AlamoCruisers

Hi from the East Bay.  We are docking in Port Klang in December from 9 am to 9 pm and are interested in the private drive you used.  Any luck tracking down the name and contact information?

Thanks,

Dianne

Thank you for sharing this information.  We will be overnighting in June. 

On 5/4/2022 at 12:37 PM, combine said:

This was the shuttle information from last weekend. Ours was an overnighter in Ravenna so we had a whole day to visit. The drop off was very central  and everything was easily reached.

14 hours ago, Grandma Cruising said:

Shuttles are never mentioned in the shore excursions listing.

Sorry I was unclear.  It appears the free shuttle has been replaced with a shore excursion for the port of Ravenna entitled “Ravenna on your Own” which is roundtrip transportation only.  It has been a couple of years since I sailed on Azamara, but based on my past experience and memory Azamara provided for the most part free shuttles to town when not docked within easy walking distance. I understand things changed somewhat due to COVID, but was interested in learning whether this will be the standard practice for the Onward, is dependent on the port, or something else.  Thanks. 

Hi Chris,

Thank you for sharing the photos and information. 

We will be on B2B Onward cruises previously scheduled to depart from Venice and now departing from Ravenna in June.  The shore excursion listings seem to suggest that there will be no shuttle from the port to the town of Ravenna, which is some distance away.  Rather there is a paid excursion called Ravenna on Your Own for $69 USD per person.   Are free shuttles still being offered for any ports when the ship is not docked within walking distance of the town?

We also are on the Onward June 29 Black Sea cruise and never received the original letter OR this survey. We contacted our travel agent about the letter and was told they would forward as soon as received. Still haven’t received, but thanks to others here saw the letter. 
 

I spoke with Azamara last week about extending the final payment and was told to have my TA call them. I also was told to expect a revised itinerary within a week or so.  
 

I am glad to see Azamara is reaching out to passengers, but think the link should remain active for those of us who don’t receive it.

Thanks for the clarification. We are booked on the June 29th Onward and have not received a message from Azamara yet.  

Why is it dated 2021?

We’re Discoverer Plus as well but didn’t get an invite, would have been convenient as we will be in Southampton that day disembarking Azamara Pursuit.

Oh that might be the reason [emoji56] promise we won’t break anything!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

We are also Discoverer Plus and did not receive invitations to either the August 13th visit or the August 28th christening, although we on the Pursuit for its trip to Ireland (including Belfast), Iceland, and Scotland departing Southampton on the 13th and returning on the 28th. Talked to LCV today and person I spoke with was not aware of these events. Good thing I found this thread!

Dianne and Glenn

Welcome to Cruise Critic! The "better" experience imho would be to NOT book through the cruise line at all. Use a private operator. We were in Cabo this past February and had a FABULOUS morning whale watching with Whale Watch Cabo, in a small panga boat (10 adults max); comfortable and room to maneuver. Beats a zodiac because it has a canopy, very welcome in the sun. WWC is a first class operation; I highly recommend them.

 

http://whalewatchcabo.com/

 

Among other whales, we encountered a mama humpback running with her three-week old calf, and teaching baby how to breach. It was awesome to watch.

 

Baby could only get out of the water so far:

 

 

 

Thank you so much for the great pics!!

 

We used the same company in March 2016 and had a fabulous experience. I organized what turned out to be 2 boats from our Roll Call. The company was easy to deal with and after the trip sent us digital copies of the photos taken by their crew . I also highly recommend this company and would use them again.

 

Of note, sometimes you got only a glimpse of a whale, other times they were visible for a longer time. That day we saw several larger whale watching boats (50 - 100 or more passengers), but they could not keep up with the smaller boats, who were able to track the whales around the bay. It was a great experience. Enjoy!

Sorry for the late post, been busy at work.

None what so ever as far as boarding Hong Kong was very efficient about boarding/immigration.

All VISAs are handled by the ship and very easy. As I've said before, if you are going to be off the ship overnight there is another VISA required, the ship will handle that for you. There is an additional charge for an overnight VISA, we paid the Canadian rate of $29.00USD per person (we are American which is $149.00per person), please take an extra couple of passport pictures with you as they are required. The ship can provide those also if you don't have extra's with you. Remember the ship visits theese ports often and knows what you'll need and will handle everything for you, just let them know your plans in advance (when you're on board) and they'll handle everything for you. Any charges are added to your on board account.

