travelberlin

Good to hear this. Thanks for sharing. Ivi

I was at this port with a Crystal cruise. Although basic the excursion was fine. We did also some walking on our own. Friendly, nice people the citizens from Cabo Verde. I remember dancing with them at the entrance of the tourist information center. The music of Cabo Verde is very nice. Do you know Cesaria Evoria? Maybe you can hear in internet her songs. If I were you, I would take the tour and just be open minded. Ivi

I have just reviewed my account and the points for my cruise which ended February 10th are showing. Ivi

I think the reason for “request a quote” is exactly that one cannot book online. Some cruise lines only operate via “representatives” and when we are interested on some itinerary they will connect us to one representative/travel agent, who will send us a quote. Independently if we book or not that cruise, we might end up receiving unsolicited information from who ever gave us the quote. This happened to me and I am still getting information without being able to unsubscribe. I guess is also a way of getting our data. Ivi

On my last cruise with the Pursuit on January 2023, we had two guest speakers. The one who was the „destination lecturer“ visualized well, was an economist and gave good general information about the countries we visited (something similar you can find in wikipedia or internet). No details about the ports of call (where we dock, what to do on your own, etc). I have written a review about this cruise, where you can find information on your other questions if you wish. The review is here in cruise critic under Azamara Pursuit reviews. Ivi

We had a port shuttle in Buenos Aires from the terminal to the end of Calle Florida. Very convenient. It run every half an hour until about 17.00. Ivi

Amazing 😳. Copacabana Palace belongs to Belmond. Were you able to complain to them? We have done some cruises with Azamara in South America since 2014. So I guess Azamara did not pull out too long from South America. Rio has a new terminal and it was supposed to be better. I guess they did not manage. We avoid embarking and disembarking in Rio. But Santos and Buenos Aires are not much better. In my last cruise with Pursuit, there were large ships every day in Buenos Aires. Azamara stayed overnight in Buenos Aires. We, Azamara Passengers, had to stay in the line behind everybody else if we wanted to return to our ship and follow orders given by an unfriendly security person. No separate line for Azamara for security. That was a bottleneck. I wonder if Azamara couldn’t influence that. I think there is a similar situation in Barcelona. Ivi

Nice pictures from Buzios where we have been many times. We are boarding MSC in Santos up to Lisbon in a couple of weeks. You mentioned the Montserrat Castle in Sintra. Do you recommend Montserrat instead of Palacio da Peña? Is it possible to do both on one day? Ivi

My boarding time in Buenos Aires was at 15.00. I have arrived at 15.00. No lines. People have to wait because they arrive before 14.00 or between 14.00 and 14.30. If you wish no lines arrive after that. Ivi

I also prefer returns or ports of embarkation easy to access. The costs of one way tickets are absurd nowadays. Specially business class. Ivi

In our case it also says our check in opens at 12.00 and it closes one hour later 😁 Ivi

MSC used to have zero solo supplement many years ago. Then they have eliminated that policy and suddenly solos were not welcome anymore. It is a pity. And I agree with you that is discriminatory towards solo cruisers. No matter how well some tries to justify if one solo passenger is not able to book a cabin at all even though cabins are available, it is discriminatory and solo unfriendly. And it does not always have to do with a limited availability of cabins for solos. Ivi

No Asian (Japanese/Peruvian , Chinese) restaurant? Ivi

I have found some names for some pharmacies. I guess it shall be possible. Ivi

We are embarking in Santos. Same questions but for Santos. Our Roll call does not answer. Ivi

I agree with most that you have said. However when I review a hotel, a cruise line, etc I leave a honest review. Sometimes it might be negative. But I have benefited from negative reviews more than from positive ones. Nothing is perfect and I do not like to see descriptions from loyalists in which not a word of dissatisfaction is given. I doubt about those reviews. Ivi

Really? This is not what I knew from Azamara. You could rely on the Captain to let you know… Ivi

I imagine the feeling. There are still some boats like that sailing in Turkey or Greece. But for us not that young anymore, there are other small ship experiences which are nice. For example the Star Clippers. We have sailed a couple of years ago on the Royal Clipper at the time of a sailing regatta in the Mediterranean (Le Voiles de Saint Tropes). It was marvelous. Ivi

Have you looked at „welcome pickups“ or „jam transfers“? I do not know if they operate in Marseille. I have taken both in Europe. „ Welcome pickups„ in Barcelona and „Jam Transfers „ in Nice. Both were reliable. Ivi

I have looked today at a cruise I was interested. Unfortunately the price increase demotivates me to book that cruise. The per diems are more than I am willing to pay. I have a cruised booked though. I will wait to see how things and prices develop and after cruising with Explora I will better in the position to judge if the per diems are good value for money or not. Ivi

Thanks for the list Paul. Ivi

I am sorry to hear about your flights. It is becoming more and more difficult to rely on any airline. I wish you a very good cruise. Looking forward to your posts. Ivi

I was just thinking about it. Fortunately there was no COVID on our 17 night cruise in South America with the Pursuit. If it was, it was not noticeable. I was vey careful though practicing the known safety measures. Ivi

That is true. I am surprised that a survey under those circumstances is even done and published. Most people will just look at the results and not think about the conditions of the survey. Ivi

I would just leave my current booking like it is. But under this new promotion I will see if I find something interesting for a another new booking. Ivi