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Tips for Azamara Newbies


Grandma Cruising
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I don't drink beer much but do like a dark beer now and then.  Are you saying that the beer on tap used to be dark and now it has switched to some kind of light beer?  I was hoping, with Azamara's local immersion thing and all, that Guinness would be on tap during our upcoming Ireland circumnavigation!

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1 hour ago, Grandma Cruising said:

I have just learned from norn iron that this is a trial on Onward only. Have adjusted the spreadsheet again! 


He/she only mentions the change of liquor offerings in suites is on trial.  No mention that the draught beer change is a trial. 
 

I’m just saying this as you quoted the post that included both changes. 

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About Azamara evenings....I just read this on the spreadsheet:
'After the Azamazing evening there is a huge buffet so don’t worry about missing dinner.'

For our sailing, it appears there are two Azamazing shows, one at 6:30 and one at 8:30.  We'd been wondering where there might be a dinner buffet for those desiring to dine before the first show?

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2 hours ago, kaymoz said:

About Azamara evenings....I just read this on the spreadsheet:
'After the Azamazing evening there is a huge buffet so don’t worry about missing dinner.'

For our sailing, it appears there are two Azamazing shows, one at 6:30 and one at 8:30.  We'd been wondering where there might be a dinner buffet for those desiring to dine before the first show?

I expect you will dine after the first show.  Perhaps along with the late show patrons eating before their show?

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3 hours ago, Beamafar said:


He/she only mentions the change of liquor offerings in suites is on trial.  No mention that the draught beer change is a trial. 
 

I’m just saying this as you quoted the post that included both changes. 

You’re quite right. The spreadsheet has only been amended regarding the spirits as it does not mention anywhere the included beers.

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12 minutes ago, Grandma Cruising said:

You’re quite right. The spreadsheet has only been amended regarding the spirits as it does not mention anywhere the included beers.


👍

 

The spreadsheet is a great resource. 🙏🤗

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15 hours ago, kaymoz said:

About Azamara evenings....I just read this on the spreadsheet:
'After the Azamazing evening there is a huge buffet so don’t worry about missing dinner.'

For our sailing, it appears there are two Azamazing shows, one at 6:30 and one at 8:30.  We'd been wondering where there might be a dinner buffet for those desiring to dine before the first show?


when the Azamazing events were on shore there was a early dinner that was with minimal choices.  When we returned there was a lot to eat upstairs!  There were also drinks at the events as well as some food, often just sweets. 

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On 6/23/2022 at 12:03 PM, blag said:

Except... 

Is there any way to weed out stuff from Tips for Newbies so that it becomes an effective resource, rather than what it seems to be now? There is SO much irrelevant dross that it has become unwieldy.

As it stands people are more inclined to ask a question rather than face the prospect of reading every single post in that thread. L

I do get what you are saying, but since you seem to be able to predict the questions* (and there is a lot of relevant data), why not at least give it a try?

Who knows - it might spare you and many others from having to wade through the same, tedious, but nevertheless (to some) important, questions.

*and therefore, presumably, answer them. 

 

Of course, there will be those who will just ask the question because it is easier than having to think or to read Azamara's information/guidance, but if you simplify things, maybe, just maybe... 

I see from your profile that you have taken a lot of cruises. Is it possible for you to remember back to the time you were preparing for your first cruise. Did you maybe feel a little lost? Maybe a little worried or intimidated about it all? I assume those are feelings that a lot of "newbies" have. Also, can you think of any new forum you've joined where you didn't know exactly what it was about, how people interacted there, and certainly had no knowledge of what had been discussed countless times before. Well, this thread is specifically for newbies - the very definition of people who are new to cruising and therefore also likely to be new to this forum. 

Edited by jwilcox
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On 6/26/2022 at 5:48 PM, Port Power said:

 I have been on many, many private tours, but always with operators who guarantee to get us back to the ship on time.

I wonder what good these guarantees are?  Once I was on a private excursion in Montenegro (different cruise line) with such an operator. A bus got stuck on the mountain road heading back to the port, blocking all traffic including ours. The tour leader was on the phone, frantically calling the ship.  We arrived at the tender dock in the nick of time,  but what if we hadn't?  They wouldn't have held the ship!   

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1 hour ago, islandwoman said:

I wonder what good these guarantees are?  Once I was on a private excursion in Montenegro (different cruise line) with such an operator. A bus got stuck on the mountain road heading back to the port, blocking all traffic including ours. The tour leader was on the phone, frantically calling the ship.  We arrived at the tender dock in the nick of time,  but what if we hadn't?  They wouldn't have held the ship!   

The operator would then make arrangements to get you to the next port. I agree good in theory, because I’ve never had to prove it.  However, the ship will wait if they are called and enough passengers are involved. Besides, the ship’s tour may well be held up by road accident.

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On 6/29/2022 at 11:07 AM, Benthayer Gonbak said:


when the Azamazing events were on shore there was a early dinner that was with minimal choices.  When we returned there was a lot to eat upstairs!  There were also drinks at the events as well as some food, often just sweets. 

 

Yes most onshore events provided a plentiful variety of food and drink.

 

But - some of the onshore events were totally without any form of food or drink. Not even water!

