corinna121

3 hours ago, riandei said:

Website states 1 bag per 7 night cruise.  Would this mean 2 bags on a 12 night cruise.

 

this is for discoverer level.

 

thank you

If you need extra bags last I heard it is $40 for a bag. What you choose squeeze in the bag is another topic. They offer 3/5/8 bag specials, I was told recently 5 bags for $100, 8 bags for $110. I dont remember the price for 3 bags but it didn't seem like a worthwhile choice to me. We have a B2B coming up in September. I don't mind the self service laundry but if they let us use the purchased laundry through our B2B total of 21 days..I would go for 8 bags. But IMHO we are lucky on Azamara to have any laundry included. Most lines do not include this perk.

43 minutes ago, zipcruise said:

Don’t miss to visit the ancient theatre and try some fresh cannoli, very yummy. Taormina is one of my favorite spots in Italy, I always purchase the „Aqua di Taormina“ there, the perfume smells like vacation to me, it’s my signature scent 😍.

I also recommend the taxi . Once we took the public bus and I didn’t feel comfy on the small road uphill to Taormina - although the driver was very experienced.

 

Thank you zipcruise, we will certainly benefit from your great advice. We love cannoli and I enjoy trying new perfumes. Aqua di Taormina even sounds like vacation. I can't wait to try it. We will be sure to visit the ancient theatre!!

36 minutes ago, Mackdogmolly said:

HOHO stands for hop on hop off bus. Tours that are available in a lot of cities - inexpensive and an easy way to see the major attractions.

Thank you Mackdogmolly. It does sound like a great way to see most cities. I have heard Taomina is very beautiful.

On 6/4/2022 at 3:18 AM, Ilovemygarden said:

A couple of weeks ago we took the Hoho - although I think there was also a service bus.  Taxis were also plentiful.   Taormina is very pretty to stroll around.

We go to Taormina in September. What is the Hoho? We are looking forward to seeing Taormina for the first time. 

On 5/6/2024 at 10:37 PM, brucory said:

We have a cruise booked on Azamara in September which finishes with an overnight stop in Lisbon. 

The ship arrives at 1pm on the 2nd last day.

Looking for some thoughts on what time might be the earliest to leave the ship on the final day as looking at early flights from Lisbon.

Would consider wheeling off our own luggage if it helps. 

Any assistance much appreciated. 🙂 

I guess you are on the Journey Athens Sept cruise to arrive 1pm Lisbon then overnight with us our paperwork has no departure time on it either. I would think you could get off the ship earlier than most would want to begin departure, and wheeling off your own luggage would certainly save you time. There are quite a few people doing a B2B to Boston including us. This will probably make for a less crowded departure for you. My husband and I usually wheel our own luggage on and off now, because we travel much lighter than in the past! Traveling lighter feels freeing to us. I hope you find this information helpful.

On 12/31/2023 at 11:41 AM, Dr H said:

This is their new shtick, and actually it is easier to work with. I believe B2B credits remain unchanged. If there are room changes, again, no real change to the routine - you get your new key at the B2B meeting the day before, they move you as they have in the past. Turnaround, you can leave the ship if you wish, or stay on board. Of course, the new Azamara Computer From Hell loves to list our 2nd leg as the first on the itinerary, which is driving this mildly OCD (CDO, actually) cruiser to drink, but otherwise, it is no hassle.

Dr H, Sorry to get slighly off topic here. We have a B2B coming up and we have to change rooms. My husband really wanted to keep the same room but it was already booked. If we want to go to port in Lisbon, where would we leave our bags?

3 minutes ago, kent4489 said:

If there is a lot of interest, we have seen it happen more than one night. But, we've also been on board and there were none.

Thank you, kent4489. I appreciate you taking the time to explain this to me. We had a wonderful time on our other cruises with a karaoke night; but I like to participate in so many activities on board a ship that I rarely have time to do everything that I have circled in the daily newletter. So we will be okay either way, but I like to be prepared and know what to plan for. I am excited about our First White night and Azamazing evening.

