DS

4 hours ago, WestLakeGirl said:

Will we get new loyalty club numbers? Currently I have the same number for Celebrity and Azamara. Should I expect a new membership number for Azamara?

 

 

Have you asked the AZamara Loyality people? 

 loyalty@azamara.com; AzamaraGuestRelations@Azamara.com

3 hours ago, Scrapnana said:

Sorry, I totally missed posting this.  Yes, we did make the Ivory Coast.

 

First tour in weeks! - Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire - December 5

 

Today I had the third of the tours I booked through Across Africa, set up on our Cruise Critic Roll Call.  It was called Abidjan Round Experience.  Originally, we were supposed to go to the Mosque du Plateau, St. Paul's Cathedral, Centre Artisanal de Ville, the Civilization Museum, the zoo, and have lunch.  It was decided a few weeks ago that we would not go to the zoo because it was in poor condition.  Yesterday it was decided that we would not stop for lunch because the ship's original arrival/departure times had changed and we needed to get back earlier.

 

We met at 7:00 in the Ocean Bar but it took about an hour and a half until we were cleared by health inspectors and immigration inspectors.  We were watching the dock as people were finally able to get off but the buses had not yet arrived.  We finally left the ship about 8:50 and ours was one of the first vehicles to arrive.  We were told to bring our passports and Covid cards but nobody checked them.  There were 16 in our group and instead of two vans, we had a large (about 40 seat) bus for all of us with amazing air conditioning. 

 

As we left the port area, our guide told us that Abidjan port was used to import/export goods for neighboring land-locked countries like Mali and Burkina Faso. We headed through the city of over 6 million, which although not the political capital, is the economic capital and largest city in the country.  

 

Our first destination was to the Banco National Forest which was somewhat of a surprise since it was not on the itinerary but I think maybe it was substituted for the zoo.  Honestly, it wasn't very interesting and was very hot and humid.  My leg gave me fits all day (I seem to have alternate good and bad days) so I didn't get off when the guide gave us five minutes to get off and look around (nobody needed any more).

 

We then went to the Museum of Civilizations.  I hobbled around for a bit and took some pictures.  All of the explanations for the artifacts were in French (the official language) and my high school French was not up to translating more than a word or two.

 

We mutually agreed to skip the Mosque although we did drive by it on our way to St. Paul's Cathedral.  Again, I did not get off the bus but those that went inside said it was beautiful with stained-glass windows of African animals.

 

The final stop was to the artisans' market.  I enjoyed looking around (and buying a few souvenirs for friends) until I caught my leg on a rough piece of wood and scraped off a few inches of skin and bled copiously.  A very nice young man from one of the booths rushed over with tissues and brought me a chair to sit in while I sopped up the blood.  Since I tend to do this much too frequently, I had a whole supply of various sizes of band-aids with me to put on once the bleeding stopped.

 

We were back to the ship earlier than the itinerary called for but I don't think anyone was upset.  There was time to have lunch on the ship which is what I did.

 

All aboard was 3:30 but the last HAL tour bus from the Ivorian Cocoa Farm did not roll in until 4:07 (I was out on the deck waiting for sail-away).  It did not take long for us to depart after that and we were off the dock by 4:25. I watched for about a half hour as we turned and sailed out of the lagoon and then started working on the blog and today's pictures (there are quite a few!).

 

I did not go to 7pm trivia because the pictures were uploading at a steady pace.  

 

Tonight was "Orange Night" in celebration of Holland America's heritage.  On December 5 in the Netherlands, gifts are exchanged on St. Nicholas' Eve.  For the first time I had something orange to wear (a shawl, of course).  

 

After dinner I went to the show which was another performance by CH2 and then up to the Crow's Nest to check out the Orange Party.  Lots of drinking, dancing, orange wigs, hats, shirts, dresses, etc.  Everyone was having a good time.

Thanks!    Sound like a extensive, if slow starting day.   We are currently scheduled to be there in March on Azamara ( although the Azamara Nov cruise did not make it), so your news is good news!

