ECCruise

Having a wonderful day, frankly. "Or maybe seasoned cruisers have been lucky to cruise on the cheap" is absolutely opining on what our experience was.

Sorry, but your idea of "cheap" doesn't equate with the well over $6 figures that we've spent on =X= in the last 2 decades. 30+ sailings. 15 different ships. 6 continents. So yes, as a newbie you have every right to voice your opinion. But please don't decide what our thinking or our experience is as you weigh in from the new seats.

That is absolutely not true for the bulk of us here. We don't want MORE anything or BETTER anything. How about maybe just maintaining what we've had for (for us, decades) even if it means a higher price, which is understandable. Less for LOTS more $$$ is a losing proposition, frankly.

All of that will need to be arranged with Azamara. You will for certain need to inform them if you are not planning to return to the ship overnight since they must have a way to contact you. As the excursion question, obviously it would depend on the excursion. Letting you off in town--IF the tour has exactly that route--may not be a problem. I would be very surprised if they let you join an excursion (not checked in on the ship) mid tour, but only they could answer that.

Haven't sailed Celebrity for a few years after 30+ and Elite+ but have 7 Azamara and 4 Celebrity (2 B2B) going forward. If the current tone on the Celebrity board is even a shade of reality as to the changes that have occurred there in the last couple months, Azamara being lightyears ahead of Celebrity (which our many cruises on both would strongly confirm) would be the understatement of the year. But the caveat here is that we really do not prefer large ships, would never even consider E-class and don't sail the Caribbean, where Celebrity is putting more and more emphasis.

Cost cutting does not need a new operations manual to become effective. Such cost cutting (and big price boosts) are rampant in the cruise industry as we speak. Wander over to the HAL, Princess, RCCL, Oceania and Celebrity (especially Celebrity) boards and sample the sentiments there. We've been on Princess, HAL and 7 sailings on Azamara since the restart and any cost cutting is the least prevalent on Azamara.

Only the R Class ships have the small bathrooms, of which the shower is probably the only factor. Oceania: Regatta, Insignia, Sirena and Nautica Marina and Riviera have larger bathrooms, as does newest ship Vista and upcoming Allura. All 4 Azamara ships (Quest, Journey, Onward and Pursuit) also have the same small bathrooms. Frankly, we've sailed those R class vessels hundreds of days and wouldn't call the bathrooms our favorite, but really have had no issue with them at all.

I don't think we will ever know the real reason for the changes. If it was, as they assert, due to "customer feedback" I am fairly certain that said "feedback" would have been gathered months and months ago, at the end of the Journey's late 2022-early 2023 season and changes would have been made then. As for port charges, we don't expect much if any. It really would only be for one port, since they will have to pay for the 2nd day in Richard's Bay.

The sailings that are on this drop are all Europe focused. The closest you would get on any of them is Oosterdam, which makes a couple of trips to Ashdod, Haifa and Alexandria in the late summer-early autumn period. To do Aqaba, you almost certainly need to do a repositioning to/from Middle East/Asia. We did this a couple months ago on Azamara, Tokyo-->Singapore-->Pireaus via Gulf of Aden, Red Sea and the Canal.

That's $150 per night. I've stayed in wonderful hotels worldwide for that price or less dozens of times in the last 2 years, let alone 10 (or 30). Japan. Singapore. Germany. Italy. Greece. Egypt. Australia. New Zealand. It's all about shopping and comparisons. And not staying in stupid money properties.

Gee, I wouldn't have known that if it hadn't been told to me. Many times

This has been noted like 10 times upthread. I get it.

Didn't have to muster B2B same cabin on Azamara, Oceania, Princess, NCL. But since we have 2 B2B on =X= in the next year, same cabin, good to know to be ready on turnover day.

I guess that is the current edict, but in the past, as long as we stayed in same cabin/muster station, we could avoid the B2B muster, but admit that it was a few years ago. Most other lines do allow you to skip it if you are in same cabin.

Legs 1 and 2 you stay put. Likely no muster. Legs 2 and 3 you move and they assist you , if needed. Pack drawered items in suitcase, leave hanging items as is and they will bring a trolley. Likely need to muster. Voila.

Depending on the port, have been paying for shuttles on different cruise lines for 20+ years. Some cruise lines (e.g., Azamara) have always offered free shuttles, but never Celebrity across the board.

Honestly, this is an example of how corporations often flail and then fail. For us, Azamara's core values have been the special onboard experience that we find there. Smaller ships. Wonderful service from folks that feel like family. Overnight and longer port stays. Some unique ports and itineraries. A feel unlike any of the other 80+ sailings we've had on 10+ lines. They did that for years, and guess what? The ships ran at virtual 100% capacity with largely loyal passengers. Then they experienced the loss of some key personnel. Then fast forward to the whole IT debacle, and instead of refocusing and rededicating themselves to the core values above, someone or someone's in an office in Miami (or a consultant) decide to run 2 catchy sounding programs not directed to their central audience up the flagpole to see what kind of response they may get. I know it is just one survey with a couple trial balloons, but it does indicate a problem. Along with the Perry Golf email that followed it touting sailings that are in 2 days (not available for booking, sorry) and 2 weeks that are going for the bargain price of $19,993 for a 10 day sailing in a V3 balcony. Hurry before they are gone! We were happy with Azamara as it was, but worried that it might be headed in a direction where we would not be found. And that is sad, frankly.

No interest in the 2 programs they are touting: "Work and Wander" so that the ship would be filled with stressed out people trying to work while onboard and gobbling up public spaces and bandwith. (And this spoken by someone who spent more than a decade working on ships, but out of the way and briefly each day). and "Gather and sail" or something like that, pushing for big groups of 6+ to sail together. No way I would book (or keep one of our current 8 bookings) in those environments.

Since our time in Maputo is so short (8-15:00) we thought it best to book a private tour with a vehicle so we could make our way to the train station, Natural History Museum, the Fortress, the markets, etc. with lunch likely on the run.

I second that. Looked forward to the O R class shower doors until we actually experienced them. Much prefer the existing curtains. And no $$$ spent on doors that are a pain.

You sail in the same seas both ways. Weather is the factor and impossible to predict.

Kahului is a possibility but likely not if you are scheduled there on a Sunday or a Monday since Pride of America spends those 2 days in Kahului every week.

Good point.

My first response was "yes, that sounds right." But then I did a bit of research re: credit card debt and realized that my first response would have been flawed. Badly. And these numbers have likely gotten worse since CC debt has absolutely exploded in the last 3 years to $1 Trillion in the US. Americans who are 75 and older have the highest average credit card debt, according to the Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) by the Federal Reserve Board. They had an average balance of $8,078 as of 2019. That's the most recent year when the Federal Reserve conducted the SCF

Curious how they stiffed you on a refund and should this be a warning to us.