Richard&JohnSTX

We second the Aurea Museum Hotel - had a nice stay there last year before our transatlantic.

On 8/25/2022 at 8:43 PM, petern6827 said:

We are Seabourn and Caribbean fans, and love to cruise in January. 

 

But we have fallen in love with SD 1's itineraries for Jan 2023, and with SD in general based on the comments here and the reviews.

 

Alas... my TA tells me the only cabins available for our preferred January cruises are the convertible/thin walled ones. I've read the cautions regarding these cabins on this site. So....I'm seeking your thoughts:

 

Should we hold off on SD until perhaps 2024, and book SB or Regent (which we've also enjoyed) for January 2023?

 

Or, take one of the available cabins and hope our neighbors are tip-toeing whisperers?  (and not tap-dancing wailers.)

 

 

 

 

We were on a Caribbean cruise last November in half of a convertible suite because that was the only one available when we booked.

Maybe heard a cough or two but absolutely no problem.

Go for it - you will love SD.

We have just got off the ship and walked up to the fort and walked around. Lots of great views. We have done good restaurant visits too. Nice spot .

17 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Our Next Adventure at Sea

Three Consecutive Cruises

 

 

First Cruise - April 8 - April  21, 2022 - Transatlantic 13 Night Cruise Fort Lauderdale to Southampton

Second Cruise - April 21 to April 30, 2022 - Southampton 9 Night France, Portugal and Spain

Third Cruise - April 30 - May 7, 2022 - Southampton 7 Night Norwegian Fjords

Side Trip -  May 7 to May 17 - Visit with Alex and Evelyn in Scotland

 

LET THE PLANNING BEGIN

Yeah - another Jim and Iain review!! Had a great time with you guys on St Croix last summer. We also leave on a Celebrity ship April 8 but it is the Constellation out of Tampa - wrong coast to see you again. Have a great trip.

On 2/19/2022 at 7:17 AM, donnatello said:

Was not planning to go, but it ended up a super deal!  Hubby and I are sailing.....anyone else?

Looking forward to meeting you guys. Not long now!

Any one else on this 155 night cruise or on any of the 10 segments?

Quite a while away!

Any one else on this 155 night cruise or on any of the 10 segments?

Quite a while away!

Any one else going?

We will stay three days before the cruise in Lisbon and three days two nights in Rio after.

We are on board both for this cruise and the next which is a TA to Barcelona.

See you soon!

1 hour ago, big stretch said:

Are they serving any draft beer on the Quest now?   On a prior Azamara cruise I remember a keg was tapped at the pool bar....pouring Newcastle Brown Ale.  What is on tap now?  Just wondering in case I get thirsty....

We are on Quest now and had Newcastle with lunch!

On 9/9/2021 at 3:06 PM, FL34202 said:

Richard, I see you live in Lakewood Ranch.  We are in Keswick neighborhood.  Where are you?  We have never sailed on Celebrity, but getting very excited about our Dec 10th Equinox sailing thanks to all the photos and descriptions.

Rod

Hi Rod. We are currently in Esplanade at Lakewood Ranch - close on Oct. 14th. Moving to Esplanade at Azario Lakewood Ranch in November. So just north of you. If the villa construction gets delayed anymore then we are thinking of the Equinox Nov 7th cruise to fill in time. We have twenty something cruises on Celebrity - love them! Then we going back to St Croix in December for the holidays.

Richard

3 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

St Croix - September 8

 

We had the most incredible day in St Croix.   Thanks to a wonderful Cruise Critic member -  I can't find their user name -    Richard and John who live in St Croix.      They were most hospitable and spent the entire day with them.    More later as I have a lot of uploading to do.

 

First up is arrival in port -    We were to meet Richard outside the port at the bus stop just north of the Old Customs House -

 

The tourist board had entertainment to greet the PAX

 

https://youtu.be/ttG9OY5TGBg 

 

 

Thanks so much Jim,

It was an honor to show you and Iain around St Croix.

Thanks so much for your detailed reviews, it helps so many CC members in their future planning!

Richard

How about Azamara Forward?

4 hours ago, hcat said:

 

Hopefully it will pass quickly to the better side of the curve as happened in NY.

Ironic that we would  still have to quarantine if we flew to Fl from NY...but alas,  our June flights to Fla were cancelled .  We'll try again in Nov..hoping for  healthier days ahead for everyone !,

Yes hopefully it will pass. Not to get into politics but I think your NY experience may turn out better than our FL experience.

Our cruise on the Constellation out of Tampa isn't until April 9th so I continue to hope. And even if she is not revolutionized I still want to go. And we missed our Apex cruise from Southampton in May. And of course our Azamara transatlantic from Lisbon to Rio in November is probably toast.

