Anybody onboard currently?

[suec12]

Beamafar - strongly encourage you to go to Lucca. You can rent bikes and bike around the city on a very wide and flat path atop the city wall, or walk it if you prefer.  Quite special.

[travelberlin]

On 7/10/2022 at 1:29 PM, Beamafar said:

Hi Ivi - I remember your report about that!   I also took note of your experience walking around Livorno and may follow in your footsteps if we decide to explore the town.  We’ll visit Florence on the first day and have been to Pisa before so will probably give that a miss.  We’re considering a trip to Lucca on the second day as we haven’t been.    If we do go to Lucca for the morning and aren’t too tired afterwards ( expecting it to be very hot in August 🥵) we might spend a little time walking around Livorno. 

Some years ago, I took the Azamara excursion “Lucca on your own”. That was fine. We have got some information on the bus and a map. Lucca is a nice city to visit and the drive was not too long.

Also many years ago we took  the excursion “Florence on your own”. That one imho does not give you enough time for Florence and you experience a full city with mainly day tourists from different ships. Maybe you can have a look if other ships are docking in Livorno the day you will visit Florence.

If I were again overnight with a cruise ship in Livorno and I would like to visit Florence, instead of booking the ships excursion, I would book a hotel for one night in Florence near the train station, and take the train from Livorno. 
Ivi

[Leo_On_Geo]

1 hour ago, travelberlin said:

 

Also many years ago we took  the excursion “Florence on your own”. That one imho does not give you enough time for Florence and you experience a full city with mainly day tourists from different ships. Maybe you can have a look if other ships are docking in Livorno the day you will visit Florence.

If I were again overnight with a cruise ship in Livorno and I would like to visit Florence, instead of booking the ships excursion, I would book a hotel for one night in Florence near the train station, and take the train from Livorno. 
Ivi

I just did this and it was the highlight of my trip.  I took the ship's transport to the dropoff near San Croce, then walked a short distance to my hotel near the Ponte Vecchio to drop my bag.  I had  29 hours in Florence to explore and shop, rest in the afternoon, have a nice dinner and a walk through Florence after dark with my Gelato.  I awoke to open my window overlooking the Arno, more shopping and a wonderful lunch at Trattoria 4 Leoni (had hotel call when I checked in to get an outside table). Then more shopping and exploring until I joined the bus back to the ship. This saved the taxi fare each way to train station, and left me closer to action in Florence.  I would definately do this again if I had an overnight in Florence.  

[travelberlin]

2 hours ago, Leo_On_Geo said:

I just did this and it was the highlight of my trip.  I took the ship's transport to the dropoff near San Croce, then walked a short distance to my hotel near the Ponte Vecchio to drop my bag.  I had  29 hours in Florence to explore and shop, rest in the afternoon, have a nice dinner and a walk through Florence after dark with my Gelato.  I awoke to open my window overlooking the Arno, more shopping and a wonderful lunch at Trattoria 4 Leoni (had hotel call when I checked in to get an outside table). Then more shopping and exploring until I joined the bus back to the ship. This saved the taxi fare each way to train station, and left me closer to action in Florence.  I would definately do this again if I had an overnight in Florence.  

It sounds good. How much was the ship’s transfer?

Ivi

[Leo_On_Geo]

4 hours ago, travelberlin said:

It sounds good. How much was the ship’s transfer?

Ivi

I believe it was $89 ( I had plenty of OBC, where a train/taxi would cost cash).  Also I booked earlier on a previous cruise in January so it was 10% less.  I did buy a ticket for each day, but they would have allowed me to just have the one ticket split over two days. 

[royallondon]

Boarded Onward at Istanbul’s new cruise terminal Sunday.

 

Embarkation was a total shambles.  Arrived at 2pm (designated boarding time) boarded ship at 4.30.  We were issued sticker number 10 and asked to sit down.  Only other sticker number was 1.  These numbers had no relevance as an informal queue formed as more and more people arrived.  To cut a very long story short those who were asked to sit down ended up being checked in by portable iPads some 2 hours later.

