6 hours ago, MR_T said:

Hi All, 

 

So after 20+ celebrity cruises we finally got round to booking Azamara after wanting to try it for so long. I think we finally grew out of celebrity and really wanted to make the switch and find out for ourselves what we think. 
 

The first cruise we booked was a holidays cruise on Journey this year and really looking forward to escaping a piece of our Canadian winter. The second cruise we booked a week or so ago is for April/May 2026 so a fair wait for that one although we are really looking forward to it as it’s a first time destination for the both of us. And currently we are waiting to confirm a third booking for an Iceland cruise leaving July 1st this year so obviously very excited about that one as it’s another first for us both and also super close so we get to experience Azamara a lot sooner than first expected 😊

 

if anyone has any tips/advise good, bad or ugly please feel free to add a comment ☺️

Looking forward to meeting you on the Christmas and New Years cruise.  I know you are on the roll call 😀

We started sailing Celebrity and Azamara at about the same time…2008 -2009 and we flipped back and forth and then just stayed with Azamara. 
I think you will love Azamara.  You should get a good taste for Azamara on our Journey Christmas cruise. 

We love the passengers on Azamara and always have found them to friendly and interesting and well travelled.  It’s easy to find like minded folks to chat with!   The crew on Azamara is the best ever!  If you make any effort to talk, they will reciprocate and you will make instant friends!  They have a remarkable memory and will soon know you and all your likes and dislikes! 
 

Every cruise has a White Night.  Our cruise it should be in Barbados on New Years Eve and then our Azamazing Evening will be in St Maartens on the dock. 
 

For a tip, I would say be sure to visit the specialty restaurant reservation desk as soon as you board!  There you can make your reservations for specialty restaurants, Chefs Table ( which is a must do at least once) and they will have a calendar marked with White Night, Azamazing evening, and any other special meals such as Christmas Eve dinner, Christmas Day, etc.  Come ready with some nights that you might want your specialty restaurant reservations.  
 

Looking forward to cruising with you and welcome to Azamara!
 

1 hour ago, WNcruiser said:

Did you look all the way at the end of the email? My email had my new VS number on it at the end after all the benefits. 

Well, guess what I just found I my junk mail folder?

The welcome to the Venetian Society e mail you were talking about with the number at the end! 

28 minutes ago, WNcruiser said:

Did you look all the way at the end of the email? My email had my new VS number on it at the end after all the benefits. 

This is more of a general e-mail.  It doesn’t go over the benefits.

It is personalized to me because it says Welcome and my first name.

There is no VS number.

Thanks.   Maybe this is just the first of the emails …..

9 minutes ago, Chot50s said:

I’m assuming I’ll get a Venetian Society membership number in the welcome email they send when loyalty status match is complete, which I think may take up to 7 days to arrive. I enrolled last Thursday or Friday. My upgraded Venetian Society status shows up in the Royal and Celebrity apps (on the Loyalty Match tab) but no membership number is shown (yet?j.

I did the status match when the announcement first came out.  Today I got a “Welcome to Silverseas” e mail.  Like you, I thought the number would be there.  It isn’t.  Oh well….no cruise planned yet.

1 hour ago, MamaFej said:

I was having a heck of a time getting my statuses matched. I updated my Celebrity app, thinking that would help. Nope. 

 

Then it occured to me that I needed to close and relaunch the app. That did the trick. I feel rather silly for missing that step, but it's done now, and we will get laundry on our Arctic expediton cruise in 9 days. Yay! 

Were you then given a membership number for Venetian Society?

If so, I can not see how to do it.

3 hours ago, Ski Mom 2 said:

Has anyone been on a theme cruise (like a golf cruise) but only because you wanted to be on the cruise and had no interest in the "theme?" Wondering how it would be to not be a part of that group. (One of the cruises I'm looking at is a golf cruise but I don't golf).

We were on a Perry Golf cruise Ireland Intensive 1 year ago. We are former golfers ourselves.  We would have loved to have met some golfers and heard about their “golfing adventures” in Ireland.

Our cruise was not impacted by the Perry Golf group in any way.  We hardly knew they were onboard except for embarkation day when we saw the “check in” for golfers in the Living Room in the front ( port side) as you enter where the big table is.  They are a small group and they blend in to the rest of the passengers onboard.  

I would not hesitate to book another cruise that had a Perry Golf group onboard.

1 minute ago, SerraG said:

 

There are also some classic items that are always available such as Caesar Salad, French Onion Soup, Steak and Salmon.

Are those on the Luminae menu?  
I know they used to be available on the MDR menu?

I don’t think I have  seen any chicken on the menus you posted.

Is there a chicken that is always available?

8 minutes ago, Texed said:

The pastas are wonderful.  Our entire group thought the filet was better than Fine Cut's filet,  The lamb is great.  We loved several different fish entrees.  I am not that crazy about lobster.  But, the poached lobster was very good.

 

If we didn't see something on the menu that caught our eye, we would ask our waiter for his suggestion.  He was always "right on".  😋

Thanks for your suggestions.  Keeping that all in mind 😀

Lois, I think you are in retreat, correct me if I am wrong.  If so, How have you found the food in Luminae?  Since you are on a S class ship, can you order from the MDR menu, also?
Thanks for your review! 

