Carnevale

Thanks to everyone posting on this thread - great suggestions! Here are a few I'll add to the list: - EarPlanes: If you get a stuffed up head or are sensitive to air pressure changes and have to fly, these are a must have. They are small plastic ear plugs you use during take off and descent to equalize the pressure in your head. I never fly without a pair and while I have rarely had to use them, when I did need them they worked very well. www.earplanes.com - Betadine: During COVID I discovered this nasal spray and use it whenever I'm going to be with a lot of people. One spray in each nostril apparently helps block the entry of viruses through the nose (a main but not the only point of entry so it doesn't cover everything). Since using it we've travelled a fair amount and been in many very crowded indoor spaces and haven't had a single sniffle (so the EarPlanes aren't getting used). - Plastic trays: My green grocer sells mini cucumbers on plastic trays that are about 4X6" and about 0.5" deep. I wash and save them and use them to hold cosmetics, bed-side items, and other small things when I travel and then toss them before heading home. This way stuff can't roll around on a counter (good for rough seas) and it is easy for the room steward to wipe counters without having to move/touch every item. Shallow plastic trays from a dollar store would work well (but I like repurposing these plastic ones). - Tide Pens: These are great for removing stains on clothing (especially food stains). One is in my handbag at all times. - Kleenex: Not needed on the ship, but when staying in hotels before or after a cruise in Europe I've found that many places have very rough tissues (I have yet to buy a box of tissues in Italy that aren't really rough). Guess I just have a sensitive nose, but I like to have my own supply with me. - Ben's Insect repellent wipes: Easy to carry with me and to have a couple in my pocket or handbag when on excursions to rural settings. No need to carry a large bottle that might leak as each wipe is in its own package.https://bens30.com/bens-30-wipes.html Other than that all the other special things have been noted in this thread. Nice to see we aren't the only ones travelling with a little of a lot of stuff. But we haven't taken any dental items and so will be adding this one - thanks for the suggestion.

What about Iceland? Any shuttles?

We are so disappointed in what will be offered on our July sailing. At first AZ said there’d be an Azamazing Evening in Reykjavik at the Harpa Concert Hall (a very interesting site that we want to see). We were very excited about this. Then, we were notified of a change and now all we get is a Destination Celebration which is only a 1.5h concert on the ship. That’s a very significant downgrade. I expect entertainment on the ship so I fail to see how this is special.

I have yet to get today’s email. My husband did and clearly many others did as well. I received the last two (sent on the same day) so it is not a matter of them not having my email address. What value is there in an update and apology that is sent out to some but not all. This email is intended to make people feel better about AZ but I am now more annoyed than ever.

Did this come in response to something you did or did it just arrive? I ask as we sail in under 60 days and it would be nice to have something like this from Az. Thanks!

The chef’s table looks interesting. Are they able to accommodate dietary requirements? We eat fish but no meat or poultry. Might not be possible given the set menu approach.

I would really appreciate this information too!

Like others, I wonder how much revenue AZ is missing out on due to this protracted IT mess. I would book more things for our July cruise but won’t until this chaos has ended and there’s evidence the site works. So, private tours it will be as it doesn’t look like things will be working online in time for us.

I can’t see how stating this helps anyone. Yes, it is true that a lot of people here have paid a lot of money to Azamara and after FP in full are discovering AZ’s accounting in the online customer site shows an amount owing. So you are correct that you and the OP are not the only ones however, it is understandable that regardless of whether the amount is big or small, it can be upsetting. It’s so very unfortunate (actually it’s more than that - unacceptable is what comes to mind) that AZ can’t get its act together and present correct account information after all this time in transition. It is not surprising that the OP and many others in a similar situation are upset and/or concerned. No one expected to book a cruise and then be confronted with the current level of IT problems that are being encountered especially since AZ never apologizes for what is happening and makes things worse by sending out poor quality, infrequent communication and, on occasion, emails saying that people’s accounts are now correct when they are not and errors on the part of AZ (such as showing an amount owing after a full FP has been made) are still there. I fully agree with the OP, the new website just continues to be a disaster.

Thank you Worldsurfer for sharing your experience. That’s exactly the kind of information we were hoping to get. It’s great to know this will be available for us in part as it will be my birthday during our cruise and a Chefs Table meal is the best celebration I can think of. We’ll make a bee line to the reservations table as soon as possible the day we board.

Both of today’s emails made the situation worse IMHO. They are incorrect and neither offered an apology. Azamara needs to get better IT support and get it quickly. They also desperately need to get some customer service consulting help onboard as what they did today only made me regret having booked with them. There are ways of dealing with situations where an organization’s wheels fall off their truck but Az clearly has no clue as to what those things are. And before someone tells me that the onboard experience will balance this mess out let me share that I have sailed with them before so I know what to expect. It’s going to take some extra special onboard stuff to get me to the point where I will consider booking with them again.

Yes. The exchange rate seemed reasonable and was automatically applied when the OBC went from USD to CAD.

I'm also in Canada. When I booked I was told the amount of OBC in USD but when I booked excursions (thankfully done before the current IT situation) like you, the excursion prices online were in CDN. My OBC also showed in CDN at that time so it all worked out well.

