scotpom

Thank you. Is this a bus or the ship's tenders?

 Cheers

 Peter

On ‎11‎/‎14‎/‎2018 at 6:09 AM, BBMacLaird said:

 

You're in luck scotpom. I've just had it confirmed that the complimentary shuttle from the ship to Darling Harbor will run from 9am on 12/31 to 1:30am on 1/1!  Have fun 🎉

Need to know whether there will be transportation (sea or land) after midnight from Sydney back to the ship at White Bay for people making their own plans to see the fireworks. We hear from friends who live in Sydney that in the past it is practically impossible to find any form of transport after midnight and people have had to wait over two hours for taxis and have been grossly overcharged.   

We always wait until we get on board as we then use our on-board credits.

We are on this cruise in July 2018. Has either ship been in Venice for this festival and if so was there any special "excursion" put on for the fireworks display and if so what was it and if not was the view from the ship adequate?

Peter and Janet

New Zealand

Hope so!

Have just been informed by my American T/A that the Singapore/Hong Kong cruise on 29th March is no longer available due to a charter.

Thanks Bonnie. Very Interesting. Perhaps this info.should/could be included on the Azamara website for all future cruise passengers to access. Would you forward this request on?

Peter

Have found that Norma Quintilla, Samuel Redwine and Jorgen Boettiger are guest lecturers on our April/May cruise on the Quest from Singapore to Athens. There are no details on their background or the subjects they will be talking about that I can find. Wouldn't it be useful if Azamara put out a potted bio about them? I have looked up these names on Google but unsure if I am looking at the right person.

Peter

Here in New Zealand, there has been a newspaper article that the Quest suffered hull damage after the ship came into contact with Wheki Rock in the Marlborough Sounds near Picton. I quote from the article "Maritime New Zealand said divers from the Wellington Maritime Unit had found paint on the side of the rock and the investigation also found damage to the hull of the ship .The pilot who was guiding the ship has been suspended, pending further information about the incident" I Sincerely hope this is a minor scrape and no future cruise will be impacted.

Does Azamara put on a bus/coach that goes straight to Athens airport? I seem to remember when we docked on the Journey in 2014 there was a service but only became available during the last few days of the cruise.

Scotpom

When we booked this cruise many moons ago there were a few shipboard excursions for Haifa which have now disappeared. There is nothing for May 14th and just a couple of "Insider Access" for May 15th. Meantime, looking at the forum everyone seems to be joining up and doing their own thing for Haifa! Are there any shipboard excursions planned? and if so when.

Peter and Janet (New Zealand)

Hi Bonnie

It's been 10 days since I mentioned this and I guess you have heard nothing back and as I understand there has been another thread about this also with a nil result so do you now think I should organise some excursions myself as other people seem to be doing?

Scotpom

Hi Are you against private tours ? We have room in our small group for Jerusalem/Behlehem on the first day. There are a couple of references to it on our roll call.

Hi Adrian

Not against private tours at all! Have had some wonderful ones and some not so wonderful. It's just that we've got lots of OBC to spend. Have read up on the tours available on the forum and might well get back to you.

Regards

Peter and Janet

When we booked this cruise many moons ago there were a few shipboard excursions for Haifa which have now disappeared. There is nothing for May 14th and just a couple of "Insider Access" for May 15th. Meantime, looking at the forum everyone seems to be joining up and doing their own thing for Haifa! Are there any shipboard excursions planned? and if so when.

Peter and Janet (New Zealand)

Where do I start!

Celebrity first. I'm a fan and will sail on them again if I like the itinerary. Have only sailed on the Millennium class ships. HAL. Never again. Sailed on the Oosterdam out of Sydney a couple of years ago and the service was appalling. Our wine waiter had to look after 10 tables, some of which were for 8/10 people. Hopeless situation. After a few days all the officers disappeared due probably to so many complaints. It was left to the front line staff who were wonderful. Both Celebrity and HAL do have something in common. It's quite possible to be billed an average of US$100 a day per couple on gratuities, wine, beer, cocktails, water, speciality coffees etc. Now we come to Azamara. All the above are included! Boutique wines changed every day and as a collector of wine I have to say they were very good indeed. If you preferred the one you had yesterday, no problem There was of course a wine list should you want to treat yourself plus premium beers etc which are additional but have to say our overall bill for our 30 day cruise was $24. We used any OBC's for ship's tours but I leave the main point to last. Azamara for us is a step up in food, service and friendliness. All the Officers from the Captain down are a delight. They are always around either chatting or serving brunch on a sea day. I could go on but I hope you all get the picture.

Peter and Janet

 

Some cruise lines discourage this practice by refusing bookings by US TA's for residents from other countries. This is especially true where the cruise line has invested in marketing, etc. in the other country. Doesn't endure non US TA's if the line allows their residents to shop over the pond.

 

Agreed. Some cruise lines forbid a booking for non residents such as Princess and HAl for Australasians and probably other countries as well but if you can get a much better deal for Celebrity, Azamara, Crystal and others using an American T/A why wouldn't you do it. My local T/A (who I would love to deal with) admits he can't get the deals that US T/A's get. When we showed him the deals we got with our US agent he conceded that to match it he would be making a sizeable loss!

