Anybody onboard currently?

[Grandma Cruising]

5 hours ago, kent4489 said:

Internet on trans-Atlantic Onward has been great for us. Not perfect, but WAY better than the internet on Nov. trans-Atlantic.

I agree, much better than it used to be.

Edited March 10, 2023 by Grandma Cruising

[Mackdogmolly]

4 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Pinotage is the cilantro of wine – very divisive!

I gave up and booked the ultimate package 😂

[takemewithyou]

8 minutes ago, Mackdogmolly said:

I gave up and booked the ultimate package 😂

What happened?  Whispering Angel was calling you? 😀

[lisiamc]

11 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Pinotage is the cilantro of wine – very divisive!

Fortunately pinotage doesn’t taste like soap the way cilantro/coriander does to me!

[Riocca]

13 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Pinotage is the cilantro of wine – very divisive!

We enjoy Pinotage it’s sweet or oaky wines we find unpalatable, we tried one of the currently trendy “jammy” reds 🤢 threw the remainder of the bottle away. 

[Mackdogmolly]

9 hours ago, takemewithyou said:

What happened?  Whispering Angel was calling you? 😀

Lol - yes!

[mihusker]

Has anyone been to the port of Eliat, Israel before? We are looking at doing a tour from there to Petra but the operator recommended that we ensure we can get out to the port entrance okay for pickup. We arrive at 6am and his pickup would be at 7am but have heard that ships tours would get the buses out first and the rest of us would have to wait in line so not really sure we could get out there before 7am.

Originally planned on doing it from Aqaba the day before, but doesn't look like the tour would return in time for the AzAmazing Evening which we've never been able to experience before.

[Twiga]

We were in Aqaba and then Eilat on the Quest in November 2022.  The Azamazing Evening was in Aqaba.  Azamara adjusted the time of their tours to Petra to return to the ship by about 5:00pm so that everyone could go to the Azamazing Evening. We were on a private tour to Petra.  We got off the ship immediately once it was cleared in Aqaba and met our guide.  We had told the tour company beforehand that we wanted to return by 5:00pm and we did.  The Azamazing Evening was outdoors at a beautiful golf club and the show was fantastic!  I would recommend going to Petra from Aqaba.

[uktog]

Azamara do not exclude non ship excursions guests from going ashore before all the shorex guests are off. 

[lisiamc]

15 hours ago, takemewithyou said:

What happened?  Whispering Angel was calling you? 😀

Whispering Angel always calls me! 😁

[gowilk]

currently back to back on journey and i agree the house wines on this one have been at least above average and better than expected. As for food, i think main dining room has been somewhat disappointing as service is rushed and inconsistent and quality not as high as i expect. Buffet has been better than expected with high service levels there as well as the patio. As for the food there, hit and miss as should be predicted. my wife has fallen in love with aqualina and prime c so spent more obc there than expected.

Crew almost without exception has been outstanding, very few of the typical crew ship workers “i wish i was anywhere else”. We’ve have lots of crew interaction and much more than hello there stuff and took it as an opportunity to learn a little about other cultures quite joyfully i must say.

 

One of the best cruise experiences ever for us. only exception is the excursion group which still is substandard, poorly organized and surly. But i will not allow that to darken the experience otherwise. And the internet here is still abysmal, hopefully after upgrade they will put the daily program on intranet like others have done.

[Mackdogmolly]

We’re on the Pursuit and haven’t been to the specialties yet (dining in Aqualina tonight), but disagree about the food in the MDR. We have found it to be just fine. Depending on the night, sometimes the service has been slow, but we’re never in a hurry anyway. And certainly agree about the fabulous crew!

[DS]

Aboard the JOURNEY....  today's a sea day between Angola and Ghana.   The highlight was a visit to Null Island, a mythical "land" (since there is no "land") located at 0 degrees longitude and 0 degrees latitude   (also a common error of some mapping programs: if you put in a non-existent address you sometimes get 0,0 back...).  Crossing was about 9:42 AM GMT.   There is supposed to be a buoy at the location, but I could not spot it (too close to the hull??). The traditional equator crossing ceremony on the pool deck with King Neptune was held at 10:00.  GPS screen shots before and after attached...

