Aussie Cruise Nuts

I was on this cruise and requested additional envelopes from Guest Services along with more notepaper so we could include a personal note of thanks to the great crew we had encountered regulalry and wished to tip. Rod

No Phil. We each have the standard wifi package complimentary thanks to our suite benefit discount and loyalty tier discount. We knew for this cruise our iPhone 4G data would be available to hotspot for most of the Australian part of the itinerary and in every NZ port or close by. I preferred to spend our OBC on upgraded drinks 🤪 Looking forward to the future when all Azamara ships have the faster standard wifi. Rod

On board Journey now and still USD$10 corkage. The complimentary pouring wines have been satisfactory and we have been doing a mix of free pour, buying glasses of wine, buying bottles of wine at dinner and taking our own bottles to dinner. it’s working well as a mix of OBC and my wallet 😁 Rod

we are currently on Journey and the wifi is painfully slow. My speed test shows download between 2 to 3 MBPS and upload at less than 2 We are hot spotting from our phone when in NZ ports or along the coast and receiving a 4G signal. The difference is like chalk and cheese 🤪 Rod

Confirmed. We boarded the 4 Jan. journey cruise to NZ in Melbourne. The booking tables for the Speciality Restaurants is exactly where Marinaro44 advised. Rod

RE ONGOING CANCELLATIONS. In early September 2023, we booked B2B cruises on Azamara Pursuit for 2025 - Greece Intensive cruise and Croatia Intensive cruise. Good value, excellent itineraries, great early booking benefits including upgraded beverage package, free wifi - OBC totalling USD$1,800 including early booking benefit, B2B, and our TA provided OBC. What could go wrong ??? in the following months, I had the usual website problems Azamara are “famous” for - bookings disappearing, then reappearing, my wife’s loyalty tier incorrect, and at one stage, it seemed I got lucky, as on my profile, I had a new cruise pop up - a Norway cruise with two ladies “unknown” to me in the suite 😳. I thought this is interesting - but my darling wife did not seem at all impressed 😆. Being of generous nature, I cheerfully put up with the weird happenings on my website profile. As we are boarding Azamara Journey at 2pm today in Port Melbourne for a 17 night cruise to New Zealand, yesterday I decided to check the pricing on our 2025 B2B’s. Shock horror, the cruises had disappeared from Azamara website, and a little research online was showing the cruises as cancelled. Rang my TA, who had no knowledge of any cancellation, she contacted Azamara Sydney who confirmed the cancellation and said all pax were advised in October and new options offered - which needed to be accepted by 10 November 😖. Being a good TA who we have used for many cruises over many years, she lodged a very strong complaint, advising neither the TA or the passengers received my notification of cancellation and has hopefully arranged an extension of time for us to consider the various options. A very genuine apology followed from Azamara with agreement to extension of time. The alternative options include similar or better per diem pricing along with OBC of USD$1,000 as we are suite cruisers. But that is less than the AZAMARA OBC which came with our original booking. That is a conversation we will need to have with Azamara 🤪 I continue to be amazed how poorly Azamara shoreside perform, and how good the experience is once you walk up the gangplank. However, my patience has been sorely tested with this experience. I will see how our Journey cruise commencing today performs - hopefully as good as the “good old days”. cheers all. Rod

Yes, thanks for your review Richard. I always enjoy reading your reviews and your port reports are very comprehensive, well written and appreciated. I receive your cruise reviews direct as I am on your mailing list ✔️ As to your comments on Azamara shoreside and their dreadful IT system, it has been ever thus. Thank goodness it is a totally different experience when you walk up that gangplank and start your cruise. Like chalk and cheese 🤣 We will walk up the Azamara Journey gangplank in Port Melbourne on 4 January 2024 for a 17 night trip to New Zealand. We can’t wait. 👍👍 Rod