Scotpom

We have booked 2 AZ cruises, 1 by ourselves and and 1 through a TV based Co. We found that to suit our requirements we didn't take the standard TV package and preferred to pay more to get the flights, hotels etc that suited us.

 

On the whole I don't think UK travel agents offer the same service that US TA's do.[/quote]

 

UK rules are very much different than ours so I am not sure there can be an "apples to apples" comparison.

 

You are perfectly entitled to deal with a US travel agent out of the UK. Many of my friends do as do friends in Australasia!

Scotpom

We have always used a travel agent who we have been dealing with for years. Sometimes, the Azamara cruise price can be similar to our T/A but our T/A come up with a minimum of US$500 on board credits (More for a Club Suite) which we mainly use to pay for the ship's excursions. We have also found that booking early with the T/A increases the savings as Azamara website prices tend to get more expensive as the cruise date gets nearer. We have saved over US$2000 booking our 2015 and 2016 Azamara cruises this way. Booked and paid deposits for both 5 months ago.

Scotpom

We cruise on Azamara because we love it! We love the ambience, the staff, the food, the entertainment, the inclusive wines which are generally very good and I say this as a wine collector.The gratuities,bottled water,beer,coffee,cocktails etc. are also included and I can honestly say from experience it's quite easy to spend US$100 a day on all of the above on other cruise lines. We don't go on Azamara for the free internet or the occasional small bag of free laundry.When I think of the hundreds of dollars or more we all spend getting to wherever the ship is leaving from, the free internet and laundry don't matter a hill of beans.

I agree it's all penny pinching stuff produced by people who have reached their level of incompetence and have delusions of adequacy but let's remember why we cruise on Azamara. We love it! I'm only angry for the wonderful staff on board who will be subjected to complaints by the usual wingers.

Scotpom

Are vistors/friends allowed on board at a cruise stop? If so how do we go by arranging it?

Scotpom

We received two Worldwide cruise 2014/5 brochures as a farewell gift but the accompanying invoice stated "Stainless steel water bottles" My initial email to them went unanswered but after I resent it a few times I received an email today with apologies and that their "Fulfillment vendor sent brochures by accident instead of your water bottles. Your gifts have been reordered"

So, persevere all those who received brochures!

Scotpom

Scotpom did you mean you only got brochures just like us ???

Yes. I'm afraid I was being sarcastic. I have of course emailed them back saying on the whole we would prefer water bottles as their enclosed invoice stated but as yet no reply.

I emailed them to ask why we'd not received any thing even though we'd been home since November and they replied very quickly to say they were posting them.I couldn't believe my eyes when I opened it to see nothing but brochures.I have emailed them to say what's happened but not had an answer. I don't know whether to resend the email or just forget it.It was only a cardboard envelope which if it had metal water bottles in it it's no wonder it split.

We too have just received water bottles disguised as brochures. Azamazing!

Scotpom

Bill, As a rule are there any shore excursions arranged for BTB passengers twixt cruises. Specifically, we will be on the Journey for two days in Mumbai (April 14/15 2014) There are two shore excursions we are interested in but there are none showing on the website for April 15th. Departure is at 6.00pm so plenty of time. Could you clarify please.

Peter

Hello Scotpom and Azamara Journey April 15, 2014 17-Night Travelers -

 

Next week I will be able to reconfirm the schedule about the impact of the 14-hour "Luxor/Valley of the Kings" Land Discoveries on Sunday April 27th and the AzAmazing Evening, "An Egyptian Moulid Festival scheduled for the evening of April 27.

 

Please note that this AzAmazing Event will be held onboard the ship with specific event locations details and timing being provided onboard. The event is described as follows:

§ Ritual chanting, dancing, whirling dervishes and circus performers are among the many attractions of an Egyptian Moulid, a festival that’s part carnival and part mystical celebration of a holy person’s birth. Tonight you’ll experience a Moulid’s “big night” finale onboard your ship. You’ll love the party atmosphere and bright strings of lights, with stalls featuring fortune tellers, henna painters, Moulid games, Egyptian treats and more. The highlight is a Whirling Dervishes zikr performance.

 

It seems that the information that I posted on July 26 stating that the AzAmazing Evening ( a "Magical Bedouin Evening in the Desert") would take place in Fujairah on April 18 has been changed; however, I will need to reconfirm that with global tour operations.

 

I'm sorry for any confusion that the July posting might have caused. Please stand by for the final response.

Hi Bill

Could you point out to those awfully nice people in Miami that if they put on an Azamazing evening on board after possibly 300-400 passengers have spent 14 hours going to the Valley of the Kings either with the ship's or a private tour and returning to the ship at 8.30pm they will not feel like joining in an event that started at 7.00pm. They will be tired, want a shower, a drink and something to eat. It would not reflect very well on Azamara if these performers were putting on a show to a half empty ship. Could you pass this message along please.