yogagal47

6 minutes ago, canderson said:

Yes, up on the "Lawn Club" area cabanas are available to rent.

Hopefully final question here: do Retreat(suite class) passengers have unlimited access to the Persian Garden or is that only for Aqua Class?  If not, can one purchase a pass? Thanks again for your help!

7 minutes ago, helen haywood said:

Reflection has not had the Retreat enhancement.  A suite will have access to what used to be Michael’s…and have dining in Luminae.

Thanks for your response. Is there an area onboard where you can book a private cabana? 

I am confused as to what is offered re: THE RETREAT on the Reflection currently.  Our friends have booked a Sky Suite # 2108 for a March Eastern Caribbean and say this is for the retreat. Would appreciation any clarification. Thanks!

1 hour ago, excitedofharpenden said:

Just a word on the attire. Whilst there are some who may try to push the envelope, in all my cruises on Azamara I have never had an issue with what people have been wearing. The vast majority will dress appropriate to what Azamara request. It's one of the reasons I like the line so much. You can choose to dress up if you want to and you won't feel out of place, but generally it's relaxed and comfy. 

 

Phil 

On our journey cruise this past June a man in Discoveries was sent away for not having proper attire. I cannot remember exactly what he had on but I think he may have been either in Jeans or wearing shorts.

Nice photos of Oslo. After our Norwegian fjord cruise on journey in 2018 we stayed on for several days in Copenhagen then visited Stockholm and finally a day and night in Oslo before our flight home on SAS. https://counter-currents.com/2019/11/norwegian-disaster-movies/
for those of you who have already done your fjord cruise here are some fun films to check out. if you have a fjord cruise coming up in future you may want to wait a bit. LOL

On 7/18/2022 at 11:38 PM, malcliz said:

We agree boarding the Onward at Monaco was chaos but we just got off the Journey yesterday and have to say embarkation in Athens was extremely well organised. We had a check in time of 2 pm so we arrived at 1 pm and were initially offered a coach ride into Piraeus to pass the time until boarding commenced which we declined. We were taken straight into the marquee where our test results were checked and we were given a yellow bracelet to wear. Then straight into the building for the check in process and back to the marquee where there were snacks and water. During this time others without test results were being tested. We boarded soon after at about 1.40 pm. We were so impressed with the smooth way it was handled. 

I do not know what you mean by marquee-when we checked in at Piraeus June 17 we had tents-otherwise know as the "check-in sauna" by those of us that experienced it. Everything was chaotic and disorganized so perhaps they have hired a new company to manage the process, or, the folks who handled our check-in have had some training...Glad yours was stress free!

On 7/22/2022 at 1:45 PM, GoSeeDo2 said:

Yogagal47 - Which hike is that? I am always looking for new trail ideas. We are in Silverthorne.

One of my favorites is Shrine Ridge Trail. https://sweptawaytoday.com/2021/08/22/shrine-ridge-trail-hike-off-of-i-70-on-vail-pass/. This time we just took a hike behind my sister's rental which is across from the Raquet Club in East Vail. I think it is called Murphy Falls. You go up from opposite Bighorn Park and can do it as a relatively short trail where you come out by a water tower. On google maps they also show a "Zen Falls" which good be the little falls off to the right when you get up part way. Another easy hike is to take Gondy 1 up and walk across to Lion's Head. Ultimately if you do the easy hike you will just find yourself in Lionshead Village at the base of the Gondola. Get a trail map at the ticket window-that will show you the various options you can access from the mountain. It is also available on the website I believe. 

16 hours ago, jwilcox said:

You'd think that with Covid raging again they would want people eating outdoors as much as possible

We were in Greece for 5 days pre-cruise. We spent almost all of our time outdoors and avoided Athens touring as we were convinced that crowds would increase the risk of catching covid. We stayed one night in Piraeus then took the ferry to Aegina and had a lovely 4 day stay there. We came back to spend a night at the Alex in Piraeus again before the cruise. 

On 7/22/2022 at 7:40 AM, capegirl said:

What is the earliest time we can disembark off Onward in Rome.  We will not be self disembarking.  Thank You.

You will actually be disembarking in the Port of Civitavecchia. Fiumicino airport is close to one hour and to Rome Center, over an hour. As the previous poster mentioned, the immigration officials in the port could affect the actual time you are allowed to leave the ship and other factors could as well. If you are trying to make an early flight it might be safer to spend a day in Rome and leave the next morning just to be sure.

18 hours ago, sbg42 said:

Really bad news. Just as a precaution I went and got tested this am. 

RESULTS.  I HAVE COVID!!  
So I just got off phone attempting to cancel everything. 
please let me know how the cruise goes

Sheila

So sorry to hear that Sheila-hope you are not feeling too poorly.

4 hours ago, airhose said:

What is the phone number of the loyalty ambassador?   We have a final payment due soon, directly to Azamara.  Thanks in advance. 

I do not have a number but try this:

Loyalty@azamara.com

Kayla is the name of the person who responded to me

57 minutes ago, federalexpress said:

It certainly has. Truly scary and the second horror story I've heard on this, another one was posted on a seperate thread. I'm thinking of cancelling my cruise early next year. I think I'll write to Azamara and ask them, if they are removing Covid protocols like pre cruise testing, then they have to also adapt on board protocols so they are less severe.

I think that at least for the next six months cruisers need to decide whether or not it is worth risking catching covid as there will be a good chance whether or not testing takes place pre-cruise. Your best bet is to get covid and have strong natural immunity before you go. If the President can have 4 boosters, wear a mask and have constant testing going on in his orbit and still get covid then everyone is likely to get it unless they do not leave their homes. IMHO

54 minutes ago, Ithikan said:

From your lips to God's ears...

This is just so funny, I had to respond!!!!

1 hour ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

They don't have a great knowledge of Roman Catholicism either – nor would I expect them to. They do seem to have a great knowledge of their customers.  Even many non-observant Catholics go to Mass on Christmas and Easter (our churches are definitely fuller then), and the Wikipedia article you quoted confirms what I see among friends and colleagues that the same is true for non-observant Jews regarding Passover and Hanukkah.

For Chanukah celebrations Jewish people generally celebrate with a festive meal including candle lighting and games. We do not usually go to synagogue for this holiday, hence a Rabbi is not necessary for observance of this holiday.

On 6/24/2022 at 11:59 AM, GoSeeDo2 said:

It is summertime in the Colorado Rockies. Such a beautiful time of year. As a disclaimer, the moose photo was taken through our home window, I would never get that close to one!

 

Looking forward to our second Azamara cruise in September.

 

 

 

 

 

Also in Colorado-Denver at Present but just spent a nice few days in Vail where I did some hiking and biking!

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18 hours ago, tidespring said:

Thank you very much for the info. Sorry you were unwell, and hope it has not deterred you from going again.

We booked for an April 2024  segment of the World Cruise on ONWARD.   😀

15 hours ago, federalexpress said:

Do you know what happened to them onboard? Is the current policy still to confine people until they test negative and do you know if they are still forcing people into inside cabins, even if they have booked a larger cabin with outdoor space?

 

Hope you recover from your infection as quickly as I did.

They were confined to the cabin(the husband as well though it took him a few days to test positive). 

This might give some travelers pause so I am going to anonymously post what she told me about her experience on Journey below: 

"We are at the mercy of the team downstairs at the medical centre. I have named them the Balkan Medical Mafia. They are completely terrifying, and I am not the only one that thinks this. They need to be booted off, as they are not a good representation for the ship. They are all Serbian and tough as they come! "

Apparently the answer(from a Marie Nelson Team Lead AZ Reservation and Client Services) was this:

The Religious services we have available onboard are, 

Priests are available for Easter and Christmas.

Rabbis are available for Passover and Hanukkah.

On 7/20/2022 at 4:04 AM, tidespring said:

For Passengers on a Azamara cruise visiting several ports in Greece, and ending in Athens, does this entail having to take a test to leave the ship to travel home.

Our only test requirement was for boarding. I believe they offered a test for those who might need one to return to their home countries but for the UK and US I know it was not needed. We flew out of Athens that afternoon and overnighted at a Heathrow Airport hotel before catching a morning flight back to the US. We tested ourselves when we arrived home once we learned of several people on our cruise testing positive. We had covid unfortunately.

Thanks! My travel agent contacted her Azamara rep and they are reaching out to the appropriate people to see if they can get any confirmation that it would be offered Well though with it being so far away I kind of doubt it

10 hours ago, uktog said:

I saw a sign up sheet on Quest this April if guests wanted to join this. It was held in the Library. Unfortunately on Onward they’ve changed that room into a revenue generating bar so not sure how onward would be handling events like this in the future  

By "this" you mean an offering for an onboard Passover Seder?  Thanks for your reply!

We are booked on the Onward April 2024 Singapore to Dubai Cruise. Just wondering if anyone booked on this segment or the World Cruise has expressed any interest in observing the first night seder onboard? Also wondering if this has come up for anyone on any previous cruise. We are asking for friends of ours who are interested in joining us but wish to observe the Passover Seder. Thanks for any input. Julie in Denver

6 hours ago, federalexpress said:

I've never had norovirus onboard a cruise ship but I'm not sure it's a good analogy with Covid. Do cruise lines order you to stay in your cabin or just advise you to? Moreover this illness is generally over in a couple of days and if you have it, you might not wish to leave your cabin anyway! With Covid, you may have few if any symptoms, feel well enough to go about your business, but still be restricted to your cabin, and typically it will be for many, many more days, most likely the vast majority of your cruise. I'm not sure it would be accepted without too many complaints if it were commonplace. It would certainly make me re-consider whether cruises were a sensible option. It's a very tricky issue for cruise lines, no obvious solutions.

A friend was forced to isolate in cabin because her child had diarrhea. This was on Royal Caribbean ( pre-covid).

On 7/11/2022 at 12:04 PM, Belfastman said:

We were on Pursuit in June and there was no access to the spa terrace except for the big suites. All suites had the four small bottles of liquor as before.

On our June 17 Journey cruise The Spa staff had a list of I believe around eight cabins(suites) that would be entitled to use the Sanctum Terrace. I was told that even if you booked a spa treatment you could not use the terrace but that you could purchase a package for the entire cruise. It was not cheap and since we were doing a port intensive cruise I decided not to go for it but I asked if it would be possible to book a single day and they never got back to me. The spa manager did mention that they did not work for Azamara. A friend who traveled with us was a regular in the spa as she booked treatments for massages, acupuncture, hair, nails private training so they threw in full use of the synctim terrace for her. I agree that it is hardly worth paying for a club continent suite at those exorbitant prices, without this valuable perk. On our cruise which had just under 500 passengers The pool area felt very full on the sea day and shady space was hard to find. They never put up the umbrellas on the pool deck or on the Sunset Terrace. Admittedly several of the days were too windy for it but other days it would have been possible especially in Port.

On 7/12/2022 at 5:04 AM, Xcelsior said:

The food certainly had its moments - I think they do an absolutely excellent job on the White Night and in the Brunch buffets.  I found Main Dining Room hit and miss.  The food in Windows Cafe was great at breakfast and lunch.  The themed a la carte dinners on deck were not very good at all the times I went there.  The staff however are excellent.  

In terms of the shower size....the first time I sailed Azamara was when the line was first launched and the shower while the same size then, didn't bother me as much.  I was obviously younger and the ships of the day mostly all had smallish showers.  The last time I sailed I was in a suite, so of course it wasn't an issue.  Being in a verandah this time - I actually loved the room, except for the bathroom size.  The linens were great, loved the balcony and the decor.  They got this part right.  I do wish they had put a door on the shower though like Celebrity did when they refit the Millennium and Summit a couple years ago.  That being said, these showers are even smaller than those....so maybe not possible.  I think someone said Oceania did but didn't like that either.

In terms of expectations with entertainment, the singers/dancers and CD did an amazing job with White Night as per usual.  It was the rest of it that was a big letdown.  The other annoying thing was that the guest lecturer apparently "missed a flight" to join the ship....so there were no lectures.  I would have loved it if there had been some lectures on the greek islands/ruins/mythology etc. as I didn't pay much attention to this in school and I would have been more interested in the  sights on the islands we visted as a result.   Why it was not possible for the lecturer to catch up with a ship that was in port every day is a mystery to me....so I don't think they were trying very hard to deliver on that front.  

I also didn't like that The Patio was not open for dinner.   That would have been a great option.  Why they opened Windows every night with an a la carte and not just simply open the Patio is another mystery to me.  The food at the Patio was always GREAT.

So......will I sail Azamara again?  Yes.  Is it still my favourite cruise line?  No.  Will I pay extra to sail Azamara?  Only if the itinerary is something I can't do on other lines.   If they are ever able to build or purchase newer ships that offer a few other options to keep me a bit more entertained I will re-evaluate.  The cruise line needs to realize that the competition is tough, and with older ships, they aren't helping themselves with poor entertainment onboard.  While it was never industry-leading, it was definitely much better previously.

Another final note, I think there is probably a big difference in the ships right now.  The best staff seem to have been moved to the Onward and the Pursuit.  I think perhaps those ships are satisfying others better at the moment?

On our June 17 Greece intensive cruise on Journey they announced that there would be no guest lecturer due to Covid I believe(or issues relating to it). I agree that it would have enhanced our enjoyment and appreciation of some of the destinations had they offered an expert on culture, history , politics, for any topic related to travel in Greece.