ECCruise

I would not, however, do anything about obtaining a Visa on Entry for Bali until all the discussions in Bali regarding curbing tourism are sorted out. Changing (or ending) Visas on Entry is one of the major issues on the table.

Honestly, the only way you can be sure is to get the information from Celebrity. In the past, they arranged the visas for the port stays (vs. embarkation) but who knows if that is still in force. In any case you will need some sort of Visa on Entry.

OK. But OP is docking in Messina, about 150 miles away from Palermo.

He drove you to Palermo?

We've been to Messina many times and I cannot recall any kind of tour to Palermo. Likely because the drive is 2 1/2-3 hours each way since Palermo is on the other side of Sicily. Which means that unless you have a very long call in Messina (like 8 AM to 8 PM or later), such a tour would not be practicable. I do see that some of the Silhouette calls are from 07:00 to 19:00 so technically it may be doable on your own. However, we have driven all over Italy and Sicily many times and would never even consider such an endeavor. And since the rental car facilities in Messina don't open until 8 or 9, would render even that virtually impossible. Celebrity does have sailings with stops in Palermo, though, so that's really how it can be done.

Honestly, that may be the saddest slice of "Prime Rib" that I've ever seen.

Obviously there are internal issues that vary for guest to guest. We were on the same sailing as your first one, and as I have said, although we had to wait a few days for our TA OBC on the previous sailing, on this one it showed up immediately. Loyalty status, points, etc. all were correct. Visas were secured prior to boarding for places that required them (India and Sri Lanka) and handled onboard by Azamara for those places that VOA or blanket visas were required (Jordan and Egypt).

Honestly, we hoped everything we would be OK onboard, and after spending a few minutes verifying same with GR, it was. Had to verify TA OBC on one (the other was fine) and after a couple of days it appeared on the account. The time agging over it beforehand wouldn't be worth the little time spent onboard, for us. YMMV, though, since evidently some folks did have some issues onboard.

Thanks. When I did that I got Error: Verified email is not unique. Which as a SWAG, sounds like they suddenly have multiple accounts with same email. But doesn't explain why my upcoming cruises are correct (including 2 we've finished in the last month), but Circle # and status are wrong. I think I'll go back to what I was doing, i.e., ignoring all this until closer to our next sailings, which are almost 6 months away.

Have embarked and disembarked in Piraeus many, many times. Have never heard of, nor seen, taxis dropping people off outside the port, since there really is no central area outside of the various terminals. And never have seen a shuttle bus, either.

That latest email sure makes it sound like Quest was in Monaco for the Grand Prix last week. In fact, Quest was nowhere near Monaco last week. Maybe the way it was written, meaning questionable grammar. Or really bad information.

32 Celebrity past cruises so fairly familiar with their product. Sailed every ship in the fleet from. Horizon to S class with lots of good sailings. Zero desire to sail Edge class. Have 4 Celebrity booked because the itineraries fit. But head to head? Azamara by a wide margin. Better food. Friendlier, more attention crew. Senior officers that will engage you every day throughout the ship. A more personalized feel all around. Overnight and longer port stays. Sitting on our balcony on Quest right now, day 35 of 40. And looking forward to our 5 booked in Europe, South America and Africa.

Xxx

Agreed. But that is not what we are discussing here. The topic of this thread is "new website."

Which is virtually what I said.

I have absolutely nothing right on my account: not the number of upcoming sailings, not my Circle points, none of the OBCs are correct. However, I wonder if all this abuse being heaped on Azamara is misdirected. Yes, they chose the vendor (evidently Versonix and their Seaware platform which apparently is pretty experienced) and ultimately it is therefore in their wheelhouse. But wow. It is almost like some expect Azamara employees to stay up all night and re-code the website and re-engineer the interface that brought the data over from RCCL. Want to know stress? Be at Azamara dodging the flak caused by an incompetent vendor. And knowing there is no turning back. Only plunging forward hoping for progress.

Wonder if there is a glitch here. Just checked all of our 5 sailings and no change in price to any excursion pricing.

Definitely do NOT rely on that calendar. 2 Azamazing that we've had in the last 3 weeks don't show and one in December that shows TBA is already set and booked.

I was going to say that but not knowing when their cruise will be, wondered if it changes back. On all of our 5 sailings since restart, it has been timed. On Quest right now, the timing was determined by status. Suites first, then Platinum and Discoverer Plus, the Discoverer, etc.

You don't know if there is a separate line until you get to the pier.

We had no online check-in available. At the port, took maybe 20 minutes. And that included verification of negative Covid test. No need for online check-in.

Although every cruise we've ever sailed many or most excursions are more onboard than pre-cruise. But no question.This is different. They absolutely should honor the pre-cruise price. No exceptions.

What @hamrag said. Been trying to say the same from the ground, over 3 weeks on Quest. Unless flight reservations are involved, all the agony over loyalty points or status, faux balances owed (which goes on and on and on), etc. is causing absolutely unnecessary agony judging from many posts here. Deep breath.

The way I look at it, it hasn't affected us on our 40 days onboard now, and time to get sorted out before our next sailings a few months away so, like I said, not gonna sweat it.

It happens. I am having almost exactly the same problem on Holland America literally this minute. OBC for shore excursions showing totally different values 2 places on their interfaced systems. So if I book a shore excursion no way of finding out what the balance should or will be. The sailing isn't for several months so not gonna sweat it.