Azamara Pursuit - Semi Live review, B2B2B - France and Italy intensive

[Lilac]

Can you please write about the ship excursion to Florence/Pisa, you took?

We booked the same one for our cruise in July.

Thank you for your reviews

 

[Georgeven]

One day in Pisa and Firenze: 

 

Firenze is the city we have always avoided to visit in a cruise ship excursion basically because it is so well known and famous that is almost that it doesn’t deserve to be rushed over it. We decided to give it a go to get a taste and booked the Azamara excursion to Pisa and Florence with the visit to the Academia

museum to see the David. 

 

Note that We were in Pisa some years ago while on a cruise but did it by ourselves by train and in the summer months and it was incredible crowded so we just to see it and no more.

 

This is how the day went by: early morning start and we got in a group of around 26 pax in a big buss. Medium size group is greatly appreciated. 

 

Itinerary: Livorno to Pisa and then free time and the drive to Firenze: Academy, walking tour and free time for lunch / shopping

 

Once in Pisa we got some basic instructions on how to get the free tickets and so on, we had one hour fifteen minutes (until 10:45) was the time we had to do whatever we wanted.  We decided to go and try to get the free ticket to the Cathedral for 10:00 am, not available for free until 11:00 am but you could get a ticket for 14 euros to enter the baptistery, the monumental graveyard and the cathedral (at 10:00 am). We got the tickets and visited the baptistery  first... very nice that you could go in and see it but also walk the stairs to ten second level then walked around and waited until 10 to enter the cathedral and then the graveyard.

 

guess what??? We were the first ones to

enter the cathedral and it was just breathtaking to have the opportunity to see it without anyone inside... the paintings in the wall, the roofs’ paintings, the figures and the structure is just rally all beautiful. And the monumental graveyard is just monumental, pretty with some amazing sculptures... 

Below some pictures from Pisa... 

Edited April 25, 2019 by Georgeven
Text

[Georgeven]

Then we drove to Firenze, we visited the Academia museum to see DAVID, and it was well organized. We got a short history of the sculpture work of Michelangelo and got

to see David... our goal was to buy a “certified replica” and we did 🙂. It’s just incredible to see it the magnitude and perfection of the work. 

 

Then we we walked to the main square and believe it was crowded crazy... the cathedral of Firenze looks like any other just amazing. We got some free time for lunch (45 min) we went a little bit out of the main square and found a trattoria and had some pasta and beer and came back to the group for the rest of the walking tour... to get to Santa Crocere...while we got valuable information about the history of the city... 

 

Then it started raining and whatever we were o. Our way to the motor coach, after all we stopped for the obligatory picture with Firenze in the background.

 

In general an excellent excursion, an amazing guide and organized visits... but believe us Firenze deserves more than some hours... we will definitely come back for some short holiday during the low season (January - February) to enjoy the city and what it has to offer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 25, 2019 by Georgeven

[Georgeven]

Portoferraio, Elba

 

today we docked in Portoferraio, Elba; and what a nice surprise... small maritime village, very Italian and not crowded... just like we love the places we visit... we asked around and visited the Medici fortress and the  theater with the Cosmo ticket... and the lovely beach in the other side of the city where we had a lovely pizza lunch with beer... just a place to laid back and enjoy La Dolce Vita 

 

[Georgeven]

Another amazing white dinner and party tonight that we really enjoyed! Great food and great service from all the staff. This is something Azamara knows how to do and they deliver again and again. 

After the party moved inside to the Living room we decided to stop by the spa to cancel one of our appointments for some days ahead but where met once again with the service from the spa manager that is really not Azamara standard or worthy. This is a person that has make us  feel uncomfortable and that we are not worth her attention. She makes it all about that you are the problem and do not make an effort to try to be nice and help you. She is rude and we have never in our more than 20 cruises met a staff treating us like this. And we did not make or do anything wrong. She made mistakes in our appointments and gave the blame on us.
We like to point out that the problem was solved easily by one of the other girls working there, and that our previous treatments was good and the staff was very nice.
When I left the spa I said thank you but the spa manager did not even bothered to say anything to me and as soon as I was around the corner I heard rude comments about me from her to the other girl there.
This is not the service I expect from Azamara.

