grilljockey

Ernest Marchain. I assume he is the permanent replacement.

We were just on our second AZ cruise last week and he was the CD. Seems like a nice enough guy. Only ran into him a couple of times and he seemed very personable. Frankly, we didn't and don't do a lot with the shows, so we really only saw him in action at the White Nights party.

Sounds like he has some big shoes to fill...so hope he meets everyone's high expectations!

Thanks all for the responses and apologies if there was a better place to post. This is the only board I’m active with.

They showed up at the airport and the authorities said the bag was not there. He got a little ugly and forced them to go look. Low and behold, there it was. We believe it was sitting there for over 24 hours.

Amazing how badly this was handled by multiple airlines and airports. Makes me think we should all put an electronic tracking device in any checked baggage. Just can’t rely on the airlines and baggage handlers, especially when dealing between different countries.

Long story short, they are on their ship now and with clean clothes!

My daughter and her boyfriend (poor college students) have saved and saved for a trip they are on in Rome, then heading to Civitavecchia tomorrow on a cruise.

While their flight went from Atlanta to Rome, their bags ended up in Paris (delayed flight in to Atlanta we think was the culprit). The bags have been sitting for a few days, and nobody could seem to track where exactly they were and when they would come to Rome.

Four days later, my daughter has received her bag, but he has not. Airfrance's website says that his bag is at the FCO airport, and they will go there tomrrow morning before heading to Civitavecchia in the early afternoon. But they have had so many false reports so many times these few days, we are not 100% confident that the bag is at the airport.

So he needs to buy some more clothes. They already had to buy some and they found an H&M about 20 minutes from their hotel. I would much prefer they get themselves to Civitavecchia earlier than they plan to and hopefully buy some basics there instead (assuming the bag is not at the airport or they cannot retrieve).

Any suggestions if there is decent shopping for a 21 year old boy near the port?

On the bright side, if they can make it through a few days together in dirty clothes in the heat of Roma, maybe it is true love! Also on the bright side, my family now believes me when I say they need to pack clothes and essentials in their carry-on's. They always ignored me before. NOTHING of mine ever gets checked...ever. ;)

We too will be planning to make a day trip into Lucca from Livorno, but we will be 8 in total. I was planning just to take the trains there and back, knowing that with our times there will not be a direct train either way (stop in Pisa). It looks like train tickets will be about 30euro each, round-trip. I was half tempted to think about renting a utility van and making the drive, but am a little nervous about making sure the right sized vehicle is there...don't want last minute surprises.

Looks like Azamara is charging about $65us for the 'day on your own'...but the day is only like 2.5 hours in Lucca according to the description. Thinking that we might want more time...can those who know Lucca confirm whether 2.5 hours seems too short?

If anyone has suggestions for a larger party of 8 option for something in the 30-75 Euro per person range which gives us more time, I'm all ears!!!

In a couple of months we will take our 2nd cruise with Azamara...bringing the whole family along including adult-ish kids and grandparents on both sides. This is the 9 night Rivieras and Hideaways cruise in July.

We took a family cruise with AZ a few years ago, and I'm trying to clear the cob-webs on a couple of points:

We are armed with about $350 per person in combined on-board credits from both AZ and our travel agent. We are not in Club level rooms, but rather Veranda category rooms. We are independent explorers mainly, and probably won't do any or many excursions.

-Do I recall correctly that they might have offered a Specialty Dining package offered on day 1 that was a bit more lucrative than paying for each individual seating? We thought the MDR food and Buffet food was pretty ok...but thought the Specialty dining was really superb and would love to maximize our dining at these restaurants on the next cruise.

-Secondly, if we opt to skip the AzAmazing evening (as listed, it doesn't really intrigue us much, unfortunately) are both Specialty Dining Rooms open that night...or neither?

-I'm thinking maybe they are both close on the White Nights evening? On our last cruise we didn't have a White Nights event...I think it was super windy that night or something.