5 minutes ago, Texed said:

And we think Luminae is outstanding.  

Can you suggest some entrees that you feel are outstanding? Just trying to get some ideas on what to order.

Oh my goodness!  We would be struggling on these meals.  Even the ones I think might be good are not !  We are looking at an S class…..I sure hope we could order from the Main Dining menu! 

3 hours ago, desertgrl74 said:

I have also been told that the interest on the part of the AZ staff who select and purchase alcohol leans most strongly toward spirits, not wine.   I don't appreciate being captive of one winery.  I do understand that these are precarious financial times, so maybe this is necessary.  For me, all the more reason to provide my own wines.  (and on my last 2 cruises, I was hardly able to spend my OBC so was happy to use them for both corkage and occasionally for the rather overpriced "fine wines" available).

I am with you on all this.

Did you happen to see the webinar with the new CEO?

She is interested in wine herself and has recently been onboard some of the ships in the last week, so I would expect she has been looking at what’s being offered onboard.  She said she has had a lot of feedback from guests about needing better wine, so fingers crossed she can make some improvements. 

On 5/21/2024 at 9:01 AM, Jim_Iain said:

 

Look forward to hearing about your cruise.   My anticipation of our first Oceania cruise is really growing.

Hi Jim, 

We were avid Celebrity cruisers, then mixed in some HAL, interspersed with Azamara.  We did one O cruise in 2015.  It was good, but a bit repetitive for us…17 days.  We still love Azamara, but there have been some hiccups since separating from RCCL.  We have a Christmas cruise on the books with them.

We tried O again in Nov., Marina TA Lisbon to MIA in a PH.  We were blown away!!  It was fabulous.  We booked another while onboard.  
Having read many, many of your LIVE Reports on X, I think you and Iain are going to love it.  I hope you do a LIVE report on your first O cruise! 

4 minutes ago, alfiemom said:

I have been having problems with X website for a while now.  Today I tried to sign and I get 

400 Bad Request

Request Header Or Cookie Too Large i’m using an iPad.  There are some things that I can get into, but even looking at cruises brings up the above message.  I’ve tried clearing my cache, turing off the iPad …..makes no difference.  I am not talking about an app, but the X website on the internet.  Hope some techies here can help clear this up….i can’t check any sales on my next cruise. Bobbie

Following along……

Have had similar problems with my IPad in last few days.  Seems to not be such a problem using my IPhone, but I need to see things on a larger screen than the phone! 

Sound machines work quite well to squash out noises.  Also, can use sound apps on your phone.  They help! 

1 hour ago, PirateWife said:

I find the laundry room to be the most social venue on the ship. Yes, there have been some curmudgeons, but most people are pleasant and helpful.

Agree.  We have only had pleasant encounters there.  Been cruising Azamara since 2009.  

Is this a real sale?

I looked at an excursion that I was thinking of booking and it says it’s on sale, but it’s the same price as I saw yesterday!  It says 5% off….not much of a sale anyway!

Maybe the prices will drop tomorrow when the sale actually starts?

Thanks so much for your quick reply.

Apologies for not being up to date.  Have not sailed X since 2019 and was in AQ class then.

Looking at future sailings…..if we book a sky suite, all the wording on X web site refers to “premium alcohol”.  Do you get an included premium alcohol package that can be used at all bars or only in Retreat Lounge? Can we go to the Martini Bar, for example, and not pay extra for drinks there? 

15 hours ago, DS said:

so... what was the link ???

Sorry.  I couldn’t figure out how to post the link but @Grandma Cruisinggot it done.  Thank you.

I was e-mailed a link yesterday from Azamara to watch the webinar that I signed up for and forgot to watch!  
I have to say…,.Dondra, you rock!  It was everything I was hoping to hear and everything as others such as @uktog described!  
I am beyond impressed and hopeful for the future of Azamara under Dondra’s leadership.

Now, let’s get those wine selections worked out before we board for Christmas! 😀

I apologize that I just found your thread and haven’t read every detail, but I will.  I have loved your threads in the past….and that goes way back!
 

Thinking of an Alaska inside passage cruise on this ship.  But…..we haven’t experienced a Neptune suite since the days of breakfast in the PG.  How does breakfast work with NS on this ship? At a table in a a section of MDR that is designated CO? 

And then when we have dinner in MDR, is it in some section of CO in MDR?

Is there still fixed dining and also anytime dining?  

I know…..I am way behind because we haven’t been on HAL since 2019! 

I called yesterday to get a shore excursion PDF e mailed to me for my upcoming cruise in Dec.  The  wait time was 5 min.  One of the reasons I wanted the PDF was because the costs of the shorex online are obviously wrong…….things such as a catamaran excursion in Antigua for $5,000 pp! 

Well, the same pricing errors were on the PDF!   No help there.

Oh, @uktog Thank you so much!  I appreciate the info!  Sounds promising! 

I completely forgot to log in for the webinar!  Can anyone give us a report on what was said?