biggersn

I have to say that I understand the reasoning behind serving dinners à la carte rather than buffet style (to reduce the risk of spreading Covid), but I still prefer the buffet dinners- I like getting a little bit of a few items. On two occasions on Pursuit there were buffet dinners - a Nordic buffet (the medium rare roast lamb was amazing) and the White Night dinner which was held inside due to the cool weather and the fact that we were at sea. On the latter occasion, we were served by the staff rather than helping ourselves.

1 minute ago, biggersn said:

As countless other people have explained, it is not the guests who are the best of the best. It refers to the food and wine.

And if you allowed every guest to attend, the logistics of doing it for a very large group would be impossible. 

On 8/15/2022 at 4:24 AM, DS said:

    Let me try for a third time… If it’s truly the best food and wine, why are not all passengers allow to attend?   There is NO evidence that it refers to the food and drink…. And all kinds of evidence that it refers to big suite quests!

   The are other options for the executive chef to show his/her mettle.   For, example, the shore excursions AZAMARA CHEF EXPERIENCES, when the chef takes a group of passengers (independent of cabin) to a local market, buys local foods, and cooks a special dinner for those folks…. We’ve been on several and LOVE them!

   Again, I have not problem with recognizing those who pay the most for a given cruise… give them a very special dinner, with good food and special wines…Just don’t refer to them as the Best of the Best

As countless other people have explained, it is not the guests who are the best of the best. It refers to the food and wine.

6 hours ago, asnaleah said:

The bus issue is being in an enclosed vehicle with lots of people, unknown Covid status, no masks. It’s a difficult choice, but we have decided to be as careful as we can and still cruise. 

I am the same. We avoid crowded buses. I always use the the gym during cruises, but this year, I have given the gym a wide berth, as gyms can be high risk in terms of spreading Covid. I do endless laps around the jogging track instead.

55 minutes ago, uktog said:

I think all this emphasises a need for a standard fleet wide approach to Covid communications - preferably one based on the Captain Johannes Openness model.  Biggersn highlights why - guests are not stupid, they know something is up when a change is made like they talk about - so be open and tell them. Silly of those on Pursuit to hide when something is up in my view.  I would be asking the Hotel Director for the reasons if I was onboard.

I did ask at Guest Relations and the fellow said they he wasn’t aware of any outbreaks. He rang Windows and was told that it was the decision of the maître d ‘. This begs the question of why the maître d’ made this decision, so I still don’t have a satisfactory answer.

I was on Quest a month ago and they had smart TVs where you can check your onboard account, watch various films etc. I am on Pursuit now and the TVs are old style - no menu, just channel selections where you just have to take what comes. So it clearly depends on what ship you are on. I think Journey is the same as Auest, but it appears that the two latest additions to the fleet are somehow mired in the past when it comes to TV.

We are on Pursuit right now on the second of two sea days before arriving in Copenhagen tomorrow. There has been no mention of Covid throughout the entire trip (unlike on our Norway Intensive cruise on Quest starting on 25 July). Curiously, for the first time since day 1, staff have been serving diners at the buffet in Windows instead of guests helping themselves. I wonder whether there is something that they aren’t telling us, e.g. a small Covid outbreak.

On 6/16/2022 at 7:20 PM, uktog said:

Hope you are OK.  I think we are in the same boat (pardon the pun) in Dublin.  Just concerned we pick up positive there but its an easy flight home

We are on the same cruise as well, assuming we are taking about the Norway cruise. I have to say that it is stressful to face the prospect of not being able to board the ship and having our travel plans turned upside down. We are flying from Paris on 24 July, so will have to take a rapid antigen test at Charles de Gaulle on the morning of our booked flight to Dublin.

We are taking our first cruise for two and a half years next month. One of the things we loved was boarding in the middle of the day and eating lunch at Windows. Can   passengers now only board in the afternoon due to Covid precautions, thereby necessitating feeding ourselves before boarding?

We were looking forward to doing back to back cruises for the first time in June, but sadly, this will not happen. We are now looking ahead to next year. Many thanks to Azamara for allowing cancelled bookings to be rebooked with 100% Future Cruise Credit.I sincerely hope that Covid-19 is under control by then!

We love Azamara! We have just done our 5th cruise and have booked 3 more. Not everything is perfect (the included wine selection was definitely sub-par on our last cruise, probably due to the bean counters in Miami wanting to cut costs), but we really enjoy the relaxed vibe, the small size of the ship and the excellent food. I also enjoy the fact that there is a wide jogging/walking track on deck 10 that is not partially taken over by deck chairs!

After our cruise from Tahiti to Auckland in January-February, which was great, we will be doing back to back cruises for the first time. We are travelling on Pursuit for the first time for the Baltic Highlights Cruise departing Southampton on 8 June, followed by Iceland Intensive departing Copenhagen on 23 June.

I have rarely had a problem with the included wines. Especially now that there is a choice of two whites and two reds, in addition to the rosé which is now available. In the past, there was only one white and one red available, which meant that the included wines did not always complement one's choice of food. A Pinot Noir with beef just doesn't cut the mustard.

11 minutes ago, tanzania2015 said:

That is what Was stated in posted in post 718. The question is does the one bag of laundry per cabin for the suite amenity add the the two bags of laundry that you get with the Ultimate Experience More package. 

