hubofhockey

While I find it weird that someone is hesitant to take their first cruise on Azamara because of a lack of perks, I don't walk in their shoes. If you really can't get excited about an Azamara cruise and have a negative attitude going in, it's probably not worth your time booking with Azamara and living with that angst. We have future cruises booked on X and Azamara. It would be great if both would count for loyalty points for both, but it is what it is. We'll have a great time on both and not worry earning points.

I saw something online that indicates that you are correct and that it's an AMEX promotion they do with cruise lines, so non-refundable. Right now, both the essentials package $300 (free with current promotion) and the AMEX are showing up as onboard credit for a total of $600. I am going to see if it lets me use it for Chefs Table + 4 dining packages.

Thank you very much for clarifying. I doubt we'll be walking away with much cash from our $1,075 OBC. Between specialty dining, spa/gym, extra device for WIFI, we'll be well into the refundable amount provided by the TA. If we walk away with $200, I'll be surprised. We have only been on one Azamara cruise (15 days in SE Asia), but you're right about that crew. They deserve extra tips. They really are so much of the difference between a cruise on a larger line and Azamara.

I just booked a cruise with my Platinum card, which provides a $300 Onboard credit. If you have received the AMEX credit, do you know if it's refundable? Azamara is already providing $300 nonrefundable OBC and agency is providing $475 in OBC, which thankfully, is refundable. Quite honestly, all of the OBC is a reason we didn't book a suite because figuring the $300 will go to specialty restaurants. I am pretty sure the AMEX credit is not refundable, so that's $600 we need to spend.

One of the online internet agencies I am looking at is charging a booking fee of $19.95. I suppose they get burned on doing all of the work, only to see customers cancel. I would only book with this one because if offer the AMEX Platinum. He told me that he believed my entire deposit is nonrefundable at all times, so I am probably better off booking with someone else.

I would highly recommend Victor Cheung or Hong Kong, and you can email him at victorcheung10@hotmail.com . He’s young and one of the best guides we used 3 years ago. I know he may have been looking to move to the US, but it’s worth a shot emailing him. One of the best guides we had.

I wasn’t a fan of Aqualina and wouldn’t go back there. Prime C is very good and the Chef’s Table is outstanding.

Thank you so much for that information. Perfect.

I am thinking of booking an Azamara cruise that goes from Miami to Fuerte Amador, Panama. I am assuming that this is a partial transit, but that we could easily do an excursion once in Panama that would do the locks on the other side. Is this correct? If not, maybe three is enough and we'd do something else in Panama before flying home to Florida.

Thanks, both lines are great for us, so probably just booking Azamara for the itinerary.

Is there any advantage to going on the smaller ships like Azamara or Oceania vs the M Class on Celebrity? I do see that Celebrity will be sending the Beyond in 2024 and that’s probably a non-starter for us. Thanks. Looking right now at Azamara Journey 10-day from Miami to Panama City and it does the three old locks. It includes ABC islands and an overnight in Cartagena, Columbia.

Good to see the old X cruises count. Understandable the new ones don’t. I suppose that will hurt a lot in getting to next levels as we will still go on both lines.

We had a great Azamara itinerary canceled about 4 years ago. They split it up into two smaller itineraries and charged 50% more to do both. Offers to us? NONE. It was over a year away. Left a bad taste in my mouth. We took our deposit back and booked a similar itinerary to the canceled cruise on Celebrity. The “old” Azamara could be very frustrating.

You’re really comparing two totally different types of products here. Time and a place for each and we’re happy on either, depending on the type of cruise we’re looking for.

Wait, what? You mean two people can be on the same cruise, similar cabins, spend similarly, and have totally different opinions of their vacations? I’m shocked. 😄 Seriously, frame of reference is so important. My preference for types of cruise ships has totally changed as I have gotten older and my tastes in itineraries has changed.

Thanks, I know very little about about the Panama Canal and what I would see from the Celebrity Beyond and what I would see from the Journey. This is great info. We’re doing the Millennium for Japan and really like those M class ships. Oceania has a Panama Canal itinerary that ends in Peru. I just don’t understand their pricing and a bit nervous about Peru, at the moment. The Journey ends in Panama, an easy flight home to South Florida.

I am considering both lines for the Panama Canal. We loved our Southeast Asia cruise on the Quest in October of 2019. We bid and got an upgrade to the low level suite and loved absolutely everything about the cruise. As to dining, we loved Prime C, but thought Aqualine was meh. The Indonesian Rijstafal dinner was pretty bad too. Maybe caught a bad night. Thinking about booking a regular verandah cabin with a dining package. Agree on service on Azamara. On a typical itinerary, I just assume book Celebrity as there is more to do and like Aqua class, but thinking right now that Panama Canal on a large Celebrity ship (they aren’t even using M class) would fall far short of Oceania or Azamara. Tough choice on this one between the two.

You have the choice of the Spa items on the menu, but the ones not designated as Spa, well, all bets are off. I kind of wish they would offer keto / low carb choices. I can always find some, but knowing what dishes are would help.

I should have said wholesale clubs to better identify them. I don’t believe Cruise Critic allows for the mentioning of sellers of cruises. The smaller one has $25 specials on memberships. I believe the larger one is in the 60s for regular membership and 120s for executive membership. With executive membership at the biggest wholesale club and using its Citi Visa Card, you get 5% savings on the purchase and around 8% on the store credit (gift card). It’s 13% you won’t get from Celebrity. If people like the convenience of booking direct with the cruise lines, I get it, but that’s a very expensive convenience.

Wholesale Clubs. There are two in particular. One sells Kirkland products.

The big box store will get Celebrity to honor the price adjustments. The one I booked already had a $400 increase for our cabin, so not a big deal, but if it drops, I really don't expect them not to get me the price drop. I will have to ask and track it, but I always did that with TAs. I trust the box store to stay in business a lot more than I trust any online TA. I feel as if I get the same peace of mind that I would get by booking with cruise line. My gift card (store credit) is $735 on an $8,625 or 8.5%.

Yikes, all of those prices are pretty high. What are they charging for specialty dining package of 5 nights?

I think ours was that much for 11 nights and the difference was about $2,000 at the AI rates. If it weren't M Class and Japan, I'd have booked a regular verandah cabin. I figured out of 11 nights, one night we will eat in Kyoto and specialties for 2, leaving 8 in the MDR and just didn't like that split. Also, with three days at sea ("cruising"), we'd use the Persian Garden and eat breakfast at Blu. Right now, thinking of booking Panama Canal with either Oceania or on the Beyond. That would be no Aqua. Tough decision.

My view is that on M Class, where there isn't a big choice of specialty dining, then Aqua (Blu) makes so much sense. Blu is great. The food a decent step up from the MDR and the service is several steps up from the MDR. I would book it for S or E class if the pricing was $30 per day per person as well.

If you book directly with any cruise line, you are leaving real money on the table. Even the big box stores will get you 8% value in a gift card and then add on member savings if you have executive membership (worth it just for your cruise).