scapel
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STILL NO Stateroom assigned.
Cruise leaves in 5 days, we fly out in four day.
Has anyone really had their Azamara stateroom assigned upon boarding? :eek:
Still waiting.
I was able to change staterooms after boarding. Just had to kick in some extra cash. Many times Miami and the ship don't get together on which cabins are available. On the ship they were bringing me to a cabin that had luggage already in it. We had to try another one.
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Can't get a stateroom assigned at time of deposit when booking a GTY. TA doesn't assign a stateroom if you've booked a GTY, the cruiseline does. And it may not be until you board.
If you want to avoid this uncertainty, don't book a GTY. Simple. I don't understand the fuss. This is what you sign up for when you book a GTY.
So a GTY is when you are guaranteed a stateroom, but because of a low cost deal they will put you where they want to. Maybe you get lucky and get a fairly good cabin. When you board, be nice and jolly and beg. HA!
As long as you get on everything will be ok.
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The size of the cabin was ok for the three of us. We had the table removed so we have space opening up the chair/bed for our son. Our bed was very comfortable. There were plenty of hangers in the closet and lots of space for clothes in drawers. The luggages fit perfectly under the bed.
The tender is right underneath the cabin so every morning at 7 or earlier we were woken up by the noise. Therefore, I will NOT book this cabin again.
What an excellent built in Alarm Clock to get up.
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Sorry but Owners Suites are in the back of the ship and fantastic!
I have had the Owner's Suite and much prefer the forward like 7005. No noise.
If I had noise I always have wax ear plugs, but have never had to use them on any Azamara Ship
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STILL NO Stateroom assigned.
Cruise leaves in 5 days, we fly out in four day.
Has anyone really had their Azamara stateroom assigned upon boarding? :eek:
Still waiting.
I always have my stateroom assigned when I make my deposit. I want to know where I will be and if it is satisfactory. Suggest you call your TA.
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My first cruise in 1975 off the East Coast of South America
Here is an Interesting story on this cruise. We met an Investment Banker from Cleveland that told us he was a personal friend of J.W.Marriott. At this time Sun lines the operator of the Stella Oceanus was owned by the Marriott Corporation. He did have a beautiful bon voyage flower arrangement from J.W.Marriott in his room. I saw the card. Somehow one day at sea this gentleman went to his cabin and the lady was running the vacuum cleaner and the ship rolled some and the man tripped over the vacuum cleaner cord and broke his right humerus (upper arm bone). There was a doctor on board, but he was just too pleased to let myself and a GP friend take care of him. We had an x-ray machine and we put a hanging arm cast on his arm. This would have probably worked but he couldn’t raise his wrist which meant the fracture had trapped the radial nerve and he would have to be flown home and have surgery.
About 6 weeks later I had a lawyer in my office because this friend of Mr. Marriott was suing Sun Lines stating that the cord tripped him and caused him to miss the rest of his cruise and he wanted a refund for the balance of his unused cruise and expenses for the flight home. He did not have any travel insurance. I didn’t charge lawyers in those days to just talk. Didn’t know I was supposed to.
I never did find out what actually came out of all this, but he gave me a $100 for helping him which was not necessary but he already had the check made out. I told him in those days I would have taken out his appendix for $100.
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My first cruise in 1975 off the East Coast of South America
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I was in the NAVY so it wasn't my first cruise, but it was my first pleasure cruise. Fran and I were on our honeymoon (Feb '71) and we had little money, but wanted to cruise. We went from Miami to Nassau to Freeport and back to Miami. We had the cheapest cabin available and believe me, it was nothing like todays ships.
We had a minuscule cabin with a small porthole so I guess it was an outside cabin (could not really see through the porthole). Two bunk beds, but every night we put the mattresses on the floor :). The bathroom was so small that you could be on the pot and open the door. The food was good, the entertainment was ok and we had a blast.
Now we usually have a suite on Princess but have taken some luxury cruises too. The difference is day and night in terms of accommodations, entertainment and everything else I can think of except the crew back then was as friendly and helpful as the crews are today. We just book a Panama Canal cruise for our anniversary this year and every time we board we reminisce about our honeymoon and laugh and are so thankful that we still are married to each other and still enjoy cruising!
What a pleasant story. Be sure to read Path Between the Seas before going on the Panama Canal cruise. Also see if this link works.
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My desert drink
1 oz Green Crème de Menthe
1 oz White Crème de Cacao
1 or two scoops of vanilla ice cream and put in blender with few ice chips
Pour in 8 oz rocks glass with straw
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Mega ships just aren't for us. Our room was shabby, and the carpet and sofa were filthy. The announcements selling things when on night and day. And the clientele just wasn't our demographic.
