lisiamc

The beds are pushed together to make a Queen size, or pushed apart to make two singles. I know because I can see the division when I’m pushing suitcases underneath or pulling them out again. The pushed together size is 172 cm, or 5 ft 7in. The single size would be 86 cm, 2 ft 10 in. The curtains are pretty good at keeping out the light, but occasionally there are gaps. If darkness is important, you could bring a few clothespins to hold the curtains together.

It’s not a case of Azamara suppressing comments about the website or anything else. As Riocca says, it’s a site run by a travel agent who is not an employee of Azamara, and who is fed up with the constant whingeing.

Well said! And as someone else pointed out, Azamara is very dependent on the the data sent over by RCCL. They haven’t cared about Azamara for some years before the sale, so expecting them to be helpful and efficient AFTER the sale is unrealistic.

I am happy to say that I received this email - I have rarely been on the email list for the last 15 years, so this is a big step forward for me! Also, my online account is correct, and has been, right along. I suspect many others are correct also, and we are hearing from the (very understandably!) upset people whose accounts are not.

Don’t stress about the on-line check in. No one has been turned away at the port, and you’ll be fine. You may not remember back in the dark ages, when everyone had to complete the entire check in at the port. It worked then, and it still does.

That’s a very good point. FWIW, the ones in the photo from the OP look like they are made for polarised plugs.

In Lisbon, all the departing passengers should be off at around 9am, and you should be able to drop your bags any time after that, then walk around or sight-see until you’re ready to check in (generally after 2pm these days). We normally are in Lisbon for a B2B turnaround day, and I’ve seen people dropping their luggage pretty early, as we’re going out for a morning coffee.

One of my favourite hotels in Florence is Garibaldi Blu, comfortable, centrally located, and a bit eccentric. They have palm trees made of recycled tires in the lobby, with a life-sized Alfred, Batman’s butler, lurking there, and Marvel action figures dotted here and there in the corridors. https://www.hotelgaribaldiblu.com. I’m seeing rooms from €325/night in October. For those staying in hotter seasons, the air conditioning can cool to American standards. 🥶 in Venice, we’ve stayed at the Hotel American Dinesen and liked it. It’s not expensive by Venice standards, and is a short vaporetto ride from most things, and only a short walk from the Peggy Guggenheim collection. https://www.hotelamerican.it/en/rooms/

Things are getting better. Today our travel agent received confirmation that our July cruise is fully paid, and all is in order with the booking. This was not in response to any queries from the agent, or from me. This is something Azamara did proactively. When I look on the Azamara site, all of our future cruises are correct, as are our loyalty points.

There are adaptors and there are transformers. Adaptors only change the plug shape. Transformers change the voltage from 110 to 220, or vice versa. The device shown in the OP is an adaptor. transformers are generally (quite a bit) bulkier. Many devices (but not all!) can be used with both voltages.

It looks like it could. The problem could come if it has surge protection, which doesn’t work the same way on a ship as it does on land. The other thing to be aware of is if you have any appliances that are only 110v instead of dual voltage. Outlets that will fit that plug will be 220v.

That sounds like a mistake. I’d question it at Guest Relations.

They will happily keep your wine until you want it again. It doesn’t matter which restaurant you choose, if you ask, your wine will be served. For wine that you want refrigerated, if you know what restaurant you’ll be dining in, have a word with the Maitre’d in advance and he or she will chill it for you.

This is what I think, too.

Internet on a ship has never been a precise science for many reasons. Azamara has never guaranteed 24/7 internet access, so I don’t think you’d have a case describing it as a contracted service. Journey had a few times when the internet didn’t work on our two cruises in March in April. I am sure they will get it working again if it’s due to equipment failure. If it’s due to spotty satellite coverage, that should improve with a change of location.

Would I rather have a key wallet and a tote bag, or a generous supply of Whispering Angel? Hmmm… let me think! 😂😂 No contest there for me, I’m afraid. The Angel wins every time! 😇

Yes, I’m sure this is more work, although I don’t know how many cabins were allocated to a team of two, and how many are now allocated to solo stewards. However, did you know that since the takeover by Sycamore, the flight to the ship to begin their contracts AND the flight home at the end are now included in a crew member’s contract? Many other cruise lines (including Azamara under RCCL management) only include the flight out. It is on the crew member to pay for his or her flight home. I’ve had conversations where a crew member has mentioned that the first thing they used to do on arriving to the ship was start saving up for the trip home. This seems like a step forward to me.

We have had Brussels sprouts available on every Azamara cruise we’ve taken in the last year, on Onward, Pursuit and Journey. They are served in Prime C, and they’ve been there for certain in May, July, November, and December of 2022, and January, March and April of 2023. I know, because I love them and always order them. A wildly unscientific trawl of local supermarkets (North Norfolk) reveals that Tesco and Waitrose don’t carry Boddington’s, although ASDA and Morrison’s do, but it’s in limited supply. It’s not as easy to find as it used to be a few years ago. The Brexit effect may be at play here, as well, as far as supplying it to Azamara. Exporting and importing have become much more of a project post-Brexit, and the company sourcing Boddington’s may have decided it wasn’t worth it. I do agree it should be removed from the list if it isn’t going to be available, though. As far as the quantity of booze available in suites, our butler told us to let him know if we finished ours and wanted more. We didn’t ask for Hendrick’s, so I don’t know if we could have had it, but we were supplied with Bombay Sapphire as a default, and traded it for Gordon’s, because that’s what we like.

I can understand that. That’s why I will book on board. I’m sure that will be the best route to a future booking with no problems. And it will be for next year, because we still have three more in the pipeline for this year (all of which are showing correctly when I log into my account!)

@uktog I agree. Way back, we talked to people from Sycamore who were onboard Onward’s maiden voyage, and they were clear that Sycamore is a “build them up, make them better, and then keep them, or sell them as a going concern” company. They don’t go in and strip assets. They don’t want to see their acquisitions fail. They are also in a financial position to make success happen. I am confident that the website transition will get sorted out. (I won’t dispute that it’s a huge nightmare, and I hope it gets sorted out soon!) I haven’t cancelled any of our upcoming cruises, and I plan to book more when we’re onboard in July.

We were on board Journey from 4th March to 3rd April, so both sides of the changeover. There was no difference at all in the speed. The only noticeable difference was that Speedtest cited Starlink after the changeover. We were also on Onward last year during their changeover. The difference was huge, and impressive. We were expecting similar changes on Journey, but there must be some other issue on Journey throttling the speed.

I am sure all will go well for you. There have been other cruisers on recent cruises who have a similarly confused account, and they have had no problems. In your shoes, I would also have stress, but only because I am good at worrying and stressing. I hope you have a great time!

Yes, I think Journey is the only ship not getting the better speeds with Starlink. I don’t know what the problem is, but fingers crossed they can sort it soon.

It has been bugging me since I realised I was too late to edit this - I should have said Patio Grill. I really should get the name right!

You’ve got (or should have) your receipts, either from the credit card company or your bank, to prove that you’re paid in full, which is the most important part. As far as I can see, you can’t get any further anyway. I wouldn’t pay any extra, because that is going to cause all sorts of new problems if you pay twice. I’d wait until things get straightened out if the cruise is in the future, or until I board if the cruise is imminent. There is pretty much nothing you can do now on the website that can’t be done later, or once you are on board. I’m not hearing that those with a zero balance showing are able to get a boarding pass or luggage tags, or book excursions, drink packages, etc, either.