On 12/4/2022 at 5:32 PM, Scrapnana said:

A Change of Plans - Takoradi, Ghana - December 4

 

My main mission today was to find some Tylenol/Paracetamol but I ended up not having to do that.  Shirley, from the trivia team, read my blog post from yesterday and called me this morning that she had extra-strength Tylenol that she could give me - she even brought it to me!  I am now alternating between naproxen and Tylenol about every 4-5 hours.  The pain is not all gone but after 15-20 hobbling steps I can walk fairly normally until I sit down or stop and then I have to repeat the process.  I even did a half lap around the deck today.  By the way, two of the LRADs are back out on the Promenade deck.  They are covered, and we haven't been warned of any problems, but I am wondering why they are back.  

 

For the first time this cruise that I can remember, we actually had vendors on the pier selling local craft items.  This used to be very common but not this cruise.  There were eight tents set up with paintings, wood carvings, woven baskets, clothes, a few pieces of fabric, and numerous small souvenir items.  The people were all very nice, spoke enough English to communicate, and priced everything in US dollars.  There was some haggling but most of the prices were very reasonable.  I picked up a few souvenirs for friends and family.  

 

We will be back here in March on the GWV and I may take the shuttle to the hotel just to take some pictures.  We were warned a few times not to take any pictures in the port area (which is why I don't have a picture of the vendors) or we would be fined.  Therefore, I did not take any pictures off the deck as I normally do when I don't get off the ship.  I checked out the four excursions for March (which ranged from $200 for visit to a cocoa farm - to $400 to help paint a school for the deaf and blind) and none of them sounded any more interesting than they did for this cruise.  I may hear from someone that they did something exciting and change my mind but am not expecting it.

 

After lunch in the Lido, I knit for a while in the Crow's Nest and had a long talk with one of my Sit and Stitch friends and then had a Coke Zero during Happy Hour.

 

None of us at dinner had excursions today so we talked about the few things we did do (go out on the dock and shop, mostly).  The show tonight was Pianist Ian Von Memerty and his wife, Vivienne.  They were presenters on South Africa's "Strictly Come Dancing" (like "Dancing With the Stars" in the US) for many years.

 

I have a tour in Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire tomorrow that meets at 7am - ugh!  It is the last tour I have booked for this cruise as I have been to all but one of the ports before.  

 

Early night for me tonight!

 

7pm trivia - I had 8 out of 18 and the winning team had 14.

1.  What was the first nation set up with the help of the United Nations?

2.  What musical is based on a book by Gregory Maguire?

3.  What popular Christmas song was written during the Cuban Missile Crisi with a plea for peace?

4.  In what country were the 1998 Winter Olympics held?

5.  According to Aztec Mythology, how many levels of heaven are there?

6.  What British delicacy is known at "Trotters"?

7.  What is the southernmost city in the world?

 

 

 

1.  Libya

2.  Wicked

3.  Do You Hear What I Hear?

4.  Japan

5.  13

6.  pig's feet

7.  Ushuaia

Did you actually get to Ivory Coast?   Most cruise ships recently ( Regent, Azamara) have had to cancel this port... Perhaps they just opened???

52 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

My own experience is that insects don't seem to bother ships – just as they are less prevalent in cities than in the countryside.  But I can understand why authorities are very careful about this.  

 

Over the past 55 years I have had an armful* of mandatory pre-travel inoculations, so I was surprised to find that Yellow Fever wasn't among them.  Does this shot have bad side effects?  Moderna Covid was the first time I've experienced that from a shot and even that faded within 48 hours, but our son has had bad reactions to DPT etc. so I have empathy for those who can't tolerate them.

 

* comedian hand gesture milking laugh...

We have had two YF shots, years apart... no noticeable ( and remembered) side effects except, like any shot, a pain the arm later that day

12 hours ago, uktog said:

Currently on Onward. First experience of this ship. 

Positives we like the lighter colour scheme, the layout of the living room and with no sunset bar much more space to sit on the back verandah. Last nights act Unity were the best we’ve seen on an Azamara ship and Vasi in the Den is very good. Staff are trying hard. Many new faces as always some better than others. 

Patio was open last night but for us unfortunately they’ve abandoned the served evening meal in Windows. I’m sure the fans of buffets are happy, we aren’t!

 

Maintenance issues continue. The door of our dressing table is falling off. They can only fix it by screwing it shut so we lose both that space and the table drawer so we’ve gone for the distressed furniture look. Shower and air conditioning both can’t keep a set temperature- very annoying. All are I suppose minor issues but not what you expect in a premium line. 