Null island.pdf

[mihusker]

On 3/11/2023 at 9:18 AM, Twiga said:

We were in Aqaba and then Eilat on the Quest in November 2022.  The Azamazing Evening was in Aqaba.  Azamara adjusted the time of their tours to Petra to return to the ship by about 5:00pm so that everyone could go to the Azamazing Evening. We were on a private tour to Petra.  We got off the ship immediately once it was cleared in Aqaba and met our guide.  We had told the tour company beforehand that we wanted to return by 5:00pm and we did.  The Azamazing Evening was outdoors at a beautiful golf club and the show was fantastic!  I would recommend going to Petra from Aqaba.

Would you mind telling me who your tour operator at Aqaba to Petra was? The other thing is we dock in Aqaba at 08:00 so would that still be enough time to get back by 5:00-5:30?

[Twiga]

9 hours ago, mihusker said:

Would you mind telling me who your tour operator at Aqaba to Petra was? The other thing is we dock in Aqaba at 08:00 so would that still be enough time to get back by 5:00-5:30?

@mihusker, we were on the Quest.  We were supposed to arrive at Aqaba at 8:00 a.m.  At 7:00 a.m. that morning the Captain came on the PA system and told us that Aqaba time is one hour ahead of the ship's time, so that it was really 8:00!  Unbelievable.  There was no prior notice, nothing in the Insider, no announcements the day before. We were supposed to meet our tour guide, of Jordan Horizon Tours, at 8:00 a.m.  We hadn't even had breakfast yet!  It was a mad scramble to try to reach Jordan Horizon Tours to let them know that we would be an hour late.  It was 9:00 a.m. Jordan time before the ship was cleared and we got off the ship.  Our tour driver was waiting for us with my name on a sign.  I think he was used to such problems.  He was very calm.

 

It was two hours to Petra, with road construction detours, and one rest stop.  It was also a two hour trip back and we arrived at the ship at 5:00 p.m.  We had plenty of time to rest, take a shower and dress before boarding the bus to the Azamazing Evening.  

 

I highly recommend Jordan Horizon Tours.  Tell them that you want to return to the ship by 5:00 p.m.  Also, tell the guide (that the tour driver hires at Petra) that you need to be back at the van by the time the driver says.  Our driver then took us to a late lunch at a nice buffet restaurant.   We had plenty of time in Petra and arrived at the ship before 5:00 p.m.

 

Importantly, find out the day before if the ship is on Aqaba time or not!

[TeaBag]

Twiga, thank you so much for your post.  We are scheduled to be in Aqaba on Quest May 22 and we have a Petra tour booked with Jordon Horizon also.  With your permission, I would like to post your info about the time difference on our roll call.  I can't imagine a long day like that without breakfast!

[Twiga]

11 hours ago, TeaBag said:

Twiga, thank you so much for your post.  We are scheduled to be in Aqaba on Quest May 22 and we have a Petra tour booked with Jordon Horizon also.  With your permission, I would like to post your info about the time difference on our roll call.  I can't imagine a long day like that without breakfast!

@TeaBag, yes you may post my response.  We did have breakfast while waiting to disembark, since the ship wasn't cleared until 9:00 a.m.  We then had a late lunch after touring Petra.  One reason for the late lunch was that we had planned on taking a golf cart from the Treasury in Petra back to the entrance. However, the line to get on a cart was one hour long!  So we had to walk back, which took more time than we had planned.  FYI, the cost of riding in a cart for four people was about $90.

[mihusker]

13 hours ago, Twiga said:

@mihusker, we were on the Quest.  We were supposed to arrive at Aqaba at 8:00 a.m.  At 7:00 a.m. that morning the Captain came on the PA system and told us that Aqaba time is one hour ahead of the ship's time, so that it was really 8:00!  Unbelievable.  There was no prior notice, nothing in the Insider, no announcements the day before. We were supposed to meet our tour guide, of Jordan Horizon Tours, at 8:00 a.m.  We hadn't even had breakfast yet!  It was a mad scramble to try to reach Jordan Horizon Tours to let them know that we would be an hour late.  It was 9:00 a.m. Jordan time before the ship was cleared and we got off the ship.  Our tour driver was waiting for us with my name on a sign.  I think he was used to such problems.  He was very calm.

