yogagal47

1 hour ago, shepherd really said:

But then the rest of your cruise you are stuck on Celebrity, so no thanks.

Our most recent cruise was on Celebrity Apex. Even staying in the retreat which was nice, I was left with a feeling of-"do not want to do this size ship again any time soon!

3 minutes ago, edgee said:

You do not "just" get the better dinner reservation slots. We book Concierge for warm weather cruises to get access to the front spa deck. Especially wonderful on Vista. Also, on larger ships, the Concierge lounge is nice to have access too. 

We have actually actually booked a cruise to the Brazilian Amazon on Sirena. The access to that spa deck was always a plus for us on Azamara. Then the concierge suites got way too expensive, and we had to downgrade to just a regular balcony cabin and lost that access.

On 3/22/2024 at 4:03 PM, Harters said:

We are in a concierge veranda and booked our specialities on the day reservations opened up for our class of cabin. We prefer 2-tops and had no problem getting one, for all four specialities, at our preferred time of 7.30 or 8.00. 

As I am new to this cruise line, how do I find out when Reservations will open for Concierge veranda class?

19 minutes ago, mauibabes said:

@ORV

My OOPS, as you said, lost focus 😇. Just trying to get across, minus my oops, if it were my decision, and it’s NOT, I would jump on the 22 day Insignia 2025 ATW First Segment. We have done an ATW segment as well as the Amazon/ Rio cruises and IMHO it is the Better cruise between the two and the Best Value. The only negative I see is having to make the longer flight home from Rio but seeing and experiencing Rio is well worth a longer flight. 
Sorry Yoga for sharing GTY misinformation, my comment really applied to Waitlisting on Oceania. 
 

Good luck with your decisions and thanks ORV. 

Mauibabes 
 

Our son lived in Brazil for 4 years so we have been to Rio a number of times and enjoyed it. Also we have cruised Azamara Rio to BA. I will check out that cruise however. 22 Days is a bit long for us though..I do appreciate all of the input on this board. 

3 hours ago, mauibabes said:

@yogagal47 

First, no idea what voyage you are considering but there is no $ benefit to book Guaranteed on O unless you are hoping to get a better upgrade. If you are really interested in the cruise, move to a Category that you can lock in your room and move on to booking tours and building your cruise dreams. 
Bathrooms, yes they are smaller, remember the R Class ships were 1999 vintage so large bathrooms were not necessary. The PH’s on O are 50% larger than the Veranda Staterooms so when on one of those ships, we always upgrade.  That said, we have also cruised 35 days on an ATW segment in a Veranda room and the bathroom was adequate..Oceania and Azamara are sailing the same ships so, small bathrooms but a beautiful and enjoyable ship and cruise. 
 

Negativity, I know some of it is deserved and some is not but some people take the “Critic” part of Cruise Critic to heart and think they are doing everyone a favor.  No, perhaps Regatta recently had issues and it won’t be perfect but she is a beautiful ship, the staff cares about you and works very hard to deliver a memorable experience. At least this is IMHO.  Take the cruise, enjoy yourselves and create your own opinions. If something is not right, please tell someone who can make it right.  If you have an unacceptable meal, have a quiet chat with the Maitre d so they can fix it. They want you back, it’s the name of the game. You will NOT be on a mass market monster ship with families and kids swarming about, you will have a well traveled traveler who is not intent on filling a plate 6” high in the Terrace Cafe because in a few hours, there is another wonderful meal coming. Believe me, you have to pace yourselves, too much of a good thing is still too much. 
Decide for yourself and turn off others negativity and cruise with realistic expectations. No line is PERFECT. 
Enjoy,

Mauibabes

As I stated in my original post, we are looking at an Amazon cruise on the Sirena. We would want a veranda cabin, but the only ones available are both gty. Are you saying that if we book that category there is not actually a guarantee that we would even be on the cruise? It has always been my understanding on other cruise lines that if you book a guarantee, they will simply be assigning you, your cabin, maybe right before the cruise. I was under the impression that you would be up in the air as to whether or not, you were even on the cruise, and therefore could not book excursions?

If that was the case, I would not do it because then we would not be able to go ahead and book flights, knowing that we might not even end up going on the cruise. That just seems ridiculous. I do appreciate your positive outlook on this cruise line and since we like Azamara, I’m sure we would be happy.

Thank you for all these helpful responses. Our TA is going to call now to see if the listed guarantee cabins are really available for the veranda categories posted on the website for this cruise. We don’t mind taking a chance on a guaranteed cabin. 

we are looking at a cruise on Sirena-Amazon Trailblazer to the Brazilian Amazon. I am confused as to what is included on OCEANIA if you just book without airfare. Are wine and beer extra? What about wifi?  The Oceania website does not really make it clear what they include in the cruise only fares. Thanks for any help. Also-there are some truly terrible reviews for Sirena on Cruise Critic. Is this sour grapes or a concerning trend? We have hear such good things about the cruise line-sometimes from people we have met on Azamara Cruises!

