westcoasttech

Sorry for the delay getting back to you ... it's a sort of clearing house for tours, so not sure if I can actually quote the full website as it might be considered an "agent" and I don't want to annoy the CruiseCritic powers that be 😁... it lists tours and has Radar in the name so hopefully you can work it out from there. I actually didn't know the ship or any details apart from the basic itinerary until about a day or so before as somehow I never got any paperwork and I had to chase my contact once I was in Croatia to get the vessel name so I knew where to go to board! It was a very happy surprise once on board and I was very happy with the room and ship. It's very different to the "usual", but I would happily do it again ... just trying to fit it into my schedule and travel budget!

I'm still waiting for a promised call back ("quelle surprise" 🙄)... While I cannot see any OBC listed anywhere, some of the extra tours I moved into my account appear to have been paid off by said supposed OBC, as I have a zero amount showing. My "invoice" on the system shows "paid in full" (including several tours) with no separate line for OBC anywhere. I would just like to know one way or the other ... I don't want to get onboard to find I have no tours and have lost the opportunity to book cheaper private options! I'm used to dealing with "messy" websites and chaotic situations ... (I've sailed with MSC, several times!😲) but this is really not giving me a good impression of Azamara ... perhaps I should have sailed them while they were still RCCL and got my D+ benefits then ☹️!

See this thread in the West Coast forum … Harbour Centre has a basic selection, for a better variety head to Alberni branch.

On the phone Azamara has confirmed it is valid and actual OBC that can be used pre-cruise for excursions and onboard for other things. I was advised that once you have "booked" the coupons you SHOULD be able to see it as a pulldown option on the credit card payment page when paying for excursions. In my case it is not working due to the currency differences - I see the pricing for excursions in CDN$ and OBC is US$ - apparently the website can't deal with currency exchanges! Even the Azamara agent couldn't work out how to use the OBC for excursions! They have said to "give them a few days" to convert the OBC to CDN$ and then it should become available on my account for booking or at least available for an agent to make the bookings for me! I have no idea what will happen once I'm onboard and the OBC is then CDN$, but one issue at a time!

I’m currently dealing with some OBC issues (detailed in other threads). I found OBC items (coupons with a zero cost) under the Add In sections of my account, select book on them and assign them into your account. Once you have them there I am advised that the OBC option should appear on the credit card payment page as a pull-down option when paying for the excursion. Mine is not working due to currency differences (I’m in 🇨🇦) … after a phone call Azamara is arranging the conversion. As you’re in the US you shouldn’t have that same problem.

If I go to Categories, I get “no categories found…” message. I did book as a guarantee category, but now have a cabin number assigned… I’m not complaining … I’m very happy with the price I paid and any OBC is just added cherries on top of the Azamara sundae!!!

Well … phone call made … and I do have a whole whack of OBC! No idea why and there’s no logic to it, but I’m not going to question their wisdom! There’s enough to cover most if not all my port tours, and leave some for some fancy cocktails onboard! Cancelled already booked on CC tour and will transfer to OBC … however small complication in that OBC is in USD and as I booked in Canada tour pricing is in Canadian$, which apparently is why I could not connect tours to OBC when booking. I have to wait for them to convert the OBC to CDN$ to get it linked up. The other OBC coupons listed with a price attached are credits that you do pay for, so pre-purchased credits. One interesting point the OBC can only be used to pre-purchase tours before boarding - I can’t use it to pre-purchase dining packages. Once onboard I can use some of the OBC for other onboard packages. Agent I spoke to said that the pay with OBC option should show on a pull-down menu on the credit card screen for payment during the booking process … mine was probably not showing due to the currency differences. Hope this might be of help to others😀! She did recommend moving the tours I want into my account and then they can be processed once the currency issue is sorted out … so I’m going to go ahead and do that! Weird though, this seemed to be a new issue to her and she had to get assistance from other “teams” … I guess their new website can’t deal with multiple currencies😲!

I guess I will have to … they are closed today. I just wanted to make sure there wasn’t something that is well known to previous Azamara pax!

