uktog

He is now on vacation

I’m reading posts by influencers elsewhere you all seem to be back on that sailing. I will be interested in numbers once we reach a more typical proportion of fully paying guests

We had the Arabic menu pre pandemic, it was amazing. We've tried to get it since but not been lucky, either its not offered or its offered and they get not enough take up so switch it to French. Really great menu

You will need to check with Azamara as your luggage/customs clearance would be happening at a time they may not have permission to do it at. It can be allowed but only Azamara can 100% say yes

Yes thats why I said some

As I understand the offer is only on some November sailings but you could check

When are you sailing? Maybe you should check on your roll call if others in the sailing have had the offer - if they have you should follow this up with your travel agent or with the cruise line if you booked direct

You would qualify for a discount on packages onboard - but it would be less than 20% so you are better with the offer. The issue made by others who have high levels of loyalty is that the offer is of no benefit to them. You do not lose loyalty in that respect

I suspect some Safety Officers, whose decision it would be, will say no from the outset as has been the position in the past as they would also have to come round it the winds got up as can happen in port

There is a sliding scale of discounts for all returning guests on the ultimate package up to 25% for those at the highest level of loyalty but only for purchasing onboard Those at the lower level of loyalty and those with no sailings can now enjoy a 20% discount by booking pre boarding, those on the tier that already gets 20% has no benefit and those at 25% would be worse off this this offer. Likewise those at the highest level of loyalty already get unlimited wifi so the offer is of no benefit to them

This was an issue before the website issues and rumours about the status of Loyalty recognition, it has always been the case that these promotions encouraged new cruisers rather than repeaters.

They are opened for cleaning when in port but for safety reasons cannot be opened at any other time. If you ask it will be a no

Sounds though that I might enjoy the bar experience if they follow a recipe. To me a good drink is one where the spirits to other ingredients are in correct proportion. My absolute hate on Azamara is bar tenders who think they are doing you a favour with extra measures of spirits when you’ve told them otherwise

Elisabeth has just gone on leave to return just ahead of the world voyage I believe

@Dr H your reference to chromosomes is not necessarily a very diverse comment these days 😂😂

Azamara is a destination intensive line. Therefore the first sea day may not even happen - some itineraries have no sea days or alternatively the day is very late. There is also a view that whereas on mega ships a get together was needed, on Azamara it is very easy to connect with guests and a structured event is not needed. Add to that the range of venues available on a smaller vessel is not high - the cabaret lounge can be needed for rehearsals, there can be other groups that have formal arrangements with Azamara (eg Music at Sea) and now there is no library on one ship. I guess Azamara now believe people can sort themselves out but they do offer one slot albeit usually at or just after sailaway. It has the same status as a Friends of Bill - space but no officers

I found on Viking it was easy to meet people both those on cruise critic and those not. Its like Azamara a very friendly line.

I read that some of them look after 26 separate facebook pages all extolling the virtues of MSC related products. Must be exhausting and you need all these very reduced price cruises to recover

That’s new wording

I see they got goody bags. Hope you got one - it’s the very least they could do. I’ve been to naming ceremonies on other lines and there was no distinction between paying guests and the hangers on. I think there is a very clear message about MSCs focus here

I saw the menu and have borrowed the photo. If I’m not mistaken, these items are on standard menus. I think it’s all wrong how they’ve treated their guests as opposed to those on a “business trip”

Maybe it’s time Azamara looked at all their evening offerings - White Night, Azamazing evening and Folkloric events. The original concepts are about 9 years old and there’s a blurring of what’s what. We’ve had folkloric at White Nights, Azamazing evenings and folkloric that are very similar. When boundaries get blurred and competitors challenge your USP in an area or it’s no longer feasible to offer it consistently it’s time to rethink and redefine

The problem isn’t the cruise line it’s the port who in some countries only release the complete dock details just before docking. Some big ships can only use one dock hence why they know ahead. Azamara can go virtually anywhere so can be later but the taxis always find them!

Funny we always we’re approaching Explora as an alternative to Viking and Azamara in terms of our booking behaviour and are curious to see if it’s price point is justified

Logistically better on board this one in my view. Appreciate others may not agree. Often tours from Florence struggled to get back in time to leave for the theatre. They have to allow so much time for transport to and from the theatre. Doing it on the ship will allow them to push the start time back quite a bit so more people can attend.