During the first few days, I watched people sneezing and coughing into their hands (or into the food), wiping their noses with their hand, etc., then serving themselves from the buffet. Lo and behold, five days into our cruise I got deathly ill and spent two days confined to the cabin. All of this after suffering the hand sanitizer people at the entrance to the buffet saying "washy washy, happy happy" before spraying us every time we entered.
During those two days, crew members asked my husband where I was. He said I wasn't feeling well, and one of them said, "oh you've had a fight." Which we thought was very unprofessional because what if we had?
The quality of food wasn't very good in the buffet, in the MDR, or in O'Sheehans. And the service was worse, we were in and out of the MDR in 35-40 minutes most nights. We ordered wine for each course and they brought it all at once and lined it up. Not that we actually could've drunk that much wine in a span of 40 minutes! And there's an upcharge for a very limited room service menu.
There wasn't a walk-around promenade deck and the promenade deck they had looked more like a crew passageway. There weren't any nice quiet outside areas (or inside for that matter) to sit and relax. Aside from port days, when most people were off the ship, the ship always felt crowded and hectic.
One night, I was sitting at the bar, and the woman next to me complimented me on my jewelry and handbag, then said, "aren't you afraid they'll get stolen? They steal things." I don't know who she was referring to, but I thought that was a bit off.
If we couldn't have afforded better, I'm sure we would've thought it was a lovely cruise. But we can, and were disappointed and angry for the time and money we wasted. We knew that NCL wasn't an upscale line, but we'd had such a lovely experience on the Star that we never considered that we wouldn't have a similar experience on Epic. It's hard to believe that the ships belong to the same line.
We prefer smaller ships and we'd like to sail with a clientele that's closer to our demographic, which NCL just doesn't attract. This is why we're looking to smaller ships on the next tier up. If we don't like HAL, we may try Seabourn or Crystal, or give up on cruising altogether.
Try Silverseas and or Azamara. You will love these ships and be treated very well, I promise.
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I grew up watching the Love Boat and always wanted to take a cruise :p
But then in January, we cruised the Western Mediterranean in an aft balcony on NCL Epic and had such a horrible time that we contemplated catching a train from Naples to Rome and flying back early!
We both want to love it like we loved the Star.
Can you tell more about what happened on the NCL EPIC?
HAL is owned by Carnival, but I don't think the perks carry over, like they do with RCCL to Celebrity and Azamara.
Carnival is a low cost line because of the volume they serve,but great fun and really give good service considering the large number of passengers served. There food for me so far has been as good as any of the others that I have been on.
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Our first cruise was on Radiance of the Seas in 2003 for our 25th wedding anniversary. We were hooked. The trip was down the Southern Caribbean islands from San Juan. Done it nearly every year since and already booked for next February. We are just looking at Cunard's Queen Victoria for a cruise in August.
I guess you own some RCCL stock and get the OBG.
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Matson Lines' Matsonia (as Lurline)
Great thread-- I like those that describe certain experiences. I wonder if it would be off topic to report interesting experiences like hitting another ship.
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My first (and only) time to travel by sea was on the Italian Line "SS Leonardo da Vinci" in 1968. Not a cruise, but a transport ship. We were four Peace Corps Volunteers, two married couples, traveling from the port of Lima, Peru to the port of Cartagena, Colombia where we were stationed on the Northern Coast.
Thank you for sharing.
Dr.Joe
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Found this bit of history online which highlights my first two "cruise" experiences: Chandris Fantasia, one of the 1960's Greek cruise ships doing the Eastern Med route and the RTW Gallileo on the 1970's which went on to become the first of the Celebrity Cruise Lines all-suite ships, the Meridian.
Chandris lines bought the Queen Frederica in 1966 and after fully modernising her with room for 1200 one-class passengers she left for Southampton in October 1966 to join the rest of the Australian fleet. She left service in January 1971, and was scrapped in 1977.
But perhaps the biggest expansion came in 1969-1970 when four ships joined the fleet within a matter of months: the Fiorita, the Romanza, the Atlantis and the Britanis. (NB: and also the Fantasia)
A few years later, by 1976, Chandris had the largest passenger-cruise fleet in the world, surpassing the prior records held by the likes of Cunard, P&O and Union Castle. That year, there were thirteen active Chandris passenger ships in all: The Australis, Britanis, Ellinis, Patris, The Victoria, Amerikanis, Romanza, Regina Prima, Bon Vivant, Fiorita, Romantica, Fiesta and finally the little Radiosa.
