Savoyard

DW has a work conflict (she works weekends). Otherwise we'd love to spend more time in Dublin. Fortunately we have an overnight onboard and a second day.

Thanks! If boarding is at 2 rather than 6, it's more in line with what we're used to. And thanks for the link to the roll call. I thought I had checked and not found one, but that may have been for a different cruise when I was shopping.

Just booked the Ireland Intensive Voyage on Pursuit next June 13-24, leaving from Dublin and ending in Southampton... our 8th cruise and our first on Azamara. I have some questions: 1. Does Azamara sell ground transfers between airport and ship in Dublin and Southampton/London? I don't see any information on their website. There's a shore excursion on the 24th that goes to Stonehenge and then to LHR (requiring an evening flight), but I don't see any straight transfers. If they don't sell them, do you have a favorite means of transport, particularly from Southampton to LHR or LGW? 2. Most Boston-Dublin flights arrive in the morning. I think I read that boarding isn't until 6 pm on the first day, though I can't find it now. Does anyone have experience or advice on this scenario, where there's lots of time between flight and boarding? Do we go straight to the pier and sit? If not, what do we do with our bags? Granted, #2 may be more appropriate to post in the Ports forum. But since #1 is Azamara-specific, I thought I'd give you a chance to weigh in on #2.

I'm looking at an 11-night cruise on Azamara Pursuit, starting June 13, from Dublin to Southampton with 7 ports of call in the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland: Warrenpoint, Belfast (overnight), Londonderry, Donegal, Galway, Foynes, and Cobh/Cork. It also includes an overnight aboard ship in Dublin before sailing. I've never been on Azamara, but they get excellent reviews. Their current promotion includes a balcony for the price of an inside and $1,000/cabin of OBC.

Like dreams_of_travel, I don't know what they did in drydock as this was my first time on the Crown. I will say that the engines seemed to be functioning normally. Service was generally excellent. Cabin housekeeping and waiter service were exemplary. In the buffet, our free beverages were fetched about half the time; no one seemed to mind when we fetched our own. There was one customer service snag: US Customs took place in San Francisco due to our having missed Astoria. We were assigned a 10 a.m. slot, which would have interfered with our attending church in the City. I went to the front desk the night before to request a change, and the clerk was adamant that we couldn't show up till 10 (I think -- she had a heavy accent). In the morning, repeated PA announcements said they were ahead of schedule and anyone could come at any time -- so it was much ado about nothing. The Michelangelo dining room was closed (obviously due to sailing 2/3 full), and the Salty Dog Gastropub, which appears to be a pop-up inside the Wheelhouse Bar, never popped up. Other than that, I didn't notice any discrepancies between the deck plans and reality. One pool and some of the hot tubs were empty. Due to weather, I didn't see anyone in the pool, but a few folks used the hot tubs. I think the poolside burger and pizza stalls were open, weather permitting. I think the empty cabins were primarily insides. In our hallway, most of the inside cabins had no passenger names on their screens. Also, I checked a couple of days before we sailed, and balconies and up were showing sold out, but insides were being offered at $329 pp and oceanviews at $399.

DW and I were on the Crown, Vancouver to LA, this past Nov. 2-9. We're retirement age, infrequent cruisers. This was our first Princess cruise and our first cruise since pre-Covid times. First off, I got Covid. I'm hoping it's OK to mention this; apparently a similar thread got deleted while I was in the middle of reading it. I'm hoping no one jumps on this to debate the merits of cruising, various approaches to Covid, etc. I'm just stating the facts. We heard, at about the time we booked, that Princess had dispensed with all vaccine and testing requirements; we were not overjoyed to hear this. We planned to mask up while indoors except in our cabin, and to take our meals in the buffet, masking while serving ourselves then finding an isolated table. The latter was easy, but the food wasn't great: Hot food came off the steam table at room temperature. After a couple of tries we gave up and took dinner in an MDR at shared tables (the only way to get seated immediately). We disembarked Wednesday; I tested positive Saturday morning. I was able to go on Paxlovid immediately, and my symptoms have equaled those of a common cold that progresses quickly. DW has cold symptoms but has repeatedly tested negative. Other matters: We sailed with 2090 passengers, and the crowding/lack of same felt about right (we're used to 2000-pax ships). Our cabin (standard balcony, Aloha deck 12, port side, aft) was in excellent repair and very clean. We missed Astoria, OR due to weather. In the other ports (Victoria, San Francisco, Santa Barbara) we mostly walked by the water and ate in local cheap places. Feel free to ask questions about the ship and the cruise. We didn't take in much entertainment -- one production show, Encore, which was good if over-miked.