I’m also attempting to make sense of the website as a 1st time Azamara booking. Under the Add ons list I have various amounts of ‘Coupons’ showing titled either OBC or onboard credit with a ‘price’ of zero. There are also 2 coupons listed titled OBC and bar credit with a ‘price’ of the equivalent of about US$25. I booked the cruise on the day they moved from one deal (4 nights free) to the current OBC deal, but due to the timing I wasn’t really expecting any particular OBC - booked direct without a TA [long story … TA I was trying to use wasn’t being helpful!] I booked a tour, before I tried ‘booking’ the OBC coupons, and had to provide a credit card and that charge has gone on my CC. I later ‘booked’ the zero cost OBC coupons and they have gone onto my booking list on the website. So … do I have the OBC or not??? If I do, I would like to cancel my paid for tour and use the OBC instead … which I guess I would have to do by phone as I can’t see a Cancel option on the website? if I do have that amount of OBC, it is quite an amazing amount, so I don’t see how I can have! I guess I will have to call them, but if they have mistakenly provided too much OBC, I’m not sure I want to tell them that they’re wrong😜! Any advice?

I’m looking for penguin viewing tours for my “Christmas with the penguins” cruise with Azamara … in puerto madryn the ship is offering 3 different wildlife tours - San Lorenzo reserve, Punta Ninfas, or punta Tombo. The latter 2 seem to involve long drives. Anyone have any experience with these? Is it worth the extra $ and time to go the extra distance? For the San Lorenzo reserve there is the alternative of using Sentir Patagonia as recommended above - which is significantly cheaper than the ship tour.

Sailed with Katerina Line, Acquamarin in September 2019. Dubrovnik to Split route through the Dalmatian Islands. I had booked it through a ‘clearing house’ type of website - which I can’t name here - and had no idea what to expect. I was blown away by the actual ship and cruise and would do it again in a heartbeat! Can’t recommend it high enough! Very different to the ‘usual’ - food options onboard were more limited and somewhat basic, but every day had a port stop so lots of restaurants to choose from on land. Price was very good for a solo. I’m happy to answer any specific questions … attached a few pics … my room (which was a basic category)… daily schedules … and a couple of exteriors.

I would 2nd the recommendation for the Alberni/Bute branch over the Harbour Centre location, if you are looking for a reasonable selection of vino. Harbour Centre is fine for the basics but not a great variety. If you are particularly wine focused, I would also suggest Everything Wine (998 Marine Drive, North Vancouver) - it’s a short bus or taxi ride over the bridge, or seabus/bus combo - and has a varied selection of international and BC wines.

Celebrity have been doing this (certain cheaper categories not bookable by solos) for a long, long time! 1st cruise I tried to book on Celebrity (20+ years ago) advertised a late bookable guarantee rate of around $750, cheapest available to a solo was $2100+ … they seem to be doing it even more now! I’ve seen RCCL do it more recently. On MSC in 2017 the only way I could book a certain category (in this case YIN in YC) was to make up a ‘pretend’ companion who then ‘couldn’t come’ at the last minute! Yes it makes me 😡😡😡 … I’ve accepted that for a cruise I really, really want to do I’ll pay the 200% but now it’s getting ridiculous. I’ve got several next cruise deposits for RCCL which I’m struggling to use due to their solo “overpricing” … I’ve started looking for alternative cruise lines that offer lower percentages for their solo pricing and just booked my 1st Azamara - the base price might start higher but the lower solo supplement gives you a better price for a better product! In the past I have found that there will be solo deals on the more unusual repositioning routes, and/or last minute timing, but of course then you might have less choice of cabins!

Questions from a 1st time Azamara pax … If you book the package that includes 1 chefs table are you then guaranteed a spot? When do you get to choose which cuisine you want? I’ve seen (on various postings) that French and Italian options seem constant - are other cuisines dependent on what route you are sailing? If sailing a longer route (say a 20 day sailing), I would presume there’s more opportunities? There are certain things I don’t or can’t eat, so am hoping I can see all menus to pick the best option!

On my previous cruise, there was also a get together for DBE sailors mid cruise with champagne and Sangria drinks included. Look for the invite.

Yes, you can get Siggi's here at most large foodstores ... Canadian Superstore, Save On, Whole Foods all carry it that I've seen - in the large pots only though. My "go to" is the Vanilla Cinnamon flavor ... when I can find it in stock!

