blag

Nahhh! Makes no difference. We always take a suite. Never seen cookies! Maybe bottles of water at some ports, but the provision is by no means consistent.

Really? I have taken at least 7 cruises with Azamara, and I have never seen cookies and drinks in any terminal following check-in. However, on one occasion in particular, in Dubai, I do recall slowly shuffling along in a long line in a sweltering building. There was no seating available, and no refreshments of any kind. We stood in that environment for at least 45 minutes, in the priority line. When we eventually reached the head of the line, there was a problem with the scanner the agent was using, which reduced the number of viable desks to one, and the selfish, boorish guest took it upon himself to engage the operative in a one-sided 5-minute 'conversation' about his flight to Dubai.

Thankyou.

I'd be grateful if you could explain in detail what the contact at head office did to resolve the problem.

I am with you 100% on that. But it doesn't matter too much in which you are, you can order from either menu. I often have the refreshing melon and tomato starter from Aqualina whilst in Prime C!

Ah, well, strike that theory!

Just musing... Have we got sufficient data to be able to determine what price is being charged on each ship? I have a feeling that the higher price is being charged on one ship only. If that ship is the Onward, perhaps the higher price is explained by the additional number of suites on Onward, so as to limit demand/disappointment. Alternatively, maybe Azamara are trialling the higher price(s) so as to measure response.

It seems that - maybe - the pricing is not consistent fleet-wide.

Pray that the Danube is navigable... Continental Europe has had a very dry winter.

https://www.azamara.com/it/home/why-azamara

Azamara does not charge extra for all guests. For example, all those in a suite, specialty dining is included.

Why?

Can you change your booking without penalty or forfeit? If you stick with the P3 the location of the laundry is probably irrelevant. And in any case, I would avoid a room near the laundry (noise).

Good news. Thanks. On our next cruise in April we will be trying to use our 6 free nights against a 7-night cruise in the Med in August. The OBC will be very welcome.

Did you get any OBC?

Exactly!

But... I think that cruises from the east or north are unlikely to transit countries which are on that list.

All of this assumes that there are any excursions showing for the future cruise! We booked a cruise for April 2024 whilst onboard in Feb/March 2023. No excursions were listed for the future cruise!

If any... I know I 'opened the door', but please let's not start a debate about the risks from, or side-effects of, vaccines.

What makes you say that they wouldn't accept this? Plus... SA is only insists on YF Certificates if you have recently been to country where YF is endemic. We flew in from London last February and were not asked for our YF certificates on landing. Azamara were also somewhat disorganised about checking vaccination certificates on embarkation, and later during the cruise. On the Cape Town to Lisbon cruise (Feb/Mar 2023) there were guests who were not asked for Certification, there were those with forged Certificates, and there were those who were not allowed to leave the ship at at least one port-of-call.

I am wondering what vaccinations are likely to be a problem. I know that South Africa is strict about their Yellow Fever policy, but if the cruises are travelling westwards, this may not be an issue, because the South Africa Yellow Fever vaccination requirement applies only if one is travelling from a country where Yellow Fever is endemic. I realise that as one progress northwards along the western side of Africa, there are other countries that prohibit entry to those without YF Certificates. Of course, it is true to say than any other World Cruise faces the same issues, and one would expect that they have solutions to the vaccination issues. Azamara, surely, should be able to organise things... I realise some may not be willing to take the YF vaccine, but I feel that this is best left to another thread.

We always take a suite. We have never been denied a table in Specialty Dining, but we prefer to eat early (6:30 pm). Once or twice in nearly 100 nights we have had to accept a later booking. If you are keen on attending the shows, timing of your reservations needs to be carefully judged. Experience shows that relying on your butler may not be the best policy. We have found that getting to the reservations desk in person as early as possible can usually guarantee a table at your preferred time. But, be sure to factor in the White Night...

I doubt that Venice will relax the current restrictions. Overcrowding and environmental reasons are not likely to diminish. The Port Authority is probably the most definitive source of information. For one, I would not rely on Azamara or a TA.

The wines do not change on the cruise unless there are shortages. Yes they check which package you have, when ordering something not included in the standard package. You will be asked to present your room key card. I think that suites include a small selection of spirits, but (AFAIK) this in not included in your category. The line for Mosaic: it depends on what time you go, but I have never seen a queue. Maybe two or three waiting, maximum. There is a drinks station in Windows.

Digressing! The history of IPA is not necessarily as simple as it might seem. Although much of British beer was not 'hopped' in the 18th and 19th centuries, the preservative properties of hops were known and used in beers for many* years before IPA. In fact, IPA was a designation of a type of beer that had existed for decades before. *The Belgians were using hops in beers a millennium earlier.