java spot

Definitely possible but I don’t know if they allow it. I had the veranda partition loose and clanging all night long on Onward during one of the early voyages keeping the people next door and myself awake all night. They “fixed “ it but was banging again and finally stopped it by stuffing a washcloth in the partition so tight it held it. Long story to say yes it’s possible.

They can be purchased alone.

All "co-ed". Like college dorms in the 70's.

I was in cabin 6043. On deck 6 there is a section of the ship that slopes up about 4 inches - you can see it where the handrails suddenly raise up on a diagonal. My cabin ceiling was lower than my friend's cabin. Just a few inches but she noticed it right away. About 10 cabins in mid-ship are like that. Just an FYI.

I grew up with Rijstaffels as well and have had several good ones on Azamara. Both my parents grew up and lived in Indonesia till immigrating to the US.

Really sorry to hear that. I was hoping your experience would be more like Stickman's than mine. I'm thankful, however, that you did not miss your flight!

@Waltershipman Best of luck disembarking and making an early flight. The last disembarkation in Manhattan was just short of pandemonium. The process in the terminal for customs was quite slow and there were no separate lines for residents of the U.S. vs non-residents. Traffic was also terrible owing to the huge Norwegian ship also docked at the terminal. I sincerely hope they will have a better handle on disembarkation on the 12th.

I will be very interested in how the ship is able to handle the warm weather also. In the chilly climates of Iceland and Greenland I, along with many other passengers, found the ship very chilly. My cabin thermostat never was in sync with the requested temperature. I wore my down jacket every time I left my cabin and sometimes even inside the cabin. I think they need an HVAC engineer to attend to the issue.

I think that the dress is casual and it is related to the chilly temperatures. I don't leave my cabin without a sweatshirt or down jacket and my hat in case I intend to go outdoors. As most of the ports and excursions have required warm/wet weather gear it is most simple to continue wearing that throughout the day. I brought a suitcase with dresses and skirts for evenings, but I am too cold to even contemplate baring my legs or arms as I normally would.

Luckily I am not in the position of having Explora hold my funds hostage but I am outraged on behalf of many of you who are. Considering that interest rates, even on most simple money market accounts is close to 5%, they are using your cash to earn interest while denying you that advantage. Maybe it's a little thing to many of you but it seems totally inappropriate to me.

No remorse here. I was interested in the itinerary and liked the added adventure of trying out a new brand.

Hit the nail on the head here. The copywriters for their advertising are trying so hard to write what they think are compelling luxurious images. I find their text to be completely tone-deaf to the audience they think they are persuading.

it be helpful, if possible, to post the name/model of the machines so we can download the instructions before boarding. That is not very many machines for a 900+ passenger ship!

Are sparkling waters included , e.g. either Pellegrino, Perrier or similar?

If you head over to other social media places you will find someone who posted at great length about traveling with her 7-year-old though I can't recall if it included the room setup.

On the topic of "all questions" - is there any reason I would not be able to board several hours after my listed boarding time. While in Iceland I'd prefer to be out touring rather than hanging out on the ship which will be there through the night.

@frogfish12 This is the first time that I'll be traveling on a brand new ship and cruise line, so the Facebook experience has been a novel one for me. I had not realized that the first cruise was a sales pep talk event, so to speak, so was just baffled when so many of the posts seemed to mimic the Explora language and post rhapsodic reviews of every corner of the ship that they thought would appeal to their clients. It was very frustrating as I am accustomed to Cruise Critic and well, the word critic is an important part of the name. I want to know the good and bad and hearing only the brilliant just made me anxious and sceptical. Now some actual passengers are providing some actual information and it is mostly positive but in a normal person kind of way. Apologies in advance if I am offending anyone.

@frogfish12. Last post was accurate. The TA posts, while helpful in regards to lot of photography around the ship, were PR pieces for Explora basically. And I was castigated for asking one TA why they had not responded to a post in which they were asked if they saw any areas that they felt needed improvement. It's also been bizarre that people report that they aren't allowed to post the wine list!

@Whipsnade I will look forward to your objective reports on the ship. It has been frustrating to have to weed through the glorious reports of TA's, etc when many of us have questions about logistical issues and also want to hear something other than what I consider an insipid PR campaign about an "ocean state of mind." I'm thankful that a few actual paid cruiser reports are starting to come through on facebook threads, and will very much look forward to your additions.

Thanks so much! @TER777 One more question. Strangely I did not see a refrigerator in the suites when gawking at all of the posted videos of the ship. Is there a fridge there?

I have a question for someone on board about a couple of little things which do have an impact on my decision-making about what to pack. Is there a choice of pillows in the suite? Are there down pillows of a variety of "strengths" (medium, firm, soft) and/or down alternative? Is it possible to change out? Also, I'm interested in knowing the brand of the soap, shampoo, conditioner and lotion in the cabins, From the images, I could only read gardenia but I will bring my own depending on what is reported. Thanks so much to anyone who can answer these queries.

$100 is the going price for a haircut in NYC, so at least on that service, seems "reasonable."

File a dispute with your credit card company (assuming you used one). That will get their attention very quickly. I had never done so until Crystal went bankrupt.

I went up into the mountain villages and thought it was gorgeous. If you are traveling with a group, it may be really nice to hire a driver to go up there so you can take more time. It was a hot summer day but 15 degrees cooler up in the mountains.

Twice I took Azamara cruises that were meant to stop in Egyptian ports, but political unrest prevented us. In 2020 I was supposed to go to Egypt but on the day of my departure, New York was starting to shut down because of covid. I'm leaving tomorrow for Cairo. I think it's past the 3rd time is a charm point, but I rather wish I'd waited to go on this cruise, which seems like a lot less work than going on tour.