Dr H

And Los Angeles is about to get a hurricane! I had no idea that Edinburgh could have such rough weather in the middle of the summer. Having had the pleasure of a North Sea gale on Azamara once, I'm happy to pass.

5 hours ago, KevintheIrishDJ said:

How do you check the different themes ahead of time?

Honestly, I don't think you can. HOWEVER, shortly after boarding we head to the restaurant reservation area. When my wife remembers, we request the theme night listing, and they usually have them. Then you coordinate themes, your schedule, White Nights, shore excursions, and hope there isn't a last second change. Good luck. Bottom line, ask someone who will have the answer for you as soon as you get on board. And invariably, within the first hours, you can change reservations as needed. Happy travels.  David

No, it isn't difficult if you are flexible. About a year and a half ago, we were on multiple B2Bs just after Azamara started sailing again. Aqualina was closed, due to low census on board, and the two restaurants were combined. At that time, yes, we were turned away several times. Back to the future, we were B2B from Dubai to Singapore and on to Perth Australia. Both restaurants were open, no issues at all getting reservations. Word of caution,  there are themed nights in the buffet, with some spillover of menu items in the MDR. Some are better than others. Try to check the themes before you reserve the specialty restaurants. Menus don't change in the specialties, and you might miss that special German dinner in the buffet because you insisted on going for the Steak Diane or the Veal Chop upstairs. These are good problems to have. Enjoy!

Hello Joe and Doris. I'll be very happy to visit in your basic suite in November - you guys order the shrimp, I'll bring the champagne. We're on a B2B, Wonders of the Med or some such title, Rome to Lisbon, then on to FLL (or is it Miami?). We are ocean view on the Med cruise, almost daily ports, we won't need the larger space or bath tub, which would be nice, but not for that amount of $$$. Veranda across the pond. We've done the basic suites a few time, dyed in the wool, fanatic Azamara customers, they just aren't worth the thousands of dollars more, in our humble opinion. If you've got the money to blow, the kids are working, and the IRS isn't after you, blow the money. Wish I could, I can't, and frankly, don't miss it. I can buy a LOT of ultimate end single malts and still save over a suite. Can't buy the packages beforehand? Yeah, it would be nice, you will have no trouble at any time on board buying them. It's a long, quiet boat ride, with only 1 stop. As for your "Can't do..." list, everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, here on CC hears you, understands the frustrations, is as PO'd about it as you are. That said, I haven't read a single posting on CC complaining of poor service or any degradation of service on board the ships. You have booked passage on a very high quality product, from amenities, to ship size, to food, and most importantly, from the on board staff, from housekeeping to cruise director to captain. Please, with your posted schedule, you need to be worried more about getting to the airport, catching your Uber, than worrying about purchasing an ultimate liquor package! Sailing with Aza since 2010, please trust me when I say we've never had a bad cruise with them. We've sailed with Celebrity twice now, good, but most definitely NOT Azamara by a long shot. Looking forward to meeting you on November 20th. By the way, there is a fantastic little Port wine shop in Lisbon near the pier called Garrafeira Nacional. If you like port, take a peak, you can bring it on board without a problem.  (No, I don't work for them, and any kick backs or bribes will be graciously accepted, though not expected.)  David

EEC, I was not aware of the internet upgrade. Thank you, it is something we use.

Sadly, since the divorce your RC status is now gone with Azamara. You gave up a free bag of laundry every week of cruising, along with a significant percentage off the cost of their slow internet. You abandoned one or two cocktail parties. You lost about 10-20% discount on spa treatments. You lost a low percentage off the price of a future cruise booked on board. My guestimate, you lost between $50-75. worth of on board credits. Actually, the loyalty program is nice, BUT the overall level of everything on Azamara, service, food, alcohol is so excellent that loss of status doesn't mean very much in the end. As for bookings, you probably know that currently Azamara is extremely difficult to work with because of IT problems. On board service has not been affected, but reservations/stuff than needs to be done on the ground is not what it should be. Normally we book through our Big Box Store travel agent, it can still be done, but it's tough. However, most recently I've booked on line on the Azamara web site, no issues at all. You have several weeks to contact the travel agent of your choice, and switch over to whoever you choose. MAKING a reservation is easy. Followup can be a bit problematic, but hardly impossible. At the moment, cruises are offering a $300 OBC, the "free nights" or $$$ off for the next person is really smoke and mirrors. My bottom line, we've been sailing with Azamara since 2010, and have been on several Celebrity cruises since then. We have NO plans on abandoning Azamara anytime soon. Their current problems will be worked out, eventually. The quality of their product does not have to change. Read the fine print at the bottom of their web site, and have a wonderful time.

