Xport

I was going to refer you to the Roll Call for your cruise--that's where queries such as yours are best addressed with your cruise mates--but see that you have found it...

You will also find substantial information about touring ideas while ashore on the Ports Of Call forums here on Cruise Critic and at Trip Advisor...

For future reference--and I mean this only constructively--you will find that the title of your post will significantly influence the views/responses you get... A specific title such as "Panama Canal Tours" will attract members who may be able to help you or have similar questions... Using something unspecfic or unfamiliar--for instance, your name--will not do that and cause many to pass your post by without reading it...

I've sailed the Panama Canal on Infinity... You are in for a treat; enjoy!

Thank you for the tip on the aft cabins. I have placed my deposit and picked my perk for the cruise :D

 

We decided to go with the AQ deck 11 aft. Our TA has recommended 1130, but 1138 is also available. I see that 1138 has a larger balcony, but is also tucked in a bit, with the sail shade from the bar just below. In Alaska, we used the balcony on Solstice to eat breakfast, enjoy coffee or a cocktail and watch the scenery while curled up on deck chairs.

 

I would be keen to hear your opinions and preferences.

1140--the center aft--is the prize with the largest balcony but all are great cabins... I'd personally select 1138 of the two that are available to you; it and 1141 have the next largest balconies, and those on the ends--1130 and 1133--have the least oversized of the aft balconies [the sizes graduate down from the center]...

From my perspective, no concern relative to the sail shade covering the bar below... You'll be looking out--not down--and in any case the shade does not cover all the way to the rail of the Deck 10 bar below...

The verandas on Deck 11 Aft are all larger than those accompanying the deck 11 port and starboard cabins and, unlike the others, have partial shelter from above... 1136 and 1139 are nice cabins but the verandas are smaller [which is to say that they are standard size], they do not wrap around [one does need to crane one's neck around a partition to see aft], and--though Deck 11 doesn't get much traffic in any case--they are immediately adjacent to the corridor end doors that lead to the exterior stairways down to the bar/the rear doors to the cafe below so as to create potential for a bit more--but by no means excessive if my experience runs true--noise...

I'll be in 1140 again on Summit to Canada & New England on Sunday and can't wait...

Super, convenient location! Congratulations on snagging great cabin choice opportunities! Enjoy!

Double points for solo travellers is a fairly major one. The ability to earn free nights for every 750 points accrued once reaching Discover Plus and above sorts out the issue with achievement for the higher levels. I make no comment as regards the terms and conditions, of which there are a few. I will just have to see how that works in practice.

That Azamara has also embraced the concept of Double Cruise Points for solo travelers as both Royal Caribbean and Celebrity did...

And I was initially heartened when I read about the "free night" opportunity at intermediate stops on the long journey between attainment of Discoverer Plus and Discoverer Platinum; it's a very nice addition that get's at an issue that is commonly mentioned with respect to Celebrity's Captain's Club revamp last year... But fact remains that, with the requirement that one earn 50% or more of total Cruise Points with Azamara in order to qualify for "free nights", they are now--and always will be given my Celebrity sailing history--a statistical impossibility upon attainment of any intermediate threshold [the last of which will occur next July] or--when it occurs--upon attainment of Platinum Plus...

My verdict is still out on the tier-based savings for having booked aboard; some have reported success--I/seemingly others haven't had success yet; I attribute it to lack of administrative clarity relative to the new practice--in getting it applied to 2015 sailings [per the "Terms & Conditions" they need not be new bookings] reserved via confirmed on-board bookings or Open Passages Certificates... And while I like the concept of flat-dollar loyalty based upsells, I already know--with virtual certainty--that they're very unlikely to happen on my February trips and, depending upon Azamara's future promotional offerings, may always be about as likely as hitting the lottery...

All things considered, I think Azamara did a reasonable job--though I still think some elements are a bit light among immediate tangibles rather than future potentialities--in redefining the Le Club Voyage membership benefits last week... But unfortunately, I "graduated" to Azamara--for their itineraries, for their destination immersion concept--too late in the game [and I do not make my cruise choices based upon loyalty benefits] for the most attractive promises/possibilities of Le Club Voyage to work for me when there is more available to me now--and a high likelihood of quantum change in my foreseeable future--with Celebrity...

Fortunately I value both experiences--for very different reasons and with neither being vastly superior in my mind to the other [Azamara's alcohol inclusives are lost on me but I like their consistently impeccable onboard service; I appreciate Celebrity for their broader activity/entertainment opportunities while having never received less than absolutely satisfactory--and occasionally superior--onboard service] equally...

