Communik8r

On 3/27/2022 at 10:06 AM, lafroh said:

Does anyone have any experience with the Colosseum Corner Hotel in Rome.  We are cruising in Oct of 2022 and looking at staying there for two days pre cruise?

We also have reservations there as well after our cruise around Italy in April 2023.  

I'm a bit concerned that the restaurants close by will be the "tourist traps" and that we will have to dodge the gladiators and rose/bracelet pushers every time we walk out. I've also seen that the area can be a bit deserted in the evenings.  Not sure if these are valid concerns or not.

On the positive, it looks great for a night tour of the Colosseum and the rooftop dining area.  Not to mention the metro stop being very close.

Have you received any other feedback?

OK, so I called Azamara and then T-Mobile and here is the deal for T-Mobile users:

When in port, your normal cellular services apply.  With my T-Mobile ONE, Canada and Alaska are treated the same as the Continental 48.  When at sea, the ships Cellular service takes over.  Someone in another forum stated that is 12 miles out.

I verified that Azamara does in fact use "Cell at Sea" .  Azamara doesn't control the cell service, it is done by your cell phone provider.  From the T-Mobile rep -  you can not opt out of any Cell at Sea service, but they don't support cellular data.

For T-Mobile users, at least they don't do Data over Cell so no accidental charges there, but their voice calls are $5.99 a minute incoming or outgoing.  Yikes!  Incoming SMS Texts don't cost anything, but sending SMS does.  Unanswered calls are not charged, so let it go to voicemail and turn off that ringer.

@ MNGardens - Azamara will block voice over WiFi and VPN access, so that won't help. No calls over the internet.

Here are the charges from T-Mobile.

On 5/24/2019 at 10:23 AM, alexandermaximo said:

 

So, I contacted my Azamara customer service by email asking them to add the AMEX Platinum benefit to my reservation and they said its ONLY valid if I use an authorized TA, not when I book directly with Azamara.  Here is their response:

 

"The American Xpress benefit is eligible for reservations made through authorized travel agencies. Those agencies must provide Azamara a tracking number provided by AMEX in order for the benefits to apply. Sadly, per the terms and conditions I am able to view it seems booking directly disqualifies reservation for this benefit. I am sorry for any disappointment this may cause but should you have any further questions feel free to let me know!"

Sorry about that!  Probably too last to switch to a travel agent and get the deal unless you have not paid your final payment yet.

Hi, I've searched the forum, but I don't see any comments about cell phone service.  We will be doing the Alaska cruise and have two questions.

First, does Azamara have any type of "Cell at Sea" service that we should be aware of?  I don't want any surprises because I forgot to put my phone in airplane mode after we leave port. 

Second, other than when in port, can we get cell service from land on the inside passage of Alaska while cruising? I'm not sure how far out to sea we are and if the cell service can reach.  We are on T-Mobile, which partners with GCI, the local telco in Alaska.

Maybe nobody knows because the Quest has not been in the inside passage yet, and from what I hear, Alaska is a one and done year for Azamara.  It is currently in Kodiak, according to this website:

https://*****/ships-position-azamara-quest

Thanks!

Michael

3 minutes ago, alexandermaximo said:

 

Hi, do you know if we have to use a TA?  I recently booked directly with Azamara in the US and paid with my AMEX Platinum, and have not sailed yet.  Wonder if I can apply the benefit?

You do not have to use a TA.  Call Azamara and tell them to get you the AmEx Platinum benefits.  Check out PSULions's post above for the details of Azamara's AmEx benefits.  Note it has to be a Platinum and not a partnered, like Delta Airlines Platinum.  Morgan Stanley, Schwab or other financial partners works, but "Points" like Delta or Marriott don't.

27 minutes ago, PSULion said:

I have read you can have a (helpful)  travel agent "re-pay" your deposit with the AMEX Platinum card and request the benefit. Not sure if you are aware, but the annual fee is $550, albeit with a host of benefits that substantially offset the cost, and includes many airport lounges. John R.

I was able to do that on a recent Windstar cruise and received the AmEx extras, OBC - Champaign and some choc covered strawberrys, but Windstar charged a $50 change fee.