Biggest bugbear by far. “Due to higher levels of consumption on the transatlantic” I quote - you know who you are - 😂😂there is NO champagne onboard. They are passing off a French sparkling wine Veuve de Verve as their premium champagne. There is also no Schweppes tonic anywhere. The bar manager has checked. He knows it’s an issue - says has to take what Miami gives him. Don’t want to sound like alcoholics maxing out on the Ultimate Package but these two issues are future deal breakers if we can’t rely on consistent product quality across four ships. 
 

Sailing in high winds so Decks 5 and 11 are closed. Couldn’t find anywhere on pool deck to sit yesterday lots of bottles of sun cream and bags were enjoying their holiday. Staff weren’t dealing with it. We went to use our balcony- I see what others mean. These low backed chairs are so uncomfortable and with no support are only useful I suppose for eating at the table.  Today at 1010 virtually all seats gone again. Hopefully less windy conditions and the issues will go. 

 

Wifi is the worst we’ve had on any Azamara ship even in Norway. It’s the usual Jam tomorrow- we are getting an upgrade soon. Appreciate its coming that doesn’t help me work a little as I have to this week. I will sort that by working ashore in each port - not ideal but ok

 

Still waiting for the cruise booklet with everyone’s names to arrive (day 3 now) as soon as it does will update any changes on that thread. 
 

In conclusion so far it’s an OK trip. Not a disaster but not up to Quest and Journeys experience in the summer. But things may change.  

        HEY... there were only about 280 of us aboard the TA, and I'm sure we did not drink the ship dry... AND... you had a port call in Miami, home of Azamara... why not more suppies onboard....  DON"T BLAME US!

3 hours ago, uktog said:

Miami I can confirm from Azamara no testing currently required. Doesn’t mean no testing ever - if suddenly the port authorities changed their tune but if that happened in the days prior to the cruise testers would be brought in.
 

So for Diana’s friend, this is the first Miami embarkation for Azamara for some time (in fact I’m wondering is it the first post pandemic I think it is) so there’s no recent experience on Azamara just a plan - it’s no testing (and incidentally no vaccine required) 
 

For those boarding next week do not go early. It’s the ships first call in the US following Azamara taking it over so they are likely to have lots of inspections etc in the morning 

The Quest sailed out of Miami last winter...we were on the Christmas cruise, you remember, the one that ended up with 30-40 passengers with COVID and more than 60 crew either sick or isolated.    Also missed almost half the scheduled island ports...Captain Johannes always found new ones!

2 hours ago, uktog said:

Thanks @DSfor the comprehensive update. Little concerned about your reference to procedures- are they saying they’ve no procedures documented now?   Hope not!  
 

That said if it’s like any company sale it’s not a case of starting with a blank sheet. You amend the existing ones and remove references to oldco specific terms and processes and replace them. Most procedures are not unique so no copyright applies.  

Interesting they’re using Tony with least experience on ships hotel side to do it. Wonder what drove that decision. - new thinking? Others not available? Fitted with schedules?  Last company sale I was involved in albeit not in this industry we put our most experienced person to write draft one to get all the legacy knowledge then used them plus two others one very new and another from a different point in the service delivery chain to finalise the way forward. 

The RCCL big book was apparently softcopy and they were literally no longer able to access it.  They did go by memory and try to replicate the procedures, but sometimes memory is incomplete or differs.   Tony said they wanted a native English speaker with some writing experience and a long tenure onboard with Azamara -- he has these although not as HD

An extract of what I posted on "anyone onboard currently" about wines..

...Comp wines are a mix of Azamara labeled and others (a very nice other Syrah last night…).  Tony had a Q&A today and wines were discussed:  head office has hired a sommelier to revamp the entire wine (and other liquor packages) program;...

    .... They did have a second container full of wine, which they found in Sydney.  After it had sat for a year or more in heat and cold and heat and… they ended up throwing most of it away… tested one bottle per case, then if needed dumped the rest.   (Now there’s a job that we passengers could have helped with if they had asked!)

One of the things "Jonathan"  ... the guy hired to look at the wine program... is specifically looking at is a country intensive wine program for those cruises that are "country intensive"   Not sure yet if it will be the comp wines or the "revenue wines" or maybe a stand alone package.

