Spain Sept. 14, 2025 Replaced by Canada/Greenland/Iceland itineraries

[nordski]

27 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Thanks for this info @nordski   I have no idea about limitations on ship sizes on the St. Lawrence.  So I take it Québec would be the final port Azamara could make?  Is there a suitable dock in Trois-Rivières?  [There seems to be a good turnaround point just upriver in Lac Saint-Pierre, so there could be an interesting sail up and back from Québec even if no stop.]

Interesting point about Trois-Rivières but Azamara, as it is planning, can sail all the way to the Port of Montreal which is a major transshipment centre. The port at Saguenay is a popular cruise stop and it seens to win awards in terms of “Best Port Welcome”. But Trois-Rivières would have its attractions as well.

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

5 minutes ago, nordski said:

Interesting point about Trois-Rivières but Azamara, as it is planning, can sail all the way to the Port of Montreal which is a major transshipment centre. The port at Saguenay is a popular cruise stop and it seens to win awards in terms of “Best Port Welcome”. But Trois-Rivières would have its attractions as well.

 

I'm confused because you said "The “R” ships are about 5 feet too wide for the Iroquois locks just downstream from Montreal."

[nordski]

9 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

I'm confused because you said "The “R” ships are about 5 feet too wide for the Iroquois locks just downstream from Montreal."

 

Mea Culpa!!!! Mea maxima culpa!!!!

 

Of course the Iroquois Locks are UPSTREAM! 
 

Of course if you look at a map the Locks are south of Montreal and therefore “down on the map” Doesn’t that make them plausibly downstream?

 

Oh, of course it doesn’t. So there is no excuse.

 

Apologies for the confusion I caused and I will retire to my room.

Edited December 11, 2023 by nordski

[JandMinToronto]

33 minutes ago, Jay19 said:

We are booked on the August 5th Quest cruise, Montreal - Reykjavik, b2b with the following cruise on August 20th which was Reykjavik to Copenhagen and was 13 nights.   Last week we received an email from Azamara, similar to the one posted above, saying that the 2nd cruise was being shortened to 10 nights and would now be r/t Reykjavik ending on August 30th.  There was a new itinerary posted at the end of the email and one of the options given was to move to this new itinerary, get a pro-rated change of fare and some OBC.   We were told that we had until December 14th to advise Azamara of our decision.    

 

I told our TA that we would keep the August 5th cruise and would move to this new r/t Reykjavik cruise as a b2b, so this morning she phoned Azamara only to be told that the August 5th cruise has been cancelled.   We have never received any advice of this from Azamara and the cruise is still showing for sale on the website.     

 

I know quite a lot of people booked on the August 5th cruise when it was released so I'm wondering if anyone has received any information about a cancellation?     

We are booked on the B2B starting August 5th to Reykjavik and the August 20th to Copenhagen.  We got the email saying the second leg has been shorted too.  I called Azamara Saturday and the agent looked and could find no changes to that first leg Montreal to Reykjavik, and it is still bookable online.  However, that packaged "Grand Voyage" starting Aug 5 out of Montreal is not bookable and I would guess it is because the August 20th forward components are no longer available as originally marketed.  I'm keeping my eye on the website and might phone again tomorrow.

[Host Jazzbeau]

30 minutes ago, nordski said:

Mea Culpa!!!! Mea maxima culpa!!!!

 

Of course the Iroquois Locks are UPSTREAM! 
 

Of course if you look at a map the Locks are south of Montreal and therefore “down on the map” Doesn’t that make them plausibly downstream?

 

Oh, of course it doesn’t. So there is no excuse.

 

Apologies for the confusion I caused and I will retire to my room.

No problem.  Even though Canada is very close, it's almost like a foreign country to me!!!  🤣

[Jay19]

8 minutes ago, JandMinToronto said:

We are booked on the B2B starting August 5th to Reykjavik and the August 20th to Copenhagen.  We got the email saying the second leg has been shorted too.  I called Azamara Saturday and the agent looked and could find no changes to that first leg Montreal to Reykjavik, and it is still bookable online.  However, that packaged "Grand Voyage" starting Aug 5 out of Montreal is not bookable and I would guess it is because the August 20th forward components are no longer available as originally marketed.  I'm keeping my eye on the website and might phone again tomorrow.

I also phoned Azamara on Friday just to query the August 5th leg and was told there were no changes, however my TA was on the phone with them for ages this morning and was definitely told it was cancelled.   It makes no sense as the cruise prior arrives in Montreal on the 5th and the ship has to be back in Reykjavik on the 20th for the new shortened leg so where else could it be meantime.   Your comment about the "Grand Voyage" makes sense though and I'll mention that to her.   Thank you.

[nordski]

41 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

No problem.  Even though Canada is very close, it's almost like a foreign country to me!!!  🤣

 

Apparently to me as well.

 

Thanks for your forbearance for the confusion I created.

 

 

Edited December 11, 2023 by nordski

[Host Jazzbeau]

Apparently Trois-Rivières does have a port, and ships as large as Seabourn Quest and H-L Europa call there:

https://www.cruisesaintlawrence.com/EN/bonjour-StLawrence/10002/9-ports-of-call.aspx

 

Meanwhile, this planned exercise has been great fun – but since Azamara is unlikely to reading this thread we have gone quite off topic.  I don't demand to have the last (off topic) word, but we should get back on track soon...

