bbqoug

My wife and I boarded Journey on April 10^th in Manhattan for the Bermuda and the Old South 11 night itinerary. The sail away out of New York Harbor was breathtaking.

Unfortunately, my father passed away back at home while we spent the 2^nd night on our cruise. We didn’t find out about his death until the 3^rd day when we arrived in Charleston because we didn’t have cell phone service on our sea day. As soon as we found out we knew we would have to cut the cruise short to fly home.

I went down to customer relations to let them know that we were going to have to disembark in Charleston instead of continuing on to Bermuda. Everyone at customer relations was very sympathetic and helpful. We had no idea disembarking early would be a problem. Rafael the documentation officer contacted the officials in Charleston and let us know that we would have to meet with Customs and Border Protection officers the next morning in the Drawing Room. It ends up that we were in violation of the Jones Act or Passenger Services Act because we embarked in one U.S. port (Manhattan) and would be debarking in another U.S. port (Charleston) without first visiting a distant foreign port. We ended up having to pay a fine of $300 each because of this infraction. They then cleared us to exit the ship. Our room steward Lyric and assistant Hosannah were very kind and helped in getting our luggage off the ship so we could catch our new flight.

We had ended up taking a 3 night cruise for the first and hopefully last time. Up until we had to leave we were on our way to having our best cruise ever. We didn’t make it long enough to attend the Chef’s Table & specialty restaurants we had booked, but our meals in Discoveries were very good. The first night the Chef’s Special was a filet of beef with marrow crumble that was so tender and flavorful, I was concerned that anything I ordered in Prime C wouldn’t measure up. Too bad I didn’t get a chance to find out. Our breakfasts from room service, Windows Café, and Discoveries were great, and the Greek Burger we had at The Patio was delicious. I could not fault any of the food on this abbreviated cruise.

Service was also very good with the officers and crew very friendly.

Our CC Meet & Mingle was well attended and fun. We met a lot of very nice fellow passengers that we were looking forward to sailing with.

The second night of the cruise Captain Johannes was greeting people as they entered the dining room. I asked him if he ever turned off the ship’s lights to allow for people to star gaze. He immediately called to tell someone to leave the lights out on deck 11 forward for us that night. We had no idea that this kind act by the captain allowed us to be viewing the beautiful star filled sky as my father was passing away back at home.

We hope our fellow passengers that are still on the cruise are having a fantastic time with good weather.

We will try to be back. It took us 2 years of saving to be able to afford this cruise. Thank goodness I purchased travel insurance, which will pay us back a prorated amount for the cruise time we missed. Also, customer service at Delta was very nice under the circumstance in that they were able to change our original flights with no change fee. Unfortunately I was told by the Travel Insurance company that they will not cover the $600 we have to pay in fines.

We already had a high opinion of Azamara from our previous cruise on Quest. This short cruise and the way they handled our unusual circumstance only added to our opinion.

Becco was very crowded, but we really enjoyed it. It was within walking distance of our hotel and the food was great.

5 hours ago, George C said:

another Italian place is Orso which is next to Joe Allen’s and across from Becco , I perfer Becco but this is another option, read than Hillary Clinton was there last year before our trip. 

We are having dinner at Becco this Sunday evening before the same cruise that Lois will be on.

We are looking forward to it.

7 hours ago, excitedofharpenden said:

You will have Captain Johannes along with Hotel Director Heike. Both very able and delightful. I hope you enjoy your cruise. 

 

Phil 

We are also on this cruise & looking forward to sailing with the ones you mentioned along with Eric as CD.

I also received the survey request this morning.

I figured I would take the time to complete it, but was getting bogged down part way through when a power bump at my house made me lose my progress. I decided it wasn't worth my time to start over.

To me the survey was very tedious, with one section asking which of 3 possible loyalty programs I would choose. There was page after page of these choices of 3 where the underlying specifics of the programs only changed slightly from screen to screen. I found myself not taking the time required to make informed choices because I was just wanting to get it over with.

I think a more concise survey would be more effective.

I also get the sense that these surveys are trying to channel me to choices which validate the decisions for change that they likely have already made. Kind of like the Club Veranda Plus survey with an idea that was very unpopular here but got implemented just the same.

4 hours ago, jgnova said:

I've usually worn tropical shirts to dinner on =X= and RCI on non-formal nights. Will I feel out of place doing that on Azamara?