No harm; no foul... I'm still a bit mystified by some of Azamara's decisions as I'd think my demographic--by mid-October, 278 cruise nights within the Royal Caribbean family of brands over a span of 5.5 years--would appeal... Business is business from both perspectives... I understand that such programs are designed for the mainstream... But I am not confused...

I would assume that you'd pay full package price for additional minutes. Normally perks such as the LCV internet minutes "have no cash value". The maths for Discoverer Platinum to the highest internet package is straightforward, but not so for the other levels and would be very messy to work out. You get your free minutes and for anything extra you buy a package at the going rate. I'm ok with that.

Haven't had to upgrade my internet allowance--dare I say it, on Celebrity--in more than eighteen months based upon the duration of my subsequent cruises with them and based upon their addition of Captain's Club membership tiers last November... That said, their practice had been--don't know if it's still true--that one could buy an upgraded internet package at cruise start based upon anticipated use at market rate, that it would be charged in-full to one's SeaPass account, and that--a day or so later--the onboard account would be credited for the value of the Captain's Club internet allowance [again valued at market rate] associated with membership tier... So surely, the accounting process or technology is there; all Azamara would need do is to place a monetary value on Le Club Voyage's 60, 90, and 120 minute allowances that are not already defined [the package thresholds would not need to be adjusted to correspond to the LCV allowances]...

At the end of the day, I'm okay with the change too--it is what it is and I can afford it--if it evolves as you expect... But such practice does serve to erode further the value of the restored benefit by charging more for incrementally purchased minutes that become less--not more--expensive with added usage per Azamara's internet pricing model [which likely are--in any case--marked up handsomely at every purchase tier relative to actual cost]...

If the goal is to discourage guest usage rather than to upgrade the service, it seems to me that Azamara may--for some--have succeeded...

So I will... I can't find that the matter is covered in the Le Club Voyage "Terms & Conditions"...

Azamara currently sells internet packages at five levels equal to or above the minimum thirty minute allotment provided through Le Club Voyage...

• 30 Minutes [$18.95 at current pricing]
  
• 45 Minutes [$26.95 at current pricing]
  
• 85 Minutes [$47.95 at current pricing]
  
• 150 Minutes [$79.95 at current pricing]
  
• 235 minutes [$99.95 at current pricing]
  

As recently revised, Azamara will--starting in 2015--provide Le Club Voyage members with an allotment of internet minutes based upon membership tier...

• Adventurer [30 Minutes]
  
• Explorer [60 Minutes]
  
• Discoverer [90 Minutes]
  
• Discoverer Plus [120 Minutes]
  
• Discoverer Platinum [150 Minutes]
  

The thresholds are not--and don't necessarily need to be--coextensive... But the questions are these: Will there be a dollar value attributed to the LCV allowances--where they don't already exist--for offset against initial purchase of a higher priced package? Or instead, will one be paying full price to buy additional minutes once the LCV allowance is exhausted?

The best example--just because the numbers work in terms of category commonality [and no, it doesn't apply to me!] is that of a Discoverer Platinum member who--from the outset--wants/needs the same 235 minute package to which now accustomed... In the first scenario, the 85 minute top-up [from 150 to 235 minutes] would cost $20 [$99.95-$79.95] under current Azamara pricing; in the second, those additional 85 minutes cost $47.95... While the absolute price difference is not a budget-buster, the relative difference is more than two-fold...

I've long felt--as noted by the previous poster--that internet allowances ought be tied to cruise duration... Surely, what works--and indeed might have been/might still be generous--on a seven/ten night cruise doesn't/won't work on a longer sailing [i have an eighteen night trip next year and will be lucky to merely log on/log off daily--with nothing else accomplished--under the revised allowance]... And then, I would hasten to add--though the concept is not new or unique to Azamara--that not everyone [ie; solos] receives a double internet allotment for equal membership level/cruise fare spend--as is often assumed here--despite an equal need to communicate...

I did not realize that.

You will find some recent discussion of Azamara's history here...

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2103694

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2096716

--Mike

I don't know where to start but, after reading your post very literally, think I may have identified the source of another disconnect...

• You allude to the fact that the online brochures [which are available for download in PDF format] have been updated and, in fact--I just looked--they have been and appear to be quite pristine in the context of my earlier comments...
  