While Chandris turned to Greek hotels on shore in 1973, they also began to strengthen their American cruise operations.
In 1975 the Victoria ex- Dunnottar Castle was purchased from the bankrupt Incres Lines, refitted and renamed The Victoria, she started her Mediterranean service in June 1976, she served Chandris well until sold in 1993.
A partnership called Chandris-Fantasy Cruises started in the early 1980s and later was divided into two separate arms of the Chandris Group, Fantasy-Cruises and then the more up-market Celebrity Cruises.
In the mid eighties, the third generation Chandris Chairman John Chandris foresaw the growth of the cruise trade world-wide especially concerning the upper class of the USA's mass market.
This segment was the most competitive on the market, with well established operators such as Royal Caribbean, Princess, HAL, etc.
For Chandris Cruises, as budget cruise operator, it was quite difficult to follow the marketing strategy of its Chairman.
A new image had to be created and so Chandris formed with the Overseas Shipholding Group Celebrity Cruises. Later Chandris bought OSG out and became sole owner of Celebrity Cruises.
The Italian Liner Galileo was chartered in 1980 and 1981 and was finally purchased in 1983, refurbished and started on 1-7 days cruises out of New York and Miami and became a very popular ship. In 1988 when Chandris founded Celebrity Cruises she was rebuilt and renamed Meridian for Celebrity Cruises.
Thanks for that great History Lesson
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My first cruise ship was the SS Volendam II. I was all alone and knew nobody. It was February 1981. The first few days were long as we only had about 400 passengers if I remember correctly and most were of the older age compared to myself - 29 at the time. Colakid
I see "colakid" sailed the Balmoral . Was it the Titanic memorial cruise?
Balmoral is a cruise ship owned and operated by Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines. She was built in 1988 by the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, West Germany, as Crown Odyssey for Royal Cruise Line.
I sailed the Crown Odyssey to South America in 1991. I would have liked to have been on the Titanic Memorial cruise.
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2009 ANTARCTICA---14,546 PLUS CRUISE IN ANTARCTICA—14,546 MI cost $17,051.91
ANTARCTICA EXPEDITION I had wanted to go to Antarctica before and almost got it scheduled when one of the ships sank when it hit an iceberg and my wife talked me out of it. A few years went by and time helps cure things and she said I could go so I got it scheduled.
This was a wonderful experience. I left Monroe, La on Nov. 22, 2009 and arrived in Punta Arenas on Nov. 23 some 29 hours later. I returned from PUNTA ARENAS on Dec. 3 arriving in Monroe on Dec 4 some 30 hours later. I list it as an Expedition rather than a cruise since it was hard and I could not make it all the way to the top of some of the climbs to penguin rookeries because I just gave out. There were plenty of penguins all around that I did not have to go to the top.
The ship was the PROFESSOR MULTANOVSKIY built in 1982 for Russian oceanographic and polar studies. It was converted to a tourism ship and it is not a luxury cruiser but is comfortable. It is 249 ft long, 42 ft wide and draft of 15ft. It has two side by side engines with over 3076 total hp and a single screw, a bow thruster and can run on one or two engines. Its cruising speed is 10 knots. It has passive stabilizers only. It is not classified as an Ice Breaker, but has an Ice re-enforced hull.
The night before departure in Punta Arenas we were fitted for boots and given instructions on how to get in and out of the Zodiacs. We were suppose to have breakfast at 8 AM, but got a wake up call at 6:30 AM and told to hustle since we had a weather window to take off from Punta Arenas to land at KING GEORGE ISLAND before weather moved in.
The ships passenger capacity was 49 and had 32 crew, but we only had 25 passengers on this trip so the BAE 146 plane from Punta Arenas to King George Island had plenty of room and the ship was not crowded. We used only one of the two dining rooms for meals.
Of the 25 passengers there were only three of us from the US and we wished each other Happy Thanksgiving. Other countries represented were Holland, England, Australia, Israel, Spain, Russia, Germany, Italy, Chile and Argentina.
We did two landings daily, weather permitting and we had beautiful weather except for the gale across the Bransfield Strait and fog at Deception Island which would have been beautiful if the weather would have been nice. We had one day when at Neko Island the chop was too bad to launch Zodiacs so we just moved to another bay.
Saw thousands of penguins, skuas, giant petrols, many minke whales and orca whales. One orca got just under the bow and I have a picture of it under the water swimming. Saw several Weddell seals and a Leopard Seal. The little Snow Petrols were very curious and would actually come up and bite on your gloves. Penguins kept their distance and we kept distance. If we saw any seals on land with us we definitely kept our distance, since seals can be aggressive.
