dfishner

Thank you so much for pointing out a typing error. It's very helpful that you clarify that what I typed wasn't what you typed.

 

This is about equality? Getting free drinks and better food means equality from ship to ship?

 

Ok, so what do you propose to do about it, then? You demand equality, and that equals what, exactly?

 

I don't recall debating you as much as just answering questions of why. Seems simple enough. You get everything any other diamond member gets but instead of mixed drinks, wine, snacks and nuts, you get just free wine and nuts. And all on the ship you are on get the same benefit.

 

In addition to that, unless you are on the Majesty, and on that because you can't drive 45 min up to Fort Lauderdale, and someone forces you onto the cruise ship, then the ships will be updated to be "equal".

 

So there's what you do- wait. Wait until the ship you are forced to sail on has a real diamond lounge.

 

Or you can deal with it just like the rest of us have. It's a perk.

Why are you wasting your time responding there is no winning with this OP if you agree with OP you get a thanks and if you do not your heartless there is no logic in you continuing this on. I understand everything you wrote make sense to me but this OP just want everyone to agree that RCL is not treating him or her fairly and wants everyone on here to agree with that and in the end it accomplishes nothing.

Interesting thread we have not sailed on a RCL cruise since becoming diamond, we have cruised on X and on Azamara where they reconized our RCL status what other cruise lines does that? can anyone here name one?

To us perks are just an added bonus and now we just enjoy it all from the ship, the itinerary and the onboard experience. It can be RCL, X or Azamara makes no difference to us.

I have been on the Pearl and the NOS and all though our preference is RCL we really enjoyed our experience with NCL.. We skipped the MDR and just did the speciality restaurants which were very good, enjoyed the shows and the ship was nicely layed out..We would do another cruise on NCL if the price and the itinerary were right.

I just set up a transfer from my bank account to a seperate savings account I have twice a month and pay no attention to it until final payment is due. I also put enough in for after the cruise so if there are any on board charges which we made I have it covered.

Can you say Richard Spacey and we do not pay attention to CD's to much but he added so much to our enjoyment I would put him in as a major added bonus to our cruise.

Early fifties here and we were never bored on the Reflection. The entertainment was as good as the Freedom class but not as good as Oasis class but those ships are in a class by themselves. The Reflection was going late into the night. It can all depend on the sailing and the average age of the passengers.

 

I like RCI a lot but love the more strict smoking policy, no announcements, better food across the board and fewer kids. For a twenty something though, I suggest RCI.

I have to echo what Gordon wrote we were on Solstice and we were up late most evenings we found there was so much to do on the ship we were never bored. I would do an X cruise again without no hesitation. We really like the vibe

First this is tacky on NCL's part. Second they sound desperate and last NCL has nothing that can compete with Allure.

Yes they do Gordon there is the NCL with the brain tumor on top then there is the NCL? and how about the NCL? hmmm believe you are right. I also think what NCL did was pretty tacky so much for ethics.. Hope your doing well Gordon.

I loved your review it made me smile all the way through it.. I remember when Oasis first came out that you wrote you would never go on it. So does that meal your no longer a Noots? :-)

We were looking foward to 15O of all the restaunts on Oasis and have to say it was a bit of a disappointment we felt it was ok but nothing to write home about. We like the salt selection on the table thought that was unique but felt the meal was a letdown. I feel X does a much better job in Murano then 150 on RCL just my opinion. We really enjoyed the other speciality restaurants on Oasis including the Chef table which was very good.

Sorry cannot convince you that is your decision to make, what I may like, you will not so trying to convince someone else is difficult especially if you have no idea what their likes or dislikes are.

We have been on many cruise lines and there are things we liked about all of them. What we have found is RCL has the best on board experience for us the only area that does not match up is the food in the MDR which is average but we know that going in. We have been cruising RCL on and off over the years and we have always enjoyed ourselves.

As others have wrote, read reviews, watch youtube videos to get a sense of what the ships are like also determine what is important to you on a cruise then come back and ask specific questions. Just be aware this is all subjective.

I highly doubt it. "A lot of people here" is a very very very small part of the cruising community of RCI and the Voyager class and above are way too popular it seems.

 

Sure, there are a lot of "smaller ship" fans but I believe the bigger ships with the Royal Promenade and Flowriders etc win out. I cant tell you how many times Ive read here and other online forums about how people will not sail a RCI ship that doesnt have a Royal Promenade or Flowrider.

 

The more passengers they can pack on the ship, the more money they make. It really makes no sense financially to build smaller ships I wouldnt think.

 

This of course is just MY opinion and its probably worth exactly what you paid for it :D;):p I would be very very surprised to see Royal Caribbean build any more 2500 passenger ships though.

And you are correct it makes no sense financially to build a ship that only holds 2500 people when for the same amount of fuel they can take 5000.

I have been lurking as I followed this policy get redefined as time goes on, but have decided that now is the time to jump in.

 

My wife loves to drink Cosmos, usually before dinner in the bar outside the MDR. I notice that Martinis are included in the complimentary list but cosmos are not. Don't have a clue why not since they are no more difficult to prepare and all their ingredients are included in the "Free" list. Does this mean we should ask for some cranberry juice, some vodka and some triple sec and make our own cosmos? Should we start packing a cocktail shaker so we can mix them ourselves, or will the bar tenders willingly loan us theirs?

 

Just wondering???

You can have your cosmos just ask for it with triple sec that is what we did and it was no problem.

A Summary

 

• Azamara's shoreside operation did a woeful job by not giving timely information about their new beverage policy.
  