• Those brochures are fine--I use them early on to get a sense of what I might like to do on a broad basis--but, fact is, one can't purchase tours in advance of sailing via a brochure! Once one gets down to buying via the website, one doesn't relook at those brochures [though they are no doubt a helpful vehicle for Land Discoveries marketed to guests once aboard ship]
  
• Unfortunately, the online booking/purchase engine--which I would expect to be more critical to Azamara in terms of monitoring advance sales and perhaps in predicting future sales--doesn't replicate the "clean" information that is currently listed in the brochure!
  
• I think--pray--that if you were to challenge the Land Discoveries Team to compare brochure content to what's now available for website purchase, they will readily note many of the issues that I've been discussing here for months in terms of accuracy, logical/appropriate presentation, and clarity/usability... And they'll know just what they need to do to sync brochure content to web content [my guess--I had a similar issue recently with Celebrity--is that there is assumption that brochure content translates to web content when it does not; as I found out from X, seemingly no one checks]...
  
• I am sorry to report that, as of this morning, the website tour offerings--especially at Rio on 7 February [typically, there are no excursion offerings listed on embarkation day and one listed, with airport drop-off, needs to be associated with the prior cruise]--are still [sorry for my lack of diplomacy] a dog's breakfast...
  

 

The "Drop-Down lists" to which I alluded in my earlier note are fundamental to use of the website's online excursion review and booking tool... At its top-most level, one searches for and purchases Land Discoveries by selecting an entry in a a field entitled "Date And Port/City" [for instance, selecting "Rio-7 February" will provide all of the tours [in this case, inappropriately but there are entries there] offered in Rio that day... There are secondary "Drop-Down Lists" which allow the user to further filter offerings by "Time Of Day", "Activity Type", "Activity Level", "Duration", and/or "Number Of Tickets [Required]"... A user must use at least one of the "Drop-Down Lists" to generate a list of available offerings; otherwise, nothing happens! If really curious as to how this works--and I can readily understand why you may not be--you might consider asking a Shore Ex Rep to provide you with a demo [of what the user sees!] when next in Miami...

 

Barbados? Well I suppose that Shore Ex could claim progress by having posted one five hour tour [a bit light on content; it includes a visit to a rum factory, a mahogany carving studio, and lunch]--in addition to the AzAmazing Evening that was posted some time ago-- that is being offered on two consecutive days during our port call from early morning 3 March until late night 4 March... I'm hopeful for more and, having visited Bridgetown twice with Celebrity, know there is more that can be dusted off from Shore Ex files... If not, I'll do my own thing...

 

Bonnie, please know how much I've appreciated your every effort on behalf of those doing the same cruises as I'm doing and, more importantly, on behalf of Azamara... The scary thing is that, while the issues may not always be so convoluted/blatantly wrong, I can't help but think that they're likely replicated on other sailings... If this were my business, I'd be concerned...

 

--Mike

Relative to my post of 18 September as quoted above...

Just to let you know that the issues that I identified relative to the website section at which one can view/purchase Land Discoveries--not particularly the Land Discovery Brochures available for download other than for gaps at French Guiana and Barbados that still exist--persist...

I used to love playing the slot machines and watching coins flow out.

 

Are these available on any of Celebrity's ships?

 

Guess I'm dated, but loved the old style slot machines w/real coins!

But coin-based slots were very high maintenance in terms of repairs and in terms of hopper fills... That dated technology was replaced across the Celebrity fleet several years ago...

US paper currency or voucher in; voucher out...

Everyone--even if not otherwise going ashore--needed to clear Chinese Immigration in person with passport/visa in hand... There was a very strict accounting relative to the ship's manifest...

Clearly, the requirement and the clearance processes are taken very seriously...

On a slightly different subject, can anyone tell me where I can find out what my latest tier level is. I know what it was when I was onboard the Quest earlier this month, but I would like to know if I have moved up to the next level or not, after completing another wonderful 12 days on my favourite ship.

That the information is not available via the Azamara website... Following is from the LCV section [FAQ subsection] of the website...

-----

"How do I find my Le Club Voyage member number and tier level?

For your Le Club Voyage number and tier level status, please inquire via e-mail at LeClubVoyage@AzamaraClubCruises.com, or call us at 1.888.532.5828 for US and Canada guests. International guests should click here for contact details."

