uktog

On 12/8/2024 at 10:44 PM, notamermaid said:

Bad news is coming from the Moselle. A barge has hit the lock at Müden and has destroyed the lower gate. As Müden only has one chamber large enough for river cruise ships this may affect you if you are on an itinerary that is to pass Koblenz and sail up the Moselle. The Rhine is fine and so is the docking at Koblenz on the Moselle. More info is in that thread.

 

notamermaid

 

And bad news from the Main. Having done a ship transfer from the Moselle our progress to Wurzberg is now impeded by a broken down vessel. We tied up overnight near Wertheim will do our tours today with long bus rides and await more news 

We have just driven past the damaged lock. This is the picture from the coach as we make our way to Heidelberg.  

Viking Idi guests are doing a boat swap today going up to Heidelberg. The winter maintenance for Idi will take place somewhere on the river. They are flying the maintenance crew to the boat and they will be away from their families for a while 

Yes we saw the “guilty ship” tonight as we drove to an evening in a lovely town. Viking have so far done a great job keeping us happy 

We are to wait two days and then get a long bus drive and a swap. On a local tour from the ship. The guide reckons the lock is out for two months 

Not good news we left Cochem heading to Koblenz a few hours ago. We’ve now been tied up an hour in a small town as a cargoship ahead has crashed into a lock and damaged it. Will update when I know what happens to us 

On the Christmas markets cruise just now there are only 2x2 tops on the whole ship. Forward outside at Aquavit is understandably not operating 

Well said @mike@sea  there is zero reason to use plastic water bottles onboard 

7 hours ago, ghstudio said:

As we cruise different cruise lines, we often book a future cruise on board to take advantage of on board booking bonuses..and we ask that the booking be held by the cruise line, not assigned to any TA…and when we return home, we move the booking to whichever of the on-line TA’s offers the best additional perks or $$’s.  You can no longer do this on Azamara….recent policy change…

 

If you book on board on an Azamara cruise, the booking is assigned to the TA you used to book your current cruise.  This is now the only way you can book on board.  If you booked your cruise with a TA but want the new booking direct with azamara or a different agency, they will not book on board and you will not get any on board booking bonus. 

That will be a deal breaker on my next cruise 

4 minutes ago, ECCruise said:

In addition, they have doubled the early cancellation fee from $75 PP to $150 PP, and pushed the dates forward for % of fare cancellation fees. 

 

 

Still a bargain compared to the UK fees 😀

1 hour ago, oddjob16 said:

Walvis Bay on the Quest today. Complimentary shuttle bus. OK.

Drop off at Dunes Mall. Silly. Same shopping Mall as everywhere else and far from the city centre. Pure stupidity and waste of time.

Probably a cheaper option 😀
but suits crew not the guests 🤣🤣🤣

2 hours ago, themedside said:

 

Thank you for your input. Yes, I failed to mention that, they do open the restaurant on sea days. Our cruise was ver port centric though and we had just one sea day, or two. But usually we were back in board around 14h or so on port days

 

As for Patio, well maybe it's not just burgers but there is not a great variety really, plus you are outdoors, even in the covered areas. It's great for the Caribbean or Med in summer but not Norway in my opinion! Maybe you can take your food indoors in the buffet but not really something I want to do (transporting food)

 

As for the jacuzzis, they are not covered, you cannot use them in bad weather. As for the pool it was heated and nice, when it was not raining or stormy

 

Now that I reflect on it, I think I would have enjoyed Azamara more in sunnier weather maybe ☺️

 

 

There is a balance though. Azamaras jacuzzis are rarely closed. Explora’s due to their position on the outer edge of the ship are significantly affected by swell and have to be closed. We probably had access to them 50% of our cruise. 
 

We often order on the Patio and they happily bring it into windows when it’s ready 

5 hours ago, travelberlin said:

Thank you Terry, I will give it a try. I had actually 2 cruises booked with Explora when it just started, but Explora cancelled both and that has put me off for a while. But I am willing to give it a try.

 

One thing that I am not very sure how it works are the dining arrangements at Explora. Do you just walk in to any restaurant and can get a place or do you have to reserve in advance? Are all passengers treated equally or is there a differentiation on treatment depending of which cabin you book?

