Jump to content

Live from Pursuit Barcelona to Lisbon 5 -31


joyride
 Share

Recommended Posts

17 hours ago, roberts2005 said:

Azamazing  Evening.   What is your 

20 hours ago, AJCM said:

Joyride,

Did Azamara provide a shuttle in Valencia?

I think they did have a shuttle, we were on a tour, so I didn't notice. A couple people on our tour stayed in town at the end and the guide said there was a bus every half hour for Azamars. I'm assuming that was the shuttle...

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi,

we are on this cruise as well and yesterday used specialty dining at Prime C.

In general we are quite happy with the food on Azamara Pursuit. But we found Prime C shows nothing special. The food is not bad, but actually would not spend the extra 30$ per person. We prefer the MDR. Food at Windows is good as well. Burgers in the Patio are quite good.

 

Not 100% happy with the cocktails, but that is a matter of taste. Not really happy with the specialty coffees. Found this underdeveloped on Azamara. Didn‘t find frozen coffee specialties so far. Soft ice /frozen yoghurt machine is not in service all the time.

 

Pay attention if you sail in EU waters (like spain this cruise). There is a tax addon on all purchases.

 

cheers

MouseBerry

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks, JoyRide, for the continuing update.  We are on the Pursuit in about a month.   Can you tell us who the senior officers are (Capt, CD, Hotel Director, etc.) and how many people are on board?   We were in the Quest in April, going the other way, Lisbon to Barcelona, had a wonderful trip,  and are interested in how your voyage is going.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We are in Gibraltar and finally have some free time. Between the internet and our schedule, I just haven't had any time to post! I'm going to try to answer some questions.

 

In Valencia they did have a shuttle running about every 1/2 hour from the ship to downtown. We had the destination celebration (instead of AAmazing Evening) in Valencia. It was a good show with physical comedy, acrobatics, flamenco, etc. It was short, only about 30-40 minutes. 

 

Last night in Malaga was our white night. It was awesome, beautiful weather on deck, no wind. The food was fantastic. Fruits, cheeses, sushi, carved meet, salads, awesome deserts. We decided to pay $40 for 2 shots of Don Julio 1942! It was fun, we danced, ate, sang, etc. Fun music and later moved to the Living Room to finish out the evening. 

 

 

 

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

In Cartagena we did the ship's tour to see the Andalusian Horses at a ranch. This was probably one of the best excursions I have ever been on. They seated us in the shade and brought out a White Stallion and explained to us the workings of the ranch where they have about 6-7 Stallions and 40+ mares. The mares have about 1 foal a year. After we met the stallion, Milo, they walked us out to a dirt path and then released the horses and foals to run to the nearby meadow. We stood there and about 35 horses ran by us, it was so cool! The mares and babies are all different colors, grey, brown, white, but Milo's babies will eventually all turn white. At the end of the tour we had an amazing Flamenco dancer perform, she was SO Good, with castanets' and everything. At the same time, they brought out a beautiful grey dancing horse. I have some awesome pictures, but just can't get them posted right now.

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yesterday in Malaga we did a Spain Day Tours excursion to The Alhambra in Granada. There were 24 Azamara guests on the tour. It was a long drive on the bus from Malaga to Granada, but the scenery was amazing. Mountains and hills with olive orchards, wild poppies, a goat farm, little cities with houses in the hills.. We made a stop on the way and were able to purchase olive oil, snacks, etc. At Alhambra they broke us up into 2 groups of 12 and we had our own guide for 3 hours while touring the gardens and palace. It was so beautiful. After the tour we had free time in Granada and we had some local beer and seafood. It was a great tour.

Edited by joyride
  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

One of the benefits of having a suite is a free bag of laundry handled by the butler. Well, my hubby isn't the butler, but I thought you all might like to know that a single pair of jeans is just about all that fits in the micro-bag they gave us to take advantage of this elevated perk.

Oh well, I went to the self-service laundry and did what I needed to do. Also free!

20220604_132511.jpg

  • Like 1
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Had to laugh at your laundry bag picture.  You need to learn about roll and stuff😂!  You can fit at least 10 items in there then - including 3 pairs of pants.  My husband has perfected it!!

  • Like 10
  • Haha 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

39 minutes ago, crzrr said:

Had to laugh at your laundry bag picture.  You need to learn about roll and stuff😂!  You can fit at least 10 items in there then - including 3 pairs of pants.  My husband has perfected it!!

I read your comment and thought “I could fit about 30 pairs of pants in an Azamara laundry bag if I tried”, then realised you are American and by pants you mean trousers. I was thinking of pants as meaning panties/knickers. One of those pondian things!😄 

  • Like 1
  • Haha 10
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 6/3/2022 at 11:02 AM, MouseBerry said:

Hi,

we are on this cruise as well and yesterday used specialty dining at Prime C.

In general we are quite happy with the food on Azamara Pursuit. But we found Prime C shows nothing special. The food is not bad, but actually would not spend the extra 30$ per person. We prefer the MDR. Food at Windows is good as well. Burgers 

 

Pay attention if you sail in EU waters (like spain this cruise). There is a tax addon on all purchases.

