Lady President

I'm completely biased because my husband and I met sailing in studio cabins on the Epic. 💕 We'll celebrate our 10th anniversary this year. Even if you're not looking for a spouse, I like that you can meet other people or have an independent trip with a solo cabin.

Like others said, no one I spoke to loved their day in Venice. It was just an exhausting day. They didn't arrive in Venice until mid afternoon so everything was very crowded. They didn't get back to the ship until about 11:00 and still had to pack. Most people, including us, stayed on the ship that day. We visited Venice for a few days after the cruise.

We were on the cruise where it was held onboard. We were disappointed that the we couldn't go to the venue. It was a little chilly, but the big issue was there was construction work being done and the buses couldn't park close enough to the venue. There were three parts to the show. First, a group of singers in traditional costumes who were pretty good. Second, a classical guitar duo who were really wonderful. I didn't think it would be my taste, but I was very impressed. Third, a married couple playing accordions. This was not my cup of tea. I'm not sure if there is a bus that leaves early or not.

We also disembarked in Chioggia today, but are spending a couple nights in Venice. We booked the Azamara shuttle bus for $26.95 which brought us to a bus station just outside Venice. We were able to book using OBC while onboard too. The trip took us about an hour. When we got off the bus there were Azamara reps to guide us. Azamara found two other couples that were staying near St Mark's Square and we split a water taxi. It was 80€ split between us. We were nervous because we couldn't figure out how we were going to get to Venice. I know things have been frustrating with Azamara lately, but they really came through.

Thank you for sharing menus-- I love seeing them! 🙂

Well, it's getting closer for me.... For the first time the website recognized my email address, allowed me to change my password, and log in. The downside is that once I did, the website cheerfully welcomed me with "Hi Husband's Name!" 🙃

We took cruises out of Lisbon twice in 2022. Lisbon has a very nice HOHO bus with the right amount of stops. (We've been on some that seem to stop every couple block and some that only have a handful of stops in a huge city.) As someone mentioned, there are two major HOHO lines in Lisbon. Our preference was the one that had separate stops at Belem Tower and Jeronimo's Monastery. It seems like they're close and you wouldn't need two stops, but they're separated by a major road with a lot of traffic.

Maybe there was, maybe there wasn't. On our cruise someone from the Roll Call specifically asked if there was Covid on the ship, and were told that there were no cases on our sailing. Meanwhile, my husband was positive and we were quarantined. They may have stopped doing it, but there was "tell" about the number of cases last June. We were required to set our suitcases out on the last night. When we retrieved them, they were wrapped in plastic wrap. We were late getting off the ship and there were still a couple other groups of bags wrapped.

Unfortunately, I think it all depends on who you get on the phone. My husband contracted Coved on our June cruise like another poster. When we called a few days after we returned, they asked us to send a copy of the letters from the Cruise Director and Medical to confirm Covid. We had these scanned and ready to send while we were on the phone. They gave us a tentative amount of the FCC on the phone (more than we were expecting), and sent the official email a few days later. We've had exceptionally good reps whenever we've called Azamara. After seeing some of the posts here, I'm afraid our luck is bound to run out...

I look forward to reading this article. We'll be in Rome for a couple days before our cruise at the end of April-- perfect timing! Thank you-- Sue Ellen in Ohio 🙂

RCL wouldn't compensate us for a shortened and in our opinion less appealing cruise. We were supposed to take an 11-days cruise out of Southampton to Portugal and the Canary Islands. This was shortly after cruising began again and the Canary Islands reinstituted a negative testing policy. A few weeks prior to sailing the cruise was changed to 8-days around the British Islands. When we called for a price adjustment, RCL told us that we had booked a good deal and the British Islands are usually more expensive, so no price adjustment. Luckily, we were able to cancel our cruise and flight. Personally, I think there should be a price adjustment for you. I hate missing ports!

I'm on the same cruise, but it doesn't look like the Azamazing Evening is posted yet. I sorted the excursion from low-high. The $0 Azamazing excursion isn't popping up. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will be something off the ship.

The problem is that if someone who needed the handicapped cabin saw that it was booked, they would probably move on. I don't doubt that you would give up the cabin, but would the other people know to call and check? That said, we were assigned a handicapped cabin once when we booked as a guarantee. It was not something we would pick again. The shower is a roll-in model and the floor was soaked constantly!

I took the Meet the Sloths excursion several years ago, and it was one of my favorites! I wouldn't call it a "canoe" ride at all. You're on a canoe-shaped boat with about 10 passengers and it's motorized. They take you to around a small river to see wildlife and see plants/flowers. No effort involved! There is a covered restaurant and lovely gift shop too.

We're in cabin 8033 in April. Thank you so much for the pictures! We picked the cabin pretty randomly, so I'm happy to see that it was a good choice.

We were on a NCL cruise in December, and they had one of the former HAL wine stewards on staff. On our first night someone walked up and said, "You're not sailing Holland???" It was Joel who used to be one of HAL's dining room wine stewards! When HAL eliminated his position, he moved to NCL. It was like old times with our wine glasses always full. He was one of the highlights of the trip.

We're currently on the Sun. We had an itinerary change and are skipping our last stop in Cadiz to go directly to Lisbon. Communication has been a bit lacking, but from what I can gather there is another planned port strike in Lisbon tomorrow. We need to get to the Lisbon port tonight to avoid problems. The Sun should arrive about 9:00 pm local time. People can get off the ship immediately or stay the night on board. We're sad to miss Cadiz because it's supposed to be a charming city, but the situation appears to be completely beyond NCLs control. In case anyone is curious, we were not offered any OBC to compensate. Our excursion costs will be credited back to us. Anyone boarding in Lisbon tomorrow should keep an eye out for potential changes/delays.

We're on the Sun right now and there is the same notice that there won't be alcohol served while we're in port tomorrow in Gibraltar.

On the Sun right now and we're having an in-person old school muster drill at 5:00. We had to watch a muster video twice, so I hoped that was it. No such luck. Sail away isn't until 9:00. I expect a lot of people will still be on shore.

Piped in music is not a deal-breaker for me at all, but I wish they had it. We're usually HAL cruisers, so we definitely aren't "party ship" kind of people. For me, the music acts as white noise. When it's so quiet, I feel like it's more distracting because I can hear every conversation and chair moved. Not important enough that I would factor it in when I pick a cruise, but a personal preference.

We found the same thing on our first Azamara cruise in June. Here is the rundown of our check-in: #1-- Line to check our vaccine card and Covid test (this one at least should be gone) #2-- Line to check into the cruise that was out the door #3-- Holding pen wait #4-- Line at the gangplank to recheck all our documents. This one seemed unnecessary and was out in the heat The bonus was that the safety procedure was in the dining room right after boarding. It was super quick and they gave us something to drink which was much appreciated. We're booked on our second Azamara cruise in April, so boarding hassles didn't deter us. 🙂

The OBC is nice, but they are sticking with the double stateroom upgrade. I was hoping they would move away from that offer.

We were also quarantined in our own cabin when my husband had Covid this summer. I agree with your thinking-- bad enough to be stuck in a cabin, but least we had more room and a balcony for some fresh air.

Good point! We just upgraded directly with NCL yesterday. The lowest bid on the app to upgrade from a Club Balcony Suite to a Haven Suite was $650/person for an 11-day cruise. When we called they offered to upgraded us for under $300/person which we took.

I have no advice, but one request. Please, please, please keep us updated on your vacation. I suspect it will be hilarious with a sprinkle of chaos! 🙂