cavaaller

Really enjoying your wonderful review! Thank you very much!

Cabin Number 6091 (Owners Suite) Ship: Pursuit Month/Year sailed: March 2023 Is noise an issue: Y Balcony size: huge other comments: extremely noisy suite due to vibration and constant rattling - not only when docking in port but also while at sea (depending on speed and/or wind)

Pardon me for adding a question: The fine print of my "Experience more essentials" package says "The Shore Excursion OBC portion of the Experience More Essentials Package will be applied to the booking as an individual component, with the option to spend pre-cruise. The balance of any pre-cruise spend of Shore Excursion OBC, will be reconciled once onboard" Am I too optimistic if I think/hope that once on board shore excursions OBC becomes "just" OBC that may also be spent on spa, shops etc?

My résumé - or: what made this cruise so different from all the cruises we have experienced so far… Destination Immersion – Of course, I had read about it before booking. So I knew that Azamara puts a lot of emphasis on making sure that there is not a big drop in quality-level between the on-board experience and the off-board experience. So I knew that the layovers were much longer, that there would be overnight stays. What I didn't realize is how much it would enhance our travel quality our relaxation and our whole experience. We have never enjoyed the ports so much. Of course, we had the weather and the low season on our side. Nevertheless, I think that it makes the world of a difference how long you stay in port and, above all, what berth you are assigned. This was really a first class experience. Organization– From the absolutely smooth boarding to the tightly organized and reduced to the absolutely necessary safety exercise, to the always punctual port calls, the well-organized shore excursion, everything was very well planned and executed. Of course, the staff:guests-ratio and the fact that this trip was not fully booked (only 406 guests) helped. Staff / Service– I've already raved enough about our cabin team. But we noticed almost no employee on board who did not make an effort, was cheerful and courteous. The service on board can be described as first-class! Meals– All the restaurants we tried (these were all except Discovery) had a very good selection and the quality of the food was also very good. The surprisingly large selection for vegans and vegetarians should be emphasized. Guests- We met so many nice people on board. Everybody seemed interesting (so well travelled), open and friendly. Cabin - The Owner's Suites are beautiful. Huge amount of storing, wonderful shower, terrific mattresses, huge balcony, great perks. What they do not have is a decent mirror with decent lighting where you can you can do your make-up (I like to sit down to do so and the mirror in the bedroom is too far away for my myopic eyes and the lighting is very bad there too.) Unfortunately I forgot to mention this in my guest survey because I think that this could be so easily fixed. The other inconvenience can probably not be remedied: The cabin was terribly terribly noisy when at sea. There was rattling, humming, vibration, knocking - it was sooo loud. I got used to it at one point but it made me consider booking a forward cabin the next time. I know that the balcony can hardly be used when at sea but with the long port times that Azamara offers this should not be a problem? We have a new favorite shipping company – the next trip is already booked. I would like to thank you all for reading my lines but especially for the reactions and comments you have posted (it made it feel like less of a monologue) ❤️ you have made the writing fun! ❤️

Menus Discoveries Restaurant Discoveries Restaurant menus.pdf

Insider remaining days: THE INSIDER days 5-9.pdf last day: last day.pdf link to days 1-4

The old website provided a lot of information on the ports as downloads. Maybe these will be back after the revamp is finished. I scanned the Information we got on board in case it is of interest to any of you: Portinfo and Azamazing-Evening Schedule: Portinfo.pdf

We had arranged for a private taxi (link: CSE Civitavecchia Shuttle Express). I had received an email with the name and whats-app contact of the driver. He texted me promptly at 10 minutes before the confirmed time that he had arrived and would be greeting us at the ship's exit with a sign with our name on it. He had a clean, new Mercedis sprinter, drove carefully, helped with the luggage... everything was great. I highly recommend this service. (Price was 140 €). We checked in without delays, went to the Priority Pass lounge which was surprisingly good, flight was on time, seats were great... everything was just perfect. Perfect ending to a perfect cruise.

As usual the Captain made sure we arrived in port in time. And again: we had the best mooring position (sic?) all the way up front: Busses and some taxis were already waiting at before 7 o clock. First passengers were walking off by 7:15.