Some people weren’t asked for their negative test confirmation, some were (us).  No doubt the chaos led to staff panic and shortcuts.  Ironically a few that turned around 1pm apparently just breezed on (that’ll teach us to be conformists). The ship left 90 mins late due to the debacle.  We spoke with Captain G last night who stated Azamara were asking for the docking fees to be refunded such was the shambles.  
 

Now chilled and recovered we are finding the ship to be great and very much in keeping with the other 3 ships, all of which we have been fortunate to have sailed on.  The Onward certainly looks and feels part of the Azamara family following her refit.

 

We are in cabin 7059 a midship balcony which we find to be well furnished, light and airy with a spotless rust free balcony with seats and a table more comfortable then they look.

 

The staff can’t do enough to ensure everything is ok for you and seem genuinely happy to be back at sea looking after their guests.  I believe we have 540 on board this sailing and haven’t had  a single issue relating to a lack of service in any of the bars or MDR.

 

We boarded thinking we may have to upgrade the drinks package to secure some good wine but after 2 have concluded the standard offerings are more then agreeable and the money better invested into a new handbag (so the wife tells me).

 

Food in the MDR and Windows (breakfast) has been good thus far with no need for us to bail out to the “always included” choices. We have booked both Prime C (tonight) & Aqualina and so will feed back experience later.

The patio is open (alongside Windows) but unfortunately very few dinners to date.  We will partake tomorrow evening as lovely to be outside enjoying the weather.  By the way, Windows is now fully self service for breakfast other then for the normal egg and toast requests.  I personally preferred it when you pointed and they tonged it (if you know what I mean)!

If our onboard experience continues as is, we will be well pleased 🤞

 

Regards

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Mackdogmolly]

Thanks for the updates!!

[Nippy Sweetie]

Thanks. Feeling very reassured.

[Beamafar]

On 7/10/2022 at 8:25 PM, suec12 said:

Beamafar - strongly encourage you to go to Lucca. You can rent bikes and bike around the city on a very wide and flat path atop the city wall, or walk it if you prefer.  Quite special.

Sorry - I’ve just seen your post now. 
 

Appreciate the suggestion.  Cycling would be out (knee problems 🙄) but it looks like a very nice place to take a leisurely walk around.  We’re not great at using public transport in POCs at the best of times, but reckon Lucca is very doable. 

[Beamafar]

On 7/11/2022 at 1:29 PM, travelberlin said:

Some years ago, I took the Azamara excursion “Lucca on your own”. That was fine. We have got some information on the bus and a map. Lucca is a nice city to visit and the drive was not too long.

Also many years ago we took  the excursion “Florence on your own”. That one imho does not give you enough time for Florence and you experience a full city with mainly day tourists from different ships. Maybe you can have a look if other ships are docking in Livorno the day you will visit Florence.

If I were again overnight with a cruise ship in Livorno and I would like to visit Florence, instead of booking the ships excursion, I would book a hotel for one night in Florence near the train station, and take the train from Livorno. 
Ivi

A great suggestion, Ivi.  However, the ‘Florence on your own’ will probably be more than enough for us (for DH, anyway🙄) as we’ve been before (as well as Pisa).    This cruise has a lot of POCs we haven’t been to before so are expecting it to be more hectic than we’re used to. We’ve been to many Med ports several times so that the ship is usually our destination.  Don’t know that we’ll have the energy for this cruise  🤣 - especially if the heatwave in Europe continues. 🥵

[roberts2005]

1 hour ago, Beamafar said:

A great suggestion, Ivi.  However, the ‘Florence on your own’ will probably be more than enough for us (for DH, anyway🙄) as we’ve been before (as well as Pisa).    This cruise has a lot of POCs we haven’t been to before so are expecting it to be more hectic than we’re used to. We’ve been to many Med ports several times so that the ship is usually our destination.  Don’t know that we’ll have the energy for this cruise  🤣 - especially if the heatwave in Europe continues. 🥵

Be prepared for a waste of time stop ar a leather factory, plus a long walk from where the bus stops to the meeting point by Santa Croce.  This was on Onward in May.