Thank you, fellow Vancouverite, for your wonderful and honest "no holds" review! While all reviews are helpful, the "it was great ... everything was great" reviews are a little less helpful! NCL Star is (was?) on a short list for a cruise I'm looking at for the end of the year. While food is not a deciding factor for me, it is a consideration, so NCL has dropped down the list a little! Thank goodness you were on a port intensive route and could have the option of your bakery search ... imagine endless sea days with only those onboard food options to consider ... [shudders! 😉] I know it is possible to still have a great cruise (port-wise) with "not good" onboard food ... my own experience of this was MSC Orchestra, Genoa to South Africa ... I would do the route again in a heartbeat, but just bring a suitcase full of snack options! My personal theory is that the "usual" cruiselines' need for corporate consistency across their whole fleets is a contributor to decline of food quality. They appear to want any one dish to be the same no matter what side of the planet it is being produced, rather than letting the chefs do what they are good at, with ingredients that are plentiful and available in that area, as opposed to ingredients that have been shipped over great distances! I too would have been annoyed at the constant apologies (and hugs). I try to subscribe to the "fix the problem, not the blame" way of thinking. Their apologies translate to the fact that they know they messed up, but then they go ahead and don't actually fix the problem. The fact that you had occasional good meals, almost makes it worse, as they "can" fix it, they just "don't" fix it consistently! It comes across that not everyone is buying in to how to fix it or even that it needs to be fixed! Were you aware Penguin and Club biscuits are sometimes available at some of the local "Brit" stores in the Vancouver area? I see them in a Brit store I visit in Steveston, and I believe there is still another Brit store in the Langley area ... I'm sure you know where both those areas are 😁!

As recommended above, go early (before 11 am ... ideally around 10:30am) and be prepared to wait (after security/customs) before boarding starts, or go late (around 2 - 2:30pm) and miss the lunch time rush, and probably onboard lunch too! Another combination is to head to the port, drop your bags, do the check-in process, and then, if the security line looks long, head out to downtown Vancouver for a stroll and a leisurely lunch (on your own dime!), before heading back around 2 pm to go through security/customs. There are several nice dining options in close proximity to Canada Place ... Coal Harbour area or Gastown. Just make sure to check the cruiseline recommended last boarding times ... In past years I have seen people running up at 4:30pm and still getting on, but I would not recommend testing that out!

I had a very similar issue on Seashore last fall. I started in a YIN (16025), but could hear sounds of equipment rolling and clanking into late night and starting in the very early hours. My presumption, when you look at the plans, is that there is an access corridor above and/or behind those cabins between the lounge and the kitchens/storage and/or between the restaurant and the kitchens/storage - the bar staff and waiters passes, respectively, come out into the bar/restaurant in line with this theory. I "jokingly" mentioned it to the butler on about day 3, sarcastically requesting they add in some carpeting (totally a joke!), and I presumed that "that was the way it was going to be". I was surprised to be moved to another YIN the next day - I can't remember the exact number, but it was on 18 and there's only a few YIN cabins there. Somewhat surprisingly, as the YINs on 18 are more or less above the ones on 16, the noise was better there. There was still some level of noise of equipment/supplies being moved, but not as bad as 16 - seemed to be less of a vibration issue. I was doing a B2B (both weeks supposed to be in 16025), and was (pleasantly) surprised to be moved again for the 2nd week, this time to a YC balcony ... woo, hoo ... [but was told this was very much an exception and MSC "never" does a free upgrade from YIN to YC balcony ... so, shsssh, don't tell anyone!😜]. Spent the last week in 18047 (I think, or a cabin close to that) ... Unfortunately this cabin also seemed to have some noise coming from somewhere - sounded like a radio, so maybe from the Aurea Bar prep area? - but it was mainly in the mid-afternoon so it was not really a problem ... and after being in 3 cabins in 2 weeks, I didn't dare mention it to any member of staff! The balcony also had a dripping pipe in the corner - I did mention this to the butler and was told it was not immediately fixable - so I guess it was a "not in service" cabin for anyone who had actually paid the YC balcony price! Bottom line, even if the plans show cabins "above and below" there can still be access areas that are not predictable. I do try to "roll with the punches" and acknowledge I'm a very light sleeper, and do appreciate MSC attempting to fix the issues ... even if they weren't a 100% success!

