Tips for Azamara Newbies

[scotsahoy]

The only problem with powder when I used one of Onward’s machines 2 weeks ago was the front of the dispenser drawer was clogged up with used  powder and I had to use paper towels to wipe off before adding my  powder. 

[PirateWife]

2 hours ago, scotsahoy said:

The only problem with powder when I used one of Onward’s machines 2 weeks ago was the front of the dispenser drawer was clogged up with used  powder and I had to use paper towels to wipe off before adding my  powder. 

Yes, that is a problem. Some people do not realize that about a half of the scoop works just fine.

[BuddyR]

Does Azamara still offer a special event for Discoverer Plus guests?  On our last two cruises it was a lovely breakfast/brunch in Prime C.  Just wondering if COVID has altered these activities.  

[Benthayer Gonbak]

18 hours ago, luv2travel90266 said:

There is no electronic components unlike a power strip. It is simply copper inside a plastic case with multiple receptacles to plug in. What you plug in has to be dual rated for 110 v and 220 V. Everything I travel with is, my computer, chargers, etc.    Chargers and what we use draw very little amperage so you are unlikely to trip a fuse. 

We only have 1-2 items that aren’t dual rated.  One is an electric toothbrush that only needs charging every 10-14 days.  I think the electric shaver is the other.  Everything else is dual rated, yes that’s a lot of power block weight but they are dual for sure. 
 

i did find that there are some cubes that are dual rated.  We couldn’t find those at the time and they would have been clumsy in Italy with an adapter attached as the outlets were flush.   My adapters have 2 plugs which works pretty well most of the time.  We did find one hotel in Scotland that I think had 1 outlet for the entire room.  Recently in the US we’ve run into lamps being hardwired which has meant few outlets.  

[Benthayer Gonbak]

2 hours ago, BuddyR said:

Does Azamara still offer a special event for Discoverer Plus guests?  On our last two cruises it was a lovely breakfast/brunch in Prime C.  Just wondering if COVID has altered these activities.  

 

We had a tea, on the journey, instead of the breakfast.  That was December.  I asked about the breakfast and got the impression it was theirs to choose.  

[uktog]

9 hours ago, BuddyR said:

Does Azamara still offer a special event for Discoverer Plus guests?  On our last two cruises it was a lovely breakfast/brunch in Prime C.  Just wondering if COVID has altered these activities.  

Not always. Sometimes they do drinks reception but there was nothing on our last cruise. They “morphed” the higher level event into the event where they also recognise the top cruiser. It was a really dull flat event partly because they were waiting and waiting for that person and they never showed. (It was a sea day as well!). 
The one event for all members was an invitation to go to either the Den or the Living Room for a special cocktail. On Journey lots of officers circulated between the rooms but on our cruise on Onward that did not happen. 
I think sometimes it’s down to the Hotel Director how much happens for loyalty, cruise critic etc. It was certainly important for Heike and our experience is Ryzard, Tomaz and Elisabeth are similar to that, others much less so. 

[DgBg100106]

On 1/20/2023 at 11:06 AM, loafin said:

Thanks so much. We’re on Onward in April for the Spain intensive. Is there a choice of an Italian and French table? How many people does each event accommodate? Did you have a hard time getting a reservation? We plan on signing up first thing when we board. 

There was California, French, and Italian offered for us

 All were booked except the last night by the time we made it to the reservation desk in the first day. 

[DgBg100106]

On 1/20/2023 at 1:13 PM, Grandma Cruising said:

You don’t need to buy it beforehand. You can get onboard and have a look at prices and what’s available (wines etc) before making up your mind.

100% this.  I can take photos later if I remember. 

[DgBg100106]

On 1/21/2023 at 8:42 AM, Mackdogmolly said:

I think the other vodka is Finlandia, the rum is Bacardi, and Jim Beam bourbon.

True as if right now on Onward

[DgBg100106]

On 1/21/2023 at 6:53 PM, JM0115 said:

I tried to find out the answer to this important question without luck on the web: What kind of cookies are available on the ship? 😀. And how are they?

I have seen coconut,  chocolate chip, oatmeal.  Coconut is the best IMO

[uktog]

1 hour ago, DgBg100106 said:

I have seen coconut,  chocolate chip, oatmeal.  Coconut is the best IMO

I had lovely ones with caramel chips in them on Journey if I remember correctly. They also have ones with raisins 

[Bobal]

On 1/23/2023 at 1:28 PM, Mackdogmolly said:

I wonder if they just ran out of the capsules and this is a temporary thing.

It's back to capsules again. Just did a wash there.

 

Also one of the washing machines was being fixed by an engineer, maybe the one where clothes were coming out too wet. I've used 2 different machines and not had that problem 

Edited January 24, 2023 by Bobal

[aliaschief]

It doesn’t do any real justice reporting problems here on CC  before letting the responsible person onboard know about a problem. 
For instance,  our shower was draining slowly. Mentioned it  to our very competent cabin steward and ten minutes later a plumber was there to fix it. He wasn’t using shower how would he know? 

