baytraller

Very good information, just what we were hoping

 

Will leave the hotel about 11.30 and lets hope check-in will start at about 12.00

 

Then time for lunch and a glass of red while waiting for our suite

 

Thank you for your help

The check-in time for our upcoming cruise is 14.00 for departure at 17.00

 

Does check-in start any earlier - hotel check-out is 11.00

 

Also what is the latest time to disembark - would this be about 9.30

Here is a list of the new ships on order

 

http://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/cruise-ship-orderbook.html

 

Note the number of new small ships up to 1,000 passengers

 

These include Seabourn - Viking - Crystal - Silversea - Regent and Ponant

 

Azamara has well and truly missed the boat - none

 

Having only two ships also means a lack of itineraries

 

Azamara may have been hoping by keeping the number of passengers low

 

They would be able to keep prices high

 

But the competition will have new ships - lower costs and prices

My view is that there will be no new ships, but maybe the older Celebrity ships

But if you really want to speculate and have your hopes raised

[URL]http://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/14894-fincantieri-two-more-new-cruise-vessels-for-vard.html[/URL]

Azamara Journey 4th June 2016 Athens to Rome - late check-in

 

According to Guest Ticket Booklet just received check-in is 4.30PM - 8.30PM

 

Many guests may not be aware of the late check-in time

 

Azamara should notify all guests of the non standard time and reason for late check-in

 

Many guests may arrive early and as usual it will the officers and crew who will have to deal with angry guests

 

Many guests may have time to change flight time or may not have booked flights at this stage

The charter in April in on the Journey

Have noticed that there is a Greek Seaman's strike

 

http://greece.greekreporter.com/2016/01/29/ships-to-remain-docked-for-another-48-hours-due-to-seamens-strike/

 

Lets hope this is not happening in June

Thank you to all those who are experts in flying to Europe from Australia

 

It is just so easy - you will never suffer from jetlag

 

We are just a couple of silly old (66 and 72 years) Australians who have done this more then a dozen times

 

We follow this schudule and have never suffered from jetlag

 

Firstly Australia is a very large country and not everyone lives next to Sydney airport

 

We live on the south coast of NSW

 

 

Day 1 - Bus to Sydney Airport takes 7 hours

 

Day 2 - Sydney to Bangkok flight time 9.30 hours

 

Day 3 - Bangkok to Istanbul flight and transit time 12 hours then airport to hotel

 

Day 4 - Istanbul free time to relax and some sightseeing (also a safety day if we have travel delays)

 

Day 5 - Hotel to ship unpacking and muster

 

 

We could go from our home to Istanbul non stop and spend the next couple of days recovering

 

We would leave home and arrive in Istanbul over 30 hours later

 

Some lucky people may be able sleep on planes or some may take various drugs

Q: Do I have to obtain a visa if I do not leave the international transit area? Go

 

A: No. You do not have to get a visa if you are not going to leave the international transit area.

 

The Airline that is flying us to Istanbul does not fly from Istanbul to Athens

 

Therefore all those who do not have any experience with this type of issue

 

The checked bags will go to Istanbul

 

We will have to collect the bags and find our way from arrivals to departure area and then check-in with the new airline

 

I Think that just may mean we will have to leave the International transit area

Host Jazzbeau - not overly happy with your reply

 

First of all our original flights would arrive in Istanbul on the 2nd of June

 

That gave us a safety day if any delays and a complete day in Istanbul to relax after 3 full days of travel before our cruise

 

There is no way that we are able to arrive in Athens on the 2nd June - flights do not connect

 

We will have to stop on the 2nd June and fly to Athens on the 3rd June

 

If the itinerary change was made solely for our protect why are Celebrity still starting and ending cruises in Istanbul

We have Back to back cruises booked with Azamara 4th and 16th June 2016 on the Journey

 

The 4th June cruise has been changed to depart from Athens not Istanbul

 

We were offer compensation for flights and hotels of $5oo per person

 

The most convenient flight change would be to add a low cost flight from Istanbul to Athens

 

But the flights are now not the most enjoyable - three days of flights

 

But we will need a Turkish visa - this will not be compensated

 

So we are looking to cancel both cruises

 

Ok 4Th June - full compensation we thought

 

But no we have applied a $500 future cruise voucher to the 4th June cruise

 

This will be lost if we cancel - once only use

 

But wait there is more - the second cruise

 

Cancellation fee of $25 each

 

Then on the second cruise we have applied 2 complimentary nights

 

Yes you can guess the reply - once only use

 

We will not travel from Australia to Europe for one single 7 night cruise

 

The compensation package from Azamara is a joke

 

This whole issue has caused us great stress

 

Azamara continually state that passengers are their number one priority

When you take an Azamara Charter do you receive Le Club Voyage points

 

Are any of the Club benefits like internet and laundry included

 

Are the shuttle buses complimentary

 

Just what are the differences

 

The Travel Agent does not seem certain about these issues

First of all Andy - Azamara have not contacted us

 

This main purpose of this post is to inform passengers of possible changes

 

They deleted our booking from the reservations web site

 

Why cause passenger all this frustration of not knowing what is going to change

 

Also some passengers maybe about to book flights and accommodation

 

They should at least inform passengers that these cruises are under review

 

Celebrity are still selling cruises involving Istanbul

 

Azamara always say that guest are their number one priority

 

