Janet&Carl

The information given on another site by someone who was on Onward for the April cruise that has just been cancelled was - full refund or 125% FCC. We are booked on the June 2025 Ancient Trade Route cruise. My thoughts are that this will still be good to go. The cancelled cruise had ports in Israel and, I'm not entirely sure, but this may have been a factor for cancelling. I'm hoping our cruise that does not have any Israel ports will still go ahead.

Do you think that it might be because you have Israel ports on this cruise. We are booked on the Ancient Trade Routes cruise on Pursuit in June. No ports in Israel so it will be interesting to see what happens. My thoughts are that we will be good to go.

Thanks fruitmachine that is what I did - that is what Azamara told me to do. I did this on the advice of the operator I spoke to when I told them I was struggling to secure a cabin. I have partially resolved this in following Azamara's instructions again (last night) but have been told that they will cancel the back to back bonus ($400 per cruise) and I have to keep two separate booking numbers. They have now resolved to putting things in writing lol but cherry picking the bits they said to repeat back to me. Leaving out the things they told me to do which were wrong and resulted in this mess. And by inference blaming me for not following the "right" advice. I guess I should have known which advice was right and which was wrong. Inconsiderate given that I have been told different things.

Your travel insurance is so much cheaper too. Our basic cover costs around $800 for a 3 week cruise but if you go near America you will pay a more. It becomes prohibitive if you are over 80 - I paid $3500 for my mother two years ago (for a three week repositioner from Seattle to Sydney) my own insurance for the same trip was just short of $700 - neither of us had reportable medical conditions

We do pay with CC and also buy trip insurance but unfortunately it does not cover against companies going broke and into receivership.

Unfortunately, TA's in Australia do not have to have trust accounts and many clients lose lots of money. There is a tendency to go broke and start again under a different name. When a refund is required they pass the buck between the cruise company, airline and dont take responsibility. Hard to know which is a good one. Once bitten, twice shy.

Thank you that is helpful

I have been dealing with booking a back to back cruise - all week. The reservations team that I ring contact the resolutions team and I get a different answer everytime. The problem first arose with the website not booking my reservation properly. This was rectified by the team on the phone but by then the cabin I wanted was no longer available. I have seen cabins come up every night (when the office is closed and no one answers the phone) but by the time I get to speak to them the following morning the cabin is gone again. Anyway I was advised next time to just reserve the cabin and the bookings can be merged by the team when I ring the next day. This I did and today they seem to finally get the problem and advised that they would speak to the resolutions team and fix it. The result is the cost should have reduced by $2991.24 and instead it has increased by $3515.40 !! Is there anyone who can resolve this issue for me ?

There is a lovely walk along the sea front in Tangier. We caught the hop on hop off bus and got off at the Medina then walked back to the ship. I thought it was a fabulous port of call and really enjoyed the day there. The HOHO is just outside the port gates. There was security to get in and out of the port but there were no passport checks or anything like that - you had to show your cruise card to get back in.

we have booked this June 5th cruise - I dont see a problem with it - there are no Israeli ports so should be good to go.

We are pretty set on booking the 2026 WC but wondered if we needed to wait a year (elderly parent related) when would Azamara release the 2027 itinerary?

Great response - Azamara include premium beverage package and laundry and wifi and OBC, flights and precruise hotel and gala. So for us it was about the ports. Ratio of port to sea days. The cheaper lines that do World Cruises usually have bigger ships but less ports. Costa, Princess MSC included. I like the Volendam pole to pole itinerary - but by the time you added up all the costs that were not included it didn't compare financially. I like inclusions, already included in the fare and not a big bill at the end. Regent, Viking etc. were more expensive and covered most things. Oceania only included wine, champagne and beer in the dining room. So for us - given the itinerary and the many port days with overnights it was Azamara. I spend months going over itineraries. Adding up how many port days to sea days - how many ports were new ports vs already visited. For us the best value was Azamara. It will be a once in a lifetime experience for us as we are not rich. We are well travelled and comfortable but will be retiring and not have a future income that will allow us to experience another world cruise. I probably need to add that we prefer smaller ships and a more relaxed atmosphere onboard.

