Anybody onboard currently?

[Fatfish]

Was his name Rodel?

[roberts2005]

23 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

Embarked Journey today and found the dreaded Royal Club in the minibar.  I asked the butler if it was possible to have it replaced with Schweppes.  Here’s what he’s left for me:

 

😁😁😁

What was the included liquor.  4 small or 1 large. Your picture looks like 3 small

[uktog]

An update on the attendant issue

Azamara are now using just one attendant to a room but they have reduced the number of rooms each attendant looks after to reflect this. 
 

The issues with our room was the young girl had been promoted this cruise but still hadn’t grasped all she has to do. They’re going to give her an experienced buddy next cruise. I’m sure she will do fine then. 

[andrcan]

1 hour ago, Beamafar said:

Embarked Journey today and found the dreaded Royal Club in the minibar.  I asked the butler if it was possible to have it replaced with Schweppes.  Here’s what he’s left for me:

 

😁😁😁

This doesn’t look like Schweppes to me. Is it even worse than the Royal Club?

[gymfreak]

4 minutes ago, andrcan said:

This doesn’t look like Schweppes to me. Is it even worse than the Royal Club?

 

4 minutes ago, andrcan said:

This doesn’t look like Schweppes to me. Is it even worse than the Royal Club?

Yes it’s shocking. However don’t worry. To save an other passengers from having to consume such an abomination I will solely volunteer to drink it myself 🙄😇😂

[Riocca]

47 minutes ago, gymfreak said:

 

Yes it’s shocking. However don’t worry. To save an other passengers from having to consume such an abomination I will solely volunteer to drink it myself 🙄😇😂

Vicki to save you suffered too much we don’t mind helping you out 😎

[Host Jazzbeau]

So now I have a dilemma:  upgrade to the Ultimate package to get Hendricks to mate with that lovely tonic, or take the Connoisseur Wine package?  If I have a G&T (or two) before dinner, the quality of the wine may not matter...  🤣

[excitedofharpenden]

51 minutes ago, gymfreak said:

 

Yes it’s shocking. However don’t worry. To save an other passengers from having to consume such an abomination I will solely volunteer to drink it myself 🙄😇😂

Good to see you Vicki. Go easy on the CO2. There's a shortage 😁. Hope you and Charlie are well. X

 

Phil 

[Ithikan]

6 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

So now I have a dilemma:  upgrade to the Ultimate package to get Hendricks to mate with that lovely tonic, or take the Connoisseur Wine package?  If I have a G&T (or two) before dinner, the quality of the wine may not matter...  🤣

If you're tempted by the Connoisseur Wine pkg., I'd take a peek at the ship's stock first.  (With the rumored corkage fee now at $25, I can feel the walls closing in on our beverage choices.)

[uktog]

One useful change I’ve noticed on Quest. There’s a QR code on each days Insider that takes you to the Main Dining Room menu. So it’s easy to make dining plans a little earlier- no waiting for the menu to be put up mid afternoon. 
 

 

[laurieb]

4 hours ago, Ithikan said:

If you're tempted by the Connoisseur Wine pkg., I'd take a peek at the ship's stock first.  (With the rumored corkage fee now at $25, I can feel the walls closing in on our beverage choices.)

Corkage fee on the Journey is currently 15.00. 

[Beamafar]

14 hours ago, roberts2005 said:

What was the included liquor.  4 small or 1 large. Your picture looks like 3 small

Yes, 3 bottles. 
 

For those not au fait with tonic brands, Fevertree is a superior product to Schweppes, hence why I posted the pic (was pleasantly surprised to receive it). 
 

The Royal  Club in the minibar is actually soda water.  I just saw the brand name and immediately assumed it was tonic.  DH noticed there is Schweppes tonic in the minibar. 
 

Last night I asked what the corkage is and was told it is $15. 

Edited August 7, 2022 by Beamafar

[wjfan417]

6 hours ago, uktog said:

One useful change I’ve noticed on Quest. There’s a QR code on each days Insider that takes you to the Main Dining Room menu. So it’s easy to make dining plans a little earlier- no waiting for the menu to be put up mid afternoon. 
 

 

When we were on the April Quest cruise with you, I noticed that you could view the menus on the TV for 3-4 weeks at a time.

 

Diana

[DS]

4 hours ago, wjfan417 said:

When we were on the April Quest cruise with you, I noticed that you could view the menus on the TV for 3-4 weeks at a time.

 

Diana

We've often used the TV to view menus on Quest (and Journey).   But can't do it on Pursuit, as they don't have the intereactive TV.... used to have a smartphone app, but that has gone by the wayside--- so can't see account or menu's or ...   WHAT DOES ONWARD HAVE???

[Nippy Sweetie]

Luckily I've never been impressed by Fevertree tonic. It's Schweppes or nothing for me. 

[Mackdogmolly]

48 minutes ago, Nippy Sweetie said:

Luckily I've never been impressed by Fevertree tonic. It's Schweppes or nothing for me. 

I’m not a Fever Tree fan either. Schweppes is fine with me!

[norn iron]

3 hours ago, Mackdogmolly said:

I’m not a Fever Tree fan either. Schweppes is fine with me!

 

4 hours ago, Nippy Sweetie said:

Luckily I've never been impressed by Fevertree tonic. It's Schweppes or nothing for me. 

 Try a Martin Millers Gin and Fever Tree tonic (with lime), that was my eureka moment.

I have no problem with Schweppes, but the above combination is on a different scale.

 

 

[Nippy Sweetie]

It's got to be Tanqueray and Schweppes for me. If not available I'll happily drink something else. 

