oddjob16

We have done this. - Not the free nights involved but an onboard booking. The new "Free Upgrade" promotion definately says the offer is for NEW bookings ONLY and that if you have an old booking on the same cruise your only option ist to cancel and make a new booking. We lost our OBC and the Expereince More Package. The price was still so good that we earned 1000$ each. The onboard booking in this case was totally worthless. My agent checked twice with Azamara, but we lost all onboard booking benefits.

Easiest embarkation we have done. Entry "D" for the terminal and follow signs.

To us it was a good deal. In Europe the offer is NOT with 1000$ OBC but only free upgrade.

We saved about 1000$ per person anyway so we are pleased.

The main demographic target for Viking is retired americans and they don't even sell the cruises here in Scandinavia. I doubt very much if we would ever be tempted to do one of their cruises. On our last Azamara cruise there were 36 different nationalities among the passengers. Wouldn't have it any other way.

They had tote bags on Quest. Plenty.

22 hours ago, miss-heli said:

Great review. Thank you for finding the time to share.

 

We will be boarding the Quest in Istanbul and I have read in other posts that some taxis are not allowed into the port area and that passengers are dropped off outside and have to make their own way through a shopping complex with their luggage.

 

Did you have any problems ?

Taxi will drop you off at the entrance of the terminal, which is also a shopping center. I believe the entrance was "D". No problem.

5 hours ago, Oslo Dutch said:

Thank you for a great review and for making us aware, we can also sign up for the ultimate package during the last days of the cruise in order to spend OBC.  

 

We are usually happy with the wines offered in the cruise fare.  However, are the wines offered on the ultimate package really worth the upgrade?

 

 

That depends on your personal preferences. For us it meant indulging a bit more with mixed drinks and better wines. Try and make up your own opinion. We think its a good deal.

28 minutes ago, cpgrneyes said:

Hi @oddjob16 - We’re departing on Onward 10/14/23, and I’m interested in finding out how early you arrived at Galataport before boarding at 1:15. We’re in a suite, so I believe the boarding begins at 1:30, but I’ve read and watched where from arrival to walking on the ship can be a long hassle! Thanks.

We arrived at noon and went thru some checkpoints where we got hour priority stickers. We then waited 30 minutes before we could do our check in. That done we had to wait until the passport check was ready to start. If it hadn’t been for the passport check procedure we would probably be on board a bit earlier. You can easily arrive at 12:30 and walk thru the entire procedure. It was hassle free but a few waits. 

This review was first posted in FB group «Azamara Live»

Just disembarked the Quest after 11 nights from Istanbul to Athens. The experience was top notch and rest assured that the crew is getting more and more up to excellent standards . The boarding process in Istanbul was seemless and we were on board by 1:15. The itinerary was changed just a few days before to switch date of ports in Santorini and Patmos. As a result we had Santorini with a portload of 4000 instead of 11000. A change was also made for Thessaloniki to leave a few hours early to get a full day in Mykonos.

Azamara are able to do this and goes the extra mile to make it happen. Captain Johannes is always searching for ways to improve the overall experience and this is not the first time he has done this.

The officers team were very visible all through the cruise and in every aspect we felt that we were very valuable customers. We had no issues with restaurants or bars,- TBH we didn't dine in Discoveries this time as we love the Sunset Veranda or Patio when weather is warm, and we had excellent experiences in Aqualina and Prime C.

Included wines were acceptable but halfway we switched to the Ultimate Package to use the OBC. (Both Fever Three and Schweppes were available in all venues) Entertainment was very good in Cabaret and the Living Room. Jose on the piano was a bit loud for our taste this time.

We rate this cruise among our top 5 and are "very happy customers". We don't like the use of phrases like "back to old standards" and such because we know the team on board is always trying to stretch even further and evolve their product.

Some port authorities are always throwing curve balls and the onboard team is working harder than one could imagine to let us customers remain unaware of this. Captain Johannes, HD Ryszcard and CD Amanda is a great team just to mention a few of the officers.

Something "new" is that the crew will eventually rotate more than has been usual. We spoke to a few waiters and room attendants and some said that next contract would probably be on other ships. This might also be the case for the senior officers. We know Amanda will be replaced by Stephen in November and he has been on Journey for a long period.

Already looking forward to the next one.