Can I have details of you wrist band. I suffer badly from motion sickness and would like to get one.

Come on the 2026 with us - fellow Aussies onboard. We used to live in Perth and still have family there.

Great to hear and your post was the decider for my DH. He said if you are happy book it. However, I still have lots of questions. Can I ask you the ratio of passengers ? . I would like to know how many Americans, English, Canadians, Australians etc.. if you have any idea. We have sailed Onward twice already so I already know about the staff and entertainment etc..

I have added all the on costs and it comes out very similar. When you add in airfare, extra baggage, extra nights (155 vs 118) pre cruise hotel, transfers, gratuities included, shuttles at the ports that are a little out of town included it all adds up. So, for the extra time, extra port time and the fact that we have loved our 3 Azamara cruises it all swung in Azamara's favour. It has been a long process.

Yes they do, I should have said that. But for our tastes, we very rarely drink wine and I dislike beer. We like a G&T or a cocktail or 3 😉

I think after months and months of debating, adding up new ports vs already been to ports, sea days vs port days we have almost very nearly 😉 made a decision to sail our WC with Azamara. Lots of considerations including the ambience onboard, but the major one was the ports and not only the new ports we will visit but how long we spend in each port. MSC was close because of the cost, they included drinks at meal times and shore excursions. Costa had very little time in port, HAL didnt have very many inclusions so everything was extra, Princess had good itinerary going places we want to go but their seaday port day ratio let them down. Oceania didnt include drinks and Viking was booked out in the category we can afford so its Azamara. We can no longer afford 2025 due to DH having the past 5 months unemployed and eating into our savings. This will be a once in a lifetime deal for us so we are pleased to have made the decision.

I have wandered around the site many times. I have googled and I have searched in vain. Can anyone tell me how I access the information on points in my Azamara Circle ?

I have been searching but cant find it - I am sorry to have to ask but can anyone tell me where the spreadsheet attachment is hiding

I have been reading the board and still undecided on which world cruise. I am surprised that no one mentioned which ports the cruise goes to as a priority. I have short listed cruises and in doing so have added up how many port days to sea days. Some of the cheaper ( Princess, Cunard) have really bad ratios. Next criteria is how many are new ports. Having flown half way round the world to most cruises (which has been one of the biggest expenses of each holiday) to book a holiday that just repeats what we have already done would be crazy. So food is not that important, most lines have something I can choose to eat and I can buy specialty restaurant access on cheaper lines that dont provide a good menu. Entertainment is ok but not the be all and end all of my considerations. Comfort and service with a smile is important I get that on most cruises. We prefer serene, quiet environments to loud party scenes. We are easy going and dont complain about very much at all so most lines suit us. We have tried 7 different lines and can find good and bad in all. So given the above considerations and the fact that this may be a one of experience the more ports the better and the more new ports going to places that are still on our list to see is the primary consideration.

When can I expect that the next promotion with special prices will be ? I am wanting to join friends on a long cruise in January 2025. They got a terrific price but I was cruising overseas at the time they booked and when I came back the price had gone up, double what they paid. I was overseas again and have missed the Black Friday sale. This sale had a price approximately $5,000 more expensive than they paid but still acceptable. This week the price is back up to double what they paid. Desperate for the next sale I would like to know when to possibly look out for it. Thanks Janet

The trains are easy - you should be able to get there fairly early - they take approx 45 minutes from the port to the "San Pietro" stop which will get you to St Peters Basilica and the Vatican. When you use the ticket machine at the station choose the english language button and buy an "All day ticket". This costs around 12 euro and will get you travel on metro, train and buses as well as the light rail that goes out to places like Ostia. There is also a free port shuttle that will get you from your ship to the train station and back to the ship again when you return.

Who are you sailing with At7Seas ?

We personally like Azamara as well but have not sailed with Cunard. My preference is MSC Yacht Club but they do not do WC on ships with YC. 😞 We have just returned from our third Azamara voyage doing the Greek Isles and it was very comfortable but I feel the facilities and activities would become repetitive on such a long WC. Taking another look at HAL because I do like their pole to pole offering.