On our Azamara cruise I wore tropical shirts & golf type shirts in the main dining room as well as the specialty restaurants.

I plan to do the same on our upcoming cruise.

You will not feel out of place.

On 2/11/2019 at 4:04 PM, Charles4515 said:

Wednesday, 17 April 2019 and run through to Wednesday, 4 September, 2019 in Hamilton. Every Wednesday except it will be on Thursday April 25, instead of Wednesday April 24. The Thursday April 25 date is to accommodate the ITU World Triathlon Series.

 

http://bernews.com/2019/02/harbour-nights-get-underway-april-17/

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

 

 

Thank you for posting this information.

This is great for us since we will be docking in Hamilton on the Azamara Journey on April 17th.

Count me as glad that Journey's casino will still be available for our cruise in April.

My wife & I enjoy a bit of gambling after the evening show.

On 2/10/2019 at 4:37 PM, Lois R said:

Thanks. I found one being offered but they don't tell you the time it leaves or the price.

Hi Lois,

Since we are on the same cruise as you in April I took a look at Voyage Planner.

The Manhattan Showcase (With Airport Drop-off) is listed as starting at 9:00 AM and is $125.00.

Our flight from JFK is scheduled for 3:58 PM, so we may take a look at this tour as well.

15 minutes ago, Cyber Kat said:

 

I have tag holders that fit the larger size Carnival tags (got them from Cruise Critic!). Will the Azamara tags fit those or do I need the narrower ones. 

 

Also all our suitcases have luggage ID tags we got from Viking. We love them because they are red and it makes picking our black suitcases out of a line up easier. Will they get people upset 😳. Do I have to dig out our older ones 😁. 

 

So glad to hear about the app!  I love having an app,  And the photo thing is great!  I can’t wait to try it all out!

These are the ones I ordered that should work for Azamara https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01E4SQNU4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I'm not sure if the ones for Carnival will work or not. Hopefully someone else will know.

57 minutes ago, Leo_On_Geo said:

Thanks,

 

that answers the question?  No more luggage tags will be mailed. 

 

This is a change for the worse.  I really liked having multiple tags on my luggage,  on more than one ocassion luggage tags were ripped off, so it is always safer to have two on each bag.  I also like the color luggage tags.   I do not have a color printer, so it will cost me $ plus a trip to Fed ex to get them printed. Not good.

I'm not thrilled about this either, but not really surprised since many already had to print their own.

Oh well, off to Amazon to order tag holders.

On 1/28/2019 at 4:32 PM, Bimmer09 said:

 

 

 

Hmmm, maybe time to take down the Christmas and New Year menus?

Carol understands the photo and summons a Lyft ride share as we have given up on taxis for the past year or so. She arrives and we take our reserved table outdoors which is where we prefer to eat in a warm climate. Alex will be our waiter and he lit one of those outdoor heaters

as the temperature hadn't got above 70F yet. Cosy now.

 

 

Carol continues her trip notes (actual photo!)

 

We have vittles!

On my plate is an omelette with spinach, tomatoes, bacon and cheddar plus white toast with the prince of foods-fried potatoes. Drink is a "Rise and Shine" ( I did that already 3 hours ago) juice which is a sassy slap yo mamma drink with carrots and ginger.

 

Carol has a Rise and Shine plus Cuban Colada (double espresso, sweet) to drink. Wake you up drink! She has scrambled eggs, bacon and potatoes with biscuits.

 

The meal was $80 and the gratuity of 20% already charged on the bill.

 

 

Norris,

I am enjoying reading through your review.

These photos bring back good memories from when my wife & I stayed at the Surfcomber Hotel at South Beach before boarding the Azamara Quest in Miami.

We really enjoyed the Surfcomber and had a fantastic cruise on Quest.

excitedofharpenden posted the spa information back in July. The prices may have changed slightly from then.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2538386-spa-on-journey/?do=findComment&comment=55210254

We enjoy playing the machines in the casino after leaving the evening show.

Hopefully the casino will still be intact on Journey next April for our cruise.

15 hours ago, DougK said:

 

 I'm not thrilled with the offer. We had a good price on our cruise, booked onboard over a year ago, and that advantage of early booking has essentially disappeared. We can either accept a shorter Cuba cruise for the same price, or rebook another cruise at current rates. Since prices have gone up considerably in the past year, that's not particularly appealing. In either case, we get some onboard credit, but it doesn't cover the increased pricing (or make up for the shortened cruise).

