corinna121

We are booked on this cruise also, as the 2nd trip for a B2B. We are hoping for nice weather but we can deal with whatever we are given. It is our first B2B and our first Trans-Atlantic crossing. I did pack sea-bands and herbal patches just in case. Here is hoping to a wonderful trip!

3 minutes ago, celebriteer said:

Hi, We are also on this cruise. I’m no expert, but comparing that screenshot to Google maps it looks like Terminal A. Hope I’m right but you should be able to see the ship from the road anyhow. 
 

Susan

Thank you Susan...I appreciate your help!!

On 8/17/2024 at 9:23 AM, tiggertom said:

You could try the link on the website https://www.azamara.com/gb/booked-guests/azamara-upgrades

good luck

Hello all, We set sail today and did not receive an offer to upgrade even though I did follow the much appreciated advice of tiggertom. FYI we are first time Azamara cruisers we bid $1300pp via website to upgrade from Verandah to CC. This works out to $110pp per night. 12 night cruise in the Mediterranean. We booked through a third party with TA. And did later add the following Trans-Atlantic so that we do not have to fly back home. But I have two separate booking numbers. So I doubt that is a B2B problem that I have seen some people run into. Our first itinerary seems very popular and I think it will be a full ship. My husband had me checking email everyday to see if we got the bid. We mostly liked the idea of specialty dining and WIFI being included, which we will buy anyway. We are happy with the cabin we originally booked but I wanted to thank everone who frequents this thread for all of the tips and tricks. Special shout out to tiggertom and Grandma Cruising who have answed questions that I posted. If I forgot to include any info that is needed to update the thread, please let me know. Most of all this was the first time I have ever tried to bid for an upgrade and I wouldn't have done it if it wasn't for this thread and the spreadsheet. Thank you all!

We are scheduled to board the Journey today for a B2B. I know that our taxi driver can find it. Because I have read as much, but if someone could please let me know which cruise port the Azamara Journey is currently located. It would be so helpful and give my husband peace of mind. He really appreciates being completely prepared. Screenshot is attached. TIA

Dr H....Thank you for your answering my question. We are arriving 6 days before our cruise begins in Athens Greece so we will definitely make the ship. My husband and I definitely appreciate and remember the cruise members who make our cruise special. They are such an amazing part of a cruise. I am looking forward to our 21 day B2B onboard the Journey but we will look into the Quest as per your reccomendation.

My husband and were onboard Regent Mariner in December 2023 and had the most amazing waiter Dennis. He really went above and beyond to make our trip extra special. We board Azamara Journey on September 21, 2024 for a B2B and I was hoping that someone to reccomend a waitstaff member who added a special experience to their trip. We like to have the same waitstaff throughout our cruise. Thank you.

On 8/30/2024 at 6:29 PM, Kailyn said:

Hello, just in case anyone did not know, there is currently a 20% off sale for our sailing on beverage packages, internet, and some excursions. 

On 9/4/2024 at 3:21 PM, ExArkie said:

We generally only book ocean crossings rather than port-to-port cruises. (Many reasons, all irrelevant to this discussion.) The advantage of Celebrity M and S class ships (no interest in the E class, too much “high energy” for my blood) is that their larger-than-Azamara ships tend to be more stable in rough seas. Not a major issue for southern (northern hemisphere south, that is) route transatlantic or most transpacific, but the North Atlantic could be exciting. 
 

We have done the southern transatlantic route twice on smaller ships (Seabourn and Oceania) and have our first Azamara crossing from Lisbon to Boston next month. Should be interesting starting in the near equatorial waters and proceeding north as we cross.

 

Kailyn...Thanks for pointing this out ...It really helped us.

ExArkie...We board the Azamara Journey on September 21st and do a B2B until October 12th so we are onboard with you. If you are a fan of trivia, we will be playing everyday possible. It is our favorite activity except for exploring the ports. This will be our first Trans-Oceanic voyage. We are looking forward to it.

On 8/17/2024 at 9:23 AM, tiggertom said:

You could try the link on the website https://www.azamara.com/gb/booked-guests/azamara-upgrades

good luck

Thank you tiggertom I followed your link and I tried my luck getting an upgrade.

We set sail in 5 weeks in a V1 I was planning to try upgrading to a suite but I never recieved an upgrade offer in my email. Does anyone have any advice?

3 hours ago, riandei said:

Website states 1 bag per 7 night cruise.  Would this mean 2 bags on a 12 night cruise.

 

this is for discoverer level.

