Twiga

The "Best of the Best" refers to the food and the dining experience, not the passengers!

An easy way to find out if an Azamazing Evening has been added to your cruise, just go to your account and view the shore excursions. Click "VIEW ALL SHORE EXCURSIONS" or "ALL." Then there is a drop down tab to sort the results. Click "PRICE: LOW TO HIGH." (It defaults to "FEATURED.") The Azamazing Evening will be the first result as the price is $0. You may need to scroll down the page, but look for this:

Thank you ECCruise and uktog for the information. I hope it resumes soon, but if dining with staff is the concern (presumably health/covid issues), I might be out of luck.

We were scheduled to sail on one of the first cruises that was cancelled in March 2020 and were looking forward to the Best of the Best dinner. We will finally be back onboard Azamara this Fall. Has Azamara resumed the Best of the Best dinners?

We are considering using Luggage Free, the Azamara partner, for shipping our suitcases to the Pursuit in Ravenna this October. They say that they will deliver our luggage to our stateroom. Has anyone used Luggage Free this year for a cruise leaving Ravenna (specifically) or from another port? If so, what is your opinion of their service? Did your luggage arrive safely and on time? Please let me know if you have any comments or suggestions that may help me when shipping my suitcases to the Pursuit. Thank you in advance!

I agree! On my last two Oceania cruises, November, 2019 and February 2022, it was impossible to use the online forms. It would not allow me to fill in information at all. After several tries at different times I gave up. It would be nice if Oceania would send us the evaluation form after the cruise, like Azamara and Princess. Then we would have more time to provide our responses.

FolsomMike, I agree with all of the comments above. The only time that Oceania air business class worked for me was on a cruise from Athens to Miami (similar to PhD-iva) in 2018. The regular air fare from LAX to Athens one-way was the same as round-trip on every airline. I gave Oceania my flights of choice and they booked them for me at half the round-trip price. It worked out that time, but not since. As stated above, do the math. Find your best deal, then you can have your travel agent present it to Oceania. That way you will know what your options are.

We are boarding in Ravenna on October 17, 2022. Yesterday I received an email from Azamara (through my travel agent) about covid testing requirements for boarding and then masking onboard. If you are leaving after us, perhaps you will get a similar email.

We are using Day Trip from Venice to Ravenna. They have private cars from Bologna to Ravenna. Check them out at: mydaytrip/landing/bologna-to-ravenna Email: daytrip@mydaytrip.com Good luck!

To answer the OP, the answer is yes, there are groups on this cruise. A quick Google search shows that Georgia Tech, Ohio University, and University of Tennessee have websites advertising this cruise.

I agree! Azamara should stop the preboarding testing requirement for all cruises. They can easily do so for non-U.S. cruises since those cruises are not subject to the CDC’s COVID-19 Program for Cruise Ships Operating in U.S. Waters, assuming that Azamara opted in to that program.

Pinotlover is absolutely correct! Many people have a cruise booked, but think that they might not actually sail due to various reasons, such as covid, testing rules constantly changing, flights cancelled, cruise itineraries changed, and the world situation in general (e.g. Ukraine). People don't want to invest their time and energy in a roll call and excursion planning if they think they may be cancelling their cruise.

I booked this excursion about two months ago for my October 17, 2022 Pursuit cruise, Ravenna to Athens. I am happy to hear that it is an excellent tour!

Thank you, Jazzbeau, for the additional information. I have asked my TA to follow up on this as we also have an October cruise.

When did you receive this information from Azamara? Was it by email from Azamara or from your travel agent? Was it before final payment? We are also on an Azamara cruise in October that was switched from Venice to Ravenna. I have not received anything about this. Thank you!

Ivi, Welcome Pickups is available in many cities worldwide. I have used them in Athens several times. They are wonderful. Very reliable.