[Beamafar]

I had the regular Fevertree yesterday for the first time (I’ve  had the elderberry one at home, but would normally use Schweppes).  I had it with the Bombay Sapphire (usually drink Hendricks onboard).  It was quite nice, but would have been just as happy with Schweppes. 
 

I’ve since discovered that the can of Schweppes in the minibar is soda, and not tonic, water. 

[Beamafar]

20 hours ago, wjfan417 said:

When we were on the April Quest cruise with you, I noticed that you could view the menus on the TV for 3-4 weeks at a time.

 

Diana

It’s the same on Journey.  

[uktog]

12 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

It’s the same on Journey.  

On Quest there were menus but they were not correct. The QR code was the accurate source of information 

Edited August 8, 2022 by uktog

[Beamafar]

6 minutes ago, uktog said:

On Quest there were menus but they were not correct. The QR code was the accurate source of information 

Thanks - I only noticed the QR code on the daily planner today after reading your previous post. 🙄👍

[Beamafar]

On 8/6/2022 at 6:07 PM, roberts2005 said:

What was the included liquor.  4 small or 1 large. Your picture looks like 3 small

Our friends are in a P1.  They only received 2 bottles.  

[PAtravelbug]

Hi all.  We are off the ship.  So sad.   Easy disembarkation. Windows open at 6am for breakfast and you have to be out of your room by 8am and off the ship by 9am.  We walked off the ship, down an escalator, picked up our bags and walked out the door.  No fuss like in some places with customs and immigration.  

 

Getting a taxi was easy despite what the departure paper work from the hotel said.  We have a hotel (Hampton) out by the airport for the next few days. The ship also said that the airport cost by taxi would be 40 euros. It was 80 euros.  Lovely driver.   

 

Shockingly, for the second time this trip, we were about to check into our hotel room before 9am!     Unheard of at home - except occasionally in Las Vegas where I travel to for work a good bit. 

 

We are having 2nd breakfast, enjoying fast internet and think we will take a day trip out of the area - the train station is right next to our hotel.

 

Take me with you - as to comparision wtih our dec 10 to 23, 2022 cruise on Quest  - Wines -  Not as good.  Not terrible - but all are branded with the Azamara logo - It used to be that each day there was a selection of wines for that day - might be from Chile, or Australia, or France, etc.  Now they are all the same every day. We settle on a french cabaret for red and a pino Grigio for white from time to time.  But they are not Bordeaux!

 

In december, there were covid protocals in place.  Free testing, mandatory mask wearing, no mixing outside the travel parties, chairs in cabaret and all the restaurants were rearranged for maximum distancing.    This time - no testing at all, and the crew was in masks.  That was it.  After day 5, when covid started to become a problem, we were requested to wear masks in doors, to not mix the travel parties and masks were mandatory on tour buses.  And, they added a show to spread us out when a local group came aboard the day after the big spike in case.   The whole next week, the cases came down and the last 3 days were 1  case each and none(reported) yesterday.   I noticed that masks were no longer mandatory on the tour buses in Amsterdam.      So we stared the majority without masks, and ended the majority IN masks.  

 

UKtog has talk about the attendant change - we had asked ours on the first day when we only saw one name card on the desk and explained.   he was great, but not often seen.

 

Service is, as always, excellent. There ARE a lot of new crew and we saw that through out the voyage as they were integrated into the crew.  Once waiter, Jansey from Brazil , came out of quartentine after joining the ship in Dublin with us, after 5 days - a bit dazed for a few days - but was getting the hang of it last night.

 

We only took one tour through the ship, The Flam Railway.  Honestly, we could of skipped that.     It was fine.  LOTS of time on the bus. Then a train. Then the Flam. Then lots of time on a bus. But the scenery from the bus was stunning, even with 90 kilometers total of it being in tunnels! The tour guide was very good.  

 

Cruise director Amanda and Assit - Justin - were good and have good chemistry.  Justin was newly the DJ and activities host on our December cruise, but sung with the performers a few times.  Now he is clearly a very  happy man finding is place, fine tuning his show and his bad jokes (he makes puns). 

 

There were more destination focused things like special foods picked up that day or the day before and prepared for us.   3 separate local acts brought on board.  Not as much of that on a more general cruise like in December.  

 

White Night in full day light the whole time is different!  The sun sets late in Norway.

 

The entertainment shows were good. The singers and dancers are a different cast than in December but with the same shows - but very well done. Very sharp and clean. And they have been aboard for 4 months.   Jacob - the violin player from december was back, and just as good.    a new piano player.singer in the den and a new party band - both good. 

 

we had only 2 sea days - one at each end of the voyage.  On the 2nd one, there was a special brunch in discoveries from 10 am to 1pm. This was the only time we set foot in discoveries.  It was very well done (of course) - and the night after White Night. 

 

Ryzard did a presentation of the time on the Pursuit from March 3 to March 29, 2022.  Very  interesting about how the cruise halt built up and how they handled it.  Lots of logistics and stories about it. He working on a 2nd presentation about the restart and getting the crew back, and what they did to survive during the lay off.

 

Of course, it was a wonderful trip. Lots of familiar faces on the crew.     Godson has been promoted to head waiter (along with tall Vishal) - and will start next cruise.   🙂

 

That's all for now.  I have to do some research about what to do today.    I do hear that the Amsterdam airport is pretty bad these days - used to be a lovely airport - long long lines. So we will go very early on Thursday when we fly back.  The cab driver said that on Saturday, the lines when outside of the airport and down the walk!    

 

Next for us is Onward in December!

 

Travel well,  Allison

 

 

[Beamafar]

On 8/6/2022 at 7:34 PM, andrcan said:

This doesn’t look like Schweppes to me. Is it even worse than the Royal Club?

Post #1162 was in response to your question.  I meant to quote you when replying. 🙄