Anybody onboard currently?

[travelberlin]

Hi dear cruisers from European countries or from the Uk, in your recent cruise touching Italian, French or Spanish ports, did you have to fill a Passenger Locator Form for any of those countries? 
Have you received those forms from Azamara or did you fill them online before the whole cruise?

Ivi

[HalifaxYorksCruiser]

5 minutes ago, travelberlin said:

 

Hi dear cruisers from European countries or from the Uk, in your recent cruise touching Italian, French or Spanish ports, did you have to fill a Passenger Locator Form for any of those countries? 
Have you received those forms from Azamara or did you fill them online before the whole cruise?

Ivi

Just done our  PLFs today for our U.K. flights to Rome via Frankfurt

link here:

https://app.euplf.eu/#/

[uktog]

20 minutes ago, travelberlin said:

 

Hi dear cruisers from European countries or from the Uk, in your recent cruise touching Italian, French or Spanish ports, did you have to fill a Passenger Locator Form for any of those countries? 
Have you received those forms from Azamara or did you fill them online before the whole cruise?

Ivi

Azamara does not send them if you are flying to a country that needs them. You access then through links on the airline website 

If you need them once onboard Azamara helps you. 

Edited April 10, 2022 by uktog

[Killin Time]

On 4/6/2022 at 4:28 PM, OregonGal56 said:

Great info, thanks! We are on the Quest Spain Intensive leaving May 8th from Italy. Did you do a 72 hour test before embarkation? If so, do you know if they accept a "home" test, or if it has to be from a lab or pharmacy?

We are arriving in Italy about 6 days before our cruise, am a little worried about possible exposure, but we are getting our 4th shot tomorrow, so fingers crossed.

Also, did you do any of the ship excursions, if so, what is worthwhile? Last question, was many people actually wearing white for "white nights"?

Thanks for any addition info!

Hi just read your questions. Regarding Covid Azamara does a rapid test prior to boarding. We had taken a PCR test to be able to fly from California to Lisbon so there was no need for us to do our own Covid test. 
We took a couple of tours. The walking tour of Valencia was excellent with much information about the architecture of the city. Gibraltar tour is interesting though I had a monkey jump on my back that did not want to dislodge itself. I followed the tour guides suggestion to bend forward and back but that just caused it to grab its little paws to my hair. I had to grab the claws to get it off me. Since I had just seen how they pick nits off each other I was completely grossed out. The tour guide unsurprisingly suggested that I wash my hair when I returned to the boat. Which of course I did. White nights party did have most people wearing white. My husband had packed a while diner jacket but forgot to pack his white shirt so he wore a rather idiosyncratic outfit of white dinner jacket and gray rayon shirt. But as always the white party was fun. Many women wear white with something sparkly. 

[beatnix]

We will be on Quest in May and I would like to know if dancing in Living Room in the evenings is possible. Thanks in advance!

[suttonrunner]

1 hour ago, beatnix said:

We will be on Quest in May and I would like to know if dancing in Living Room in the evenings is possible. Thanks in advance!

Yes there is dancing in the evenings (Disco dancing). .  I was there in March and will be there again (hopefully) in May.  I danced every evening. Such fun.

[beatnix]

Best thanks suttonrunner!

My husband and me are more ballroom dancers. So we like ChaCha, Rumba, Waltz, Foxtrott ... 

Do they still have a band in Living room?

[suttonrunner]

32 minutes ago, beatnix said:

Best thanks suttonrunner!

My husband and me are more ballroom dancers. So we like ChaCha, Rumba, Waltz, Foxtrott ... 

Do they still have a band in Living room?

Yes they do - and  I have seen couples there dancing  in the evening too. 

[beatnix]

Perfect - 4 weeks to go 🤩

[uktog]

Excellent band currently in Quest Living Room - the Fantastic Beats. They will play anything you ask for and you can dance. The DJ is much less accommodating 

[suttonrunner]

15 minutes ago, beatnix said:

Perfect - 4 weeks to go 🤩

See you there  if you are going on the 8th.  The Quest is a wonderful ship and crew.