Notably one in Venice, with a long walk both before and after to a canal boat transporting us between ship and shore in fairly extreme temperatures. Many people were suffering!

 

Subsequently we always took a bottle of water with us just in case of a repeat.

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26 minutes ago, Baynanno1 said:

 

Yes most onshore events provided a plentiful variety of food and drink.

 

But - some of the onshore events were totally without any form of food or drink. Not even water!

Notably one in Venice, with a long walk both before and after to a canal boat transporting us between ship and shore in fairly extreme temperatures. Many people were suffering!

 

Subsequently we always took a bottle of water with us just in case of a repeat.


Wow, not good.  I started with Azamara befor Azamazing began.  In Bangkok they were using ice in everything and it wasn’t clear how safe it was!  Yes, I was a bit paranoid but ……

 

I think our first Azamazing was a huge display of pastries and mostly beer and wine.  I don’t remember water there but it’s possible and yes I recognize you are commenting on liquid of any kind, That awful, especially since Azamara used to put water on tours where they weren’t sure of the local water!  I not sure if we had beverages at the Russian Ballet, but I believe because of the long line water was available on the pier as a 4 piece band had been put on the pier to make the waits better.  
 

I’d be interesting in knowing where you actual went in Venice having just returned. I do recall on Celebrity that walk was longer than I wanted it to be.  St Petersburg was pretty long too, on Azamara. 

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Thank you for such an informative post. We are thinking of booking a cruise on the Journey from Australia to Hong Kong in 2024. Should we book direct or through a travel agent? Have cruised with other companies eg P&O, Royal Caribbean, Cunard and have used travel agents. 

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5 minutes ago, Fish & Chips said:

Thank you for such an informative post. We are thinking of booking a cruise on the Journey from Australia to Hong Kong in 2024. Should we book direct or through a travel agent? Have cruised with other companies eg P&O, Royal Caribbean, Cunard and have used travel agents. 

Either way, it’s your choice.  I use a CLIA agency in Western Australia. I have also used a reputable online USA agency with no problems. You probably have heard of the ones to avoid.

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3 hours ago, Fish & Chips said:

Thank you for such an informative post. We are thinking of booking a cruise on the Journey from Australia to Hong Kong in 2024. Should we book direct or through a travel agent? Have cruised with other companies eg P&O, Royal Caribbean, Cunard and have used travel agents. 

Just to put a U.K. perspective on the question, pre pandemic we always used a travel agent for booking and received good service and a reasonable discount. Unfortunately during the pandemic like many on this board our travel agent let us down badly holding onto refunds and adding extra changes to try and make up their losses, so we have now changed to direct bookings. To date we’ve had excellent service from Azamara direct sometimes finding discounts we didn’t know were available.

A point worth considering most U.K. travel agents are very familiar with the cruise lines you mention, some even have direct access to their booking systems so are able to give good advice. However they may not be as familiar with the Azamara product and sometimes give misleading information.

 

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19 hours ago, Benthayer Gonbak said:

I’d be interesting in knowing where you actual went in Venice having just returned. I do recall on Celebrity that walk was longer than I wanted it to be.

 

It was on 29 June 2015 and there were sweltering walks of some distance from ship to canal boat as well as the indirect walk to the beautiful Teatro La Fenice.

Many people were stripping off what they could on the return.

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2 hours ago, Baynanno1 said:

 

It was on 29 June 2015 and there were sweltering walks of some distance from ship to canal boat as well as the indirect walk to the beautiful Teatro La Fenice.

Many people were stripping off what they could on the return.

Were you docked at Marittima, or San Basilio?

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3 hours ago, Baynanno1 said:

 

It was on 29 June 2015 and there were sweltering walks of some distance from ship to canal boat as well as the indirect walk to the beautiful Teatro La Fenice.

Many people were stripping off what they could on the return.


That sounds like a lovely venue. But the trek sounds awful!   Back a few years I was in Venue at the end of June too, and I remember the walk to the vaporetto being miserably hot too.  This year I think we had one day that got warmer than I’d wished but not as bad as the previous trip.   I remember the ship, not an Azamara also being quite hot inside too.   I assume the venue wasn’t air conditioned either!
 

sorry so many people were in destress too. That’s never good!  Sounds like at least the ice cold wash clothes would have been in order!  

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For the folks new to Azamara, they have a loyalty program you may want to know about.

https://www.azamara.com/loyalty/azamara-circle/member-savings/refer-receive-program
If
you are going with someone who has sailed with Azamara in the past.  See that link.  There is a small window for the referral to be used.  See that link

You get 150 to use on the cruise you are on.  The person who refers you get 300 for a future cruise.

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On 8/20/2018 at 3:41 PM, Grandma Cruising said:

 

 

 

I don’t know the pricing for the T-pool (but there are 2 jacuzzi pools on the pool deck too) but I’m sure someone else will.

On longer cruises there is often a laundry sale - on our last cruise it was $40 for a bag, and it comes back nicely folded, and pressed where appropriate (shirts etc). You can get a lot in a bag - there’s an art to stuffing it in!

 

As already said, the self-service laundry is free, including detergent.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Do they offer unscented detergent?

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