Ah, sorry, I didn't read the question properly.

1 hour ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

Good question - logic would say that you would get 3 bags, but I can’t say for certain that you would. I hope Bonnie may be able to give you a definitive answer.

Sadly, this is not the case. In the terms and conditions, the following applies:

Le Club Voyage members who stay in Suite Staterooms will receive their Suite amenities, and not their Le Club Voyage benefits for complimentary internet. 

Laundry: This benefit will be available to Explorer members and above. Those eligible will receive one bag of laundry per stateroom, per 7-night voyage. Le Club Voyage members who stay in Suite Staterooms will receive their Suite amenities, and not their Le Club Voyage benefits for laundry service.

I have to say that this does not seem very fair at all. Although in many cases, the suite benefits for laundry and internet are greater than the benefits from Le Club Voyage membership tiers, I would have thought that the suite benefits and the Le Club Voyage benefits would be combined, but this is not the case. It means that Suite passengers get very little benefit from being Le Club Voyage members, since the Suite amenities override any benefits earned from Le Club Voyage.

https://www.azamara.com/en-au/le-club-voyage/terms-conditions

Given that Pursuit is a very recent addition to the Azamara family, I would be interested to know what changes are occurring to necessitate an extended dry dock period.

As part of our newly acquired Discoverer LCV membership tier, we are entitled to 90 free wifi minutes. Previously, our Explorer membership tier entitled us to 60 free wifi minutes. On our last two Azamara cruises, we have been told when we enquire on board or at check in that the wifi entitlement only applies when purchasing an unlimited package. Yet the wording on the Azamara website clearly states the following as one of the benefits of Discoverer membership: "90 free WiFi minutes or $100 towards a full voyage unlimited package". Does anyone have any suggestions as to how we can actually claim our entitlement, rather than being fobbed off yet again? The wording suggests that the 90 free WiFi minutes is independent of any decision whether to purchase a package or not.

We are doing a 15-night Baltic Highlights cruise in June 2020 and would like to know at which port the ship will be docking. Most cruise ships dock at the main cruise ship terminal which is quite a distance from the centre of St. Petersburg. The Azamara web site talks about 2018 voyages docking in the heart of St. Petersburg (they clearly haven't updated this), but what about voyages in 2019 and 2020?

Arrive in the Heart of St. Petersburg

Step off your boutique hotel at sea right into the heart of stunning St. Petersburg. Thanks to our smaller ship size, all 2018 voyages to St. Petersburg sail up the Bolshaya Neva River to make port along one of the most fashionable streets in the city—English Embankment. Other cruise lines? They’ve got to travel an hour in by bus.

5 hours ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

Have you tried the Mediterranean flavour - my favourite!

I really enjoy the Mediterranean. My favourite is the pink-coloured Aromatic - it has a very defined flavour which I love!

1 hour ago, uktog said:

I was about to say the same. Sorry to the OP didn’t see your post earlier. 

Printing all the edocs isn’t environmentally friendly anyway. I just transfer them to a pdf on my iPad print the page with the labels and if I’ve any other documents that I might need hard copy I print that. 

 

Same here - I put the edocs on Dropbox, which means that I can see them on my iMac, iPad and iPhone. I have never booked pre-cruise flights or hotels, so can't help with the OP's issue. I would contact Azamara pronto to ask them what is going on.

On 5/9/2019 at 3:06 PM, excitedofharpenden said:

Good move. 

 

Phil 

+ 1. We rarely eat the fruit left in the room, as we are usually too full from all the delicious meals served onboard. The new request system will not deny fruit to those who still want it and will cut down on the food waste significantly. 

On 5/7/2019 at 5:43 AM, Ray in NH said:

 

Thank you -- another option to consider.

We will be disembarking in Vancouver, where we have visited previously.  I was hoping to just hang about the ship as long as possible and then head to our hotel.  If that doesn't work out, the hotel will hold our luggage until our room is available.  Often times we have been given access to our room, upon an early arrival (when available).

 

NRayH

We are in a similar situation. We are staying two nights (our third trip to Vancouver) so will just walk from the cruise ship to the hotel, deposit our luggage there and go off to explore and then have some lunch in Gastown.

On 5/2/2019 at 11:15 AM, Mr. Click said:

Followed the link, clicked take the survey and got a window saying the survey was closed. Oh well....I do not drink so inclusions of alcohol packages are a waste for me. I don't like big group tours so inclduing ship's tours is a waste for me now I do like wifi to be included but then there goes my LCV benefit minutes....

I got the same message ('Survey closed'). That's a shame - I would have liked to complete the survey. I get heaps of Azamara emails but didn't receive the survey.

11 hours ago, Redtravel said:

Sadly May 2nd is the end of Americans cruising to Cuba. 

 2nd May actually refers to the administration no longer waiving a 23-year old provision which gives U.S. citizens the right to sue over property they owned there that was confiscated by the Cuban government without reimbursement by the Cuban government.

On 4/20/2019 at 8:19 AM, ellbon said:

AZ famous for keeping the ship to cold. I hsve the AC men in at least twice a cruise abd I leave the dail on heat and still cold.

Personally, I'd rather have the ship too cold than too warm. But there is a happy medium! 🙂