lizboyle

I understand the price of the AI DRINKS package is to rise later this year. If i pre purchase do I get it at the old price? Can I order online or call costa? Thanks in advance..

Have you tried calling Azamara and ask if another cabin more mid ship in the same cat is open? You will not be asking for a upgrade but just to change cabins.

 

No I haven't. Given the problems re Guatemala I have read about on here, I'll give that a miss. Also, most people report that once allocated it's impossible to be changed. I'm just going to stick with 4020 and if the price of a balcony comes down I may upgrade nearer the time.

Hi

 

We stayed in 4020 on Journey in 2008. It was a great room, near to the medical facility but we never heard a thing. It is way above sea level. Never had waves anywhere near.

 

Would book it again any time.

 

Enjoy:)

Lynne

 

Thank you so much.

I understand' date=' but I think that would be cool! But maybe not for more than a day or two. First trip on the Quest we encountered force 8 trailing gales and froth went over our balcony on deck 7. Enjoyed Mother Nature's display that night. I am on deck 4 on the upcoming Journey Baltic cruise and very satisfied. Hope I get at least a little wave slap!:)[/quote']

 

Omg! << rolls eyes in horror >>. Let's just hope for smooth waters.

If you could explain exactly what you are worried about, some of us who are frequent Azamara cruisers could address it. (I mean this in a friendly, not a sarcastic, way:).)

 

We went transatlantic on Oceania many years ago and as we were low down we felt the waves batter off the ship. Scared me :(

Thank you everyone. I think you have convinced me I'm better of in a O5 than an O8. Still don't like being so close to the sea :(

The obstructed view cabins are the smallest on the ship, other than crew quarters. The cabins on deck 4 are the same size as the balcony cabins minus the balcony. I would keep 4020.

 

"A bit too close to the water" - too close for what? The lower the deck, the less you will feel the motion of the ocean.:)

 

I do realise less motion in the ocean lower down but all 25 cruises I've taken I've never been as low down. First time on azamara and a small ship so maybe I'm worrying too much. Thank you for your reply.

I booked an ocean view obstructed guarantee and have been allocated cabin 4020. I would have been happy with an obstructed view but I'm not so sure about 4020 as it seems a bit too close to the water for me. Is it possible that nearer the time - we're sailing July 27 - we might be upgraded once again? Grateful for any comments.

Last year I made this document for myself. I searched for the complimentary wines and found some descriptions and reviews of the specific wines on Azamara Wine List. I found it helpful as I basically wouldn't remember all the descriptions after I got onboard anyway.

I removed the prices as they might be a bit misleading as to whether the wine is good or not. Hope it can be helpful for you all when choosing wines on board.

 

Excellent! Thank you. :)

Two words... Hell hole! Stay on the ship.

We are on the spirit end of May and very excited about our trip . However So so hope all the reviews re slow MDR service and bland food is wrong . Food on cruises to me is one of the plus's of choosing a cruising holiday . " Eating out " breakfast lunch and dinner is part of the experience . We are previous P&O aust cruisers and The p&o menu is fresh varied and tasty and never lukewarm or cold . They even produce their own hardcover recipe book the food is that good. Also the service in MDR is outstanding with teams of two working together that have about 6 tables each and yes it's anytime dining like NCL although you can reserve a time and table in there MDR if you please including the same table every night if you wish . This is not due to the cruises being more expensive either - per night our NCL cruise is actually slightly more expensive in same category than our previous two P&o ,s . So why does NCL food in MDR often get a bad wrap . Is it because there are so many other options on board that you pay extra for they deliberately drop the standard so you will pay more for the others ??? Very excited about our cruise but so hope the cruisine will not let NCL down . Travelling with children it's not always an option to do the speciality restaurants .

 

The food sure beats the thinking about what we're going to eat, the shopping, cooking and washing up, so I'm happy. The speciality restaurants are good and I don't mind the MDR. Each to their own. I'm on vacation to relax and enjoy. Not to find fault in everything and complain.

