Mrs Miggins

Good news on Seville and Malaga Thank you

Thanks, I was particularly interested in Valencia. Lovely place that we have visited before. All the cruise companies use that Torres de Serranos as the drop off/pick up point. I realise it is not near the Arts and Sciences center but our Azamazing evening is located there so Azamara will definitely bus us to the venue. Last time in Valencia we used the shuttle to the city centre, then visited the Arts and Science centre by taxi and then returned to the ship by taxi. There were certainly shuttles last April on our B2B Barcelona - Ravenna although not many were required as we docked within walking distance of most ports.

Looking forward to our Azamazing Evening in Valencia in the wonderful City of Arts and Sciences.. Have been to Valencia before and there was a shuttle service to the City Centre with both Azamara and Viking. I seem to recall reading that there was some problem with this shuttle - local unions - or something. Hope I am wrong. Does anybody have any recent knowledge. Have been to Vigo and La Coruna before, but not with Azamara. Any knowledge about shuttles. My memory says we just walked from the ship previously. Very disappointed that we only have an evening in Bordeaux before disembarking next morning. I presume that this is due to tides ? Know Bordeaux well and will be sad not to have more time in this lovely place. Should have checked before booking our BA flight back to the UK I know.

After enjoying Sorrento have tea or a drink on the wonderful terrace of The Grand Hotel Excelsior Vittoria and use their private lift back down to the dock !

The lift from the dock in Sorrento (turn right along the back of the beach - follow signs) costs one Euro.

No shuttle required in Sorrento, Amalfi, Katokolon all of which are tender ports which drop you at the town. In Syracuse we were also tendered as there is only one docking place, but you might be docked if Azamara bags the spot first.

Sorry didn't realise that this cruise only has one day in Norway and doesn't visit Sweden at all. Just put the Vasa on the bucket list for another time.

The Mary Rose sank after 30 years service in 1545. Great Museum but I really loved the Vasa Stockholm museum. That ship was raised with the hull intact after sinking on its maiden voyage in 1628. The sight of the entire ship just took my breath away.

Thank you for this wonderful review and the splendid photo's reminding me of past travels. Your last line prompted me to listen again to the wonderful Brokedown Palace from the Grateful Dead. Apparently the lyrics were written by Robert Hunter on his first visit to London whilst "slightly" inebriated having drunk half a bottle of Retsina from a full case he had with him. Not sure that Retsina was the drink of choice in London at the time, but it certainly worked.

I watched this too. In fact they were very complimentary about everything to do with Azamara generally. However it was Azamara's response to a problem in their cabin that was poorly handled. I would be interested to know if the "customer relations" manager is still with Azamara. I have never encountered anyone with this title. I would have thought the Hotel Manager would have dealt with water ingress and `i am surprised at the responses they had from Guest Services. The staff at Embarkation would have been from the local Ground Handling company and not Azamara itself but I am surprised that there was not more co-ordination. We have never had any problems when boarding, quite the reverse. The fact that this 'experienced' couple were taken by surprise when encountering rough seas around Australia is somewhat surprising. I wonder if they participate on Cruise Critic.

I have ordered a lemon drop martini specifying ‘included’ ingredients and it has been happily provided. The ones from the Prime C bar are especially good.

Since this thread is Viking or Azamara, I have not found any differential treatment on Azamara, apart from the speciality restaurant upcharge if you are not in a 'suite'.

Thanks for the information about Perry Golf . Have spent time in lovely Bordeaux as my son spent six months at University there and we also enjoyed a Scenic River Cruise spending several days there just pre covid. Cruise was booked onboard last April and it did not occur to me that our time would be so short. I should have checked of course but it has been a little niggling to receive emails from Azamara promoting Bordeaux.

June 23 Journey Spain Intensive. Lovely itinerary although disappointed we only arrive in Bordeaux at 8 pm on the day before departure. I thought we would have the whole day there. It's a Perry Golf cruise as well so I don't know if that will impact our usual Azamara experience.

Cruisemapper listed Quest in Marghera last April. We docked in Ravenna.

