers were great working with me.

My husband, for his part, said the food was very good and even better than last time. He thought the dishes that were supposed to be spicy were actually spicy for a change.

Entertainment:

We are not big partiers, so Azamara's low-key evenings generally work for us. Most evenings, we primarily enjoyed chatting with other cruisers and/or listening to pianist Max DiFaz. We met several friendly people, including some whose names I recognized from Cruise Critic. :)

We did attend the following shows:

• Rikki Jay, comedian
  
• Danzare, with Quest Singers and Dancers
  
• Amanda Poulson, singer (my favorite show - Broadway hits, and what a voice!)
  
• Papa T, guitarist, singer in The Living Room
  
• Stage Door To Dreams, with the Quest Singers and Dancers and CD Russ
  

Other Activities:

• The Living Room, dancing and watching (not singing!) karaoke. I must say that it was much livelier than our previous Azamara cruises.
  
• White Night: very hot but very fun...a full dance floor!
  
• Le Club Voyage Cocktail Party
  
• Azamazing Evening: We had the Azamazing Evening in Palma de Mallorca at the beautiful La Seu Cathedral. The evening consisted of folkloric dances outside the church, a short organ concert, a choral concert, and a short guided tour of the cathedral. It was very hot in the church, but the transportation logistics were well-handled.
  

Complimentary shuttle bus/tourist information availability for each port:

• Ibiza shuttle bus, tourist information table onboard
  
• Palma de Mallorca: shuttle bus, information table onboard
  
• Mahon: docked right in town, information onboard
  
• Bonifacio: tender into town, information onboard
  
• Portoferraio: docked right in town, information onboard
  
• Livorno: tourist info onboard
  

Azamara Shore Excursions:

We signed up for only one Azamara excursion this cruise: “Independent Exploration in Florence”: Explore the Tuscan capital according to your own interests and at your own pace, with a pocket-sized smart device as your companion guide. (9.5 hours)

Azamara actually offered quite a few interesting shore excursions from Livorno, but we wanted to spend time in Florence. We had been to Florence previously on an Azamara cruise, so we felt comfortable navigating it on our own once we got there. I had researched DIY transportation, but it just seemed to make more sense to take the ship’s shore excursion bus. In my opinion, it was an excellent value.

Trudy, our guide, was great. While we were riding into Florence, she gave us local information, efficient walking routes, tips on not getting overcharged for ice cream and coffee, and bathroom locations. She was well-informed and very funny. She was as good or better than most of the guides I’ve had on such tours.

By the way, the tour description included: "This independent tour includes a stop at a fine leather factory.” I balked a bit when I saw that was part of the trip, but it really gave us all an opportunity to use the WC before entering Florence. It was fine, and there was no sales pressure or demonstration. (Fortunately, the shoes my husband was admiring didn't come in his size...)

Everybody in the group made it back to our meeting place on time. (Wonderful!) And we made it back to the ship right around the all aboard time.

Some things we didn’t attend this cruise but were offered:

• Destination/enrichment lectures
  
• Captain’s Welcome Toast (We were exhausted from our flight. I had mentioned earlier we weren't big partiers!)
  
• Movies Under the Stars
  
• Trivia (We had fun joining trivia on our previous cruises, but we were onshore during trivia sessions on this cruise.)
  

Laundry: Our LCV status allowed us one bag of free laundry,and we took advantage of this.

We are looking forward to cruising with Azamara next year. We just haven't decided which itinerary yet...

Thanks, Bonnie!This is a very feasible solution. That's what I will plan to do.

Mary

Hi Robin. Thanks for your reply...I like your suggestion about dropping off the bags at White Bay Terminal. I hope Azamara will confirm that we can do so. (We are flying into Sydney that morning, so I had originally planned to get on the ship around 2:00 PM and regroup before going out for the evening. Of course, that would be my first choice.)

I have read many of your Azamara posts over the past few years. I appreciate your insights. This will be our 6th Azamara cruise, but we learn new things each time!

Mary

Hi Bonnie,We just received the message that February 19 Journey passengers "should check-in before 4:30 PM. Guests wishing to go ashore to explore Sydney will only be allowed to return to go ashore after 6:15 PM."

I have 6:00 PM performance tickets at the Opera House. Before I pursue a refund on the concert tickets, are there any options? Thanks. I realize it's a local regulation, not an Azamara one.

Mary

I am enjoying your detailed review...we were on the same cruise!

Thank you for your answer.

Looking forward to cruising in June, wherever my stateroom is. 😊

I am booking my cruise tomorrow and am a Le Club Voyage member. If I might apply for the LCV upgrade, should I book my original stateroom as a "guarantee" or as a specific number?

Thanks. This will be our 5th Azamara cruise but the first time applying for the upgrade.

Thanks,

Mary

Thank you for all you input and help. What a generous group! I am putting together all my information and will let you know what I decide.

Thanks for your input on the itineraries. Lots to think about. I'll admit that I had not really considered the sea conditions/weather/roughness. Thanks for bringing that aspect to my attention. We never worried about seasickness until our last cruise, when my husband had terrible seasickness one sea day on the Mediterranean. (It was rough seas, and many passengers felt sick that day.)

Thank you, Antonintassie, Ellbon, and cruzluvers for your help and insights. :)

I am very excited about finally seeing Australia and New Zealand!

Robin, regarding the ports...these are the ones that both cruises include: Sydney, Hobart, Milford Sound (cruising), Dunedin/Port Chalmers, Akaroa, Napier, Tauranga, and Auckland. I do realize that the actual docking locations might be different, based on the size differences of the ships.