Tony also noted that Azamara has entered into an agreement with Chateau St Michelle ( which is also owned by Sycamore Partners) to provide more wines... again, not sure if house wines or "revenue wines"   -- Tony's words...

Onboard the ONWARD, Transatlantic from Lisbon yesterday (11/20) to Miami (12/1).  Number of passengers about 315 ( or 317, or…).

Senior Officers are:  

Captain Gianmario Sanuineti

Hotel Director Tony Markey

Cruise Director Eric De Gray

Asst CD  Martin Lawson

F&B Iwn Pennings

Ex Chef Shiju Sekharan.

Our only port stop was to be Hamilton Bermuda, but today, in his noon announcements the Captain said we had to redirect because of a couple of low pressure systems in the mid-Atlantic that were making 5 to 6 meter waves, so we could not maintain enough speed to get there on schedule.  Instead, they are investigating Nassau, and we are taking a more southern route.   Given the earlier kerfuffle about Bermuda landing permits, fees, etc., I’m sure this will generate a bunch of conversation…

A lot of the crew who have been on in the fall left before this cruise because of US visa issues:   we lost a couple of dining room waiters we had in the fall, one of the butlers, several of the bar waiters.  In fact, our room steward was brought over from another ship simply because he had US visa.

In response to frequent topics:

Patio open for lunch, but not for dinner (not enough quests per the staff);

Comp wines are a mix of Azamara labeled and others (a very nice other Syrah last night…).  Tony had a Q&A today and wines were discussed:  head office has hired a sommelier to revamp the entire wine (and other liquor packages) program;

No info on tonic water (not my usual mixer…).

Other topics from Tony…

       The comms difficulties with shore side was discussed.   They are keenly aware of our difficulties.   They closed the Wichita call center during the pandemic, and when they reopened only about 20% of the people came back –others had taken other jobs or did not want to work.   They are back to about 50% now.  Even so, the kinds of questions and calls they get are much more broad than pre-pandemic, so they are having difficulty getting new folks up to speed.

              Turns out that since ONWARD was never owned by RCCL, Azamara is using it as the guinea pig for many things, including technology testing. One of the fall-outs of the split was that the “Big-fat-book-of-rules-and-procedures-for-everything!” was owned by RCCL and none of the Azamara ships were allow to continue to access it.  They have been trying to go from memory (which explains some of the differences amongst the ships.)  Tony will probably be charged with writing the master version for Azamara.   Sounds like at some point he will step aside as one of two regular HD’s on ONWARD.  Elizabeth will do the entire 2024 World Voyage.   Between now and then, Tony will work on the SOP and fill in on any ship that needs an HD.

              Yes, they are discussing getting a newly built ship.   Sycamore Partners is supportive.   Probably looking at about 1000 passengers.   Nothing decided yet.   When it is, it is still a two to three year project—have to find a ship yard (some have closed), have to find steel, other supply chain issues.

              Speaking of supply chain issues (and he did on almost every topic/question that was asked)  they know precisely where the huge cargo contain of balcony chairs, carpets, wall covering, etc. is—its sitting in Shanghai.   The port was closed for a long time because of COVID, but the containers kept piling up.   When it opened again, the “big boys” who had hundreds or thousands of containers hired all the ships.   Azamara had 1 container!   And have been unable to get it loaded.  They did have a second container full of wine, which they found in Sydney.  After it had sat for a year or more in heat and cold and heat and… they ended up throwing most of it away… tested one bottle per case, then if needed dumped the rest.   (Now there’s a job that we passengers could have helped with if they had asked!)

39 minutes ago, uktog said:

No its much sooner!!

The TA on Onward is NOW!   WE left Lisbon today heading for Miami.   In the spring it does not do a true TA... it goes from Miami to the Canaries in Feb, does a few Canary  intensives, then gets to Lisbon in early April.

8 hours ago, terry&mike said:

A further question in regards to purchasing the Experience More package when we board. We have a $1000 OBC from Azamara, it is applied on the booking as $500 OBC for myself, and $500 OBC for my husband. If the Experience More package costs $699, will they be able to take $500 OBC from one of us, and the other $199 OBC from the other of us? Or will one of us use our $500 OBC towards the package, and then need to pay the additional $199 fee with a credit card, leaving the second one of us with $500 OBC still intact? 

I think if you use one credit card for the both of you, all the OBC credit gets combined.   If you each give them a seperate credit card, then you're on your own!

