GPS

On 11/14/2021 at 2:46 PM, kennetro said:

We leave for Argentina in 19 days.  Just to be on the safe side, we booked our Covid test appointments within the "72 hours of arrival" window.

Having just done 2 international trips and needing a PCR test 72hrs within arriving back to Canada, this may be cutting it close for long flights.  One time we got our results only a few hours before our flight home and it was stressful not knowing if we could board or not!

While we're on this topic, does anyone have a preferred cabin for the Whisper in a veranda suite?  I'm about to book for 2022 and still have a choice. We are doing the Norway intensive.

As someone who cruised Celebrity a lot before, and love Azamara still (sad to see it go), I do hope there is at least some status matching if not actual combination accrual like with Celebrity and Azamara before. I did a Silversea arctic expedition in 2019 and have booked Norway for 2022 and would love some extras on this sailing.

3 minutes ago, aimee0715 said:

We booked with Eclipse Travel out of Sydney, Australia.  That is the only site that I found this particular cruise on. I subsequently found it on another site but that company was also in Australia.  I'm going to have to figure out how to do a bank draft to them before final payment because they charge 3% fee if you use a Visa or Mastercard.  3% on a trip of this cost really adds up. 

 

 I just watched a video that someone shared in another post on this board.  The man who made the video was on a different ship but the same itinerary.  It was just amazing. 

I think there are only a few cabins left, just a premium suite and couple C's, that's why other sites are no longer selling them. When I was looking, you could buy from a few agencies or direct.  You are lucky to get a B so late in the game (this was selling fast a year ago!), so hold onto it!

On 8/4/2020 at 10:49 AM, aimee0715 said:

Did you book directly with Albatros or with an agent?  

I booked with a Canadian agent, Tour radar as I was able to pay the deposit in my own currency, but they no longer sell this voyage on their site.  I did get linked up right away with Albatross for questions, etc, after I booked with Tour radar.  Who did you go through?

That's great to know someone else on our sailing!  You could probably ask Albatross. They helped me pick my cabin which is right next to the door to the outside deck. I chose not to take the 700 cabin due to privacy concerns with people walking by the window.  I found the B category to be the best value. They seem larger than the A and C, just on the top of the ship rather than lower down.

For those of you who sailed, who was the operator for your expedition?  The solar eclipse itinerary for next year is run by Albatross, so experiences onboard may differ even if we go on the same ship. @aimee0715 we are booked on the sailing you are interested in.  We decided on a 800 deck cabin due to the responses here and help from Albatross.

For those of you who sailed, who was the operator for your expedition?  The solar eclipse itinerary for next year is run by Albatross, so experiences onboard may differ even if we go on the same ship. @aimee0715 we are booked on the sailing you are interested in.  We decided on a 800 deck cabin due to the responses here and help from Albatross.

On 3/16/2020 at 9:16 PM, kinipela35 said:

 

Just got off this ship 2 weeks ago. Deck 7 would offer zero privacy, as it's the equivalent of a promenade deck on bigger ships, with people walking by your window all the time, when the decks are open. That being said, I doubt anyone would be focused on looking in your window as there are much more interesting things to look at out in the water 🙂 If it was me, I'd go with the 800s, much better views and more privacy. The ship is small so access to outer decks is quick and easy from just about anywhere. Enjoy your trip! Ours was incredible. 

 

 

Thank you so much. This is the most helpful information I've seen so far about the cabins. Not many have been on this one and posted!

We are trying to decide between cabin 701 which is the only stateroom on deck 7 of this ship vs one of the similar cabins on deck 8 for an Antarctica cruise.  The expedition company has told me there is no difference in size, but they seem to think cabin 701 will have more deck access due to its location, but has a partially obstructed window view with a gangway outside.  I'm wondering if anyone has actually sailed on Ocean Atlantic in the 701 or 800 cabins and can advise which would be more preferable for privacy and access to outside decks.  Thanks.

We are trying to decide between cabin 701 which is the only stateroom on deck 7 of this ship vs one of the similar cabins on deck 8 for an Antarctica cruise.  The expedition company has told me there is no difference in size, but they seem to think cabin 701 will have more deck access due to its location, but has a partially obstructed window view with a gangway outside.  I'm wondering if anyone has actually sailed on Ocean Atlantic in the 701 or 800 cabins and can advise which would be more preferable for privacy and access to outside decks.  Thanks.

Well, we are now in day 9 of our 15 day cruise and this is the first time I've had enough bandwidth to get on this site, only after we hit Nunavut.  Thanks for the responses!  It was not great but we managed with very spotty slow service for emails and whatsapp.

