gymfreak

22 minutes ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

Hi Vicki, as you are from the UK it might be worth emailing Richard Twynam who is Azamara’s UK MD. if the customer services email doesn’t get you any satisfactory response. His email address is  RTwynam@azamaraclubcruises.com

Did you use the app on the ship at all? That would have showed your account (although I didn’t find it easy to interpret). I hope you get it sorted out.

Although I am fairly savvy with IT I found the app not very responsive and as you say difficult to interpret. 
In this case it would not help as they have clearly made a big error as our paper copy from the night before was accurate.

Anyway I know we shall get it sorted one way or another, but agree with Phil and others that the lack of interactive TV is a problem when the alternative is poor on functionality 

25 minutes ago, excitedofharpenden said:

Vicki, did they email you a copy of the bill (which they should do if you didn't get a paper copy?  That's a huge discrepancy and they don't have interactive TV on Pursuit which makes it very difficult to keep track. 

 

I think John's advice to dispute it with your credit card company is spot on

 

Phil 

21 minutes ago, uktog said:

I am not sure if there’s a system glitch. We got a final bill after our transatlantic but not after our 21/11 Cruise and the figures don’t tie up to my card debit. I will be querying it when I get home 

 No Phil, we didn't get a statement sent by email and I have now asked for one

We did get a statement the night before debark from the desk and thankfully I have kept that.

We have just put the charge into dispute until sorted.

Initially onboard there was no record of our onboard credit that came with the package and they had to email Miami about it and get that sorted

Have searched my junk mail in case the statement is there but it isn’t.

There we’re a few issues this cruise which I won’t go into now but it is making us consider our future cruise plans.

Thanks all for your help

Vicki 

3 minutes ago, Riocca said:

Vicki, the best way is to put it into dispute with your card provider this will focus their minds otherwise it could take weeks to come to the top of the pile. Email address we have is customerserviceuk@azamaraclubcruises.com and phone number 0344 493 6060.

We had the same problem regarding the currency conversion back in October but as it was only a couple of £’s didn’t do anything about it.

Thank you John, will try to contact them now

Vicki

Hello all

we are from the U.K. and have just retuned from an Azamara Pursuit cruise. 
Today we have a charge on our credit card for £363.22 , when it should have been for the equivalent of $29.14!

A very large discrepancy!

Anyone know a number or email or UK number to contact to sort this out.

To add insult to injury despite us telling them not to covert the charge to UK currency and let our card provider do this they heave converted the rate themselves.

Any help greatly appreciated

Vicki

We too have just disembarked 

I was down for a few days but basically it was a nasty cold or “man flu” 😂

Dont think it’s the ship just lots of people together sharing the virus!

Loved the cruise

Vicki

Enjoyed our day here in Madeira. Decided to take the hoho bus  from Funchal to Cabo Giraq, which apparently is the highest European cliff face. Views were amazing and you could walk on a glass platform above the perilous drop!

Weather a bit mixed but not too bad. 
In the afternoon we walked around Funchal and visited the market selling lots of colourful produce. There was also a local goods market.

Currently sat on our balcony with a spectacular view of Funchal as dusk starts to draw in.

Vicki

1 hour ago, excitedofharpenden said:

Have fun. I just checked the wave models and think you need to prepare for it to be rocky for the first few days, even down in the Canaries. Could be interesting to start!

 

Phil 

Thanks for the heads up Phil.

Charlie and I are on this sailing. We fly Tuesday to Lisbon

See you all soon

Vicki

1 hour ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

Unlikely - I should pack some.

There was actually a limited supply on my last Pursuit cruise but I know it’s unlikely. The supplies for Fevertree came from Europe so clutching at straws that the ship could have a restock as we are sailing from Portugal 

See you soon!

Vicki

Do they currently have any Fevertree tonic onboard. If not I shall have to pack some for our sailing next week

Thanks

Vicki

Ok, it’s one week until we board Pursuit.

Time to get my packing organised.

The question is do I need to include some cans of Fevertree tonic?

Greatly appreciate any up to date advice from recent or current cruisers onboard 

Thanks  all and happy sailing 🛳

Vicki

15 minutes ago, islandwoman said:

Is there a convenient ATM where we could get reals?   This will be our first port in Brazil.

We already had some so can’t remember an ATM but I do remember  fellow passengers in the queue that didn’t have any so we gave them a few. Maybe they will take dollars and not give you change but 1 real ( if the price is the same, locals use it so it won’t be very expensive)is worth virtually nothing! 

Can you get a minimal amount from an exchange in the US?

On 7/19/2019 at 8:32 PM, islandwoman said:

Can someone recommend a walking tour of Pelourinho in Salvador, Brazil?  

Does anyone know whether we can expect to find a shuttle from the cruise dock to Pelourinho?  - (We're sailing on Princess).

It’s very easy to do this yourself

We walked from the ship to the elevator which I believe was less than 1 real. You are ten in the historic district which felt very safe and busy. I think we picked up a walking map and took our time strolling round, had a drink then returned to the ship via the elevator 

9 hours ago, Lottie A said:

My Hendrick's gin and Fever Tree tonic served by the utterly marvellous Ruby in Prime C bar tonight. 