After this we unfortunately decided to end our evening since the mood was not there anymore, even if our plan was to enjoy the night. And this something we will definitely address with to senior management when we get the chance... 

[BBMacLaird]

I’m so sorry georgeven! How upsetting to be treated with so much disrespect.

This will be corrected quickly, I guarantee it. 

[Literary Lynne]

Oh dear, I am so sorry. Such disrespect is very upsetting and obviously marred what had been a wonderful day. I was really enjoying your posts about Pisa, Firenza etc, smiling as I read about your days and appreciated your beautiful photographs. The smile was wiped from my face when I read about the Spa manager. Hope that tomorrow will be another good day and thank you for 'taking us with you' on your cruise.

Lynne 😟

[mchell810]

7 hours ago, Georgeven said:

Portoferraio, Elba

 

Lovely photos, especilly of Elba.  I am considering cruise that stops there; your descriptions and photos make it even more interesting.  Thanks for your reports.

[excitedofharpenden]

Interesting comment about the Spa Manager and not wholly unsurprising from what I saw earlier this month. Not at all friendly. All I can say is that Kiki, the previous Spa Manager now on vacation, you are missed. Kiki will not be returning to Pursuit, but going to Journey. 

 

Yes, definitely raise this with management. It's very poor. 

 

Phil 

Edited April 26, 2019 by excitedofharpenden

[Georgeven]

Bon Jour Bastia.... 

 

a change of port from Bonifaccio to Bastia in Corsica due to winds and waves - Safety first 🙂 

 

Thanks for your comments... this issue has been addressed properly with senior officers and we’re confident it will be managed. In any way this affects our vacation negatively just a little bad moment. Now we are about to go out to a port we don’t know anything about and that’s exciting; later will come back with a port report and some pics...

 

J.-

[Literary Lynne]

Good to hear that you have received a positive and quick response and that you are out and about enjoying your day. Look forward to hearing all about it when you have time. I have just (10 minutes ago) booked a cruise on Pursuit for October this year, so your reports are all the more exciting!

Lynne 🤩

[Ithikan]

Thank you, Georgeven.  Your photos are wonderful - from that first statue backed by olive tree and pale, blue sky, Villa Durazzo?  (Apollo?) through yesterday's fun, La Seduzione tile and gyrating white-night dancers.  Grazie for this review, really enjoying it.

 

[Georgeven]

Here we are back...

 

after a non planned day in Bastia... interesting town... a place of huge contrasts and maybe not the most fancy coastal town in Corsica but definitely one with a huge potential as a destination... (sometimes when we travel we play the game of what would We do here if  we were the major and the chamber of tourism bosses to make this town a sustainable tourism destination, after walking the town for sometime and while having a coffee on a local cafe)... some buildings are really pretty and others are just falling apart and this next to each other... a beautiful and open main square and beautiful views all around... 

 

then a lazy day by he pool reading a little and relaxing and for the end of the day the presentation from Ryszard AKA Hotel manager about the refurbishment and the dry/wet dock to make Pursuit what it is today... a very interesting and full of information presentation... if it happens during your cruise don’t miss it... really you will be see all the work Azamara has put in this ship to make it Azamazing...  

 

Chocolate Buffet (don’t miss it) just before the Amanda’s show, once during the cruise the cruise director Amanda Poulson, has her own show and it is just lovely and you get to know about her career but also about her as an artist and a person... with beautiful songs I am not going to spoil but make yourself a favor and go and see this show...  Super Amanda 😉 

 

we we also had again the back to back meeting to prepare for our next week (YUJU!!!) ... tomorrow Civitavecchia and relaxing on board and maybe a short lunch in Civita for a Caccio Peppe pasta... 