Just trying to plan our best strategy for how often and which nights to book since I know it is a fast process on day 1.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!!

Sorry...one more point. There are a small number of connecting cabins, so you may want to inquire on availability.......or not. :confused:

We did a similar cruise on AZ (Rome to Athens) with my family of 5, and the kids were of a similar age. My youngest was in middle school though...so maybe a bit older than yours. The kids loved the cruise. We are of a similar mindset...didn't want to do a mega ship, and my kids don't need a ton of other kids to feel comfortable.

As Bobal pointed out, you might actually get some more kids on an August cruise in the Med. We had a group of probably 10-15 teens on our cruise which was in July. By the end of the cruise, they were all hanging out and stay friends to this day.

On the downside, if you stay on the Oceania itinerary, we found that couple of Greek Isles stops were a little less active than the ones through Italy. So if that holds true on all of the stops, they might not be as tired as you might hope.

We are going back as a family (extended family with grandparents on both sides) next summer with the kids (now 2 in college and 1 in high school). We did a land based tour (on our own) through Italy the year before our cruise. We loved both trips, but the kids really loved the AZ trip.

Unsolicited advice for the Rome portion of your trip. We have stayed in a couple of places in Rome, but I strongly prefer something in or around the Trastevere area. Very quaint little part of Rome with great cheap eats, and very central to many of the sites you might wish to see. Just my two cents...

My extended family is looking forward to our second cruise with Azamara and we are widening the circle to include my parents along on this next one. They just returned from a Tauck tour on Le Boreal/Ponant. If anyone has been on both, how can I describe the general differences (aside from size differences and that Ponant is a French inspired ship)? Any thoughts on what differences they might expect?

We really enjoyed our first trip on Azamara and are excited about #2!

My family of 5 (kids 13, 16, and 18) took our firs cruise with Az this past summer. I was initially a little concerned because we had a bad experience several years ago on a mega-ship, and also because we were worried about whether the kids would be bored.

Well, on our 17 day trip through Europe, with half of the days on AZ, I can report that the whole family loved the cruising experience. The kids found a handful of other similarly-aged teens onboard and they enjoyed their evenings at the disco immensely. Good friends were made all around. So while this was a shorter cruise and we probably had a higher percentage of kids and teens due to the itinerary and short duration of the cruise, it really worked for us and I'd encourage other similarly aged families not to rule AZ out if you are similarly worried.

The convenience of coming back 'home' every day and not shuffling luggage from hotel to hotel were very welcome after an exhausting set of days pre-cruise. The food was good, but probably not great by our standards. That said, we only dined at the specialty restaurant on only one evening, which was very good. Otherwise it was MDR and Buffet.

We enjoyed it so much, we have decided for another European cruise in the summer of 2018, and have invited the grandparents on both sides of the family to join.

My question....we were able to take advantage of a double upgrade offer on the first cruise, and I see they are offering this again. It looks like they are not offering any double upgrades past January of 2018 and we are looking at a July 2018 cruise.

Do they offer these double upgrade offers regularly? Would you recommend that we go ahead and book our reservation now, and then hope to take advantage of any offers that come later? I believe that we can get a best price match guarantee after a reservation is made (we live in the US). Or should we wait it out a bit since we have a long time before July 2018?

Many thanks in advance!

Thanks for the heads-up. I had not heard anything from our TA on this, but I see that in fact they changed the order on the website.

Not having been to either location before, any thoughts on the trade-offs to consider here? Looks like Mykonos is tendered now instead of docked, but its a long day from 8:00am to 10:00pm. Santorini unfortunately is only tendered from 8:00am-6:00pm.

We are planning to do the hike from Fira to Oia which I think should take around 3-4 hours. Then we were going to poke around in Oia a bit over lunch, and then bus back to Fira to look around. Should still be able to do all of this in the shortened day, right? I assume the White Nights party is in Santorini??

