uktog

Extremely flexible. Advise them before cruising of your needs and they take it from there They send you a menu for the restaurants the day before and you have to write on them your selection based on where you plan to dine anf return it to the restaurant desk on deck 5 by 10 am. Chef cooks the amended menu or contacts you if adaptations aren’t possible eg recipe wont work. When you go to the restaurant in the evening the host has the menu you wrote on at the podium and hands it to the waiter. All VERY well handled At lunch time in the emporium if we were unsure what a dish included the restaurant managers were quick to go and find out. They started preparing a dessert each day for DH just in case (he has a nut allergy) and keeping it in the chiller We were very impressed with Explora’s approach to allergy handling. We heard they weren’t good at changing things before we went and that’s certainly true if the request is a fad/personal preference which given the range of choices and how they approach cooking with consistency and precision is valid but for medical allergies they go the extra mile and they’ve really got it nailed.

I think they’re waiting to decide how to handle their winter schedule in general and transitioning vessels between Europe and the East. They will probably wait until they see how well the current no long port stop plan has worked for Journey and Onward and what timings are realistic for the future. They are probably also having to reschedule some lucrative charters as well which from a business perspective will be something they also have to focus on. At least for October 2025 there is time and no one has air commitments confirmed yet

Which voyages are you talking about? Your original post was about May or are you talking about other redeployments? If you search Azamaras website all their currently available cruises are shown there

An alternative is you can withdraw the balance as cash on the last night. That’s a good option for non US guests who can use dollars in other situations. As we were disembarking in Miami that’s what we did

Not sure what you mean by fewer perks. All veranda plus cabins have the same benefits. If it was me, given the benefits are minimal anyway I’d go on Deck 7 every time. They created the plus category and designated Deck 8 cabins into it to try and sell these less popular locations. Only the aft veranda plus are worth the upsell in my view

It also causes issues in the kitchen focusing on getting 12 meals out to the pass simultaneously and this impacts on service for other guests. We saw two groups of 6 (yes the models the influencers and their camera folk) as to have 3 tables of 4 put together when they arrived at Fil Rouge one night. The General Manager was called and she said no. Unfortunately they then shouted across the place but at least the waiters were only taking orders from one table at a time

Sunday can have the day trippers out. Took me an hour last weekend to just up the road from the dockyard. Roadworks in Edinburgh and a breakdown just before the bridge. It’s quite unpredictable but I’ve rarely done it in 30 minutes

Could I suggest you aim to be at the car a little earlier. 30 minutes from Leith to Rosyth is optimistic during commute times which starts around 3 these days. It’s a route I do a lot and one I’d say is 45 minutes is the minimum during rush hour as you’ve got to get out from Leith as well. Even with its “hard shoulder” it just takes a little breakdown and everything really slows down on the bridge as well

Given that TA credit is refundable, you could book the excursions now and pay for them and then once your cruise is over your credit balance offsets your original spend (assuming you havent spent on board for other things that was not covered by other OBC)

OBC from your TA rarely appears until boarding. You can’t make speciality reservations before boarding. Speak to your TA about what they can do re your excursions

Azamara wisely opted to cancel that voyage on Journey. They are going from Singapore direct to round Africa which reduces lost revenue days and minimises risk. There have also been challenges with port authorities in India and Sri Lanka and Myanmar is right off the agenda so I would expect them to take some time to rework all the schedules involving moving ships out of the Mediterranean to Asia or Australia

Yes got an email about that event. Not sure the timings work for us but we will see. Might send in a question anyway

I remember our first time meeting him when he was on his first contract as an assistant waiter

This cancellation was made several weeks ago. Are you not aware of the situation in the Middle East? No cruiseship is doing that route for obvious reasons

Unless you pay corkage, the pool bar were following the correct procedures

Recently on Journey most ports were 48 hours before but some were 72 hours

Unfortunately it only takes the walk to Princes Street out. Due to congestion no drop offs are possible nearer I’m afraid.

Give me a mosquito over a midge any day (and I’m Scottish)

And if you want to pay for a transfer at point the Edinburgh teams run from the disembarking at Newhaven to the New Town and further on

I think the onboard booking benefits should stay in full (discount and OBC) if a cruise is moved by the cruise line. It’s the very least that should be done to aid retention. I also think the guest should get to choose if they want their original other booking perks or the ones attacking to the new booking (but not both!)

We have been given them on both Quest and Journey in the last six weeks - however we now pack a spare one just in case, it adds virtually no weight and having got caught out on Onward and it was a right pain we learned our lesson

I can see that issue though other cruise lines seem to manage the issue no problem. I just get frustrated that its obviously possible for them to take 7.30 bookings - I know some regular guests get 7 or 7.30 all the time - but its not made generally available.

Indeed that’s why I’d like Azamara to open up the schedule for these time slots officially- it would work for so many guests

On another line yes not on Azamara

I’m now sailing on lines that have limited pre booking and on Azamara. The limited pre booking where the line allows one reservation only works fine as it allows me to be sure I have a reservation for a “special date” if one arises during the cruise. It’s stressful but manageable so long as you keep a track of cruise -60 days when all bookings open. On balance I like that approach. One line varies the number of bookings you can make and when you can access it depending on your room category. That does give issues and quite a bun fight the day bookings open for standard cabins not least because higher ups may have block booked as Phil describes. I don’t like that approach. The Azamara system works up to a point for me. I’ve never had an issue getting a reservation but I have had to be flexible with dates/times/venues. Given the new tarrif for specialities I think problems will be even less particularly taking account of how good Discoveries has been at least on two ships. What I do really think needs changing is the rigidity of the two sitting timings. I know people have correctly pointed out that they’ve managed to negotiate reservations at 7:15 or 7:30 but staff make it feel like such a big deal to do this. I think they should be changing to reflect what the other lines and indeed shoreside restaurants do in running a multiple sitting operation with reservations being available every 15 minutes across the opening times. If small shoreside galleys can do this to Michelin standard so can Azamara. I think the binary option of reservation windows is what adds to the tensions. And suite guests should be charged the penalty if they don’t cancel at least 24 hours ahead unless for extenuating circumstances. (A penalty is advertised but the managers are pressured to waive it). Some frequent suite dwellers seem to expect their precise table to be available every night regardless of whether they come or not. I know it really frustrates the restaurant managers but they can’t say a thing. It’s not fair on other guests.