Capt. Ron

Hi Capt. Ron,

How did you get charged and pay the Canadian rate for the overnight visa?

Thank you Capt. Ron,

Between your comments above, your email, and Trip Advisor review, tons of information. I am the family travel planner and thought I knew a lot about Siem Reap and the temples, but I now realize I have more to study in order to make a decision about which tours to book.

One more question for you (at least for now) regarding your tour to Kampong Pluk, the floating village. What was it about that experience that you felt was not worthwhile?

Dianne

We did our own tour of Angkor Wot on our from from Northern Thailand to Viet Nam.

 

It can be done very easily on your own. We flew in and arranged for a private guide for two days. Much more than a driver, he had lots of information as well as knowing when/where to take us when it would be less crowded. We paid $40. USD for the guide. He had an AC Lexus SUV. He took us out one night to a show. We used tripadvisor recommendations to find him. We were there in Feb. It was very hot. We started early and were back in the hotel pool by 3PM. We enjoyed the town very much..make sure you stay close to the center of town. Lots of great places to eat.

 

Hotel was easy to arrange and very inexpensive. We paid for our visa that the airport when we arrived. It was very straightforward. I would say that if you are the least bit independent you do not need an excursion. DIY with a good, local guide will do the trick.

Could you provide the name and contact information for the guide you used in Angkor Wat? My email is gdcolville at Comcast dot net.

Thanks,

Dianne

After the cruise we left early at 6:00am, easy immigration in Singapore, open 24/7. Flew SilkAir, one of the only direct flights from Singapore to Siem Reap. We have a driver and a guide. Thank God for the car with A/C and ice cold towels upon our return. I highly recommend you do this as the heat and humidity get really take a toll on you. The sites are to far a part for Tuk Tuks I think and the A/C is a lifesaver. No way I would do this trip without a guide, regardless of what others say, I paid less for 3 days with driver/car and guide then I paid for just 8 hours of a guide in Europe.

Let me know I could send our guide companies info.

 

Happy Planning,

Capt. Ron

Hi Capt. Ron,

We plan to spend 4 nights in Siem Reap in February after a Millennium cruise from Shanghai to Hong Kong. Your suggestions are very helpful. I would like to take you up on your offer for information about your guide: please send the name of your guide, how to contact them, what you thought of them, and the cost. My email is gdcolville at comcast dot net.

Thanks,

Dianne

Thank you for the fabulous thread. We are on the Millennium next month traveling from Shanghai to Hong Kong, plan to spend additional time in Hong Kong, and fly on to Siem Reap. You have answered many questions, which are helpful for fine tuning.

 

One I did not see has to do with visas in Vietnam. I have seen dated information suggesting Celebrity makes visas available for a small fee. What was your experience spending a night off the ship? Did the ship make visas available? Do you need to provide passport sized photographs? Any information you can provide would be appreciated.

 

Thanks again.

Dianne

Capt. Ron,

Please ignore this request. I just found your other thread, where you answer the visa question and talk about extra passport photos.

Thanks again.

Dianne

Thank you for the fabulous thread. We are on the Millennium next month traveling from Shanghai to Hong Kong, plan to spend additional time in Hong Kong, and fly on to Siem Reap. You have answered many questions, which are helpful for fine tuning.

One I did not see has to do with visas in Vietnam. I have seen dated information suggesting Celebrity makes visas available for a small fee. What was your experience spending a night off the ship? Did the ship make visas available? Do you need to provide passport sized photographs? Any information you can provide would be appreciated.

Thanks again.

Dianne

Heather,

Thank you for the information and photos regarding cabin 9001. The same cabin became available for our upcoming Baltic cruise in May aboard a sister ship, the Constellation, and I had been looking everywhere for current information and photos regarding this cabin. We typically book a balcony, but our cruise will be port intensive and the price difference was not worth it. I found several older reports and photos, and also spoke with Celebrity, who told me the cabin is the same size as all oceanview cabins. I had the cabin on hold and was debating with my DH whether to trade it for our existing reservation in the same category on a lower deck, but after seeing your report, we decided to book it. Thanks again.

Dianne