$95 pp per table is probably correct. If you go into the Azamara web site under deals, there is a dining package available for the three chef's tables listed at $250. per person. That would translate to $84 per meal, per person, which makes the individual $95 price look pretty accurate. For the record, we've been on many Aza cruises, with a significant number of C.T.s on board, and they are not equal. The French and Italian are pretty standard, both excellent, personally I prefer the Italian to the French. I have found on several occasions, the Italian wines selected were far superior to the French. We have had a "California" experience (I could have stayed home for that), and a nouveau-Japanese on a sailing to Japan. It was nouveau as advertised. It was not Japanese, nor were the wines, etc. Hey, even I make mistakes sometimes. Bottom line, the dining packages will save a few dollars, not a great deal, but there is the psychological satisfaction of saving some money, and the Chef's Table is actually superior dining to either Prime C or Acqualina,  and both Prime and Acqua are tough acts to follow. Hope this helps you, start dieting now, and put the food money towards the cruise, and just have a wonderful time. (And ignore the IT grief the company is giving you, everything is going to be wonderful on board.)

5 hours ago, excitedofharpenden said:

Go for deck 6. The balconies get deeper as you go down. 6 is deeper than 7 is deeper than 8.

 

WOW. We have been sailing with Azamara since 2010. We've been in suites on several occasions, verandas most of the time, and I was totally, and I mean TOTALLY, unaware of this! And this OCD crazy person actually travels/flies with a tape measure! I never knew. Okay, I prefer the gestalt of Deck 7, rooms surrounded on all sides by quiet passengers. I do not like Deck 8, there is always something going on over my head, and I've just paid a couple of thousand more than I had to for a more comfy, larger, noisier room. Six is okay, and they can never put you next to the laundry. I will be pulling out the tape measure in November. I don't know if I should thank you Phil, or put an evil curse on you for sharing that sacred information.   David

 A VERY wise man once said, "Trust, but verify." I've heard similar horror stories on board, pre shake up (or is it "shake down"?), of flights disappearing into the ethereal ether. If YOU made the air reservations, you are probably fine, BUT! If someone other than you made the reservations, it really behooves YOU to confirm, and then reconfirm, that those flights really do exist!

Mosaic was mentioned for light bites. I wouldn't call it "lunch", but it can suffice in a bind. I don't think you realize just how small the ships are! We got an el-cheapo Alaska cruise a year and a half ago on Celebrity Millennium, and for what I paid, I was content to share a bathroom in the boiler room with a guy who shoveled the coal. Millennium is just under 1000 feet long, and sleeps 2200 plus a crew of 1000 - it's big, but they build 'em a LOT bigger. We were in the rear. My wife has been developing walking issues, surgery is currently pending on her back, and let me tell you, getting from our room to the nearest elevator was NO joy, for either of us and especially her. It was a LONG walk, back and forth, and everywhere in between.  Bad back and getting worse, we were on Azamara Quest for 5 weeks this past winter, 590 feet long, with two sets of elevators, each about 1/3 the way down the corridors. Sandie had no walking issues, and perish the thought there were, there are wheel chairs available if needed. She needed them only to get on and off the ship and out of the port. I don't think you are going to that difficult a time getting around. Acqualina is lovely for breakfast, it is at the back of the ship, one deck above you. (I think the variety in the buffet, which is not the size of a small football stadium, is better, but that's my opinion.) Your outdoor dining locations at lunch are pool "side" and the Sunset Bar area behind the buffet, and indoors in Windows Cafe, which is the buffet. Honestly, I think you are better off worrying about how you will be getting to the ship, and not where you can eat. And don't worry about worrying the poor Butler, I don't think they serve very many dinners, and it is a lovely option on your veranda, and do a wonderful, very personal job.  Have a great trip, and make the rest of us jealous of your suite accommodations.