Thank you so much uktog, one night is what we are used to on most cruise lines. I will be sure and ask the cruise director and find out when and if there is karaoke on our sailing.

Can someone please tell me if they have karaoke night on Azamara? I have been on many different cruise lines and most of them include at least one karaoke night. But I have searched this forum and haven't seen anything about karaoke. Maybe I am not searching correctly. Thanks in advance.

13 minutes ago, Hi-ho-silver said:

How is the corkage fee assessed?  Do you declare the wine when you board and have the $15/bottle charged to your account or when (if) you bring the bottle to the dining room?

The corkage fee is not charged when you bring the wine onboard. The $15 corkage fee is charged when waitstaff opens your wine for you. If you want to drink your wine on your balcony for example there will be no corkage fee. There will only be a corkage fee on wines you choose to drink in a public area onboard the ship.

On 3/24/2024 at 1:00 PM, Grandma Cruising said:

Just wondering whether to resurrect the upgrade spreadsheet which I haven’t updated since March 23 when the upgrade system disappeared. 
As it now seems to be back, would people find the spreadsheet helpful or not. If you would find it useful then please start posting the following upgrade information.

- bid date

- cruise date

- cruise length

- loyalty level

- minimum bid required for upgrade (in US$)

- total amount bid (in US$)

- cabin type initially booked

- cabin type bid for

- final bid cost per night (in US$)

- bid strength

- outcome (successful or not)

- cruise region 

- any other useful information (E.g when told about outcome)

 

Here’s a link to it. The only new entry is mine for my most recent cruise https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1pEoojQ5-EPmD4cI3gw1dVcYfYTXfZePdDXxU09l0H3M/edit

Grandma Cruising Just want to let you know how much my husband and I appreciate all of your hard work we will put in a bid to upgrade our September 21, 2024 Veranda to a Suite of some some sort. Not too concerned of what type of suite, mostly we are doing it for the specialty restaurants. We will certainly post our results for the benefit of others after we attempt the upgrade bid. good luck to you and all on this board on getting the rooms that will make our cruise as wonderful as possible.

On 1/21/2024 at 8:44 PM, luv2travel90266 said:

As suggested before you can bring an unlimited amount of wine bottles on board and pay $10 corkage in the dining room. I typically stop retuning to the ship and pick up several bottles at a local wine store in the port. 

 

The plus is you will get to taste wines you may not be able to find at home. You can also choose wines within your preferred price point.  I personally do a google search of wine stores near the port. 

I was thinking the same thing. We will be in Tuscany on out 2nd port stop. I will find a wine store that does tastings and bring the wine onboard. But all of our ports are bound to have excellent wines that as you say "we could not be able to find at home" 

On 4/14/2024 at 2:46 PM, Ithikan said:

Thank you to the several above posters who reminded me of the additional Azamara birthday treats:  signed card! towel elephant! (Well done on the Towel B'Day Cake, fruitmachine!).

Corinna121, I was mistaken when I said to use 'Addon.'  I used the Special Requests icon to report my birthday - this selection incurs no cost.  And we just used it again for my husband's upcoming birthday on Journey  : )

I must send out a big thank you to you my friend. It seems there are 2 places to enter a birthday add ons and special requests. Neither one mentions any cost for this service. Thanks to you I now have both checked! These boards are so filled with great information to make the best possible trips!

2 hours ago, Ithikan said:

I celebrated my birthday during our Journey cruise in January of this year.  We were in a CC suite and so were able to breakfast in Aqualina, where Ruby and her staff sang "Happy Birthday" to me.  I loved it.

And when we returned to our stateroom there was a birthday banner and balloons.  I felt special!  

