Janet&Carl

25 minutes ago, Port Power said:

Thank you for doing the research for me.  I figured Azamara would be my next world cruise. 😀

Come on the 2026 with us - fellow Aussies onboard.  We used to live in Perth and still have family there.

2 hours ago, 2ndsailing said:

Our Azamara World Cruise included businrss class airfare to Fort Lauderdale and home from Barcelona, one night pre cruise at the JW Mariott and a gala party, some money towards excess luggage, can't remember cost, a large obc around $7,000, some special events and our charter flight to the Taj.

I think they are now giving you money towards those flights instead of booking them, not sure on that. Also we have had great Azamazing Evenings and guest entertainers.

I have to say the food has been outstanding and there has been deck parties, and many special events. 

It has been a fabulous experience. 

 

Great to hear and your post was the decider for my DH.  He said if you are happy book it.  However, I still have lots of questions.  Can I ask you the ratio of passengers ? . I would like to know how many Americans, English, Canadians, Australians etc.. if you have any idea. We have sailed Onward twice already so I already know about the staff and entertainment etc..

5 hours ago, lorilg12 said:

We are trying to decide for the 2026 World Cruise. Azamara looks amazing but it is expensive. It looks like Holland will raise prices as they are adding more time, so that may also be out of our price range. Princess announced they are using the Coral Princess and have Los Angeles round trip now at a significantly lower price (than the other two) that includes Premier package - drinks, fitness classes, specialty dining once a week, etc. It might come down to price for us, but Azamara and Holland probably would have been our first choices if money wasn't an issue.

I have added all the on costs and it comes out very similar.  When you add in airfare, extra baggage, extra nights (155 vs 118) pre cruise hotel, transfers, gratuities included, shuttles at the ports that are a little out of town included it all adds up. So, for the extra time, extra port time and the fact that we have loved our 3 Azamara cruises it all swung in Azamara's favour.  It has been a long process.

9 hours ago, tigerfan75 said:

"Oceania didn't include drinks".  Congrats on your big decision.  Just an FYI...Oceania does include wine, beer, and champagne at lunch and dinner.  Enjoy the WC.

Yes they do, I should have said that.  But for our tastes, we very rarely drink wine and I dislike beer.  We like a G&T or a cocktail or 3 😉 

I think after months and months of debating, adding up new ports vs already been to ports, sea days vs port days we have almost very nearly 😉 made a decision to sail our WC with Azamara.  Lots of considerations including the ambience onboard, but the major one was the ports and not only the new ports we will visit but how long we spend in each port.  MSC was close because of the cost, they included drinks at meal times and shore excursions. Costa had very little time in port, HAL didnt have very many inclusions so everything was extra, Princess had good itinerary going places we want to go but their seaday port day ratio let them down.  Oceania didnt include drinks and Viking was booked out in the category we can afford so its Azamara.   We can no longer afford 2025 due to DH having the past 5 months unemployed and eating into our savings.  This will be a once in a lifetime deal for us so we are pleased to have made the decision.

I have wandered around the site many times.  I have googled and I have searched in vain.  Can anyone tell me how I access the information on points in my Azamara Circle ?

I have been searching but cant find it - I am sorry to  have to ask but can anyone tell me where the spreadsheet attachment is hiding

I have been reading the board and still undecided on which world cruise.  I am surprised that no one mentioned which ports the cruise goes to as a priority.  I have short listed cruises and in doing so have added up how many port days to sea days.  Some of the cheaper ( Princess, Cunard)  have really bad ratios.  Next criteria is how many are new ports.  Having flown half way round the world to most cruises (which has been one of the biggest expenses of each holiday) to book a holiday that just repeats what we have already done would be crazy. 

So food is not that important, most lines have something I can choose to eat and I can buy specialty restaurant access on cheaper lines that dont provide a good menu.  Entertainment is ok but not the be all and end all of my considerations.  Comfort and service with a smile is important I get that on most cruises.   We prefer serene, quiet environments to loud party scenes. We are easy going and dont complain about very much at all so most lines suit us.  We have tried 7 different lines and can find good and bad in all. 

So given the above considerations and the fact that this may be a one of experience the more ports the better and the more new ports going to places that are still on our list to see is the primary consideration.  

