Josephgray1

On 4/21/2022 at 6:05 PM, uktog said:

I’m afraid re the champagne this was an area I felt bar staff were pulling the wool over your eyes. I don’t blame the bar tender, I believe he was telling us what he was told to say and didn’t know any better. 
We normally had Nicolas Feuilatte on board which retails In the UK at about £26 a bottle. Failing that Domain Chandon we get for about £16.  The substitute —much better and more expensive we were assured was Henri Cachet, most usually found in Asda for £13.  It tasted ok but not premium.  
If they’d just said sorry we have run out, here is our substitute we would have thought ok so be it, it was the telling us it was far better that got me.  

We just got off Pursuit and upgraded to the ultimate package for the champagne. They were out of Nicolas Feuilatte the entire 9 days and only provided Domain Chandon as the substitute. There was no attempt to offer a premium substitute. 

Currently on board Pursuit. Aqualina and Prime C are burg open. We’ve been to both. The menus are good but the service has not been good. It appears that they are short staffed in the specialty restaurants. Our group of 6 has waited 15 minutes each time to even be acknowledged when we are seated. They don’t offer to start with a drink. Literally just walk over and ask if we are ready to order food. The main dining room staff is much more attentive and friendly, overall just a better experience than Prime C and Aqualina. 

The hotel director is Ngawhira Fleet. I didn’t ask about purchasing a pass, I can try to ask about both that as well as the discrepancy with it being included on Onward. 

We are currently on Pursuit in a CC Suite. I stopped by the spa yesterday to ask about the sanctum spa being included. I was told that we would receive a letter in our room detailing what is included. Here is the letter we received. Unlike the Onward letter that was posted, ours does not include it. 

We are also onboard. We arrived with our negative antigen test results at the port and we’re asked for our vaccine cards at check-in. 

Our first day is a sea day, so we tried to book massages. But as I expected, the appointments were all booked when we got there at 4 pm. We picked other dates, which worked out. 
 

We are on Pursuit next week (May 17th) and I was not able to see Meet and Mingle on any drop down menu, but I did find it today by using the search feature on the website. It shows Meet and Mingle is available for our cruise next week and allows me to register. 

5 hours ago, travelberlin said:

Glad to hear you had a great cruise on the Quest. Thanks for sharing your impressions. 
 

I believe the ship that had an Azamazing evening and not the entertainers coming on board was the Onward. I hope the Pursuit also does it for our next cruise in about one week from now. We will also stop in Livorno.

Ivi

@travelberlinIvi-The May 17th Pursuit is going to have onboard entertainers for our Azamazing evening. If you look on the Azamara website, under shore excursions, you will see the four sopranos as a choice in Livorno. If you click on it, you can choose the time you prefer (6:30 pm or 8:30 pm) and will see there is no charge for it. You’ll receive a confirmation email afterwards. 

-Sue

1 hour ago, travelberlin said:

Is this Emed test an antigen test? Did they make that test within one day of embarkation?

Ivi

Yes, it’s an antigen test and they were able to do them the day before embarking. The cost is $180 for 6 tests. That’s the only way, they sell them. They are shipped next day by FedEx.  We are planning to use them as well for the cruise and since we need to take a test to return to the US, will bring a couple along with us. 

Here is the site.  https://www.emed.com/

@travelberlin My parents boarded Pursuit 2 days ago in Istanbul. They used the Emed Covid tests at home before they left and presented the results when they boarded. Everything was good, no issues. 

2 hours ago, beatnix said:

Just got this in my Azamara account for our cruise on Quest "Spain intensive" starting tomorrow.

I have a feeling that info, although posted on your cruise page is not accurate. I believe the email that was sent out stating that we need to do our own test ahead of time or pay to have one at the port is the accurate info. The reason I say this is that I look at our cruise booking info every day (we are on May 17th Pursuit) and the testing info literally changes every couple of days. The sail date test info appears and disappears randomly. I have multiple screen shots of it. 
 

The conflicting and inconsistent info from Azamara is enough to make a person crazy. 