This year Volendam is sharing Canada Place with Sapphire Princess (2,600 pax) and Seven Seas Explorer (700 pax) - every 2 weeks - so you can more or less discount the Explorer (or any of the smaller luxury ships) from your concerns. While they do add a little to the foot traffic, they tend to be focused on a narrow time frame for going through the "hoops" of Canada Place. Sapphire is a medium-large ship, but still not close to the largest that come through the Port. With the Volendam being approx 1,400 that's still less than 5K pax for the day total ... in past years the port had days (Quantum, Ovation, or larger NCL ships) at the beginning and end of the season with closer to 10K pax for the day ... then you'd have to worry! (Source for pax numbers - google, so they are approximate!)

As a Vancouver-ite (who has also worked at the Port checkin in past years), I recommend to arrive at the port either early (before 11 am) or late (after 2 - 2:30pm). If you arrive early, it can be quicker to get through check in, security and immigration, but you may have to wait to board - they normally set up a waiting area with chairs. If you arrive later, you should miss the "lunch rush" and have a smooth trip through security, but you might also miss the main lunch options onboard. So take your pick! You can request wheelchair assistance, but you would probably have a wait as there are usually limited numbers of chairs provided by the cruiselines. If you have your own mobility assistance, there used to be a "short-cut" you could use to avoid the main line for security (they let you use the crew entrance) - so look for signs. There used to be a limit to the number of people that could accompany the mobility assisted person through the shortcut (a limit dictated by US authorities, so don't take it out on the port staff!) to avoid the large family groups ALL accompanying "Grandma" through the shortcut! And yes, if you are early in the season things can get confused with new staff not knowing what is going on! New hires are often students with no experience of cruising ... look for the older staff who look like they know what's going on 😜!

I've been seeing some reasonable solo pricing on several repositioning sailings this fall from several cruiselines (Princess, NCL, HAL) - transatlantic, transpacific (to Japan or to Australia/NZ) and a couple of North America to South America sailings ... if you don't mind the long flight back and have plenty of time to spare, shop around and see what fits with your scheduling. Unfortunately (?) I already have previously booked TA and I can't fit anything else lengthy into my schedule on short notice...

Just going to put this here ... https://www.cruiselawnews.com/2022/04/articles/drugs/msc-seaside-drug-cocaine-bust/ And this article doesn't include the report of 414kg (+900lbs) of a certain powdered substance that a group of pax tried to bring onto the Seashore last November in a Jamaica port stop [I was on that cruise, but didn't see anything ... except some delays in boarding! - still trying to work out how exactly they tried to do that... the report I read stated 24 packages X 17kg (38 lbs) ... what the heck were they trying to carry on and put through the scanners... just casually bring on a few extra suitcases!].

Stayed in 12022 on Valiant Lady - Christmas week, ship not totally full, but quite busy. Cabin door opened into the lobby for the aft elevators. I was initially worried when I arrived onboard, but it ended up I heard little to no noise from the elevator area, and had no music "bleed" from the dock area. Aft elevators only seemed to be used by those staying in the aft area and weren't super busy. During the cruise I realized I was happy not to be mid-ships (and higher decks), as the music from the central pool area was LOUD and I can only imagine what it would be like on party nights (if you didn't want to participate in the party, that is!) I liked the location (and my next VV is in a cabin close to the aft elevators) and being "easy" access to the Dock (where I spent some time!) and the only draw back is the majority of the restaurants (Razzle, Extra Virgin, Test Kitchen etc.) being midships and you can't "walk through" on that level, so you either have to walk to the midship elevators or go down to 7 and then walk forward to the midship stairs/elevator area. Likewise with gangway access which was normally midships.

Have you tried a London Fog latte? Earl Grey tea made with hot milk. It’s my alternative when Chai not available. As long as a ship has Earl Grey teabags available they should be able to make it … but you may have to explain it to them 😄. I “taught” it to some bartenders last year on MSC (in YC) they had not heard of it before, and they were happy to expand their repertoire! I’m also thinking about sailing my first Azamara so am researching about what they include … or don’t include!