We visited KING GEORGE ISLAND, ARDLEY ISLAND, MIKKELSON HARBOUR, HERRERA CHANNEL TO PORT LOCKROY, LEMAIRE CHANNEL TO PETERMAN ISLAND (THE SOUTHERN MOST EXTENSION OF OUR TRIP), PARADISE BAY, DANKO ISLAND, BROWN LANDING (Antarctica Peninsula proper), DECEPTION BAY back to King George Island.
On the way back we got into a full gale across the Bransfield Strait that gave a rough ride. The crew used the term “the ship will move tonight”. The roll threw one man out of a chair when the ship rolled to 30 deg crossing the Bransfield Strait. My bunk was cross ways or I would have probably been thrown out. I just slid from head to foot as she rolled. Scopace tablets worked to prevent seasickness.
We got back to Maxwell Bay at the Fildes Peninsula of King George Island on time (Dec. 1, 2009) but we could not get out because the runway was covered with 15cm of ice. We spent an extra night on the ship and got out the next day. Antarctica XXI was superb in changing all flight connections. BTW the satellite phone worked very well from the ship, but cost was about $5/min.
To fill the morning while we waited on the plane the Antarctica XXI people arranged a visit to the KING SEJONG KOREAN scientific station and they seemed very happy to have us visit. I have video from the ship of their snow plow cleaning a place for us to walk from the dock to a building.
On two occasions we did a Zodiac cruise only where the three Zodiacs went out and by radio communication one would report wild life sightings and we would creep up on them. The scenery was magnificent. I have never seen so many beautiful icebergs. One day at breakfast while we were anchored we heard and felt a thump. Either we had drifted into an iceberg while at anchor or the iceberg drifted into us. No big deal, we just use the single screw and bow thruster to work away from it.
As I said it was a hard trip taking 29 hours to get to Punta Arenas, Chile the departure point and 30 hours to get back from Punta Arenas. The flight across the Drake Passage of 600 miles was better than crossing it by ship.
I found that having automatic dimming prescription glasses was not an asset. They got so dark I couldn’t see where I was going and I would suggest one use regular prescription glasses with snow goggles over them for light protection. The brighter it got, the darker my glasses got until I was almost blind.
I was never really cold because I followed directions and dressed properly. I had a waterproof bag for my cameras and it saved me once when we hit a wave in the Zodiac and everyone got sprayed, but it happened only once. Skin protection for the face is a must because it can take only a few hours and your face is burned. I found my best dress was two pairs of socks, silk longs, blue jeans and rain suit pants which gave excellent wind protection and maintained dryness on the wet pontoons that we sat on in the Zodiacs. The last layer of waterproof goes outside the boots. Insulated hunting type pants (waterproof) also worked well over the silks or thermals. A down jacket with hood and baseball cap took care of the top with under garments and warm shirt. The baseball cap kept the hood from falling over my eyes and helped keep sprinkles off of the glasses. Glove liners were best and I used outside gloves attached to the coat with the little clippie things. One had to take off the outer gloves to manipulate the cameras with the glove liners and the clip things kept you from loosing the outer glove. On a recommendation from another article I used inserts in the boots and I think it helped a great deal. The baseball cap should have a safety tie to catch it if the wind blows it off. There is a lot of wind in Antarctica.
The ship was maintained at 70 deg F and we could open the porthole if we got too hot. The temperature was only about 0 C but when the wind blew it would drop to chill factor of -15C. Water temperature was around 0.5 Deg. C. so we tried very hard not to fall in and no one did. I was the oldest passenger on this trip and probably the slowest when we went ashore, but was just too happy to let the youngsters pass me up. I had a wonderful time.
Added: December 22nd 2009
Reviewer: scapel
Score:
http://cid-f6fe23a6e5a9ec3f.photos.live.com/browse.aspx/ANTARCTICA%20NOV.%2022-DEC.4%5EJ%202009
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I was in the same S1 Sky Suite, next to the Penthouse, on the Infinity. It was FANTASTIC!! You'll love the bathroom, which is as big as some cabins. :p
Also had a huge balcony and lovely cherry wood decor. I'm sure you'll love it too. Eating at Blu was great too.
B utler
Make specialty dining reservations.
Shine shoes,
Fix anything that needs fixing
Find an extension cord for you.
Find a pin keep drapes closed in Alaska
Wake you up with coffee
Bring you a drink to the room if you don ‘t have any.
Bring Cappuccino to the room.
Bring ice cream to the room.