[Host Jazzbeau]

26 minutes ago, roberts2005 said:

Be prepared for a waste of time stop ar a leather factory, plus a long walk from where the bus stops to the meeting point by Santa Croce.  This was on Onward in May.

We have done this in the past on another cruise line.  We wasted very little time at the leather factory, but did take advantage of the free WCs there – that's the trade-off the cruise lines have worked out.

[DS]

On board the Pursuit:   Food and entertainment

              Overall we have found the food to be good.   In Prime C and Aqualina, with full menus, it seems better than the cruises we took in the spring and winter.    In the MDR, we have been disappointed, not in the food, but the menus… we’ve retreated upstairs a couple of times because we could not find a tempting dish at the MDR… fortunately with 40% occupancy, we could be fit in, even without a reservation.   When we have eaten in the MDR is has been fine… as always, EXCELLENT service.   Lunches in the Windows have not seemed as good to me… although the potato chips and beer are FINE!

              For entertainment, we had a destination celebration in Gdansk (AzAmazing evening held on board).   It was billed as a “Classical Violin”… but it was less than classical, IMHO.    The solo violinist – who spoke NOT A SINGLE word, in English or Polish the entire evening—was accompanied by a recorded sound track with a very heavy bass beat.  While some of the pieces were based on classical music, each piece was more frenetic than the one before.   All in all, not to my taste.   The Captain said that they hope to begin real AzAmazing evenings by the end of the year (as reported elsewhere on these boards…)

              Last night we had a real “White Nights” party on deck (not the “Bright Nights” scattered around inside.   Although, being in Helsinki, it was not Night…. The sun did not set until after 10:30 PM, so the entire show was in daylight.  (Compensation:   sunrise before 4:30 AM!)

              There have been two production shows, and the Cruise Director show.   Although different shows from the Quest earlier this year, not much overall difference.  In Tallin they brought a local group aboard for a “folkloric” show… that word scared us off, and I heard no comments from other passengers over the next day or so about it.   Tonight is a solo show by the lead male singer… late info… was quite good… he has a good voice  ( NOTE:   the assistant cruise director, Lee, is NOT an entertainer, so has no show.)

 

[81Zoomie]

Wondering if anyone onboard any of the 4 ships can comment on the current Covid situation.  We are reading many less than pleasant stories from some of the Celebrity and Princess ships currently in Alaska and Europe.  

[DS]

13 hours ago, 81Zoomie said:

Wondering if anyone onboard any of the 4 ships can comment on the current Covid situation.  We are reading many less than pleasant stories from some of the Celebrity and Princess ships currently in Alaska and Europe.  

No COVID announcements on Pursuit, nine days into cruise;  have seen no haz mat suits or heard any rumors; only 294 pax;   very few masks;  hallways are mostly empty given # of passengers 

[royallondon]

2 minutes ago, DS said:

No COVID announcements on Pursuit, nine days into cruise;  have seen no haz mat suits or heard any rumors; only 294 pax;   very few masks;  hallways are mostly empty given # of passengers 

Also no Covid announcements on “Onward” nor indeed rumours of any cases.  With 540 on board i suspect this situation to change.  Only a handful of guests are wearing masks permanently but a few more wearers  (like us) in the show lounge and when on the shuttle buses.

[the mice]

2 hours ago, royallondon said:

Only a handful of guests are wearing masks permanently but a few more wearers  (like us) in the show lounge and when on the shuttle buses.

How full have the shuttle buses been?   Have you been on any of the ships tours?  If so, can you comment on how crowded the buses have been?  Thanks.

[royallondon]

12 hours ago, the mice said:

How full have the shuttle buses been?   Have you been on any of the ships tours?  If so, can you comment on how crowded the buses have been?  Thanks.

