cpgrneyes

56 minutes ago, oceangoer2 said:

 

Finally have to say after more than a few of these comments from one or two....it's the media's JOB to report whatever known facts are out there;  discrediting said media, when repeated often enough, makes some people complacent as in "yada yada too much info".  Listen to the scientists the media are referencing.  If people are fearful because they are hearing reports they don't want to believe and carry on as if nothing is out there to be fearful of, they may catch this 'bug' and pass it on.  We should just listen, evaluate, react to our own common sense, but don't denigrate those who DO pay attention to the advisories, read and listen to the media, and do our best to not be a part of the problem by refusing to believe the science behind the reports.  JMHO....   I expect to be flamed.

I totally concur. Hopefully, everybody who has decided this is media hype will self-quarantine for 14 days when they return home. While they may have decided they are not personally at risk, they could be carriers who transmit the virus to others who ARE at risk. The media is not the enemy here.

14 hours ago, tomcruiser1234 said:

Just gotta wait

 

Who knows, the warm weather may slow things down.

It’s a “false hope” that coronavirus will be seasonal and subside in the summer, like the flu, the World Health Organization said Friday. “We have to assume that the virus will continue to have the capacity to spread,” Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of WHO’s health emergencies program, said at the agency’s headquarters in Geneva. “It’s a false hope to say, yes, that it will disappear like the flu.” Earlier in the outbreak, U.S. health officials said there was a hypothesis among mathematical modelers that the outbreak “

29 minutes ago, uktog said:

My wife is diabetic and has has a bout of sepsis in the last year. If you look at the statistics these put at a much higher risk than the average person.

 She might also speak to her doctor, as he would likely recommend she not travel there. With a doctor’s note, travel insurance may kick in.

Did you try logging in and going to your account settings to verify your address is correct? If that doesn’t work, perhaps clearing your cookies might?

We just booked a 2021 Greece and Turkey cruise I’d been watching for a few weeks. With the current special, our TA got us a CC suite for just over $800 total per day. Not as good as we’d paid several years ago, but for us and for what is a great itinerary, we pulled the trigger. I’ll definitely keep an eye on the price going forward, but It’s in a range that I’m comfortable with, particularly as we don’t enjoy the MDR and eat at the specialties every day.

I wouldn’t have heard about the special if I wasn’t following this thread, as I received nothing from AZ.

We did a Lisbon to Barcelona cruise, but the only port that’s the same on your itinerary is Valencia. We loved it, and the Hemispheric evening is our favorite Azamazing event yet. Valencia is a great city to spend a day walking. The covered market is well worth a visit, and if you stay around the old town, you’ll be busy for a day.

In Lisbon, which I understand you have a guide for three days, it’s also easy to do on your own. We did a walking food tour that was more than just food, and I highly recommend it - www.tasteoflisboa.com.  Also, don’t miss spending a day in Sintra!  

Enjoy your trip.

We just returned home this morning after a week in Paris, five days in Provence (L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue) then a few in Piedmont, Italy. Brings back Parisian memories, although this was our fifth time there. Let me know if you have any questions about Provence! We spent a day in Avignon, but chose to base ourselves in a smaller town. It’s lovely everywhere there. Enjoying your detailed posts!

Since we’re in Provence after a week in Paris, this certainly resonates! I can’t count how much foie gras I’ve eaten, and I’ve certainly enjoyed the wines of the area in the last few days.

Have a wonderful cruise! I’m sorry we weren’t able to join you as planned, but look forward to hearing about the cruise. Enjoy!

On 8/18/2019 at 9:53 AM, hubofhockey said:

As a soon to be first time Azamara cruiser, the biggest complaints I read about are the "too small" shower stalls.  My question is, do people with the small showers ever just go the gym to take showers?  I wouldn't do that in the morning, but in the afternoon, before dinner, that's something that would make sense to me.  

My DH does that, as he enjoys a steam too. As you say, not in the morning, but after a busy day OR a nap. The Veranda cabins do have a small shower, but it’s not something that impacts my vacation.

Thanks for sharing this. It’s just a different vibe that many of us get from the Azamara team. You and your friend now have a great story to share for the rest of your life!

Did you get an explanation of what “code red” means? It looks like the October 24 Pursuit sailing is available for booking. I’d seek clarification.

We have friends who only do Taulk tours. That concept of having everything preplanned as zero interest to me, as planning is a big part of the fun of traveling. Our friends may be part of the target market. They want everything planned for them, and it appears this is the new direction Azamara is going with their pre/post tours. While the prices seem crazy for those of us who do the research ourselves, it’s like still less than a Taulk tour.

Back to the OP, the Premium package does include Aperol. You may want to purchase a Spritz on your first day and try the included sparking wine. If the included is okay, you could just purchase your daily Spritz.

I’m a wine drinker, and while some of the included wines are okay, when I’m on vacation, I want to be able to drink what I like every time, so we both always get the Ultimate package (my DH loves his single malt, and I enjoy a few over the trip too.

We have both the AMEX Platinum (DH’s ‘legacy card’) and Sapphire Reserve. The Ultimate points offered by Chase are far superior, in my experience, to using points on AMEX. Annual travel credit of $200 on AMEX is only for one airline annually and must be preselected. The $300 travel credit on Sapphire is for ANY travel category, and is automatically credited when charges are made. Both offer Priority Lounges, but AMEX does beat that with Delta lounges and Centurion Lounges. Both offer Global Entry.