And yes, there was the offer of a discounted bottle of beverage - the day before, we'd encountered a couple roaming the ship with their anniversary coupon, seeking the sommelier so they could select something special for their occasion.  (I was grateful, but we didn't take advantage of this offer.)

And finally, the White Night deck party happened to occur that evening.  Seriously, one of my best-ever birthdays!  I highly recommend checking the Addon box and letting the Azamara staff and crew help you celebrate your husband's birthday!

Wow, that does sound really special. We celebrated my January 2024 birthday on board Scarlet Lady. I was impressed that when I got on and off at the port or scanned my card anywhere I was wished a Happy Birthday by a crew member, but no cake, coupons, decorations or special dining venue. Looks like we will really enjoy Azamara. I checked the proper box and the cake and decorations will be a surprise for my husband because although he knows about the cruise, I am the planner in the family!!

We will be cruising on Azamara Journey Sept 21,2024. This will be my husband's birthday cruise. When looking at shore excursions etc. I found the Addon section which allows me to choose which day to celebrate his birthday. Questions: what will they do to celebrate his birthday? Is there an added charge for this? This is our first Azamara Cruise but we have been on many different lines. I did find the tips for Azamara newbies Excel spreadsheet to very helpful. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15Deg-GaeZYLml8NN3PVwoh_jUkQ8QmYUe1wxnVAlODE/edit#gid=0.  Any tips are very much appreciated. TIA

My husband and I sailed on Regent Mariner Nov-Dec 2023. We loved the ship. We experienced no plumbing issues. Food and service was absolutely amazing. We would not hesitate to sail Mariner again. Kasia and Boogie were very talented and entertaining. My husband did say the gym on Mariner leaves something to be desired. But I don't use the gym. Our room steward Emma and waiter in Compass Rose Dennis were wonderful. Now you have me wanting to book another cruise!!

What makes it salty? I love trivia on cruise ships usually. How is this different than trivia on other lines?

Dear Vitacura, thank you so much for your detailed posts and photos. Your live journey is so wonderful and has my husband and I anxious to board the Mariner ourselves on November 25. I will have the dessert souffles thanks to your reccomendation. I am sure taht my husband will follow your minimum 2 desserts per night idea. Afternoon tea looks amazing, as do the nighly menus offered in the Compass Rose. I took notes so that we don't miss any must do activities. I will be heading to Afternoon tea everyday at 4pm and bring my treats to trivia at 4:30!! Your live cruise has been so informativeand I am sure that we will be able to do more thanks to your posts!!

Thank you so much for all of your very helpful information. I will definitely be ordering the avocado toast and the Ahi Burger those are right up my alley, even though donuts aren't my thing but I do like croissants...I will try to cronuts too. My husband will probably love the cronuts, he does enjoys donuts and croissants. If the gym is well equipped that will definitely please my husband. I am so glad that you are having so much fun on your cruise. I am sure that we will have a wonderful cruise too!!

On 10/25/2023 at 7:48 PM, Gray Eagle02 said:

Our favorite restaurant was Compass Rose where I found the steaks better than the Prime 7 and the service was as good as the specialty restaurants. We ate in the Sette Mari only once as it always ( on all the ships) struggles with service. I loved the avocado toast in the Compass Rose and my husband loved the Cronuts available everywhere. However, we enjoyed every meal in the Compass Rose.  The food and service— especially wine service—was so much better than our recent Splendor cruise. A standout at the Pool Grill was the Ahi Tuna burger, done perfectly (rare) with an excellent sauce. The gym is well equipped but does not have a rower as does the Explorer and Splendor, which was a disappointment to me as I have a water rower at home that I use daily. We did not use the sports deck as the weather was not conducive to outdoor activities most of the time.

Hope you enjoy your cruise as much as we enjoyed ours.

GreyEagle02,

I am so happy to hear that you are having a wonderful cruise onboard the Mariner. We will be boarding on November 25, and we are really looking forward to this cruise. Please let us know any stand out activities or dishes that you have enjoyed. We are looking forward to doing trivia when possible. My husband enjoys working out, how is the gym onboard?