Frankly I was hoping for a bit longer in Santorini given the long hike occupying a chunk of our day. But if in fact it helps us avoid larger crowds in either or both locations, hopefully the tradeoff is worth it. Any thoughts from those experienced in both locations?

!

Go Green!

Two more questions popped up as the family is getting ready. We have teenaged kids who seem to live on SnapChat. I guess posting their daily snap chat 'stories' is right up there with food, water and sleep...maybe not even in that order.

I know there is wifi through the ship...but I assume this is not like wifi in a hotel where you just log on and can use at your leisure. I assume that every minute you are on the internet via wifi or otherwise, you will be charged minutes for useage?

Assuming so, I'm probably going to have the kids start scoping wifi spots on shore to do their daily updates.

Second...has anyone tried to attach those black binder clips or something with a little weight to the bottom of the shower curtains to keep them from sticking? Think I might try that and report back if it works....

Another question came to mind.... Are the published times in the various ports on the website pretty accurate generally? If the time is posted until 10:00 for example, does that mean last tender at 10, or that you need to be on the ship by 10?

I ask only because I am trying to make some plans on where to view a sunset from that hits at about 8:40pm and the website shows 10:00 as the departure time.

This will be in Santorini for those that may have been. Thinking that we won't be able to do the sunset at Oia like many do because from sunset to published departure time is only about 1:20 and taxi rides would need to happen.

Or, maybe they will position the ship for a nice sunset view? Anyone have Santorini experience with AZ that might have an idea here?

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=48993718&postcount=377

 

Hope this works ;)

Perfecto! I did a search but somehow missed this! Thanks again uktog!!

Thanks everyone, especially uktog for the responses.

Anyone out there have more info on the Patio menus? Is it the same-ish menu every night, or does it rotate like the others?

We are a family of 5 with three teen-aged kids, plus my awesome mother in law...and we are on the 7 day Rome to Athens on Journey in mid June. Our only cruise experience to date was not a great one...mega-ship, vultures surrounding the yellow cheese dip laden buffets, etc. Not our cup of tea. But, we fell in love with Italy a few years ago and are thrilled to get back and see more of Italy plus Greece, without the hassles of lugging the bags of several 'over packers' in our family. So decided to give this much more attractive option a go, and I'm really excited about it.

We used a TA, but unfortunately she is not very up to speed or helpful on things generally. So I have a few lingering questions if the great peeps here on the forum don't mind!

Pre-Cruise - Other than registering on the Azamara website, anything else we need to do? We will do our own exploring and probably not use the ship's tours much if at all.

I hear that there may be a mailing that we get from Azamara with more details of our cruise? We are about 43 days away from boarding...should that info already be in our hands, or coming shortly?

Tendering - I get the sense that there will be priority tendering for those on booked excursions, which makes total sense. But otherwise, do the tenders run constantly through the day? Should we plan for long waiting times leaving the boat (provided it is not during 'excursion rush hour' or in port when we want to go back? Is it realistic to maybe go back and forth 2x if we need a little breather back on ship?

Patio Grill - Its a short cruise, so we won't have so many days to try everything. But I don't see the fam liking the Aqualina menu much, and Prime C will be of limited success I think. I'm a foodie, but the rest of the family is going to be a bit more picky and not as adventurous. What are the general offerings at the Patio Grill in the evenings? I'm thinking they will like the more casual outdoor vibe, especially if the food is a bit more straightforward.

Is it kosher to get maybe appetizers at one place and then go somewhere else for main courses?