Well if we are they should not be causing all this confusion

Journey May 24th 2016 Venice to Istanbul

 

Journey June 04 2016 Istanbul to Rome

 

The above cruises have been removed from the web site

 

Rang Azamara - cruises under review

 

Have flights booked

 

Let hope they only change Istanbul

 

If they change the number of nights then flights changes will be impossible

 

With October/November 2017 cruise changes - will not book early again

 

They may use Istanbul risks for May and June

 

But most likely they are looking at number of passengers booked as main reason

 

Profit before loyalty to passengers

We fully agree with those people who have stated that they will not allow terrorists to stop them from cruising

 

We had cruises starting and ending in Istanbul last year - no issues at all

 

We are booked on the journey starting early June from Istanbul

 

Would be disappointed if this cruise was changed at this stage

 

We understood the issues when we booked

 

There are cruises to Israel which must always be considered a terrorist target

 

The recent attacks in Paris, show terrorists can and will strike anywhere

 

There are cruises on Azamara starting in Nice is this considered completely safe

 

If cruise Lines start changing ports they have to be aware that the new port may be the next target

Azamara has change the Consecutive Cruise Saving also know as B2B

 

From a cruise fare discount to OBC

 

This is a for us a big negative

 

If you book a 9 day cruise on-board you receive $200 OBC

 

Early Booking discount could be from $300 plus OBC

 

Then B2B for 9 night cruise would be $400 OBC

 

Total of $900 for a 9 night cruise

 

Then some Travel Agents may add even more OBC

 

Land Discoveries much be having a hard time booking passengers

We are looking to book our first Oceania cruise having cruised with Azamara 7 times

 

Were on-board are you able to drink wine by the bottle

 

We like to have a glass prior to dinner each night

 

Are you able to have a bottle in one of the bars

 

If you do not finish the bottle, will this be kept until the next night

 

Or could you take the unfinished bottle to dinner

We are trying to determine how bad the noise level is from vents

 

above several sections of Aqua balconies on S-Class ships

 

Recently we were on board the Constellation when in Kusadasi the Equinox was docked opposite

 

As we have booked Aqua stateroom 1636 on the Equinox next year

 

We took a deck plan to the top deck of the Constellation to view the Equinox staterooms

 

There are three section of Aqua stateroom that have a second lower ceiling above the balconies

 

The stateroom numbers we calculated were (1556 to 1568) - (1600 to 1610) and (1626 to 1642)

 

As we were about the same height as the Aqua stateroom we could see between the two ceilings

 

There were large vents all along the side of the ship

 

We have found several reviews in the S-Class Cabin Information Compilation about these vents

 

They seem to be Air Intake Vents - Some guest have found the noise to be extremely loud

 

It is possible that most guests are unaware of these vents - you would have to stand at the rail and look up/back

 

We were unable to see the port side of the Equinox so are not sure if these vents are on both sides of the S-Class ships

Celebrity need to make an official statement regarding Turkish ports.

 

The Equinox had overnight stays changed and now the Refection has had an Istanbul call cancelled.

 

But received an email from Celebrity offering special prices for cruises on the Constellation in October which starts and end in Istanbul with overnight stays there.

 

They expect people to book cruises with flights and accommodation while cancelling or changing current cruises.

 

If every time there is a security issue they are going to make last minute changes I for one will not be booking with Celebrity.

 

What about cruises later this year in Asia.

 

Bangkok recent bomb blast and the Korean border issues.

 

Amsterdam to Paris train bomb scare.

 

Lets not forget the Boston Marathon bomb blast.

 

No city or country these days is immune for terrorism .

We took several cool weather cruises on the Journey last year and on sea days were unable to find warm and quiet public space .

 

Mosaic Cafe was over crowded and the Looking Glass was being used for the art auction, the pool area was windy and cold.

 

Has any consideration been given to moving the art auction (if this has to continue) to the Cabaret Lounge .

 

If some modifications of the Cabaret Lounge were needed could this be considered as part of the refit

We have two airport options for Istanbul the main Ataturk (IST) and Sabiha (SAW)

 

What would be the taxi time to these airports leaving the ship at 9.00AM

 

Does Azamara offer late disembarkation in Istanbul

 

What would be the cost and latest departure time

 

Has anyone taken the Azamara tour and airport drop package

The sale price for the Ocean Princess was $82 Million plus $40 Million refurbishment

 

$122 Million - number of passengers 684 - cost/berth about $178K

 

The cost of running - R Class would be more expensive compared to newer ships

 

Maybe as Oceania has 4 R Class ships this would reduce costs

 

Then there is the passenger to crew ratio

News in small cruise ships (less than 1000 passengers) continues to increase

 

Seabourn is part of the Carnival Group and has announced an order for a second 604 passenger ship

 

http://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/11923.html

 

New small ship orders are 8 in total

 

Viking 4 ships - 944 passengers

 

Seabourn 2 ships - 604 passengers

 

Regent 1 ship - 738 passengers

 

Ponant 1 ship - 262 passengers

 

It was not that long ago that the experts were saying small cruise ships were a thing of the past

The Ocean Princess (R4) is nearly identical to the Journey (R6) and Quest (R8)

 

Posted information several months ago that the Ocean Princess was for sale

 

There were 8 R class ships - Oceania already has three

 

http://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/11912.html

Try the link below

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/rollcalls/?cruise_line_id=104