Anybody onboard currently?

[uktog]

4 hours ago, Mackdogmolly said:

Schweppes is fine with me

Me too. I’m anything but Club in that respect 

[uktog]

Edinburgh Airport has a new addition. (It was too early to try)

Maybe they could rename the Atlas Bar 😂😂😂

[lisiamc]

@uktogBon Voyage! 

[Beamafar]

10 hours ago, Mackdogmolly said:

Schweppes is fine with me

Same here!  Although I do have a few cans of Fevertree that I was planning to pack, but won’t need to now (sorry @Host Jazzbeau  😔😁)

Edited July 22, 2022 by Beamafar

[uktog]

I will report how life goes or whether I’m “strange souvenir shopping” in Lerwick 

[Beamafar]

6 minutes ago, uktog said:

I will report how life goes or whether I’m “strange souvenir shopping” in Lerwick 

Have a wonderful trip. 

[jwilcox]

On 7/19/2022 at 1:19 PM, Zoey said:

I’d prefer to take the covid test and have the Patio open for dinner during my cruise. 

You'd think that with Covid raging again they would want people eating outdoors as much as possible

[yogagal47]

16 hours ago, jwilcox said:

You'd think that with Covid raging again they would want people eating outdoors as much as possible

We were in Greece for 5 days pre-cruise. We spent almost all of our time outdoors and avoided Athens touring as we were convinced that crowds would increase the risk of catching covid. We stayed one night in Piraeus then took the ferry to Aegina and had a lovely 4 day stay there. We came back to spend a night at the Alex in Piraeus again before the cruise. 

[jwilcox]

9 hours ago, yogagal47 said:

We were in Greece for 5 days pre-cruise. We spent almost all of our time outdoors and avoided Athens touring as we were convinced that crowds would increase the risk of catching covid. We stayed one night in Piraeus then took the ferry to Aegina and had a lovely 4 day stay there. We came back to spend a night at the Alex in Piraeus again before the cruise. 

We also hope to avoid crowds as much as possible.  Eating in our room or at a table for two should help, and that's why I'm disappointed to hear there's no outdoor seating for dinner, We've got some small group excursions planned and are worried about the close quarters on a van or mini-bus. But we're taking a whole bunch of N95s and plan to mask up when near others. I'm hoping others will do the same but, sadly, a lot of people seem to have given up masking. 

[uktog]

Onboard the ship now it’s very clear the guidance masks are not required. You can wear them if you want and they ask that each group respects the views of the  other. I would say on this sailing of 550+ less that 10% are wearing masks. It’s the “new normal”. The next step will be to remove the mandate for crew who have to wear them indoors in guest areas only. They hope to do that soon. 

Edited July 28, 2022 by uktog

[DaveA]

10 hours ago, jwilcox said:

... that's why I'm disappointed to hear there's no outdoor seating for dinner. 

On Onward around Greece earlier this month outdoor seating for dinner was available every evening. Usually both at the Patio and Windows, although the Windows outdoor area was closed due to high winds a couple of times.

[uktog]

The Azamazing evening on quest this week was very enjoyable. It was held in the cabaret  lounge and involved Norwegian singers and a fiddle player. 
The performers were well known in Norway having represented their country in Eurovision. 
The compère spoke very good English and was also a very good singer. There were two shows so you could either dine before or after the show. Drinks were served involving Norwegian spirits and some Norwegian cinnamon cakes were also offered

What was very nice was that we all got a lovely gift to represent our stay in Norway delivered to our staterooms. Sometimes in the past when we have had these things they were low quality but here it was obvious budget had been spent and we have a lovely Norwegian cheese slice which is useful as it was something I was planning to buy myself anyway. 
I genuinely believe given how high calibre the acts were that there was not a budget reduction by having the event onboard when you take into account all the extras we got

[excitedofharpenden]

1 hour ago, uktog said:

The Azamazing evening on quest this week was very enjoyable. It was held in the cabaret  lounge and involved Norwegian singers and a fiddle player. 
The performers were well known in Norway having represented their country in Eurovision. 
The compère spoke very good English and was also a very good singer. There were two shows so you could either dine before or after the show. Drinks were served involving Norwegian spirits and some Norwegian cinnamon cakes were also offered

What was very nice was that we all got a lovely gift to represent our stay in Norway delivered to our staterooms. Sometimes in the past when we have had these things they were low quality but here it was obvious budget had been spent and we have a lovely Norwegian cheese slice which is useful as it was something I was planning to buy myself anyway. 
I genuinely believe given how high calibre the acts were that there was not a budget reduction by having the event onboard when you take into account all the extras we got

Was it Alexander Rybak?