Mostly I agree with UK Tog. However I think we have more Viking experience. We have been on both. Viking 5 times, Azamara 12 with several B2Bs. We sailed both this year. Dress code is similar on both however because Viking is almost all North American clients then our observation would be that in the evening most people are more casual. There is a greater mix of nationalities on Azamara with more from the UK, Australia, New Zealand. To me it is one of its benefits. In a CC suite there is no uncharge for the speciality restaurants, otherwise it is $30 extra with packages available. The all inclusive Azamara policy means you can order included drinks and cocktails all day long. There are 4 included wines which often change but the waiter will try to find your favourite from before. This year food on Azamara was better than on Viking and service was superior. Usually I would mark them as similar. Presentation on Azamara better except in Chefs Table. We purchased the Silver Spirits package on Viking but often it took much longer to get our choice. Service was better on Azamara this year. On Viking Sky there were many new hires who seemed out of their depth particularly in the Main Dining Room. Usually I would mark them as similar. Viking's downside is their inflexibility as reported by UK tog. We missed Monte Carlo this year which was important to many onboard. Unusually I saw the Captain at the bar. I said that on previous Azamara cruises in the Med alternative ports were quickly found. (Genoa instead of Monaco for example) He seemed to say it was all too difficult to arrange. We docked in Ravenna instead of Venice. Azamara gave us an excellent Future Cruise Certificate. Viking docked in Tarragona instead of Barcelona - no recompense. Vikings main benefit is their beautiful ships. I love the Spa. Azamara seem to get better docking positions. Entertainment on Azamara has been better than Viking. We had an awful magician/pick pocket on 2 nights in the Theatre. One night a film. Viking did bring onboard Azamara favourites the tenor David Righeschi and Maria Salvini. Sadly the theatre was half empty. We had a good Night under the Stars on Viking but it does not really compare with Azamara's White Night. The guest lecturer onboard Viking was poor this year, perhaps not typical. For the Greek Islands I would choose Azamara. They are more flexible. Their ships are a little smaller. The itinerary for Azamara 11 days in May 23 is better than the Viking 11 days in May 23 in my opinion There have been numerous threads on this subject. All of our plus points will be different. We all want slightly different things. Whichever you choose you will have a wonderful time, especially if you have not visited this lovely region before.

There is a replica of the 70 metre long Bayeux Tapestry in Reading museum. Embroidered by 35 Victorian women in 1885 because “England should have a copy of its own” Slight differences from the original as the women added ‘pants’ to cover the modesty of some naked men. Apparently the male staff at the South Kensington Museum had added underwear to the hand coloured photos they were using !

The Viking link to the 1066 events shown in the Bayeux Tapestry (actually an embroidery )parts of which are depicted onboard the Viking ships, are a little tenuous William the Conqueror was a Norman, however his Great Great Great Grandfather was Rollo a Viking Chieftain who attacked Northern France in AD 911 and became Duke of Northern France. Whilst the artefacts are interesting I could never work out why they were on a 'Viking' ship.

The lectures on our September Viking cruise were poor. Every word was read from a text and the visuals must have been prepared about 20 years ago. I want both good Entertainment and good lectures. The band in Torshavn and the Guitarist were both excellent however.

Despite all the advertising in the UK the percentage of UK passengers seems very low. There were only about 20 on our Viking cruise. On Azamara we had 49%. I don't think Viking are very interested in us. Their audience is from North America so naturally everything is geared towards them. I do think it rather strange that their Piano and violin duo in The Atrium was often playing to a single figure audience but Viking seem to think that gives an "high or upper class" feeling to the ship. I felt rather sorry for the girls who appeared as disinterested as those few in the room. When the bar got a little livelier and louder they were completely ignored. When they finished a couple of people did clap but with very little enthusiasm. We have had good times on Viking and met some lovely people, but there did seem to be a lot of underwhelmed guests onboard. The crossover from River Cruising is obviously a good source of new clients but many seemed completely unaware of the essential differences between River and Ocean.

We are only interested in European cruises. Viking itineraries need an update as many others have said. This year we cruised with Azamara, Scenic and Viking. I have booked a lovely itinerary with Azamara which includes several new ports for us. We have been cruising for 20 years so it's difficult to find a new place. I will also book Scenic again. I have not booked anything on Viking yet. Our last cruise with them was lacking in a number of ways. Viking is still a class act with their big bonus being their beautiful ships but food, service and entertainment were not up to the standard of our previous cruises. New itineraries please, and then they will be back on our list.

So sorry but sometimes I do not understand your posts. What does the first sentence mean ?

6041 is one of the obstructed view OV which are smaller than normal OV and Balcony Cabin. You will have extra space !

Padua is a lovely place to visit. We just went on the train from Venice so I can't comment on the actual Viking excursion. Driving time from Chioggia, according to Google maps, is about an hour.

It's difficult I know. We went to Ravenna, which we really enjoyed, the famous Mosaics are splendid. This actually worked well for us as we have been lucky enough to visit Venice and stay in there wonderful hotels over many years, but had never been to Ravenna. Friends went to Chioggia with Viking but said the long boat transfer for the excursions to Venice severely restricted their time. Other lines are using Trieste which is also a nice place to visit but not if Venice itself is the actual goal. The only plan that works at the moment is to stay for at least a few days in wonderful Venice. That gives the opportunity to experience seeing it at night, which is magical. Hope you find an answer.