Tips for Azamara Newbies

[islandwoman]

I have a cruise booked on the Pursuit from Tokyo to Athens.  Will I be able to purchase my flights through Azamara?  How?

[Doh15]

Azamara offers flights through Choice Air—

 

http://www.cruisingpower.com/choiceair/protected/home.do?brand=Z

 

It seems that depending on the flight you choose, you may be able to defer payment until final payment on the cruise (or cancel before that date without penalty).  

 

From my scant experience sometimes the fares seem as good or even better than what you can get on your own, and sometimes they don’t. 

 

 

 

[Grandma Cruising]

52 minutes ago, Doh15 said:

Azamara offers flights through Choice Air—

 

http://www.cruisingpower.com/choiceair/protected/home.do?brand=Z

 

It seems that depending on the flight you choose, you may be able to defer payment until final payment on the cruise (or cancel before that date without penalty).  

 

From my scant experience sometimes the fares seem as good or even better than what you can get on your own, and sometimes they don’t. 

 

 

 

Thanks for that Doh15 - I’ve added the information about Choice Air to the ‘Tips’ spreadsheet.

Edited January 19, 2020 by Host Grandma Cruising

[Doh15]

👍🏽
 

If that link doesn’t work you can also use this link and then click on “book choice air”

 

https://www.azamara.com/plan/air-transfers/choiceair

Edited January 19, 2020 by Doh15

[Grandma Cruising]

3 minutes ago, Doh15 said:

👍🏽
 

If that link doesn’t work you can also use this link and then click on “book choice air”

 

https://www.azamara.com/plan/air-transfers/choiceair

Thanks

[Grandma Cruising]

Thanks to macdogmolly who just posted in a topic about tipping in the speciality restaurants.

The topic includes the fact that if you want to tip on Azamara to benefit all crew members, you can donate money to the Crew Fund. Macdogmolly told us that you can use refundable OBC (usually provided by TAs) to contribute to the Crew Fund.

Edited January 27, 2020 by Host Grandma Cruising

[marinaro44]

11 hours ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

Thanks to macdogmolly who just posted in a topic about tipping in the speciality restaurants.

The topic includes the fact that if you want to tip on Azamara to benefit all crew members, you can donate money to the Crew Fund. Macdogmolly told us that you can use refundable OBC (usually provided by TAs) to contribute to the Crew Fund.

Yes, we do that every cruise.

Edited January 27, 2020 by Host Grandma Cruising

[Grandma Cruising]

Someone on a Pursuit Roll Call has just posted that they were able to purchase a dining package ahead of the cruise by phoning Azamara - obviously they couldn’t book meals, but did purchase the package. I’ve added that to the spreadsheet. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15Deg-GaeZYLml8NN3PVwoh_jUkQ8QmYUe1wxnVAlODE

[mommo6]

On 1/19/2020 at 11:52 AM, Host Grandma Cruising said:

Thanks

Thanks to you and everyone else who has contributed to this board. I just found out about this board and am not quite halfway through reading all the pages. My husband and I will be going on our first Azamara Cruise in December on the Quest. In the past we have sailed primarily on Celebrity and have reached Elite Plus status on Celebrity. Years ago we sailed on a Renaissance Cruise ship which I understand is the same size as Azamara ships. Some Renaissance ships became Azamara ships, but I don’t think the ship we were on, the R6, is one of them. I am just now starting to check on tours and airfares for our upcoming Azamara Cruise, and I have posted on that CC roll call, but only one other person on that cruise has posted so far. That is quite different from my experience on other CC roll calls for previous cruises.

Judy

[Grandma Cruising]

40 minutes ago, mommo6 said:

Thanks to you and everyone else who has contributed to this board. I just found out about this board and am not quite halfway through reading all the pages. My husband and I will be going on our first Azamara Cruise in December on the Quest. In the past we have sailed primarily on Celebrity and have reached Elite Plus status on Celebrity. Years ago we sailed on a Renaissance Cruise ship which I understand is the same size as Azamara ships. Some Renaissance ships became Azamara ships, but I don’t think the ship we were on, the R6, is one of them. I am just now starting to check on tours and airfares for our upcoming Azamara Cruise, and I have posted on that CC roll call, but only one other person on that cruise has posted so far. That is quite different from my experience on other CC roll calls for previous cruises.

Judy

Glad you are finding this topic helpful.

Numbers vary tremendously on CC Roll Calls. Some can be very busy - the Lisbon - Rio Cruise I was on in Nov/Dec had over 90 members. It often seems that Mediterranean cruises get fewer numbers. I guess there will often be more on Celebrity roll calls especially on the larger ships.