The last evening is always a little sad. Osvy was so kind to bring us dinner from Prime C because we did not feel like going "out". I was so distracted by the "last night blues" that I did not even take pictures. It was very good though. I had the lamb and the donuts. It is a good thing I had them on the last night because I would have ordered those for lunch and dinner every day! Then I went to spend my last OBC. My problem was that I had not consulted the shop-schedule and did not realize, that the shops would not open after "white night". With the 2 last days being overnight port stays I had to do the shopping very very last minute. Of course I was not the only one. I bought a very nice Coast Purse and some Clinique Cosmetics I would have bought at home anyway - so for me it was a good buy. Next time (if I have that much OBC again) I will plan ahead! Then we took another stroll around the ship Spa: and called it a night.

Back on board I decided, that if I was going to have to pack I would at least try one of those famous Atlas-bar Cocktails. Initially I had the intention to buy the beverage package but found, that for me and my taste, buying wine by the bottle was the better choice. But I still wanted to try at least one of those cocktails even though they are quite expensive: I chose the "Parisienne". And a good choice it was. Packing was still no fun but a little less horrible.

I would not go so far to say that Livorno is a beautiful city but we still enjoyed our tour. Some of the things we saw:

Initially I wanted us to visit Pisa on the second day of Livorno: It is a 6 minutes walk to Piazza grande where you can take the Lam Blu (LB) at stop GRANDE2 (4@A8049) Porto Mediceo. It goes directly to the central station where you can take the train to Pisa (or Lucca or Florence). There is also a direct bus that goes to Pisa: For taking the bus (#10) to Pisa, which departs right behind the dome and goes every full hour you go to Piazza della Republica (follow Via Grande) But as the day in Florence had been quite strenuous and it was already the last day of our cruise (= dreaded packing) we decided to stay in Livorno.

After we had done the circle tour we were tired of evading the cars and the millions of field-trips-students and escaped on to the other side of the river and climbed the hill up to Piazzale Michelangelo. There you not only have a terrific view over Florence but can also breathe a little in a serene little garden paradise away from the crowds. We loved it. Then we stopped for a cappuccino (Vivaldi, Via dei Renai, 15, 50125 Firenze) I highly recommend it not only for the café/gelato but also for the clean restrooms and the very nice staff 😉

The old bridge:

Our impression of Florence was ambivalent: It is without doubt one of the most beautiful cities I have visited. Every corner you turn hides an ancient building full of cultural treasures. But it is messy: While the cities we had visited on this cruise up to then (Malaga, Barcelona, Nice) seem to have taken the full range of infrastructure options to improve the walking and cycling experience in Florence the pedestrian has to fear for his life (of course I exaggerate). Most times there are no pavements at all. You always have to watch out for cars and/or scooters. It is noisy, it smells of fuel and pollution and it is soooo crowded. In my very own opinion cars cannot be the center of a healthy and serene city. That aside - as mentioned. Florence takes your breath away. Just to show you some of the sights: The dome: David (just one of the copies though)

We arrived in Livorno a little bit after 8 o clock. Azamara docks at Porto Mediceo: I really wanted to see Florence - taxi cost about 570 E The train from Livorno Centrale to Firenze S. M. Novella takes about 1,5 h. You can either take a taxi to central station - that is waiting right beside the ship or the bus. Train Tickets cost around 11 E pP. This is the way from the pier to the train station in google maps. The distance is 3 km. It takes about 45 minutes to get there by foot To take the bus to the train station: just walk out of the port, buy a biglietto autobus (public bus ticket) for €1.20 from any newsstand (tabaccheria) you pass (you could buy the train ticket for 11 E here aswell), and head straight up Via Grande to the first bus stop on your right. Hop city bus #1 to the stazione treni in about 15 minutes. train schedule for 04/23: I had a lot of OBC and until then had not spent any on a tour so I had chosen the shore excursion "Florence on your own". We met in the Cabaret Lounge at 8:15 and were guided to our tour bus about 5 Minutes later. There were 30 people on the bus and our guide Cynthia entertained us while the bus (impressive driving skills: driver Tizziano) led us to a leather outlet factory, used mainly as restroom break. The drive was about 1,30 in total and the drop off in Florence was Santa Croce (red dot)

I am running a bit behind on my report - sorry about that! Nice - evening: The white night. We were just AMAZED how much effort every single member of the staff must have put in the organization of this event. The food was amazing, the staff were obviously proud of the wonderful experience they had created - I wish my English skills could explain how much we and the other guests appreciated the devotion to detail. The food was out of this world. I could only take pictures of the dessert because there were so many people around the bbq. but desserts are my fav. course anyway 🙂 All the senior officers were working (even the head chef was serving the best cuts and the Captain was working the tables) My favorite dish was the Crêpes Suzette cooked by Marcelo Affonso (Hotel Director). It was a real pity that it was sooo cold because everybody was participating (everyone dressed in white) so many beautiful people- the atmosphere was great. You will find plenty of pictures and videos on YouTube and/or Facebook of this event!