Azamara includes Melbourne and Port Arthur; Celebrity does not.

Celebrity includes Wellington; Azamara does not.

Azamara includes overnights in Sydney, Hobart, and Napier.

Azamara is 15 nights; Celebrity is 12 nights. (Very large price difference, as you would expect.) We're looking at standard veranda cabins on Azamara. We are looking at Aquaclass on Celebrity.

Thanks.

Hi,

We are planning a February 2017 cruise to Australia and New Zealand, and we have it narrowed down to the Azamara Journey and the Celebrity Solstice. We LOVE Azamara (4 out of our 6 total cruises) but have never sailed Celebrity.

The reasons I am considering Celebrity: lower price; 4 sea days. We have never been on a cruise with that many sea days and are thinking that Celebrity would have more activities and evening entertainment.

On the other hand, we love the great docking locations, the Sunset Bar, and general "feel" of Azamara. Azamazing, indeed!

This will be our longest, farthest, and most expensive vacation to date...so I want to be sure I make a good decision.

Thanks in advance,

Mary

Correction: we tendered in Monaco. (I am trying to edit the original post.)

We recently returned from a wonderful 8 night cruise on the Quest--Barcelona to Barcelona. Since I have found these boards very useful in planning my past vacations, I wanted to provide a little feedback on our trip.

About us: We are 54 and 60, and from the U.S. This was our 4th Azamara Quest voyage--our 6th cruise overall.

We are destination-driven and don't spend much time by the pool, in the casino, etc. We sail Azamara to explore ports most days and then come back for a relaxing dinner with great service, outdoor dining (weather permitting, of course), and open seating.

About our stateroom: 6017. We got a good deal on a veranda GTY. The housekeeping staff (Richard and Joe) were excellent and the room was spotless. They even decorated our room on my birthday! We did hear some noise from The Cabaret show on the first night, but we were in the room at 9:00, which is pretty early to be going to bed anyway. (We had flown in that morning and were a little jet-lagged. The other nights when we went to the room at 10:00-10:30, we did not have noise.) Also, my husband got seasick on Day 3 (our sea day). He had never been seasick before. I don't know how much the stateroom location affected him. Lots of people were seasick that day.

Ports:

-Barcelona (day 1): We flew in that morning, took the Aerobus from the airport to Placa de Catalunya, took a 3.5 hour local bus tour of Gaudi architecture, walked (with our luggage) to the Quest, had speedy check-in, and we were at the lunch buffet in Discoveries Restaurant by 2:00. We were informed at check-in that we would be staying in Barcelona for an extra night due to weather conditions.

-Barcelona (day 2): We took the ship's morning tour to Montserrat. We had lunch on the ship and still had time to walk back through La Ramba, due to the convenient docking location of the ship. Cruise Critic Get-Together was at 6:00 that evening.

-Sea Day: My husband was seasick, so I enjoyed John Rossi's enrichment lecture on Florence, then I found a lounger on deck 5 and read my book. (I did need a blanket!) We did not attend Le Club Voyage cocktail party.

-Civitavecchia: We took the train to Rome on our own.

-Livorno: We took a private tour with 3 other couples. We had pre-arranged this through Cruise Critic. (Thanks, Lois!)

-Calvi, Corsica: A spectacular port. Beautiful...we just walked around and explored on our own. White Night Party.

-Monte Carlo, Monaco: We were able to walk around on our own. We visited the aquarium and the church, but we did not go to the casino.

-Palamos, Spain: We took the ship's tour to the Dali Museum.

-Barcelona: disembarkation

Highlights:

-Customer service. That's what keeps us coming back.

-White Night Party--Great food, dancing, tablemates, and weather.

-Docking locations. We had very convenient locations in Barcelona, Calvi, and Monte Carlo.

-Windows Cafe. We ate dinner outside on the deck most nights. There was a good variety of food, which changed for each theme night. The Spanish dinner buffet was our favorite. However, the big treat for us is sitting outside with a glass of wine, watching the ship sail away.

-Amanda Poulson performance. Beautiful voice!

-Mosaic Cafe for a morning latte to go, as well as for an evening decaf coffee at one of the tables. It was a nice place to sit after dinner. It was obviously a popular place, since most tables were usually occupied.

-I appreciated that Azamara provided detailed information on how to take the train to Rome and back. Since we had visited Rome on a previous cruise and seen the biggest sights, we opted to take the train on our own this time. We saw several other passengers taking the train, as well. (A tourist information desk was available on deck 4 on most mornings. It was a good place to pick up a local map and ask for directions.)

-Cruise Critic Social. It was well attended by guests and officers. Azamara definitely puts in the effort to make it a nice get-together.

-Hotel Director Philip Herbert. He was very visible during the cruise, and he seemed genuinely concerned with making sure guests were comfortable and happy.

-Other passengers. We had nice conversations with fellow travelers.

Negatives? None, really. The weather conditions caused us to spend a second day in Barcelona instead of going to Ibiza. On our sea day, it was really rocky and many people were seasick. On our next-to-last day, it was a little rough again. However, weather cannot be helped and Captain Carl Smith kept us safe and informed. He has been the captain on each of our Azamara cruises, and we look specifically for cruises where he and Russ (the cruise director) will be sailing.

I sometimes wish there was a little more nightlife, but I realize that is the trade-off of being on a smaller ship. We do enjoy the overall ambience.

We look forward to sailing with Azamara again, when it's just my husband and me. (If we travel with our grown children, they will want more to do after dinner.)

For us, it's the perfect combination of travel and relaxation.