No info on shore excursions?????

[John&Betty]

Wonder what's going on?

 

We are three months away from our April 25th Med cruise on the Journey and there is still no information about shore excursions on their web site. Sure would like to see what they plan to offer.

 

John

[Susan-M]

Hi John,

 

I've noticed this also with a June 7th Quest cruise that we have booked. There are several ports that are new to Celebrity (in Turkey) and although we usually like to do independent touring, I think it's going to be a challenge in some of the smaller ports. I'm curious to see what Azamara is offering in those ports.

[John&Betty]

That's it exactly, we've never been to Split or Koper and would like to know what they plan for those ports.

[Napi's Mom]

Wonder what's going on?

 

We are three months away from our April 25th Med cruise on the Journey and there is still no information about shore excursions on their web site. Sure would like to see what they plan to offer.

 

John

Just a hint at one stop...Almaria is the place we stopped at while on Renn. for Granada, rather than Malaga, either are used for going to Granada. Almaria is smaller. Cadiz most of us went to Seville, which was a drive.

[cindilouwho]

The Journey is not going to Malaga. Unless it's a secret stop :o

[Hedonistuds]

Hi everyone ...

 

FYI I called Azamara in the morning asking for excursion prices as they dont have them available on their website. The answer was: "Access the Celebrity Cruises website and check the Shore and Land Excursions information and prices over there. They are the same on Azamara Cruises." I hope this reply will help all of you! Enjoy your trip! :cool:

[Susan-M]

"Access the Celebrity Cruises website and check the Shore and Land Excursions information and prices over there. They are the same on Azamara Cruises."

 

That will help with some ports...but it doesn't sound like the rep knows that Azamara is going to quite a few new ports, e.g. Canakkale, Bodrum, Fethiye and Antalya Turkey on the June 7th cruise.

 

I'm not getting a very confident feel about Azamara with answers from reps like this. :(

[John&Betty]

Hi,

 

That seems to be typical for all reps, not just Azamara's. I have gotten frustrated trying to get information from Celebrity also. If you talk to 3 different people you get 3 different answers.

 

BTW, have you checked to see if your cruise is included in the 3 day sale that started yesterday? We just got a huge shipboard credit. :D

 

John

[Susan-M]

BTW, have you checked to see if your cruise is included in the 3 day sale that started yesterday? We just got a huge shipboard credit. :D

 

John

 

Yes..a price reduction on fares, but I thought the OBC's were for new bookings only.

[John&Betty]

We got $500 on our 10 day med cruise in a 2a. Worth looking into for sure. :)

 

John

[John&Betty]

We were prepared to rebook but didn't have to.

[NotChoppedLiver]

"I have gotten frustrated trying to get information from Celebrity also. If you talk to 3 different people you get 3 different answers."

 

John,

It seems that communication has not improved since our 12/8 cruise on Quest.

Apparently each Azamara agent has a different playbook.

 

As for excursions:

I just don't understand why Azamara agents direct people

to the Celebrity website.

 

Some of us on the 12/8 cruise, such as myself and Nancy (Napi'sMom), had to dig in and do extensive research with respect to shore excursions.

Even though the Celebrity website might list excursions for certain corresponding ports it does not mean they will be available to Azamara passengers visiting the same ports, to the contrary.

AND...we booked an excursion in Nicaragua which was almost identical

to the ship's but at a shockingly lower price: $65 per person vs $234.

 

Laura

[John&Betty]

I thought I had something for a moment there. I put Rome in the search box under Azamara's shore excursion section and got a response! Turned out to be a church named Rome in Brazil.

 

One reason we are interested is because of Livorno. We arrive there on a Sunday and most of the car rental agencies are closed. It's going to cost 285 Euros to rent a 7 passenger van from Hertz by the time we pay the premiums for Sunday pickup and return.

 

That works out to $140 US per couple but is still probably the best way to go. The Celebrity shore excursions are $188 per couple for the nine hour trips to Florence and having our own vehicle will be a lot more convenient. Especially since one of our group has a bad knee.

 

John

[Cote d'or]

According to another thread, all Azamara shore excursions will be added mid-February.

[susiesan]

For the last two days there has been no AZ web site to access for anything, let alone shore excursions. Our cruise is March 1 and after arranging private tours for most ports I have to see what AZ offers for a few places we have to take a ship trip.

 

Susie

[greeneg]

I thought I had something for a moment there. I put Rome in the search box under Azamara's shore excursion section and got a response! Turned out to be a church named Rome in Brazil.

 

One reason we are interested is because of Livorno. We arrive there on a Sunday and most of the car rental agencies are closed. It's going to cost 285 Euros to rent a 7 passenger van from Hertz by the time we pay the premiums for Sunday pickup and return.