-----

If you have ever sailed with Celebrity, you should be able to access your full cruise history online--for both Azamara and Celebrity--and your cruise point total/membership tier in Captain's Club [which easily translates to your status in LCV; tier names differ but membership thresholds are the same] by logging into "My Celebrity" and visiting the Captain's Club section... I'm not sure this will work if all of your past cruises have been with Azamara--one may need to have formally established an account with both cruise lines--but it may; I believe--certainly it is true personally--that membership numbers in Captain's Club and in Le Club Voyage are identical...

-----

Edited to add that clicking the link for international guests [as cited above] provides a list of international offices with phone numbers/e-mail addresses... Can't personally judge how accurate/current that list is...

leclubvoyage@azamaraclubcruises.com

I'm guessing that Nicole is working through a bit of pent-up demand--while also finalizing details for today's "big" announcement--at the moment...

True enough. Sometimes singles spend a lot of money on themselves. But they still can't eat two specialties at the same time, or book a couples massage

But there is nothing that precludes a single from dining in a specialty venue--admittedly not twice at the same time--every night or from having a massage every day--or twice a day--if he/she chooses to do so and is willing to pay for the privilege...

Broad characterizations--from either perspective--are just that; they're broad... But that doesn't mean that one is universally true relative to the other; there are--as noted earlier--"high spenders" and "low spenders" in both categories... At the end of the day, we all do that which fulfills us in accordance with our interests and available resources... No apologies are due from either side...

Singles also don't buy two specialty dinners in one night, or two photo pacjkages or two shuttle tickets in a port, or two airport transfers or two bourbon tastings of a night, or two Reidel wine seminars and the list if the cruise lines lost potential revenue goes on, so they have to make it up somehow

But I would hasten to add that those who travel with another might be a bit more reluctant to plunk down $1000 to $1800 for a single shore excursion--as I have in Israel, in Egypt, in Argentina, and as I just did to attend the Carnival Parades at the Sambadrome in Rio next year--than a solo might be...

I too could come up with other examples but the fact is that either guest category includes "high spenders" and "low spenders" and that neither ought be characterized with so broad a brush...

I believe Celebrity now gives double captain's club credit to those who travel as singles.

Singles do get double Captain's Club points now, that change was implemented starting july of this year.

If a solo cruiser is paying the 100% Single Supplement as is, with rare exception, the Celebrity norm...

Interestingly enough, I posted here about ten days ago--to a thread that raised the issue when the change was first announced--that, while speaking with a Captain's Club Rep about another issue, I inquired as to whether or not the Bonus Point promotions--which arise now and then--will also be doubled for solo cruisers paying the 100% Single Supplement... The answer was "no"... Though not enough to get excited about--those Bonus Points are awarded to both guests when a cabin is occupied jointly at the same cruise fare spend--the answer seems, at least to me, to be incongruous with the spirit of the initial announcement...

We are looking into the root of these issues.

I'll get back to you.

I appreciate it!

Seems to be--to put it kindly--evolving and situational...

When I asked my Travel Agent to secure the 7% discount for my February 2015 sailings--both booked via Open Passages Certificates--the Rep told her that she would need to reprice both sailings and that the result would be disadvantageous to me... Knowing that my circumstances are virtually identical to those of the Cruise Critic Member who originated this post--we are friends, we were aboard Journey together in Asia, we purchased our Open Passages Certificates at the same time to cover the Compensatory Future Cruise Discount Certificates issued as a result of Journey having become disabled in Japan [one cruise terminated early; another was fully cancelled], and we do speak frequently/compare notes [i even know exactly how the 7% was calculated]--the recent response just doesn't ring true to me in the context of what has been reported here...

My first inclination was to save the hassle--they've been endless for these trips from multiple perspectives--and forego the incremental $200+ loyalty-based benefit increase/cost reduction [versus the flat dollar discount amounts previously featured via Open Passages based upon cruise duration and cabin level]... But the more I think about it, the more I am inclined to send my Travel Agent back to the drawing board--on the basis of principle and fairness--to advocate on my behalf once again... Our disparate experiences as reported here suggest there is something seriously amiss in terms of consistent administration...

Oh... And I've already been told through my Travel Agent--not that it came as a particular surprise--that Azamara candidly shared that I shouldn't plan on availing myself of a $398 loyalty-based upgrade/upsell on either of my upcoming sailings despite my fairly hefty Cruise Point total... On my 7 February cruise, the next higher cabin category is virtually sold out with four months to go; on my 19 February cruise, the next higher cabin category has been sold out for months...

