workingtocruise-59

It is really difficult to find a new and individual  name for a cruise ship. I suggested Venture for the third Azamara ship ( as I thought that it allied with Quest & Journey) and wasn't keen on "Pursuit" but hope that Venture will be considered this time.

On 10/23/2020 at 6:20 PM, uktog said:

Yes Ritz Carlton Yachts have got a good one!

Yes, I think that Ritz Carlton Yachts and Philip Herbert would be an excellent combination.

2 hours ago, travelberlin said:

Yes Azamara would call it ocean view but the ocean views in Azamara are not from the quality of those in Silversea or Windstar. The cabins in Azamara are smaller and some of the “ocean views” are more inside cabins due to the boats blocking the view completely.

The "Ocean View" staterooms ( Vista Suites) on Silversea have walk-in wardrobes, marble bathrooms with baths and are more spacious than the OVs on Azamara.

Regardless, I would still rather cruise with Azamara.

35 minutes ago, norn iron said:

 

Denise, I remember it well. The logistics of organising such an event were exceptional. Every bar, taverna, and restaurant in the village was engaged with the Azamazing evening. They all had a food and drink offering and a friendly welcome.

The weather did get nippy, although having stayed in the Troodos mountains before we came well prepared with jackets.

Being from Northern climes I thought it was positively balmy, and it was only when I noticed a stampede for the coaches did I realise something was wrong. I think we were amongst the last to rejoin the coaches.

If I remember it correctly Johannes apologised from the stage and announced an early departure.

 

Our favourite Azamazing evening was in 2003 when we visited Bilbao. There were around 400 passengers onboard Quest and only around 200 came on the Azamazing evening. There was the usual song and dance show which paled into insignificance to the start of the evening. The location was a three star Michelin restaurant in rolling hills surrounding Bilbao called Azurmendi. It is currently ranked the fourteenth best restaurant in the world.

Whilst the numbers were obviously too large for a sit down meal ( and the budget would have been apart) the food in the form of canapés and Pintxos were beyond azamazing.

The food had the story of the evolution of Basque cuisine, when we arrived it was old style Spanish peasant food with pretty basic wines. We moved upstairs to the veranda of the restaurant and the story of the food continued to evolve to the haute cuisine of the Basque region today. To this day this was the best finger food we have ever eaten.

The wines served on the veranda were all produced by the Azurmendi's own vineyards and were every bit as good as the food.

 

 

 

 

Well, we are so disappointed to have missed this one!

Many songs take me back to White Night :-

"Proud Mary" (of course), "Happy" (Pharrell Willams) and "I gotta feeling" (Black Eyed Peas).. I am sure that there are many others which I will, no doubt, remember later.

Congratulations Tony, Eric, Amanda, Ernest and Stephen on this wonderful video collaboration.

Sitting here in tears and thinking about all the Officers and Crew and everyone that we have been missing.

Hoping that we will all be together soon in the " New World".

30 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

I am almost always optimistic, but I am beginning to worry that the Azamara expansion Larry worked so hard for has actually happened – it's just named 'Silversea.'

Oh, we sincerely hope not!
We have cruised twice with Silversea. The first cruise was amazing ( the food, the service and, really, everything).

The second cruise... well, not so much ....very poor food and a different attitude from the Officers.. though the crew and service were still wonderful.

We haven't dared to try Silversea since then as we discovered Azamara, which "ticks all our boxes" , and so there was no looking back.

Thank you so much for posting this wonderful review! I have read all your posts in one fell swoop this afternoon/evening accompanied by a cocktail (or two!) and only stopping for dinner.
We have cruised to most of the Caribbean Islands but not the ABC islands which  have always been on our wish list and now we cannot wait ( once all this is over) to book a cruise there.
Obviously we cannot cruise at the moment but I have enjoyed every minute sharing your cruise with you.
I am waiting with anticipation  to hear about your Birthday surprise!!!

PORNSTAR MARTINI

The Pornstar Martini is one of the most popular cocktails in the UK and is viewed as a modern classic. The cocktail was created in 2002 by bartender and LAB (London Academy of Bartending) bar founder Douglas Ankrah at The Townhouse bar in Knightsbridge.

He first named the cocktail the Maverick Martini, in recognition to a sketchy club in Cape Town, but later changed the name to the Porn Star Martini.

