LoneMoose

Fair Play, I agree that this has generated more comments than I anticipated and with none of the battles that might have ensued!  I am perfectly comfortable dressing as we always have but I was reluctant to give advice to friends/family about the level of dressy vs. casual.  I was afraid that if they took the dress code to mean resort casual and purchased new things to comply, then ended up with really casual like on our Norway cruise, they would be sticking pins in a voodoo doll in my likeness!  So I asked what others have noticed.

I think what we can conclude is that things are more casual everywhere, cruises to certain countries may be even more casual, but that everyone should be comfortable with what you’ve chosen to wear.  If it feels as if you’re overdressed, then don’t wear it.  If it feels as if you’ll be looked down upon, then don’t wear it.

We also pack in a carry-on size suitcase although we check our bags.  I love the freeing feeling of letting all my baggage go.  It’s never been lost (or at least not for long) and I have a credit card.  On that recent cruise, we met a woman who had (if I heard her right) brought only three shirts, and then lost one in the laundry.  We saw her many times during the cruise and I never thought she looked out of place and I never noticed that she was wearing the same thing over again.  While I don’t want to spend THAT much time in the laundry, I admire that she could do it.  We might all need to remember that no one else notices what you’re wearing as much as you do.  Unless it’s a bathrobe to the buffet.😁\\

1 hour ago, AllisonJames said:

Lots of sneakers these days in the evening but that’s the world we live in now.

So true, and it would make packing light a bit easier!  But some women can pull it off and I…look like I’m about to clean out the garage.😆

We were on a recent cruise and noticed that people were dressed more casually than we’ve seen in the past.  Azamara has never been fancy, but we’ve always been right in line if we packed resort casual clothes.  This time, it was noticeably more casual: LOTS of jeans and sweatshirts, although I only saw one pair of ripped jeans and not in the dining room (where it isn’t allowed anyway).  Realizing that this was on a summer cruise (children on board!) and it was in Norway (more casual and active than a cruise in the Med for example), I’m wondering if this is an overall shift in casualness from resort casual to casual-casual.  This casualness extended to the main dining room and specialties as well: everything was a notch down in terms of dressiness.  We were also on two cruises last fall in much warmer climates and there seemed to be a trend to more casual, although someone on this forum attributed it to a large proportion of cruisers from a very casual country, meaning that there could be different factors at play.  

Our next trip will probably be trans Atlantic, so that could be totally different.  What have you recent cruisers observed?  I think if I was giving advice to first time AZ cruisers, I would not advise resort casual but rather “casual but nice” but I’m interested to hear what your experiences have shown.

We took a private tour with Rammuni Tours a few months ago (Dec. 2022).  We got to see a lot of animals (elephants, water buffalo, monkeys, crocodile, lots of exotic birds).  Our guide, however, struggled with English and seemed rather put out that we paid in $20 dollar bills.  (He wanted to be paid in 100s which we don’t carry and the Azamara ATM doesn’t dispense.)  The driver we had was excellent, finding most of the animals.  

We were in a Jeep and the “roads” in the park were very rough: rutted and pot holes, many filled with water and mud.  While most of our clothes came clean afterwards, one of DH’s shirts still has mud stains from the splashing.  So wear your least favorite clothes!

Finally, and this has nothing to do with our particular tour, the taxi union in Sri Lanka has a stranglehold on the the port and private tour vehicles were not allowed inside the port gate (buses for ship excursions were allowed in).  The gate was about 2 miles from where we were berthed so it would have been an impossible walk for one of our participants and a long hot one for all of us. Luckily, as we started walking, a van of reporters who were leaving insisted that we get into their van for a ride to the gate.  So if I was booking another private tour, I would get specific details about how you are going to be picked up and what arrangements they will make to shuttle you to the pick-up point.  I don’t think the line of taxis waiting to be hired for a tour were willing to get out of line to transport us to the gate.

3 hours ago, plucasana said:

If it was the guest's decision - who would chose 240 minutes and not the unlimited? 

Thank you for asking the question!  And the explanation that Scots Caz gave clarifies the question for those who are not loyalty members.  

However, the Circle combined benefits chart has the same wording (this for CC suites at Discoverer level): 

100% towards a full voyage unlimited package
or
330 free Wi-Fi minutes

Since the chart defines the loyalty level and the cabin type, why would anyone opt for the limited number of minutes vs 100%?  Or can the limited minutes be split between devices?

There is a roll call for this cruise and a few cruisers have tried to get tickets.  You might get more feedback if you posted your question there.

15 minutes ago, Lindy028 said:

to us she was the best of Azamara, and it feels like the end of an era.

That says it all.  Hotel Director is a big, big job and Heike made it look easy with a warmth and sense of humor that we will miss. We will be eagerly awaiting news on what she has chosen.  Best wishes, Heike, in whatever the future holds for you!

Many years ago (9?), we also got an upgrade on our first ever cruise on Azamara, from Veranda to CC suite.  The strategy worked: we loved Azamara and we loved the suite.  About half of our subsequent bookings have been in a suite.  But that was before the bidding process and because our travel agent doesn’t participate, we never hope for an upgrade.  We book the cabin we want to be in.

I realize the OP has received his information but just in case there are others following this topic, I’ll let you know our experience.

We were on an earlier wave of cancellations, with our FCC due by the end of May.  By mid-July, I called Azamara directly to ask if we should be concerned that we hadn’t yet received the email with our certificates.  The very friendly rep was able to let me know that the certificates had been issued, perhaps to our (very large) travel agent, and was able to give me the numbers of the certificates.  I suppose we would have been able to book a replacement cruise at that point but a couple of weeks later we got the email from Azamara with the certificates.  

