2ndsailing

1 hour ago, Janet&Carl said:

 

Great to hear and your post was the decider for my DH.  He said if you are happy book it.  However, I still have lots of questions.  Can I ask you the ratio of passengers ? . I would like to know how many Americans, English, Canadians, Australians etc.. if you have any idea. We have sailed Onward twice already so I already know about the staff and entertainment etc..

Roughly 50% Americans, rest made up of Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders and Brits. We started with 195 World Cruisers. As you know, segments were also sold.

We were suppose to go through Suez Canal but world events changed that. Segments 8 and 9 were cancelled and the world cruisers were given options to stay and sail around South Africa and receive a large future cruise credit that made those  segments free or leave in Dubai with full refunds or a bigger future cruise credit.

Only 144 stayed and it has been a blast!

On regular azamara cc site "anyone on board" one of our fellow cruisers has been posting photos and comments. You might find that helpful. 

We have a number of former Holland American world cruisers on board and they have said Azamara has become their favourite world cruise ship.

Our Azamara World Cruise included businrss class airfare to Fort Lauderdale and home from Barcelona, one night pre cruise at the JW Mariott and a gala party, some money towards excess luggage, can't remember cost, a large obc around $7,000, some special events and our charter flight to the Taj.

I think they are now giving you money towards those flights instead of booking them, not sure on that. Also we have had great Azamazing Evenings and guest entertainers.

I have to say the food has been outstanding and there has been deck parties, and many special events. 

It has been a fabulous experience. 

5 hours ago, Janet&Carl said:

I think after months and months of debating, adding up new ports vs already been to ports, sea days vs port days we have almost very nearly 😉 made a decision to sail our WC with Azamara.  Lots of considerations including the ambience onboard, but the major one was the ports and not only the new ports we will visit but how long we spend in each port.  MSC was close because of the cost, they included drinks at meal times and shore excursions. Costa had very little time in port, HAL didnt have very many inclusions so everything was extra, Princess had good itinerary going places we want to go but their seaday port day ratio let them down.  Oceania didnt include drinks and Viking was booked out in the category we can afford so its Azamara.   We can no longer afford 2025 due to DH having the past 5 months unemployed and eating into our savings.  This will be a once in a lifetime deal for us so we are pleased to have made the decision.

We are on the Azamara World Cruise now (2024) and it has been fabulous. Azamara chartered a plane and took the World Cruisers to the Taj for the day. No cost to us at all. It was not revealed at thw time I'd booking. Added surprise.

You'll love your world cruise with Azamara.

5 hours ago, aliaschief said:

Today we did a short stay in Port Louis, Mauritius. Basically a fuel stop but we did manage to go ashore for a whirlwind tour. Getting ready to sail for another four days at sea before Port Stanley.

Last night’s dinner under the stars was nice and we enjoyed a couple songs from the Marky’s.

 

 

Bruce its Port Elizabeth not Port Stanley. 

Azamara Onward - April 26 World Voyage repositioning around Africa

Master - Captain Carl Smith back from vacation

Staff Captain - James Brennan

Chief Engineer - Hans Jensen

Hotel Director - Elisabeth Vogel

Human Resources Manager - Lori Scott

Cruise Director - Eric De Gray

Food & Beverage Manager - Iwan Pennings

Executive Chef - Nathan Shijunath

I would pick 8052 over 8054. We stayed in 8054 and there is a crew door opposite. There is some noise from the crew door in the morning. I wouldn't choose that cabin again.

We're on the World cruise and are in 8048. Great location. Occasionally we hear rolling carts on evenings they are setting up pool deck dinners but not an issue for us.

We are on the Azamara Onward World Cruise. It has been fabulous and we're loving the experience. If you go to the Azamara cc page under "currently onboard" or something like that, one of the World Cruise guests has been posting photos and giving lots of information about the extra surprises Azamara is doing. 

1 hour ago, uktog said:

Didn’t Azamara give guidance on this pre cruise? 