“I called it the Porn Star Martini because I thought it was something that a porn star would drink. It’s pure indulgence, sexy, fun and evocative,” Douglas Ankrah said.

This is an adapted recipe. The original recipe calls for 50mL Vanilla Vodka, 20mL Passionfruit Liqueur, 50mL Passionfruit Puree and 2 Bar Spoons of Homemade Vanilla Sugar.

Some variations call for plain vodka, vanilla vodka, pineapple juice, apple juice, etc.

Ingredients

60mL Vodka

30mL Passionfruit Puree

30mL Vanilla Syrup

15mL Fresh Lime Juice

Prosecco or Champagne

Instructions

Combine all ingredients (except the sparkling wine) to your cocktail shaker

Shake with ice

Strain into a chilled coupe glass

Garnish with half a passionfruit (sprinkle with vanilla sugar, optional)

Serve with a shot glass of prosecco or Champagne

Aww!! This was so  wonderful..

Yes, I certainly think that the hay fever season must have arrived early in  the UK this year...especially as I never suffer from hay fever!!
Hoping that  all the Azamara Officers & Crew and, indeed. any Officers and Crew on any ship stay safe, healthy and return home safe and well...
And we hope to see them all again soon...

On 1/30/2020 at 11:18 PM, Bloodaxe said:

 

I am not saying that the Azamara experience is not still very good, it is especially the crew.

I just think that at current prices it is no longer such good value.

My experience goes back to the very early days when it was excellent value.

We can, sadly, never go back to the early days of Azamara.. but how I wish that we could!

After many years of cruising with Azamara (our first cruise was in 2008) it is still so wonderful to board the ships and see so many familiar and welcoming faces.

I think that the prices that we paid then were unsustainable but that some of the recent prices are unbelievable.

We have cruised with Azamara from the "early years" and have incredibly fond memories of Sonia Limbrick , her helpfulness and responsiveness and her team in the UK.

We understood that the appointment of Richard and his (expanded)  team reflected the increasing importance of the UK market for Azamara.  We are not sure where Azamara are going with this decision but time will, no doubt, tell.

We  love Malaga ... so easy to explore and get around. And it has lovely tapas bars... our favourite is Uvedoble. The walk up to the Gibralfaro is well worth it ( forever in our memories with fellow guests from the Azamara TA many years ago as "The Malaga Hill Climb"^).

1 hour ago, lisiamc said:

Maybe not inventing so much as taking a concept and running with it.  Lasagne is a great example.  I’ve never had lasagne in Italy that had much meat in it, and I’ve never had the cheese layer be ricotta or mascarpone.  It’s always been a bechamel sauce, because meat and cheese were often expensive items in the past, and people needed to make a little go al long way.  Italians in the USA were able to loosen the budget and put a feast of meats and cheeses into their lasagne.  
 

Then there are things like Chicken Alfredo, Chicken Parmigiana, Spaghetti and Meatballs, and Caesar Salad that Americans get credit for popularising if not actually inventing. (And there was the one, otherwise very nice American who said to me ”Italian food in Italy really isn’t very good, is it?”  I’m going to believe that he just meant it was very different to what he was used to. 😉)

 

Things I’ve heard Americans asking about Italian-Italian food which show that the cuisine has evolved a bit in the US:

Is there any garlic bread?

Can I have blue cheese dressing on my salad?

Could you bring some cheese for my seafood linguini?

Can I have a cappuccino after my dinner, please?

Why is there seafood in my marinara sauce?

 

I like both iterations of Italian food, but I do look at them as different cuisines.  That way, I know what to expect! 😊

I had noticed that the waiters in Aqualina do tend to offer parmesan with seafood pasta. Possibly because that's what some people expect. They also offer mint jelly with any dish of lamb (regardless of the other flavours) because, I was told, that is what Americans expect.

7 hours ago, uktog said:

White Night was excellent. We thought it was one of the best buffets they have ever done. Now some may disagree as there were no lobster tails on offer but oh the fish. They had a whole section cooking fish to order. They had a whole tuna they were cutting steaks from, the most amazing skate wings, fresh octopus stew for those who love that and a massive paella amongst other things. Sorry I never made it to the meats on the other side of the deck so cannot report what was there because I was in fish heaven! 

 

The dance floor was the busiest I’ve seen it for a long time, the singers etc were really good - the girl in the trio is particularly good and the music suited her. 

