Oslo Dutch

We were on the 01 April from Rome to Athens. (Italy and Greece only) Please note if you do visit a port outside the EU (for example Turkey, Norway, UK) you will not be charged VAT

Last week we noticed the following about EU VAT Tax. We had an onboard credit and which we used in the shops. The VAT is added (about 22%) and is added to your account. However, you are not able to use your onboard credit for this, so you're credit card will be charged for the VAT amount. VAT was not added to Spa services, Speciality restaurants and drinks.

Correct, apologies for the error

Ship - Pursuit Cabin No: 6033 Year: March 2023 Standard Balcony Cabin Outside, restricted view Noise issue - Yes, however, it did not bother us Would choose this cabin again YES This is one of the restricted views, outside cabins, Y Guarantee. It's by no means an ideal cabin. The set-up is rather quirky and not very practical, with only one chair to sit on. It's quite small. 6033, does have a very small lifeboat in front of the window, which didn't bother us. Right next to the elevators, so there was late-night noise of party people going back to their cabins. Ships motion/Engine noise/Vibration etc cabin is ideal. Considering its obvious cons, this cabin can be excellent value for money for the overall excellent Azamara product

We disembarked in Piraeus this morning. Yesterday we left Chania Kriti around 5 PM and Captain Antonio went full speed in the direction of Athens where we docked at 2 AM this morning. So everything was perfect. I think Captain Antonio has been aware what has happened to you Just one warning with onboard credit, when you sailed ONLY between EU ports. VAT 22% is added to purchases ONLY in the shops. (Not for restaurants, drinks, Spa etc). This VAT charge is added to your bill and will be charged to your credit card. As our onboard credit was granted halfway down the cruise we decided to make purchases in the shops. And found out we still need to pay for VAT which can't be covered by the onboard credit. The girl in guest services advised us to claim it back at the Airport, however, this doesn't really work for us as we are EU citizens....

Just to let you know, yesterday we got a letter from Guest Services granting us USD300 credit onboard. 🙂 However the super luxury problem is that we will disembark on Saturday in Athens, so not much time to spend on it. However, we manage to get the very last booking in Prime C tomorrow. Rather chilly here in Greece today with lots of rain and hail.

I am currently onboard the Pursuit and boarded last Saturday in Civitavecchia. First of all, great cruise with an excellent crew and lively diverse guests. However, we checked in online at 2 pm and got a mail from Azamara later mentioning we suppose to board around. We showed up around 1.30 and were onboard around 2 PM with no issue. It went very smoothly The website also showed we should have a credit of USD150, however, the reception didn't have any info about this and had to refer to the Miami Headquarters, We are now nearly half the cruise and still haven't heard anything so I assume it's an error.

Been digging into our reservation on the website and noticed an onboard credit we have never been informed about. I suppose tomorrow once boarded we need to check with reception if this is correct or not.

Yep, I am booked on BA 9th April ATH-LHR-OSL after disembarking Pursuit in Athens. And am getting a bit nervous about it. Hope they have sorted it out by then. Even though I arrive at T5 and change flights to T3 it'll mean lots of delayed flights (and cancelled flights)

We are boarding in Civitavecchia on Saturday and checked in way before they started to upgrade their systems. Now we have received an email that they have not received our check-in and therefore are assigned a very late check-in time. We have a printout with our original assigned check-in time. Can I assume this is just a system bug from their side?

There is no access to all inventory here in Norway. And one of the biggest agents doesn't have any pricing at all. I suppose they first need to sort out their main markets before sorting out the very small ones

Thank you so much for your excellent review. We will join Pursuit next week in Civitavecchia for a 7-day cruise to Greece.

Thanks, we did an Azamara Baltic last year, I did send an email about this, however ,it was never answered.

Something not terribly important. I did a cruise in 2005 and 2007 on RCL and Celebrity. Any chance of getting points for that on my Azamara Account? I have sent them, last year and last month an email with all details however never got an answer from them.