 

thank you

If you need extra bags last I heard it is $40 for a bag. What you choose squeeze in the bag is another topic. They offer 3/5/8 bag specials, I was told recently 5 bags for $100, 8 bags for $110. I dont remember the price for 3 bags but it didn't seem like a worthwhile choice to me. We have a B2B coming up in September. I don't mind the self service laundry but if they let us use the purchased laundry through our B2B total of 21 days..I would go for 8 bags. But IMHO we are lucky on Azamara to have any laundry included. Most lines do not include this perk.

43 minutes ago, zipcruise said:

Don’t miss to visit the ancient theatre and try some fresh cannoli, very yummy. Taormina is one of my favorite spots in Italy, I always purchase the „Aqua di Taormina“ there, the perfume smells like vacation to me, it’s my signature scent 😍.

I also recommend the taxi . Once we took the public bus and I didn’t feel comfy on the small road uphill to Taormina - although the driver was very experienced.

 

Thank you zipcruise, we will certainly benefit from your great advice. We love cannoli and I enjoy trying new perfumes. Aqua di Taormina even sounds like vacation. I can't wait to try it. We will be sure to visit the ancient theatre!!

36 minutes ago, Mackdogmolly said:

HOHO stands for hop on hop off bus. Tours that are available in a lot of cities - inexpensive and an easy way to see the major attractions.

Thank you Mackdogmolly. It does sound like a great way to see most cities. I have heard Taomina is very beautiful.

On 6/4/2022 at 3:18 AM, Ilovemygarden said:

A couple of weeks ago we took the Hoho - although I think there was also a service bus.  Taxis were also plentiful.   Taormina is very pretty to stroll around.

We go to Taormina in September. What is the Hoho? We are looking forward to seeing Taormina for the first time. 

On 5/6/2024 at 10:37 PM, brucory said:

We have a cruise booked on Azamara in September which finishes with an overnight stop in Lisbon. 

The ship arrives at 1pm on the 2nd last day.

Looking for some thoughts on what time might be the earliest to leave the ship on the final day as looking at early flights from Lisbon.

Would consider wheeling off our own luggage if it helps. 

Any assistance much appreciated. 🙂 

I guess you are on the Journey Athens Sept cruise to arrive 1pm Lisbon then overnight with us our paperwork has no departure time on it either. I would think you could get off the ship earlier than most would want to begin departure, and wheeling off your own luggage would certainly save you time. There are quite a few people doing a B2B to Boston including us. This will probably make for a less crowded departure for you. My husband and I usually wheel our own luggage on and off now, because we travel much lighter than in the past! Traveling lighter feels freeing to us. I hope you find this information helpful.

On 12/31/2023 at 11:41 AM, Dr H said:

This is their new shtick, and actually it is easier to work with. I believe B2B credits remain unchanged. If there are room changes, again, no real change to the routine - you get your new key at the B2B meeting the day before, they move you as they have in the past. Turnaround, you can leave the ship if you wish, or stay on board. Of course, the new Azamara Computer From Hell loves to list our 2nd leg as the first on the itinerary, which is driving this mildly OCD (CDO, actually) cruiser to drink, but otherwise, it is no hassle.

Dr H, Sorry to get slighly off topic here. We have a B2B coming up and we have to change rooms. My husband really wanted to keep the same room but it was already booked. If we want to go to port in Lisbon, where would we leave our bags?

3 minutes ago, kent4489 said:

If there is a lot of interest, we have seen it happen more than one night. But, we've also been on board and there were none.

Thank you, kent4489. I appreciate you taking the time to explain this to me. We had a wonderful time on our other cruises with a karaoke night; but I like to participate in so many activities on board a ship that I rarely have time to do everything that I have circled in the daily newletter. So we will be okay either way, but I like to be prepared and know what to plan for. I am excited about our First White night and Azamazing evening.

Thank you so much uktog, one night is what we are used to on most cruise lines. I will be sure and ask the cruise director and find out when and if there is karaoke on our sailing.

Can someone please tell me if they have karaoke night on Azamara? I have been on many different cruise lines and most of them include at least one karaoke night. But I have searched this forum and haven't seen anything about karaoke. Maybe I am not searching correctly. Thanks in advance.

13 minutes ago, Hi-ho-silver said:

How is the corkage fee assessed?  Do you declare the wine when you board and have the $15/bottle charged to your account or when (if) you bring the bottle to the dining room?

The corkage fee is not charged when you bring the wine onboard. The $15 corkage fee is charged when waitstaff opens your wine for you. If you want to drink your wine on your balcony for example there will be no corkage fee. There will only be a corkage fee on wines you choose to drink in a public area onboard the ship.

