terry&mike

14 hours ago, 1985rz1 said:

The number of excursions needed for the SM package depend on cruise length and number of ports, so it varies. The number is per person.

I wonder how many excursions would be the minimum needed for the 25% discount on a 35 night sailing with 24 days in port. Does anyone have a rough guess based on past experience? Our sailing is in 2025 and doesn't have this information yet, so I was trying to get a general idea. 

12 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Haven't they said in the past that you can't use Indulgence OBC before boarding?  [Meaning, that is baked into the rules of the Indulgence package, not a glitch in the software.]

I have a South America cruise booked for November 2023. Before the IT migration, I purchased the Indulgence Package for that sailing, and then was able to book our Shore Excursions online using the $700 Shore Excursion OBC from that package. I already had $300 in OBC from a booking promo, and used that as well, plus $3.00 extra I paid on a credit card. I purchased a total of $1003.00 in excursions for the two of us.

During the IT mess, the Indulgence package fell off the reservation and the reservation showed I owed money for the excursions. This was eventually straightened out, and the booking is correct now. 

Hopefully, you will be able to use the Shore Excursion OBC from the packages in advance of the sailings again once things are running smoothly, but maybe that is a permanent change to have you wait until onboard. 

I think the Shore Excursion OBC data is in a flux right now. I have a client who last week purchased 2 shore excursions for a sailing in 2 weeks. He has the OBC to cover it. Azamara then called me to collect payment via credit card from him for those, and I explained he wanted to use his OBC to cover them. They said he would need to use his cc now to pay for the excursions, and then once onboard he could use his OBC for them and get a credit back to his card. I replied that he did not want to do that, nor did I want him to do that given the issues that I have encountered lately. They said they would check and call me back. They have not called me back, and the excursions are still on his booking, as is his OBC.  

10 hours ago, cant wait to retire said:

Can you please share his contact info?  We will be going on a cruise to Vietnam Feb 2024.  Thanks

 

One of the best guides we've ever had, Xuan is awesome. His web page is here: https://www.tourwithxuan.com/  Tell him Terry and Mike said hello!

3 hours ago, QueenP said:

Chucktown Steve I hope you don't mind me hijacking, but I have a similar question. I want to do a Canada New England cruise, but frustratingly Az just won't do this itinerary. Have any Az regulars done this on another line, and if so how did you find it? Any recommendations?

Cunard has some good itineraries to Canada and New England every year. For example, the Queen Mary 2 has a sailing departing from NYC on September 29, 2023 - you can do a 7 night and sail NYC to Quebec, or you can do a 14 night and sail roundtrip from NYC to Quebec and back. 

DH and I sailed the Mekong with Scenic in January of this year, had a wonderful time. If you are interested in reading about our experiences, here is a link to our post - 

16 hours ago, MrsPeel55 said:

@PORT ROYAL LOL

 

Thank God for that!!!! 

I have mentioned many times how grateful I am to you guys for all the info.

Honestly,

The fact that so many of you are willing to help is already points up to Cunard from where I see it, we did considered other lines but came to the conclusion Cunard, though being more expensive, was exactly what we want, I wasn't looking for forums with people to answer my questions when I found these boards, I googled Cunard balcony cabins and found it, reading the extensive knowledge and willingness to help, as I said, put the company on ever higher ground.

 

I will have a look at the link for the cabs, thanks again.

Thing is, when I looked for price from Fiumicino to the hotel the quote was £70 but that was for a normal car, in London our usual guy (who would help us with taking the cases to the check in) his car would take one case & wheelchair in the boot and one suitcase has to go in either front seat or one of us in front seat and the other suitcase in the back sit with one of us.then there are the cabin suitcases. That would mean paying the cab fare which is usually £70 to £90. Then I will have to give a tip to this guy plus pay his parking short stay fee, which if I am not mistaken we payed almost £15 when we took my brother to Heathrow last time (May).

 

Then say there is another £70 or more from Fiumicino to Hotel, plus tip to whoever helps us, sometimes the airport assistance people will come with us to a taxi, but not always they would lift the cases... Same at the arrival at hotel.