First world problems of course but at 76 and 63 years old we obviously need to be safe - but still want to travel!!

3 hours ago, TeeRick said:

I guess it depends on where the cases are increasing in FL.  I do believe it is mostly in the southeast counties which might impact cruises from MIA and FLL.  Maybe not Tampa.  Maybe not Port Canaveral.  Will there be airline travel restrictions to these areas if the cases continue to rise?  But who the heck can ever figure this stuff out?

Not good news from Tampa yesterday: The Tampa Bay area added five deaths on Wednesday and 542 new cases. Hillsborough hit a record for new single-day cases with 244 infections reported. Pinellas County also had a near-record high day for new cases with 161 added. From the Tampa Bay Times.

We are in London looking forward to boarding Apex in the morning for a Norway cruise. We wish.

But a nice Caprese salad followed by a teriyaki sirloin and fresh from the farm bicolor corn on the cob was great.

Just wish I didn't have to cook and serve it myself!

And lets not even talk about having to do laundry in the morning - I would gladly take that stingy Elite  perk of pack all you can get in the small paper bag about now!

On 9/27/2019 at 11:09 PM, laurieb said:

Thank you Bonnie!  I’ve just completed it too; I was expecting it to be centered on LCV, not the land program 

I agree. I did fill it in but is not about LCV. They ask for your status level and then net worth!!? Then it only is about the marketing of land programs pre or post cruise. Not a problem for them to ask for feedback on desires for the land programs but the headline was inappropriate. I was hopeful it was a survey for members on board here disappointed in the changes to the Azamara LCV program to give feedback to such. I thought maybe they were interested about the concerns lately. Sad. 

14 hours ago, aml3679 said:

We have 2 upcoming cruises out of Fort Lauderdale.  Since we live in Bradenton, this is great news for us since Tampa is only an hour away from our home.

We are in Bradenton too at Esplanade. We just booked the April 9 cruise 2021 - 10 night Caribbean. The price on the Sky Suite was incredible! Would be good to see you on that cruise!

5 hours ago, Luv2Crus40 said:

Hello again.  If you have a chance, there was a premium wine that I loved but I forgot to write down the label.  I think the sommelier called it Cherry Tart and it's a Pinot Noir (California?).  If you happen to see this wine, could you let me know who makes it?  Thanks so much. 

 

Did you make it to St. George on the last leg?   We love walking around St. George.  Such a quaint little town.  Enjoy your 3 day stay in Bermuda!

Yes it is Cherry Tart Pinot Noir made by Cherry Pie in California.

We are on the November 5th transatlantic which will be the first affected by the new Cuba rules. I would assume Azamara has been watching this topic avidly and had backup itineraries in place. Can you shed light on this please. Looks like lots of people on our cruise have already or are going to bail - the sooner a new itinerary can be posted to assure guests of it's worth it would be in the interest of Azamara to do so.

Thanks,  Richard

I second that!!

We are on both the April 13th cruise and the 27th TP to Vancouver. 

Let's get together!

We sailed 1140 on the Summit twice - New England and Caribbean - yes a bit loud on the balcony during the films but could hear nothing in the cabin. The depth of those balconies trump the others on deck 11 so go for it! And closer to the stairs down to the Sunset Bar!!

Thanks Norris for your wonderful review of Azamara and your Cuba trip. It was so great that I also did then look at all your previous reviews - took hours out of my days (LOL) but totally appreciate the time and dedication you put into your documentation!

We have sailed on Azamara three times previously - had no intention of doing Cuba after having lived in the Caribbean for 30 years but when I saw your review I researched some of their cruises including Cuba and we are now booking the westbound TA from Barcelona starting November 5th on Journey. We have been to Barcelona before but not the stops of Gibraltar or Bermuda! The port of Key West we will enjoy again and then off to Havana. Only an overnight there but as we are just an hour drive from the port of Tampa we can find a more immersive cruise from there in the future to do even more.

I think Azamara owes you a special gift of sorts for inspiring so many of us to experience Cuba on Azamara!

Hi to Carol,

Richard

5 hours ago, movie buff said:

Weather you like the design changes or colors is very subjective. The real issue is will the grey/light colors hold up under wear and tear. I can see issues in a very short period of time with coffee/food stains on the carpet and furniture.  That may be the real issue here.  I will be in a CS on the April 27 transpacific crossing so will have the chance to see for myself if there are any signs of wear and tear after two months of being in service after the drydock.Will report on this thread about it.

We were on the Edge January 6th - brand new ship - our sofa was stained - our friends sofa was stained - major fail in both tone of fabric and cleanable aspects. Overall as a designer I liked the look but the function is horribly laking.