Three weeks and no posts by anyone onboard any of the four ships???    Should I worry about Azamara???

7 hours ago, kent4489 said:

Thanks for the replies. Yes, Lisbon to Miami. We're in SW Florida and accustomed to hot temps, so I will probably find the crossing to be chilly. 

       We, also from SWFL, are on this cruise.   We expect Lisbon to be cool at the end Nov, but Miami to be "usual"... so I'd expect every temp in between.   As with you, after IAN, we are looking forward to DOING NOTHING, and having the Az crew take care of us!

Someone earlier posted about the railings on deck 5.   EVERY day this cruise there has been a crew person oiling down these railing.... not just running a cloth over them, but giving them a good massage over every inch.   They are beginning to look much better.

1 hour ago, beatnix said:

@iana1212 thank you sharing your experience!  May I ask who is on the keys at Den?

 

Vasi (last name unknown)  has been, but tomorrow Pavel from the orchestra sits in, as does the Guitar player for another set   ( tomorrow is Destination Celebration, so not a good day to compare...)

UPDATE ON ONWARD

              Many of the postings have noted some of the deficiencies on the ONWARD.   We are currently onboard (Islands of the Med   Rome-> Barcelona). We were told by HD Elizabeth that there would be workers onboard this cruise doing “stuff’   And, boy, are there!   They have replaced all the bench seats in Atlas Bar (I presume they took comments of them being too narrow to heart).   They are replacing all the hall wall coverings at least on deck 8.  They are replacing all the cabin desktops that were cracked (as ours was… we came back today with a new desk top).   They are adding new air flow devices to keep smoke from smoking area out of cabins on deck 9 and 8  (ONWARD is first… will migrate to other ships later).   While there are still things to do, its clear they are taking things seriously.    (I would add that at most ports the majority of “stuff” loaded onboard has NOT been consumables, but equipment, engine parts, pallets of wood, furniture, etc.)

UPDATE ON ONWARD

              Many of the postings have noted some of the deficiencies on the ONWARD.   We are currently onboard (Islands of the Med   Rome-> Barcelona). We were told by HD Elizabeth that there would be workers onboard this cruise doing “stuff’   And, boy, are there!   They have replaced all the bench seats in Atlas Bar (I presume they took comments of them being too narrow to heart).   They are replacing all the hall wall coverings at least on deck 8.  They are replacing all the cabin desktops that were cracked (as ours was… we came back today to a new desk top).   They are adding new air flow devices to keep smoke from smoking area out of cabins on deck 9 and 8  (ONWARD is first… will migrate to other ships later).   While there are still things to do, its clear they are taking things seriously.    (I would add that at most ports the majority of “stuff” loaded onboard has NOT been consumables, but equipment, engine parts, pallets of wood, furniture, etc.)

21 hours ago, KevintheIrishDJ said:

Our Dec. 22 Onward cruise has been switched to an event in port.

We are onboard the ONWARD ( Rome -> Barcelona).   What was originally advertised as an AzAmazing evening is going to be held on board-- i.e.  a Destination Celebration.   Eric said that after Nov 25 they would be AzAmazing Evenings... we ( or you, since we are not on cruise immediately after Nov 25...) will see!

On 10/13/2022 at 9:24 AM, DS said:

Onboard the ONWARD ( 10 Oct Ravenna to 21 October Rome)

 

Senior Officers:   Captain CARL Smith; HD Elisabeth Vogel; Cruice Director ERIC DeGray; F&B IWAN Pennings (former exec chef); Assist CD Roy Ryan

 

Passengers on Board:  442

 

FOOD:   So far the food has been excellent—we’ve been in MDR, Aqualina, and Prime C—all good

 

SERVICE:   Mostly up to usual Azamara standards (a bit of hiccups in Prime C last night), excellent in Aqualina.    Comp wines have been a mix of Azamara Label and other non-Az labels.   Usually just 2 reds and 2 whites a night   ( June cruise, with all Az labels, at least had all 4 varietals of both red and white each night).   BUT, as always, you waiter can usually find what you want…   

Room steward have been excellent, although as some others noted, there are now no assistant room stewards

 

COMMENTS and NITS:   still some supply chain problems:  no bagels the first two mornings, and today we knew from Iwan that they had been loaded yesterday – but the restaurant staff did not!   BUT, in usual Azamara style, they went and found them.   There were none of the usual “Make up my room / Do not disturb” door magnets when we boarded--- steward said they were still waiting for them.   They showed up a day or so later.  When we boarded there were still lots of things on the pier to be loaded – including many mechanical parts ( big engines/ generators, huge propane ( or something) tanks)   Obviously still trying to get things up to snuff.

