Anybody onboard currently?

[marinaro44]

Who are the captains and hotel directors now?

[Fatfish]

1 hour ago, Keeria said:

We have just returned from our cruise on Azamara Journey from Civitavecchia to Lisbon and entertainment was excellent, in fact, better than ever. We were so lucky that Eric de Grey was the cruise director on Journey. We so much enjoyed his shows.

There is currently a very popular band from the Philippines on board that plays every night in the Living Room and the dance floor was well frequented. 

The name of the band is East Pearl; I have a friend that is a bartender ( Rodel ) on the Journey who was very happy about that the guest liking the band..

 

Edited December 4, 2021 by Fatfish

[Grandma Cruising]

11 hours ago, marinaro44 said:

Who are the captains and hotel directors now?

Have a look on the Azamara website under Life Onboard from the bottom menu https://www.azamara.co.uk/life-onboard/crew/meet-our-captains-and-crew

[uktog]

16 minutes ago, Grandma Cruising said:

Have a look on the Azamara website under Life Onboard from the bottom menu https://www.azamara.co.uk/life-onboard/crew/meet-our-captains-and-crew

I am not sure the schedules on the website are up to date - there are names on them that have left Azamara's hotel department.  

[Jules of The Seas]

Hi,

There are 180 passengers on board! Service as usual is excellent. Food seems to have gone up a notch since we were last on Azamara some 2 years ago. The buffet is served to you, and of course there is no such thing as a small portion. Julie and I have not shared table with anyone, either at lunch or dinner. There are tables of 4 people but they are travelling together. It’s not difficult to talk as the tables are placed so that you can easily converse.

There is dancing in the Living room to the band, East Pearl, who are good. Their last set of the evening is followed by a Disco. Not seen many dancers though, so not sure about masks.

Guest entertainers have been really good, especially Jakob Trasak, violinist. Azamazing evening was on board in Seville, with Flamenco show. Ship singers and dancers are good.

Eric de Gray did his show last night. Don’t miss it, he is brilliant.

Captain is Gianmario Sanguineti, Hotel director is Tony Markey. 
We were Covid tested yesterday for entry to Gibraltar, and following yesterdays announcement, Azamara will test us 2 days before our flights home. In addition our temperatures are taken each morning, by the cabin steward.

Hope this helps.

Julie and Les.

[uktog]

12 minutes ago, Jules of The Seas said:

Hi,

There are 180 passengers on board! Service as usual is excellent. Food seems to have gone up a notch since we were last on Azamara some 2 years ago. The buffet is served to you, and of course there is no such thing as a small portion. Julie and I have not shared table with anyone, either at lunch or dinner. There are tables of 4 people but they are travelling together. It’s not difficult to talk as the tables are placed so that you can easily converse.

There is dancing in the Living room to the band, East Pearl, who are good. Their last set of the evening is followed by a Disco. Not seen many dancers though, so not sure about masks.

Guest entertainers have been really good, especially Jakob Trasak, violinist. Azamazing evening was on board in Seville, with Flamenco show. Ship singers and dancers are good.

Eric de Gray did his show last night. Don’t miss it, he is brilliant.

Captain is Gianmario Sanguineti, Hotel director is Tony Markey. 
We were Covid tested yesterday for entry to Gibraltar, and following yesterdays announcement, Azamara will test us 2 days before our flights home. In addition our temperatures are taken each morning, by the cabin steward.

Hope this helps.

Julie and Les.

Lovely report thanks -  life on Journey sounds great!

 

It also sounds just like Quest in September - there you had to wear masks on the disco floor so that might be the rule for Journey as well if people start dancing.

 

We were told in September that the new approach in windows at night with plated food led to a significant reduction in food waste as food on the buffet had to be thrown out after very short time whereas in the galley they were able to manage wastage far better.  I read on a roll call someone making claims the new system was so wasteful but thats factually incorrect.

 

Keep on enjoying, it sounds lovely

[marinaro44]

Thanks, Jules.  Very helpful.

 

The senior officer schedule doesn't have the embarkation dates right, never mind the scheduled officers.

[JWayne60]

11 minutes ago, marinaro44 said:

Thanks, Jules.  Very helpful.

 

The senior officer schedule doesn't have the embarkation dates right, never mind the scheduled officers.

APOLOGIES, YOURE SAYING THE CONTENT IS WRONG, OK, GOT IT. 
 

See attached screen shot… if you click on Officer Schedule, then scroll ALL THE WAY TO THE BOTTOM OF PAGE, then click on desired ship, you should see the schedules with officer names and dates. 

Edited December 5, 2021 by JWayne60

[marinaro44]

Just now, JWayne60 said:

See attached screen shot… if you click on Officer Schedule, then scroll ALL THE WAY TO THE BOTTOM OF PAGE, then click on desired ship, you should see the schedules with officer names and dates. 

Yes, I look at it every morning.  It's worthless. 

 

2 minutes ago, JWayne60 said:

See attached screen shot… if you click on Officer Schedule, then scroll ALL THE WAY TO THE BOTTOM OF PAGE, then click on desired ship, you should see the schedules with officer names and dates. 

Yes, I look at that page every morning, hoping it's been updated.  It's worthless. 

 

My Quest cruise is 2/22/2022.  That date isn't even listed, and the hotel director is TBA for the non-existent 2/23/2022 cruise.  It says Fabio will be Quest's hotel director next Friday.  It's been posted here that Fabio's left Azamara.