[quote name='Ewoodspark']The Jade arrives at Santorini at 13.30 and then I beleive tenders to the island to either the old port of Fira or the new port of Athinos. I understand that anybody booking a NCL tour will be able to get on the first tenders with their tour. However, I have booked a private trip with [URL="http://www.santoriniplanet.com"]www.santoriniplanet.com[/URL], which leaves at 14.30 by boat to the new port and then by bus to Oia. Does the tendering operation allow passengers on private trips to get on an early tender or is it a case of queuing up at 09.00 by the pool and waiting to get an ealy tender ticket. Any ideas anybody who have been to Santorini?[/QUOTE]

Ncl allow all their guests with excursions booked off first. I personally feel that it's very difficult to get off early due to the vast number of people wanting to do the exact same thing. The tenders take a wee while to load and return but they do run constantly. Santorini is on the cliff and there's only 3 ways up. Cable car, donkey- which I'd never consider due to the cruelty, and walking up the treacherous path. You can take a speedboat to Oia and bus from there. There's always huge line ups especially if there's other ships in at the same time. I guess a private excursion will avoid this. Good luck. It is a beautiful island. Make sure you get an early tender ticket. The queues for theses are horrendous too.

My husband and I got back yesterday from the Spirit. I believe the report from the bridge was 17 foot waves at the beginning of the trip. My husband woke up feeling very green the first morning (sea day), but we were in the very front of the ship. He took Bonnine, went back to sleep and woke up feeling better. He continued to take the Bonnine each day, though the seas were not as rough the whole trip and he did very well. We actually had nice weather when in port. Mostly sunny, high in the 60s or low 70s, though it was very windy in Lanzarote. The second night as we were headed to Casablanca I woke up to our sliding bedroom door opening and closing, the curtains sliding open and closed and an open door to the bathroom slamming shut. We got up and managed to jam everything into a fixed position and went back to sleep. Later in the cruise the sea went from "rough" to "moderate." By then I think everyone was getting used to it! It was very windy while sailing and I heard people complaining that the ship was chilly. I was very glad I had packed long sleeves. But of course we are from Florida and anything below 75 is chilly!;)

 

Anything over 70 is positively "tropical" to us Scots. :)

We sailed on the Spirit in the first week of April last year. Apart from a pretty rough night sailing through the Strait of Gibraltar it was like a mill pond. Friend on the same cruise two weeks earlier had a pretty "rough time" The later the better time wise I guess but luck has a lot to do with it:)

We are on the same cruise so fingers crossed!

I would rather have the millpond but hubby is especially prone to seasickness and therefore I don't want to suffer him moaning and being unwell. :( Still looking forward to it. Here's hoping the weather will be kind to us. :)

Just came back from the Spirit yesterday, and everything that was said in earlier replies is accurate, including the fact that the MDRs are not so great.

If you care about having a quiet diner, make sure you check where your table is located. On several occasions, we had a bad table, facing open kitchens, staring at neon lights and of course with a lot of noise, while the service from overworked waiters was pretty slow.

One night we insisted on a quiet table by the big windows (in the Windows MDR), and not only was it quieter, the service was clearly better and the waiters more available. However we had to really push to get it.

It seems as if these 'premium' tables are reserved for somebody other than us :D (even though we're latitudes silver and had a balcony room), maybe for suite people.

In summary, if you want a good table, don't be afraid to ask and fight a bit for it.

 

As for the Raffles buffet, I have to say that it is NCL like, it can be OK, though the food was very bland but at the right temp, and the desserts particularly (the cakes mostly) were tasteless. Also that place can get very very busy.

 

Regarding the cabin, due to the rough seas, there was a lot a creaking and shifting (expected I guess) but also some banging which kept us awake the first 2 night and which had to be fixed by the NCL crew (they added screws on the ceiling, greased the balcony windows). It was better after that.

 

Also, the bed is firm. It's fine if you like it, but if you don't, talk to your steward as they have foam pads they can add on top of your bed (and more than one if you want). The help desk told us they very often get this request.

 

Just how "rough" was the sea? Was it rough all 9 days? We are going end of March and was hoping for calm seas and good weather. Was it warm?

Totally agree with NCL. Tunis is a horrid port whereas Palma is beautiful.

I booked with a TA but called ncl in the uk to book my UBP. We were 3 adults in the same cabin and I was able to purchase 2 UBP and 1 soda package as my niece doesn't drink alcohol. No questions asked. I paid using my credit card in sterling. Worked out cheaper.

The search option is broken and is being worked on

 

Thank you.

Apparently my search option is disabled but I've no idea how to enable it. Can anyone advise please?

I am signed in but it's not there. Weird.

Trying to search the forum and it appears the search tool is missing when I use the forum drop down menu. Anyone have any idea where it's gone?

I called NCL and prepaid our UBP and no vat was added. We ate in speciality restaurants and they didn't add vat. It's added to all drinks ( if you don't have the UBP) and anything bought in the on board shops. Can't say about excursions as we didn't use NCL for them. We just returned last week btw. Hope that helps.