Ship is very cold; our room the first day/night was frigid, even with thermostat turned fully up.   A mention to the room steward the next morning, and it was corrected by engineering—nice and toasty now!

 

CHAIRS:   I think every single chair on the ONWARD is physically lighter than is counterpart on the other ships.   From the veranda (molded plastic with thin cushion), to all the restaurants ( some times on other ships it was hard to move the chairs out from the table—not here… I’ve seen several tip over when someone tried to move them.)    Same thing in the lounges and Cabaret.   They also tend to be very narrow, especially those with arms.    I’m a skinny guy but still touch both sides of these chairs when sitting down—they must be uncomfortable for larger folk.

 

SHIPS APPEARANCE:   There is still a lot of work to be done.   For example, there is a large crack all the way through our desk top.   The hand rails in the elevators are all beaten up, some with chunks out.   A simple coat of paint would go a long way!   (but please, not the same icky brown as in in there now… it’s not a natural wood color, just some other brown stuff).    Brass on stair treads in need of heavy polishing.  (Last cruise on different ship we saw one staff member polishing this brass every single day of our cruise… he started on deck 10 and got to 4 or 5 by the end of the cruise!)

 

TRANSFER FROM VENICE TO RAVENNA:  We were on the Azamara provided bus from Venice airport to Ravenna port.  Unfortunately, the PURSUIT was also sailing from Ravenna the same day, so we had two ship loads of people.  They mixed us up on the busses.  Others have posted here or elsewhere about the trials and tribulations of moving our own luggage from airport arrival hall to busses ( half a klick or more way through the parking lot, then getting off the bus and standing in line ( again with two ships worth of people) before giving the baggage to the porters.   Inside the building, at least there were two separate areas for check-in.     And all this on top of the 2 ½ hr bus ride, without the promised “comfort stop.”   I’m so glad that it looks like Venice will be back in a year or so…

 

BOTTOM LINE:   We are coming from Fort Myers Florida, where the past 2 weeks have been --- just awful!  We are so glad to be back on board and have the Azamara staff take care of us, feed us, entertain us.   We can forgive crappy elevator handrails!

On 10/13/2022 at 9:24 AM, DS said:

Onboard the ONWARD ( 10 Oct Ravenna to 21 October Rome)

 

Senior Officers:   Captain CARL Smith; HD Elisabeth Vogel; Cruice Director ERIC DeGray; F&B IWAN Pennings (former exec chef); Assist CD Roy Ryan

 

Passengers on Board:  442

 

FOOD:   So far the food has been excellent—we’ve been in MDR, Aqualina, and Prime C—all good

 

SERVICE:   Mostly up to usual Azamara standards (a bit of hiccups in Prime C last night), excellent in Aqualina.    Comp wines have been a mix of Azamara Label and other non-Az labels.   Usually just 2 reds and 2 whites a night   ( June cruise, with all Az labels, at least had all 4 varietals of both red and white each night).   BUT, as always, you waiter can usually find what you want…   

Room steward have been excellent, although as some others noted, there are now no assistant room stewards

 

COMMENTS and NITS:   still some supply chain problems:  no bagels the first two mornings, and today we knew from Iwan that they had been loaded yesterday – but the restaurant staff did not!   BUT, in usual Azamara style, they went and found them.   There were none of the usual “Make up my room / Do not disturb” door magnets when we boarded--- steward said they were still waiting for them.   They showed up a day or so later.  When we boarded there were still lots of things on the pier to be loaded – including many mechanical parts ( big engines/ generators, huge propane ( or something) tanks)   Obviously still trying to get things up to snuff.

Ship is very cold; our room the first day/night was frigid, even with thermostat turned fully up.   A mention to the room steward the next morning, and it was corrected by engineering—nice and toasty now!

