BillC

The only option currently available for US citizens is the 6 month version.

You'll save about 50% by booking hotel rooms on your own.

The ship can not obtain an Indian visa for you. From experience it is a very onerous and expensive process in the US, and having just checked the India Visa website it appears to be the same for you.

I first met this fantastic person on our first Azamara voyage ( the Quest's 24 day voyage in 2007 from Athens to Singapore ) and have had the privilege to sail with her many times since then on the Journey. She embodies the "heart and soul" of Azamara and is a true professional making sure that your Azamara experience is the best possible.

Congrats on 15 years and I wish you many more!

When I last saw him in September he did talk about retiring and starting a business at home, but he did say that he see us in January on the Antarctica cruise. Many of the crew took him out for a very late night on the town the last evening that he was on board. From the feedback a good time was had by all. He is called "Papa"by many of the crew on board, and has consistently taken new crew members under his wing.He has certainly not slowed up and his mind and sense of humor is as keen as ever.

We are Discoverer Plus level and did receive the 7% discount for the bookings we made while on the Journey last month. I agree that the discount is only applied for bookings made while on board.

For those interested check Cynthia Wolff and Juliana's Facebook pages. When we were on Journey in September Tiago asked many of the staff to sign a wedding card, which we gave to her last night. A picture of it is on Cynthia Wolff's Facebook page.

It's a beautiful day in Vegas this morning. The ceremony is at 7 PM tonight!

Juliana and Chris were married earlier this year at his parents home outside of Vancouver. Chris is now working with his father, very busily involved in their construction business, primarily building homes in Fort St. John, BC. The wedding was a small family affair. This week's festivities are to allow their many friends and relatives to join in this joyous celebration.

Juliana is now the Director of Sales for Crystal Cruises and is responsible for sales in Latin and South America, as well as Bermuda. She misses her many friends at Azamara, both her fellow employees and clients.

It really depends on where you are and what sattelite service is available to the ship, as well aswhat they have subscribed to. Several years ago I believe they had gotten a questionable ( but I'm not complaining! ) service for the Super Bowl, but it was only in Spanish, and when the commercials were on theree was no signal, at all. They did go all out to provide a continuous buffet service in all the venues on he ship.

I would suggest that you search out one of the audiovisual staff and find out what will be shown. The Activities Manager should also know.

Thanks for posting Phil. We got off in Barcelona the day they were lifting the 9 containers on to the pool deck. It really enhances the look and feel of the Journey.

We are currently at the Mirage in Las Vegas and will be participating in the Wedding Ceremony tomorrow of Juliana Meyers and Chris Schmidt. There are over 50 people here from Brazil, Canada and the US. The party started yesterday and everyone is having a great time. Just another instance of how the Azamara Family can easily become part of your extended family.

We have done this itinerary 3 times on the Journey and greatly enjoyed each one. It is a very magical and expensive country to visit, but well worth it. Would probably go back again if it fits into our travel plans since we have " family " ( 2 exchange students ) who both live in Tromso.

It is ffor bookings made between 10/1/14 and 12/15/14. I priced it out against our current bookings and the price difference is negigble from the BOGOHO offer expiring today.

Sorry to take issue, but on balance the new LCV program is a much better one for us. Getting a 7% discount more than pays for "free" internet ( which we seldom used completely) and "free laundry" (of which we almost never took advantage) since we enjoy the social scene in the laundry room. Although Azamara announced the new program poorly for us as Diccover Plus members the benefits are better financially.

Haven't been posting for a while since we just did a wonderful B2B from Southampton to Barcelona, and then 4 frenetic days in glorious Madrid.

I totally agree that the way that the LCV announcement was handled was extremely poor messaging. Announcing what is being taken away and not emphasizing the new benefits was awful.

As a Discover plus member the 7% discount far surpasses the value of free internet and laundry. The on board laundry is adequate for us, and we seldom used the 1 or 2 free ship's laundry coupons that we received. We also have never used up our internet minutes, and although we will purchase packages at a discounted rate, we will continue to use them for both personal email and business uses. I expect that system performance will improve since there will be fewer users on the system, causing usage to drop.