[Rabo]

Azamara Journey was Renaissance's R6.

[mommo6]

On 7/10/2019 at 4:03 PM, LuAnn said:

 

I did golf...a long time ago...then when I wanted to "wrap my golf club around a palm tree" I decided to give it up!! Based on what I read here the "Perry "Golf" cruises seem very popular and fun...is that what your "peeps" are considering???  If so it might be a "good fit"! RE "cabin crawls"...I do think that is more of an X "thing"...I did those in the past...usually when the S ships came out...which (it's been 10 years ago already) were just so "new and cool"!!! 🙂 I would love to hear what you think about "Edge"...TBH I'm not "sold" yet...but then I've been sailing X since 2001...and maybe I'm just not "hip" enough to "get it"!!! 🙂 :") 🙂 To be on the cruise for the "Grand Prix"??...THAT would be just too fun!!! "Book it Danno"...I'm pretty sure that might "sell out" fast!!! We were lucky enough to "drive" that route once ...with a guide in a van...not "quite" the same thing...and it was fun...to see it ..."in person"...would be just "AMZ'ing"!!! LuAnn

I saw this post regarding your wanting to know about the Edge. My husband and I were on the Edge last year around this time for a B2B Caribbean Cruise. We enjoyed it very much. We were in an Infinite Balcony, and the first stateroom we had was fine, but we had to move to a different stateroom for the second week because the cabin we were in the first week was booked by someone else. The second cabin we were in had some issues. We reported the issues, and one of them was fixed, but the second issue (heat radiating from behind the bathroom mirror) was not fixed. We were told it couldn’t be fixed. We enjoyed the way the ship was decorated and the different venues onboard, e.g. Eden and the Magic Carpet. There were some recommendations made by passengers regarding improvements that could be made to the ship like adding more dance floor space, and I heard that Celebrity has incorporated some of those recommended changes. There are 4 main restaurants on the Edge, each with a different theme, i.e. Italian, Greek, Cosmopolitan and French. We tried all of them and enjoyed the food in each one. They were all decorated differently to match the theme of the restaurant. To give you an example of the ship’s decor, there was a ship on display that was made entirely of pearls. It was stunning! Also there was a forest of brass trees that you had to walk through to get to Eden, and instrumental music played in this space as you walked through it. I could go on and on, but these are just some highlights to give you an idea of what it is like. I took lots of pictures of various venues on the ship.

Judy

[edunava]

Good afternoon from Barcelona

 

First of all I apologize for my terrible English, I read and write in this forum thanks to my great friend the Google translator, if they find faults or failures it is his fault.

 

First of all I want to thank all those who have collaborated in this thread, it is a great help for first timers in Azamara.

 

My wife and I are regulars of Royal (Diamond) and Celebrity (Elite) but in the month of May we will make our first cruise on the Azamara Journey.
Our level of English is very basic and we have always found someone from the crew that speaks Spanish.

 

The questions are:

In Azamara there are crew members who speak Spanish ???? Waiters, officers .........

In the restaurants can we find menus in Spanish?

We know that the official language on board is English, but a little help could be very useful.

 

Thank you!!!!
Edu and Montse.

[Grandma Cruising]

Sorry to say that you won’t find menus in Spanish - they’re generally just printed in English. When you get onboard you should go to Guest Relations to find out if they have any Spanish speakers among the crew and any way they can help you with things like menus.

[Tom47]

2 hours ago, edunava said:

Good afternoon from Barcelona

 

First of all I apologize for my terrible English, I read and write in this forum thanks to my great friend the Google translator, if they find faults or failures it is his fault.

 

First of all I want to thank all those who have collaborated in this thread, it is a great help for first timers in Azamara.

 

My wife and I are regulars of Royal (Diamond) and Celebrity (Elite) but in the month of May we will make our first cruise on the Azamara Journey.
Our level of English is very basic and we have always found someone from the crew that speaks Spanish.

 

The questions are:

In Azamara there are crew members who speak Spanish ???? Waiters, officers .........

In the restaurants can we find menus in Spanish?

We know that the official language on board is English, but a little help could be very useful.

 

Thank you!!!!
Edu and Montse.

I would send your questions to Azamara in an email with your reservation number, sail date, etc. Perhaps with advance notice they will help. 

[marinaro44]

4 hours ago, Tom47 said:

I would send your questions to Azamara in an email with your reservation number, sail date, etc. Perhaps with advance notice they will help. 