We will be very near Termini and were going to grab a bus but then the train is a fiver (£5) to Civitavecchia. I assume then we will need to grab a cab to the Port Terminal.... if you take into account that Luggage Forward quoted me US$438 which translates into £340 give or take..... 

 

Having said that.....

All the info you  have given me before has been actually wonderful, so I will go in a bit to look at the Roma cabs link, it maybe that will work on more or less the same, and we wont have to freak out about the cases not arriving before sailing!

 

Once again, THANK YOU so so very much EVERYONE here @ Cruise Critic, the articles I have read and the posts you all make,  ALL of you who have helped and answered my questions and shared your experiences from onboard.

I know I''m a bit of a pain and talk/type a lot  🤣 

but not only one of the main things I have learned in my almost 65 years off life is that prevention is better than cure & knowledge is power, but also, worry not, very little to go, you wont have anymore typing from me very soon.

Once again, thank you.

Just want to second the recommendation of RomeCabs. I have used them many times over the years, and will be using them again next week. To clarify for you, RomeCabs is a private car and driver service (as opposed to a taxi/cab service) with an excellent reputation, they also offer some private tours. 

1 hour ago, Likestocruise08 said:

 

Thank you terry and mike. I am new to this site. I finally figured it out and did post on the roll call under tmy cruise and date

Great to hear. Good luck, and happy cruising!

I think you will do better in finding people sailing on your itinerary over on the Roll Calls. Go to Roll Calls, and look for your ship and sailing date, and you will find a group of fellow travelers on your exact sailing. 

We sailed the Douro with AMA, but did pre- and post-cruise touring on our own. During our AMA sailing we had a day visit to Salamanca. We were bussed there from the ship, had a tour, an included lunch, and were given a bit of free time, then bussed back to the ship. The ride was a couple hours in each direction. The included lunch was wonderful, it was in a local hotel and was a buffet of many different Spanish foods (one of the best paellas I've ever had), and included some wonderful local entertainment of musicians, singing, dancing. 

I have a Med cruise on Azamara coming up in a couple of weeks, as well as a 22 night Amazon & Brazil sailing on them in November. These were both booked before the IT migration, and I'm going to hold off on future bookings with them until I see how things go onboard both these sailings, and how things improve on their admin side. 

A few weeks after our Azamara Med cruise, we will be sailing back from Europe to the US on the Queen Mary 2, a ship we both love sailing on. It's more formal than Azamara, and has a British vibe. 

Recently, I booked a 35 night Singapore to Cape Town on the Oceania Nautica for 2025, because I'm crazy about the itinerary. I've sailed Oceania before, and like their product and their R ships. They have some similarities to Azamara.

In that "luxury light" lane, I have sailed Ponant (Antarctica), and would definately sail with them again. French vibe, wonderful food, great itineraries, but their prices have been really getting high; their Antarctica itinerary was amazing. I have sailed with Sea Dream (Caribbean), and enjoyed it, but it was a bit clique-ish for my taste, and agree with the poster above, lots of movement. 

Scenic is my favorite river cruise line, and that has me looking at some of their super yacht sailings, along with their sister line, Emerald, super yacht sailings. 

We also have a bike and barge trip in The Netherlands scheduled for 2024, but that's a whole different animal. 

We usually cruise 2-4 times per year (this year it was 5), and take several land trips per year. I'm mostly itinerary focused, and start with a booking on land or sea that appeals to me, and then - because I LOVE logistics - I build it out with other components on either side to other destinations or sailings in the same part of the world. 

On 8/11/2023 at 7:10 AM, janetmojo said:

Thank you all so far, and I appreciate the fact that I am not the only one who is a little overwhelmed. I normally find myself a pretty capable travel planner but this one is a little out of my league.

One suggestion is that you could arrange a small group tour before or after your cruise with a company like Gate 1 Travel. We used them for Machu Picchu and they did a wonderful job. This way, you only have to navigate getting to and from the tour/ship, and they handle all the details. They have so many departures and tour options that something should line up. I am a person who loves logistics when it comes to travel planning, but the access to Machu Picchu via train, entry times, etc is a bit complicated. 

10 hours ago, ThePapermaker said:

We are going to Cruise the Diamond Princess on Jan. 5 2024 from Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia. Anyone familiar with this cruise. We are looking for a hotel pre cruise in Singapore. Any suggestions? 