We have not sailed yet, but have booked and payed with the Platinum card and have received the OBC.  You must make sure the travel agent is approved by AmEx. Even then, some don't want the extra paperwork involved.  Make sure your specific agent will process for you.

We just got off the Star Breeze Panama Canal cruise.  In Colon we docked at Cristobal, but of course that doesn't mean your cruise will.    

Hi, we are on the Star Breeze with a stop in Cartegena on a Friday.  The itinerary says that the ship leaves Cartegena at 11:59PM. All of the Windstar excursions get back to the ship early afternoon.

Does anyone know the actual time we need to be back on board the ship?  On a previous Windstar cruise, the ship stayed in port overnight but we have to be back on board by 5:30 PM

Are there things to do walking distance from the ship and is it safe enough right around the port for a couple or maybe a small group to explore?

Thanks

On 11/25/2018 at 6:07 AM, Alturia said:

We've done this cruise 2x and never saw any whales and didn't see any excursions either from Windstar or third parties for whale watching.

bummer but thanks for letting us know.

In reading about Panama and Costa Rica, December should be a time when humpback whales are migrating off the Pacific coast.

We are on the Star Breeze which will be going from Panama Canal to Costa Rica Dec 16-22 and I cannot find any reference to excursions from Windstar or from other vendors that offer whale watching.

Has anyone seen humpbacks or other whales while on this cruise?  See any from the ship or from any excursions?

Thanks 

Michael

On our Windjammer Barefoot Cruise on the Mandalay, we didn't have a balcony - no one did, but we were allowed to jump off the side of the ship on a couple of occasions! Of course it was a much smaller ship.

Quick update! we made all our scheduled stops, except they docked in Castries on Sunday instead of Pigeon Island. "Operational issues". The docking was a serious letdown, however the remainder of the trip was fantastic. Made all ports, seas calmed down, and got to use the marine dock on Bequia for a few hours. Only rained one time (our Candles night). Snorkeling was OK, but not great. Crew was fantastic! More detailed trip report coming in a few days.

We got two items from Amazon. The first was candied ginger. very strong taste, so we left it at home. The second was Tummydrops Ginger. This was much milder and we used it on our cruise 2 weeks ago. Wife did not get seasick, even with a great deal of side to side motion on the sea days. There was no front to back motion, which is what usually does her in.

The weather has been better this week. Rained a couple of times but seas are not bad. No beach time three days in- but service, food and accommodations are amazing. Reports say beach time Wed thru Friday looking good.

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We arrived in Barbados late last night. About an hour to get thru immigration n customs. Water not too choppy. Windstar seems to be back on scheduled hitting all ports. Waves predicted to be about 2 meters. Keeping our fingers crossed!

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You can't swim on the Bathsheba side (eastern) unless you are a very strong swimmer. Western side is way better for swim/snorkel with some great beaches.

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Sorry u had such a rough trip. Thanks for sharing. Keeping my fingers crossed for the 18th.

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Unfortunately it wasn't just Bequia, it was the beach BBQ on Mayreau too that was missed on the last two cruises. I wonder what they did instead of that signature event. Still got my hopes up that the winds die down this week.

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Thanks for checking. I sure hope the seas calm down next week. This is two or three cruises that have been cut short losing the best part of the trip, Tobago cays n Bequai.

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Here is a screen shot of the route.

Now I'm concerned. anybody know why Wind Star went back to Barbados on Thursday (2 days earlier than the itinerary shows) 2 weeks in a row? Yesterday, it circled around a bit before docking.

Thursday is supposed to be our Beach BBQ and Friday on Bequia!

Been watching MarineTraffic throughout the day and it is showing Wind Star moving in the direction of Bridgetown again two days early. Be interesting to see what LoserCruiser can tell us, did Wind Star go back early, or is Marine Traffic not so accurate. We are on that cruise on the 18th.

Wind Star is back on her regular schedule!

Charter makes a lot of sense. It has been fun watching where the ship stops near each island. Maybe the crew will get some rest before the next few cruises. We are on in about 2 weeks.

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