Grandma Cruising Posted July 14 #51 Share Posted July 14 If you like lamb, try the Greek Burger in the Patio - my husband has that for lunch most days! 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cavaaller Posted July 14 Author #52 Share Posted July 14 @Grandma Cruising thank you for the suggestion, I love lamb! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs.Dukes Posted July 14 #53 Share Posted July 14 We are on this cruise too. Had a wonderful day today. Took an independent tour to Aix-en-Provence and Cassis. Really nice. Had a great dinner last night at Prime C. Really enjoying the cruise so far. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs.Dukes Posted July 14 #54 Share Posted July 14 4 hours ago, cavaaller said: Marseille - Vive la France (National Holiday 14.07.) Marseille welcomes us with sun, heat and excited security/police officers and many, many expectant French people and tourists. We dock right in the middle - at Vieux Port - only 2 steps away from the Cathedral. The cathedral reminds me of the Duomo in Florence - it was built around 1850 and it is rather beautiful. We walk through "Le Panier" (a lovely part of Marseille) and stroll through the Old Harbour. There are so many people busy making preparations for the parade tonight - so many security guards sealing off all the streets. Everybody is busy but no body really seams stressed - just excited. It is a nice vibe. Shops are closed (except for supermarket and tourist traps). It is extremely hot but walking through the lille streets you always find shadow. The French flag is at every corner. We step into the Galeries Lafayette to buy some Savon de Marseille (famous soap) and some French wine, we marvel at the yachts in the harbor and soak in the southern atmosphere. This morning we had breakfast in Windows Café and were a little overwhelmed (that is negatively surprised) by the amount of people at 7 in the morning. The ship is fully booked and it is a striking contrast to our experience last year in April when it sailed at around 40%. Once you adjust though, it is still the Azamara experience: Yes, every table is occupied but somehow the buffet does still not have "lines" like on the big ships. Getting off (and on) at port still was like walking out of the door (no line, no sweat, just noooo comparison to MSC/Celebrity). The only place where we wait to be served is at Mosaïc café. The wait is worth it though. The barista are amazing, the coffee is wonderful. We were at Windows at around 7:45 am and at that point it was fairly empty! Funny how a short difference in time makes a difference! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beatnix Posted July 14 #55 Share Posted July 14 6 hours ago, cavaaller said: So I looked at the menus (above). But perusing the menus made me want to go to the Patio Grill instead - we had the most amazing Azamara Burgers (no pics. looked like burgers though) A late lunch at Patio is one of my favourite food option at Azamaras ships. Burges are fine but also the vegan cauliflower wings are yummy. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cavaaller Posted July 14 Author #56 Share Posted July 14 Just now, beatnix said: A late lunch at Patio is one of my favourite food option at Azamaras ships. Burges are fine but also the vegan cauliflower wings are yummy. thank you for the suggestion, I will try those next (together with the greek burger) 🙂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cavaaller Posted July 14 Author #57 Share Posted July 14 (edited) 1 hour ago, Mrs.Dukes said: We were at Windows at around 7:45 am and at that point it was fairly empty! Funny how a short difference in time makes a difference! thank you so much (!) for pointing that out. Seems like we picked the wrong time... I thought the earlier the better... so we will have to sleep in tomorrow. Glad, you are enjoying the cruise so far... Edited July 14 by cavaaller Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cavaaller Posted July 14 Author #58 Share Posted July 14 (edited) Our dinner at Aqualina was very nice. we were seated at the back with a fabulous view on Marseille and Les Calanques as we left the port. As a perfect start I upgraded my premium package to ultimate which enabled me to enjoy my Cune wine. We picked the Carpaccio and the watermelon salad as starters with spaghetti bolognaise and filetto di manzo as mains. the spaghetti were wonderful the filet was very tender and the spinach was tasty... but I did not care for the fried cake thing on top of the filet nor for the mushrooms (tasted watery) My favorite part was the dessert though. I had the most wonderful chocolate cake (torta di chocolato sense farina) which was amazing: soft, juicy not too sweet with a perfect pairing of strawberries and ice cream...very very best part of the meal! on the other hand: the tiramisu was no tiramisu really- it had some gelling agent that imho is not supposed to be used for this dish and it tasted rather bland my baileys on ice (ultimate package swell) Edited July 14 by cavaaller 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cavaaller Posted July 14 Author #59 Share Posted July 14 Talking about upgrading: The internet package that is included in our suite has terribly slow speed so I upgraded it for 96 USD (9,6 USD/day) which is OK since I have a lot of OBC. Now the speedtest says : and it works great! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenP Posted July 14 #60 Share Posted July 14 Following along, thank you so much for posting! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cavaaller Posted July 14 Author #61 Share Posted July 14 thank you @QueenP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChucktownSteve Posted July 15 #62 Share Posted July 15 On 7/13/2024 at 10:03 AM, cavaaller said: @java spot, @roberts2005 @aliaschief @Grandma Cruisingthanks for replying! Rooms were ready at a quarter to two. But then... Did this ever happen to you: You get into your room and start your usual wipe-down only to realize that both of the toilets have very obviously (I spare you the details) not been cleaned AT ALL. While I do understand that this can absolutely happen, I also know that on turnaround day, they have a huge amount of work and that sometimes, there is a cleaning team so that it was probably someone other than my cabin steward that neglected to flush but ... I egoistically (!) hate that this happens to me, the biggest living germaphobe. This is my definition of an ICK moment. Needless to say that I used up all my alcohol wipes on the whole suite it somehow leaves me to wonder – if they don’t clean the toilets on turnover day… what else… So kind of a bad start. Also: no slippers in room, bubbly not on ice (but maybe they wait for me to give the go?)… I know, I am cranky now… Otherwise – stunning suite! Thank you so much for an excellent review. That's a wonderful suite. I especially love the balcony and views. Which deck are you on? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cavaaller Posted July 15 Author #63 Share Posted July 15 (edited) Monaco after enjoying a wonderful breakfast (thank you so much Padam!) in our room we headed ashore. I have never been to Monaco before and I didn't expect anything special from this port which is always a good thing since then you cannot be dissappointed. Weather was hot and humid (around 29 degrees C) and we went pretty early (around 8:30). My plan was to see the Exotic Garden from the outside (it is closed for all 2024) since you are supposed to have excellent views from there. Monaco is very elegant - so elegant that you do not climb stairs, you take escalators/lifts - and when in Monaco do as the romans do so we took the elevators. In the excruciating heat (I may exaggerate a little bit) it was the right decision to make. We arrived at the garden (closed, no surprise here) and enjoyed the view. we also went to the small Princess Parc. We did use the elevators but still we were soaked wet by the time we had descended to sea level. The town is lovely. Little alleys, beautiful expensive houses, very clean, very safe. we even took the escalator to see the casino: You cannot imagine the cars that were parked up there. Ferrari and Bentley were the only ones I knew by name but I can imagine it were not the most expensive ones. I am not judging - I am on an expensive cruise, I am an extremely priveleged, sheltered person - but still ... the thought that there are people who can easily afford cars like this and/or a 7 million dollar appartment in Monaco seams surreal - what have they done to deserve that? I am sure they remember to give something back... on top of the Fairmont Hotel near the casino you find footprints of famous football stars. Those are the footprints of Zinedine Zidane view from the palace (reachable by...escalator of course) Edited July 15 by cavaaller 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cavaaller Posted July 15 Author #64 Share Posted July 15 something interesting has happened: I have received a letter from the cruise Sales team telling me that I am entitled to 4 complimentary nights if I book a 7N sailing during this cruise. This cannot be right...???? Does this mean, I book a 7N cruise and only pay for 3 Nights? This sound too good to be true. I am sure there are blackout cruises - I just hope, that some of the eligible ones will be during school breaks!?? I will definitely ask Pangiotis (Head of Cruise Sales) about this the first chance I get. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tgg Posted July 15 #65 Share Posted July 15 57 minutes ago, cavaaller said: You cannot imagine the cars that were parked up there. Ferrari and Bentley were the only ones I knew by name but I can imagine it were not the most expensive ones. I am not judging - I am on an expensive cruise, I am an extremely priveleged, sheltered person - but still ... the thought that there are people who can easily afford cars like this and/or a 7 million dollar appartment in Monaco seams surreal - what have they done to deserve that? I am sure they remember to give something back... Your pictures and descriptions are wonderful, and I'm enjoying sailing along with you. Your Owners Suite could be as out of reach as a Bentley for some. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riocca Posted July 15 #66 Share Posted July 15 38 minutes ago, cavaaller said: something interesting has happened: I have received a letter from the cruise Sales team telling me that I am entitled to 4 complimentary nights if I book a 7N sailing during this cruise. This cannot be right...???? Does this mean, I book a 7N cruise and only pay for 3 Nights? This sound too good to be true. I am sure there are blackout cruises - I just hope, that some of the eligible ones will be during school breaks!?? I will definitely ask Pangiotis (Head of Cruise Sales) about this the first chance I get. Depends on your cruise history with Azamara and how many points you already had, as your in a CWO suite you get 18 points per day so 180 points for a 10 day cruise. With Azamara’s new system these are credited at the start of the cruise, a total of 300 points will take you to Discover level and that earns you 4 free nights. It used to be very complicated to work out the value of the free nights but that all changed at the end of last year now it’s very simple book a 7 night cruise and you pay for 3 nights. However you still pay the full cost of taxes and fees, but you also get the benefits of any offers available on the selected cruise. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tgg Posted July 15 #67 Share Posted July 15 8 minutes ago, Riocca said: It used to be very complicated to work out the value of the free nights but that all changed at the end of last year now it’s very simple book a 7 night cruise and you pay for 3 nights. However you still pay the full cost of taxes and fees, but you also get the benefits of any offers available on the selected cruise. The free nights used to be based to the fictitious "brochure price" that nobody paid. So for many people trying to use these supposedly "free nights", the cost of the cruise was lower when priced without them. I hope you're saying that this has changed.😉 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riocca Posted July 15 #68 Share Posted July 15 (edited) 21 minutes ago, tgg said: The free nights used to be based to the fictitious "brochure price" that nobody paid. So for many people trying to use these supposedly "free nights", the cost of the cruise was lower when priced without them. I hope you're saying that this has changed.😉 Yes we found out onboard Onward last year when we use 3 free nights and posted the information on here. Others have since confirmed this is Azamara’s new policy making the free nights now of real value. Edited July 15 by Riocca 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
excitedofharpenden Posted July 15 #69 Share Posted July 15 45 minutes ago, tgg said: The free nights used to be based to the fictitious "brochure price" that nobody paid. So for many people trying to use these supposedly "free nights", the cost of the cruise was lower when priced without them. I hope you're saying that this has changed.😉 I can confirm it has and is of much more value than it used to be. Phil 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laganlady02 Posted July 15 #70 Share Posted July 15 1 hour ago, cavaaller said: something interesting has happened: I have received a letter from the cruise Sales team telling me that I am entitled to 4 complimentary nights if I book a 7N sailing during this cruise. This cannot be right...???? Does this mean, I book a 7N cruise and only pay for 3 Nights? This sound too good to be true. I am sure there are blackout cruises - I just hope, that some of the eligible ones will be during school breaks!?? I will definitely ask Pangiotis (Head of Cruise Sales) about this the first chance I get. You are not restricted to a 7N cruise however this gives you the maximum discount i.e. you pay for 3 nights. You may use your free nights on any cruise greater than 7 nights and the cost of your 4 nights will be deducted (you still pay taxes and fees for the four nights). It is an excellent discount now and of real value. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare uktog Posted July 15 #71 Share Posted July 15 2 hours ago, cavaaller said: something interesting has happened: I have received a letter from the cruise Sales team telling me that I am entitled to 4 complimentary nights if I book a 7N sailing during this cruise. This cannot be right...???? Does this mean, I book a 7N cruise and only pay for 3 Nights? This sound too good to be true. I am sure there are blackout cruises - I just hope, that some of the eligible ones will be during school breaks!?? I will definitely ask Pangiotis (Head of Cruise Sales) about this the first chance I get. Not a scam but a very good benefit that now works as a genuine discount without the smoke and mirrors of the past 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs.Dukes Posted July 15 #72 Share Posted July 15 We are going to Aqualina tonight so I appreciate your comments, particularly about the desserts. I agree, it was very hot today in Monaco. We enjoyed visiting the city, and walked a lot. I also got something about redeeming some free nights. Definitely thinking about it. Hope the rest of your cruise is great. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cavaaller Posted July 16 Author #73 Share Posted July 16 LIVORNO After another fabulous breakfast on our balcony we were lucky to experience one of the best excursions I have been on: Lucca on your own. For us it was just plain perfect. The bus took a little over an hour - on the road the guide told us a little about Lucca and Pisa and its history. We were then dropped of at the tourist information centre and had 2,5 hours of free time. We used this time to walk the city walls (4 km, 1 hour) This was so lovely since it was a terribly hot day and the trail on the city walls is almost entirely shadowed by trees. There was a mild breeze, we had lovely views and we enjoyed ourselves immensely. Then we perused the streets of Lucca. Loverly Shops, nice cafés and restaurants a very quaint and safe atmosphere. Not many people... everything was just perfect. Lucca is so beautiful. What struck us was that everybody seemed so relaxed - even the people that had to work - they all emitted that Caribbean "don't worry" vibe... it was relaxing. Puccinis birth house: If I had to choose between going to Florence and going to Lucca, the choice would be easy: Lucca is smaller but imho just as beautiful - and on the plus side - you can get there quicker, it is not as overrun as Florence, there are far less cars and mopeds, it is so serene. We had a lovely time. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cavaaller Posted July 16 Author #74 Share Posted July 16 Meeting time was 7:45, we were back at around 1 o clock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beatnix Posted July 16 #75 Share Posted July 16 We did this tour 2 years and we really enjoyed it. Lucca is pure Italy! It's wonderful to see you are enjoying your cruise! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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