shops onboard

[suec12]

We cruised Journey a year ago and the inventory in the shops was quite pitiful. We have quite a bit of OBC, hoping to spend some in the shops if I see some items I like. How is inventory in the shops these days?

 

[takemewithyou]

2 hours ago, suec12 said:

We cruised Journey a year ago and the inventory in the shops was quite pitiful. We have quite a bit of OBC, hoping to spend some in the shops if I see some items I like. How is inventory in the shops these days?

 

There were some clothes that didn’t interest me.  They were some high end polo / golf shirts for men that were about $130!!  There were those fancy beaded Mary Francis purses ( I think that’s the name), some Louis Vuitton resale purses, some Azamara branded items, like sunglasses, key chains, etc.  I found a new Coach purse that was marked down to use OBC for….it actually turned out to to be quite a good deal as I compared prices at home.  There were also the usual assorted perfumes and cosmetic items.

[Grandma Cruising]

There is also a watch/jewellery shop which has some nice items.

[Host Jazzbeau]

And a wine cellar...  And, I'm told but can't verify, a Spa 🤣

[Ayden]

10 hours ago, takemewithyou said:

There were some clothes that didn’t interest me.  They were some high end polo / golf shirts for men that were about $130!!  There were those fancy beaded Mary Francis purses ( I think that’s the name), some Louis Vuitton resale purses, some Azamara branded items, like sunglasses, key chains, etc.  I found a new Coach purse that was marked down to use OBC for….it actually turned out to to be quite a good deal as I compared prices at home.  There were also the usual assorted perfumes and cosmetic items.

Good description.  One word of advice, shop early.  Quantity and selection of most items is very limited and everyone crowds the shops the last day/night desperately trying to use up obc.

We enjoyed the spa and managed a few shop items.

[KevintheIrishDJ]

We were on the Onward in Nov & Dec. of 2022. Very disappointed in the price and quality of the shops. We spent our OBC on Taittinger's.

[Riocca]

The majority of cruise ships shops are run by either U.K. company Hardings who Azamara used to use or US company Starboard who currently operate the shops on Azamara. 
Starboard consider themselves to be the more upmarket operator and tend to offer more designer brands usually, in our experience, at higher prices.

Small ships like Azamara’s tend to have proportionally small retail space so what’s available is very limited, only time we look in the shops is if we have OBC to offload and nothing else to spend it on. 
 

[silkismom]

We had a lot of OBC, DH bought some fancy jeans he'd never have thought about, I got a little brand purse, ended up getting cough drops to zero it out.

[JYDCruise]

12 hours ago, KevintheIrishDJ said:

We were on the Onward in Nov & Dec. of 2022. Very disappointed in the price and quality of the shops. We spent our OBC on Taittinger's.

Same here, though they were out of Taittinger so we had to go with Dom Perignon. It was a far better purchase than anything we saw in the shops, and our OBC was about to turn into a pumpkin so we made the sacrifice. 😁

Edited August 2, 2023 by JYDCruise

[KevintheIrishDJ]

7 hours ago, JYDCruise said:

Same here, though they were out of Taittinger so we had to go with Dom Perignon. It was a far better purchase than anything we saw in the shops, and our OBC was about to turn into a pumpkin so we made the sacrifice. 😁

It's a dirty job, but someone has to do it!!!

[suec12]

so can you buy liquor in the shops to take back to your room?

[Riocca]

41 minutes ago, suec12 said:

so can you buy liquor in the shops to take back to your room?

No there’s no liquor for sale in the shops, but then there’s no need as you can get a drink in any bar to take back to your cabin.

[JYDCruise]

1 hour ago, suec12 said:

so can you buy liquor in the shops to take back to your room?

No, but we (and KevintheIrishDJ, presumably) used our remaining OBC to splurge on a bottle of champagne at dinner on the cruise's final night. Azamara's by-the-bottle wine list is limited but priced exceptionally well - in fact, a quick check at local shops shows that the Dom Perignon and Taittinger were both below retail on Azamara.

[KevintheIrishDJ]

19 minutes ago, JYDCruise said:

No, but we (and KevintheIrishDJ, presumably) used our remaining OBC to splurge on a bottle of champagne at dinner on the cruise's final night. Azamara's by-the-bottle wine list is limited but priced exceptionally well - in fact, a quick check at local shops shows that the Dom Perignon and Taittinger were both below retail on Azamara.

We actually can get it cheaper. We have a tradition to pop open a bottle during the sail away. We bring the rest home with us.

Edited August 2, 2023 by KevintheIrishDJ

[uktog]

We prefer to be on the decks with others at sail away - could never wander around with my own bottle during that 🙂 Nice though if you are on your balcony

Edited August 2, 2023 by uktog

[KevintheIrishDJ]

22 hours ago, uktog said:

We prefer to be on the decks with others at sail away - could never wander around with my own bottle during that 🙂 Nice though if you are on your balcony

Only once did someone try to take the bottle; however, we were in eyesight!!! Unfortunately, that is when Azamara holds the M&G.

[uktog]

3 minutes ago, KevintheIrishDJ said:

Only once did someone try to take the bottle; however, we were in eyesight!!! Unfortunately, that is when Azamara holds the M&G.

Not sure I follow - but wandering around with your own bottle is not very "Azamara" and I certainly would never take it to the Cruise Critic Social.  As I say, own bottle = own balcony for me (or in the dining room with the appropriate corkage fee if they charge it)

[norn iron]

23 hours ago, KevintheIrishDJ said:

We actually can get it cheaper. We have a tradition to pop open a bottle during the sail away. We bring the rest home with us.

Does it not go a bit flat and lose its bubbles by the time you get home?

[KevintheIrishDJ]

20 minutes ago, norn iron said:

Does it not go a bit flat and lose its bubbles by the time you get home?

We have a recorker if we don't finish.

[KevintheIrishDJ]

43 minutes ago, uktog said:

Not sure I follow - but wandering around with your own bottle is not very "Azamara" and I certainly would never take it to the Cruise Critic Social.  As I say, own bottle = own balcony for me (or in the dining room with the appropriate corkage fee if they charge it)

We don't carry it around.  We are on deck during the sail away, not at the M&G.

[Traveling Fools]

On 8/2/2023 at 11:31 AM, KevintheIrishDJ said:

We have a tradition to pop open a bottle during the sail away. 

 

We do too.  We bring at least one bottle with us just for that purpose.  We pop the cork on our balcony....never have to worry about recorking it or taking it home.😝