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And they were excellent! And the waffle maker 🤣🤣

Thanks, I’ve got the airport and cruise port all sorted, my Uber needs are to and from a restaurant at the start and end of a pre arranged tour. Sounds like if we allow plenty time we will be fine

Interestingly in Japan I tried two independent operators for trips for two (we were thinking let’s not hold others up on a tour!) and in each case the guide price for identical itineraries were only $25 each less than Azamara and we had to get to the town stations to find them. I cannot blame independent operators but I think many benchmark against the price the ship is charging and only shave a small amount off. So the eye watering $325 each average for 7 hours on Azamara seems to have become the ballpark in Japan

No they no longer want to publish them

Don’t judge if you haven’t tried. It was actually a fantastic fun experience and yes we watched Barbie. Whilst I appreciate some might not enjoy it was after the pool was closed and it was impacting no one. We loved it and we aren’t kids

Given the issues they had with the electrics when changing over Onward to an Atlas Bar I would be very surprised if they risked a transition during such a short dry dock. Many of the cosmetic things people talk about can be completed during sailings and having a rolling programme for in room work when cabins are empty which is what happens at present.

Please no debate on the rights and wrongs of Uber! I will only be in BA a very short time and I have my transfers all booked and charged back to my credit card. However I need to make one return journey to join a tour I’ve booked. I was planning to use Uber and not to exchange currency. I’ve read elsewhere that drivers aren’t doing Uber pick ups from hotels and weirdly (didn’t think this was possible) Uber drivers contacting bookers asking if it’s a card payment and cancelling the ride when told yes (makes no sense to me) Anyway what is cruisers recent experience (especially post devaluation of the currency) about using Uber in BA? Did you find it hard to get a ride?

All online safety advice from cruise lines and other bodies is never to share room details. That is the highest risk piece of information you can divulge. You know nothing about the person, it’s sad but there are some not nice people out there, some claim to be a different gender to trap the unsuspecting. (I’m NOT saying that’s happening to the poster but they maybe don’t fully appreciate the risks.). Sadly things are very different from 20 years ago We had an issue on an early cruise on another line, it was sad. Naively I’d filled in one of those spread sheets people set up and added our room number. We happened to be in a big suite. A cruiser, who was sadly lonely, kept coming to our door and another one rang twice wanting to come and see our room. Probably both harmless and I was cruising with my partner so slightly less risk but from then on I never give my room number to anyone until I’ve met them in person and decided if I want to share or not. If I’ve excursions planned I share my surname- Azamara guest relations are excellent at passing messages on. I am also vague about where I live and will never allow my email address to go on google docs or whatever which is very insecure and can be accessed by those with more evil intent. Call me over cautious, but I’ve read too much and probably been on too many Safeguarding/ Online Safety training programs (including a whole day last week) and there is a lot of consequences of information sharing others may not realise. I think @excitedofharpenden was right to flag up his advice and whilst the OP is happy with the risks, others may reflect as a result.

We too had an issue when Explora cancelled their inaugural less than three weeks. They sent the email to a junk mass box which was ridiculous for something so critical. The resolution was extremely poor. Don’t expect much. What bothers me most now is they don’t seem to have learned any lessons based on your experience Good luck in getting it a fair outcome and a great replacement holiday

I was about to say the same Phil. It’s a perfect travelogue in my mind and I love how you are focusing on your ports of call. Your photos are also excellent.

I’m also finding that the Tours by Locals tours in Japan are very much geared to very fit folks with an awful lot happening (I know some will customise them). Azamara tours do appear to have more coach travel rather than public transport which will impact on costs. However to survive the Japan intensive marathon we will look to dodge the sprints and accept some of the Azamara prices.

Sadly it may be correct. I was looking at what they were charging in Edinburgh this summer out of curiosity. Incredible high prices not sure why maybe they’re trying this as a route for revenue (and a way to drain off people’s OBC quickly). I need to set up a one day ships excursion business in Edinburgh to pay for some ships excursions in Japan 😀

Yes you are correct. I’ve not had the email for my April cruise but it’s almost sold out so not surprised.

