nordski

43 minutes ago, Mackdogmolly said:

It’s not great here either, although we are expecting some snow today 

If this keeps up we may have to consider moving further North or, Heaven forbid, further South.

8 minutes ago, Mackdogmolly said:

Soon for real! 😂

Those don’t look like Muskoka (Adirondack) chairs.

So what kind of home and garden store IS that?

The clientele do seem suitably dressed. Perhaps a good guideline for eating in one of Azamara’s specialty restaurants? And the elegant smoking style is impressive but now forbidden in most areas of a ship.

We are experiencing the worst winter for nordic skiing I can remember and downhill conditions have been rather poor.

Really hope this isn’t a sign of things to come.

23 hours ago, nordski said:

Thanks for your reply. There may be some on this forum who are rather obsessed with access to real maple syrup. Its disappearance shortly after leaving Canada would lead to mutinous thoughts. 😀

 

In general, our 2019 experience in Blu was the poorest of the 4 cruises we have travelled in Aqua Class.

 

Up until that cruise, we would compare Blu as close to what we expect in Discoveries in Azamara.

 

I believe others have suggested Blu is similar to Azamara’s specialty restaurants. That has not been our experience, but I understand that more tables have been added to Prime C and Aquafina,  so the difference in ambience may not be so marked.

 

 

Perhaps my judgement should be suspect since our cruise was in 2020 not 2019.

I apologize and hope that mistake did not confuse people.

2 hours ago, Stateroom_Sailor said:

 

We sailed in April 2019 from Vancouver to Hawaii.  I talked to several B2B2B people who had sailed up from South America, who were experiencing the same thing.  Knowing how loyalists can be, I would only discuss the problems if someone else brought it up first, and it was still brought up frequently.

 

1.  Missing ingredients, especially fresh vegetables.  No hummus in BLU for the bread.  They had just restocked chocolate syrup for the first time in weeks.  We ran out of maple syrup right after leaving Canada, and ran out of pineapple while docked in Maui!  Frozen mixed veggies were added to the buffet the last night, which I am not a fan of, but luckily I was able to get vegetables in port for lunch by that point in the cruise.

 

2.  Unhappy crew.  The crew were stressed and overworked, any break had to be used for sleep.  Several members vented to me about the situation.  A group of young crew tried to get off at midnight in Maui, and they groaned after being denied due to some kind of delay, claiming they never got to do anything.

 

3.  Maintenance.  The exterior of the ship looked like a rust bucket.  There were no skid strips on the steps going down to the tender.  Combined with the damp midnight air, and wet exterior, my wife slipped down the steps twice.  Instead of enjoying the sunrise on the mountain, we were in a hurry to get to urgent care.  Guest Service claimed that there were no cameras facing the tender area.

 

Sharing this on the Celebrity forum will get you roasted.  I actually got accused of shoving my wife down the stairs.  Multiple people claimed that if Celebrity's food went downhill, it was my fault alone for not fighting to change it, and now they were all going to suffer.  In 2014, the masses were threatening to leave X over the removal of fresh squeezed OJ during breakfast buffet, but when real problems start to emerge, the pitchforks come out.  I'm done with the irrational loyalty.

 

Thanks for your reply. There may be some on this forum who are rather obsessed with access to real maple syrup. Its disappearance shortly after leaving Canada would lead to mutinous thoughts. 😀

In general, our 2019 experience in Blu was the poorest of the 4 cruises we have travelled in Aqua Class.

Up until that cruise, we would compare Blu as close to what we expect in Discoveries in Azamara.

I believe others have suggested Blu is similar to Azamara’s specialty restaurants. That has not been our experience, but I understand that more tables have been added to Prime C and Aquafina,  so the difference in ambience may not be so marked.

38 minutes ago, Stateroom_Sailor said:

We've also sailed Celebrity, mainly Aqua Class.  Our last cruise on Eclipse in 2019 had significant food shortages, especially vegetables.  There were also maintenance issues.  I assume it was a temporary situation, but it caused us to look elsewhere.