As I initially--and unfortunately--surmised, it's all proving to be so arduous and illusory... We'll see what tomorrow brings...

Does need to be posted on the Roll Call for your cruise; that's where you will have opportunity "to meet" some of those who will be sailing on your specific cruise in advance of sailing...

You will find it here...

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1849400

It appears to be a large, active group... You have lots of catching up to do!

Hello Xport, the Rio & Barbados tours have all been loaded and/or corrected and are showing in the on-line Land Discoveries brochure now.

I must confess to not understanding what you were describing as the error with "drop down lists" but I hope they are okay now.

I don't know where to start but, after reading your post very literally, think I may have identified the source of another disconnect...

• You allude to the fact that the online brochures [which are available for download in PDF format] have been updated and, in fact--I just looked--they have been and appear to be quite pristine in the context of my earlier comments...
  
• Those brochures are fine--I use them early on to get a sense of what I might like to do on a broad basis--but, fact is, one can't purchase tours in advance of sailing via a brochure! Once one gets down to buying via the website, one doesn't relook at those brochures [though they are no doubt a helpful vehicle for Land Discoveries marketed to guests once aboard ship]
  
• Unfortunately, the online booking/purchase engine--which I would expect to be more critical to Azamara in terms of monitoring advance sales and perhaps in predicting future sales--doesn't replicate the "clean" information that is currently listed in the brochure!
  
• I think--pray--that if you were to challenge the Land Discoveries Team to compare brochure content to what's now available for website purchase, they will readily note many of the issues that I've been discussing here for months in terms of accuracy, logical/appropriate presentation, and clarity/usability... And they'll know just what they need to do to sync brochure content to web content [my guess--I had a similar issue recently with Celebrity--is that there is assumption that brochure content translates to web content when it does not; as I found out from X, seemingly no one checks]...
  
• I am sorry to report that, as of this morning, the website tour offerings--especially at Rio on 7 February [typically, there are no excursion offerings listed on embarkation day and one listed, with airport drop-off, needs to be associated with the prior cruise]--are still [sorry for my lack of diplomacy] a dog's breakfast...
  

The "Drop-Down lists" to which I alluded in my earlier note are fundamental to use of the website's online excursion review and booking tool... At its top-most level, one searches for and purchases Land Discoveries by selecting an entry in a a field entitled "Date And Port/City" [for instance, selecting "Rio-7 February" will provide all of the tours [in this case, inappropriately but there are entries there] offered in Rio that day... There are secondary "Drop-Down Lists" which allow the user to further filter offerings by "Time Of Day", "Activity Type", "Activity Level", "Duration", and/or "Number Of Tickets [Required]"... A user must use at least one of the "Drop-Down Lists" to generate a list of available offerings; otherwise, nothing happens! If really curious as to how this works--and I can readily understand why you may not be--you might consider asking a Shore Ex Rep to provide you with a demo [of what the user sees!] when next in Miami...

Barbados? Well I suppose that Shore Ex could claim progress by having posted one five hour tour [a bit light on content; it includes a visit to a rum factory, a mahogany carving studio, and lunch]--in addition to the AzAmazing Evening that was posted some time ago-- that is being offered on two consecutive days during our port call from early morning 3 March until late night 4 March... I'm hopeful for more and, having visited Bridgetown twice with Celebrity, know there is more that can be dusted off from Shore Ex files... If not, I'll do my own thing...

Bonnie, please know how much I've appreciated your every effort on behalf of those doing the same cruises as I'm doing and, more importantly, on behalf of Azamara... The scary thing is that, while the issues may not always be so convoluted/blatantly wrong, I can't help but think that they're likely replicated on other sailings... If this were my business, I'd be concerned...

--Mike

Strange thing is I get my Customer Feedback Questionnaire as soon as I've completed a cruise so my email address must be in the system somewhere.

And there seems to be no rhyme or reason for it...

I received the recent Le Club Voyage announcement and Nicole's introduction letter via e-mail... And I usually--not always--receive e-mail from Azamara when they roll out a new promo or issue other marketing communications...

But the one that still confounds me is this... I was aboard Journey for the better part of two consecutive cruises--with expectation that I'd be aboard for a third--when the ship became disabled in Tokyo back on 25 February...

Customer Feedback Questionnaires for the successfully/fully completed cruise [3-17 February] were never sent to many of the 60+ consecutive cruisers despite the fact that our very gracious/thoughtful Hotel Director--Ryzsard--arranged for each of us to receive an additional fifteen minutes of internet time [via separate access code] for their completion... Surely, I never got a questionnaire for that trip [and wouldn't have particularly expected one for the subsequent trip that terminated a few days early]...