 

 

All passengers are treated equally which is lovely. 
You can reserve once in marble and once in Sakura ahead of boarding. You can also get additional reservations based on a space availability just by seeing the dining host on deck five who is there every day. 
Like several other lines Explora are trying to eliminate plastic 👍👍 so no water bottles but plenty access to filter water and they do provide a drink bottle for each guest though you could bring your own 

12 minutes ago, travelberlin said:

Thank you. What does it mean “over the top service” ? Is the service excellent on Explora ships and better than on Azamara?

 

I have one cruise booked with Azamara next year and 4 with Crystal. Crystal has very good food and service. I am looking at cruises in 2026. That year is where I notice a price increase at Crystal which is driving me to search for alternatives.

It’s not necessarily better it’s done with a lot of “ fuss” 

24 minutes ago, travelberlin said:

UKtog, my preferred cruise line is Azamara but I do not cruise only with them. I like Crystal cruises also and I have several cruises booked with Crystal. However Crystal is increasing its prices and, looking at the overall experience, I am not willing to pay those higher prices. Therefore I am looking for an alternative. This is why I came to this board. 
 

Would you rather book Azamara or Explora for the Mediterranean?

 

Ivi

A very difficult question to answer. If you are keen on the destination experience and reliability of excursions longer times in port I’d say Azamara. If you’re focus is onboard comfort and food and can handle the over the top service then Explora 

Usually all the paperwork issued by Explora is based on the name on your passport not preferred names.  These are normally entered by your agent at the time of booking. They check this on embarkation. If it’s not correct they would change it then. Failing that you speak to the Guest Relations Manager who is excellent on Journey 2. No need to take it out on staff onboard who are trying to sort out disembarkation etc. 
 

In the UK we can only book and pay through our agents, if we do direct bookings we still have to pay through the agents.  We realised onboard that the staff have very little input to anything relating to land discoveries.  On other lines they would be far more proactive in finding a solution for you 

21 hours ago, Waltershipman said:

You are correct for certain. I do think calling guest lecturers lumanaries pushes the EJ speak even more so 

 

In any event I'll report on our January cruise with detail particularly in comparison to previous experience or in EJ speak previous Journey 

 

Be well and stay connected with me as we both have some significant cruises and cruise line history

On our transatlantic only one of the three luminaries had switched their lights on. 

1 hour ago, Caroldoll said:

Thanks so much and thanks for your comment.  Do those chairs by the stores make it crowded out there?

 

Not at all. If you hadn’t been on EJ1 you wouldn’t notice 

29 minutes ago, CruiseCrew123 said:

We were using up OBC . A 90 minute aromatherapy massage was €300  . Nice but no better than a £50 massage at home . Wasn’t impressed that they then tried to sell me a  €200 eye cream as apparently they were puffy , that made me feel so good 😂 

Exactly it was insulting how they made you feel. 

3 hours ago, Grandma Cruising said:

In the topic ‘Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle’ there is a discussion about the lack of these on recent cruises with the following post from takemewithyou.

“Now it looks like it will take that one person who offers to coordinate the roll call to also contact the ship to request a space and time for the meet and greet. 
 

It probably would be advisable to start with the Loyalty Coordinator to voice your concerns about meet and greets and then they can direct you to the appropriate person to contact the ship.”

As much as anything, the problem is getting our venue at a realistic time in the first 24 hours or so. Sadly, I think meet and mingles are from the past especially now as we are able to organise group excursions through other media where we can share names straight away.  

I just don’t understand why when they move White Night inside they don’t dial down the volume. It’s not difficult to do. If it’s indoors we don’t go because of previous experiences. 

We don’t use the bar stools but found the additional chairs a big improvement. At least you had the chance of a seat now. 

11 hours ago, micmacmissy said:

So excited to be booking tomorrow for February sailing.

 

Main goal:  peace, quiet, relaxation, reading, and spa treatments!  Does anyone know where I can access a menu?

 

I would love feedback on what spa treatments you’ve had, and how you enjoyed them!

I had my hair done ok not truly spa. It wasn’t great. I’ve long hair the wash blow and dry took 20 minutes cost $90 and didn’t even look good five hours later. Ok I was using obc but I felt “done” 

There’s a lot of sales pitch as well 

8 hours ago, travelberlin said:

This is interesting. How many passengers were on that tour? Also more than 100?

Maybe less than that number but they were always selling at the high prices