2onboardagain

Point’s FINALLY made it into my total!

She will be berthing at Terminal J today.

While it is reported that Riviera will be berthed at Terminal J, the Port of Miami is notorious for reassigning ship locations. There will be 7 ships in port (a full house) and we have in the past been notified as we entered the port via electric signs that our ship was elsewhere. Somehow it all gets sorted out in the end. Enjoy your cruise!

So glad to see that she got out of Dry Dock on time! Enjoy your cruise we will be boarding her in Miami on December 23rd. Can't wait for that "fresh paint smell"

We were definitely NOT a Deluxe Balcony Suite yet had the Coffee & Tea making facilities.

I can't answer that for sure, but as Coffee & Tea making facilities were not listed for our balcony cabin in their brochure, yet they were there in our cabin I am guessing that they are available in all the cabins. By "deluxe balcony cabins" do you mean suites? (we were in what they refer to as a Balcony Stateroom)

In so many ways Emerald "aimed to please" all it's passengers, right down to both a coffee maker and a tea kettle in each cabin.

Thanks for jogging my memory (as it was a good number of years ago) as I now recall, we had made final payment and were in the "penalty phase" for cancellation so they withheld the equivalent of the deposit when they returned the balance of our payment. Glad you got me thinking about it so my mind could get it right!

I didn't mean to open a wound Don. Hope you are feeling better! Some companies just don't seem to get that a little good will can pay more "word of mouth" dividends than all the advertisement that they can afford. We had a bitter experience with NCL years ago that still leaves a bad taste in my mouth. My Brother had a career in the Navy as an oral surgeon and while he was stationed at Pearl Harbor we decided to visit him for Christmas and since family visits should have limits of no more than one week in duration and since Honolulu is a long way to go for just a week we decided that after our visit with him we would book NCL's 7 night Hawaii cruise. Well, some things just are not to be and before final payment on that cruise My brother received orders that his skills were needed ASAP with the Marines in South Carolina and he would no longer be in Hawaii for Christmas that year. As we had non-refundable air line tickets with United Airlines, I called them first and they couldn't have been nicer. Because my change of plans was the result of Military Orders, United gave us a full refund on those "non-refundable" tickets (and I still sing their praises to this day). On the other hand, NCL refused to refund our deposit even though they resold our cabin weeks before that scheduled cruise (in effect they collected two deposits on the same cabin and needless to say I have nothing nice to say about NCL to this day). I really don't understand why Companies don't realize the amout of Good Will advertising they lose by such inflexibility. I think Emerald is being bone headed in your case since you are interested in a future cruise. You might be interested in mentioning to them that they were offering a 5% discount on future cruises while we were on board (with no money down) and at the very least they should offer you that deal since you absolutely would have preferred to be on the Azzurra rather than dealing with Covid. Wishing you the Best of Luck! John

An example of Chef Li's culinary artistry

The observation lounge is quite comfy

Some of the toys available on the marina deck

The aft infinity pool

In case anyone is interested in what the guest laundry (on deck 4) looks like

We are just off the September 3rd Dubrovnik to Athens sailing and found the trip delightful. The crew quickly learns your name and preferences and it really started to feel like it was our own private yacht. Executive Chef Li did an excellent job in his kitchen and the Captain and Hotel Manager seemed to always be available for questions and comments. All in All we were very well pleased and am sure that you will be likewise!

So very sorry to hear that Don as I was really looking forward to meeting you on board Azzurra. Hope it is a mild case and that you can travel soon! Excuse me, but may I ask what Emerald will do in your situation? Must you go through your insurance or are they willing to refund or reschedule?

We moved to Florida the year before you and were promptly greeted, in close succession, by Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne (we wondered what we had done to ourselves but being in the center of the Florida Peninsula has it benefits as those storms came at us from every direction but in all cases the winds subsided to less than Hurricane Force by the time they reached us). We are in the midst of finally packing as we did receive an emailed copy of our travel docs (sans luggage tags but hopefully they will arrive in the next couple of days) Cannot wait to be at sea again!

We haven't been able to go "cold turkey" on our "checked luggage" addiction yet but will definitely be trying that "carry on" strategy (recommended by Emerald Cruises). We lived in the Trenton area and through the years were residents of Hamilton, Ewing, Lawrence and Washington Townships. And you?

Our outbound is multiple flights like yours: Orlando to Vienna to Dubrovnik. (we are flying out on the 2nd to arrive and head straight to the yacht. Weather forecast in Dubrovnik on the 3rd is calling for rain) Our return is Athens to Toronto to Orlando. Flying is always a gamble when there are connecting flights. Last year we flew to Athens arriving on the day of our cruise departure and the connections were VERY tight but somehow we and our luggage made it together. While on the ship we met a couple from New Smyrna who booked flights for the day before missed their flight from Toronto to Athens and the airline rebooked them on a Toronto to London to Athens flight (they made it BUT their luggage didn't catch up until the day before we disembarked the ship) so there are no guarantees in this current crazy world of travel! See you in 5 days!

We (also former Central NJ residents) are on the same 9/3 sailing but are still waiting for our Travel Docs as they have continually changed our flight arrangements for our return flights (can't fathom why it's taking so long but maybe this will make our quota for travel glitches this trip!) Hope to see you on board! John & Peggy The Villages, FL