Azamara Quest drydock: moved to April 2016

The Azamara Quest was scheduled for dry-dock in September of 2015.

Due to an expanded scope of upgrades to the ship’s guest areas necessitating more preparation time, the ship's dry-dock has been moved to April 2016.

The Azamara Quest April 2, 2016 voyage, round-trip Singapore, has therefore been cancelled.

The Azamara Journey dry-dock remains on schedule for January 2016.

Further details on the dry-dock plans will be communicated starting in June.

Bonnie

Can you add to that, such as when in April, plus what happens to 'existing' cruises mid April onwards. From our personal point of view we are booked on the 1 May Dubai cruise, and if this is not going to happen we need to know sooner rather than later, so we can look elsewhere.

Peter & Linda

So what will Quest be doing instead of drydock? We are on the first two cruises after the originally-scheduled drydock.

Is Azamara still intending to take Quest through the Suez Canal and past Aden, Yemen, to Dubai on that October 19 cruise? Or is the postponed drydock intended to give Quest more time to sail around Africa in order to get to the far east the long way for its winter cruise season? The latter would have serious impact on our hotel and flight arrangements--all already paid in advance--for the October 11 and 19 cruises.

I have not heard of any other voyage being affected...not in 2015 or 2016.

I will inquire for you, just to make sure.

Confirming: this change will only affect the April 2, 2016 voyage. None others.

The Azamara Quest was scheduled for dry-dock in September of 2015.

Due to an expanded scope of upgrades to the ship’s guest areas necessitating more preparation time, the ship's dry-dock has been moved to April 2016.

The Azamara Quest April 2, 2016 voyage, round-trip Singapore, has therefore been cancelled.

The Azamara Journey dry-dock remains on schedule for January 2016.

Further details on the dry-dock plans will be communicated starting in June.

Can you also explain what the highlighted part means? I worry that the "extra preparation time" will affect the last cruise before drydock (which we are booked on) as they try to keep the ship out of service for the least amount of time possible.

well, this sucks!!!!!:mad: i was so looking forward to enjoying my holidays in a new and improved cabin and enjoying my winter on the Quest.. now i wil lhave the same complaints about the stain in the carpet, drapes that do not close right etc.. now i have to wait to enjoy the new and improved ship.

as always they get us ready for something great and then put it off. Thanks MIA:mad:

This cancellation is so disappointing. Will Singapore be rescheduled? Plans and work schedules have been made for this time. Is Azamara extending any "incentive" or special pricing on another cruise for us due to this cancellation ?

Poor planning and management of these renovations are so concerning and very

upsetting.

That's disappointing for those hoping for an updated ship. I'm on Journey in April 2016 and hope the planned date continues. Journey will now be the first to be upgraded. If it's not done by April 2016 I know that the same welcome and service awaits. Hard to upgrade that one!

Phil

Hi Bonnie,

Next question is do you know if/when details of replacement cruise in Sept 2014 will be issued?

THANKS

well, this sucks!!!!! i was so looking forward to enjoying my holidays in a new and improved cabin and enjoying my winter on the Quest.. now i wil lhave the same complaints about the stain in the carpet, drapes that do not close right etc.. now i have to wait to enjoy the new and improved ship.

 

as always they get us ready for something great and then put it off. Thanks MIA

Robin, Couldn't agree with you more...We are sailing on The Quest November 18, 2015 and were looking forward to boarding a nicely upgraded ship.

Kathy

This caused my heart to skip a beat because I was thinking we were on April 30 and this was cutting it too close, but I double checked and we're on May 30. I wonder what the upgrades will consist of?

Kathy - one thing you can say about that Viking ship we all just got off - it was stunningly beautiful, even with the other problems.

That's disappointing for those hoping for an updated ship. I'm on Journey in April 2016 and hope the planned date continues. Journey will now be the first to be upgraded. If it's not done by April 2016 I know that the same welcome and service awaits. Hard to upgrade that one!

 

Phil

But it is stil lvey sad Phil as noithng like Christmas on a new ship. u really need that updated cabin. bet they could not find all the $$4 for 2015 so moved it to 2016.. i will now be on the JR first too. hard to believe they get it all done in one cruise.

Hi Bonnie,

Next question is do you know if/when details of replacement cruise in Sept 2014 will be issued?

THANKS

I am no longer a regular Azamara cruiser for various reasons that have been well highlighted on this forum but I well remember the fiasco around the last planned refits

It seems that Azamara top management could not organise a drinks party in a Brewery (polite version}

Oh no! I will miss seeing an improved Quest this year

I was really looking forward to this

So sorry [emoji53] it is postponed

Hi Bonnie,

Next question is do you know if/when details of replacement cruise in Sept 2014 will be issued?

THANKS

Hi Proctor,

the replacement cruises for Sept 2015 will be announced within a few weeks, if not sooner. Claudius (our itinerary planner) is finalizing the approvals from the various ports for berthing etc. Stay tuned.

Can you also explain what the highlighted part means? I worry that the "extra preparation time" will affect the last cruise before drydock (which we are booked on) as they try to keep the ship out of service for the least amount of time possible.