When can I expect that the next promotion with special prices will be ? I am wanting to join friends on a long cruise in January 2025.  They got a terrific price but I was cruising overseas at the time they booked and when I came back the price had gone up, double what they paid.  I was overseas again and have missed the Black Friday sale.  This sale had a price approximately $5,000 more expensive than they paid but still acceptable.  This week the price is back up to double what they paid.   Desperate for the next sale I would like to know when to possibly look out for it.

Thanks Janet

The trains are easy - you should be able to get there fairly early - they take approx 45 minutes from the port to the "San Pietro" stop which will get you to St Peters Basilica and the Vatican. When you use the ticket machine at the station choose the english language button and buy an "All day ticket".  This costs around 12 euro and will get you travel on metro, train and buses as well as the light rail that goes out to places like Ostia.  There is also a free port shuttle that will get you from your ship to the train station and back to the ship again when you return.

On 10/26/2023 at 5:10 AM, At7Seas said:

Azamara remains 83.54 % more expensive than my cruise. Some differences I didn’t add to the Azamara price, for example that not everything might be covered by Azamara OBC, that in my calculation insurance is included, I didn’t see port fees and other taxes on the Azamara cruise, while included in my calculation, that I am not sailing in the cheapest available cabin and so on. I know the ship I will sail on, I already had a cabin a few doors down the same corridor, and I am very comfortable with that ship. I am convinced by the itinerary. For paying nearly twice the price the difference would need to be gigantic.

 

Who are you sailing with  At7Seas ?

43 minutes ago, rtdiva said:

Hmmmm…Azamara Journey was the smallest of cruise ships we’ve sailed on in two decades, good to know her size wasn’t the problem . On QM2 during a TA sailing in January, the winds were bad, the snow on the deck was fun, the waitstaff could make snow angels. I was confident she would sail on. I may need to reassess my thoughts about smaller ships.  Azamara Journey was otherwise comfortable and more attractive in interior design than the two Queens we’ve sailed on. Personal taste.

We personally like Azamara as well but have not sailed with Cunard.  My preference is MSC Yacht Club but they do  not do WC on ships with YC.  😞 We have just returned from our third Azamara voyage doing the Greek Isles and it was very comfortable but I feel the facilities and activities would become repetitive on such a long WC.  Taking another look at HAL because I do like their pole to pole offering. 

We did this cruise last year.  You park up right in the centre. No need for shuttle - you just cross the road.

Easiest way from Venice to Marittima is by the people mover.  The monorail is accessed from the bus station. Get off at the first stop.  

The only ports I have actually seen crime is Brazil.  In San Salvador we were waiting to reboard the tour bus after a stop and a very large American man had his gold necklace ripped off his neck by a robber who just ran off with it down the alleys and streets opposite.  Very daring robbery.  I always put my jewelry in the safe when in ports.

On 4/21/2023 at 9:49 AM, Guinness1000 said:

The HAL 2025 world cruise was just listed. I like it! https://www.cruisespecialists.com/cruise-promotion-detail.aspx?packageId=146174

 

They also posted a 133 (?) day pole to pole cruise. I'm not really looking for that yet, but I like that they are adding more and more long roundtrip cruises.  🙂 https://www.cruisespecialists.com/cruise-promotion-detail.aspx?packageId=146181&utm_campaign=hal&utm_medium=email&utm_source=cswe&utm_content=pole-pole&spMailingID=34892596&spUserID=MjAwNzY0NDYxOTQ5S0&spJobID=2403849773&spReportId=MjQwMzg0OTc3MwS2

The pole to pole is the best WC I have seen so far.  I would love this itinerary.  It appears expensive for what it is - doesnt seem like any inclusions except the norm.  Does anyone know if HAL WC has inclusions such as gratuities, drinks, wifi, laundry etc... like some of the others do for a very similar price.

1 hour ago, Aussieflyer said:

I have added some thoughts about the good and not so good in this thread as it is a bit OT here:

 

Excellent review -pretty spot on

3 minutes ago, cruiser3775 said:

I just got my last minute instructions and warnings for my Carnival cruise next week from Sydney.  Among other things, it says "No alcohol can be brought on board".  That conflicts with other information I have that says that a passenger can bring one bottle of wine/champagne on board on embarkation. I'm not sure where I got this information. Can someone point me to the official source?

We were also told this boarding in Brisbane earlier this year.  This message was not given to the Americans as most of them boarded with a bottle or two of wine.  They told us that is was an "Australian rule" but it wasnt.

