Just browsing but hello

[Jarronwood]

HI everyone

 

I used to frequent cruise critic forum years ago - leading up to my cruise on Celebrity Panama Canal and found it a great help, in deciding on what cruise, what ship but above all met some really good friends so much so we continue to keep in touch. I also stayed in touch on the forum posting my review of our holiday and giving my advice when needed about our cruise and the ship but I am sorry to say that after 6 months I never came on again.

 

I have now taken the liberty and have flitted back to ask for your help. My husband and I are "thinking" about a cruise to the Holy Land - a flyer came through the door and I just happened to glance at it and my husband was bowled over by the itinerary from Athens to the Holy Land. We live in the UK and after our Panama Cruise decided that it would be a long time before we cruised again and also flew long haul (not to mention finances).

 

Anyway, this flyer came through which got me to looking on the web about the Azamara ships. Apart from the amazing ports of call and an overnight stay in Sorrento, what interested me was that it was anytime dining and no formal. When we cruised on Royal C and Celebrity we liked the formal nights, both dressing up to the nines, DH in his tux and me in my cocktail gown etc. However we both decided that whilst it was nice we would much prefer elegant dining at our leisure and when we wanted it. We both decided that it would be nice to have a cruise where we can just dine at our leisure and it seems that Azamara fits the bill perfectly.

 

So to start - and I apologise now for all my questions here on this post and any future ones but my first question is this :

 

I am right in thinking you can dine anytime and in any restaurant? I know that you have to reserve for the two speciality ones but generally in the evening we can just go when we want?

 

In the speciality restaurants is this now part of the all inclusive price? I am a bit confused on this and if someone can clarify I would be most grateful. WHen we cruised on Celebrity we paid $30 to eat in the speciality restaurant and my goodness it was outstanding. We ate with some cruise critic friends and we had every intention of dining there again but never seemed to get round to it. Our dining tablemates were so entertaining that we didn't want to miss a dinner to be with them.

 

I have read that wine is available (which is all part of the price) at lunch and dinner. My question is this - if this is correct is it only one glass per sitting? Its just that at dinner my husband and I usually share a bottle of red between us - can you have as many glasses as you want with your meal?

 

I ask this since I am trying to put together the financial budget for a possible cruise. We both work full time (I am 54 and my husband is 62) and I need to work towards a budget if we are going to do this cruise.

 

Am I right in saying that gratuties are also included?

 

I have looked at other cruise lines which are quite a bit cheaper than AZ but AZ does seem to tick all the boxes for us.

 

So I will sign off here for the moment and would like to thank you in advance for all your help and hopefully I can make a decision about gthe Holy Land with AZ.

[Ask4Jay]

@Jarronwood

A friendly 'hello' right back at you!

We have crossed the Atlantic with the old Azamara and, last April, with Azamara Club Cruises. The table wine at lunch and dinner was a vey nice surprise. No, it was not just one glass. Even in the buffet (at least at dinner time), we had our glasses topped off several times.

We did not eat in any of the specialty restaurants.

The only extra expenses we incurred was the occasional glass of beer.

Yes, all gratuities were included.

We had booked our cruise in June 08, almost 2 years prior to sailing, and were the beneficiaries of the new Club Cruise. I'm afraid we may have been out-priced by Azamara for future cruises. However, we enjoyed the last cruise tremendously.

[crzrr]

Jarronwood -

 

We have sailed 3 times on Azamara. All 3 were the "old" way but we have a b2b booked for next April/May.

 

As I understand it, the specialty restaurants are now $15 per person. The "old" way was a suggested gratuity of $5 per person. I believe that suites do not have to pay the above charge.

 

We thoroughly enjoyed the specialty restaurants and ate there many times. It was just our preference (my husband loves the donuts in Prime C). I like the chocolate souffle in Aqualina. However, the food throughout the ship is excellent as well. You have your choice of the main dining room or the buffet for dinner. All are open seating and we never had a wait anywhere. We are looking forward to enjoying the complimentary wines when we cruise next.

[maryann ns]

I have sailed on the old Azamara and loved it. My husband who thought he was on his first and last cruise loved it so we are booked on another. We loved the elegance of this lovely small ship. The food is wonderful. We especially loved the specialty restaurants and willingly will pay $15 to eat there again. This is more than offset with the included wine and gratuities.

[gent]

Hi,

 

Just back from a "new" Azamara cruise in May. Here are your answers:

 

1. Yes, you can dine in any restaurant at any time. There is no dress code other than "resort casual" meaning no jeans in the main dining room (MDR).

 

2. No, specialty restaurants are not included They cost an additional $15/person. We went to both; IMO not much better than MDR, which is excellent!

 

3. Yes, wine is available in both dining rooms for lunch and dinner. There is no limit on how many glasses you can have. Other wines are also available at a cost.

 

4. Yes, gratuities are included, although you are free to give more for exceptional service.

 

We loved our Azamara cruise to Italy and are booked on the Holy Land cruise you are looking into.

 

jt

[Andy]

Hi Everyone !

 

Per Azamara's website: "Club Suite guests are welcome to dine in our Specialty dining restaurants every night of the voyage at no charge".

 

Here is the link : http://www.azamaraclubcruises.com/onboardExperience/heroSingleTxtSub.do;jsessionid=?pagename=specialty_dining . I hope this helps !

[Jarronwood]

Thanks everyone for your comments. We are actually looking to go next year but there is one major snag that will prevent us booking this ship and that is my husband smokes (I know, its disgusting etc etc but he doens't want to give up, he enjoys a cigarette even though its shortening his life). I dont smoke but one of his pleasures is to sit on our balcony with our cup of tea in the morning, just chilling and putting the world to rights. Since AZ has a strictly no smoking on balconies then unfortunately we cannot book this one.

 

Oh well back to the drawing board.

 

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