 

and we’re sorry but the few pictures from today will have to wait to the morning when I get phone signal because we all know how the Aza internet is... good night 😴

[Georgeven]

4 hours ago, Ithikan said:

Thank you, Georgeven.  Your photos are wonderful - from that first statue backed by olive tree and pale, blue sky, Villa Durazzo?  (Apollo?) through yesterday's fun, La Seduzione tile and gyrating white-night dancers.  Grazie for this review, really enjoying it.

 

 

Thanks Ithikan, and yes that was Apollo from Villa Durazzo and that la Seduzione time we never got to know what was it but to us it looked like a local bar in the middle of the the residential area in Portoferraio 

[Georgeven]

Some pictures from Bastia, Corsica... 

[Georgeven]

Azamara Pursuit - Italy Intensive, second leg of a Back to back to back, summary review...

 

This second week we had an Ocean View stateroom in deck 4, cabin 4000

 

Back to back process : very easy... This was so easy that you feel it’s just like another day of the cruise

 

CABIN: 
Ocean View stateroom, 4000 -  the room still does the job, practical, enough storage space (for us), tiny shower but you get used to. The room is totally at the front of deck 4 so noise and vibration could be an issue for some people. We are early morning and early sleepers so it doesn’t bother us that much...

 

Our stateroom attendant, Paulo did a good job keeping our stateroom in order  but we noticed this time that it could take longer time for them to make up the stateroom, again for us this was not an issue but understand that for some this could be a “thing”... this time due to space constraints we never ordered breakfast or room service  

 

DINING: 
This week we just have dined in Discoveries and the buffett aka Windows Cafe, quality of food and service has been again really on point, good variation of the menus. Azamazing evening Buffett and White Night Outdoor dining were great again as expected 

 

BARS / Drinks / Wines
For this second week we decided to just go with the complimentary drinks and wines and it worked well for us this week during the experiment, The included red and white wines change daily (2 whites, 2 reds) but the rose and the sparkling ones do not. Quality of the wines was good but if you have special preferences for the kind of wine you like it may be not in the daily rotation

Regarding the drinks and cocktails you can easily go through the week with the complimentary drinks and cocktails but again if you like certain liqueurs, cognacs, whiskeys and/or bourbons and high end brands for vodka and Gin; these are not included in the complimentary menu.

After our experiment we can see that for cruises of seven to 10 days the price/ value of the ultimate package is well worthy if you like to have the option to choose the wines you like or to have a couple of cocktails or drinks at night with high end brands, cognacs, etc. We will definitely buy the package for the last week of the back to back to back

ENTERTAINMENT:
We still love the intimacy of the cabaret lounge shows and the signature singers are so good... the guest entertainers: White Sand Trio and the pianist are really great for evenings of music in the Den or in the Living room. 

 

This week we attended the Amanda’s Show: Epics... I just loved her more. Not just she is an amazing cruise director but an incredible singer.

 

Azamazing Evening in Livorno... just an incredible concert in a beautiful Opera Theater. Standing ovation to the performers

 

White Evening party: This time we stayed longer and enjoyed the Party and the music...All the staff makes a great effort for this event and you should not miss it.

 

SERVICE:
In general the service level around the ship is excellent. We had a little issue during this cruise that we complained about and it got quickly addressed by Senior Management (Thanks to the Marketing manager)  and this shows that Azamara takes us as guests very seriously and go out of their way to make us feel at home. Kudos to all the senior officers specially, Hotel Director Ryszard; F&B manager Elizabeth for making us feel at home and they are always visible around the ship. We also want to thank and recognize some guys around the ship that always make us feel welcome around and just make you smile 😃 big: our favorite waiters in the bars: Aldrain and Amadeo and Assistant waiter and bread station in the morning: Sherwyn, they may not read this (not sure) but you should now they will take good care of you.