Azamazing Evening - The Azamazing evening description does not sound too appealing for us. It seems like more of a Opera style or Classical singing sort of deal in a somewhat spartan looking theatre. Kids would probably not be into this too much. Are the specialty restaurants open on these evenings? Thinking it might be good to book Prime C that night. We are Veranda cabins, and won't have the priority reservation options since not in suites

Similar question on the White Nights evening. I think we will want to attend that, but if not, are the Specialty's open on this evening which I assume is our only day fully at sea. (Interesting side note....my eldest daughter who is a Freshman in college is really into Shag dancing. It's a huge thing on campus evidently!!! So she and my mother in law who loves to dance will probably be cutting a rug together! My wife and I are in our mid 40's and dancing was not a big part of our upbringing. Will be cool to see our daughter and her mother out there dancing!:):)

Laundry - Since this is just a 7 day cruise, and we have days pre and post on our own, I was hoping we could get some laundry done right after boarding. Do you think they will have the $30 per bag option on a short cruise like this? I prefer not do do laundry ourselves, but don't want to spend a fortune either. This question will impact how lightly I push everyone to pack. If I give the wrong guidance, I'll be the guy in the rowboat trailing the ship....

Sorry for all of the questions here!

Has anyone by chance experienced in Sorrento what is described as

Discover the enthralling songs of Campania's darling tenor, the early-20th century Enrico Caruso during this performance by local singers in Sorrento's town center.

It looks like this might be held in a movie theater, the Cinema Teatro Armida. I'm travelling with my family of three teenagers, my wife and my mother in law. None of us would really be much into a sort of tenor concert, and if the venue is an indoor movie theater versus some great outdoor venue, my gut says it might be better to skip this. Shopping, gelato, coffee and people-watching is probably more our style.

But...if this is a repeat evening, and others have a positive review, I would certainly love to hear it!

Please....let's bury this thread deep so that my wife does not see the comment about the spa showers. If she does, game over for me and my son. We'll be banished to the spa every mornign I fear....and I plan to stay as far away from the workout facility as possible on this trip!:)

No, seriously, thanks for all of the great advice here. Will be finding an agent, and unless pricing changes, will very likely go with the three veranda cabins. Its a good deal on the double upgrade, and this way everyone gets a bed and minimized bathroom issues (4 women, 3 bathrooms...and a displaced father and son in the spa....)

Club Continent rooms would have been fun, but since we are tagging stops in Spain, Florence and Rome along on this trip, she's adding up fast!:eek:

Can't wait to surprise my mother-in-law with this trip. She has dreamed of visiting Europe for years but a complicated life has just never really allowed it. She deserves it and we are going to show her a great time!

Thanks all for the thoughts here. Finding an agent is on the list of things to do for Monday. I was just assuming booking direct might provide the lowest prices and certain assurances that an outside agent might not provide.

And Dididi, when you say 'triple Veranda cabin', is that just a standard veranda cabin that you are adding a third to, or is that some larger than normal veranda cabin option...something below the Club Continental? With just two guys and 4 gals...thinking two small bathrooms might end up in someone being tossed overboard.

I did reach out to Azamara directly yesterday and got some quotes. So assuming no other specials come around for the Club level cabins, they actually quoted 2 Club Continent cabins with triple occupancy at $6K USD higher than three veranda cabins. So...that's a deal breaker for me. We don't drink much, the kids will probably enjoy the buffet just fine, and I have no desire or need for a butler. Now...watch my internet bill be $6,100 at the end of the trip.... :D

Thanks Bonnie. We do not have a travel agent yet. We were planning to use an agent that we have used before for the Italy portion of our trip prior to the cruise. I was thinking we would just book direct with Azamara, but I will look around locally to see if there is any agency that specializes in cruise itineraries and who works regularly with Azamara. Not sure if there are preferred national agents that people use, or if people are allowed to make recommendations here? I'll do some investigating.

Hello-

First off, thanks for the great answers to my other newbie posts. I am about 90% sure we will be booking a summer 2016 cruise on Journey out of Civataveccia and into Athens. Really excited to make this trip a reality.