[beatnix]

1 hour ago, suttonrunner said:

See you there  if you are going on the 8th.  The Quest is a wonderful ship and crew.

Yes, we are and we are really excited. In 2019 we have been to Greece with Pursuit and we really loved it. Usually we travel with TUI Cruises. The initiary is perfect and has some new ports for us. And I hope for early summer weather.

Looking forward meeting you!

[uktog]

Based on our current Quest experience I’d say to regular cruisers check the menu carefully before booking a speciality restaurant. Although both restaurants are open “due to reduced guest numbers” - our ship is 2/3 full approximately- they are running a significantly reduced menu. I don’t get this, on Viking we had the same % occupancy last month and their specialities were running full menus.
 

Here’s the rub, I hadn’t checked the menu and had assumed it was the full offerings ok my mistake. All around us are people having things we would have had if it had been the full menu but it transpires they were in the know and had pre ordered. 
 

I suppose pre order is an option to future guests on these boards. But shouldn’t they offer it to everyone booking a speciality?  It’s not exactly fair on the unaware. 
 

Our experience in Aqualina certainly wasn’t special (oh and they’ve new uncomfortable chairs). In contrast our next night in the MDR was far better. 
 

The rotation of evening buffets has been strange, no Greek, Seafood or most surprisingly Spanish (maybe that will be the last night). Heard very mixed views on the Indian and tonight’s is Moroccan. We’ve had Mexican, British, Thai, Italian and German.
 

Food choice in MDR and at lunchtime has a strong focus on Asian and spicy. Not our preference for regular eating. We’ve chosen around and so far found something though the current trend on nuts on everything does give DH issues. I would like to suggest to the bean counters they can save money by stop all these flower petals on the pastries and desserts! 

[nordski]

49 minutes ago, uktog said:

Based on our current Quest experience I’d say to regular cruisers check the menu carefully before booking a speciality restaurant. Although both restaurants are open “due to reduced guest numbers” - our ship is 2/3 full approximately- they are running a significantly reduced menu. I don’t get this, on Viking we had the same % occupancy last month and their specialities were running full menus.
 

Here’s the rub, I hadn’t checked the menu and had assumed it was the full offerings ok my mistake. All around us are people having things we would have had if it had been the full menu but it transpires they were in the know and had pre ordered. 
 

I suppose pre order is an option to future guests on these boards. But shouldn’t they offer it to everyone booking a speciality?  It’s not exactly fair on the unaware. 
 

Our experience in Aqualina certainly wasn’t special (oh and they’ve new uncomfortable chairs). In contrast our next night in the MDR was far better. 
 

The rotation of evening buffets has been strange, no Greek, Seafood or most surprisingly Spanish (maybe that will be the last night). Heard very mixed views on the Indian and tonight’s is Moroccan. We’ve had Mexican, British, Thai, Italian and German.
 

Food choice in MDR and at lunchtime has a strong focus on Asian and spicy. Not our preference for regular eating. We’ve chosen around and so far found something though the current trend on nuts on everything does give DH issues. I would like to suggest to the bean counters they can save money by stop all these flower petals on the pastries and desserts! 

Thanks for the update,

 

Is The Patio open for dinners?

[takemewithyou]

@uktogHow many people are on your cruise?

 

[uktog]

19 minutes ago, nordski said:

Thanks for the update,

 

Is The Patio open for dinners?

No that’s been a big disappointment 

12 minutes ago, takemewithyou said:

@uktogHow many people are on your cruise?

 

414 we were told 

[takemewithyou]

We had about the same number on Quest in Dec and the Patio was open, thankfully!  We like the food there.  There was only Prime C open with limited menu with items from both menus.

 

I would feel very strange watching people around me having off menu specialties prepared just for them, especially if I were new to Azamara 

[uktog]

35 minutes ago, takemewithyou said:

We had about the same number on Quest in Dec and the Patio was open, thankfully!  We like the food there.  There was only Prime C open with limited menu with items from both menus.

