John and I have just come back from a fabulous Azamara cruise.  As I said in my earlier e-mails, I wanted to offer one of the small ship cruise lines to our ATC members, but wanted to see it first.  And the response from you regarding a Mediterranean cruise has been wonderful.  It seems so many of you are interested in this cruise for next year. (If you are interested in this cruise, please read this entire letter, as there is information at the end regarding the deadline for holding the cabins for ATC)

Azamara ships accommodate only 694 passengers, with a crew of 400.  How's that for a passenger-crew ratio?  Azamara is only one year old and I am certain that once they get to be better known, they will raise their prices (already going up for next year!) to match Oceania and Crystal Cruise Lines.

We went on the Azamara "Quest" and it is beautiful, with lots of wood to add to its elegance.  Every stateroom has a butler (not a personal one, but readily available by pressing a button on the phone).  He will even unpack your suitcases, but I opted out of that one since I didn’t want to do a scavenger hunt for my personal clothes.  :-)

Every stateroom had fresh flowers in the cabin and an orchid in the bathroom.  There was personalized stationery in the room.  There are also slippers (which you can keep), bathrobe, umbrella, and binoculars for your use.  Although they were nice and add to the total experience, I could do without them.

What I did love is that there are no “dress up” nights on the ship, although you can if you want.  There are two specialty restaurants (one serving lobster every night) besides the regular dining room and buffet upstairs.  Unlike the other cruise lines who charge $20-$30 pp for dining in specialty restaurants, the "Quest" only asks $5 per person for tips for the waiter.

Another thing I loved was we never waited for a tender (the boat used when anchoring instead of docking) or at the dock to go ashore (no lines or waiting for your number to be called).  They do not push their shore excursions.  They even have port talks (which are televised constantly so you don’t have to actually attend the talks) that tell you how to get around by bus, etc.  But best of all, when you get to a port they have the local information tourist bureau come on board and set up a “Hospitality Table” to answer all the questions you might have and give detailed maps.  They tell you what to see, how to get there, and what it will cost you by city bus or taxi.  It was marvelous.

They don’t have the big “Las Vegas” type shows, but did have 5 singers and dancers who performed Broadway, 40’s and 50’s, etc. shows.  They also had a wonderful pianist, magician/comedian, male soloist, and violinist show.  We also only had two sea days (the cruise that we are offering has only one sea day).  The small ships can go into ports where the big ships can’t.  Azamara is “destination driven”.  They go to more ports then the big cruise ships.  They also go along the shore a lot of the time rather than far out at sea.

So here is what we have planned for next year's ATC Mediterranean Cruise!

If you want the small ship experience, now is the time to do it.  Since many of Azamara's cruises have already sold out, I have chosen September 6 of next year for the Mediterranean cruise.  The tourist season (mainly August for Europeans) is over by that time and it should be better weather (not so hot).  The cruise is an 11 day/10 night cruise starting in Athens (for those of you who want to go early and spend some time with “Shirley Valentine”).  For those who don’t want to go early, Mykonos Island will be our first stop and I will gladly take you to where the movie was filmed.  The schedule is as follows:
 

The prices given below are without air.  John and I will be using frequent flyer miles.  Sharon, our travel agent handling this group, can research air travel for you but can’t do anything until 330 days before the cruise.  Azamara allows only one group per cruise with a maximum of 20 cabins.

Participation is not limited to Affordable Travel Club members.
You are welcome to invite your friends and family to join us.

Cost:  The below prices are for outside staterooms.  Inside staterooms are sold out (they don’t have too many of them).  The number of cabins we have on hold is in parenthesis.
 
 

Please e-mail me (suzannemiller@juno.com) or phone me (253) 853-6379 if you would like to go and call Sharon to make a reservation.

Any emails sent to me personally should also be cc'd to ATC email address (atc@affordabletravelclub.net) as we are often traveling on business.

To Make a Reservation for Mediterranean cruise:

 Call Sharon Emerson (Cruise and Tour Planners) and tell her you want to go on the September 6, 2009 Affordable Travel Club Mediterranean cruise.

Phone:  Toll free  (866)  367-7657  or (206)  367-7657.   Then e-mail me (suzannemiller@juno.com) or call (253) 853-6379 and tell me you have made your reservation.

 Cancellations with refund minus administration fee of $250.00 can be made up to 120 days before the cruise.  These prices are about 1/2 of what Oceania Cruises wants for a similar cruise.

Before you make a decision, look at the two websites below and you will be "sold".  You will note the base prices quoted us are below the website base prices.

1) See the ship by clicking on the link below and then click on Virtual
Tour.  It will show you the ship and rooms.  http://www.azamaracruises.com/

2) To read more about the above ports of call, click or copy link below. (If this link does not work, then go to the link in #1.   Fill out "Planning a Cruise"  with Destination = Europe, Month = Sept, 2009, Departure City = Athens, and Ship = Quest.  You will get to a detail page that shows small map of trip.  Right above it, click on "Ports and Cities")

http://www.azamaracruises.com/search/vacationPorts.do;jsessionid=0000T8Z0

Make the reservation now so you do not lose your category choice.  We have enough now for what everyone wants, but starting Tuesday I will not be holding cabins, as Sharon will be taking the reservations and only she will know the status of cabins.

 Looking forward to seeing you on this cruise.

 Suzanne and John