vino123

Thanks for the comments.

I have to say although this will be our first Regent cruise we have done holiday cruises on other lines and I agree they can be a very different demographic to regular cruises.

We had 3 noisy teenagers in a cabin next door to us on an Azamara Christmas cruise some years back, fortunately we were able to change cabins early on. Last year we did a Christmas and New year again on Azamara and there were not many kids at all. On Celebrity we found there were large extended family groups who by day 3 had started to fall out with each other so I guess its the luck of the draw.

Its sad how just a small number of people can spoil things for others by their inconsiderate behaviour.

Thanks for the replies so far. 

We are not over the top Christmas people so I'm not too worried as long as we have good food and festive decor.

Hopefully they will put on a good party for new years eve.

Hi

We are very excited to be taking our first Regent cruise this Christmas on the Navigator.

Can anyone tell me what special things they do for Christmas and New Years eve?

Many thanks

Hi Pete and Val, 

Yes we are in the same situation. I booked a Silver Junior suite on the May 4th cruise as we enjoyed dining in Coastal Kitchen on the Ovation and we wrongly now it seems assumed we would be having our meals in the Silver dining area. I  e mailed Royals customer service when I saw on our cruise docs we had been assigned main dining at 8pm.

They eventually replied that on the non Chinese cruises there will be no Silver or Gold dining and we will be in the main dining room. I forwarded the info to my travel agent who got conflicting information from different departments from Royal after being on hold for ages, She suggested I e mailed the executive office mbayley@rccl.com with my concerns which I did on Monday but so far have not received a reply. 

I am very disappointed about this although I expect  folks who paid a lot of money for the Golden suites will be even more annoyed. 

This video was taken from the ship. Hopefully it will clarify how near we were to the fireworks. I thought we had pretty decent view. 

It sounds like if the weather co operates it would be a wonderful unique experience. Knowing our luck it would be blowing a gale or raining!

Will definitely consider it for our Australia cruise over Christmas. Fingers crossed the weather is favourable! 

Yes that would be an acceptable alternative. We would happily accept an Azamazing Evening in Sydney as a solution to the New years eve situation.

Sadly it's been over a week since I e mailed the UK MD Richard Twynham and have not had a response which is surprising as he is usually prompt at replying.

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I also e mailed Mr Twynam 5 days ago. Still awaiting a response.

Completely agree on the misrepresentation act.

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Isn't the top 18 adults only? That's a reason right there!

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Thanks for the info. Eager to get on board as soon as we can and make the most of it!

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We are boarding the Meraviglia in Genoa on Oct 6th. Just got my tickets and the check in time is listed as 15.25 for a 18.00 departure.

We are Yacht Club and was planning to arrive at the port at around mid day. Would we be able to embark if we arrived before our allocated time?

I did the same. I picked the date and time and my reservation doesn't show either of them.

What's the point of allowing you to choose if that's not the case?

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Just got off in Marsailles Friday- Taxi from port to airport was 47 euros. It was easy, taxis go right to the terminal, you just go right inside and check in your bags, then upstairs to wait for the boarding process which is pretty quick!

Thanks for that info. We will disembark the Meraviglia in Marseilles in October and I have pre booked a private transfer to the airport for 47.50 Euro. Maybe it will be better just to grab a taxi when we are ready to go rather than wait for a pre arranged time.

Was the 47 euros a metered fare or a set price?

Thanks for the replies. We'll go for the taxi!

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Looking for advice regarding taxis at Perth Airport.

After a long flight arriving early evening on a weekday would we be better off paying a premium for a pre booked car to take us to our Fremantle hotel or are taxis readily available?

Thanks

Hi just checked the voyage planner for our cruise and the Azamazing evening is available to book.....

However it isn't in Adelaide it's in Hobart : A night with the Tasmanian symphony orchestra.

Personally the Adelaide one sounded more our thing so I'm a little disappointed but there you are.

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Thanks I was leaning towards the later flight and your thinking has confirmed my decision!

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Hi

We will disembark the Meraviglia in Marseille. The ship is scheduled to dock at 12.00pm.

a couple of questions:

What do MSC charge for a transfer to the airport?

Also I have the choice of a 14.30 flight or 17.25 departure. Would prefer the earlier flight rather than hanging round the airport but thinking maybe I should play it safe and book the later flight?

Would love some advice!

Hi

We will be disembarking our MSC cruise in Marseilles. The ship is scheduled to dock at 12.00pm.

I can get a flight out of Marseilles at 2.30pm or 5.25pm .

Should I play it safe and get the later flight?

Just received a reply from Mr Twynam. very impressed with the speed of the response and hopefully this will allay some concerns:

Sincere thanks for emailing me. Allow me to update you on the position around the Sydney Fireworks. There are 3 mooring spots in Sydney, the most iconic being Circular Quay, right next to the Opera House. This docking area is closed by the authorities to cruise ships on New Years Eve. The next best option is White Bay which is where Azamara will be docked. From there you are able to see the fireworks from the top of the Harbour Bridge. In addition on the eastern and western side of the harbour bridges are mutliple floating barges which are used for fireworks on new years eve as well. And from White Bay the Western Barges fireworks are visible too.

In addition, we are working hard on how else we can make New Years eve in Sydney even more special for our guests. This will include providing guests options of onshore vantage points to watch the fireworks from. We believe it will indeed be a truly special evening for our cruise guests.

I am delighted to confirm that there definitely be an Azamazing Evening for your cruise. The evenings we have done so far in Australia and New Zealand have been some of the highest rated ones we have ever done, and I am confident this will be repeated on your cruise.

Wow! Thanks for finding that info Phil.

Although they have the voyage name wrong at the bottom of the description (we don't go to NZ) the link does go to our cruise. It's not listed in the excursions yet but looks promising!

Now just need to get a reply back from Mr Twynham to clarify the new years eve situation!

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Thanks Tazza for that info its very helpful.

I'm sure it will still be a wonderful cruise and we too also have paid for non refundable flights do we are going no matter what.

However that still does not excuse the way Azamara has marketed this cruise.

I am disappointed to see they have now changed the description on the website. Thanks for bringing that to my attention Elterwater.

I hope you get a response from Azamara soon.

I think I will send Mr Twynham an email myself and let him know my feelings on this too.

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We are also on the New Years eve in Sydney cruise.

I agree with the comments by Elterwater2 that it was marketed at being in the heart of the action and was the main reason we chose this cruise.

We also booked it well over a year ago.

I will be very interested to read any response from Azamara regarding the arrangements for viewing the nye fireworks.

I certainly do not see why we should go to the additional expense of booking our own harbour tour when the ship is supposed to be the vantage point.

That really is supposed to be the main highlight of the cruise hence the title of the voyage!

Maybe they should change it to "New years eve in White Bay container port "

Doesn't have quite the same appeal !

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Interesting as we just disembarked a cruise in Miami and we didn't have to go through immigration either much to our pleasant surprise.

It was a round trip from Miami and we visited St Thomas but our last port was Aruba.

Our friends who we were travelling with also said they didn't have to clear immigration in Miami when they cruised in Oct either

Wonder if it's something new?

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MSC wooed me with the Yacht club!

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