Great cruise and meet & mingle parties

[midwestchick]

After being gone since the 17th, we have once again crossed the pond and are safely home. The b2b was wonderful and the meet & mingle parties on the 20th and 27th were well attended It was so nice to meet the roll callers after many months of corresponding online. We had officers present each time and Tony was great. We did not experience any negativity whatsoever, such as those reported prior to our cruise.

I think we had about 40 for our Sept. 20 M&M and somewhere around 30 on the Sept. 27th sailing. There were a couple of glitches with the announcements but, it seems that's it's on the part of Azamara shore side not relaying information to Azamara.

For those of you that think ACC does not care for CC people, that seems to be a misnomer. Tony announced the "possibility" of some type of social media cruise...anyway I believe he said there has been some talk about a social media cruise, twitter, cruise critic, etc.

DH and I had a very busy schedule....off the ship each morning and many days were 8 and 9 hour tours. Some days we wondered how we could keep going...LOL

Even though some of the ports were repeats, we found new things to do and new sights to see.

Flights were on time and no lost luggage. In fact, one of my carry on bags exceeded the weight limit on KLM and we had to check it but they did not charge us for an extra bag....how nice!

If there was any thing I found negative, it was the tour guides on both of the land discoveries we booked through ACC. (I'll address this when I respond to the ACC survey.) The staff and officers did not disappoint and we were afforded an extra special request from the maitre d in Prime C. Thank you Captain Johannes for a spectacular sunset. :)

Our biggest problem now is 1935 photos :eek:....yes, DH had a good time taking pictures also. ;)

I was pleasantly surprised how many of the staff remembered us from 2 years ago, including the sweet girl in the spa who did my polish change...she had done it on our previous ACC cruise.

I'll try and get through all the pictures and do some type of trip report in the coming weeks.

I had originally planned on doing some live posts but my new iPad froze up...grrrrrrr :mad:. I refuse to spend much time in the econnections lounge...that's not a vacation to me but I certainly would have posted from our verandah or from some location that had free wifi.

We will definitely book Azamara again.

[Phxazzcruisers]

Glad you had a wonderful B2B cruise. Welcome home

[tonyd285]

We also had a wonderful time on the 27th sailing. it was great to meet you and the other CC folks at the meet and mingle. When I got my bill at the end of the cruise and the only thing listed was the photo of my wife and I at dinner one evening I realized what a good deal we had. Enjoyed a cocktail before dinner each evening and plenty of vino with our meals, was able to communicate via internet for free and had our laundry done and returned in one day, also free of charge. By the way, the internet speed was actually pretty good for a cruise ship. Loved the ports. We arranged with others for private tours at a lower cost than Azamara and all but one was terrific. In my experience this is usually true of ships tours as well. You inevitably get one clunker on every cruise whether you go private or with the cruise line. We had been on the Journey before and knew what to expect. My only real complaint is the size of the bathrooms. The balconies are smallish but okay for sitting and watching the world go by. The cabins are small but well organized and nicely furnished. All-in-all a great cruise and a wonderful time.

[Texed]

The b2b was wonderful and the meet & mingle parties on the 20th and 27th were well attended

 

Thanks for posting. :)

[Lottie A]

Hi midwestchick, I'm so glad you had a great time after all your anticipation and planning. Did you find Il Leone Rosso in Sorrento. Of course the CC get togethers were held and I'm happy to hear they went well.

 

Looking forward to seeing some of those 1935 photo's. :)

[dln929]

Midwestchick, it sounds like you had as much fun on the Journey as we did. Glad to hear it!!!

[Hyundaigirl]

Hi Midwestchick too bad we missed you at the meet and mingle - we would have loved to meet all the roll callers on the 27th sailing but as I posted earlier we didn't get the invite with the info and not having sailed ACC previously wouldn't have thought to look for it in Pursuits the very first day.

[midwestchick]

Hi midwestchick, I'm so glad you had a great time after all your anticipation and planning. Did you find Il Leone Rosso in Sorrento. Of course the CC get togethers were held and I'm happy to hear they went well.