For our upcoming trip to SE Asia, I transferred points to miles for United  biz on Asiana to HK, and to Singapore Air for return from Singapore, as well as British Air to book RT Hong Kong to Siem Reap on Cathay. That sort of flexibility trumps what I’ve found on AMEX. We did use AMEX points once, and when we had to change flights, they just refunded the cost of the ticket rather than the points.

We dine out and travel quite a bit, and getting 3x points for those purchases adds up quickly. We also have Chase Freedom (a free card) that gets us 2x points for all other purchases.

On our final payment for our upcoming cruise, I could have used AMEX for the $300 OBC, but instead put it on Sapphire and earned 3X points, far more valuable than $300. Just my experience, and it’s the best choice for us as we do a big international trip every year.

Just sent an email as well, Bonnie.

We did a British Isles and Open cruise in 2014 with Perry Golf and Azamara, and it was fabulous! We cruised with another couple, and the guys did the golf package while we toured. Perry Golf made the experience easy and memorable. Highly recommend!

Cheryl

On 6/5/2019 at 11:43 AM, rallydave said:

Perhaps but, doubtful that azamara has learned their lesson and is providing adequate compensation after all our cancellation was because azamara was improving profits while today's is because of the regulators. and they have no choice in the changes. 

It worked out okay for us. While I’m still disappointed about Greece, we found an alternative trip still in October 2020 that will offer us a few new ports. It’s 10 days, not 11, but the same category, and we saved over $3,000 on the cruise fare with the current sale.

Hope good solutions can be found for the rest of you!

4 minutes ago, petsgalore said:

 

Hi, would it be possible to list the ones they offered? We are on board next week and maybe one of those offered are of interest to us. We have not been officially informed of the cancellation.....

• Re-book on one of the Azamara Club Cruises select sailings listed below, in like accommodations, at the rate paid for the October 10, 2020 voyage or prorated to the length of the new sailing; if the lowest available rate for the new sailing is less we will honor the lower rate. Also, receive a $500 onboard credit per standard stateroom, a $1,000 onboard credit for suites when your client's rebook on one of these Azamara Club Cruises sailings. Azamara has opened the selected sailings to many available voyages on all three ships. This will optimistically allow them to find the best alternative and help you fulfill their travel aspirations. Azamara Journey 7-Jul-20; 1-Aug-20; 3-Oct-20; 10-Oct-20; 19-Oct-20 orAzamara Quest 23-Apr-20; 28-Sep-20; 10-Oct-20; 17-Oct-20; 27-Oct-20; 4-Nov-20 and Azamara Pursuit 3-Oct-20; 10-Oct-20; 17-Jun-21; 10-Jul-21; 20-Jul-21; 28-Sep-21; 9-Oct-21.

This is so disappointing, the itinerary for the replacement of my “Greece Intensive” cruise has absolutely zero new, much less interesting, ports for us. I’m waiting to hear from my TA what AZ is offering to keep us on a different sailing. I’ve seen on the boards that this is happening more frequently and that, coupled with the lack of LCV upgrade possibilities, is really souring me. DH is pressing to do a land trip for a few weeks instead.

I’m on the same sailing as JIMinNC, and we will be cancelling our cruise as well. I’ve just spent time looking at other cruise lines offerings. We booked last October while onboard, and received the LCV discount plus a $500 credit due to several missed ports that were weather related.

Fortunately, air bookings are not yet available, so at least this time we’re not out any money, but it is very disappointing. Oh well, finally a good reason to broaden our cruising options.

33 minutes ago, ptrpanpens said:

I am thrilled they are finally putting Istanbul back on their itineraries. The Black Sea cruise looks interesting.

Looks very appealing to me as well. We had a trip to Istanbul planned that was cancelled due to the political situation there. I’ve looked into Black Sea cruises in the past, and they are VERY pricey!

On 12/30/2018 at 6:52 PM, hiccups said:

DH is booked with PerryGolf on the cruise so we'll have our luggage plus his golf clubs, which makes public transportation a little more difficult.

Then again, last year in Lisbon we arranged for transportation from the airport to the hotel, specifying we had luggage and golf clubs, and the service screwed up and sent a regular car.  DH had to sit on his clubs in the back seat 🙄

We did an Azamara British Isles Cruise with Perry Golf a few years ago. We used Ship Sticks, and they picked the clubs up from us at home and Perry Golf took care of them from there on. We did fly home with them, but it was much easier for us, particularly as we had other plans for several days precruise.

On 12/31/2018 at 2:59 PM, laurieb said:

We enjoyed our ships tour to carcassone in 2017!

As did we! Because of the distance and the time in port, it was well worth it to us to visit Carcassone with Azamara. We also use our OBC for the premium beverage package, WiFi upgrade and specialty dining. After seven Azamara cruises, we have yet to purchase anything in the shops.

I agree that the Pursuit is a lovely ship and Captain Toledo is a marvelous addition. As Belfastman indicated, Amanda was ill for much of our trip so she was not as ever-present as Russ. We found Elisabeth, the F&B Director, very friendly and professional, and Rysard as amazing as ever.

One thing I did miss is that not once did we hear “Welcome Home” from the security team, and I did make that comment on the post-cruise survey.