norn iron

I’m not sure that is a fair comment, there were 476 (maximum is around 700) passengers onboard and 404 crew.

Yes, its on the included list.

These are three screenshots from Vivino of the Shiraz currently being served onboard Quest. Well sourced and of good quality. I wont post the price in case it offends those who believe house wines should be expensive.

Currently on Quest and there are a few new names Captain. - Johannes Tysse Hotel Director - Marcelo Afonso Cruise Director - David Bradshaw (first cruise with AZ, ex Cunard and Crystal to name a few) Executive Chef - Zarko Lukic F&B Manager Alex Brotsman

Unfortunately no success. I’m changing my handle to ‘dissapointedofBelfast’ 😉

Nothing through yet Denise. Good tip re checking my credit card, but again no charges. There is no access to available staterooms on the Azamara website, however, on the German site that can't be mentioned all the available staterooms are still for sale.

There are some grey areas of the upgrade system. We sail on Quest this Saturday and at no time did we get the invite email to upgrade. When I accessed the upgrade page on the Azamara website upgrade page I was denied access. I followed this up with a call to Azamara (early morning!) and they could find no reason why I couldn't apply, yet they couldn't amend the no application status. I then emailed the Azamara Circle and got a reply of apology within 24 hour, two hours later I got the email inviting me to apply for an upgrade. Did it work? All should be revealed in the next twelve hours.

If my memory serves me right I started one of the original Tonicgate threads (happy to be corrected) and one of those who contributed was the then UK MD for Azamara Richard Twynam, (BTW the new MD of Scenic Cruise UK and Ireland). He did state that the price of Fevertree was an issue, however, (and I have posted this a few months back) he offered that Schweppes would be stocked fleet wide by Azamara.

I’ve never had a bottle that wasn’t finished!

During June we spent ten out of eleven nights dining in Prime C and Aqualina. Our bookings were made for 20:30 every evening, however, we arrived anywhere between 19:50 and 20:20 and were welcomed with greetings and smiles every evening.

@Belfastman thanks for the update. In June the corners of the Living Room just hadn't been touched during the refit. It's reassuring that Azamara are addressing the few issues that there were, and doing a good job of it.

Belfastman, check the forward port and starboard corners (ceiling) of the Living Room. They were in need of a real tidy and upgrade of paint etc when we onboard earlier in the year. If they are fixed and tidied that's a good sign of ongoing repairs and maintenance.

That's a pity. We board Quest on 26th Nov. I'll check it out first day onboard in case there is an extension.

I won't hold my breath on that one, my TA is on borrowed time. What I will do is make a booking onboard in November and check how valid the FCC actually is.

I think I got lucky, maybe because my TA went chasing the FCC before payment was due on a November cruise, and this additional amount arrives.

Thanks combine, you have helped me piece together what has happened. Yes my email was the same as yours, what confused me was the fact that I had already received my FCC for the move to Ravenna. It totalled £253 for booking a Balcony. There was never any documentation as my TA spoke with Az before the final payment for Novembers cruise and the credit was applied. The email I received (the same as yours) is £430 FCC, which approximately coverts to $500 and we did upgrade to a CC Suite. So maybe we got lucky and got two FCC's What was confusing was the wording of "as promised, due to your feedback" the only feedback I had given Az was on the post cruise survey.

Is this something new from Azamara? We sailed on Onward departing Ravenna June 18th this year, nothing unusual in that. We were given an FCC against a future cruise due to the inconvenience of moving from Venice to Ravenna and we have already applied that to a cruise in November. Yesterday I got a email with an another FCC, only this time it was a thank you for completing the post cruise survey, I have copied it below. Dear Guest, As promised, due to your feedback on your recent Azamara cruise, below is your Future Cruise Credit (FCC) to plan another cruise vacation with us. We appreciate your understanding during this very fluid situation, and we hope you'll use this credit to sail with us again soon! Firstly, the amount was very welcome, £430 and will be put to good use. Secondly, I was very complimentary in all my feedback, with the exception of stating that I would not purchase the Ultimate Drinks package whilst Az continue to serve Royal Club tonic water. Did I get lucky, or has this happened before?

2.9 is totally unfair. We sailed on Onward in June, it was either the 4th or 5th cruise since the maiden voyage. We had no issues with the crew, in fact they were great. There were lots of familiar faces from other ships in the fleet and they were hands on guiding newer members into the Azamara way. The issues, and yes there were some, were more to do with the workmanship from the refit in Amsterdam. If you looked carefully there was substandard workmanship, especially compared to Pursuit and I am not being prejudiced. There was major work being done by the crew, on an ongoing basis to rectify the issues. We had a conversation with Tony Markey in his role of HD and when discussing the final finish he actually refused to comment (in a humorous way).

Thanks for sharing this. My sister and her hubby are onboard for their first Az cruise and are more than impressed.

Spot on. I remember around 12 years ago Victoria Moore the Daily Telegraphs wine writer reviewed Tesco's own label 1994 Vintage Port, and it retailed for £15 per bottle. She wrote if the label said Taylors instead of Tesco this would retail at £90 per bottle and be worth laying down for 20 years, the following week Tesco put the price up to £19. It proved the point that wine snobs are more interested in the label than the contents. By chance the same week I drove through Crossgar and dropped in to Nicholsons (local wine importer for non norn iron folk!) and there on the shelf was a bottle of Taylors 1994 vintage priced at £95 which made me laugh. ps I still have four bottles of the Tesco port left 🍷!!

woodards, thanks for the update from Quest. My sister and her hubby (for Uktog's benefit, a Wee Gee from Gifnock) are on board Quest for their first Az cruise. We had a What'sApp running commentary until around 21:30 last night and they seem to be loving it. As they toured they ship after boarding they stopped at a few bars and met fellow passengers from Ayr and Glasgow so you can imagine what carnage that will lead to (see above) as the cruise continues. However, this is what makes Azamara special. When we were onboard Onward in June we got talking to one of the senior officers and I explained about my sister and hubby having booked their first Az cruise. I was asked to write a hand written note welcoming them to their first Az cruise, and when they arrived onboard yesterday my handwritten note was waiting for them at their cabin.

I beg to differ. Every time we have cruised via India we have used the Transit Visa with no issue. A business associate of mine, his father is the Honorary Indian Consul to NI (surname Rana) kept me in the loop years ago. If you are travelling via India from departure point A, with final destination point B with no more than four days in India then a Transit visa is fine. Effectively you are in 'transit'.

Not a problem Norris, I hope you have a great day - you've got a lot to pack in.

Norris, when you are in Belfast, should you want a quick reminisce with Kelly Wilson (from Kelly's) let me know and I'll check if it can be done. He lives in East Belfast relatively near the docks.

The worst surprise you could ever encounter on an Azamara ship is Royal Club Tonic water!