You will all be glad to know the hideous Royal tonic is no more! From now on it will be Schweppes, Canada Dry for the diet variety and a small stash of Fever Tree if they have it! 😄👏🍸

 

Please tell the lovely Ruby to save a few bottles of the stash for Vicki in November 😉😉😉

4 minutes ago, Werangels said:

 

Gymfreak you have quoted this in your reply and somehow cut and pasted it and managed to make it look as though it was my post which it wasn’t.

 

 

Sorry I realise it was not your post 

I aplologise for the error

4 hours ago, Werangels said:

nd I don't hate the environment, I am ready to make different sacrifices but don't really want to start with those darling little bottles.

I know I’m going to get burned here but I feel very strongly about this final sentence on your post

You may be aware o the following fact but if not here goes

Different kinds of plastic can degrade at different times, but the average time for a plastic bottle to completely degrade is at least 450 years. It can even take some bottles 1000 years to biodegrade! That's a long time for even the smallest bottle

So I’m afraid your darling little bottles are going to be around and causing future generations massive environmental problems long after you and I are long gone

I do not want this to sound like a personal attack’s but want to raise awareness that we can still enjoy our luxury products but it won’t literally cost the earth

9 minutes ago, norn iron said:

Maybe Richard Twynham need a memory jogger about his promise of last year. (That whilst the ships are in Europe, they will serve Schweppes).

 

I read on another thread were Gymfreak was weighing the option of buying the Ultimate Indulgence package. I am considering the same purchase, however, I won't waste the money if there a risk of a poor quality Tonic water.  

Yes your right

I have upgraded my drinks package on other cruises but take the precaution of packing some decent tonic. 

It would seem I will need to continue doing this to enjoy the upgraded spirts.

1 hour ago, hiccups said:

I thought if it's OBC from a travel agent, you have to wait until you're on board before using it, so it might depend on the source of the OBC.

Although booked via a TA it’s an Azamara package that had a $500 credit with the booking.

We have some OBC for an upcoming cruise.

Does anyone know if it can be used to purchase an Indulgence package prior to the cruise?

Thank you

Vicki

We have visited Salvador by cruise ship before, however we return to this port in November.

on our previous visit we took the Elevador Lacerda to the Pelourinho district and spent several enjoyable hours taking in the sights. Does anyone have an alternative suggestion about what to do in this port. We are quite adventurous and don’t mind local transport but realise safety may be an issue in certain parts. Any thoughts appreciated 

5 hours ago, uktog said:

I welcome that new products are being checked out.  I’m not so keen on the dispenser idea, smacks of budget chain not premium if I reflect on land based experiences but I do agree maybe different coloured lettering on bottles would help. 

Personally I would support a dispenser. For me it’s about the quality of the product. If we had a quality product and were able to eliminate the single use plastic which continues to devastate the planet then it’s a win/ win situation.

Hope the ship will be well stocked in November as we leave Lisbon to head to Rio. Not many options or opportunities to restock on that cruise. May have to squeeze a case of Fevertree into the luggage!

17 hours ago, uktog said:

 Nordski is correct it’s the lack of transparency that’s the issue. There were always reasons upgrades were given that were nothing to do with loyalty and I expect that to continue. 

I always book a category I wanted and whilst upgrades happened on about 20% of cruises on the old system once we passed to the top tier they were never expected. 

What disappoints is that in emails to us personally and comments made elsewhere we were assured the system was functioning perfectly and that levels of loyalty still paid a key part in the algorithm. The absence of the rejection email, the gobbledegook other emails and hearing that £400 (if that’s true) trounced two levels of loyalty makes me believe otherwise. 

Anyway I won’t be bidding for our next cruises and will also book late for 2020 given how much extra we paid for these two still enjoyable cruises. They are extremely enjoyable just not value in our calculations 

This again confirms my suspicion that the algorithm only comes into play when the TOP bids are equal. In other words whoever bids the most is successful and if two or more bid that figure then the multiplier ( or simply who is the top loyalty bidder) is applied.

In this scenario Azamara collect the most cash available.

I asked Bonnie in a thread if this was how the system worked but didn’t get a response!

If this is true then loyalty means virtually nothing in the process.

I may be wrong but if no one who knows for sure clarifies the process then based upon results such as above it remains a possibility  

Well I think you know my thoughts Phil on the gym. 

As a regular daily user of this facility I would expect the equipment to be maintained and replaced promptly.

It can get quite busy in there so it’s important to have safe functional equipment. We have to wait until November for our next Pursuit outing, so I’ll watch this space!

vicki

2 hours ago, travelberlin said:

Hi Bonnie, 

Some of us have completed the survey, not because we have received it from Azamara but because we have used the link you have shared. Thanks for that. I wonder how Azamara has selected to whom to send the survey. I find it strange that being discover plus, I was not contacted directly by Azamara.

 

In any case, now that I have participated, I would like to know the results of the survey. Are you also going to post those results or how can we know what people have answered?

Ivi

Not sure if it applies to anyone else but I’m Discoverer plus and didn’t think I had received the survey . However I did find it in my junk email box which I rarely check.

43 minutes ago, DebbieMacG said:

Possibly, I didn’t get an email and followed the link from Bonnie in her thread.

 

 

43 minutes ago, DebbieMacG said:

 

 

Very revaeling though that U.K. passengers are charged at $1 equals£1!