We are joining the excellent Pursuit on April 1st in Civitavecchia. Needless to say after a fantastic Baltic last year we really look forward to coming back again. Last July the ship sailed at half capacity while in April were back to a healthy fully booked ship. What is the MDR traffic like? If you want a table for two for dinner do you have to wait, are there any lines etc? What are the busiest times? We are late diners however flexible.

Pretty weird as Azamara's overall experience is a huge lap from the likes of MSC/Costa/P&O Only 3 stars are given to for example general cabins (they are a bit tiny) entertainment(not huge like on the big ships) Customer Service (Big shoreside issues right now) etc. However, it comes across this is a rating by people who have not been properly informed about the Azamara product at all and who shouldn't have booked Azamara in the first place.

Please note news has appeared in the Dutch press Schiphol still hasn't got their act together and they were once again forced to cancel flights during the very busy May School Holidays. Apparently, Security staff levels have settled, however, there is still an enormous problem with the understaffed baggage handling departments. As the ship arrives in Amsterdam on disembarkation day, I suggest you stay overnight and catch a flight the next day. It's a great city! 🙂

Thank you for sharing! We will join the Pursuit in April in Civitavecchia. Look forward to read about your experiences.

We booked online with a travel agent in Norway. For our cruise, the Y GTE was the cheapest fare. (no balcony or CC suites we available) There were other categories OV, however, available rooms stated were only Cat 8 with restricted view. Other categories (OV and inside) stated "room to be assigned at check-in" So the decision was made very easily as we are also not interested in OBC. In the end, we were assigned 6033, the one with the best "view.

Thanks for your input, we have been allocated 6033 for the Rome - Athens. This was a last-minute Easter break decision and we were lucky to get the cabin with the best view in the category :-). Considering the cabin might not be 100% ideal, however, it's still with a top cruise line with great service and food. Overall 1000 x better experience than Costa/MSC etc.

The MDR is mostly closed for lunch, so the buffet and the open deck grill are the only options. They opened the MDR for lunch only once during our Baltic cruise, before a noon - 1 pm arrival in Tallinn, which was highly appreciated. We always thoroughly enjoy a long nice sit-down lunch and are not fans of Buffet food. Being unable to have lunch in the dining room was one of the only downsides of the cruise. We did mention it on the questionnaire you get after a few days, and voila!... MDR was open before arrival in Tallinn. I know this has become industry a cost-cutting standard over the last decades. We secretly wished Azamara would be an exception. However, we did put our Buffet dislike aside and to be honest Azamara does a really good job here. The waiter still serves wine and the food is quite nice. Not to be compared with the ghastly HAL experience we had before.

Also, note that Suite guests can have breakfast at Aqualina every day. We thoroughly enjoyed that on our last cruise.

Thanks, however, it doesn't;t show up, it might have to do with the fact I am in Europe and they only do for US-based guests

We have booked a last-minute April 1st, 2023 Rome to Athens. Initially booked a Y guarantee however today we were confirmed in one of the outsides on deck 6. This is a European booking that does not receive upgrade emails from Azamara. I tried to look for a paid upgrade on the Azamara website however we were unable to do this online. When will the next opportunity arise to be able to bid? Last summer it wasn't until we were onboard. (however, being in a CC Suite we didn't need it.)

This is pretty spot on. We did sail on the Pursuit summer last year in the Baltic and loved it. Lovely atmosphere, nice approachable people, and being in a CC Suite was fantastic. We loved the food and service in the main dining room. Food wasn't as good as Oceania, however still very high valued. We are not big drinkers, so all inclusive drinks on offer plus coffees were fine with us. Also, the longer port stays with Azamara are also worth it Many years ago we did a Black Sea cruise on Nautica. While the food and service were outstanding we were put off by snobbish impolite fellow guests, and like you mentioned the ship was dead at night.This was the first cruise I felt slightly bored. We just booked a 7-night Italy to Greece in April and return on Pursuit. Needless to say, we look forward to it!