About ten days after the successfully completed cruise and while still aboard the now disabled ship, I got three e-mails from Azamara [each requesting confirmation of receipt] within the course of ninety minutes to advise that the 3-17 March cruise [shanghai to Hong Kong] had been fully cancelled... The irony is that such announcement had not yet been shared in person [the Officers claimed they'd not yet been notified!] with those of us who expected to be aboard on a back-to-back for the next cruise [until then, there was guarded optimism--at least publicly--that Journey could be quickly repaired at Osaka and that her next sailing would operate essentially as planned]... It was not Azamara's finest hour in terms of communication [those of us aboard thought it should have been handled differently] but did, as intended, serve to prevent most who were about to leave for Shanghai to join the ship from traveling needlessly...

I still scratch my head over the disconnect...

Azamara seemingly has too many e-mail lists and/or doesn't always use them effectively and consistently... I truly hope and Azamara should work toward resolving this issue quickly for you and the many others--apparently 50+% of those posting here--who aren't getting proper communications... It's never good for a business to have clients calling their capabilities--at any level--into question...

If you're going to be the Ambassador and engage with your customers then I would have thought you want to be as accessible and visible as possible and IMHO this initial email just didn't quite convey that impression due to that lack of personalisation.

At least some of these announcements were personalized... My full name, my LCV Membership #, and my Membership Tier were properly cited in a "blue banner" at the top of the e-mail... The text of the letter went on to open with "Dear [my first name]"... And the link for contacting LCV [wasn't sure if there might have been a phone number to capture] properly opened a blank e-mail to LCV's [in my case, US] e-mail address...

Upon reflection, e-mail--rather than phone--is the communication technique that I'd have used too to announce/introduce a fledgling, one person operation... Surely there is a learning curve, LCV is in flux/may be in further flux, there are many immediate challenges, and--I suspect--there is very significant pent-up guest demand that cannot be effectively addressed by phone [in terms of consistency of message and time management] at this time...

Can't account for why your experience varied [other than to attribute it to Azamara's notoriously goofy information systems; I had two communication issues with them within two weeks of each other earlier this year that had very different results/still have me scratching my head] but know that clearly the intent and the provision was there for this communication campaign to be personalized and, at least in some cases, the effort worked as well as one might expect for a mass mailing...

Nicole's role is--to my mind--one that Azamara has sorely needed for some time... Hopefully her efforts will play heavily in creating solutions to better understand/promote guest loyalty and foster greater total satisfaction from multiple perspectives [including more consistent/effective communication to all guests] before long... Right now, she's at the start of that journey...

For your thouhtful comparison... As a Celebrity--and specifically AquaClass--enthusiast, I'm always interested in what others think and in what I might be missing!

If you sail Celebrity again, consider trying one of their beautiful new Solstice-Class ships [i like both--they offer similar experiences/comparable service--but do prefer the newer ones in terms of design, decor, expanded amenities, and even buffet design (food stations) for an overall more contemporary look and feel] to change it up a bit... And if you sail AquaClass, do try breakfast in Blu as a really nice way to start the day [small/quiet venue, efficient table-based service, expanded menu, cooked to order]; it's a real treat!

Will be back aboard Summit in less than three weeks and am really looking forward to it. I suspect--though it might be difficult to give up my loyalty benefits on X--that HAL may be in my future too...

Deleted... Sorry, misread original post...

I never looked up the Scenarium online.. But people from Brazil love it.. i went the ship included dinner.. but got the group rate and food was poor. I think if you orderd off a real menu it would be better.

It's a night tour [not our AzAmazing Evening]--part of the new "Nights In Cool Places" series--after dinner aboard ship...

Mike, been to the Scenarium. three stories of very intersting walls and objects on them.

I really enjoy Brazilian music and, per Trip Advisor, no place does it better and in a more interesting venue in Rio than The Scenarium... It gets great reviews and is ranked #1 for Rio nightlife...

Also purchased my box seat for the Sambadrome Parades today...

As Bonnie initially asked when she started this thread, I'm very excited about Rio!

Actually, it is 125% of the per person rate. I booked next year's transatlantic on Journey at this rate.

On Journey's 19 February 2015 repositioning cruise from Rio to Miami... And I was able to combine it with the cabin upgrade promo in effect at the time!