Not that I recall. But we asked Azamara last summer how many blank pages we needed in our passports and the world Cruise desk told us we needed 11 blank pages.  Unfortunately a very expensive lesson for the 2 couples that had to leave.

1 hour ago, aliaschief said:

Our Indonesian Rice Table Brunch on Onward today was over the top. Another outstanding meal by our great culinary team.

 

 

It was wonderful

16 hours ago, aliaschief said:

Our Azamazing Evening was last night. We went to the Hobart Music Hall and enjoyed a performance by the Hobart Symphony. A grand evening. 
Today we are leaving the ship and flying to Melbourne. Stay overnight and tomorrow fly to visit Ayer’s Rock. We will rejoin Onward in Sydney.

Yesterday we enjoyed visiting four vineyards and especially enjoyed walking on stable ground without dealing with high seas.

 

Enjoy Ayer's Rock. See you in Sydney when you return. Atlas Bar won't be the same without you.

16 hours ago, Cruizer Diana said:

White Night for Segment #4?

Does anyone know when the White Night will be held for the Auckland-Sydney leg (segment #4)?

Thank you.  Diana

Don't know about segment 4 yet, but segment 3 is scheduled for a sea day, February 13. So not necessarily always a port day.

Just now, cruisingaussies said:

Hello Onward World Cruise passengers!

 

Wondering  if some kind person could help several of us on the 01 March segment Sydney- HKG?  
 

Do you know if we have to organise our own visas for PNG, or does the ship get a blanket visa for all on board?  We’re getting conflicting advice from Azamara and TAS around the world. 

 

Thanks in advance. 

We're on the World Voyage and we had to get our own visas for PNG

Just now, ECCruise said:

Holland and Princess have both announced the changes on their World Cruises which avoid the Red Sea and sail south around Africa.

And Cunard

1 hour ago, Cooper2020 said:

That is encouraging - thank you for taking the time out of your cruise to reply.   I have  always enjoyed the trivia on Azamara and have really enjoyed the food demonstrations in the past so  am looking forward to those.  Yes looking forward to maybe meeting you too onboard the lovely Onward.

I'm sure you'll enjoy your cruise. We are definitely a welcoming group. Many of us have friends and family joining for different segments. As aliaschief has mentioned, we have met many segment passengers who are having a fabulous time.  

We were on the 2018 World Journey for 2 segments and we never felt it was "them" and "us". It was our first Azamara experience and we loved it.

Don't worry, it will be a great cruise. 

1 hour ago, lisiamc said:

@travelberlin, thank you! I just voted. 

@lisiamcMissing you in the Atlas Bar. "Moose" says hello. We're on the World Voyage having a fabulous time.

Segment 2 World Voyage Onward 

Master - Captain Carl Smith

Staff Captain- Daniela Epuras

Chief Engineer - Hans Jensen *suppose to leave in Lima but his replacement had flight issues** might leave in Easter Island

Hotel Director - Elisabeth Vogel ** on for full voyage 

Human Resources Manager - Beth Van Zant ** believe on for full voyage

Cruise Director - Martin Lawson on until Hong Kong when Eric returns (March 22) segment 6

Food and Beverage - Iwan Pennings * full voyage

World Cruise Host - Lee Hetherington *full voyage

Assistant Cruise Director Roy Ryan

3 hours ago, aliaschief said:

It was offered to all guest as advertised in the Insider. It was executed perfectly and I was amazed this morning when I was told it was their first time doing it. Hope they do it again.

Iwan told us last night that they will do another one, probably next segment. Hope so.

5 hours ago, Whitby100 said:

I am wondering if anyone has any info on the itinerary shifts for the autumn 2024 cruises to Egypt and Israel.  I notice that they are no longer showing prices and presume they are making adjustments.  Has anyone booked on these cruises received any information?  Those of you who are more experienced than I, any idea how long before they’ll make decisions?  Announcements? Thanks.

We are booked on the World Voyage 2024. In April we were scheduled for 2 port stops in Israel. We were just notified of an itinerary change for this segment. Israel has been removed and replaced with 2 additional Turkey stops in Alanya and Antalya. As well as adding Rhodes, Greece.