 

 

 

[kayakcove]

Really appreciate your reports.  I will be on Pursuit B2B starting May 14.  I have no plans in place for Bastia,  Do you think we should try and get a tour out of the city. Have you heard comments from others who did get out?  Seems like the most common comment on excursions from there mention the tight winding roads with big dropoffs. I have looked at a private provider with a choice of vineyard tours on offer. 

[uktog]

5 hours ago, Georgeven said:

Azamara Pursuit - Italy Intensive, 

 

SERVICE:
In general the service level around the ship is excellent. We had a little issue during this cruise that we complained about and it got quickly addressed by Senior Management (Thanks to the Marketing manager)  and this shows that Azamara takes us as guests very seriously and go out of their way to make us feel at home. Kudos to all the senior officers specially, Hotel Director Ryszard; F&B manager Elizabeth for making us feel at home and they are always visible around the ship. We also want to thank and recognize some guys around the ship that always make us feel welcome around and just make you smile 😃 big: our favorite waiters in the bars: Aldrain and Amadeo and Assistant waiter and bread station in the morning: Sherwyn, they may not read this (not sure) but you should now they will take good care of you.

 

 

 

The good guys you mentioned as well as including their names in your survey go to guest relations get an attention to detail card and mention them on it (these cards are for positives as well as glitches). A lot of recognition is given to positive mentions there 

Edited April 27, 2019 by uktog

[Lottie A]

Really enjoying your review Georgeven and the photo's are great. Thanks for taking the time out of your cruise to do it for us. 

[Georgeven]

Last night we had a delicious dinner at Prime C, as in our first week, the service was excellent and on point; but we should say so that the food last night was outrageously delicious 😋 (if you can say it that way). The lobster (special of the day) was the best I have had una long time and the filet mignon were the best one DH has had so far in this cruise... the dessert... I decided to try the Pineapple and Coconut sandwich and believe me it just blew me away... best dessert of this trip hands down so far... then we headed up to the Living room for a late night drink since we had to wake up early morning to head Tom Positano.

 

The new cabin, still the same characteristics without a window... however last night we pointed a couple of technical issues with the stateroom to the stateroom attendant and to guest relations and we ( and the cabin) are still waiting to be fixed. 

 

The today we woke up early (to early to be honest) to go to Positano with the transfer from the ship, the weather has been Grey and cloudy but OK. We skipped breakfast at the ship to make it to the excursion. 

 

Once in Positano we just walked around, enjoyed the views and had late breakfast in a local cafe up in the hill, expensive we must say but they charge because of the views and because they can... it was more expensive than our lunch in Firenze to give you an idea. The good things was that we skipped the crowds since we were there so early and the guides on the boat were very informative and the boat stopped in their way there and from there to give us the views...

 

Then we came back to Amalfi and also walked around in the crowded town, visited the Cathedral/Museum and came back to the ship for a late light lunch and an afternoon long nap... 

 

Tonight looks like we’ll take it easy and have dinner at the Windows Cafe (French night) and tomorrow Sorrento is waiting for us 😉 

 

some pics from today...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 28, 2019 by Georgeven
Picture editing

[Lilac]

Thank you so much for the excellent review and beautiful pictures.

Very informative.

[laurieb]

Have fun in Sorrento- my favorite port!

[cinnamon]

I’m enjoying reading your blog, thank you. 

A friend of mine is onboard now for your last cruise and has said the weather has been disappointing since they left Rome, with some rough seas, making tendering difficult. 

[jimbri]

Great photos!

[Georgeven]

And today we have been in Sorrento... lovely and beautiful and crazy traffic but after all Italy is also famous for the traffic and the Italian drivers... 

 

we just woke up early enough that we missed breakfast but we got a coffee and a little something in the Mosaic cafe just before heading to town...

 

I will let the pictures speak: