yogagal47

2 minutes ago, laurieb said:

Our cruises in July and August have the destination celebrations listed in the shore excursions.  Our France one in Marseilles doesn't have a description yet but is available to book.  

On our recent grease intensive cruise on journey it was a duo violin performance. They set up seating both on the pool deck and deck nine above. There were two times offered so you just choose which you prefer. We had dinner before and then went to the 830 performance as we felt that it would be more comfortable on deck at that hour. We enjoyed sitting up on the deck above and watching the concert from there as the sun was setting.

On 6/30/2022 at 12:49 PM, lisiamc said:

And so it should. I’m a big fan of the Atlas bar! 🙂

The official Azamara website describes the Atlas bar on Onward as follows:

Atlas Bar is an exclusive venue found only aboard Azamara Onward. Atlas Bar is a unique concept offering artisanal cocktails created using the latest one-of-a-kind techniques. These crafted beverages are as delightful to drink as they are to watch being made! In addition, an exotic menu of small plates, both hot and cold, will be offered. These small plates will be served with great panache and prepared with premium ingredients. Atlas Bar is a specialty venue and is not part of Azamara’s complimentary offerings.

What is the additional cost for this experience? 

14 hours ago, curmudgeon98 said:

We had our local tour pickup scheduled for 9, so the morning was not rushed.  Many (most?) people had left by that time.  Our flight wasn't until evening, so we combined touring with airport transportation.

 

If you needed to, you might have been able to get off (self-carry bags) as early as 7:30, but hard to count on that exactly.   

We disembarked Journey this past Monday. While the Captain had announced a 6 am arrival the night before there was apparently some issueswhich delayed our entrance into the port. I believe we actually did not dock until 7:30. A friend who was awake early told me that some pax were panicking as they had fairly early flights to catch at Athens Airport. Many passengers were waiting on Deck Five and at 9 am the cruise director Stephen made an announcement that EVERYONE had to get off, this despite the fact that our #12 luggage tags were designated independent and gave us until 9:30. This was awful as many people were crowded into one single, narrow stairwell at the front of the ship or waiting in lines for elevators. Not ideal IMHO. We had pre-arranged for a private driver to meet us at 9:15. Once in the terminal we were able to locate our bags then go out and find our driver. We arrived at the airport around 10:30 am and it was pretty congested. There were insanely long lines for every airlines if you were economy. We were flying business on Aegean to London and were checked in very promptly and given fast track for security. The Aegean lounge was beautiful by the way. 

On 6/28/2022 at 2:55 AM, lisiamc said:

The wine situation is in a state of flux at the moment. There are still some wines on some ships from before the change of ownership. Supply chain issues have meant that supply of many items is variable. On our Onward cruise, some Italian wines were added to the mix.
 

I have seen photos of the new Azamara branded wines, but not tried them yet. They make some sense, as the parent company also owns a winery. If they are rolled out across the fleet, it will probably take a little while. We wanted to buy a nice red for our anniversary when we were on Onward, and the sommelier had a Castello Banfi Brunello di Montalcino for us, a wine that we are familiar with and enjoy. She couldn’t refer to any wine list as Onward had been supplied with some Journey leftovers and some local acquisitions. We paid for the Ultimate package to get better wines with dinner, and we found several we liked.  That’s been true in the past as well.
 

Logistical problems, Covid restrictions, and less than optimal weather in some countries have added additional challenges in getting access to some wines. 
 

That’s the long answer. I suspect the short answer is it’s going to take a couple of seasons to sort out the new offerings, so try to be flexible!
 

 

Wondering how the "bottle packages work?"   What if you have a long cruise and choose to buy, for example, a 10 bottle package and you have have the bottle left after your dinner. Do you bring it back to your cabin or will they hold it for you? 

11 hours ago, Azamarajunkie said:

Just joined the Journey in Athens today with LFT test from Chronomics which was done at 4pm yesterday and printed out resultant certificate from their lab. Certificate was scrutinised at check in and accepted without issue.   We used the same provider on our recent Onward maiden voyage again without any issues There were a lot of people having tests done at check in. 

We just got off Journey yesterday and were told your cruise had a fairly small number on board. Also heard rumors that an official Greek Health Officer would be onboard and that masking would be strictly enforced. Wondering if it was due to positive COVID’s onboard…

Just off 10 days on Journey- Greece Intensive. There were no age restrictions on tours and they were all described as various levels including easy,  moderate and strenuous with a  fairly clear explanation of why the trip was rated that way. A boat trip in Mykonos was rated as strenuous , likely because you had to be ambulatory and fairly fit to move around the boat, go down Steep stairs to use the Loo and go down a steep slippery ladder sort of thing to enter the water for three different swims that were offered during the boat ride. We did another tour rated Strenuous because it involved walking up a steep set of stairs to reach a monastery in Meteora. We took a tour that involved a somewhat bumpy off-road ride in a four-wheel-drive vehicle(it was air-conditioned and a comfortable Land Rover) and also involved walking around a winery going up and down steps for the tour etc. we had a full day tour at Marmaris Greece that was rated strenuous because we had to get on and off a local style boat, walk a bit of a distance up a dusty trail to some ruins and then a longer walk back down again to the boat, then had to get off the boat and walk a distance along the boardwalk to go to the beach and then back again to the boat. So for folks who consider themselves fit, it was not strenuous but by describing it as such, they kept people away who would have been miserable, particularly with the extreme heat one finds in Greece in summer.

17 hours ago, mdpa said:

We are on our last day of a Spain intensive cruise and the closest thing I can complain about are the internet speed (normally bad on cruise ship) and having to reset my room key multiple times.

 

Thankfully, we have no mask police on our cruise and customer service is outstanding. Boarding was seamless, fully staffed cruise, and may even offer comparable customer service as Silversea. The only thing I noticed is that cruise prices seem to have ticked up, so for now, have decided to not book a future cruise. I suspect a part of this increase is due to the additional requirements of accommodating the expectations from some on this forum.

 

So my only warning is be careful what you ask for…but I want to share with others that Azamara provides a great product and will be under consideration for me and my family again in the future.

On Journey now in Greece we have been told Greek authorities require us to wear masks on the ship when we are indoors and even outside it is recommended however most folks are ignoring this and doing their thing. It seems that the mask wearers are definitely in the minority. I will ask my friend that it is like after her tour today  Thankfully no mask policing going on that I know of! So if you feel that a mask can protect you you wear it and then you will be protected. If you prefer to enjoy your cruise without a mask on, yes you can do that and take your chances. Nice to know that there is room for choice on board. Personally I never take the elevators and use doing the steps as an opportunity to get a little bit of extra exercise! Sure, there’s some coughing on board but Pre-covid , how many of us came to the theater, concert or opera and noticed how many people are coughing!!! 

22 hours ago, royallondon said:

Sounds a nightmare and so untypical of Azamara pre C.  They clearly need to review their procedures and fast.  Starting off a much anticipated cruise on the back foot isn’t what you want or should expect.
Now onboard, I’m sure your rocky embarkation will soon be behind you and  hope the rest of your cruise meets your expectations.  Have a great time.

 

Regards

 

so kind of you too say- so far had a lovely sea day yesterday. Even though ship is at just under 500 pax, pool area was packed. Atmosphere on board is relaxed and upbeat. Pax mostly Brits and  Americans ( around 220 ish each) with Belgian, French, German and Ozzies making up the rest. Apparently some Greeks as well although the cruise director saidthey were “ the captain’s family.”

LOL. Today in Port at Kavala which looks quite nice.

14 hours ago, Grandma Cruising said:

There seems to be a difference between EMed test results shown on a phone (acceptable) and results on a piece of paper (not acceptable).

In many cases including the previous requirement upon returning to the United States via air, they stopped excepting the QR code because it was too easy to cheat, but in Athens it seems they like to see the QR code as to them it seems very official. Still there is a letter that they email you that is signed by a doctor that is quite detailed about the date time status of the test. I will show that also just on your phone and not on a paper.

16 hours ago, mdpa said:

I can just say that as last week, simply showing a saved confirmation of a negative proctored eMed test from my phone was easily accepted for my family of three. I simply showed the results from my phone and we passed right through. 

 

Not sure why there continues to be a discussion….the next best thing will be when they drop the requirement all together, which I suspect will be imminent.

 

There continues to be a discussion because what happened to you is not happening  on Azamara cruises departing from Athens. It is extremely upsetting to know that folks like yourself had no problem while in Athens many of us are challenged and questioned and being forced to pay $59 for a test offered by the contracted company in the port and we have clearly complied with the pre-testing rule. I observed that not a single Azamara crew member came ashore to manage the chaos, save for one lone fellow who was upselling Chef‘s table dinners. He had a captive audience as we were in the pre- boarding “sauna “ and a large family group was very interested and signed up for several dinners, only to be told once they were on board that there was no availability. Those of us who are recording our actual experiences Will be discouraged from doing so in future if we are judged and challenged by folks on this board. Just saying…

15 hours ago, uktog said:

As usual, a discrepancy in communications on the Azamara website!

 

Under their protocols, which recognises that testing is no longer required to enter most countries there are the usual FAQs and surprise surprise the answer to the question what health screening  measures are taken in the terminal on boarding day the answer is.....

 

Screening begins with a request to present proof of vaccination, visual check, and health questionnaire. If you show signs of a fever, cough, or fatigue, you’ll be directed to a secondary screening. All guests will be required to present a negative SARS-CoV-2 test prior to boarding. At-home and/or self-testing kits are not accepted. The test results must be from a testing laboratory or a licensed testing site. The COVID-19 test can either be:

PCR: Test date no older than 3 days prior to embarkation; OR 
Antigen: Test date must be within one day of embarkation

 

So we are no clearer for July

If you are doing an Emed  test for boarding in Athens they seem to like showing them the documented letter from Eemed and Navica on your phone. A friend  Printed it out and they rejected her and made her get a Covid test and then tried to tell us that we should not have been approved. I showed them the documentation from Navica and they seemed to like that better. Obviously all of this is hit or miss and company that is taking care of the Shoreside check in process is getting $59 per test so…

14 hours ago, Zoey said:

Sounds like a first world problem to me. Hope it gets better for you.  

Whether it is first world, Second world, Or  third world problem The expectation with Azamara is that they can and should do better. There was no staff from the ship on shore to assess what was going on. There were people With health conditions that made waiting for an extended period of time in the “ holding sauna” very challenging. People were putting their luggage on seats to keep themselves distanced so most of us had to stand. I met a couple That had their initial verification of their Covid test completed and waited till at least one and a half hours past their boarding time before their group number was finally called. This occurred while people who needed Covid tests were taken away and their boarding process prioritized ahead of those of us who came prepared(perhaps because they were paying the $59??).

when we finally got to the second tent where we were to begin the check in process We were all put into one snaking line only to find out when we got to the head of the line at last, that if we had done pre-check in and had printouts or screenshots of our checkin code we could do our check in with personnel who had iPads. If there had been two lines-One for those who had already completed online check-in and one for those who had not, it would have been more efficient. I witnessed a woman in a mobile scooter Who received no assistance to detour around the required steps down to this second building, Wait her turn to check in, only to be pulled out of line and told they were unable to board her. She was in tears, nearly hysterical. I never did find out if she ultimately was able to board. I met a couple at my hotel who had 430 check in time. They were going to take a taxi to the terminal at noon and I cautioned them that they might be turned away so they went to the beach instead. I saw them later and they were so happy because they had a nice afternoon at the beach and when they showed up for check-in it took them only a couple of minutes. 
so far things seem fine on the ship although much of the crew is on their first contract. We had dinner last night by the sunset bar- we wanted to sit outside and watch the sunset which was gorgeous. It was an à la carte menu with limited options but I found the experience to be very relaxing and pleasant and noticed that the tables outside and inside were pretty full.

At present we are in the Cruise port terminal in Athens waiting to board the journey and it is a total disorganized disastrous mess. If I face my satisfaction with Azamara on this experience this will be my last cruise on Azamara.

52 minutes ago, cruisinsusin said:

Thanks to all who replied! Sounds like we can self disembark fairly early and although there should be plenty of taxis, will probably pre-book a car so we don’t have any negotiations or surprises.

Good idea! Today when we came in on the ferry from Aegina a  very aggressive taxi driver grabbed us inside the port and took us to his taxi and told me it would be €15 to the Alex hotel. We had paid €10 on the way there several days earlier and I told him I would pay 10 euro. When we arrived at the hotel he kept insisting I had to give him another five and I flatly refused. He was very rude and drove us around to the back of the hotel instead of driving us up to the front because he had seen an attractive young woman who had tried to hail his cab a few blocks away and wanted to circle back to her. We were very happy that we prebooked a driver to pick us up at the airport and also meet us at the port at the end of our 10 day Greece intensive cruise. 
Way less stressful!

3 hours ago, Nellypops said:

I’m on Journey as now. 

7 passengers are positive with Covid and in isolation. 

How is  your cruise going?

On 6/13/2022 at 4:29 PM, TERRIER1 said:

There are several nice beaches. We tendered into the Old Venetian port and took a bus to Golden Beach which is west of the port. This is a more developed beach. We then walked to Yanni Beach and Agii Apostili beach which were lovely. It was only a kilometer from Golden to Agii Apostoli. We took the bus back to the port.

Thanks for this info!

14 minutes ago, uktog said:

I think the EU must have lifted the mandates given how many Viking vessels are sailing in Europe just now with no pre boarding testing 

Amazing how much miss information is out there!

2 hours ago, excitedofharpenden said:

I've been to Chania quite a few times on Azamara. It's one of my favourites, partly because it's so handy and easy to walk and very pretty. Easy to do on your own. A couple of photos. One from the ship with the tender boats on their way and one from the shore. 

 

Phil 

Phil

is there a nice beach nearby after you finish exploring a bit on your own?

20 hours ago, uktog said:

Please let this not descend into a debate on the rights and wrongs of restrictions!

 

I see Viking has jumped from being the strictest line with daily testing to the most relaxed. Some say this change was because their current policy was damaging business so much.  I have to agree, we found the daily testing spoiled our cruise as we were always on edge.

 

https://www.vikingrivercruises.co.uk/why-viking/health-and-safety/health-and-safety-program.html?_ga=2.222009944.1777726501.1655027381-787634861.1499338236&_gac=1.251725563.1655027381.CjwKCAjwnZaVBhA6EiwAVVyv9EjvhOff7x-6BhJ03-fH20BbtYUdiiXCeYWGm4FncJSDNkkNVw3DZRoCMtkQAvD_BwE&_gl=1*1ts4uc6*_gcl_aw*R0NMLjE2NTUwMjczODEuQ2p3S0NBanduWmFWQmhBNkVpd0FWVnl2OUVqdmhPZmY3eC02QmhKMDMtZkgyMEJidFlVZGlpWENlWVdHbTRGbmNKU0ROa2tOVnczRFpSb0NNdGtRQXZEX0J3RQ..*_ga*Nzg3NjM0ODYxLjE0OTkzMzgyMzY.*_ga_24KNYDH1S6*MTY1NTAyNzM4MS4xMDQuMC4xNjU1MDI3Mzg3LjA.
 

I wonder how far away we are from Azamara making this change? 

Hey AZAMARA: I for  one am happy to have you join with Viking and drop the testing requirements!!!

2 hours ago, Beamafar said:

Then he wouldn’t have achieved what he set out to do!   Like clickbait.  I feel the same about most of his titles (and videos!)

I've been hitting the "unsubscribe" bell for most of these bloggers-many of them are annoying and their videos, a complete waste of time.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-06-10/cdc-to-lift-covid-test-mandate-for-flyers-to-us-starting-june-12.    Best news I've heard all day and yes, Would love to see them list requirements for testing pre-cruise. A friend was recently on a 2 week Viking cruise where they were spit tested every day and it had to be by 9 am or the "gendarmes" would come looking for you. So much for "sleeping in" on your vacation. Meanwhile plenty of covid cases on board anyway...

42 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

It is really ironic that Azamara is not accepting the eMed BinaxNOW (proctored) tests, since Silversea (the cruise line that bumped them out of the Royal Caribbean Group) not only accepts them but recommends them and links directly to them:

 

For your convenience, we offer the following optional service:

• Monitored Self-Test Kit – Abbott Binaxnow™ COVID-19 AG Card. The Optum COVID-19 Ag Card Home test allows you to complete your post-cruise testing onboard, or any place of your choosing, with the help of live video supervision by a Certified Testing Guide. We recommend that you order the kit/s at least one full week in advance of your sailing. Your results are typically ready in about 15 minutes. To order, please click here.

If you develop COVID-19 symptoms after disembarking the ship, you should self-isolate and seek immediate medical care, sharing your travel history with the health care provider and a Silversea representative.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2858285-covid-testing-before-disembarkation-has-been-eliminated-in-vancouver/#comment-63361445

 

I used one before boarding a short Royal Caribbean Cruise last December no problem. Hoping it is not an issue when we show up in Athens next Saturday!

2 hours ago, Mackdogmolly said:

Yes. How does that even happen? It would take some effort. It’s not like you can just “fall” overboard.

Apparently she fell around 2 AM and others either passenger or crew saw it happen and threw a life ring to her to no avail-just awful.

2 hours ago, harrodsfan said:

Very very true! We sure plan to do this! 

On the Journey what are the outdoor options for dinner?

6 minutes ago, lisiamc said:

I know that I have some confirmation bias because I’ve loved Azamara from the very beginning, warts and all. And although I am a fan, I freely acknowledge that they’ve had, and still have, plenty of warts.  Some new ones now, to go with the new owners, as I would expect. Gary Bembridge has my interest because I feel that he speaks as he finds, and he entertains me. He will speak freely about the things he doesn’t like, and find good points in places I wouldn’t think to look.

Gary's piece was fair and balanced although a "sausage instead of bacon" at breakfast does not rise to the level of going downhill fast IMHO. I've been looking at quite a few of the cruise YouTube vloggers lately and find that they use "clickbait" headlines to bring in more viewers/subscribers which is how they make their money. In the case of his Azamara review, the headline simply did not match the actual facts reported.