On 7/6/2023 at 12:23 PM, SimplyMarvie said:

We haven't bought the drinks package before, but this cruise it was literally $8 more than not having the "premium" package -- with gratuities, internet and most importantly DECENT COFFEE -- so it was a no-brainer. We'll see if that changes how much I drink onboard significantly. 

 

Different strokes for different folks, I guess... I've always been willing to either do my drinking on-shore or get whatever is cheap at the bar. Personally, the bigger question is how people function without the coffee package? Is it just my choice of lines, or is the MDR coffee horrific everywhere? 

Which cruise line are you referring to that has terrible coffee in the MDR? I am very curious?

Which cruise line are you referring to that has terrible coffee in the MDR? I am very curious?

On 1/25/2023 at 3:46 PM, CruiserFromMaine said:

On the Splendor. 

 

After lunch in La Veranda yesterday we took the trolley tour of Willemstad. There was a long taxi ride over the big bridge (Queen Julianna Bridge) to the trolley ride start, which was really only a short walk over the floating bridge.  

 

We were docked right in the harbor, very convenient. The picture is of the Splendor from the floating bridge, which needed to open to let us in and out. 

 

The narrated ride was about 90 minutes in an open air trolley. It was OK but not great. After the trolley ride, we walked over the floating bridge to the ship. 

 

We grabbed some savory snacks from Coffee Connection and went back to our room to have them with done champagne. There were no other food options. Before dinner we stopped in to heat Gino at the Observation Lounge, then off to Pacific Rim for a wonderful dinner. I had the Miso Cod with the duck confit spring rolls as a starter—excellent! 

 

In lieu of a show in the theater there was dancing on the pool deck since we were in port late. What a fun party. CD David, the entertainers and the orchestra sang and played nonstop for almost 90 minutes. Many folks were there and most danced at least some of the time. We never stopped! It was such fun and a great workout too! 

 

The orchestra regrouped in the Meridian Lounge with hardly a break for more music. My initial hesitation about the orchestra is now gone—they are extremely talented plus they work their <instruments> off!

 

Quiet morning in Aruba with no excursion. We ventured into town then returned for lunch in Prime 7. It was very good if a little leisurely but we had nowhere else to be. I had the shrimp and grits starter and the fisherman’s platter. 

 

We talked with the executive concierge about our mid-cruise survey. He’d obviously read our concerns about the AKA Brickell and the construction around the elevators. He said others had complained too, and also on previous cruises. He will forward our concerns to corporate. We’ll see what happened next. The hotel was supposed to be finished by now, and Regent books rooms a couple months out so I understand how Regent got caught short, but it was still a rough start to our vacation. 

 

Now sitting by the infinity pool enjoying the quiet afternoon. 

 

The water view is from our veranda this morning in Aruba. 

I have been going to South Beach Miami since 1990 because that is when my brother moved down there. It is such an amazing place to visit. However, their 5 star standards are severely impaired. I know the Brickell and it is quite well known, supposedly upscale, but only by Miami standards which are very low for hotels. The exception would be the Setai Miami Beach, which I think is quite exceptional.and also the Fontainebleau Miami Beach which doesn't have the prime location that Setai offers. I wish that Regent would change to one of these premium hotel choices but perhaps their booking person doesn't realize that Miami 5 star standards differ greatly compared to other cities.

On 4/9/2023 at 9:44 AM, bookbabe said:

We’re on Mariner in November and don’t expect Starlink by then.  But we’d also love to hear more info on timing if anyone hears anything.

We are also on Mariner in November 25, and Regent rep, though not giving a specific date, said that both Grandeur and Mariner will have Starlink before the end of 2023. So I would say it is likely though not guaranteed that will be able to use Starlink on Mariner in November. Which sailing are you on bookbabe?