 

Looking forward to seeing some of those 1935 photo's. :)

 

Hi Lottie,

No, we did not find the restaurant because I failed to take the name with me but we did visit Hotel Excelsior Vittorio. They would not allow us to use the lift so we did find the public garden and public lift and the view of the sunset was even better at the public garden. We had returned from Capri and it began to rain so we sat down by the tender pier and had a drink while it rained....much to our surprise the sun came out and we had a glorious rainbow :D...a first for us in Italy. Since you asked me to share some of those photos, here you go.

 

Deirdre,

Yes, we certainly did enjoy the Journey...I'll be looking at destinations with the new promo as soon as I finish the mounds of laundry.;)

 

 

 

 

 

[midwestchick]

Hi Midwestchick too bad we missed you at the meet and mingle - we would have loved to meet all the roll callers on the 27th sailing but as I posted earlier we didn't get the invite with the info and not having sailed ACC previously wouldn't have thought to look for it in Pursuits the very first day.

 

I did see your post and replied on it. So sorry you missed it. If I ever post on another roll call, I'll be certain to mention checking the Pursuits newsletter. Hopefully, ACC shoreside will get their act together and supply shipside with the correct information sooner.

 

Edited October 6, 2014 by midwestchick

[BBMacLaird]

After being gone since the 17th, we have once again crossed the pond and are safely home. The b2b was wonderful and the meet & mingle parties on the 20th and 27th were well attended It was so nice to meet the roll callers after many months of corresponding online. We had officers present each time and Tony was great. We did not experience any negativity whatsoever, such as those reported prior to our cruise.

I think we had about 40 for our Sept. 20 M&M and somewhere around 30 on the Sept. 27th sailing. There were a couple of glitches with the announcements but, it seems that's it's on the part of Azamara shore side not relaying information to Azamara.

For those of you that think ACC does not care for CC people, that seems to be a misnomer. Tony announced the "possibility" of some type of social media cruise...anyway I believe he said there has been some talk about a social media cruise, twitter, cruise critic, etc.

DH and I had a very busy schedule....off the ship each morning and many days were 8 and 9 hour tours. Some days we wondered how we could keep going...LOL

Even though some of the ports were repeats, we found new things to do and new sights to see.

Flights were on time and no lost luggage. In fact, one of my carry on bags exceeded the weight limit on KLM and we had to check it but they did not charge us for an extra bag....how nice!

If there was any thing I found negative, it was the tour guides on both of the land discoveries we booked through ACC. (I'll address this when I respond to the ACC survey.) The staff and officers did not disappoint and we were afforded an extra special request from the maitre d in Prime C. Thank you Captain Johannes for a spectacular sunset. :)

Our biggest problem now is 1935 photos :eek:....yes, DH had a good time taking pictures also. ;)

I was pleasantly surprised how many of the staff remembered us from 2 years ago, including the sweet girl in the spa who did my polish change...she had done it on our previous ACC cruise.

I'll try and get through all the pictures and do some type of trip report in the coming weeks.

I had originally planned on doing some live posts but my new iPad froze up...grrrrrrr :mad:. I refuse to spend much time in the econnections lounge...that's not a vacation to me but I certainly would have posted from our verandah or from some location that had free wifi.

We will definitely book Azamara again.

 

Hi Midwestchick, I'm so glad you had a great B2B! And thank you for posting that the M&M were well attended.

In the sentence where you say shoreside didn't relay some information...what are you referring to? Is it that the ship did not receive the list of CC'rs onboard the sailings, or something else? I can try to look into it from our end.

[midwestchick]

Hi Midwestchick, I'm so glad you had a great B2B! And thank you for posting that the M&M were well attended.

In the sentence where you say shoreside didn't relay some information...what are you referring to? Is it that the ship did not receive the list of CC'rs onboard the sailings, or something else? I can try to look into it from our end.