Yes you can, I have done that before

Great to hear that - my calls tend to bounce to Wichita and from the background noise today the lady was in a call centre whereas some of the other less good ones sound much more home workers (eg dog noise). Now we just need them to get consistency as the good experiences are indeed good

An update And Azamara - you HAVE to get a grip on your call centre agents! Overnight some OBC for another cruise in April disappeared - a systems issue I have now discovered (cruiser beware they are still having issues!!!!) I called back and got a really great agent who solved the issue AND offered to send me my cruise booklet for that April cruise. Once we have concluded that I asked about the cruise in two weeks time, any chance I could have that booklet and the paperwork which I had been downright and abruptly refused yesterday but told I would be denied boarding if I did not have it. The response was - Yes sometimes these are going astray to agents Of course you can have it, we can always send you those things, we just cannot send you items to do with payments (which I totally get!) And before the call was over I had two Guest Ticket Booklets!! So different call completely different and very acceptable experience from Hayley. Her tone was one that I did not feel I had awoken from her slumbers even though she was US based. It was like Azamara of old. But until they get consistency they are going to struggle and you get the sense they are not tackling non performance and are retaining people because a warm body is better than no body.

The entertainment is their very weak spot. However their entertainment manager left during our cruise and we heard more changes were afoot. They are trying to do shows with two pretty average singers who don’t even know their material enough to not have their iPads with them on stage. That model doesn’t work. We had two very good guest entertainers but as piano players they were rather similar to the other evening offerings. It needed much more variety The piano players are very good but the scheduling of their sessions vs bar hours was lunatic but that might have been an entertainment manager issue. If you’re prepared to be flexible and make your own entertainment some of the time it’s fine but our experience was very much 3/10 in the survey compared to other lines

Yes I can do that too. My point (that I didn’t make too well 😀) is that’s fine if you know to do that or are someone who is comfortable playing around with IT but many are not and they are losing out. It reflects badly on a destination line Their IT is still in trouble (or is it their agent competence). Yesterday I jumped through hoops to use OBC for excursions for my cruise in two weeks time. I’ve logged in today and I find my OBC balance for both that cruise and my cruise in five weeks time has been reduced (they are on separate ships so no logic in what’s happened) So I’ve got to waste time again today listening to nauseating marketing bumph whilst they put me on hold to fix the issue. (Sorry pet hate, give me music not marketing I’m already booked etc) Rant over

Our cruise in five weeks time still says Excursions coming soon. I wonder how many bookings they are losing because of this!

I chased mine today although it clearly says on the website you only need to turn up with your booking ID number and passport. However, I had to make a call to Azamara today to pay for excursions and I thought I would just confirm that booking ID number and passport was fine and to reconfirm the port address. And I am told by the agent "no Ma'am you need the boarding pass, without it you may be denied boarding" So I play along "what if I do not get one in time after all I am flying a long way to get there and the website makes no reference to needing the boarding pass "you many be denied boarding" Oh well, for once I am hoping (and believing) the website is up to date!! And whilst on the subject of bonkers communication - you book and pay for two excursions but you cannot (as you used to be able to) have any communication sent to you confirming your booking or payment - that has to be sent to your travel agent and you have to hope they send it to you. Little US agencies might be very happy doing that but larger UK High Street agents are going to be inundated with communications and have to work out what belongs to who I expect. (Looking at the email address on my booking confirmation its a catch all central box, not a personal box) Right now I would rather they got functioning communication that works for guests rather than a new ship!!!!

It’s well overdue coming off pre order and being offered on the Aqualina menu to everyone. 😀

You do not need any package for cocktails- it just depends what cocktail you want whether it is included or not.

Is it back on the menu- great news if it is!

You can ask shoreside to start the process however it’s sometimes hard getting through to the right people. I would call up indicate you want to arrange a private land discoveries experience and take it from there. Be ready for a near four figure sum though!

The concierge can indeed make arrangements for you onshore. The cost of what they source will be high but it would be a nice way to blow OBC.