I need to be able to connect with work and buy flights for upcoming trips during the time I'm on the Explorer.  How reliable is the internet for doing these tasks?  I don't need to stream but I would need a steady connection. 

This will be my first expedition cruise on the explorer. So the parkas are provided and yours to keep? Or do you order and pay for them in addition to your cruise fare?  I was going to bring one of my ski jackets to the Greenland sailing but I may not need to pack one after all if they are provided and adequate.

On 12/1/2018 at 12:54 AM, marinaro44 said:

We had L'Occitane on Windstar.  Stunk to high heaven.  Ship sent someone out in Greenland to buy something that didn't smell so awful.  The fussy, fidgety little fliptops are pretentious and ridiculous.

That's funny as we had L'Occitane, I think on Regent, and hubby loved it so much he buys the soaps for home now.  But we are on the Quest now and he can't stand the smell of their products.  I thought it was overkill that our butler sourced a couple sets of unscented toiletries for him when we got to our first port, but I guess others have had the same done.  

We are in 8058 on the Quest right now.  No issue with noise and  love the large walk in shower!

Thanks uktog.  I thought I read somewhere that you have to pick either the loyalty perks or the suite perks, but not both.  I'm just trying to clarify so I can best use my OBC and get the internet use I need.

I thought you said I could use my OBC to buy an experience more package by phone, before boarding.  Uktog said it has to be done on the ship.  And am I correct that we cannot use a suite or loyalty free internet minutes as credit against an Experience More package, only a simple Unlimited Internet package?

On 10/24/2018 at 2:55 PM, BBMacLaird said:

Clarification: The Experience More packages can be purchased prior to the voyage, but only through our Call Center...not via our Voyage Planner with your OBC.  The benefit of buying an Experience More package ahead of time is that you'll have access to the allocated Shorex OBC of $300-$700 per stateroom, which can then be used to pre-purchase your Shore Excursions. 

 

https://www.azamaraclubcruises.com/booked-guests/onboard-packages/experience-more-packages

But this contradicts what Bonnie said above.  This was part of my original question too.

I am also to understand that if you have both status and suite free minutes, you can only use one or the other?  Is this the case if you want to use your minutes for a discount off a package too?  eg. can I use free minutes from the loyalty program and then use my suite credit of $150 to buy an unlimited plan?

This our situation for an upcoming 16 night cruise on Quest.  We are in a Club Continent Suite which includes 235min of internet per person, and we have 900 dollars of combined OBC to use.  We are not ones to use the ship's tours but found one for $220 each that we would spend some OBC on.  Daily internet would cost $319.20 per device at 19.95 per day,  and we could get $150 credit per device if we don't choose to keep the included 235 minutes each.  We really only care about having one device with unlimited internet.

I was looking at the Essentials package which gives us $300 shore excursion credit, unlimited wifi for 1 device and an upgraded drink package (which we don't really care about), all for $599.  I figure if I can use our OBC to buy this package, it's a no brainer as we'd be getting our money's worth just for the internet and shore excursion credit.  

Because I can't book the package until we board, I wanted to make sure that this would work using our OBC to pay for the package.  Otherwise, I'd probably use $150 suite discount toward the $319.20 unlimited internet and keep the other person at the free 235 minutes (unless someone knows if we can combine the two $150 for a $300 credit).  I guess we could spend the remaining $460 OBC on the chef's table package, but with free specialty dining, don't know if that's a good use of the OBC.

Any practical money-saving advice is welcome, as this is our first time in a suite on Azamara!

In may case, I will move up a level during my cruise in December. My cruises in the last 2yrs have been on Azamara but most of my points were earned on Celebrity over many years. Is the rule specific to a timeframe for needing more on Azamara, or do they take into account which line you earned your total points?

davwen81,

I agree. We end up meeting people mainly through shared private shore excursions and at regular meals when sharing a table (or in Blu on Celebrity you see the same people over and over so you talk to your table neighbours) . In the past we barely had the time to have specialty dining on Azamara, but also likely due to the fee. On Oceania, I spend most of my time in the specialties or buffet/grill. I've never done the chef's tasting on Azamara before but we do many tasting menus around the world and have learned to pace ourselves and not eat the entire portion. I'm interested in the wine pairing part of it as we love tasting different wines as well as food.

And yes, can't wait to meet you and the others from our roll call on board!

Thanks, I rarely take a bath, even at home. From the deck plans, cabin 8058 is on the opposite side of the patio. I think I'm ok with overhead noise?

We have cabin 8058. How do we know if it has a walk in shower vs tub?