Today we are docked at beautiful beautiful Nice As a French teacher I should have been so grateful to see Nice on the Schedule. But to be honest, I just thought "OK, at least It is a new port for us". Put my did I underestimate the beauty of this city! Of course it is easy for a city to shine if you have beautiful weather, like we had today! But still - we had such a wonderful time in Nice ! Quelle beauté! Quelle ville magnifique! Je suis ravie! We were docked in the best spot again: Right in the old / little harbour: We wandered around the bay and climbed the stairs to the Colline du Château (red line). usually there is an escalator that departs from the Hotel de Suisse - but right now it is out of order. Up there it was just serene. So beautiful. So calm. So many pretty sights and panoramas. We then descended to the old Ville (la vielle Ville) where we bought some more sunscreen and cherished the lovely Parc (Promenade du Paillon) Then we continued our walk on to the Boulevard des Anglais - a beautiful Promenade. Finally we went back on board for a quick lunch and some frozen yoghurt 🙂 See the amazing toppings here: The weather was so beautiful though that we could not resist and took another stroll. This time we went to the right hand side and went up Mont Boron. It is an easy walk - you just follow the signs and you are rewarded with a stunning view: We saw amazing houses (of apparently very poor people) and we had a wonderful view on our ship:

Some of you recommended, that we should go to breakfast in Aqualina. So of course we followed your recommendation - and a good recommendation it was. You have to bring some time but it is worth it: I went with the granola (a little too sweet for my taste) of course the egg Benedict (very good) DH had the omelet (very good) Very good aswell. Service: as usual impeccable. Cappuccino was less good than in Mosaic café. In the evening we came back for dinner at Aqualina: Greetings from the kitchen: (wonderful! Peccorino and bread with pepper-spread) Chefs special: Shrimps and Pancetta Chefs special II: Spanish Beef stew Eggplant Parmigiana Spaghetti Bolognese Soufflé Crème Brûlée (chefs special)

Sorry I am a bit late to respond. We are on deck 6. The movement is getting worse if you move up a deck (just mho)

Then we headed back to the ship, had another coffee at Mosaic - resisted the temptation of having a pre-lunch snack felt very proud and good about this...😉 and went for lunch at Windows: The vegan options are really good! I must try the pizza tomorrow:

The forecast promised another glorious sunny day and we were eager to get ashore to explore Barcelona on our own. Transport-Options: At the ship you can hop in a taxi (there is also uber in BCN), you can rent a bike, you can take one of two Hop on Hop off busses (e.g. city-sightseeing 30E) Take the Metro (purchase at vending machines T-Casual (replaces the former T10) carnet of 10 tickets Zone 1: 11,35 €). Tipps for the metro. Or OneDayTicket: T-Dia 10,50 €. See the map on this link for better resolution We had seen all the “must sees” ( Sagrada Familia, Parc Guell, Camp Nou for football fans, Gaudi: Casa Battló/Mila, Picasso Museum, las ramblas, Pard de Monjuïc, Barri Gòtic.) on our previous visits and were looking forward to doing another hike. We were lucky to be docked right in the centre (berth S) so we could head straight up to Mount Mont Juic. Up there you have a beautiful view of the city. Alternatively there is a cable car at Avinguda de Miramar, 30 (15 E) Or you can also take the teleferic that departs right beside the ship. This one goes to either Barceloneta or drops you off at the Hotel Miramar on the Mount. We preferred to walk off some of the calories that were starting to saw my trousers one or two numbers tighter. It was an easy walk. I did map out the route at home (using Komoot) but this was really not necessary as you just keep on walking up. The gardens are really lovely up there. This is the hotel Miramar, facing the Top Station of the Teleferic departing the port: We descended and walked to the left side to Barceloneta and Port Vell. It is interesting that depending on the direction you take in Barcelona you get to see a whole different side and feel a totally different vibe within 20 minutes of a walk. The beach at Barceloneta is really great. Although it being a workday it was buzzing with people.

Although the sea was rather smooth on the way to Barcelona, the very strong winds caused a lot of noise and commotion (again). When we entered the port (punctual as usual) it was all forgotten though: