excitedofharpenden

14 hours ago, ghstudio said:

ah yes....starting with a bang.  We just started to sail with Azamara after the cut off of transfer of points....so although we should be top members, we are somewhere around the lowest.....and yes, we are still bitter about that incredibly poor marketing decision.  Way to go new CEO....rub it in.

What a bad attitude. Loyalty works both ways!

Phil 

20 hours ago, Belfastman said:

White night was in Kotor but was rained off and was moved to the Cabaret lounge and windows. (it was the only wet evening of the whole cruise).

That's such a shame (on both counts)😔

Phil

I'm a bit confused. Category VX doesn't exist any longer. They are all category P1 (either forward or aft facing). Perhaps I'm misunderstanding you. 

Phil 

I use Adbloc and don’t see any ads. Do a Google search on how to block ads on iPhone/iPad. 
 

Phil

23 minutes ago, aliaschief said:

Tonight’s Dinner under the stars was moved to Windows. They really decorated a special venue along with entertainment.

 

I'd recognise that bald head anywhere! Milan is such a nice guy. 

Phil 

This happens from time to time and it will continue to happen. Whether we like it or not Azamara are a business and are there to make money. The cruise is more than a year away rather than being in the booking window for flights.

It's disappointing, especially if one is planning b2b cruises involving a chartered one, but nothing you can do except maybe push for the existing benefits to be transferred. Not sure how much luck you'd have with that. It seems that most Azamara cruises these days come with an OBC enticement attached. 

Phil 

7 hours ago, aliaschief said:

Today on Onward we are saying goodbye’s and safe travels to several folks we have been sailing with since January and others from different segments.

We will set sail at 3.00 PM from Dubai with around 120 guest onboard. It definitely will take a couple of days getting used to new schedules.

Captain Carl is back onboard and we said our goodbyes to Captain G. Last night.

Our detour around Africa will take 32 days before we start our regular last segment in Venice.

Dubai was amazing.

 

A real adventure for you. I'd be doing the same as you and staying on the ship. It will indeed be very different. I'm sure the ship will lay on lots of special activities to keep both you and the crew occupied!
 

Phil 

6 hours ago, Traveling Fools said:

Regardless of cabin/suite status, you can only book specialty restaurants after you board. (A real PITA in my opinion!)

 

 

 

 

I've always found this to be a non-issue and at least you don't get the "book it up as soon as we can" brigade booking all the times and blocking it for others (and probably forgetting and not turning up). This is much fairer and doesn't disadvantage those who book their cruise later. And as you describe, it can be worked out. I have never had an issue getting a time that is suitable. I'm glad they do it the way they do. 
 

Phil 

51 minutes ago, Mackdogmolly said:

Now the secret is out! 😅

You misquoted as me. It was Dr H. I know nothing! Haha 

Phil 

13 minutes ago, Dr H said:

I might add that there are two large showers in the changing rooms, stocked with premium Elemis soap products. For those of us who find the standard cabin shower somewhat restrictive, the changing room showers are both a godsend, as well as virtually unknown and unused by most of the passengers. Spotlessly clean and maintained, the steam room and showers are one of Azamara's little secrets, and the fewer who know about them, the better. (Oh, the men's steam room, try not to sit on the second seat to the right as you enter. Your tush will never forgive you or be the same if you do sit there. You've been warned.)

I love the Elemis Revitalise Me product that they have in there. I now have it at home and it reminds me of being on a ship every time. 

Phil 

1 hour ago, crzrr said:

"I think it's Captain Kresimir and Tatiana  Morello as HD (who is excellent by the way, if you haven't sailed with her. Another Heike Berdos)"  From one of your posts.

 

So, let me get this straight, you're allowed to offer your opinion and others are not  - got it!

Read my post again. I said "negative". 

Phil 

On 4/22/2024 at 5:34 PM, crzrr said:

We were on in February and completely agree about it being a very different experience.  The Hotel Director, Tatiana, should be demoted or fired in my opinion.  She should never have been put in that position as she obviously does not have the experience to handle the job.  And, it just flows down from there.  Because she was invisible, the rest of the officers felt that it was okay to be invisible as well.  Ryszard came on for our second cruise of our b2b and things changed dramatically.  He told me that the first thing that he told all of the officers was that they had to be out of their cabins by 7am and mingling with passengers.  You could tell that a few of them were not happy about it but complied.  

Just by way of balance, I have experienced Tatiana and thought she was excellent. As far as I was concerned she went above and beyond for me.

I will also say that I really don't like naming and shaming on this message board. The crew member has no way to respond to criticism.  And it's unfair because of that. If I have something negative to say about someone I would never post their name, but address it through other channels. I make my own mind up about someone when I meet them, not rely on tittle tattle on an anonymous message board such as this. Bad form in my view. 

Phil 

10 hours ago, Xcelsior said:

I know originally you were supposed to get priority for bids based on status, but do we know if they are still doing that?  

I guess we will never really know, but on my last cruise which was very sold right up to sailing I put in near the minimum bid on a Plus Verandah as Platinum and was successful. So perhaps they are applying some kind of matrix. 

Phil 

11 hours ago, SFRiA said:

We're sailing on the Azamara Quest for our first time and can't find anything on a sauna or steam room in the spa.

 

Can someone comment and let me know?

 

Thanks in advance!

There's a steam room in each changing room (no charge), but no sauna. 

Phil 

2 hours ago, Xcelsior said:

So did you actually bid Phil, or did they give you a price to upgrade?  I have done both ways in the past, but last time I upgraded form a Cat 12 inside to a CC N1 for a very cheap price through the bidding onboard o the first day and I was thrilled. 

I did bid. Actually I bif on two.  From an OV I bid on a V verandah category and a Plus verandah. I was successful with the Plus. I bid near the minium on each.  I wasn't offered anything else. 

You did well to go from an inside to a CC. That's a nice upgrade. The cabins on my last cruise were very limited. 

Phil 

51 minutes ago, Toronto Guy said:

Does anyone know if they are still allowing you to put in bids for upgrades on board?

It's restarted and in my case a couple of months ago it worked very satisfactorily. Like the old days I was able to speak to someone and choose cabin number (although in reality there was no choice because it was the only one available). 

Phil 

You'll get all the perks that go with the category, but will only receive the points for your original cabin. 

Phil 

On 4/16/2024 at 2:12 AM, takemewithyou said:

@uktog Have you run into Sheldon the Sommelier? 
I have not seen him since 2017 on Journey to NZ.  
I had heard he was still Azamara…….have you run across him on Journey?

I saw Sheldon on Quest last Autumn. He's a great guy!

Phil 

14 hours ago, Compass Rose Monica said:

Thanks for the information Phil. I ended up booking 8029 in the middle. Hopefully it won't be too noisy from the deck chairs above, at least at night time. 

 

Monica

You'll be fine there and you have the added advantage of the solid bulkhead to one side so will have more balcony privacy with the verandah cabin next door and more soundproofing that side too. 

Phil 

14 hours ago, Compass Rose Monica said:

 

Hi Phil,

 

Did you feel a lot of motion of the ship being forward? I'm considering 8004 or 8002 on the Onward. Also it looks like the bathrooms on deck 9 are right above these cabins. Any noise issues? 

 

Thanks!!

 

Monica

 

If it's "bouncy" you'll notice it a lot more than midship, but I'm ok with the movement. Didn't hear anything from above. 

Phil 

46 minutes ago, KevintheIrishDJ said:

I am confused. It says they are wireless, which implies they produce sound. How do they cancel noise?

Just do a Google search of Airpods Pro 2nd Generation and it tells you all about them. There are a plethora of YouTube reviews too. I did a bit of research before buying them. 

Phil 

1 hour ago, cinnamon said:

Just an update. My successful bid for Quest 8-15 April was the minimum, £320. The ship was not full, 608 passengers. 
My Goddaughter absolutely loved it. We had breakfast on the balcony 3 times, all beautifully laid out by the room service attendant with a tablecloth.  The extra light and fresh air made it a worthwhile treat for us. 

That's great. It makes such a difference if it's done properly and with care. This was not my experience on Journey recently unfortunately. Just left the folded up tablecloth on the tray and left. 

Phil 

3 hours ago, Grandma Cruising said:

And you always have the option of using headphones & playing music on your phone.

You got me thinking. To those with iPhones I would highly recommend investing in some Airpods Pro 2nd Generation. They do an amazing job at noise cancellation (a big step up from the 1st Generation). I tried them at DisneySea in Japan recently and they reduced the dBs to 65. They will autoconnect through settings and I find they are very comfortable to wear. Excellent sound when listening to music through them too.  I think they will be a game changer for me. 

Phil 

19 hours ago, LewiLewi said:

My son and DIL are thinking of joining me on a fall cruise on Journey. There is availability of an aft facing balcony cabin on deck 6. Question: Is it a noisy cabin; a lot of vibration, engine noise, etc.? All day at sea or only when ship is coming into or leaving a port?

I've stayed in aft facing cabins a few times on Azamara and my answer on the vibration is it depends. If the ship is doing more than say 17 knots there is a lot of vibration, but then your itinerary may not call for that speed. However it wouldn't put me off and any vibration is going to be temporary if at all. Deck 6 has the deepest balconies of the aft facing cabins compared to deck 7 (less deep) and deck 8 (the least deep). 

Phil 

1 hour ago, BrendaJ said:

Denise, I’d love to see those showers on Oceania. I can’t imagine such a small space being able to have a door. Perhaps when Oceania did the reno, they reconfigured the whole cabin, making it possible to have a larger shower in general.

Have a look at this thread with a photo. No change to the layout. 

https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2967536-regatta-bathroomshower-size-vs-sirena/

Phil