mwf7501

Does anyone know yet if the Onward stateroom layouts will be identical to the existing AZ ships?   In particular I am wondering if the comments in this thread about CWs on deck 6-vs-7-vs-8 will also apply to Onward.

I've never cruised AZ, but my sense is that the interior and exterior footprints of CWs across the three existing ships are identical, although some features may vary (eg the bathroom layout on Pursuit CWs seems better).  I guess I'm questioning if the R-ships were truly identical when built, or if the AZ refit of Onward will make the question moot.

Thank you in advance for any thoughts.  

We are on the Oct 10, 2022 Onward, which theoretically starts with an overnight in Venice.

Is there any expectation that Trieste will still be the "Venice solution" in Oct 2022, or is that so far in the future there is just no way to predict?

Frankly I am kind of hoping that with this much planning time available, AZ might consider itinerary changes for late-2022 cruises that included a Venice embark/debark.

Thank you for the feedback.   Not what I wanted to hear, but probably what I needed to hear.  So "600 am debark" does not mean strolling off at 630 with a mimosa, and it doesn't matter anyway if you're strolling off into a public transportation strike, a possibility I had not even contemplated.

Mark

Thank you for the advice.   We would extend in Rome, but travel expediencies (ie flights, we'll be on FF tix) may necessitate visiting Rome pre-cruise rather than post-cruise.  And Dog commands:  return soonest.  Two+ weeks really pushes our outer-outer limits.

With regret I acknowledge your covid cautions, even in 2022.   Sounds like too many moving parts with the "600am debark", so we really need to visit Rome post-cruise or plan on a relaxing night at fco, doggonit.

12 hours ago, Alakegirl said:

Domestic or international?

do you have any airline status that would get you to a shorter queue?

first class or economy?

It would be international (US) first class.   The latest flights that get us home the same "day" leave FCO around noon.   I was wondering if we could safely make a noon flight with "6:00 am debark" on a Friday morning.

Apologies if this info is elsewhere;  for an AZ cruise ending in Rome, does anyone have advice regarding what is the earliest time I could book a departure flight?   The itinerary says "Rome Debark 6:00am".   This is for a cruise in 2022, so I'm assuming by then there will be no Covid issues/testing requirements.   Or is it best to not count on a specific time and just plan on a hotel night?

Thank you.

Ok, I know it's Irish, not Scottish, but the phone booth immediately took me back to "Waking Ned Devine", and gave me a smile.   Gracias. 

5 hours ago, uktog said:

They’ve cancelled all the Far East and all Pursuit for 2021. Sorry to everyone affected especially the crew 

Thank you uktog;  your comment about the crew has been in my mind all day.   A very needed dose of perspective and reality, reminding me of how little I have to grump about.

How liberally does AZ interpret "...same itinerary type (aka 'product')..."?

I would like for that to be true, but why would the stealth sale correspond so closely to the Asia/S Africa/S America itineraries, which also happen to be where COVID uncertainties would also make changes more likely?

Except of course for Sept/Oct Pursuit in the Med.    No, I’m a pessimist but I think my Sept Pursuit cruise is blown up.  

9 minutes ago, laurieb said:

They may be tweaking itineraries or loading new prices; I suppose they could also be fitting in a drydock.

I did see prices starting to show back up by category on some of the cruises

Yes, for Journey, now pricing for Interior rooms does show up when you click through as if to purchase.  For Pursuit, however, it still has the inconsistency of showing Interior rooms on "Pricing and Offers," but all show as "Sold out" when you click through.  So things may just be in some transitional state.

When my prior cruise was cancelled and converted to charter, the first clue was that it stopped appearing at all in the Search results.  It was not this "Sold out" symptom.

Perhaps best case it is simply some website bug.   In which case our new CIO has her work cut out for her.

Some kind of changes seem to be afoot.   Several (most?) Pursuit and Journey cruises seem to be locked up in Oct/Nov.  The "Pricing and Offers" web pages typically show only Interior cabins available, but if you click through as if to purchase, every category then shows "Sold Out."    I didn't try every cruise in Oct/Nov, but it did not appear that Quest is affected.

Times like this some straightforward communication from AZ would be appreciated. 

The same thing just occurred with our Sept 28 Pursuit, Athens to Rome.  This will theoretically be Pursuit's first post-Covid cruise.   I have been watching bookings in CC suites, just out of curiosity.  As of a week or so ago, there were still 8 or 10 CCs showing as available.  As of yesterday every cabin category shows "Sold out".

My hope is that AZ shut it off due to bookings reaching whatever Covid capacity limit they had set.  It seems unlikely they would convert this introductory cruise to a charter, but I guess it's possible.

I hope your b2b plans remain intact;  I have gone thru a charter conversion disappointment in the past, and having one's first post-pandemic cruise blown up would likely be even more disappointing.

Although, the pent-up demand for charter/incentive trips is probably quite high also.

8 hours ago, Mackdogmolly said:

 

Mark, I am so sorry about your SIL too. I am wondering how the SSA is going to handle these disability claims. Our daughter may have to apply too.

Thanks for all the kind thoughts and suggestions.

Mackdogmolly, the disability plan she is pursuing is through her employer, not SSA, so unfortunately I cannot offer any insight in that regard.

Wishing everyone the best.

On 6/19/2021 at 4:26 PM, Mackdogmolly said:

Our daughter continues to struggle as well. She never knows whether she will have a good day or a bad day, or have to lie down NOW. She also has developed a strong aversion to garlic and onions and even smelling them will make her nauseous. We worry so much about the even longer term consequences. I’m so sorry about your daughter and hope she will find a fulfilling career that will accommodate her circumstances.