On 6/26/2023 at 3:16 PM, Port Power said:

Hence why most of us chose Regent, or consider other small ships such as Silversea.  All inclusive, nothing more essentially that has to be booked and/or paid for.

Most ? well Silversea is out of our price range - Azamara/Viking would be at the very top and MSC and Costa in the comfort zone 😉.  We actually like MSC and have cruised on them often but I would only like to book a suite.  Same with Costa.  Azamara didn't suit me as I was very sea sick and we were sailing in the Med.  I have done crossings on a few ships and never been sick !! so I dont know if it was because it was a small ship or because it was an old ship.  We are trying Azamara again this year to see how I feel as they would be our preference for our WC.

11 hours ago, BVILady said:

I do understand your reasoning that you do have everything included and not to worry about extra charges. But if the price is already HIGH, you are not saving anything. Price especially matters when you are cruising solo.

I agree with you about the cost - that is one of our considerations.  We are not rich by any means but have saved for what will be for us this once in a lifetime opportunity.   You spend about the same but the experience between Costa and Azamara is vastly different.  

On 2/23/2023 at 6:54 AM, RICHARD@SEA said:

JanR, 

 

Thanks so much for posting...I had wanted to do this years WC w MSC....Thankfully today I read the 2025 WC MSC Grandiosa is the itin I want to do.

 

I

Thanks again Jan - after binge watching your blog we have put MSC back on the list of possibles.  We prefer the itinerary for 2024 but are not ready to go next year as we already have cruises booked with friends that I would not like to cancel.   If they repeat 2024 itinerary we would jump in a heartbeat.

Do you mean Magnifica ?? Richard@sea /.  Grandiosa has Yacht Club and they usually do the WC on ships with no YC.  I like that MSC includes meal time drinks, excursions etc.. but I am still leaning to Azamara as we really enjoyed our cruise on them apart from a few niggles 😉 

On 1/25/2023 at 3:07 AM, islandwoman said:

I have sailed on the former R-class ships several times.  Once from Australia to Europe on the Ocean Princess, once on the Ocean Princess from Singapore to Europe, once on the Pacific Princess from Fort Lauderdale to Northern Europe, and once on the Azamara Onward from Ft. Lauderdale to the Eastern Caribbean.  I agree that these small ships rock and roll more than the big ones and sometimes I have had to take seasick meds.  But I never noticed creaking.  Maybe that's because we always sail in cabins low and midships.  Janet&Carl, Where was your cabin? 

Sorry island woman for taking so long to answer.  We were on deck 8 in a CC suite.  I figured we were in between the front and the middle but closer to the front staircase.   We loved Azamara and we are about to try them again because I really would like to do a WC on them.  I like that they spend a long time and overnight in ports.  I like that everything is included except for excursions but you get OBC to cover some of that.  I like that they have a laundrette so I can wash my own smalls 😉.  I loved the food - best we have had on a cruise but we did eat in the specialty restaurants most nights and only once in the dining room. Next cruise I am trying the very middle of the ship on deck 4 (as low as I could go) ocean view cabin to see if I can cope.  We have never cruised in anything but a suite so we'll see if we like a smaller cabin and if I dont get seasick like last time. We are sailing on the Onward in October b2b.  We will then make a final decision on if we can use Onward for our WC because I havent found anything else suitable yet.

1 hour ago, gkbiiii said:

Yes your right, along with MSC; which included that, gratuities, laundry, onboard credit, and package of tours.

  I do see that MSC still includes the meal time drinks (dine and drink package of beer and wine during meal times)

On 3/31/2023 at 11:38 AM, gkbiiii said:

Researching this, I am surprised that lines such as Cunard, HAL, Princess, often few included benefits on their full World Cruises, yet Oceana, Viking, Regent, and others, offer so much more.  Even both Italian Lines, MSC & Costa, offer many included tours and such.  Royal Caribbean's first 9 month World offering, offers many included tours, etc.

 

My question is why the big three, seem to offer much fewer inducements for the full World Tour, then they did 10-15 years ago?

Am I right in thinking that costa used to include meal time drinks (Pranzo and Cena Package) with their World Cruise as an inclusion and not long do ?  I looked at 2025 Costa and could not see it as an inclusion.  

WE ended up buying clippers in a Chemists and did DH's hair ourselves.  Much cheaper than onboard prices.