We made a conscious decision not to take any ships tours but have used the shuttle bus twice.  Unfortunately I haven’t seen the capacity of the tour buses.  The shuttle’s have been full on the early outbound trip but only 50% full coming back.

 

Regards 

[royallondon]

Currently on “Onward” from Istanbul update.

 

Now 7 days into the cruise and a short update of a few things that may (or may not) be of interest.

 

The food in Aqualina & Prime C was excellent and the service somehow half a notch above that of the MDR.  We took the 3 visit offer for $90 which represents excellent value.  Both restaurants are operating full menu’s.

The pool deck refurbishment has been extremely successful and is looking great.  The loungers are very adjustable with thick comfortable cushions that include head pillows.

 

The shower curtains are very much of the “cling on” variety (and clinging on more as the days pass!) unlike those on Pursuit.  The “Onward” will receive these curtains in due course when supply becomes available.

 

High winds prevented tendering at Mykonos yesterday and so an impromptu Captain, HD (Tony Markey) Q&A.  

The new cocktail bar apparently is going very well and likely to be installed in the other ships at some point.  It offers a return per sq ft which the library didn’t and wasn’t used.  1500 more books will be in the new library when we dock into Rome.

 

There is an air of optimism that further investment into the Azamara brand is likely.

 

Club Royal remains the Tonic of the day.

 

Our cruise has been great (to date) and Azamara retain our confidence to book with them again when the time & itinerary suits our plans.

 

Regards

 

 

 

 

[uktog]

Sounds great …..until your penultimate sentence  😂😂

 

Keep enjoying your cruise 

Edited July 16, 2022 by uktog

[royallondon]

30 minutes ago, uktog said:

Sounds great …..until your penultimate sentence  😂😂

 

Keep enjoying your cruise 

So sorry 🤣

[lisiamc]

2 hours ago, royallondon said:

Currently on “Onward” from Istanbul update.

 

Now 7 days into the cruise and a short update of a few things that may (or may not) be of interest.

 

The food in Aqualina & Prime C was excellent and the service somehow half a notch above that of the MDR.  We took the 3 visit offer for $90 which represents excellent value.  Both restaurants are operating full menu’s.

The pool deck refurbishment has been extremely successful and is looking great.  The loungers are very adjustable with thick comfortable cushions that include head pillows.

 

The shower curtains are very much of the “cling on” variety (and clinging on more as the days pass!) unlike those on Pursuit.  The “Onward” will receive these curtains in due course when supply becomes available.

 

High winds prevented tendering at Mykonos yesterday and so an impromptu Captain, HD (Tony Markey) Q&A.  

The new cocktail bar apparently is going very well and likely to be installed in the other ships at some point.  It offers a return per sq ft which the library didn’t and wasn’t used.  1500 more books will be in the new library when we dock into Rome.

 

There is an air of optimism that further investment into the Azamara brand is likely.

 

Club Royal remains the Tonic of the day.

 

Our cruise has been great (to date) and Azamara retain our confidence to book with them again when the time & itinerary suits our plans.

 

Regards

 

 

 

 

 

2 hours ago, uktog said:

Sounds great …..until your penultimate sentence  😂😂

 

Keep enjoying your cruise 

I’m hoping that Club Royal tonic is the remains of what was transferred over from Journey in Amsterdam, and when unsuspecting passengers finally drink it all up, it will be replaced with something better! We need a brave volunteer currently on Journey who will order a G&T and report back.

[uktog]

I Baldrick have a cunning plan - I will see what we find on Quest next weekend and will head to the appropriate supermarket in Lerwick if I am disappointed. 🙂 

[royallondon]

Edit to post 1519

 

$70 for 3 specialty restaurants 

 

Final port Athens (GCSE Geography has failed me miserably)

[lisiamc]

32 minutes ago, uktog said:

I Baldrick have a cunning plan - I will see what we find on Quest next weekend and will head to the appropriate supermarket in Lerwick if I am disappointed. 🙂 

Excellent idea! I know you are a fan of Fevertree, although I am not. Can you please also investigate if they have slimline Schweppes?