22 minutes ago, natonater said:

Oh no!   Were you told specifically to absolutely keep away from tapwater even when brushing your teeth? What about the hotel? Did you take the same precautions? 
 

Pretty sure we were so advised/ hotels too. Check with your healthcare provider before you go and make sure you have medication’s to treat Travelers diarrhea including antibiotics, just in case. Also, there is a product called drip drop-you can add it to bottled water for hydration(similar to Pedialyte for kids).

Just now, yogagal47 said:

 

We did not become ill after the night we ate there, but it was a lot of grilled food, and very smoky. On another night, a large group that was traveling together from Florida had a meal there and two of the people in the group became extremely ill from some sort of food poisoning. Ultimately they had to bring medical personnel on board to treat them with intravenous, fluids and medication but it was pretty terrible. Personally, I am not convinced that it wasn’t from drinking water if they had mistakenly brush their teeth with tapwater or drunk a bit of it, that could’ve made them ill as well but ultimately it was attributed to the meal. I don’t recommend for the food!

43 minutes ago, natonater said:

Please elaborate. What happened?

Thanks for this detailed day by day report! We look forward to our first Apex cruise January 3rd.

Thanks for that helpful info-really does sound like you had a wonderful day! Since my friend and her husband have not signed up for any excursions, it might be worth doing this one since the four of us could be together at the beach.

On 11/30/2023 at 6:41 PM, mamaneedsavacay said:

You aren't limited to the beach clubs- check out Resort for a Day. We used it to buy a day pass to the Allegro resort and had a great time. The price was comparable to the beach clubs, it's on the same stretch of road/ same cab fare and way less crowds. 

Did you find there were lots of young kids there(we will not be with them on the cruise)? Also-rResort for a day website says "wheelchair accessible."  Our friends want to join us tho they would likely show up a bit later to have lunch and maybe sit in the shade for a bit.  This does sound like a nice option.

On 11/7/2023 at 12:48 AM, smellywax said:

Do you live there? I have been to Cozumel 20 plus times but never an AI so I thought I would try something different and I’m letting people know it isn’t worth bothering with in my opinion. I have done everything from the tourist restaurants to the taxi drivers favorite place to eat. So I am not sure what you are wanting. 

Does anyone have a suggestion for a nice place to have lunch on the beach where you can also swim? we need a place where my friend can join us (just for lunch) and can use her mobility scooter to get in. she does not need to go on the beach. I'm concerned because we are in port on January 10 and there will be a large number of big ships there that day

We did a two week cruise in 2018 that went from Edinburgh to Copenhagen, mostly visiting Norway ports including many of the fjords. There was a lovely family on board with 4 kids- a few grade schoolers and a few middle school age. They love Azamara. This was not their first cruise with the line. They were very active in every port. They seemed to be having a wonderful time. They attended all the shows in the evening and the performers got to know the kids and were super engaged with them as they did lots of the onboard game activities as well. Many families enjoy spending time with their kids on this type of trip and are not looking for glitzy entertainment or kids clubs for them. Good luck whatever you decide.

On 7/24/2023 at 12:02 AM, Dudeljo said:

Good to know!

We've never been to nearly all the ports on this cruise, except for Istanbul and Mykonos. We've got 800 OBC and we don't spend anything while we're onboard so we thought: let's book shore excursions. 

We booked:

Kavala Historic Xanthi & Nestos River

Volos Mountain Villages of Portaria & Makrynitsa

Mykonos Mykonos Sites & Flavors

Patmos Patmos Scenic Drive. 

They're all short excursions so we can also spend some time near the port in the villages. We've been to Mykonos three or four times now and never took a tour, always strolled along the " city " but it's very very busy up there so we never got a chance to see the little shops of find a chair on a terrace. That's why we decided to take a tour to another village. Not that busy. 

In Istanbul we will only sleep a night before the cruise. We took some holidays over there, no need to stay longer this time, also because duty calls and we only have free days from October 13 to October 22. 

In Thessaloniki we booked the Azamazing Evening. There is a boulevard and a historic centre, we will do this On Our Own. 

In Kanakkale we haven't decided yet what to do. A whole day to war grounds? A whole day to a temple? All excursions take at least 8 hours. It's a bit too much. Maybe we will book a private tour. It's Turkey so when we get off the ship lots and lots of drivers will come to us to ask if we want to book a tour with them, it won't be difficult to find something there. Or maybe we just stay onboard to relax, as I said, we have to work again on Monday and we're not 18 anymore 👵

 

In Thessalonika we walked along the boulevard and did a museum with a tower you can climb. Then we walked to the Jewish museum, which was fascinating.. afterwords we found a nice café, and had lunch. Very easy city to do on your own.