@marinaro44I agree getting sick with anything on a cruise can ruin the trip. Hopefully Azamara has treatments available for all of the most common illnesses. 

Normal used to be people got a cold and the reason one knew they had a cold or flu was because they felt sick and had symptoms. This new system of mass testing of people with no symptoms is futile. Can you imagine if we tested everyone with no symptoms for the cold or flu?  Of course there would be to be positive ones. And then we went a step further and quarantined them?
 

If all passengers and crew are vaccinated and and boosted as required by Azamara doing covid tests seems silly unless someone feel ill. The reason I assume we are all vaccinated is to protect us from getting horribly sick or dying of covid. 

Two years into covid the world has made great progress. We have vaccines, boosters and treatments readily available if someone gets sick.
 

The old normal with any illness was that you have a symptoms and go to the dr to get treated. Covid could be the same. I think that’s what I’m hoping it goes back to. 

I would believe you could use the Emed antigen self test that is proctored and do them the day before boarding from your hotel. You can use your phone, iPad or computer to arrange for the test to be supervised. The results are immediate with documentation sent to your email. If the US still requires a negative test to return in May, our plan was to use those. 

14 minutes ago, PirateWife said:

One more charge from Azamara. This really doesn't work flying from the US west coast and arriving one day before the cruise. In order for us to get tested, we have to drive 70+ miles to a larger city. 

4 minutes ago, travelberlin said:

This does not sound good. We, the guests book a cruise expecting at least the same level of offerings as if it were a fully booked cruise. It is not our fault if others are not willing to cruise yet. Actually we should be treated better because with our bookings we are in a way contributing to support the cruise line. 
Ivi

I wholeheartedly agree! 

54 minutes ago, uktog said:

Agree. It’s been a good cruise but not the best. It’s clear they aren’t sailing as before. They say “oh it’s because we’ve not got enough guests” 

 

Other silly things like no breakfast allowed at all on the back verandah- really? (They said then that was weather related but several mornings were warm enough) 

We were on Quest in September with 150 guests and the verandah was open for breakfast each day, so not enough guests doesn’t sound like a reasonable explanation  on your cruise to me.
 

With the cost of the cruises being quite high again, they need to realize the guests are expecting the amenities to correlate. If we were receiving discounted fares, I think we’d all be much more accepting of things not being to the usual Azamara standards. But at this point, Azamara really needs to provide us with the level of service we’ve come to expect. I almost feel as though they think if the crew is nice and gracious, as they always are, that’s enough. There are decisions being made a a higher level that are compromising the the crews ability to provide guests with a great onboard experience. 

16 minutes ago, tert333 said:

We are on the April 23 Quest Sailing and just saw this showing that anyone from Canada, US or Japan has to take a test 72 hours before arriving in Italy.

 

While I believe this is no longer in affect for Italy, I am still going to take a test(coming from Canada).

I agree, we are departing out of Athens and need to fly from the US. Although no test is required to enter the country,  we are planning to do a test prior to flying half way across the world. It would be quite disappointing to arrive and test positive at the port if they are doing it. But again, our specific info is not showing a test is required to board like the other ones have been. 

1 minute ago, andrcan said:

No matter what cruise line policies, at the end of the day, we are responsible for our health ourselves and will have to deal with the consequences ourselves. The reality is, chances to get infected are non-zero everywhere: before embarkation, on board, in the ports of call, at the excursions... Having gone through self-isolation after my spouse's positive test upon debarkation earlier this year, I still wanna cruise and relax and have fun but also want to reduce the risks of being infected, and that will include having COVID insurance, disinfecting hands and surfaces, complying with policies, wearing mask when deemed necessary no matter what the policies are. It's just that I learned that getting positive test result in a country far away from home, urgently changing all travel plans etc is far more stressful than doing some extra homework in advance and performing more hygienic routines daily. And it's not a biggie: after all, I managed to stop making fuss about having to brush my teeth at the tender age of 3 or so)

I totally agree with the stress associated with a potential positive test, especially when vaccinated, boosted and showing no signs of illness. And then the possibility of false positives doesn’t help. We’ve been required to do Covid tests 3x for trips to USVI and one prior to boarding Azamara in September. All caused anxiety.

