AnnaNicole

Missed this post. AMEX Platinum card members get Priority Pass with their cards. Are you saying the ATL Delta sky lounge or Centurion lounge was not allowing the use of Priority Passes for AMEX holders?

We don't usually fly out of ATL. But, we will be flying ATL to Cape Town in December. Which restaurant did you go to in ATL airport? Is the QR code on the Priority Pass card?

I added the shore excursions but did not pay for them. Azamara said they would credit the OBC towards the shore excursions. My account showed paid in full after a couple of days.

We booked a Veranda Plus cabin for a 12-day cruise. Will we get to dine in both restaurants once or twice?

Same. My TA said luxury lines do not reprice after final payment. Also, no refund of port charges for the two ports they removed from the itinerary after final payment.

Does this Best Price Guarantee apply to price drops after final payment? My cruise dropped two weeks after I booked. They dropped two ports from the itinerary and prices went down.

Yes. Azamara is a sinking ship. Everyone overboard! LOL Give it a chance. Let's hope it's growing pains.

We booked the City Lodge Hotel Victoria And Alfred Waterfront for the night for cheap ($67). We won't stay the night, as our flight leaves at 11pm the day we return from the cruise. The hotel gets good reviews, is in a great location, and it will be a rest stop and a luggage hold for us, for the day. Drop off your luggage and book the HOHO (hop on hop off). Head over to Simon's Town for penguin viewing or Camp's Bay for lunch and street performers. Or both! Have fun!

Does your OBC show under "ADD ONS" at the bottom of your "billing/receipt"? My OBC was applied to the booked excursions but my husband's OBC was not. My TA called and said it would be worked out and I would be sent a link to pay the remaining amount due. The link did not work. I called Azamara and the agent said my husband's OBC was not applied because he had TWO Azamara loyalty accounts and it was applied to the wrong one. Last week, she said it should be straightened out in a few days. I just added another shore excursion. It is still not updated. I will call them tomorrow.

My reservation is showing CANCELLED this morning. Weird. It is paid in full. Azamara's reservation invoice showed it as paid in full previously. EDIT: Now showing as booked. ???

If they aren't paying the port charges, why wouldn't they refund them? I received a $50pp shipboard credit on a previous cruise for a missed port. I don't remember which cruise line it was, but I think it was Celebrity. EDIT: I sent an email to Azamara asking about refund of port charges. I will update if/when I hear back from them.

It is a small world. 🙂 It is really impossible for him to replicate the wonderful fish & chips experience of Farnham. Food and memories combined are my theory. We lived on West Street, by the library. My daughter attended preschool at the Maltings. As a family, we would often stop to pick up fish & chip takeaway (perfectly crisp and wrapped in newspaper) on our way home from school and enjoy it in the park. Very fond memories. He won't eat mushy peas. I love them! He will be happy if we can find some great fresh fish dishes.

My husband and I lived in Farnham, Surrey County and he misses great fish & chips. Do you know if there is a good British-style fish & chip shop in Capetown?

Thanks everyone for the advice on hotels, excursions, location, and safety. The A & V Waterfront area provides for an excellent base and was a great recommendation. We have traveled extensively and lived abroad a couple of times. I feel comfortable in new cities, as we follow good practices for safety and sensitivity. Here is what I have booked so far: CAPETOWN Booked: *Pre-cruise hotel: PortsWood Hotel for 4 nights. *Post-cruise: City Lodge Hotel (V&A Waterfront) for one day. Our flight leaves at 11pm. This hotel is cheap and its sole purpose is to provide a day place for our luggage and rest. *Gold Restaurant reservations for African dinner, drumming, and entertainment. Plan to Book: HOHO 3 days Lunch at Camps Bay - Recommendations??? Three Vineyards Winetour Penguins/Marine life Considering Aquila Private Reserve. Has anyone done this excursion? PORT ELIZABETH: Booked Pumba Game Reserve (cruise ship excursion) RICHARD'S BAY: Plan to look into Woodley's suggestion for Heritage tour safari, wet safari, and beach. Is this tour similar to Azamara's Wildlife snorkel safari? How about Thula Thula Game Reserve? Opinions? EAST LONDON: Considering Gonubie Beach for whales, dolphins, etc. Has anyone done this tour? Any opinions? MAPUTO: I have no clue. Nothing is standing out. Any suggestions? DURBAN: Undecided. Any suggestions?

