lisiamc

Yes, that will be a challenge, I think. I don’t remember seeing anything beer-like in the Atlas Bar, but I’m not a beer drinker, so I didn’t look for it, either. There’s no beer on the Ultimate package, is there?

Although I will say that they serve nice variations of the included drinks in the Atlas bar. I like champagne, G&T, Bourbon, or Canadian Whisky. I can’t drink the fancy signature cocktails, but they will pour me a lovely Hendricks and tonic.

Their ships, their rules.

We took a couple of Silversea cruises some years ago, and every cabin had a butler. The ship was not full, and our butler was evidently bored, because I had to hide my hairbrush so that he wouldn’t feel that he had to pick all the hairs out of it every day. DH also hid his shoes so that they didn’t get polished every day.

Hooray for Team Atlas Bar! 😍

You might be seeing one soon. We had to fill out a short questionnaire on boarding Onward in May, and Pursuit in August. It had questions about having any recent Covid-like symptoms such as a cough, a fever, etc.

I have been told that more books and more shelving have been ordered for the new library area in the side of the Living Room. We are on board next month, and I will report. I like the “library everywhere” concept on Viking, and wonder if Azamara could go a bit more down that route.

We will fly into Ciampino in the late afternoon of the day before our cruise, and we’ve arranged a car to take us to Civitavecchia. My plan for that day is to check in to our B&B, then go for a glass of Prosecco and some aperitivi in a bar with a view along the lungomare. Then dinner at L’Acqua Salata, a new seafood restaurant I’ve heard good things about, or our current favourite restaurant, 80 Fame, which has amazing meat dishes and very nice wine. If the weather is good, a passeggiata and a gelato is a nice possibility. The next day, we won’t be able to board the ship until 2pm, so we will have breakfast at the B&B, then walk down to another bar along the lungomare for more cappuccino. (By changing location, I can drink more than two cappuccinos without getting the side eye.😁) The first few times we visited Civitavecchia, it was pretty gritty, but there has been a lot of investment in the past few years, and the town is looking much more attractive these days, especially along the front. This is a nice little guide to the sights of Civitavecchia, obviously MUCH more limited than Rome, but not totally nonexistent. The forest is a bit too far away unless you have a car, but pretty much everything else is walkable. We’ve been to the cathedral, but not yet to the oldest church, so that might be our morning’s entertainment. Then a visit to a supermarket for some Prosecco to take on board with us as balcony wine.

We like Viking as well, but Azamara is our favourite. It’s just got a certain charm that Viking doesn’t quite have. I also prefer the food on Azamara, but food and charm are both very subjective. Torshavn on the Viking ships is a great night spot, and the Viking bars have a better selection of premium rums and other spirits.

The other issue is that Prime C and Aqualina originated as speciality restaurants, with the idea that most people would eat there 2 - 4 times during their cruise. The evolution into a de facto suite restaurant, where some/most(?) suite passengers eat every dinner of their cruise is more recent, and it sounds like this is the issue causing you trouble. If Prime C and Aqualina were reserved solely for suite passengers, then there would be less pressure to have two seatings to squeeze us plebs in occasionally too. I am glad that it is not solely for suites, and I can put up with choosing a dining time for the nights we will eat in there. As other posters have mentioned, there is no need to choose a time if you are eating in any other venue.

That is useful to know, thank you. Yet another reason that we should try Cunard soon.

Obviously, that should be Bon Voyage! Laid low by autocorrect yet again.

@uktog, we have enjoyed your experiences and your photos so much! It felt almost as though we were there with you. Thank you for a great series of posts.

