Anybody onboard currently?

[earth117]

1 hour ago, SFtraveller said:

As for losing Senegal, on Nov. 5 WHO registered ZERO cases. Anyone find out why Senegal was cancelled?

Senegal is a really strange case for the cruise. Azamara Journey dropped the port of Dakar, but runs a shore excursion from Banjul Gambia into Senegal ("Exploring Senegal" tour to Fathala Nature Reserve). No visa required for US/UK passports. Apparently the port has different rules than inland. I'm doing that tour tomorrow and will report how it goes (if I get back!). 

[uktog]

Onward cannot call at St John today due to high swell making tendering unsafe so we are over in St Thomas. Not my first choice but at least we got somewhere!  Unfortunately the local infrastructure is still to wake up to our arrival so no taxis around yet 

[Benthayer Gonbak]

10 hours 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...

 

I remember Typhoid shots made my arm sore/stiff  for days, that was the beginning series.   In school I remember eggs being mean of the reasons certain shots weren’t available to some.  Later it was a preservative.   As for Moderna I have a cousin who was was in the hospital with a reaction to it. Her blood pressure skyrocketed, as did her husband’s.  She was overnighted for observation I think he had one night.  There are a multitude of reasons to have empathy for those who can’t tolerate some vaccines. In some cases that mean family at be around extended family because of an infant not getting a pertussis vaccine. 
 

As for mosquitoes, it really only takes standing water.  And although I haven’t experienced too many bugs in port but I do  remember a few.  And yes, time of year can matter.  
 

 

[Mackdogmolly]

1 hour ago, uktog said:

Onward cannot call at St John today due to high swell making tendering unsafe so we are over in St Thomas. Not my first choice but at least we got somewhere!  Unfortunately the local infrastructure is still to wake up to our arrival so no taxis around yet 

Oh too bad about St. John! Is there time to take the ferry over? So much nicer than St. Thomas.

[uktog]

4 hours ago, Mackdogmolly said:

Oh too bad about St. John! Is there time to take the ferry over? So much nicer than St. Thomas.

By the time we knew it was too late to scramble to plans so we headed to Magens Bay which we first visited 25 years ago on our first ever cruise so nice reminiscing 

[Mackdogmolly]

25 minutes ago, uktog said:

By the time we knew it was too late to scramble to plans so we headed to Magens Bay which we first visited 25 years ago on our first ever cruise so nice reminiscing 

Oh, Magens Bay is lovely too!

[Host Jazzbeau]

Didn't fancy spending the day at Diamonds International?  🤣

 

Actually, we did a quick look through the port shops in St. Thomas once, and H. Stern has a really lovely display of [unaffordable] jewelry.

[MCOgirl]

8 hours ago, uktog said:

Onward cannot call at St John today due to high swell making tendering unsafe so we are over in St Thomas. Not my first choice but at least we got somewhere!  Unfortunately the local infrastructure is still to wake up to our arrival so no taxis around yet 

Hi UKtog,

Sorry to hear you couldn’t make it into StJohn . Happy they found an alternative port!Although is would not have been your first choice.

 We will be on the Onward for the   Dec 12th sailing.

I am curious, is the ship full?

Also are you happy with the ships

Remodel?

Thank you

Enjoy your time onboard🍸

 

 

 

 

Edited December 5, 2022 by MCOgirl
Spelling

[takemewithyou]

29 minutes ago, MCOgirl said:

Hi UKtog,

Sorry to hear you couldn’t make it into StJohn . Happy they found an alternative port!Although is would not have been your first choice.

 We will be on the Onward for the   Dec 12th sailing.

I am curious, is the ship full?

Also are you happy with the ships

Remodel?

Thank you

Enjoy your time onboard🍸

 

 

 

 

We have a roll call.  Would you like to join it?

 

[roberts2005]

3 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Didn't fancy spending the day at Diamonds International?  🤣

 

Actually, we did a quick look through the port shops in St. Thomas once, and H. Stern has a really lovely display of [unaffordable] jewelry.

Is H. Stern still in business?

[Host Jazzbeau]

42 minutes ago, roberts2005 said:

Is H. Stern still in business?

One of the great blessings in my life is that DW doesn't wear much jewelry, so:  dunno!