 

 

Interesting. Our last cruise in Aqua Class  (January 2019) was on Eclipse and, as I posted on another thread, the experience in Blu was not at its usual level. That was pre-Covid. 
Perhaps that ship/cruise itinerary an outlier but it seemed that corners were being cut.

14 hours ago, Cruiseworks said:

We are also boarding the Pursuit on that day. We boarded the onward in Miami December 1 and check in was on the pier and very efficient. Wondering if anyone has any suggestions on hotels in Buenos Aires?

If a boutique hotel suits your purposes, then it would be hard to find a better choice than the Fierro Hotel in the Palermo district. Excellent rooms, service, and breakfast.

We were there in 2019, but the reviews on Tripadvisor remain very positive.

Would go back in a heartbeat.

1 hour ago, KevintheIrishDJ said:

Then how do you explain before and after the tip?

In our experience, except on the first night of a cruise, arriving at 6:00 pm ensured almost a limitless choice of tables. So I would suggest that arrival time at Discoveries might be a bigger factor than a tip.

At least I would hope so. 
The only time we had to fine tune our tactic was when another couple also coveted the same two-top with a window at the back of the ship. 😀

10 hours ago, laurieb said:

We have two cruises on the Quest booked in 2024, Spain intensive in May followed by the France intensive in June.  Have our eyes on a couple of the world cruise segments in 2025.

Several years ago we were on an itinerary that included many of those ports you will visit in May and June. One of our favourite cruises.

So much so that we are looking at the May 2024 cruise.

1 hour ago, Rosroz said:

I really do wish people would read and reread their posts and make the necessary adjustments to spelling and grammar before they press the submit button, thank you

In the general guidelines for this board there is a request for a broad tolerance of grammatical errors given the very differing backgrounds of people who post here.

If one has ceased to benefit from some poster’s efforts I believe that there is a blocking function that should help alleviate frustrations.

41 minutes ago, takemewithyou said:

1.  Yes, I would say the experience in Discoveries would be similar to Blu.  Once you find a waiter you like, you can request that waiter when you dine in Discoveries and they can usually accommodate that.  We also always loved Blu and Aquaclass on X.

2. The Premium package does not include any wines beyond what it is in the complimentary selection.  If you want upgraded wines, you will need to go to the Ultimate Package, bring your own (for $10 corkage fee currently)  or purchase upgraded wines by the bottle from the sommelier.

3.  Yes, it should cost $7 pp extra per day and not everyone In cabin had to upgrade.  You can not upgrade until you are on the ship and that is of benefit to you because you can see exactly what wines on the Ultimate Package they actually have on the ship.  Sometimes, there are substitutions and they may not be what you expect!

takemewithyou has provided excellent guidance.

I would only add that our last experience in Blu   (Eclipse early 2020) was rather different than previous ones.

It seemed that they wished to limit the area used by diners, so we were limited in where we could sit (mostly at the windows) resulting in rather cramped quarters. Secondly, we struggled somewhat to communicate with the Maître D concerning food allergies.

Given those issues although we previously would have ranked Blu as almost equivalent to Discoveries, that particular experience did not live up to that assessment.

4 hours ago, Grandma Cruising said:

Two booked this year - Rio to Lisbon on Pursuit in March and Dubai to Singapore on Journey in November.

We’re thinking 2023 may be the last year in which we do long haul travel due to our advancing years, so we intend to make the most of it.
We’ve been on Quest, Journey & Pursuit but not Onward.

Those sound like very attractive itineraries.

We too are reconsidering long-haul flights, although a flight giving us access to Yorkshire would be the exception we might consider. 😀

It is not just physical comfort that is a concern, but a blizzard last weekend threw the handling of passengers/luggage at North American airports into chaos,

Not really interested in experiencing that.