 

 

Hi Bonnie,

I probably used incorrect terminology but, what I was referring to, is the fact ACC did not relay the information to the person on the ship who handles the meet & mingle parties and sends out the invitations. I would imagine that would be Guatemala or Florida. As I mentioned, I do not recall the name of the woman I spoke with when I called guest relations about the M&M that was posted it would be held in the Looking Glass Lounge on deck 5 on the 20th. She was the person who told me she was not getting the information soon enough. I did check and I did not receive my usual e-mail from ACC stating there would be a M&M party. It seems those are no longer being sent out. Thank you for checking into this.

Edited October 6, 2014 by midwestchick

[BBMacLaird]

I'll do some inquiring to find out about the communication of this information. I have to ask a couple departments so please be patient.

Bonnie

[Lottie A]

Wonderful pictures midwestchick. That sunset is beautiful. Sorry you didn't get to enjoy a drink on the terrace of the Excelsior Victoria though. Maybe next time? :)

[midwestchick]

Wonderful pictures midwestchick. That sunset is beautiful. Sorry you didn't get to enjoy a drink on the terrace of the Excelsior Victoria though. Maybe next time? :)

 

Thanks, Lottie.

No problem with the drink...we had one or two down by the water and just enjoyed people watching while it rained and relaxed our weary feet and bodies after a long day in Capri and Anacapri. The hotel is quite beautiful though....it would be a great place to stay but too many $$$$$$$.

Sorrento is by far, one of our favorite places to visit.

 

[CintiPam]

Glad to read you enjoyed your cruise, midwestchick. Those photos are lovely!

[uktog]

Glad you had such a good cruise

 

I never believed the negative posts about one cruise directors attitude to cruise critic as I have never found him to be anything other than positive and encouraging to those guests who frequent these forums

[Lottie A]

Glad you had such a good cruise

 

I never believed the negative posts about one cruise directors attitude to cruise critic as I have never found him to be anything other than positive and encouraging to those guests who frequent these forums

 

Totally agree with that Ann......and I know he posts on CC occasionally too!

[TravelBugM]

An off topic question .... How was the weather? You are dressed warmer than I would have thought based on the long range forecast being mid-20s C currently and the next few weeks.

[BBMacLaird]

Hi Bonnie,

I probably used incorrect terminology but, what I was referring to, is the fact ACC did not relay the information to the person on the ship who handles the meet & mingle parties and sends out the invitations. I would imagine that would be Guatemala or Florida. As I mentioned, I do not recall the name of the woman I spoke with when I called guest relations about the M&M that was posted it would be held in the Looking Glass Lounge on deck 5 on the 20th. She was the person who told me she was not getting the information soon enough. I did check and I did not receive my usual e-mail from ACC stating there would be a M&M party. It seems those are no longer being sent out. Thank you for checking into this.

 

Hi midwestchick et.al.,

the ACC web technician as well as the CC technician have looked into this and are reporting both the download link for the CC party info, and the roll-call access have been repaired. They should be working fine now. Thanks SO MUCH for letting us know about the problem(s). This is a prime example of how valuable you all are to us.

Bonnie

[midwestchick]

An off topic question .... How was the weather? You are dressed warmer than I would have thought based on the long range forecast being mid-20s C currently and the next few weeks.

 

 

The picture was taken in the evening around 6:30. Actually, the weather the first week was in the 70's and it was a little cool that morning when we left for Capri. The sweater was lightweight but very much appreciated when we were on Monte Solaro. From what I was told by some of our tour guides, it was a cooler than normal summer in Italy...much the same as it was for us here in the midwest.

 

[midwestchick]

Hi midwestchick et.al.,

the ACC web technician as well as the CC technician have looked into this and are reporting both the download link for the CC party info, and the roll-call access have been repaired. They should be working fine now. Thanks SO MUCH for letting us know about the problem(s). This is a prime example of how valuable you all are to us.

Bonnie

 

 

 

Bonnie,

Thank you so much for checking into this. I'm happy to hear the problem has been taken care of.