Wow! Thank you for sharing. Lots of useful information. 🙂 Your flight experience is my worst nightmare! I booked the PortsWood Hotel. It was very reasonable.

Thanks. I was looking at that hotel too. It is a great price. My husband really wants to stay in the downtown area at the Taj. Is the area really that bad? I got a couple of recommendations for the Taj.

Thanks for the hotel recommendation. I will take a look at it. 🙂

Here's an update. We booked the Dec 9 cruise. I was able to change our flights to arrive on Dec 5 (cheaper fare too!). We now have 4 precruise nights in Capetown. The AC Marriott has no availability for Dec 8. I booked a refundable room at the Taj Hotel to give us some flexibility while I am trying to sort out our plans. Has anyone stayed at this hotel? It is located in the Downtown/City Bowl area. Is it easily walkable (and safe) to the V&A waterfront?

Thank you! You all are making this planning too easy. 🙂

Thanks! Thula Thula is on my list. I was just looking at their website. Did you arrange with them transport from the cruise pier?

Mdeegooden, Thank you! So far, I booked the Pumba Private Reserve. I am going to go over the shore excursions with my husband tonight. We originally planned to do an Azamara Antarctic cruise, but it did not end up working out with DH's schedule. I am really excited about this cruise and am really appreciative of you sharing all of this great information! How did you book the Azamazing evening? I don't see that as being available. Azamara's site is not very user-friendly! EDIT: Ok, I see on AzAmazing evening that it is not available to book yet. Here is the info if anyone wants to check their specific cruise date. https://www.azamara.com/static-assets/files/AzAmazing Celebrations.pdf

A couple of other questions for you kind people. We have passports and COVID vacs cards. I understand we do not need a Visa; except for the Maputo, Mozambique stop. Does Azamara get the Visa for you, for a fee of $50pp? Do we need any travel vaccines? (Admittedly, I am a little confused reading government sites as to what we need to do.)

Thanks, everyone! I appreciate your insights on excursions and where to stay. 🙂 I would love, love. love to extend the trip to include more time in Capetown and a safari, but the flights are not working out for me. Too expensive, too many stops, etc. We booked a Delta itinerary with a quick flight into ATL and then nonstop to CPT. Same on the way home. The flights are more expensive than the cruise. LOL I have my flights and cruise on a 24-hour hold. Do you think the 12 day cruise and one pre and post-day are enough? Or should I hold off on booking this cruise and wait until I can book a longer stay in Capetown? Mdeegooden - thanks for sharing your review and excursion recommendations. Did you have any problem booking excursions through the ship? We have about $800 OBC and plan to use it for excursions. What are your favorite or must-see things in each port? How is the weather in December (I read it is warm and mild)?

Hello all. I am considering booking a Christmas South Africa Intensive cruise RT Capetown. I may be able to score some reasonable business-class flights, so I may need to make a quicker decision than I normally would. I have been on about 30+ cruises (mostly Celebrity, RCCL, Norwegian, and a couple of Oceania). - Anyone who has done this itinerary - how was it? Good options for safari? What were your favorite excursions? Easy to book shore excursions? - Opinions on Pursuit? We will book a balcony cabin. Any opinions on booking one category over another? Advantage? Cabins to avoid? - We plan on arriving a day early. Any favorite place to stay in Capetown? We will probably just rest after long flights, so reasonable cost. - Anyone, have experience with SkyLuxe for airfare? Reliable? (The reviews are great) How's the food? service? activities? Thanks for any and all opinions and suggestions! 🙂

Just to clarify, it is ok to put your wine in your checked luggage or will you get called to the naughty room? We only bring carryons and don't like to schlep through the ship with them during embarkation.