There are three ways to get to the Grand Canal from the Marco Polo Airport: 1. Hire a water taxi. You can book this online in advance (via a google search for Venice water taxi) or you can go to a booth in the airport and order one there. It's about a 10 to 15 min walk from arrivals to the area where the water taxis dock. There's a moving sidewalk but you can't take luggage carts on it. 2. Use the Alilaguna system. It's a shared boat so isn't a private service. It leaves from the same area as the water taxis and has different routes but is an easy way to get to the Grand Canal. But if you are checking into a hotel it is easier to use a water taxi as that can get you closer to where you are staying (or directly to it if you book a place with a water entrance located on a canal). 3. Take a vaporetto which is the public bus but I don't think you are interested in this since you asked for a private service. Water taxis are very expensive but they are a wonderful way to enter Venice - I highly recommend this option if the cost isn't an issue.

What I don’t understand is how Az has an onboard IT system that seems to have correct information and a public facing system that is so messed up. Why can’t they move to using the onboard system as their sole system for everyone? I don’t have an IT background that is deep enough to understand this. You would think that the problems in customer good will being created now are significant enough to make them want to find a way to use any available solution.

As the OP I have some thoughts on the post by "Dr H" (#5 above): My overall reaction: I have a personal bug against people who feel the need to try to belittle others for no good reason. There it's voiced and out in the open. We were asked: "Why would someone who voluntarily opts not to eat entire classes of foods want to attend a food tasting meal that highlights entire classes of foods?" Simple. It's easy for vegetarian's to be gourmet chefs and/or home-based foodies with well developed palates. It's easy for vegetarians to enjoy a wide range of foods and be adventurous eaters beyond the consumption of meat/poultry. As another posted here, there are Michelin starred vegetarian restaurants (even at the three star level and there is also a vegan starred restaurant). So good food and vegetarianism are compatible. We don't just eat lettuce and tofu all the time and enjoy sophisticated food and wine pairings. We were told: "It is not for the Chef to be forced/coerced into preparing an almost entirely separate menu to accommodate a few individuals...". Who's trying to force or coerce the chef? The posting here was intended to explore the experience of others to see if this is possible. At no time have I (or would I) ever try to force something like this on a chef. We always ask and, if it isn't possible, we accept that. I actually have no idea how we could force or coerce a chef. We were told that we "... feel empowered and entitled to impose their dining habit life style on others". How on earth are we doing that? When or how was it implied that anyone else would need to eat as we do? Why would we want to do that? I clearly posted here as I don't know how the Chef's Table works and I wanted to learn so as to decide whether it is an option for us or not. Full stop. Thank you to the posters who understood that and have helped by providing information about this onboard option. All guests need to feel they can explore what is offered and that they can use this forum toward that end without being attacked for asking. Let's keep the conversations friendly and open to people wanting to learn about Azamara.

Thx! Sounds good. Are there choices for each course or does the chef select everything?

My husband and I do not eat any meat or poultry (but eggs, dairy, cheese, etc. are okay). We are wondering if the Chefs Table will be an option for us or not. Do they have a set menu or are there choices? If it is set, can they make any dietary accommodations? Thanks for any info and, if anyone has a sample menu, we'd love to see it.

What a fantastic blog! Thank you for sharing all of this information and for the wonderful photos. With the new beverage pkgs I especially appreciate the bar menus you have shared. If you happen to see a bar menu with the prices for cognac it would be great to see it. I’m curious what each pkg offers by way cognac since for me that’s an occasional special treat.

Thanks so much for the great info and for responding to all the questions that came your way. We are much more excited about our Sapphire cruise after virtually following along with you on your sailings.

This is way too little. How many guests (like me) do not use Azamara’s FB site? Why hasn’t an email gone out to all guests? Why send us to a FAQ section that is woefully inadequate? Where, for example, is the FAQ for the question of why my account shows an amount owing when all is paid in full and I have some OBC left ? Where’s the record of my OBC? I could have missed it, but I have not seen any answers to these questions and they are important questions. Where is a timeline for when I can access full, correct information about my booking? When should I expect to be able to see and book excursions for my sailing? And, why is there no apology?

I agree entirely. I spent over 30 years helping organizations in North America and internationally develop and implement strategies to improve customer experiences and, in turn, their satisfaction and loyalty. Getting out in front quickly and honestly is critical or satisfaction and loyalty start to drop. This needs to be an apology that recognizes the negative impacts that have been experienced and clear statements to manage customer expectations about what will happen and when (not promises of dates that clearly could not be met). Further, when things can’t be resolved quickly (as is the case here with a significant, large migration), and when the impacts are particularly negative (as is the case for all booked guests but especially those with cruises in the next 4 months) two things become important. First, they need an effective Plan B and they need it now as posting incomplete and, even worse, wrong info should not be an option. At a minimum they need to remove the parts of their site that currently contain errors. Second, responding with public recovery efforts is now essential. This could be a small amount of OBC, a small % discount on a future cruise, etc. Recovery efforts are usually less about the amount of the offer and more about demonstrating that customers matter and have not been served the way the organization intends. I hope Azamara is monitoring this site to understand how negative the situation is.

Wonderful blog! Many thanks for sharing all this great info. If possible, can you please post a bar menu? I understand prices went up in February so I’m curious about the costs of different drinks now. Keep having a great cruise! I’m envious when I see those menus and your food pics!

I am beyond annoyed. We paid for our July cruise in full and all excursions booked so far have used OBC (with a little bit still available) yet when I go to Manage My Booking it says we owe over $1000. They should take the site down until it is populated with correct information as they are creating very high levels of customer dissatisfaction. I can’t imagine ever wanting to book with them again unless they do something dramatic to win back good feelings about their brand.

What does it mean? A quarantined cabin??