• Bill Leiber is a great asset to Azamara and Cruise Critic.
  
• "All inclusive" means different things to different people.
  
• Repeat Azamara cruisers know, and Newbies will find out, that Azamara gives a wonderful onboard experience you will not find elsewhere. On board there never seem to be problems, only solutions.
  

After 13,267 hits and 304 posts, isn't it time to lay this to rest and move on?

 

With a Bombay Sapphire, Schweppes Tonic, 1/2 slice of lemon and two ice-cubes in hand (in a glass of course !) :) , we wish you all a Happy Easter and wonderful cruises.

 

B&T

I like the way you think ;)

I understand the frustration of those who live over seas who are confused and angry about being told that their cruise is AI and to find it is not but its some sought of a hybrid. I can understand why it would be upsetting and disappointing. You can say Azamara is at fault, you can say the TA's are at fault but in the end it somewhat misleading and needs to be cleared up quickly so everyone is on the same page Azamara needs to correct this.

Spirit package it is what it is for now and I am sure Azamara will be making changes to it as time goes by. I think it needs to be tweaked some but overall there is quite a bit on the list that I like. I do think Azamara should look into popular spirits on the European side as well and add that in to the package especaily for the scotch and the beers. We also have to accept not everyone is going to be pleased no matter what Azamara adds to the list but I do believe it is a work in progress and will be tweaked.

Attacking one another on here is just plain uncool if you do not agree then just agree to disagree but lets keep it professional not personal everyone here should be able to express their opinions openly and honestly. I always thought flaming someone was for the mass market line sites and have seen several instances of it on here and it is disappointing to see it.

This is not directed at anyone it is just an observation. If you think about it we are talking about a cruise line on a cruise site there are much more important things going on in our lives then just this. I love cruising but I am not going to get into a verbal battle with someone on here it accomplishes nothing but ill feelings. Remember there is also the ignore button on here or you can contact Host Andy.

Dale, I am afraid to say there is no place on here for such a reasoned attitude. Consider this a yellow card, one more outburst of sensibility like that and you're off! :rolleyes:

To funny I will try and not get a red card I promise

We are happy with the drink package Azamara is offerening also feel the price list for Ala carte drinks if we want a premium brand is resonable.

FT Lauderdale actually Sunrise-Plantation area.

My partner and I are doing Spain on Azamara in 2013 booked it last November.

Even though I do not smoke I love the CClub love the leather couches and chairs very relaxing and the people I have met in there were great it is a nice place to have an after dinner drink or just chill out.

Azamara-was surprised on how good the MDR room food is it was on par with their speciality restaurants in fact when we go on Azamara again we are going to skip the speciality restaurants.

Celebrity-MDR food was good and offered a good variety of choices.

NCL-Specialty restaurants are very good we did not try the MDR we heard to many horror stories :-)

RCL-Medicore food in the MDR just average but we do not go on RCL for the food it is the overall experience.

There is much more to "seeing" the captain and senior officers than just seeing them. At least as important is that they learn from interacting with passengers and also can short-circuit any issues or satisfy any desires that passengers might otherwise keep to themselves. Nothing improves the product more.

 

I'll give one instance, told to me by friends who cruised Journey in March. They were having lunch at the outdoor section of the buffet when the captain came by, going from table to table talking with passengers. The gentleman at the next table told the captain that everything was fine, but that he was disappointed he had to miss the tour of the engine control room. The captain asked his stateroom number, took out his portable phone, made a call, and told the passenger he'd be hearing from reception as to when he'd be able to tour the engine control room.

 

That's the kind of thing that delights passengers. It is not an infrequent occurrence on Azamara.

I could not agree more, when we were on the Journey we ordered the international cheese board and when it came out it was a real disappointment having american chesse slices on it..we made a comment to the our waiter that we were a little disappointed in the chesse board next thing we find the manager and the chef approach our table and apologized for us it wasn't anything really major but from that day on it was changed and they followed up with us to insure we were satisfied...I call that pure customer service at its best...

We had a joke to ourselves that we better not make anymore comments or we would have the captain at our table...Azamara would of been a one shot deal for us because we wanted to try something different then a mass market line but after our experience on the Journey we booked another cruise and what it came down to how great the entire staff was.

Ellbon, the April 2013 Seville to Barcelona cruise.

We are on the same cruise as you

I do not think that the price differential between Oceania and Azamara is significant--not when you subtract from the cost on Oceania the airfare credit, keep in mind that on Marina there were free nights of dining in specialty restaurants, quote]

 

I don't like the fact that Azamara is charging for this now, but understand they needed something extra to offer Suite guests. But, now that the average 10-12 night cruise cheapest Veranda is in the $4K - 5K range (or more) it seems tacky to charge for the specialty restaurants. At least they should offer everyone one included night.

 

On another note we went to Prime C on our last Quest Cruise and it was a total disappointment. It was great on our first cruise.

 

I

I did the math and for us it just is not worth it we do not drink $80 a day to make it worthwhile We are in the $60 range with wine for some of the dinners and a drink or two during the day. We would have a heck of a good time trying to spend it

We found the Solarium buffet the first day and it is great and normally not crowded until people discover it we has some nice breakfast and lunch up there.

We had dinner at Vintages wine bar we sat outside had tapas and wine and have to tell you it was one of the highlights of our cruise.

The two leads of hairspray did a small show in the jazz club which was great. Best place to see the parade is from the Schooner bar and you can watch it from a level up..