On 3/24/2024 at 1:00 PM, Grandma Cruising said:

Just wondering whether to resurrect the upgrade spreadsheet which I haven’t updated since March 23 when the upgrade system disappeared. 
As it now seems to be back, would people find the spreadsheet helpful or not. If you would find it useful then please start posting the following upgrade information.

- bid date

- cruise date

- cruise length

- loyalty level

- minimum bid required for upgrade (in US$)

- total amount bid (in US$)

- cabin type initially booked

- cabin type bid for

- final bid cost per night (in US$)

- bid strength

- outcome (successful or not)

- cruise region 

- any other useful information (E.g when told about outcome)

 

Here’s a link to it. The only new entry is mine for my most recent cruise https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1pEoojQ5-EPmD4cI3gw1dVcYfYTXfZePdDXxU09l0H3M/edit

Grandma Cruising Just want to let you know how much my husband and I appreciate all of your hard work we will put in a bid to upgrade our September 21, 2024 Veranda to a Suite of some some sort. Not too concerned of what type of suite, mostly we are doing it for the specialty restaurants. We will certainly post our results for the benefit of others after we attempt the upgrade bid. good luck to you and all on this board on getting the rooms that will make our cruise as wonderful as possible.

On 1/21/2024 at 8:44 PM, luv2travel90266 said:

As suggested before you can bring an unlimited amount of wine bottles on board and pay $10 corkage in the dining room. I typically stop retuning to the ship and pick up several bottles at a local wine store in the port. 

 

The plus is you will get to taste wines you may not be able to find at home. You can also choose wines within your preferred price point.  I personally do a google search of wine stores near the port. 

I was thinking the same thing. We will be in Tuscany on out 2nd port stop. I will find a wine store that does tastings and bring the wine onboard. But all of our ports are bound to have excellent wines that as you say "we could not be able to find at home" 

On 4/14/2024 at 2:46 PM, Ithikan said:

Thank you to the several above posters who reminded me of the additional Azamara birthday treats:  signed card! towel elephant! (Well done on the Towel B'Day Cake, fruitmachine!).

Corinna121, I was mistaken when I said to use 'Addon.'  I used the Special Requests icon to report my birthday - this selection incurs no cost.  And we just used it again for my husband's upcoming birthday on Journey  : )

I must send out a big thank you to you my friend. It seems there are 2 places to enter a birthday add ons and special requests. Neither one mentions any cost for this service. Thanks to you I now have both checked! These boards are so filled with great information to make the best possible trips!

2 hours ago, Ithikan said:

I celebrated my birthday during our Journey cruise in January of this year.  We were in a CC suite and so were able to breakfast in Aqualina, where Ruby and her staff sang "Happy Birthday" to me.  I loved it.

And when we returned to our stateroom there was a birthday banner and balloons.  I felt special!  

And yes, there was the offer of a discounted bottle of beverage - the day before, we'd encountered a couple roaming the ship with their anniversary coupon, seeking the sommelier so they could select something special for their occasion.  (I was grateful, but we didn't take advantage of this offer.)

And finally, the White Night deck party happened to occur that evening.  Seriously, one of my best-ever birthdays!  I highly recommend checking the Addon box and letting the Azamara staff and crew help you celebrate your husband's birthday!

Wow, that does sound really special. We celebrated my January 2024 birthday on board Scarlet Lady. I was impressed that when I got on and off at the port or scanned my card anywhere I was wished a Happy Birthday by a crew member, but no cake, coupons, decorations or special dining venue. Looks like we will really enjoy Azamara. I checked the proper box and the cake and decorations will be a surprise for my husband because although he knows about the cruise, I am the planner in the family!!

We will be cruising on Azamara Journey Sept 21,2024. This will be my husband's birthday cruise. When looking at shore excursions etc. I found the Addon section which allows me to choose which day to celebrate his birthday. Questions: what will they do to celebrate his birthday? Is there an added charge for this? This is our first Azamara Cruise but we have been on many different lines. I did find the tips for Azamara newbies Excel spreadsheet to very helpful. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15Deg-GaeZYLml8NN3PVwoh_jUkQ8QmYUe1wxnVAlODE/edit#gid=0.  Any tips are very much appreciated. TIA

My husband and I sailed on Regent Mariner Nov-Dec 2023. We loved the ship. We experienced no plumbing issues. Food and service was absolutely amazing. We would not hesitate to sail Mariner again. Kasia and Boogie were very talented and entertaining. My husband did say the gym on Mariner leaves something to be desired. But I don't use the gym. Our room steward Emma and waiter in Compass Rose Dennis were wonderful. Now you have me wanting to book another cruise!!