 

That works out to $140 US per couple but is still probably the best way to go. The Celebrity shore excursions are $188 per couple for the nine hour trips to Florence and having our own vehicle will be a lot more convenient. Especially since one of our group has a bad knee.

 

John

 

Consider taking the train from Livorno to Florence. It is likely to be quicker, cheaper, even with the cost of a taxi on both ends and you will not have to worry about parking in Florence which can really be a problem in the Historic Center.

 

Probably at least worth looking into and considering.

[John&Betty]

Hi Ed,

 

The last time we were there Avis dropped a car off at the pier for us. We walked off the ship, signed for it and were on our way. We got to Florence early and parking was not a problem.

 

I doubt we could have gotten there any sooner on the train and with a taxi on each end and 6 people the train couldn't be much cheaper than $70 per person. Then there's the convenience of having our own vehicle that goes at our own schedule. That part is hard to beat.

 

John

[Moeve]

John if I remember correctly the train from Livorno to Florence and back was about 25 Euros per person - even at todays exchange rate that is till cheaper than 70 USD per person.....

[Minneapolis]

You go and rent that car John.

Then you can stop off in Siena.

[cindilouwho]

John if I remember correctly the train from Livorno to Florence and back was about 25 Euros per person - even at todays exchange rate that is till cheaper than 70 USD per person.....

 

The train is 4.70 Euros each person each way.

[greeneg]

" You can stop off in Sienna"......right, Florence and Sienna in one day, plus travel time to and from Livorno? Good luck.....

 

And, I can't speak directly for parking in Florence on a Sunday ( we rented our car in Florence to drive away from there into rural Tuscany), but I have done it in Sienna and it took over one hour just to find a parking place.

 

Again, Good luck. You may need it.

 

( Of course, you have to consider also that this is being written by someone [me] who is always caught by stoplights...:) )

[therhodes]

We were in Livorno for Florence in Sept 07. Due to traffic problems/road work etc. it took anywhere from 2 - 4 hours just to get to Florence!!

 

People on the ship tours had it the worst....sitting on the bus, taking forever and still having them stop for a 1/2 hour "convenience" stop at a leather outlet place! Others who rented their own cars still experienced traffic problems. Trains are a good way to go, but you must also understand that in Italy it is not unusual for a "strike" to pop up and shut everything down for hours.

 

So even though you have "9" hours in your port of call, you will really only end up with 4 or 5 in Florence, the rest is spent to and from the ship.

 

Don't even think about Siena.....it is a good hour/hour 1/2 drive from Florence without running into any problems, let alone getting lost or twisted around at one of the roundabouts.

 

We had been to Florence/Pisa before on a land trip, so this time we just did the Lucca trip, which was wonderful. A great walled town with lots to see. If you really want to see Pisa, I would suggest going to Lucca first in the morning then if not driving taking a cab to Pisa and then head back to the ship from there.

 

The same will apply in Rome. You are in port for 9 hours, but by the time you get into Rome you really only end up with 5 at the most. If you've never been there before and want to "see" the sites, I would suggest the hop on/off bus. You, of course, would not have a lot of time to see museums or stand in line to get into the Colosseum, but you will get a great little tour of a beautiful city.

 

You really cannot appreciate these great cities in so short a time, but you'll get an idea of what you might want to come back to see on a land vacation when you can take the time to thoroughly enjoy all that they have to offer.

 

Linda.

[gosport11]

hi all excursions are showing on the uk azrama site for europe now ,well they have started for the may10 cruise approx 10£ per hour so not to bad graham:cool: :)

[Napi's Mom]

We tried the Trolley (Hop on & off...got a tour around town first, then stopped at the Colosseum, and after our tour waited for 2 hrs after the supposed pick up time listed with another family. Finally one of their grey line busses picked us up...while returning from a tour, they then prceeded back to their offices, as it was now time for a lunch break, and only about 2-3hrs left in the day for their tours.! A waste of our money believe me..the Trolley "Broke Down", hence the tourbus pickup, nary an apology or offer of refund. LUCKILY their offices were just a few blocks from our hotel! We skipped the rest of the time we still had coming, had gotten exhausted standing waiting for pickup!

We'd advise a tour from a reputable person/guide. Our transfers to the Port from our hotel was handled by Stefano of rome taxi, in a mini bus, and picked up another couple and us from a different hotel (not all would do this) We paid about 75$ per couple for one way. He does many trips to & from port, and is a very good tour guide. When he heard our horror story about the Trolley, he gave us a mini tour of the city on the way to the port. It is quite a ride. On our cruise some were advised to tour the Port city (please don't sk me to remember how to spell it!) as it's small but has some interesting sites nearby.

[gkm]

We are on the April 12 crossing on the Quest. They finally posted excursions for this cruise yesterday.

 

Garry