Hi Critterchick,

As of this writing there are no plans to do major work on the cruise prior to drydock. Of course, should we find that it is necessary, work would be limited to behind the scenes areas so as to not disturb the guests.

FYI, on almost every lines' sailings there is behind-the-scenes work going on. It is not limited to pre-drydock voyages.

We sailed recently on the QM2 (we were full-fare pax) and the room next to ours was being renovated.

Hi Proctor,

the replacement cruises for Sept 2015 will be announced within a few weeks, if not sooner. Claudius (our itinerary planner) is finalizing the approvals from the various ports for berthing etc. Stay tuned.

Thanks Bonnie.

Looks like we are both making typos without realising.

Of course it is 2015 not 2014 as I asked.

My Name is ProctEr not ProctOr and finally you mention Sept "cruises" when it is only 11 days and departing and disembarking cruises ports will be Nice unless you are changing the cruises before and after which I doubt.

Written with a smile as email can look to be quite brutal.

PS

Any luck regarding use of certificates with shareholder credit on same booking?

Thanks Bonnie.

Looks like we are both making typos without realising.

Of course it is 2015 not 2014 as I asked.

 

My Name is ProctEr not ProctOr and finally you mention Sept "cruises" when it is only 11 days and departing and disembarking cruises ports will be Nice unless you are changing the cruises before and after which I doubt.

Written with a smile as email can look to be quite brutal.

 

PS

Any luck regarding use of certificates with shareholder credit on same booking?

I make it 15 nights between 26 September and 11 October so it could easily be "cruises" rather than "a cruise".

Hi Critterchick,

As of this writing there are no plans to do major work on the cruise prior to drydock. Of course, should we find that it is necessary, work would be limited to behind the scenes areas so as to not disturb the guests.

FYI, on almost every lines' sailings there is behind-the-scenes work going on. It is not limited to pre-drydock voyages.

We sailed recently on the QM2 (we were full-fare pax) and the room next to ours was being renovated.

I know that, but many ships also start working on public areas (removing carpeting, shutting down venues, etc.) on the cruise before drydock, and they don't seem to care that it inconveniences guests who paid full fare for their sailings only to have a somewhat truncated experience.

We'll keep our booking because it is a terrific itinerary and I'd do it in a leaky tin washtub. I'm just disappointed that we are likely to have a less stellar onboard experience than we had hoped. (I always assume the worst and it always turns out better:)).

And thanks for keeping CCers updated. It's a pity that we always seem to find out about cancellations here instead of from the various cruiselines. I'm still waiting to hear from Celebrity that our 2010 Australia/New Zealand cruise was cancelled.

I'm still waiting to hear from Celebrity that our 2010 Australia/New Zealand cruise was cancelled.

LOL. I hope they get back to you *soon* :)

Thank you for posting this update. My TA was notified immediately. Thank goodness it's 11 months away and have plenty of time to reschedule our next adventure with Azamara! Can't wait to see how great the ship looks after the new renovations!

Thanks Bonnie.

Looks like we are both making typos without realising.

Of course it is 2015 not 2014 as I asked.

 

My Name is ProctEr not ProctOr and finally you mention Sept "cruises" when it is only 11 days and departing and disembarking cruises ports will be Nice unless you are changing the cruises before and after which I doubt.

Written with a smile as email can look to be quite brutal.

 

PS

Any luck regarding use of certificates with shareholder credit on same booking?

Hi ProctER, I've just opened up the topic of shareholder OBC with the home office again today. There's another thread on this as well. I'll let you know what I hear, I promise.

As for replacement voyages, I have not seen the itineraries but I have it on good authority that there will actually be three shorter-than-usual itineraries in the Med. Tactically this makes good sense to me for two reasons: people book shorter cruises closer in, and new people book shorter cruises to try out the product.

I also understand the ports will be different to make 2-3 voyages affordably combinable using B2B savings.

Personally I can't wait to see the itineraries...I love to visit the Mediterranean countries in September and October when the kids have gone back to school.

Still reading the old posts on the board, can some one tell me when Journey is to have her drydock??

As for replacement voyages, I have not seen the itineraries but I have it on good authority that there will actually be three shorter-than-usual itineraries in the Med. Tactically this makes good sense to me for two reasons: people book shorter cruises closer in, and new people book shorter cruises to try out the product.

I also understand the ports will be different to make 2-3 voyages affordably combinable using B2B savings.

Personally I can't wait to see the itineraries...I love to visit the Mediterranean countries in September and October when the kids have gone back to school.

Bonnie that is great news.(off course sad for the april 2016 sailing ) Have been looking for "something" in that period and a good deal on a 5 day cruise would be great. Looking forward to seeing the itineraries.

Now, that said: The moving of the dates for drydock must have been a blow for Azamara. I am very sorry for all of those who had hoped to sail on the refurbished ship and even more sorry for the people that had their cruise cancelled in april. I don't read the explanation in the way that this has any economic incentives, but either that the contractor was not able to perform the upgrades on scheduled time or that the upgrade has been decided to be more extensive than previously planned.