[uktog]

1 hour ago, roberts2005 said:

Is H. Stern still in business?

We did not go into town. The only place was saw was Little Switzerland. None of the shops at the port were open because we were not scheduled to be there 

[uktog]

But we loved reliving memories 

[earth117]

Aboard the Journey: report on "Exploring Senegal" excursion from Banjul Gambia.

 

But first, shockingly there was no vegetarian entree at the Windows buffet for dinner. When I asked, the server pointed to the peas and carrots. 

 

Exploring Senegal: Fathala Nature Reserve was good, with some caveats. It took more than 5 hours (on what was supposed to be an 8 hour tour) from the meeting time to reach the nature reserve. Lots of delays first at Gambian immigration entry, then the ferry, then the Gambia exit was reasonably quick (the guide brought all the passports to the officials), then Senegal entry was fairly efficient but long because of long lines. At Senegal entry you had to show yellow fever and covid vax certificates. Several people ignored the 10+ times this was said, and had to go back to the bus to get theirs. A couple people had ignored all previous notices about certain nationalities requiring visas and had to go through the visa process at the border, delaying everyone else. 

 

The nature reserve is mostly low story forest - if you've never seen African animals you will enjoy it a lot, if you've been to any East or Southern Africa game parks you'll yawn (well, maybe not, they are still impressive animals but in nowhere near the numbers or setting of those game parks). We saw roan antelope, waterbuck, eland, giraffe, red colobus monkey, zebra - all in small groups. 

 

The return was faster, though we still had the border stops (so 6 passport stamps in a day!), but in the end the ship sailed 2h20 late. Clearly their 8 hour estimation for the tour was a guess (first time Azamara has done this tour; some staff came on the tours). By the way, onboard accounts are charged USD50 for the Gambia visa and USD56 for the Ghana visa (for most nationalities). 

 

p.s. the vegetarian selection on the excursion was a scoop of rice and steamed carrots. Fortunately this could be saved taste-wise by the bottle of West African yellow pepper sauce on the counter.

Edited December 6, 2022 by earth117
added veg info

[uktog]

First outdoor Azamazing evening last night on the pier at St Maarten - enjoyable evening though the rain did make a brief experience. Hearing mixed views - there were rum punches (strong)

 

 

stilt walkers

fire eaters

a marching band,

 

dancers and a band so it was not a cheap evening for Azamara! 

[Mackdogmolly]

2 hours ago, uktog said:

First outdoor Azamazing evening last night on the pier at St Maarten - enjoyable evening though the rain did make a brief experience. Hearing mixed views - there were rum punches (strong)

 

 

stilt walkers

fire eaters

a marching band,

 

dancers and a band so it was not a cheap evening for Azamara! 

Thanks for posting. Nice pictures! 

[acruisergirl]

18 hours ago, earth117 said:

Aboard the Journey: report on "Exploring Senegal" excursion from Banjul Gambia.

 

But first, shockingly there was no vegetarian entree at the Windows buffet for dinner. When I asked, the server pointed to the peas and carrots. 

 

Exploring Senegal: Fathala Nature Reserve was good, with some caveats. It took more than 5 hours (on what was supposed to be an 8 hour tour) from the meeting time to reach the nature reserve. Lots of delays first at Gambian immigration entry, then the ferry, then the Gambia exit was reasonably quick (the guide brought all the passports to the officials), then Senegal entry was fairly efficient but long because of long lines. At Senegal entry you had to show yellow fever and covid vax certificates. Several people ignored the 10+ times this was said, and had to go back to the bus to get theirs. A couple people had ignored all previous notices about certain nationalities requiring visas and had to go through the visa process at the border, delaying everyone else. 

 

The nature reserve is mostly low story forest - if you've never seen African animals you will enjoy it a lot, if you've been to any East or Southern Africa game parks you'll yawn (well, maybe not, they are still impressive animals but in nowhere near the numbers or setting of those game parks). We saw roan antelope, waterbuck, eland, giraffe, red colobus monkey, zebra - all in small groups. 

 

The return was faster, though we still had the border stops (so 6 passport stamps in a day!), but in the end the ship sailed 2h20 late. Clearly their 8 hour estimation for the tour was a guess (first time Azamara has done this tour; some staff came on the tours). By the way, onboard accounts are charged USD50 for the Gambia visa and USD56 for the Ghana visa (for most nationalities). 