 

It was two hours to Petra, with road construction detours, and one rest stop.  It was also a two hour trip back and we arrived at the ship at 5:00 p.m.  We had plenty of time to rest, take a shower and dress before boarding the bus to the Azamazing Evening.  

 

I highly recommend Jordan Horizon Tours.  Tell them that you want to return to the ship by 5:00 p.m.  Also, tell the guide (that the tour driver hires at Petra) that you need to be back at the van by the time the driver says.  Our driver then took us to a late lunch at a nice buffet restaurant.   We had plenty of time in Petra and arrived at the ship before 5:00 p.m.

 

Importantly, find out the day before if the ship is on Aqaba time or not!

Thanks for this info! I was actually looking at Jordan Tours yesterday so glad to hear you enjoyed them and they worked with you. Also good to know about the possible difference in times between the ship and the port!

[Twiga]

1 minute ago, mihusker said:

Thanks for this info! I was actually looking at Jordan Tours yesterday so glad to hear you enjoyed them and they worked with you. Also good to know about the possible difference in times between the ship and the port!

We had originally booked our tour of Petra with Jordan Horizon Tours for our March 2020 Quest cruise, which was cancelled.  Jordan Horizon Tours was great to work with!  They require that you pay in full several weeks ahead of the cruise.  They refunded our payment very quickly.

[Mackdogmolly]

Can anyone currently on the Onward tell me how embarkation went at Grand Canaria on 3/11? Thanks!

[Riocca]

4 hours ago, Mackdogmolly said:

Can anyone currently on the Onward tell me how embarkation went at Grand Canaria on 3/11? Thanks!

Was answered on the Azamara Onward condition thread the other day.

 

 

[DS]

Onboard the Journey...  STARLINK was our internet provider as of this morning in Funchal, Madeira  (it was NOT the provider up the west coast of Africa, nor in the Canaries the past two days).   Downlink speeds (per speedtest.net) was about 1/2 of a megabit... not great, but clearly better than yesterday!

[DS]

Dear Azamara cruisers,

              No one has reported being on board for almost two months—I believe that some of you have been, or, are on board.

              Those of us who sail in the future would welcome pleasant tales of Azamara voyages.   At the present all we see is postings on other forums about web site issues, communications issues, payment issues, etc. etc.  We all know that the true Azamara experience is onboard, not with Miami.

              Please give us some comforting information!

[Host Jazzbeau]

4 hours ago, DS said:

Dear Azamara cruisers,

              No one has reported being on board for almost two months—I believe that some of you have been, or, are on board.

              Those of us who sail in the future would welcome pleasant tales of Azamara voyages.   At the present all we see is postings on other forums about web site issues, communications issues, payment issues, etc. etc.  We all know that the true Azamara experience is onboard, not with Miami.

              Please give us some comforting information!

There have been reports on people onboard in other threads.  If they don't reply here you need to read a little more widely.

[Aardvaark]

7 hours ago, DS said:

Dear Azamara cruisers,

              No one has reported being on board for almost two months—I believe that some of you have been, or, are on board.

              Those of us who sail in the future would welcome pleasant tales of Azamara voyages.   At the present all we see is postings on other forums about web site issues, communications issues, payment issues, etc. etc.  We all know that the true Azamara experience is onboard, not with Miami.

              Please give us some comforting information!

Currently aboard Azamara Quest, tied up for the second day of two in the port Safaga, Eygpt, on the Red Sea.  Captain Johannes Tysee and his people are doing a marvelous job of keeping us happy, well-fed, and active (if we choose).  The staff are the friendliest people, as they have been in the past.  Food is very good, complimentary wines are modest but very drinkable Australian and NZ blends.  There are about 680 persons on board, the majority being Australian, then US, then UK, then NZ and Canada.  The Patio is open for almost all meals, very enjoyable in this latitude.  Entertainment is by the Signature Singers & Dancers, augmented by specialists who rotate on and off at each port, providing diversity.  This 23-day cruise started in Singpore, then Sri Lanka, India, Egypt today, followed by Jordan, Israel, Crete, and disembarking in Athens.  We're having a fine time but have probably gained weight.