We have eaten Keto for nearly four years, and although we’ve never sailed with Cunard, we’ve cruised with a few other lines and had no problems at all. I think you will be fine. At the very least, they should be able to serve you a nice steak, and you can ask about the ingredients of any sauce with sauce they offer. Often Bernaise sauce is good, or just some butter, salt and pepper to put on top. Poached salmon is always good, too, again with the sauce on the side, since it’s often not a good choice. Mayonnaise can usually be had, although it isn’t a perfect choice, since it usually has seed oil and some sugar. We quickly get known as the no-bun, no-chips people, who want a burger with extra bacon, extra cheese and a fried egg on top. Prime rib with the sauce served on the side (because it’s often thickened with something) and extra veg with some extra butter instead of potatoes works well, too. Breakfast should be super easy. Scrambled, fried or poached eggs, (ask about ingredients in scrambled eggs or an omelette, sometimes they put odd things in the beaten egg, like a bit of pancake batter for fluffier eggs. If so, they should be happy to make you scrambled eggs or an omelette with real eggs if you ask.) a spinach omelette, bacon, and sometimes the sausage is surprisingly clean. They might have country ham, too. The salad dressings are often full of sugar, but they should be able to bring you olive oil and a wedge of lemon. These days the vinegar is usually cheap, sugary balsalmic, so I don’t usually even ask for it, and just do the oil and lemon instead. Greek salads are often an easy thing in the restaurant or the buffet, and Niçoise salad is yummy. It may come with potatoes in it, but they’re easy to take out. Caesar salad can be good too, if you pick the croutons out. The Caesar dressing should be pretty much ok, but it’s always worth asking, and having it on the side if it seems risky. A glass of dry red like Cabernet Sauvignon is usually easy to find, too. If you like a cocktail, vodka with soda is easy, bourbon on the rocks, or gin and Diet Tonic if you can work with that. For dessert, we often share a cheese plate. By the end of the meal they’re not even surprised that we don’t want crackers, bread, dried fruit or chutney, maybe just some walnuts if they have them. If you have a birthday, instead of a cake, they might be persuaded to bring you a glass of nice, dry Champagne. 😊 I don’t try to explain being Keto, because I find that if the waiter or maitre D’ hears the word diet, they often want to bring me low fat chicken breast, or a dry, totally naked burger. Or they have also had the idea that we’re gluten-free, and brought us a basket of gluten-free bread every night, which is a nice thought, but something we also don’t want to eat! Bread no longer tempts me, so we just let them bring the regular bread basket, which we ignore. It’s a bit wasteful, but we like to keep the butter on the table to use with vegetables or on a steak, and seeing a table with no bread on it triggers the staff to think we haven’t been properly served. Usually the dining room staff will be so willing to do whatever makes you happy, that it should be really easy to stay Keto. Good luck, and Bon Boyage!

For the wellness check, I believe they are still asking for proof of vaccination, and then there are a few questions about any recent symptoms you may have had. I also believe they will ask you to book in for the speciality restaurants even if you are in a suite. If you don’t book them all when you board, your butler can also make bookings for you. The set times for dining are only for the speciality restaurants. For Discoveries (the main dining room), the Windows Cafe and the Patio Grill, there is no need to book in advance. If you go to Discoveries at a really popular time, you may need to wait for a few minutes.

This is interesting, but Fusina is still not Venice. I wouldn’t get too excited just yet. Fusina is a 30+ minute ferry ride from Venice proper, as far as I know.

I think I remember reading about one suite which, because of a fluke, has lights without the USB fittings. @mwf7501might have that one!

Not everyone wants to wear white or is going to make room in their suitcase for a token white item that won’t get worn at any other time.

This is what we do. White Night is a great night to eat at whichever speciality restaurant is open that night (usually only one on White Night) and then party afterwards.

We had the same configuration on a standard balcony cabin on Onward.

There is a fizz (not champagne, but sparkling) in the included wine, and they can/will mix it with fruit juice.

I think that’s a great way to breathe new life into the Chef’s Table, which has become a slightly tired and overworked concept, IMO. I hope it works well.

They used to use Elemis a few years ago, didn’t they? I prefer it, but the Eco Boutique stuff is ok - inoffensive, at least.

I’m going to be that lone dissenting voice, because someone has to be.😁 We’ve been to Rome, many times. Rome has a lot to offer, but if I want to go to Rome, I go to Rome. If I want somewhere to put my head down for one night pre-cruise, I go to Civitavecchia. Two different goals, in my view. There is very nice food and wine (to drink there, or to take on board) to be had in Civitavecchia, and even a few interesting things to see, right in the town.

Yes, you can book your own flights, and I previously always have. I’ve never booked anything direct with Azamara, neither cruises nor flights. I like having an agent to make cruise bookings easier, but we normally booked our own flights. When Covid came along, we had a stack of future cruises, and ended up with a huge headache, with credits for flights, credits for cruises, and all sorts of bits and pieces like hotels and hire cars to cancel, rebook, get a refund or a credit for, etc. So for the next little while, at least, I’m booking each new trip with a one-stop-shopping provider. If it all goes wrong, they will rearrange/cancel things for us. I’m enjoying the lower-stress approach and starting to wonder why I didn’t start doing things this way years ago.