 

p.s. the vegetarian selection on the excursion was a scoop of rice and steamed carrots. Fortunately this could be saved taste-wise by the bottle of West African yellow pepper sauce on the counter.

Thanks earth117 for information about this excursion both pro and con.  My husband and I are on the 23 March cruise of Western Africa and chose this tour.  We appreciate all the comments pertaining to your voyage as it can only prepare the rest of the us for what we may encounter on our upcoming Journey cruise.😊

Edited December 7, 2022 by acruisergirl

[uktog]

Due to sea conditions Onward will not call at Virgin Gorda on Friday where tendering would be a challenge but fair play we are going to dock in Tortola a new island for us 

[takemewithyou]

38 minutes ago, uktog said:

Due to sea conditions Onward will not call at Virgin Gorda on Friday where tendering would be a challenge but fair play we are going to dock in Tortola a new island for us 

Gosh, the sea conditions have been pretty rough for you.  Very windy also?

Last yr at this time it was quite windy.  The seas leaving Miami to our first port, St Thomas, were pretty choppy last year.  Maybe that’s just the conditions this time of year? 

Edited December 7, 2022 by takemewithyou

[JWayne60]

36 minutes ago, uktog said:

Due to sea conditions Onward will not call at Virgin Gorda on Friday where tendering would be a challenge but fair play we are going to dock in Tortola a new island for us 

@uktogYour cruise is beginning to sound like the “Magical Mystery Tour” (Quest holiday cruise Dec 2021 - Jan 2022) that both @Mackdogmollyand I were on last year… but fortunately for different reasons… yours weather / sea conditions, whereas ours was totally COVID related.   Nevertheless, hope you continue to enjoy your cruise, just as we did last year 😎 🚢.

 

Jeff

[Mackdogmolly]

1 hour ago, JWayne60 said:

@uktogYour cruise is beginning to sound like the “Magical Mystery Tour” (Quest holiday cruise Dec 2021 - Jan 2022) that both @Mackdogmollyand I were on last year… but fortunately for different reasons… yours weather / sea conditions, whereas ours was totally COVID related.   Nevertheless, hope you continue to enjoy your cruise, just as we did last year 😎 🚢.

 

Jeff

@JWayne60Hi Jeff! Hope you and the missus are well. Yes, for different reasons, this is shaping up to be a similar type of cruise. Maybe they will get a little bonus at the end as we did. Hope to see you again sometime!

Betsey

[tgg]

3 hours ago, uktog said:

Due to sea conditions Onward will not call at Virgin Gorda on Friday where tendering would be a challenge but fair play we are going to dock in Tortola a new island for us 

So glad you have a great alternative port. There's good snorkeling, if you're so inclined.

[Ithikan]

3 hours ago, uktog said:

Due to sea conditions Onward will not call at Virgin Gorda on Friday where tendering would be a challenge but fair play we are going to dock in Tortola a new island for us 

Absolutely nothing wrong with a visit to Tortola.  We spent a delightful week at the Sugar Mill Hotel on Tortola - fabulous restaurants, beaches.  Reservations at the Rum House mean dining within the 400 year stone walls of the restaurant - an unbeatable ambiance.  I hope you enjoy the island!

 

[takemewithyou]

4 hours ago, uktog said:

Due to sea conditions Onward will not call at Virgin Gorda on Friday where tendering would be a challenge but fair play we are going to dock in Tortola a new island for us 

One of the best points to Azamara….they will find an alternate port, instead of doing doughnuts all day in the ocean with that other “not to be named”  cruise line we tried earlier in the year!  😳

[sovilav01]

3 hours ago, JWayne60 said:

@uktogYour cruise is beginning to sound like the “Magical Mystery Tour” (Quest holiday cruise Dec 2021 - Jan 2022) that both @Mackdogmollyand I were on last year… but fortunately for different reasons… yours weather / sea conditions, whereas ours was totally COVID related.   Nevertheless, hope you continue to enjoy your cruise, just as we did last year 😎 🚢.

 

Jeff

We were also on the Magical Mystery Tour last year and for the first time of my life I can’t remember🤔 where we went as the itinerary changed every day, especially since an island is an island 😂 but I remember the wonderful weather we had.