12 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

So far I only have one Azamara cruise for comparison, but would agree that my experience was similar to this. I have been looking for a new "home" since Voyages to Antiquity ceased operations, and Azamara offers a similar product -- strong focus on itinerary, small ships, etc. The one missing piece for me is the excellent lectures aboard that VTA offered. I think it would be a real fit with the Azamara brand (and a differentiator from O) if they would pursue this. I am a solo cruiser in my 50s and like the friendly vibe I experienced on Azamara.

 

COVID intervened after my first Azamara cruise but I will be onboard again in 2023 and looking forward to it. In the meantime I have sailed with several other lines, but so far none are a "perfect" fit.  Celebrity's smaller ships that offer more diverse itineraries aren't bad, but I wish they were even smaller. HAL has good itineraries but has shed most of their smaller ships. I'm trying Oceania for the first time this year as well, just to see. I'm pre-disposed to like it less, but I found an excellent itinerary and will keep an open mind.

 

Frankly, given the extensive knowledge that you have shared with others, particularly of Med ports, AZ would be wise to tap into your skills.

Personally, we especially benefitted from your notes on Herculaneum.

Hope that AZ proves a good fit for your future cruises. I think you will enjoy some of their more imaginative itineraries. VTA attracted a niche market so there are certainly cruisers looking for a replacement.

We’d like to echo Mackdodmolly’s wishes for all on this forum.

We are still on a blizzard warning here, so the fireplace will definitely come into play if the power goes out. Although, at this point, Québec has more outages than Ontario.

She didn’t share what music plays in the background. Here it is Sarah McLachlan’s “The Classic Christmas Album”.

27 minutes ago, luv2travel90266 said:

On the "Florence on your own" ship excursion I note they start a a leather factory. We plan to buy timed tickets to the Uffizi and have no interest in wasting time at the  leather factory and store,  just looking for a ride to and from the ship. It appears it is difficult to do by ourselves from Livorno as the train station is not easy to get to/from the industrial port where docked. Anyone have info on where stops and where the pickup spot is back to the ship?

We took a version of that trip. If it is the same leather factory where the bus dropped us, it is near a Church and Palazzo. I think the Church is Santa  Croce. Regardless, if my memory is correct it was about a 10 minute walk to the Ufizzi on streets that are mostly limited to pedestrians.

To get back to the ship, we met at the Church as it was a bit of a hike to the pickup spot. That location was in a fairly large park where a number of tourist buses parked.

Of course, all of this is dependent upon them going to the same showroom.

I hope others can add details from their experience and correct my memory where it has gone astray.

Enjoy the Ufizzi. It is one of my favourites.
 

2 minutes ago, Mackdogmolly said:

@nordski, cruel!!

Yes, not appropriate as we near the Holiday Season.

I apologize. 

3 hours ago, uktog said:

I’m delighted to say after four “moans” door gate has ended 

Celebrate with glasses of Champagne…..Oh….I see.🤨

3 minutes ago, Grandma Cruising said:

The previous administration was looking at this, but the new local council (Liberal Democrat instead of Labour) are less keen.

Unfortunately, for the next few year, regardless of party there may not be much in the Budget for creating a new cruise port. It just seems strange that there are virtually no choices in your area. Is the nearest the Port of Tyne?

31 minutes ago, Bloodaxe said:

 

Not really sure about that but probably not, the Ferries to Europe dock in the Humber River but closer the sea at Hull.

It had been planned to build a cruise terminal in Hull but that seems to have been forgotten for now.

Some cargo ships do go up river under the Bridge to Goole a port 40 miles further inland.

Thanks for the reply. I was hoping.

From a selfish point of view, it is unfortunate that there seems to be little enthusiasm for a cruise port at Hull that would allow relatively easy access to interesting sights.

1 hour ago, Grandma Cruising said:

Winter view of the Humber Bridge & of the river on a lovely sunny morning.

 

Always impressed by the Humber River and that magnificent bridge.