Agree that the cancel fee for bookings is $25 per person, no matter where you made the booking. What may be confusing is that if you purchase a Passages certificate while on board it lasts until you use it. It can not be cashed in. When you decide to use the Passages certificate the booking number will be the same as the Passages number. After a few days your record will show the on board booking credit. If you decide to cancel this booking there is no penalty fee charged and the Passages certificate remains in effect.

The US operation was quietly closed down several months ago and the operation was switched to Guatemala. I am not aware that any announcement was made about this change. I am amused that many of the comments on this thread recommend only using a travel agent to interface on your behalf with the call center, since I am a travel agent, and call many times per week.

We are Pepsi bigots too, but have learned to tolerate Diet Coke, which is always available and Coke Zero, which seems to be available on about half of the cruise we've taken.Since my wife doesn not drinl coffee or tea we start the day with a diet, but you can usually find us at the Mast Bar for bloodies at 11 AM! Life is full of sacrifices!

In the US bookings are automatically cancelled if the required deposit is not made in time. As it relates to final payment, the agency is sent an electronic message ( either email or fax, depending on the option that the agency specified in its profile with Azamara ) advising that the final payment has not been made. It is up to the agency to react to this warning and make the payment.

I emailed Azamara Customer Service several days ago and just got a response that we will definitely be leaving Nantes at 4 PM on 24 August. As far as I'm concerned I'm going with that and researching what to do that day. It certainly would have helped all of us if this had been correcyed and published sooner.

On our recent North Cape cruise both Heike and Johannes mentioned in separate Q&A sessions that the fire on the Quest cost Azamara $17 million (US$) and that was what significantly changed the scope of improvements during the planned dry docks.

Rather than any of these options Azamara should reset its pricing algorithm and reduce the overall costs of all cruises. It seem we have had a non-ending series of promotions and many have been extended multiple times.

Sparkling wine is not included as a comp beverage. If it's important to you buy a case of champagne right before you get on the ship. The ship personnel will gladly carry it on for you. No reason to hide any alcohol. Azamara could care less. The bartenders and waitstaff learn you likes very quickly and will set aside your favorites, or go fetch additional bottles. Also you can purchase a package of bottles of your favorite wines at a very good discount, that you can have served in any bar, or restaurant, or give you a bottle to bring to your room. I've not tested it but I think if you tried you could get drinks with breakfast. The pool bar usually opens around 10 AM, a perfect time for good Bloody Marys .

Enjoy your cruise!

So happy to see that Johannes will be on the 6/14/14 Northern Cape Cruise. This will be our 3rd fjord cruise with him, including his 1st Azamara cruise as captain. Also,very pleased to see tha Fabio will obviously be on the 1/10/15 Antarctica cruise since we enjoy both his cooking and personality so much. It's been too long since we sailed with Eric and Heike so the Northern Cape cruis will seem like a reunion.

There usually is about a half hour of dancing in the theater before the show. The ship's orchestra provides the music and the ballroom dance couple tries to get people to join in the dancing.

On deck 10 there is a small track to walk , or run on. It takes 13 laps for a mile. You might do better in the gym, which has nice equipment for this size ship.

We'va ttended 6 so far and it's about a 50 / 50 success rate. A lot has to do with the venue, and whether they try to serve a sit down dinner usually resulting in a less than satisfactory experience. The officers and crew really go all out to make it as pleasurable as possible. Dinner is served in both the MDR and buffet before the event and usually there is food, drinks and desserts in a location like the Looking Glass after you return. Heike makes some mean crepes suzette!

The last 2 times we were there with Azamara there was no provided shuttle service. We did take the do it yourself excursion last September since we took the ship's tour of the city the previous time there. There were many taxis waiting where the tenders dropped you off. I did inquire and was told that due to a strong union shuttles were not an option. The town at the top of the hill is about a 20 minute drive, and although "touristy" there are some very nice shops and restaurants off the main street. It's compact enough to cover it in a few hours.