PirateWife

Emphasize book early. While I would not choose to dine every night in speciality dining, on last two cruises we were only able to book one night unless we wanted to eat at 8:30.

Partaking in the mini(?) outbreak on Quest, I can give you more details. There were 50 cases in all. The breakout happened shortly after the shore excursion on the Flam RR. We were fully vaccinated and boosted, tested before joined cruise, hand sanitized and wore masks. The excursion was crowded and a likely spreader. We first self-tested which was positive and then called to be tested by the medical staff. We isolated to our rooms for 5 days, our only human contact was with Hazmat Man who delivered food to us. We were given bags to bag our trash and our used towels. Guest relations called us every day to see if we needed anything. The medical staff supplied some OTC medication to deal with the symptoms. After 5 days, we were tested again and were negative and escaped. Our room was thoroughly stripped and aired out and we continued on our cruise. Not the experience we were looking for but we survived. When we escaped, we noticed a lot more people wearing masks. Those that tested positive towards the end of the cruise and were ending their cruise, disembarked like everyone else as there were no restrictions in Amsterdam.

Just back from b2b cruises on the Quest. Biggest difference was wines available with standard package. Bottles had Azamara label on them except for one red which was switched out shortly into the cruise. The Patio opened for evening dining during the second cruise. The crew was happy and planning to stay with Azamara. The senior crew was visible. I did not see any major changes.

Maybe that is in Australia. Our agent makes the payment when required as stated on the Azamara invoice.

Worst tour was a private tour set up by someone else. Best tour was an Azamara ship tour. But there have been some really good private tours and some poor ship tours. For me it often depends on where I am going and what is available. Safety is always important. Everyone has their own style when traveling and want different things from tours. I avoid ones that feature shopping in shops but love open markets.

Since I am not up at 10 pm, I can't tell you if shops are open. However, shops are usually open in evenings after port departure.

I never leave any non-refundable OBC so I usually buy something. The best thing I ever bought was Eric De Gray's CD several years ago. Getting ready to start playing it again as I pack for another cruise.

I have to ask. Why would your partner bring 25-30 items of evening attire? There are no formal nights.

I am laughing at the back and forth about tourism and Edinburgh. We will try to be good tourists. Our ancestors came from Scotland a long time ago, but we will still get things wrong and ask you to repeat yourself when you try to help us. We watch all shows on BBC with closed captioning. Appreciate all of the info about getting to the Tattoo and back to the ship.

I am sure many of us have bought tickets for the Tattoo on the August 10th. I haven't thought too much about getting from the ship to the location of the event. We have bought the Amber Package. I have copied the instructions from uktog to get a bus back to the ship. Don't know how often the bus runs or the cost. It is time I start thinking about getting from the ship to the venue. What are others doing? Any suggestions?

Hairdryers are not fastened to the bathroom wall. You can plug them in anywhere. We leave it in the desk and use it there as there is a mirror and outlet. They don't produce as much air flow as our home hair dryer but they are ok. Besides we walk outside and the weather rearranges our hair.

You can expect check-in to open about 30-35 days before cruise. I just checked in for a cruise in late July. Actually, I rechecked in. Someone on another topic had posted a back door link to check in several months ago and I did it then. However, someone else posted that that link would not work because of the changes at Azamara. But, when I went to the "official" check-in tab there was my info already filled in.

I am so sad to see Heike leaving. She set the standard for Hotel Directors. She made many of our cruises special.

Yes. There are usually two times available and you need to pick the one that suits you.

Click on "Plan my voyage" on the cruise you want to check on. It will at the top of the page next to the cart.

I would tell you my secret for when to get a machine but then it wouldn't be my secret any more. There are times during the day that the machines are available. If you choose not to get there first, my memory says the cycles are about 50 minutes when the early risers will be emptying their machines.

We cancelled the same cruise about a month ago and moved our deposit to a cruise this December. No penalty or cost of transfer was assessed.

We have traveled with friends for many years and have gone on the same ship shore excursions often. When your shore excursion meets before you leave the ship and you are given number to identify which excursion you are on, make sure you all get the same number. This works also when there are multiple groups taking the same excursion. No need to worry about it while booking shore excursions or trying to link to your friends.

Not all cruises have upgrade offers. Depends on how booked the cruise is.

Did B2B in November. Did not do muster drill/video a second time. It was our first B2B but that is all we want to do now. No more 7 to 10 day cruises. Too short. It is very relaxing knowing you don't have to pack up the night before, you can eat a leisurely breakfast while everyone else is hurrying and spend a day in the port with no plan. On two of our cruises there have been ship shore excursions we could take and return to the ship. The best part after a day in Lisbon on our November cruise was walking around all of the people waiting to test and embark and go right on ship.

I know that Azamara changed at least one Black Sea Cruise for this year to a Greece Intensive cruise. Knowing I don't want to do that, I have already cancelled my 2023 Black Sea cruise. Even if bombing stopped today, it will take years for Ukraine to recover.