[Jay19]

Host Jazzbeau, I wonder if this thread could also have some mention of the Canada/Greenland/Iceland itineraries added to the topic title as it really is largely about that?    Thanks!

[Jay19]

Thank you.   I know a lot of people have been interested in these itineraries so hopefully the thread might provide a bit more information for those who have had their itineraries changed and those who might be interested in the new itineraries to come.

[Mackdogmolly]

16 hours ago, Jay19 said:

I told our TA that we would keep the August 5th cruise and would move to this new r/t Reykjavik cruise as a b2b, so this morning she phoned Azamara only to be told that the August 5th cruise has been cancelled.   We have never received any advice of this from Azamara and the cruise is still showing for sale on the website.     

 

I know quite a lot of people booked on the August 5th cruise when it was released so I'm wondering if anyone has received any information about a cancellation?     

I am booked on this cruise and have heard nothing about a cancellation!

[Roel94]

I got an email about the second cruise but mine said ending in Dublin not Copenhagen.  Hard enough to go to Denmark but Dublin worse. Been four times not interested. I wanted the cruise from Iceland home but had better cabins  going to Europe. Meanwhile I cancel everything.

 

the day will come I will do Canada and New England but I doubt  Greenland in my future. Tired of changed ports etc at this point whwn no war involved.

[Jay19]

Good news this morning.   My TA has just emailed to say that she was able to sort things out, the August 5th cruise is not cancelled and I will be able to swap to the shortened itinerary for the second leg.   I am happy!   😃

[iata]

On 12/10/2023 at 3:16 PM, Host Jazzbeau said:

It would be great if Azamara used their small-ship size and longer itineraries to include ports that don't show up on every mega-ship CA/NE cruise!  I'm thinking of these:

 

There is no port in Tadoussac, just a little ferry.,i do the long road from Sept-îles to Quebec City about ounce a month. But the ship can enter the fjord in Tadoussac and stop at ville de la Baie, this is very scenic

 

[Aussie Cruise Nuts]

RE ONGOING CANCELLATIONS. 

 

In early September 2023, we booked B2B cruises on Azamara Pursuit for 2025 -  Greece Intensive cruise and Croatia Intensive cruise.    Good value, excellent itineraries, great early booking benefits including upgraded beverage package, free wifi - OBC totalling USD$1,800 including early booking benefit, B2B, and our TA provided OBC.     What could go wrong ???
 

in the following months, I had the usual website problems Azamara are “famous” for - bookings disappearing, then reappearing, my wife’s loyalty tier incorrect, and at one stage, it seemed I got lucky, as on my profile, I had a new cruise pop up - a Norway cruise with two ladies “unknown” to me in the suite   😳.   I thought this is interesting - but my darling wife did not seem at all impressed 😆.      Being of generous nature, I cheerfully put up with the weird happenings on my website profile.  
 

As we are boarding Azamara Journey at 2pm today in Port Melbourne for a 17 night cruise to New Zealand, yesterday I decided to check the pricing on our 2025 B2B’s.   Shock horror, the cruises had disappeared from Azamara website, and a little research online was showing the cruises as cancelled.   Rang my TA, who had no knowledge of any cancellation,  she contacted Azamara Sydney who confirmed the cancellation and said all pax were advised in October and new options offered - which needed to be accepted by 10 November 😖.  Being a good TA who we have used for many cruises over many years, she lodged a very strong complaint, advising neither the TA or the passengers received my notification of cancellation and has hopefully arranged an extension of time for us to consider the various options.  

A very genuine apology followed from Azamara with agreement to extension of time.   The alternative options include similar or better per diem pricing along with OBC  of USD$1,000 as we are suite cruisers.   But that is less than the AZAMARA OBC which came with our original booking.     That is a conversation we will need to have with Azamara  🤪

 

I continue to be amazed how poorly Azamara shoreside perform, and how good the experience is once you walk up the gangplank.    However, my patience has been sorely tested with this experience.    
 

I will see how our Journey cruise commencing today performs - hopefully as good as the “good old days”.  
 

cheers all.  

Rod
 

 

 

[knitter]

We booked a B2B Japan intensive (14 days) and Japan to Singapore (18 days) for March-April 2025. Received an email saying that "due to the popularity of the Japan intensive..." the Asia itinerary was cancelled and our cruise would be a Japan intensive. Our TA was meeting with a AZ rep at a conference the following week and worked out a rebooking but it took over a week to get the confirmation from AZ and the dates were changed, the Singapore leg is now 14 days and misses Bangkok 😢 and has some other port changes. The itinerary of the Japan leg changed, and according to the website, it starts in Kobe while the previous leg ends in Osaka (both legs are on the same ship),  My TA called and was told they would provide a transfer for us. But I find it strange that they would end a cruise in one port and leave from another, especially since Kobe and Osaka are less than 30 minutes apart by train! And of course, neither leg show up as upcoming cruises in my online account. Good thing we have a year to work it out!