Will be travelling with 6 total in our party, myself and my wife, 3 kids (14, 16, 18) and my mother in law. There is a double upgrade special getting us into Club Veranda rooms for like $2,400, and the club suites are listed starting at like $4,500. Space (particularly in the bathrooms) is frankly the only downside that I think the people in my group might have. Not being cruisers (yet), the family is used to normal hotel room space.

I'm a little confused on how the pricing works if we were to triple up in a larger room. I frankly don't think it gets us more overall space per person to move into say two club continental suites versus 3 Veranda club veranda rooms. But, it would add some perks that we otherwise wouldn't get by doing three club veranda rooms. Can anyone help me understand the financial side of this decsioon (3 club veranda's at $2,400 versus 2 club continental's at $4,500)? Not sure how that third person is charged if we triple up.

The other quick question, which I think I probably already know the answer to involves the pre-hotel stays. We will be tagging some other quick stops in Spain and Florence before going to Rome for 1.5 days prior to departure. For ease of luggage and people transfer, it probably makes a ton of sense to book one of the designated hotels through Azamara (which look to be in great spots in Rome for what we want to accomplish there). I assume the pricing through Azamara booking the hotel is comparable to doing it myself, but we get the added perk of the luggage and personal transver to Civitaveccia?

Oh, and one last question....if the ship leaves at 6pm, what time typically might the transfer from the hotel be? We would like to spend the morning sightseeing and were hoping to not have to leave the hotel until 1:00 or so pm.

Many thanks to the great people on this board for your insights!

Thanks eveyone for the replies! It really helps me solidify what hopes to be a great cruise from Rome to Athens in June of 2016! The budget just got a little looser!

I am pretty set on a sailing with Azamara that we would like to do in June of 2016. In doing some research on pricing, I have found pricing through my perferred airline vacation package (which is using what I assume to be a well known cruise only online travel agency as a third party) that seems to be offering pricing of about $1,000 less for a balcony room than what Azamara is listing on their website. Is this normal, or is it some kind of a teaser rate that may not be fully accessible? If it may be a legit rate, what are the disadvantages of going this way versus booking straight with Azamara? Maybe most people use sites/agencies like this versus going to the source. Sorry, new to all of this.

Second, is it safe to assume that there is frequent tender service throughout the day in each port? Or are there only pre-scheduled tender times a couple of times during the day?

Just noticed my typo on "Azamara" in the title. Not sure how that happened, and I tried to correct, but seems to still show the mis-type. Sorry about that!:confused:

I have done a bit of reserach and am centering in on Azamara as my preferred option for a 7ish day Greek Isles intensive cruise for my family. We are 6 in total, with three mid-late teen (well behaved and relatively quiet/mature) kids, my wife, my active Mother-in-Law and myself. Wife and I will be mid 40's. We did only one cruise a long time ago...a low fare mega-ship when the kids were younger. We really didn't enjoy it too much (too crowded, bad food, etc.). But we are intrigued with trying this again on a higher end line now that the kids are older.

We are looking for a smaller ship, with great food and smaller ports, and we don't need a lot of shipboard entertainment. We like a more 'country club casual' feel, prefer flexible dinner seating, and we aren't big drinkers. We do like great food and I'd call us 'foodies', but do not require 'high end gourmet' for all of our meals. We would tend to strike out on our own more in the ports and would probalby limit our ship time to breakfast, dinner and sleeping...with some occassional sun-worshipping by the pool (for the girls).

Azamara seems to meet all of these desires, and is at a price point which is at about the upper spec limit for what we would want to pay.

I noticed that Windstar is starting to get into the game of powered yachts, and the price point seems to be similar.

Other than Windstar, should I be looking at any other options for this sort of feel? I have pretty much ruled out Oceania, Seabourne, Sea Dream, Crystal as too expensive, fancy, or not the right itineraries. Looks like Princess is getting out of the game on small ships with the sale or planned sale of their small ships. We want to stay with a ship that has fewer than 1,000 people on them.

Any recommendations on other lines we should look into before making our decision? Many thanks in advance!