 

I would feel very strange watching people around me having off menu specialties prepared just for them, especially if I were new to Azamara 

I agree. We were kind of made to feel we should have known we should have asked for other items. They did offer to do them next visit but we felt exactly that we didn’t feel others round us should feel they were getting a less special experience so declined. 

[nordski]

53 minutes ago, uktog said:

No that’s been a big disappointment 

414 we were told 

 

 

53 minutes ago, uktog said:

No that’s been a big disappointment 

414 we were told 

I can certainly appreciate your disappointment and can only hope that the meal choices, particularly in terms of the menus, improve.

 

We would especially miss not having The Patio open for dinner.

 

 

Edited April 13, 2022 by nordski

[uktog]

4 minutes ago, nordski said:

 

 

I can certainly appreciate your disappointment and can only hope that the meal choices improve.

 

 

Agree. It’s been a good cruise but not the best. It’s clear they aren’t sailing as before. They say “oh it’s because we’ve not got enough guests” 

 

Other silly things like no breakfast allowed at all on the back verandah- really? (They said then that was weather related but several mornings were warm enough) 

[nordski]

11 minutes ago, uktog said:

Agree. It’s been a good cruise but not the best. It’s clear they aren’t sailing as before. They say “oh it’s because we’ve not got enough guests” 

 

Other silly things like no breakfast allowed at all on the back verandah- really? (They said then that was weather related but several mornings were warm enough) 

No use of the verandah for breakfast does seem very silly indeed.

 

After all, it is outside with all of the advantages of superior ventilation that that location provides. Superior ventilation would also seem to be a good reason to keep The Patio open.

 

It may be that limiting the number of locations that require surface cleaning is a factor in the policy. As cruises roll out I hope that these policies are re-examined.

 

Thanks again for the update and I hope your experience moves more to the level of “great”.

 

 

[Josephgray1]

54 minutes ago, uktog said:

Agree. It’s been a good cruise but not the best. It’s clear they aren’t sailing as before. They say “oh it’s because we’ve not got enough guests” 

 

Other silly things like no breakfast allowed at all on the back verandah- really? (They said then that was weather related but several mornings were warm enough) 

We were on Quest in September with 150 guests and the verandah was open for breakfast each day, so not enough guests doesn’t sound like a reasonable explanation  on your cruise to me.
 

With the cost of the cruises being quite high again, they need to realize the guests are expecting the amenities to correlate. If we were receiving discounted fares, I think we’d all be much more accepting of things not being to the usual Azamara standards. But at this point, Azamara really needs to provide us with the level of service we’ve come to expect. I almost feel as though they think if the crew is nice and gracious, as they always are, that’s enough. There are decisions being made a a higher level that are compromising the the crews ability to provide guests with a great onboard experience. 

[travelberlin]

1 hour ago, uktog said:

Agree. It’s been a good cruise but not the best. It’s clear they aren’t sailing as before. They say “oh it’s because we’ve not got enough guests” 

 

Other silly things like no breakfast allowed at all on the back verandah- really? (They said then that was weather related but several mornings were warm enough) 

This does not sound good. We, the guests book a cruise expecting at least the same level of offerings as if it were a fully booked cruise. It is not our fault if others are not willing to cruise yet. Actually we should be treated better because with our bookings we are in a way contributing to support the cruise line. 
Ivi

[Josephgray1]

4 minutes ago, travelberlin said:

This does not sound good. We, the guests book a cruise expecting at least the same level of offerings as if it were a fully booked cruise. It is not our fault if others are not willing to cruise yet. Actually we should be treated better because with our bookings we are in a way contributing to support the cruise line. 
Ivi

I wholeheartedly agree! 

[crzrr]

3 hours ago, uktog said:

Agree. It’s been a good cruise but not the best. It’s clear they aren’t sailing as before. They say “oh it’s because we’ve not got enough guests” 

 

Other silly things like no breakfast allowed at all on the back verandah- really? (They said then that was weather related but several mornings were warm enough) 

In January they closed the back verandah for breakfast because someone in an owners suite on deck 8 was complaining about the noise.   That lasted a day and then they allowed it to be open beginning at 8am.  I would be annoyed if it was not open at all - my favorite place for breakfast!