Ethel6666

It was Sydney to Hong Kong on Onward. We missed 1/2 day in Manila and a whole day and overnight in Hong Kong. Mooloolaba and Airlie Beach were originally scheduled as docked ports when we booked but were actually long tender ports which meant we didn’t have enough time to make our planned travels from Airlie. We didn’t have any noticeable bad weather prior to the fuel issue. We were a bit surprised that the ship didn’t have enough contingency for adverse currents encountered (but of course we don’t claim to have knowledge of the inner workings of cruise ship fuelling).

Hopefully Azamara does a better job of actually delivering on this than they did on our recent cruise. We are just off Onward and had quite a few issues with itinerary changes. First sail away was changed to midnight instead of 6pm, so we missed seeing the harbour in daylight. The first 2 ports were listed in our original itinerary as docked but were actually long tenders. So much less time in port than we’d expected. (And these weren’t last minute changes, locals confirmed that it is not possible for cruise ships to dock in these ports). The next few ports went to plan. The last two ports were scheduled as over night ports. We then heard that the ship had run out of fuel and we had to dock for a day in an unscheduled industrial port where we weren’t allowed off the ship. From there we missed 1.5 days in port. For the first overnight we arrived after 8pm instead of 1pm. And the last port which was meant to be a full day in port and overnight before disembarking arrived on the morning of disembarkation. This was our first Azamara cruise. The service onboard was very good, but we didn’t enjoy the reduced itinerary. We did receive a refund of approximately 10% of our cruise price (as well as of course refunds for missed tours), but for us it didn’t really make up for missing our time in port.

Also a year or so ago, they reduced the cancellation insurance to $20,000. So that made it not very useful for a long trip either.

Thank you Kayena. I originally had a similar thought that the route through Asia might be shortened, but I’m fairly hopeful now that we are so close - surely we would have told by now if there was a significant change. Must be frustrating for those on the later legs waiting to find out.

well hopefully they are not plotting option C as we are boarding tomorrow and expecting to go to Hong Kong! With accommodation and non refundable airfares home booked.

I have a UBank account with a debit card. Worked well in France, Spain, UK, Norway, Japan, both for purchases and getting cash at ATMs. I’ve also used it for online purchases in foreign currency. You get the published visa exchange rate with no transaction fees. I like it because we just send across a few hundred dollars at a time, seems safely separate from our normal banking. Works with Apple Pay, has an app where you can easily notify them of upcoming overseas travel. It was easy to sign up online.

Thanks, yes I could do that, but there isn’t an indication that they’ve been paid for, just the cost. (It looks the same as it did when I added them before I paid I think). Perhaps it’s all fine, but I had thought there might be some sort of confirmation. Just interested to hear from others whether they normally receive any documentation when they book excursions.

I purchased some excursions for our upcoming cruise via the website. Is it normal to receive some sort of receipt or email confirmation? If I log in, I can see them listed. And I have a charge on my credit card. But there’s nothing I could really print out and take with me that says they’re paid for in case of any issues. Thanks.

Thanks for your review Richard, useful info for us as first time Azamara cruisers. I like the pictures of food and menus 🙂 I’ll hope for some Indonesian dishes on the menu for our cruise.

Has anyone done a longer cruise and know whether there’s a need to hustle for bookings for those? We are doing a 21 night cruise and was hoping buy the 3 night package and to just book occasionally as we felt like it as the cruise progressed. I’m not sure how full the cruise is (or how to work that out). I probably won’t do it at all if I have to queue up and hustle on the first day and we are boarding late.

Gosh, if this happened at the port, that’s very poor compensation. I’d be pretty annoyed if it was me, considering the cost of travel to the port, accommodation overnight pre cruise, pet boarding fees, etc. Not to mention inconvenience and waste of time/leave. I hope the passengers affected are able to negotiate a better deal.

I noticed NCL were having a 50% off sale, so thought I’d have a look at Japan cruises. According to the website the original cost of a 12 day cruise for 2 in a balcony guarantee with the ‘free at sea’ package was $28,500, now discounted to over $14000 including taxes. I was surprised by those prices for a mainstream cruise line

We haven’t been to Hong Kong before, so planning on staying a few days before flying home. Fingers crossed for a peaceful trip.

Thank you Marion. The cruise we’re on is part of the world cruise on Onward. Overnight in Sydney, Mooloolaba, Airlie Beach, o/n in Cairns, 2 stops in PNG, Palau, Manila, Hong Kong. So a few places we haven’t been to. I thought reasonably priced at $250 pppn in a balcony cabin as it’s fairly inclusive (with the exception of excursions and wifi).

We’re booked on an Azamara cruise from Sydney to Hong Kong in March - itinerary is important to us and it’s hard to find interesting ones leaving from Australia.