 

cheers

MouseBerry

 

You shouldn't need to. The ship leaves EU waters by visiting Gibraltar. You will ay tax if purchasing in a port, but outside this, you should be exempt from VAT.

 

On the next sailing, the same applies as it leaves EU waters by visiting UK territory in Guernsey.

 

VAT on all purchases should only be applicable when your cruise starts and ends in the EU and doesn't call on any non EU ports.

 

It was the Spanish who kicked this off in 2016. Their VAT on general purchases is 21% (or was at the time)... The cruise line I sailed on, decided to also bump up food tax, (which should have been 8%,) up to 21% ..... Obviously illegal. They also tried to charge a tax on the "free included drinks" in drink packages for the new tax "here's how much the tax would have been" if the purchase price wasn't $0.00.

 

Ive a feeling the charge was "accidently" charged, but "deliberately" not handed over at cruise end as they realised "oh that's not a tax we should have charged our guest"... And kept the lot.

 

 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi,

well the charge of tax, actually 10%, didn‘t bother me on this cruise as we have plenty of OBC which we can hardly spend. But we got receipts indcating this tax. And in the EU if a company is charging tax, document the tax charge and eventually not passing the tax to the  states financial department, this is a severe illegal move. Az cannot takes this risk.

 

And the tax applies not only while in port, it is eligible in Spain waters which is a much bigger area. So I stay on my position. Take care of and be aware of tax might be applied on cruises in EU area.

 

cheers

MouseBerry

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi,

today we are in Gibraltar. Wonderful weather. Sunny, light wind warm but not too hot. Most excursions were done in the morning/noon. In other words the ship has a lot of people on board this afternoon. And while the staff is amongst the most friendly we ever had the pleasure to cruise with, the performance of the service was not great. Mainly because of there are too few service people and the processes sometimes a bit cumbersome.

 

Not a big deal, but something that draws a light shadow on an otherwise quite good experience. Just an observation of a first time Az cruiser.

 

cheers

MouseBerry

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, crzrr said:

Had to laugh at your laundry bag picture.  You need to learn about roll and stuff😂!  You can fit at least 10 items in there then - including 3 pairs of pants.  My husband has perfected it!!

I have also learnt to fit at least 3 shirts plus 30 small items into the laundry bag. It comes back washed, folded and pressed. I am very happy with this Azamara service. 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/31/2022 at 10:54 AM, joyride said:

OK, sorry about the licking comment. I MEANT LIKING. Tried to edit, but it wouldn't let me. Internet is real slow. AS far as flight issues, it turned out that everyone in Premium economy on That flight had their seats changed The people, in our original seats had just booked 3 days ago. Off to dinner at Prime C. REPORT TO COME

Loved the licking everything because that meant to me that the ship was so beautiful you were drooling all over everything!  Thanks for the laugh.  Yes, I knew you meant liking.  Thank you so much for taking away time from enjoying yourself on the ship to let us know how it is.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Keeria said:

I have also learnt to fit at least 3 shirts plus 30 small items into the laundry bag. It comes back washed, folded and pressed. I am very happy with this Azamara service. 

Not perfect though. A special, expensive (albeit casual) shirt of mine came back from laundry with a tear. Then a prolonged series of defensive responses from Azamara. The usual mealy-mouthed stuff: tear already existed, we can't guarantee etc. etc. Maybe I expected too much, but we added a note, and Azamara did not mention any damage prior to laundering. 

I'd advise you not to put expensive or cherished items in your laundry bag.

 

Edited by blag
Typos
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, blag said:

Not perfect though. A special, expensive (albeit casual) shirt of mine came back from laundry with a tear. Then a prolonged series of defensive responses from Azamara. The usual mealy-mouthed stuff: tear already existed, we can't guarantee etc. etc. Maybe I expected too much, but we added a note, and Azamara did not mention any damage prior to laundering. 

I'd advise you not to put expensive or cherished items in your laundry bag.

 

I fully agree with you. Only socks undergarments men's shirts, pijamas and jeans. No items of silk or wool. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The laundry bag post was just meant for fun. I just had to laugh when I saw how small it is Since this is only a 7 day cruise, using the laundry service just wasn't needed. I put one load in, and everything is clean and we only have 3 more days.

 

We just came back from the Chef's table. It was very good and I think it's an experience that is worth the money. We had a lot of OBC, so we are trying to use it up. Tomorrow we will be in Cadiz and are going to Seville. 

 

 

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The lesson I took from your photo was that Jeans are just not a good thing to bring on travel.  Too bulky to get laundered, and impossible to do in the cabin because they would never dry.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

The lesson I took from your photo was that Jeans are just not a good thing to bring on travel.  Too bulky to get laundered, and impossible to do in the cabin because they would never dry.  

On Azamara ships there are laundry rooms with washers and dryers if you need one. Convenient for long voyages.

Ivi

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Joyce:  So glad you are having such a great time.  Was hoping you would like Azamara as much  as we do.  I'm looking forward to our cruises next May.  Love reading what you have done.  Can't wait to hear more and seeing your pictures.

 

Susan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...