13 minutes ago, yogagal47 said:

On our Greece intensive cruise in June 2022 a friend did that excursion and thought it was pretty mediocre. My husband enjoyed strolling around Kavala,  going up to the top( fortress) to see the view, and stopping for beers at a café that gave us a great view of the ship. It was a very pleasant experience to do on our own.

8 hours ago, Dudeljo said:

Hi Bimmer09.

This year, in October, we will be sailing with Azamara from Istanbul too. 

Our itinerary is Istanbul, at sea, Kavala, Thessaloniki, Volos, Mykonos, Patmos, Cannakkale, Istanbul. 

So the blue ports will be the same as the ones you will be visiting. Never been to these ports before. I hope I will remember to write more about these ports in November, when I'm back. We will make a shore excursion with Azamara in Kavala (Historic Xanthi & Nestos River) but not in Thessaloniki and Cannakkale. 

I (hope not forget to) let you know.

Grtz, Jo

On our Greece intensive cruise in June 2022 a friend did that excursion and thought it was pretty mediocre. My husband enjoyed strolling around Kavala,  going up to the top( fortress) to see the view, and stopping for beers at a café that gave us a great view of the ship. It was a very pleasant experience to do on our own.

I am confused about all this talk of Celebrity cruises. I thought the two lines have been separated. Why should cruises on Celebrity in 2023 earn points toward status on AZ?

7 minutes ago, Janet&Carl said:

 

 

I fixed my log in attempt failures by asking for a new password using the "forgot password" option.  I can now log in every time but it doesnt hold any booking info except my future cruises.  No OBC - no excursions that I have booked twice.  Don't know if they are booked or not.

 

Just did that-thanks. I see the cruise booked for April 2024 and the packages included but there is an issue with the OBC. Even got a message that popped up that I needed to have my travel advisor or AZ help. Since the cruise is not for 10 months out I suppose I will wait on it.

1 hour ago, Janet&Carl said:

 

 

I am having the same problem - no history and my upcoming cruise shows me as a newbie.  I am also having problems reserving shore excursions.  The excursion booking form now asks if you want to use obc I guess that is an improvement and you can go ahead and reserve shore excursions without it adding to your account.  However, it does not save them and every time you log in nothing is reserved ! how do I fix this ?

If my log-in attempt fails how can I even find out if I have accurate info? I filled out the form but now what???

On 4/9/2023 at 12:25 PM, wjfan417 said:

Is there any way to see the exterior of the monasteries without the hike up and down (can you wait at the bottom while the rest of the tour goes up)? Looks beautiful but unfortunately both my husband and I have developed some foot issues and wouldn’t be able to do the climb.

On the Azamara tour we did in June ‘22 we visited several monasteries at Meteora. In my opinion, none of the walking we did qualified as hiking. In some cases, there may have been a few steps up and then of course you have to walk around the monasteries themselves. But this was definitely not a hiking tour. The monasteries each tour visits changes from day today, depending upon what is open. The day we went we actually visited monasteries that were run by nuns. We had to cover ourselves, and at one facility, they even made me buy a rap to put around my hips when I already had slacks on! This is a long bus ride both ways, but it is quite spectacular.

On 4/23/2023 at 10:28 AM, Grandma Cruising said:

You’re right about the website, but otherwise I can’t see how Azamara has been ‘dumbed down’ or made into a ‘bland mass market product’. That’s totally NOT my experience over the 10 years we’ve been cruising with Azamara. 
During that time we’ve done the Athens to Dubai route 4 times (we love the sea days). The first was in 2013 and the last in autumn 2022. They were all as good as each other - and in fact in terms of service, the last one in October last year was stellar! 

Athens to Dubai 4 times! Wow! I am getting excited for our April '24 Singapore to Dubai cruise. Have you ever done that? Also-do you happen to know if AZ has decent options for vegans? Do they still do the buffet at dinner time? Asking for a friend who is a vegan, loves to cruise and finds buffets work best for him. Thanks.  Julie in Denver

On 4/17/2023 at 8:45 AM, Ithikan said:

Thank you for writing this piece.  I believe I was able to read all the words - in varying font sizes - but I am left with a question.  You state you'll not cruise again with Azamara and you write graphically of your feelings about the size of bathroom and overly-affectionate shower curtain, is this the main reason?  Are there particulars you are able to share about why this was a one-and-done experience?  Thank you for your time -

So interesting that the poster never answered your question...

22 hours ago, CruiseCrew123 said:

Just to warn you that even for an able bodied person getting in and out the tub was a challenge as the edge is fairly deep to climb over 

On our recent Reflection cruise the sky suite tub/shower was not so easy to enter as I was dealing with a recent ski injury. Also the step from the bathroom was tricky so we were often warned about it.