They are processing a huge number of cancelled cruises, maybe in date of cruise order, and each of us has our own reservation complication.  I don’t envy them!  But do give them a call if you are worried.

Seems like a good idea and I’ll get on it as soon as the certificate(s) arrive(s).

Thank you both, JsMom2 and Dr H.  I just called Azamara and to my surprise, got through right away.  In answer to my questions (in case others have the same issues):

Yes, FCC can be used to pay for existing reservations (as long as the sailing is before Sept. 30, 2022.

Yes, splitting a large credit between two smaller B2B cruises is allowed but it seems a little riskier: “we are trying to issue the remainder certificate faster than in the past when you had to wait until the end of the first cruise”.  That sounds a little uncertain, so I think we will do as JsMom suggested and use my certificate for the first cruise and my husband’s for the second one.  Monetarily, it works out the same but seems cleaner.  In earlier threads this didn’t seem to be possible (no transferring) but now it’s allowed.

Finally, complimentary nights have been extended until 12/31/21, good on sailings before the end of April 2023.  That I found in the Q&A online.  Still haven’t found anything about the FCC rules online.  Is the “fine print” on the certificate itself, which we’ll get later this month?

A new question has occurred to me.  Is there any reason not to apply the FCC to our bookings as soon as we receive them?  It seems to me that it would be better to know immediately if there are any problems.

Again, thanks,

Barbara

With the recent cancellation of our July 2021 cruise, we are faced with figuring out if accepting the FCC works for us or not.  I’ve read through several (long) threads, but they were from last year and I know a few things have changed, so I’m turning to you, the experts.

People mentioned reading the fine print, but I’m having difficulty finding ANY print on this.  Everything on the website points to the form and that doesn’t have a lot of detail.  So my first question is, where can I find the “fine print” so that I can see what currently is/is not allowed?

My second question has to do with our specific situation: we’ve been cancelled off of a single, expensive, cruise and have already booked B2B cruises for 2022.  I believe we can apply FCC to an already booked cruise but correct me if I’m wrong on that.  One important point, none of our cruises are BOGOHO so at least that won’t be an issue.  But neither of our 2022 cruises will use the entire FCC and I seem to remember reading that remaining FCC can’t be applied until after the first cruise ends, way too late for applying to the second leg of a B2B. Am I correct in thinking that?

Just in case I’m missing anything, here are the details:

Cruise-only portion (no taxes/fees) of the cancelled cruise was ~$7300/pp, yielding FCC of $9000+ each.

Cruise-only portion of each leg of the B2B is about $6000+ each, but of course we’ve already made small deposits and I want to keep the numbers from getting confusing so let’s say that leg one is $5000 each and leg two is $6000 each

Making it even more complicated is that we will also be using complimentary Azamara Circle loyalty nights on one of the cruises. I believe the deadline has been extended until 4/30/23 so we should be able to apply them to the second leg, so that cost will go down even further to about $4500 each.

If we applied $5000 of the $7000 FCC to leg one, leaving $2000 FCC, could we apply that to leg two or do we have to wait until we finish the first cruise before getting the FCC certificate?  If so, I think it makes sense to take the refund since we’re already doing a lot of cruising in 2022 so wouldn’t be able to use the leftover credits.  And if the loyalty tier nights have to be applied to the first cruise, we’d each be left with $3500 and maybe no way to use it.

Is there any other way to use FCCs?  Maybe booking excursions, etc.?

So I’m just hoping for clarification in case I’ve missed something.  And thanks to all of you who have posted about issues in the fine print or else I wouldn’t be aware that there is a potential problem using the credits.

Barbara

23 hours ago, critterchick said:

I would be surprised if TAs have to opt in to the program - what's not to like about it, since commission is paid on the upgrade? I'm one and have received no notifcation, by the way.

I am also in the camp of having found out that our (very large) travel agent does not participate in the upgrade program.  I called them to inquire and found out that, because of their size I suppose, they do not participate in ANY upgrade/waitlist program because they have found that it is too unproductive to receive the call from a cruise line, try to call the client, and respond back to the cruise line, all within the time limit set by the cruise line.  They suggested, and I've done so, that I contact their corporate office to see if an exception can be made for this type of upgrade program, where there is no calling back and forth.

What isn't clear is why Azamara, who knows that the TA won't be involved in contacting, continues to use the "not eligible" excuse for not allowing our bidding.  Why is this a reason if the TA isn't involved?

This also explains why we never received an upgrade in the past, although we were never told by Azamara or anyone else that our TA wasn't participating in the old system.  But, as I've said, we're happy with the cabin we've booked.  And for future cruises, it will be a factor in deciding which cruise line and which TA we use, since now we will have more information in hand before booking.

I've followed this thread since the beginning and just wanted to provide my experience.  Maybe it will console others in the same situation.

I've tried to access the bidding process multiple times, different days, different times, different last names (my husband and I have different last names) and continue to get the "not eligible" response.  Our voyage is 56 days away, we paid in full at the end of December, and we got the email that the program was open (and I double checked to make sure that our preferences state we accept emails from Azamara).  We are booked in CV and there are suites available, so that isn't the issue.

I sent an email, after the first few attempts, to the email on Azamara's website.  No response.  After Bonnie posted another email just for these problems (thank you for that, Bonnie, post #159), I sent another message to that address on 3/14 and got an automatic reply.  Still no actual reply and still can't access the bidding process.

So, if there are others out there who haven't been able to access the system, you are not alone!  And we'll be happy with our veranda if we're never able to bid!

Barbara