We did a similar itinerary on the Diamond Princess in January 2020 for 14 nights. We started in Singapore, but ended in Tokyo, with stops in Vietnam, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan. It was a wonderful cruise. We stayed at the Pan Pacific in Singapore, great hotel with an excellent location and impressive breakfast. 

If you have time, it's easy to add on Bali beforehand, as it's a very short and inexpensive flight from Singapore. 

Agree with going in a bit earlier for Cape Town, it's one of my favorite cities. Also, if you have time, a few days out in the Winelands is wonderful!

Vietnam is one of our favorite Asian countries. Great food, friendly people, lots of interesting sites, beautiful country. We were there on the Diamond Princess in January 2020, just before Covid. Ported at Ho Chi Minh, Da Nang, and Nha Trang. I was traveling with a large group of friends, and we used the same guide in HCM and Da Nang, Xuan Le (tourwithxuan.com) - to this day he remains one of the best guides I have ever experienced. You can find lots of great mentions and reviews of him on CruiseCritic. 

In Ho Chi Minh we did an city tour that visited temples, markets, and many other sites. In DaNang we visited the lovely town of Hoi An. In Nha Trang, we took a long walk along the boardwalk, had an amazing seafood lunch, and got massages. 

We liked Vietnam so much that we returned in January of this year and traveled independently for 2 weeks there, as part of a longer trip with Cambodia and Thailand. We visited Hanoi, HaLong Bay, Hoi An, and Ho Chi Minh on this trip. Of course we connected the wonderful Xuan again, in HCM. We stayed for several days in Hoi An as we wanted to have clothes made - this town is a hub of tailors. In  HaLong we took the longer sailing of 3 days/2 nights, so that we could go out to the less crowded bays, stunning place. 

The post below is from a blogger who is on the Journey, in Norway, currently, and is part of a communication they received from the Cruise Director - 

The average age for this voyage is 70 and probably a touch higher than our typical, which I would put around 67 – itinerary and length of voyage always play a factor; longer and more unique itineraries tend to pull in a more experienced crowd.

The current guest count is 562 after a few late arrivals, and the max capacity is just under 700 – 694 if I recall correctly.
Fun fact – the Journey is one of 8 identical ships originally part of Renaissance cruise lines that were only around for a couple of years in the early 2000s. The ships were numbered R1-R8, and the Journey was R6. Azamara now has 4 of that fleet, and Oceania operates the other 4.

I’m sure I’ll see you around more, so feel free to ask anything else!

Cheers,

Stephen Millett / Cruise Director”

13 hours ago, Werangels said:

Haha!  I will watch my bag 😬!

We are doing a fair amount of wildlife.  We are out for just under a month and are also doing a 2 night cruise on the Chobe River and are staying on the Victoria Falls Private Reserve, so we should be ‘wildlife’d out’ after all that! 
 

Thula Thula is one of the main reasons for doing the cruise.  Having read Lawrence Anthony and Francois books; I have to visit.  

We did a land trip in South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia a few years ago. During the trip we stayed 5 nights at a lodge along the Chobe River and the game viewing was incredible! We did game viewing from both land and river, and saw so much wildlife every time. Being on the water and watching herds of elephants (including several babies!) come down to the river to bathe, drink, play was magical. I think you will have an amazing journey. 

Hello, I wrote a review on our first Transatlantic crossing on QM2, in an inside cabin. I will try to post a link below. This was in August 2022. (We are sailing again on QM2, from Hamburg to NYC in September 2023, in an inside with a window over the lobby.)

I can see where this would be a possibility. My "friend group" wanted to do a bike and barge style sailing during tulip season, and needed 9 cabins. We identified our dates for 2024 in advance, and when the sailing opened up for sale, we all booked within a day. These ships are smaller than your river cruise ships, the one we booked on only has 18 cabins total, but you can see where a group that is waiting for something to go on sale could book up availability.

We booked 16 cabins on one sailing back in January 2020 for a Japan and Southeast Asia sailing on an ocean cruise line. 