 

Phil 

[Norn Iron Man]

5 hours ago, excitedofharpenden said:

Was it Alexander Rybak?

 

Phil 

Just so long as it wasn't Casey Ryebeck. LOL

[Port Power]

2 hours ago, Norn Iron Man said:

Just so long as it wasn't Casey Ryebeck. LOL

Oh, dear!  That was exactly my first thought too.

[uktog]

14 hours ago, excitedofharpenden said:

Was it Alexander Rybak?

 

Phil 

Not quite. That would have been something else!

[laurieb]

Not a big deal, but corkage on the Journey is now 15.00.  
Also, just read that the Atlas Bar cocktails are available on the Journey!

Edited July 31, 2022 by laurieb

[travelberlin]

1 hour ago, laurieb said:

Not a big deal, but corkage on the Journey is now 15.00.  
Also, just read that the Atlas Bar cocktails are available on the Journey!

How much was it before? 10 dollars? It it was 10 dollars an increase of 50% for allowing to take your own bottle to the restaurant is for me a big deal. What would justify that increase? Azamara is not incurring in any costs because of that. On the contrary it is saving its included wines if people  bring their own.

Ivi

Edited July 31, 2022 by travelberlin

[uktog]

5 minutes ago, travelberlin said:

How much was it before? 10 dollars? It it was 10 dollars an increase of 50% for allowing to take your own bottle to the restaurant is for me a big deal. What would justify that increase? Azamara is not incurring in any costs because of that. On the contrary it is saving its included wines if people  bring their own.

Ivi

It’s all about revenue generation forget any sense of logic or fairness in that 😀

[Beamafar]

There’s no corkage fee if you purchase a drinks package, is there?   (Sorry - it’s probably been answered a million times, but we’re on Celebrity a couple of weeks after our Journey cruise and I’m beginning to confuse the 2 companies’ policies 🤪)

[Port Power]

21 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

There’s no corkage fee if you purchase a drinks package, is there?   (Sorry - it’s probably been answered a million times, but we’re on Celebrity a couple of weeks after our Journey cruise and I’m beginning to confuse the 2 companies’ policies 🤪)

Drinks are included in your fare.  Bottles of wine can be purchased singly or in a multi package, and definitely no corkage on top.  (And yes, the same question asked and answered not far back. 😁)

[Ithikan]

2 hours ago, laurieb said:

Not a big deal, but corkage on the Journey is now 15.00.  
Also, just read that the Atlas Bar cocktails are available on the Journey!

Disappointing.  We've a New Zealand sailing coming up and nearly every port offers a vineyard tour, of sorts.  I'm certain we'll still opt to enhance our onboard dining with some local vintages, but this 50% increase in corkage somewhat deflates anticipation...

[Beamafar]

1 hour ago, Port Power said:

Drinks are included in your fare.  Bottles of wine can be purchased singly or in a multi package, and definitely no corkage on top.  (And yes, the same question asked and answered not far back. 😁)

I’m reading practically everything that’s being posted on both boards (and re-reading a lot of the threads).  I plan to purchase the Ultimate package and was considering bringing some champagne onboard to enjoy in one of the speciality restaurants - hence the question.  We’re due to embark next Saturday 🤞so trying to get my head straight around the Azamara policies. 

[oddjob16]

22 hours ago, excitedofharpenden said:

Was it Alexander Rybak?

 

Phil 

No, but they did perform his winning song from 2009, «Fairytale».😁

[Riocca]

1 hour ago, Beamafar said:

I’m reading practically everything that’s being posted on both boards (and re-reading a lot of the threads).  I plan to purchase the Ultimate package and was considering bringing some champagne onboard to enjoy in one of the speciality restaurants - hence the question.  We’re due to embark next Saturday 🤞so trying to get my head straight around the Azamara policies. 

There’s a champagne (Nicolas Feuillatte) included in the Ultimate Package.