A ship is a very complex machine, along with a multitude of other equipment that can fail or not work up to par. Report problems so the next user does not have the same issue. Try and resolve any issue at the lowest level.

The crew can’t fix it if they don’t know about a problem.

Just saying…

 

Edited January 24, 2023 by aliaschief

[blag]

1 minute ago, aliaschief said:

It doesn’t do any real justice reporting problems here on CC  before letting the responsible person onboard know about a problem. 
For instance,  our shower was draining slowly. Mentioned it  to our very competent cabin steward and ten minutes later a plumber was there to fix it.

A ship is a very complex machine, along with a multitude of other equipment that can fail or not work up to par. Report problems so the next user does not have the same issue. Try and resolve any issue at the lowest level.

The crew can’t fix it if they don’t know about a problem.

Just saying…

 

I agree totally. And persistence prevails.

I don't loiter at Guest Relations for such stuff. I have found that picking up the phone to report the problem is quick and effective. The

Feedback is important. Fix the problem in the stateroom and the next occupant will not suffer the same discomfort.

[PirateWife]

Agree with previous two comments. Newbies to Azamara need to know that there are people to fix problems with rooms, with food service, with wi-fi, etc. And, one does not always get the solution they want. There are still supply issues all over the world. On our last cruise, our light switch did not work properly. Our cabin attendant discovered this, and it was fixed temporarily because they were waiting for a part. Thank goodness it stuck in off because it stopped working a few days later again.

[SuziQ1]

On 1/21/2023 at 5:53 PM, JM0115 said:

I tried to find out the answer to this important question without luck on the web: What kind of cookies are available on the ship? 😀. And how are they?

My kind of question!!!  Very important!  esp if chocolate!

[Chot50s]

I would agree with everyone who said to let the staff know about issues. We just got off our first Azamara cruise on the Onward and found everyone responsive on the few items we mentioned. There was a survey mid-voyage asking if we had any feedback on a variety of topics. On the two items we listed, we got phone calls about both items thanking us for the feedback and letting us know that the items would be addressed or letting us know why they weren’t able to address them. (On the latter item, they said they would try to resolve it in the future since they’d received similar comments from other guests.)

 

Overall, overall our experience with the Onward staff was always pleasant and made our first Azamara voyage one of the best cruises we’ve ever had.

[islandwoman]

Can someone please tell me what time Azamara requires passengers to be out of their cabins on disembarkation day?  And what time they are required to be off the ship?  Also, how long there is likely to be anything to do, eat, or drink onboard on disembarkation day? 

We want to book a transfer from the cruise port to the Istanbul Airport and need to decide what time to request pick-up.  Our flight leaves at 3:35 PM - too early to take any of Azamara's tours, but also late enough to possibly require hanging around the airport for hours.

[Scots Caz]

out of cabins 8am, off ship by 9am...breakfast will be available from early but everything will close down by 9am. 

[uktog]

You have to be out of your cabin by 0800

Last disembark is around 0900

Breakfast is served until 0830

Perhaps get a local guide who can give you a tour with luggage in the car 

[Baynanno1]

4 minutes ago, islandwoman said:

Can someone please tell me what time Azamara requires passengers to be out of their cabins on disembarkation day?  And what time they are required to be off the ship?  Also, how long there is likely to be anything to do, eat, or drink onboard on disembarkation day? 

We want to book a transfer from the cruise port to the Istanbul Airport and need to decide what time to request pick-up.  Our flight leaves at 3:35 PM - too early to take any of Azamara's tours, but also late enough to possibly require hanging around the airport for hours.

 

Agree with the above, posted as I slowly typed.

I like the suggestion of @uktogto do a private tour to fill in the time.

[Mackdogmolly]

15 minutes ago, Benthayer Gonbak said:

For example, in the UAE Tylenol PM is illegal.  

Wow!

[Benthayer Gonbak]

On 2/2/2023 at 12:50 PM, Mackdogmolly said:

Wow!

Yep!  Ritalin etc are there too, but that one sticks out because no one would suspect.  if I recall correctly, the allergy meds that were moved behind the pharmacy desks are illegal too.   I had an overnight there and was able to leave my luggage on the air side but I still made sure I didn’t have extras of any of the stranger ones. 

Edited February 27, 2023 by Host Jazzbeau
fixed autocorrect typo

[Grandma Cruising]

Just reposting the link to the spreadsheet again to save people looking for it.

Usual health warning that some of is pretty old now - pre COVID. & pre Sycamore. If you see something that you know has changed, please let me know.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15Deg-GaeZYLml8NN3PVwoh_jUkQ8QmYUe1wxnVAlODE/edit

[Mackdogmolly]

1 hour ago, Grandma Cruising said:

Just reposting the link to the spreadsheet again to save people looking for it.

Usual health warning that some of is pretty old now - pre COVID. & pre Sycamore. If you see something that you know has changed, please let me know.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15Deg-GaeZYLml8NN3PVwoh_jUkQ8QmYUe1wxnVAlODE/edit

I really appreciate all the work you put into this!