 

CHAIRS:   I think every single chair on the ONWARD is physically lighter than is counterpart on the other ships.   From the veranda (molded plastic with thin cushion), to all the restaurants ( some times on other ships it was hard to move the chairs out from the table—not here… I’ve seen several tip over when someone tried to move them.)    Same thing in the lounges and Cabaret.   They also tend to be very narrow, especially those with arms.    I’m a skinny guy but still touch both sides of these chairs when sitting down—they must be uncomfortable for larger folk.

 

SHIPS APPEARANCE:   There is still a lot of work to be done.   For example, there is a large crack all the way through our desk top.   The hand rails in the elevators are all beaten up, some with chunks out.   A simple coat of paint would go a long way!   (but please, not the same icky brown as in in there now… it’s not a natural wood color, just some other brown stuff).    Brass on stair treads in need of heavy polishing.  (Last cruise on different ship we saw one staff member polishing this brass every single day of our cruise… he started on deck 10 and got to 4 or 5 by the end of the cruise!)

 

TRANSFER FROM VENICE TO RAVENNA:  We were on the Azamara provided bus from Venice airport to Ravenna port.  Unfortunately, the PURSUIT was also sailing from Ravenna the same day, so we had two ship loads of people.  They mixed us up on the busses.  Others have posted here or elsewhere about the trials and tribulations of moving our own luggage from airport arrival hall to busses ( half a klick or more way through the parking lot, then getting off the bus and standing in line ( again with two ships worth of people) before giving the baggage to the porters.   Inside the building, at least there were two separate areas for check-in.     And all this on top of the 2 ½ hr bus ride, without the promised “comfort stop.”   I’m so glad that it looks like Venice will be back in a year or so…

 

BOTTOM LINE:   We are coming from Fort Myers Florida, where the past 2 weeks have been --- just awful!  We are so glad to be back on board and have the Azamara staff take care of us, feed us, entertain us.   We can forgive crappy elevator handrails!

on 2nd leg of B2b.... same senior officers as noted above.... 573 passengers... assuming all got thru the Rome airport mess ( we were almost 3 hours late in departing, waiting for passengers... some never made it... including Capt Carl's family, whose flight was cancelled yesterday

1.   it was onboard... a Destination Celebration

2.   Every venue has been TOO loud... Cabaret, Living Room, Den.    I also thought that maybe all those "youngsters" had hearing loss so they turned everything up.   Yesterday Roy, the Assit  CD did a set of Jazz numbers in the Living Room before dinner... the canned sound track was too loud.   Today, the Band Saxophonist did a set and the same thing.... the canned track blocks out the soloist.   Both those sets were wonderful... orders of magnitude better than the usual LR band...

38 minutes ago, gsmt47471015 said:

Hi , we are going on our first cruise with Azamara but are unable to find the hours for the main dining room on Quest, we want to book some evening trips while on board and they are mostly departing at 7 pm,   so just trying to work out dining around these times, any help would be greatly received. Thanks. 

MDR times are usually 6-9 PM...so 7 PM tours require gulping dinner before...   But you could eat in the patio or other non-full-service restaurants before 5

5 minutes ago, Nippy Sweetie said:

It is pretty cold but it's so hot outside that it's fine by us.

our cabin was frigid on boarding day... told steward... next day and since... as toasty as we wish... currently onboard ONWARD

10 hours ago, lisiamc said:

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. 

He also did a 3 course selection in MDR last night... a wonderful potato-less gnocchi, a great 5 oz filet, and a chocolate dessert that received DW's approval -- no small feat!

On 10/14/2022 at 3:39 AM, Kimbasmum said:

You went through a lot to get that meal, and the food looks splendid.  What a pity the ambience conspired against you too!  Sounds like one of those occasions/meals you will remember forever for all the wrong reasons - I think most of us can relate to that at some time!  Enjoy your downtime with Downton and the duvet.

UKTOG.... we are INSANELY JEALOUS of you!   We are on ONWARD and had Kotor chef tour booked for months.   when we boarded Monday in Ravenna we were told it was cancelled for "operational reasons"!   Yet you got it the day before!   Did you eat all the food in town!  Glad you enjoyed it... We have been on a couple of these and they are always great. 

       Famishedly yours, DS

AMEN!  Its been more than 3 years since we saw his show and it was great to hear him again.   We've had 101 nights on ships since then, so maybe 80 shows?  and 40-50 single performers?   None come close to  Eric--- a league of his own!