Those views certainly make for an impactful walk.
 

Some day I hope we can see it in person. Couldn’t an Azamara ship make its way at least up to the bridge?

3 hours ago, uktog said:

In the early days they only offered drinks with the meals, it was not until about 2013 that they changed.  We had done 4 cruises on Azamara before it changed

Who can forget the heated exchanges on this Board when Larry P. announced the “more inclusive”  policy?

Some posters were convinced that this change would result in the “Carnivalization” of Azamara and perhaps the inevitable “hairy chest” and “belly flop” contests at the pool. Okay, that may be an exaggeration but there was a concern that drunkenness might be a common problem.

There was so much concern that cruisers were offered the opportunity to cancel (at no penalty if memory serves) and our first CBO here,  Bill Leiber, earned his pay.

Fortunately, it doesn’t appear that the worst has occurred, but in a positive light the rather unique attachment to the Azamara experience means that any change onboard continues to often be met with valid concern as to its possible impact.

4 hours ago, Mackdogmolly said:

Stick season here in Vermont. Still unseasonably mild, with temperatures in the 60s f lately. Put the vegetable garden to bed for the winter today though - enough is enough! 

in our region, “stick season” lasts all winter and its extent and impact can be clearly identified when the snow melts,

I just put out our second shift of yard waste bags (20) and have 3 bags left for final pickup.

I have convinced my wife that leaving the leaves where they fall, and making a half-hearted attempt to mulch them, is the more sustainable practice for our planet.

Unfortunately, as the winds rise, the arrival of our leaves on neighbouring lawn might exacerbate some negative thoughts up and down our street.

10 hours ago, Mackdogmolly said:

So sorry to hear about your grandchild, @uktog .

Betsey

Indeed. 

2 hours ago, PirateWife said:

Interesting comments. The M & Ms I went to before Covid were fun and well-attended. Since then, not. People went to the site of the event, sat and talked to people that they already knew, and nothing was shared. No one introduced themselves except for the one I stood up and had everyone introduces themselves, give us their CC name, and, possibly, share something. For first time cruisers with Azamara, these get-togethers can be really helpful.

Great idea to become a facilitator and ensure that the gathering had a purpose and a positive result.

50 minutes ago, uktog said:

I agree. Lower profile and please somewhere where we can circulate eg the Living Room or Pool Bar. The library with everyone strung out sitting or the Cabaret which is even worse as you get blocked in rows was never ideal. 
On Celebrity having it more organised enabled drinks to be served in an otherwise pay to drink environment. Luckily we don’t have that issue on Azamara 

Apt description of getting “strung out” or “blocked in rows”. That first rather informal M&G was, in some ways, the best one I have attended.

But it does put some pressure on the Host/Hostess to make it work and to aid, if possible, the circulation.

59 minutes ago, Riocca said:

Wasn’t until we came over to Celebrity / Azamara in 2010 that we came across the Meet & Greet concept, didn’t happen on P&O and never saw it advertised on Princess. I did organise one on Princess afterwards but it was like pushing jelly uphill, wouldn’t do it again.

So it seems to me that only the RCG companies take it seriously most other lines, not that we’ve been on them all, leave it to the Roll Call to organise a meeting. I stand to be corrected we’ve been on 14 different lines but there’s plenty more we haven’t had experience of. 
 

Possibly Azamara are moving this way, when you think of it logically most Roll Calls are about organising private tours the very thing cruise lines are trying to sell you. I think CC meetings will still be facilitated but not in the high profile way it has been in the past.

Interesting background. On our first Azamara cruise in 2011the M&G was hosted by a member of the Roll Call and, as you suggest, although I didn’t appreciate it at the time it involved some serious commitment on her part.

Gradually the concept evolved with drinks, food, and the presence of some of the ship’s officers.

Perhaps surprisingly, I found that initial experience more personal and we formed a friendship that has lasted to this day.

So I would still value the lower profile that you mention at the end of your post.