Lunch is only served in the MDR on sea days. Breakfast is daily, as is dinner. If I'm not mistaken, full main dining room service is available in your room, served by your esteemed butler, if you are in a suite. Regardless, walking from point A to point B anywhere on the ship is not a big task, the ships are wonderfully small. Have a great vacation!

From personal experience, it isn't a scam, BUT. Two years ago we bopped from Discoverer to Discoverer Plus level, which "gave" us 6 free nights. We were onboard, and booked Dubai to Singapore, a long and very expensive cruise. Canadian Matt on board Quest worked some magic, and poof! Six free nights! The caveat was that the never paid, full price per person for. the cruise was the starting price, not the onboard discounted prices. We still saved a bucket of money, but the only OBC we got was because we were on a B2B trip. It looks good on paper, and it might be a great deal in specific instances as it was for us, but do the math before handing them your credit card. Best of luck. Oh, Dubai to Singapore was an amazing trip! Great people, very enjoyable ports, and of course the wonderful ON BOARD service.

I would unquestionably recommend Azamara. There is no way in hell I would recommend their IT company, nor would I hire the Azamara employee who recommended that company to the Azamara board. But from what I've been reading on CC by people who were currently on Azamara cruises, nothing has changed regarding the quality of the cruise, the staff, the food, or the ambiance.

Certified mail, return receipt requested, label the envelope personal and confidential. Keep a copy of everything you send in the envelope. If you have a friend who is a lawyer, have him or her include a secondary letter to the CEO. Legal letters are intimidating. I have to say, I'm surprised at the run around you are getting. We've had some relatively minor issues, all was corrected rather quickly. Good luck. 

I booked a week ago. I had to sell one of my grandchildren into slavery to pay for it, but we still have another one, so it's good. Anyway, we are doing Montreal to Reykjavik, then B2B on to Copenhagen. With luck, we will get to meet well before these cruises.  David

6 minutes ago, takemewithyou said:

Here is a link to the roll call for this cruise.  You should post over there to get responses.  
 

 

Good hearing from you Bill! Enjoy, and best from S and me to Diana.  David

Having gotten back to Atlanta in mid January after 12 days Sydney to Auckland on the competition, I am more that a tad jealous of you guys. Bay of Islands might not be ideal for hiking - it's a lot of islands - but the country is magnificent, and the scenery is something out of Jurassic Park. We were in Australia for about 2 weeks before NZ, and I left calling Australia "awesome" in the original sense of the word, not the Millenium's concept. I left NZ, basically speechless. Wish we could join you.

RE Diabetes, possibly, I would love to take credit, but honestly, I don't remember. I'm one of the few guys who loves cruising because I lose weight. If you watch the carbs, and WALK, you lose weight, fat, and sugars go down. There are a number of new(er) meds out there that work magic in keeping numbers down AND lead to weight loss. I'd love to put myself on one of them, but the price of losing 60lbs is about the same as an Azamara cruise so...

Glad you decided, and you probably made the right choice. For YEARS Azamara has had a post Labor Day sale of double upgrade, Inside to Veranda for the inside price. I would not be at all surprised if you never get to see that inside cabin. Keep us posted, and have a fantastic trip! 18 days, it doesn't get much better than that.

Alas. Wasn't planning on going anywhere with RC anyway, but thanks for the heads up.

DW and I were living out of the country in the '70d, and we didn't grow up with SNL. Seeing those faces, and they were young is kind of incredible! Amazing that '78 was 45 years ago. Anyway, that's Carnival service, not Azamara.

And buried in the fine print it says the credit expires at the end of the cruise. Can't take it with you for next time.

I just found the Viking vs Azamara posts. I will have to take a peek, but we are Azamara loyalists to the end. Here is a small point to consider. Quest will be making these sailings, and will be undergoing dry dock refurb in March or April, 2024. We were advised of this last winter while we were on board, and there are scattered references to the refurb in several scattered posts. It's going to be a new(ish) ship. (Hope they would get rid of that hideous chandelier in the MDR.)

Works for us. We're on Onward in November, out of Rome with a diabetic friend, and she was curious. Thank you, I shall pass on this vital info!

The Alzheimer's is setting in, I don't remember coke or pepsi (I don't drink the stuff), but I do remember Schwepps tonic water in our little fridge, and Coca Cola owns the company. I don't gamble, but I'd put $5 down on Coke.  Oh, asking for a friend, does Azamara sail with diet tonic water?