1 hour ago, marinaro44 said:

No cruise line wants to tell a passenger he or she tested positive and must spend five or more days in isolation to disrupt his or her vacation.  Worse would be having to contact other passengers who happened to sit next to the infected person for 45 minutes or more in the theater or dining room or wherever, and tell them to quarantine for some period to protect others on the ship.  How happy would they be?  So cruise lines will be cautious, and rightly so, and do what will keep passengers safe.

 

In the last week I've been to the offices of an ophthalmologist, podiatrist and dentist.  All required masks in order to enter.  And all providers and staff were masked.  I suppose mdpa might know more about this matter than they do, but I'd be surprised.

 

If a cruise line chooses to protect passengers and crew by requiring masks, and someone , for whatever reason, refuses to wear one while on vacation, that someone should choose a different vacation or stay home.

Well hopefully the next step after getting rid of mandatory masks will be to stop testing people with no symptoms, especially since the requirement is that all guests and crew are to be vaccinated. Then it won’t be necessary to tell a guest they tested positive. If someone is sick with a cold or flu the ships don’t test everyone around them. If someone is worried about getting any type of illness, they are free to wear a mask. 

2 hours ago, roberts2005 said:

Following up I ordered the test kits.  When doing the test out of the United States do you need some kind of app to contact the company for supervision

 

did you try to get reimbursed from Medicare or your insurance

We have only used the test to visit USVI in January, as testing was required. We may use it outside of the US in May if we need to. Yes, you can download the NAVICA app or visit emed.com and set up a NAVICA account. 
 

I did not try to get reimbursed when I ordered them. But it looks like it says they are covered by insurance, so it may work with Medicare. 

https://www.emed.com/products/covid-at-home-testkit-six-pack?hsLang=en&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIgb-PooCC9wIVZT2tBh0kiAfqEAAYAiAAEgIzGfD_BwE
 

This is where I gave purchased them. 

9 hours ago, travelberlin said:

In my case it says 26th as the end date.

 

I have looked again at the information on the Azamara web page concerning embarkation in Greece and those have not been updated since October 2021! I hope Azamara updates them soon since Greece has since them relaxed its entry policy. For example Greece does not longer require a Passenger Locator Form, but in the Azamara web site, it stills shows as a requirement.

It is confusing because on the one hand, they said we should review what the embarkation country requests and on the other they provide information, which does not coincide with the request of that country. But once, in the terminal, the people doing the check in, maybe could say, we needed to fullfil what Azamara posts in its web page…

 

I hope that the cruise documentation will come with clear instructions. I was able to print my boarding pass but the luggage tags and cruise documentation is not available yet. How about in your case?

Ivi

I agree that receiving conflicting info is frustrating. We all understand situations change, but to still have info that is six months old really shows they aren’t keeping up. Azamara corrected the end date of our cruise on the check in page. Like you, I don’t have access to anything but the boarding passes. 

10 minutes ago, travelberlin said:

By the way on your screen it says Azamara Pursuit from May 17th to May 27th. But it is only 9 nights, this means from May 17th to May 26th.

Ivi

Yes! I saw the error on the date. Maybe my theory that this info would be accurate may not prove to be so. Since you are on the same cruise, does your check-in say 26th or 27th as the end date?

That’s really interesting that your online checkin page includes Sail Date Testing and ours does not, thank you for posting!

I don’t see where in the check-in info it’s says that a test is required at embarkation if we are vaccinated. The only test they mention that’s required is the one at debarkation. I would believe the check-in info is most accurate as it references our specific cruise compared to the website. The info on the website has not been updated with independent excursions in Italy, which we know are now allowed. 

I was just looking through our online check-in that is now available for our May 17th cruise on Pursuit from Athens to Barcelona and noticed although it states vaccinations as a requirement, it does not mention a requirement to take a Covid test prior to boarding at the port. The only Covid test that is mentioned is the one prior to disembarking at the end of the cruise. Does anyone know if they have eliminated the test required to board?  I’ve attached screen shots of what I’m reading.