Mackdogmolly and MNgardens -- I'm very sorry to read about your children, but the stories sound so similar to what my sister-in-law is experiencing.  She had covid in January of this year, and has never gotten back to close to normal.   My wife just returned today from her second emergency trip back to Indiana (second in 3 weeks) to help her sister.  I read your posts to her and she was struck by the familiar symptoms -- even down to the "garlic nausea" anecdote.   My sister-in-law is now going on disability because working consistently has become impossible, at least for the foreseeable future.   Most of America is celebrating a return to quasi-normality, but sadly there is a significant -- and somewhat invisible -- group for whom normality will never return.  And that's not even including the families of the 600K Americans who have died.   Best wishes to your and your families, and hopefully science and medicine will continue to make progress against this quietly insidious disease.

Mark   

"In a statement released late Thursday, the line said passengers who don’t provide evidence of a vaccine for COVID-19 when boarding the 3,934-passenger Freedom of the Seas in Miami will not have access to all the ship’s activities. They’ll also face extra requirements when it comes to COVID-19 testing and mask-wearing."

"Among the restrictions that unvaccinated passengers will face:

-- They will not be able to sign up for My Time Dining in the ship’s main dining room — the type of dining where passengers can arrive whenever they want and sit with whomever they want. They’ll be restricted to a fixed dining time and be assigned to a designated area specifically for unvaccinated passengers.
-- They will not be able to participate in some activities.
-- They will not be able to access all venues.
-- They will not be able to attend certain performances of theater shows that will be restricted to vaccinated passengers only."

https://thepointsguy.com/news/royal-caribbean-miami-cruise-unvaccinated-restrictions/

"Boomerone" posted on May 25 on a Pursuit roll call regarding a discussion they had with Azamara on the question.  As of then, AZ had indicated more info to follow by July 28.

“Guests are strongly recommended to set sail fully vaccinated, if they are eligible,” the company said in a statement. “Those who are unvaccinated or unable to verify vaccination will be required to undergo testing and follow other protocols, which will be announced at a later date.”

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/tourism-cruises/article251909713.html

Perhaps "other protocols" will include that these folks are not permitted to leave their staterooms.
 

Interesting, thank you for the correction.   I was going by the language on the individual suite page, which I interpreted "per suite" since it does not explicitly say per person (and I'm a pessimist).  But the suite intro page does explicitly say per person, so presumably that should be correct.

31 minutes ago, mj_holiday said:

What level of suite gets OBC?

I think they have changed their policies.   The current website (https://www.azamara.com/our-ships/suites) says that Owners, Ocean, and Spa suites get $300/suite.   Continent currently shows no OBC.  Our original booking done in 2019 was for a Spa, and we got $300/person.   Last Fall we shifted our booking to 9/28/2021 in an Owners and we still received $300/person.

My general recollection is that Continent suites previously also got $300/person, but I am not certain.  Perhaps a longer-time AZ patron could confirm.

Mark

I got my final booking confirmation a couple of weeks ago in advance of my final payment (due 5/31 for 9/28 cruise), and it was missing.  I asked my TA about it and she checked with AZ.  Next day she sent a revised confirmation with it reinstated.   No clear explanation of what happened.  It had also been missing from the "Plan my cruise" web page.  It reappeared there also. 

Mark

4 hours ago, Grandma Cruising said:

For those of us not from the US can you elaborate, please.

Please note this article is several days old.   To me (a pedestrian) it seems scientists perhaps don't know what to make of it yet.  The people got the J&J vaccine, only one of the "positives"  had symptoms (mild), the group travels together in pretty close quarters, and they're all subject to frequent testing.   

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/13/sports/baseball/gleyber-torres-yankees-covid.html

Very encouraged by today's CDC announcement, masks no longer required for fully vaccinated people, indoors and out, social distancing or not.

Will be interested to see cascading impact on cruise line procedures.

A hint of optimism.   Worthy of a cocktail.   Cheers.

19 minutes ago, uktog said:

Yes I spotted that and meant to say, I think they have covered as much as they can in this rapidly changing situation and its sensible what they are thinking.  Its not going to be perfect and I am sure there will be a lot of learning on all sides as we move towards their first sailing 

I'm expecting that what we see in these guidelines is the "worst case" scenario, i.e., that any future revisions will tend toward more liberal procedures, not toward more restrictive ones.   No guarantee, of course (given the risk of variants, etc.), but that is my hope.

We're booked on the first Pursuit sailing, Sept 28, with final payment due at the end of this month.   The fact that we're turning out to be guinea pigs is by chance, not by choice -- we were pretty much throwing a dart when we picked this back in November last year.

Unless more shoes drop in the next couple of weeks, we're probably going to proceed.   One -- we're really eager to travel, and two -- we got an excellent bargain, less than 60% of the current quoted cost of comparable 2022 cruises.   Oh well.  I read somewhere that nothing is guaranteed except death and taxes, so I guess I will learn to savor uncertainty in other regards.

After logging into my account, there is a "Plan My Voyage" button associated with the cruise reservation (we only have one reservation, if you have multiple reservations I assume there would be such a button for each one).   After clicking it I enter a "Voyage Planner" web page.   At the very top of that page is a line that says "$500 USD Credit."   However, in my particular case this amount is incorrect;  the only place where I see the correct amount is on the Azamara Booking Confirmation pdf we received from our TA.   This is our first AZ cruise, we have no loyalty points;  the website may operate differently for accounts in different tiers.