[uktog]

Yes the senior officer schedule is chocolate teapot territory!  It lists Fabio and Monica both no longer with Azamara. I believe the Captains still don’t know what’s happening 

[Jules of The Seas]

Eric de Gray and Tony Markey are leaving Journey In Jan/Feb 2022 and moving to Onward.

For those on Journey 11th Dec, there will be 200 +/- passengers on board.

Haven’t been to the evening buffet, so can’t comment on the ‘plated’ food.

Just had the Tacos from the Patio -Mmmmm.

Julie and Les 

[takemewithyou]

Boarding Quest Friday and I was expecting Fabio to be HD!  Guess I am Out of the loop!  Wonder who it will be?

[Marmaduke]

Are they allowing a person from the local tourist board to come on board whilst in port, and if not are there plenty of maps available for the local area ?

[uktog]

1 hour ago, Marmaduke said:

Are they allowing a person from the local tourist board to come on board whilst in port, and if not are there plenty of maps available for the local area ?

Not at present 

[DaveA]

How flexible are they being about serving complimentary wines? Something that irritated me in 2019 was when they stopped being willing to go and find wines other than the 'wines of the day'.

[JWayne60]

9 minutes ago, DaveA said:

How flexible are they being about serving complimentary wines? Something that irritated me in 2019 was when they stopped being willing to go and find wines other than the 'wines of the day'.

I feel your pain 🍷.  The best way we’ve found to navigate this dilemma is to make good friends with the onboard sommelier(s), assuming they still have them. Some of the waiters will do their best to hunt down a preferred vintage from a prior day, but a good relationship with the sommelier is “priceless”.  Good luck!

 

P.S.  This is based on pre-pandemic experience… we are booked on Quest 23-Dec, so we’ll see. 

Edited December 6, 2021 by JWayne60

[SunnyNy]

11 minutes ago, DaveA said:

How flexible are they being about serving complimentary wines? Something that irritated me in 2019 was when they stopped being willing to go and find wines other than the 'wines of the day'.

I have never experienced this.  In fact, the waiters have often offered to do this before being asked.

[DaveA]

8 minutes ago, SunnyNy said:

I have never experienced this.  In fact, the waiters have often offered to do this before being asked.

Thanks. That's encouraging. We hadn't had any problem on prebious cruises until on Pursuit in December 2019 when they were clear that there was a new policy of serving only selected wines of that day. We'll be back (on Quest) in a couple of weeks time and are hoping things are back to the good old days!

[uktog]

22 minutes ago, DaveA said:

Thanks. That's encouraging. We hadn't had any problem on prebious cruises until on Pursuit in December 2019 when they were clear that there was a new policy of serving only selected wines of that day. We'll be back (on Quest) in a couple of weeks time and are hoping things are back to the good old days!

You are correct in December 2019 there were a lot of policies unique to Pursuit and it’s bar service. But I can confirm Quest this September would serve alternatives if they had them. 

[ElmaLee]

For those UK passengers on board.  What arrangements is Azamara making regarding the latest requirement to have a negative Covid19 test within 48 hours prior to your flight back to UK?

Are they offering tests and certification acceptable to UK authorities?

 

[uktog]

16 minutes ago, ElmaLee said:

For those UK passengers on board.  What arrangements is Azamara making regarding the latest requirement to have a negative Covid19 test within 48 hours prior to your flight back to UK?

Are they offering tests and certification acceptable to UK authorities?

 

Yes they will

 

From their FAQs 

 

Guests requiring a COVID-19 test prior to returning home can arrange this onboard. Please contact Guest Relations while onboard for further information. 

 

And we saw this in practice in September when we needed tests before entering the UK.  They did disembarkation tests for everyone and provided documentation which fully satisfied the UK requirements.  We had no problems with the paperwork being accepted.

We did not need to have PCR tests but they also said anyone needing PCR had to tell them and they sorted it all out.

 

 

[JWayne60]

Anyone able to provide an update on Spa Services onboard? Is the Spa open?  On Azamara’s website, it seems we are not able to make advance reservations (until onboard), nor purchase any Spa “packages”, but I haven’t seen anything that says the Spa is “closed”.  Appreciate any updates. Thx

[uktog]

12 minutes ago, JWayne60 said:

Anyone able to provide an update on Spa Services onboard? Is the Spa open?  On Azamara’s website, it seems we are not able to make advance reservations (until onboard), nor purchase any Spa “packages”, but I haven’t seen anything that says the Spa is “closed”.  Appreciate any updates. Thx

Spa was fully open with distancing etc.  Do not worry about the website, you have never been able to make reservations before boarding and whilst there used to be some packages available pre boarding the best options and deals were not available until you were onboard.

 

Make sure you participate in the spa raffle on the first day its surprising how few people do

[sovilav01]

Are they still giving tote bags?

 

[JWayne60]

53 minutes ago, uktog said:

Spa was fully open with distancing etc.  Do not worry about the website, you have never been able to make reservations before boarding and whilst there used to be some packages available pre boarding the best options and deals were not available until you were onboard.

 

Make sure you participate in the spa raffle on the first day its surprising how few people do

Thanks uktog!  We have often, but not always, participated in the spa raffle, so thanks for the reminder 👍.