I'd think the host at the dining room could seat you with a Spanish-speaking server.

[edunava]

13 hours ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

Sorry to say that you won’t find menus in Spanish - they’re generally just printed in English. When you get onboard you should go to Guest Relations to find out if they have any Spanish speakers among the crew and any way they can help you with things like menus.

 

OK I will do like that.
Thank you!!!!!

 

[edunava]

13 hours ago, Tom47 said:

I would send your questions to Azamara in an email with your reservation number, sail date, etc. Perhaps with advance notice they will help. 

 

Good idea.
Thank you!!!!

[edunava]

9 hours ago, marinaro44 said:

I'd think the host at the dining room could seat you with a Spanish-speaking server.

 

Yes, I think so too, it is very likely that there is a Spanish-speaking waiter.
Thank you!!!!

[360Guy]

Looking forward to our Australia and New Zealand February 2021 adventure on the Pursuit.  I saw on the spreadsheet the reference for upgrading the Essentials experience premium drinks to ultimate package by paying the difference of appx. $6 per day.  Just confirming this is still in place.

[Grandma Cruising]

4 hours ago, 360Guy said:

Looking forward to our Australia and New Zealand February 2021 adventure on the Pursuit.  I saw on the spreadsheet the reference for upgrading the Essentials experience premium drinks to ultimate package by paying the difference of appx. $6 per day.  Just confirming this is still in place.

As far as I know it is. Bonnie (the Azamara representative on CC) confirmed it fairly recently.

[360Guy]

5 hours ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

As far as I know it is. Bonnie (the Azamara representative on CC) confirmed it fairly recently.

Thank you!

[LuAnn]

On 2/2/2020 at 7:57 PM, mommo6 said:

I saw this post regarding your wanting to know about the Edge. My husband and I were on the Edge last year around this time for a B2B Caribbean Cruise. We enjoyed it very much. We were in an Infinite Balcony, and the first stateroom we had was fine, but we had to move to a different stateroom for the second week because the cabin we were in the first week was booked by someone else. The second cabin we were in had some issues. We reported the issues, and one of them was fixed, but the second issue (heat radiating from behind the bathroom mirror) was not fixed. We were told it couldn’t be fixed. We enjoyed the way the ship was decorated and the different venues onboard, e.g. Eden and the Magic Carpet. There were some recommendations made by passengers regarding improvements that could be made to the ship like adding more dance floor space, and I heard that Celebrity has incorporated some of those recommended changes. There are 4 main restaurants on the Edge, each with a different theme, i.e. Italian, Greek, Cosmopolitan and French. We tried all of them and enjoyed the food in each one. They were all decorated differently to match the theme of the restaurant. To give you an example of the ship’s decor, there was a ship on display that was made entirely of pearls. It was stunning! Also there was a forest of brass trees that you had to walk through to get to Eden, and instrumental music played in this space as you walked through it. I could go on and on, but these are just some highlights to give you an idea of what it is like. I took lots of pictures of various venues on the ship.

Judy

 

Thanks Judy!!! For a very comprehensive idea about Edge!!! I think...it is still not our "cup of tea" ...but that has a lot to do with our age...and ability to travel right now!!! But I DO love the new X ad on TV (at least in So Cal) that features "White Rabbit"...as the theme song...as a young adult of the early 70s...I can GET that!!! :) LOVE IT!!! :)

[mommo6]

4 minutes ago, LuAnn said:

 

Thanks Judy!!! For a very comprehensive idea about Edge!!! I think...it is still not our "cup of tea" ...but that has a lot to do with our age...and ability to travel right now!!! But I DO love the new X ad on TV (at least in So Cal) that features "White Rabbit"...as the theme song...as a young adult of the early 70s...I can GET that!!! 🙂 LOVE IT!!! 🙂

Yes, we have seen the Celebrity Edge ad on TV and like it. The ship does have a modern design, so it's not everyone's "cup of tea." We enjoyed it but are not anxious to sail on the Edge or Apex in the near future, unless there is a really good deal offered that is too good to pass up.

Judy

[islandwoman]

What does Azamara offer passengers if they make an itinerary change?  I guess that the cruise documents say that the Captain has the right to change the itinerary, but I'm wondering about their usual procedures.  I'm thinking of a major itinerary change, not just a skipped port due to unexpected weather or some such thing.  I ask because we're booked on 4 back to back cruises from Japan to Europe for which we've put down non-refundable deposits.  I'm concerned that the coronavirus might force Azamara to make major changes to its itineraries.  Final payment date will likely arrive before we know whether itinerary changes will be necessary.