 

I wouldn't be happy with that offer either. It doesn't seem fair.

Booked customers should get a deal to make up for the inconvenience, they shouldn't have to pay extra for the inconvenience.

1 hour ago, MomC said:

 Can I get some feedback on the Chef’s Table dinner?

 

Mom c

We really enjoyed the French Chef's Table on our cruise on Quest. It was well worth the cost.

We plan on trying the Italian Chef's Table on our upcoming cruise.

I don't remember seeing that before.

 

Just a tip if you didn't know. If you go to Guest Relations and ask for the handy small itinerary card it shows port times, hour changes, PLANNED event dates for your cruise and buffet themes. I say planned because it is not always accurate and subject to change. Have a great cruise nordski.

 

Phil

Good to know.

I will definitely ask for this on our Journey cruise next April.

Does the card show the lunch buffet themes as well as dinner? On our last Quest cruise we especially enjoyed the German themed lunch buffet & would like to experience it again.

I believe the tours for Bermuda have been published.

The Charleston tours are still being finalized.

Thanks Bonnie.

I will check out the offerings for Bermuda and watch for the offered excursions for Charleston.

I will join in with starting a new thread since this question was not answered when I inserted it elsewhere.

There are still no excursions listed for the April 10, 2019 Journey cruise out of New York to Charleston South Carolina & Bermuda.

Can you please get an estimate as to when the excursions will be listed for this cruise? I am especially interested in what will be offered in Charleston.

Thank you.

I suspect the issue here may be when you buy an upgraded beverage package, which we have never done. As far as the included wines are concerned we have never had a problem being served at dinner (or any other time). Our glasses are usually filled pretty much as soon as we sit down, and frequently re-filled - in fact sometimes too quickly!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Interesting. I have been contemplating buying the Ultimate Package to get the better wines by the glass, but if it means slower service then it may not be worth it.

Thank you for the information Bonnie. We are on the same April 10, 2019 cruise on Journey.

Any new estimate as to when shore excursions will start to show up in Voyage Planner for this cruise? A while back the estimate you were given was late July.

There are still no excursions posted for this cruise, although many are posted for later cruises, including the cruise after ours which includes Bermuda.

Any new estimate as to when shore excursions will be posted for this cruise?

Has anyone gotten the promotion to work online? I’ve tried various different ways and going through the entire booking process and it still ends up being the Veranda price rather than the inside. I followed the instructions under the detail link (which are a little vague) but not working.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I think I know which cruise you are talking about because we were previously booked on the same one.

I looked, and it definitely is showing a higher price for the veranda cabins even though it clearly states that the cruise is part of the double upgrade promotion.

I would contact Azamara if directly booked, or have your TA contact Azamara to see if they will give you the inside price for the veranda.

Azamara definitely needs to fix the discrepancy on this one. Hopefully you can get the inside price before they possibly decide to raise it to match what the veranda cabins are currently going for.

While theft is always a possibility not many people traveling on an upscale cruise ship with access to your cabin would have any real interest in a 17 inch laptop - a slick smart phone maybe - but a big clunky laptop, I doubt it. Like others have said, just put it in a dresser drawer when you're out and about.

If you need some added piece of mind store it where some travelers store their laundry - in a piece of luggage that's under your bed. If you're not a big fan of crawling around when it's laptop time, store it under the life vests in your closet. Just remember it's there when it's time to go home :eek::eek:

The company the OP works for most likely has a policy similar to the one I work for.

It's not just the laptop itself that needs to be secure at all times, it's the sensitive information on the device that could potentially be compromised by someone else accessing it while it is not locked away.

Hi Cyber, you’ll likely get your wish!

I’m hearing it’ll be in Charleston, but it’s not final yet. Will let you know if/when I hear more.

Thank you for the information Bonnie. We are on the same April 10, 2019 cruise on Journey.

Any new estimate as to when shore excursions will start to show up in Voyage Planner for this cruise? A while back the estimate you were given was late July.

Can you please tell me who the chef is on your cruise? Thank you!!

Too bad nobody has been able to answer this question.

I would also like to know who the Head Chef is that will be rotating with Chef Iwan on Journey.