 

 

One of our favourite buffets for White Night featured salt-baked turbot....absolutely delicious!

1 hour ago, barbette165 said:

wtc-59 - has there been any change in  the bottom line price since yesterday?

 

I'm booked on the 29th November cruise on Reflection. Since I booked at the start of June,  I've been monitoring pricing and availability with a fervour verging on being OCD.

 

All cabins included in the promotion (Oceanview upwards) - including suites - had a price reduction late yesterday, which just about covers the difference between the old offer (CDP, $200 OBC + Grats) and the new offer (CDP + $300 OBC). (The only exception was Concierge cabins, which actually had an increase, but for about the past week they were cheaper than standard balcony cabins - so this increase was probably an unrelated correction of an anomaly).

Hi

Thank you.

We were looking at the 5th November TA and the prices appear to be just the same as yesterday but I will keep checking.

Many thanks for all the replies.

The new promotion has more OBC but free gratuities have been removed from all sailings except those departing from Southampton. There are free flights to Europe for some cruises.

We probably should have booked yesterday but hadn't sorted the flights.

Hi

We are considering an X cruise in November this year. The last day to book for the current promotion is today. Does anyone have experience of one promotion finishing and another starting?

Should we really book tonight or wait and see?

Any advice would be most grateful though we realise what has happened before may not happen again.

Many thanks, in advance.

1 hour ago, ellbon said:

I liked  the O ships. But  i went for tahiti and for being in warm weather before I went to AZ last Dec. What made the cruise was the fact Ed Waters just started on that ship. Else I would of been bored to tears. Shows were just ok. At least the have 4 dancers. Food in specialities is good. At least they have an Asian dinner place.

In our opinion any cruise with Ed on board is a better cruise. We just wish that Azamara would book him again.

3 minutes ago, Lady's Mom said:

But. on the other hand, it is a great way to meet new people and have another specialty restaurant experience even if the restaurant is otherwise full

We have never had to share a specialty restaurant table on Azamara. If we are flexible with  our timings we can always get a table for two.  We did ( once, and only once on Oceania) share a table and it really wasn't a success.

1 hour ago, marinaro44 said:

Our experience, too.

And ours also, especially, if you are dining with those that you do not know. First of all you have to wait for the table to fill, then for everyone to introduce themselves, then for each person to look at the menu and decide on their choices.....

1 hour ago, excitedofharpenden said:

Totally agree with everything you say.

 

Phil

+1

We only have two X cruises "under our belts" - One was on the Silhouette including Israel and also a Med cruise on the Eclipse. 
We so enjoyed both of them mostly for the ports, the entertainment, the staterooms and the crew.

We are undecided for the future. Most of our cruises have been on Azamara and we really appreciated the larger staterooms and bigger bathrooms on X and, of course, the wider variety of entertainment.

We would love to know how the staterooms, entertainment and food compare on the Constellation category of ships  vs Silhouette and Eclipse.

Many thanks, in advance.

4 hours ago, excitedofharpenden said:

Should you see Bob and Garry on the ship, please say hi to them and I hope their luggage catches up with them soon. Nightmare journey. They will probably be out today buying some warm clothes! 

 

Phil 

Oh dear! We, too, hope that Bob and Garry's luggage eventually arrives. We last met them when we shared an excursion in Goa a few years ago

6 hours ago, Riocca said:

On Twitter it’s being reported that the logos on the side of the ship will be illuminated using fibre optics, that will be interesting.

I know the existing ones, at least on Quest & Pursuit, were applied using what looked like pre-space vinyl so should be relatively easy to remove. 

Hi, 

I asked my DH about this today and expressed concern about the cost of replacing the logos. But he assured me that they were only "stick-on" and could easily be replaced at very little cost.

We were also on the Rio to Lisbon cruise and were very disappointed with the entertainment. One night it was a film/movie shown in the Cabaret which wasn't really our idea of entertainment.

The production shows were fine and the guest entertainers a bit " hit and miss".

I was told, by a member of the Cruise Director's staff,  that guests on Azamara do not cruise for the entertainment but cruise for the ports. I replied that on a TA the ports are few and far between and was informed "well, you should have known that when you booked"!

We also really missed the Sunset bar and, for that reason,  I am not sure that I would book a future cruise on the Pursuit (but, obviously, "never say never").