Our ports in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt remain, except for a flip of dates between Aqaba and Sharm El Sheikh.

For those who have just booked this segment, final payment is at the end of December. Hope this helps.

7 minutes ago, SeaDayLvr said:

That is so good to know.  Thank you!!   Did you get your insurance through Azamara or on your own?

We did trip cancellation through Azamara. We didn't need medical as we have our own plan. There was a group plan for the world cruisers. We're Canadian and it took months for the insurance company to give us the details (long after the US package became available) our TA priced a private company and what Azamara offered was a better price.

Which world cruise are you booked on?

1 hour ago, SeaDayLvr said:

Hi,

 

Booking a world cruise (all segments) onboard, would you recommend keeping this booking with Azamara or transferring to our travel agent?  We always use our travel agent but the world cruise is quite involved, and we wonder if it’s best to leave it with Azamara?   Can any world cruisers share their thoughts on this?  Thanks in advance.  

We are on the 2024 world cruise and I couldn't imagine not having our Travel Agent handling it. 

Yes, no tourist visas yet, but this might be a hopeful sign?  Hopefully.

40 minutes ago, At7Seas said:

 

Yes, you name a lot of included items. The price as quoted on their website starts at 64,788.29 € for the cheapest available cabin single occupation in 2025 (2024 is no longer available). It is simple to do the maths how much the included items cost elsewhere to compare. I know what I will pay for my 2024 world cruise and Azamara is still extremely expensive! Remains the question, whether it is worth for you to pay so much more.

All true. There is a world cruise to suit everyone. 

24 minutes ago, rtdiva said:

HAL has musical entertainment of all sorts that practically suits anyones style. We would have preferred her for 2024 WC but the itinerary was one we’ve sailed before. Cunard is naturally heavy on British lectures etc. A tea pot with cookies is a lovely addition to have in the cabin for a morning wake up. However for my taste a few Mexican & Asian not Indian offerings on the MDR menu would have helped with the blandness, or maybe my tastebuds have lingering effects of Covid. Seems like many lines serve well plated meals but are bland. Cunards passengers have interesting stories, some we have kept in touch with. HALs passengers are more relaxed, less dressy, still friendly. The ships handle the seas well. The wait staff are well trained. Perhaps the age range is older.

 

Azamaras 2024 WC has a great itinerary, but is too pricey for my wallet. However it is nice not to have to pull out the ships card for everything. 

When considering Azamara price point you have to remember what is included compared to other WC pricing. For example business class airfare, hotel and gala night before we board, premium beverage package, wifi,  and they have chartered a plane and are taking the world cruisers to the Taj Mahal for the day. This was not part of the original package and there is no additional cost to us. 

This will be our first world cruise, although we have done many long cruises, and we're looking forward to it.

4 minutes ago, excitedofharpenden said:

I'm guessing that a guest with clout staying in the big suite complained loudly and got a change of chair. Wonder if they are in every large suite?

 

Phil 

Last November we were on 3 back to backs. First 2 in a cc with terrible chairs, then we moved yo 7114 Owners Suite where we had the nice furniture. They were able to get those chairs for the suites and for outdoor dining, don't know why they purchased those plastic  chairs for the other balconies. 

1 minute ago, uktog said:

I was on a November  cruise where the question was asked. The answer was that the proper chairs were in a container stuck in Shanghai. The hotel director waxed lyrically about all the issues with this container which also allegedly contained everything else we no longer had (tote bags , pens etc) but that new chairs were arriving next cruise. 
Next cruise they never appeared I believe he was back to his container story. 
With or without cushions they are without a doubt the most uncomfortable chairs ever I can’t think of any shape that would be comfortable in them. 
I would hate to have 150 nights on them even a folding camping chair I hid in the wardrobe when not using it would be better 

We got that same story. When we complained how uncomfortable they were (we both have back issues) 2 white night chairs arrived. They're not great either but at least had a better back on them for us. Not looking forward to 155 nights sitting on those.