17 hours ago, JSR said:

On our last cruise, people were embarking and disembarking almost everyday, even in tiny ports like Flam. How does this work? Is it possible to make arrangements on any cruise or was this one unique? My SIL would like to join us on a GV, a couple days prior to the segment she has booked, we are on the GV. Thanks for the insight. 

 

May I ask if you were sailing a Hurtigruten ship? If so, that would explain it. Hurtigruten began as a mail carrier and ferry service in the Norwegian fjords. It still operates with some of this same mindset, and there are several of their sailings that allow passengers to book on/off at varying ports in Norway. 

9 hours ago, wannavacay said:

I will definitely check out the other forum for hotels in Rome, but since I'm here... for those of you who stayed in Trastevere, did you walk to the primary sights?  Or did you catch a train or cab?  Seems like a pretty hefty walking distance, especially if they weather is ugly.  TY!

We stay in Trastevere, we are among those who walk everywhere. On a rare occasion, we may take a taxi back to our lodging from dinner late at night (but likely would still walk). Depending on where we are wandering to, it's anywhere from a 5 minute walk (places in Trastevere) to a 30 minute walk (places farther away), so not too bad for us. I will mention that at home we are daily walkers, usually walking 4-6 miles per day at a fast pace. 

13 hours ago, diesel1973 said:

Before I travel I get about $200 in the currency of the foreign country at my local bank for incidentals. I learned that the exchanges at the airport don't have the best exchange rates. 

I always do the same. 

6 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

You're right.  I meant AMA.  I'm making a DIY B2B with an Azamara ocean cruise followed by an AMA river cruise and my fingers got confused.  [That's my story and I'm sticking to it!!!]  I fixed the original post.

 

In answer to your question:  in my experience [having sailed AMA and Scenic] and opinion [as Host of the River Cruising forum I read every post] there are four top river cruise lines, any of which could be a good choice for Azamara fans:

•  Tauck – probably the top line, but they have a small number of ships and therefore do a small number of itineraries and dates; they have never worked out for me so I haven't tried them.

•  Scenic – The top line in my book based on the wide range of itineraries (including 10-night options in addition to the 7-nighters that everybody else does), the quality of the food, and the abundance of choices for included excursions.

•  Uniworld – High up in the rankings, but I can't stand the over-the-top décor on all their ships – also they claim to be all-inclusive but some excursions that would be included on the other lines mentioned here are extra cost on Uniworld.

•  AmaWaterways [AMA] – top rated in the Berlitz/Insight guides and reputed to spend the most per passenger on food; very good choice of excursions all included.

 

[Crystal, during its brief river cruise career, was at the very top and their ships are now back on the water under the Riverside Luxury Cruise line but the primary language is German which is a problem for most North Americans.]

 

In comparing prices among river cruise lines, pay attention to the included amenities [e.g. Tauck and Scenic are truly all-inclusive; Uniworld is except for the extra-cost excursions; AMA includes wine/beer at meals and a happy hour daily, but not gratuities].  Also the number of passengers on board – most river cruise ships are exactly the same size – limited by the size of the locks, but the number of passengers varies from Viking as most crowded to Tauck as most spacious – and the size of the cabins [Scenic has the widest variety of larger cabins and suites].

I agree with this assessment.

Azamara is one of my favorite cruise lines on the oceans, and my favorite lines on the rivers are Scenic and AMA.  

3 hours ago, Wayfairers said:

Any issues with Klook?  I am thinking of using them in South Korea

I have not had any problems with Klook, or my bookings with them. 

We spent 6 nights in Tel Aviv last January and very much enjoyed it. We were traveling independently, as part of a land trip we were doing in Israel, Jordan and Cyprus. We stayed at Fabric, a charming boutique hotel, that was walkable to many things.

Our first day, we did a walking tour with a guide from withlocals.com for a couple of hours to help us get oriented; I don't see him on the site right now, but there are several other guides there. For the other days, I had mapped out areas we wanted to visit - Nahalat Binyamin craft market, beach boardwalk stroll, Charles Clore Park, old town of Jaffa area, and we explored on our own.

We also took the train from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem for a day, and explored there using a walking tour from a guide book to see it on our own; there are also several day tours that go from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem you could book, if you prefer. 

I have used Rome Cabs many times, and will be using them again in September. Great company.