Cabin: 8052

Ship: Quest

Date: August 2023

Type: Club Continent Suite

Choose again: Yes

Noise: Not much. Just below storage section on pool deck and some noise when they set up for White Night. Can live with that.

On 5/25/2023 at 5:24 PM, tyler6597 said:

Ship: Azamara Journey

Cabin: 8012, Veranda Plus

Cruise Date: 5-6-23- 5-18-23. 12 Nights Mediterranean Intensive

Pros: Sleeps 3. You get a bottle of liquor of your choice. (Within Reason) Near the elevator.

Cons: Cabin 8012 is directly across from the so-called flower shop, but it was also where the cabin stewards kept their carts and kept cabin supplies there, so they were going in and out frequently in the morning and the evening and the door slams shut. 

 

Tyler

 

 

8012 on Quest was close to elevators. Didn't notice any service doors. Maybe we just weren't there very often.

On Quest there will be change of CD in November. Amanda on vacation and Stephen coming over from Journey. Seems like rotation is the new normal now…..

Presently on Quest

Current wines by the glass in the Ultimate Package on Azamara Quest.

We have never had any problem with the shower size. It is what it is. and , by the way, I only use the shower when I shower. 

27 minutes ago, hamrag said:

Believe it or not, I hadn't even gone into  our booking until reading this. My interest was to see if there is a 'free' excursion in Funchal, the only stop on this transatlantic, for an Azamazing evening.

 

There isn't, and due to sail from Funchal at 4pm I'm guessing there won't be one....which is fine. Can anyone confirm that such cruises do not include an Azamazing evening?

 

TIA.

You are correct. Transatlantic sailings does not have Azamazing Evenings.

That sounds just great, Phil. We are looking forward to making our own assessment in a few weeks, but I expect it to be as good as the last few times. There will be some changes in people on board, but I know they will be just as good. Sorry we will miss Darren. 😁

We were not able to book excursions using OBC. My agent tried to excecute the payment, but could not access the system. My TA then got a message from Azamara that I had to call in and make the payment by phone. A bit reluctant I sat down and dialled Azamara’s number and got thru in an instant. Managed to sort out the payment using credit card and got confirmation on the OBC amount that we had in the booking. 

10 minutes ago, laurieb said:

Let's hope thisis the case!

Read it again and to be fair the poster was saying "rotate at the end of 2024". I hope not, but you never know....

13 hours ago, laurieb said:

read elsewhere that a guest was told that all captains will be rotating ships at the end of 2024.  Anyone know anything about it?

I read it and read it twice. Interpretation might be that the poster misunderstood the captain and that the original intent was just to explain that captains rotate. Not necessarily from ship to ship. Captains all have their schedules worked out thru 2024 as far as I know.

5 hours ago, ghstudio said:

We’re in Kotor today and the weather makes one think of the reality of “hotter than hell”.  I think the feels like weather has been over 100 the past few days and it’s really hard to deal with.  You drink water, find shade and collapse after just walking around for a couple of hours.  We just do what we can do. I’ve asked the captain if he can make it cooler during the day, but he said it’s out of his hands…HQ is in charge of that.

HQ in charge of the weather??

Nice to have a direct line, but I never called him HQ.😉

14 hours ago, Mrs Miggins said:

4 small bottles in April 2022 - One large bottle in July 2023.

A gallon, I take it🤣🤣

18 minutes ago, excitedofharpenden said:

The one before had 670 and the next has about the same. It seems so hard to predict and I'm not sure why this cruise hasn't sold. Except that I booked reasonably late (April) and struggled with flights which were expensive. Coming into kids holiday season here. Perhaps that's a reason that folk struggled to get here in reasonable cost. Agree, we need to see ships sail full. 

 

Phil 

That might be a factor. We booked in May and I suspect the cruise was not very full at that time, but some very nice promotions were set up and it filled very quickly. Probably better flight prices in august than in july, at least for Scandinavia, as the schools starts around august 20th.

Have a great cruise, Phil. You are lucky. Our ship in a month is full. We are starting in IST, so will probably have some "sea days" in the beginning. Big hugs to all the great crew.

4 hours ago, uktog said:

I think if that is the case given the weird new system they need to explain that clearly online, especially with regular bookers/searchers who often did not put in even one loyalty number when searching.  Hopefully it all becomes clear soon!!!

We are not able to see any promotion prices in the period stated. No difference if logged in or not.