Even though you have room service the butler’s room service is better
Un pack and pack
Pick up dirty clothes and take to laundry.
GTS MILLENNIUM
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Thanks to all for their post of information
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I did an inside cabin on our Jan 15 western Caribbean cruise on the Silhouette, and just completed a Jan 16 eastern Caribbean cruise on the Reflection with a balcony. We are now booked on a Jan 17 cruise to the southern Caribbean in an Ocean View cabin on the Royal Caribbean Serenade of the Seas.
I would do an inside cabin again in a heart beat. In fact, I asked my TA to check into switching to an inside cabin on the Serenade if they could be close to the others in our group. Unfortunately, the Inside Cabins directly across from our OV's we're in are already reserved.
There would have been a $235 net savings going to an inside cabin. Being retired and on a fixed income now, that's a fair amount of savings. But we are staying put. I still want to be around our fellow travelers. There were 4 insides available, 2 in the bow, and 2 at the stern.
I found I used the balcony very little on my last cruise. I would not object to another balcony in the future, but I don't need one to be happy on a cruise. I was in my cabin to 1) sleep, 2) shower, 3) change clothes. Don't need a balcony for that.
Also, I have a 24' long Travel Trailer. We put up to 10K miles on that trailer each year. In 2014 we put 7900+ miles on a cross country trip that took us from Virginia to Mississippi, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Los Angeles, California, Oklahoma, Kansas, Illinois, Indianna, Michican, Ohio, WV and back home. We do all of our home football games, and many of the road games, with some of the same group we cruise with.
Maybe that's why the size of an inside cabin works for us. :D
Just found this while searching for Hurricane and Anthem of seas.
For families it can be a good way to travel by having a veranda cabin and an inside cabin directly across the hall. On the Millennium class ships there is one inside cabin on the stern deck 7,8,9. We had a stern veranda and friends with that inside directly across. Very little traffic in the hall so our friends could visit easy and we had breakfast together on the veranda. Obviously this has to be planned long time ahead to get one of the inside cabins. I haven't check in a number of years if this configuration is still present since the Soltization of the Celebrity ships.
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Thank you. My first Azamara cruise is in May and I've started to regret the decision based on all the negative posts I've been reading. Your post has reassured me.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
I can assure you that you will not be disappointed with your cruise. My list below shows my cruise experience. I might have posted some negative things, but that is just to try and make Azamara perfect. They are getting close,
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Actually, you do not have access to the dining room. The stairs lead to maintenance rooms or something. It's closed off for staff only.
The rooms is great, loved the balcony, we spent our entire cruise on the balcony watching Alaska sail by. Our bathtub didn't work very well, at one point we had no hot water, but we just had a bath on the balcony instead. Lol
I was on the Millennium in the Port Side Penthouse in 2007 (cabin 6147) and I opened that gate and went down the stairs two decks and came in the back of the dining room. Maybe they blocked it off since.
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We CCritic members are probably your most effective cheer leaders and we notice changes but if you continue to slice i.e. wine downgrading /fruit etc. then we will simply vote with our feet.
I did not interpret using the term "We CCritic members" to include me but just as a generality.
You will NOT get people downgrading from Seabourn /Crystal etc so you must rely on people upgrading from midscale lines and including recommendations from us as brand recognition in most countries is minimal.
I have not been on Seabourn or Crystal but still would take issue with the term downgrading.
It is your staff that is your absolute USP.
Right from Captain Carl /Johannes through Heike and Philip/Fabio /Wayne /Adel/Mr Harry/Dale /Victor through to waiters like Jose and Shenappa right down through Butlers like Ravin and down to pool staff.
I agree with this and is the reason I take issue with the term downgrading. Possibly you could rephrase.
I am not sure if you are aware of all the “slicing” that has been going on but we all know the changes started with the Harpist which was a great USP but despite all our pleas out she went but the Harp remains as a silent kick in the teeth for us loyalists and merely an adornment for selfies now.
I guess I never knew the harpist, but the harpist that played at Ephesus was most magnificent.
It appears from a uktog post that they are even trying to refuse club soda to upgrade to a water package.
I don't recall any kind of water package. I had all the bottled water I could drink and then some.
The performance to get the shareholders discount is harder than drawing teeth with it taking 5 emails and 3 broker statements last time.
I had absolutely no trouble with the RCI shares. Boy I wish I had bought triple the number I bought. That stock was about $10/sh when I bought it and I have used the comp every cruise without difficulty.
It also appears that even the “free” nights are not what they appear and it is sometimes cheaper to book including promotions.
What a way to treat your best /loyal guests.
Speciality dining is no longer the pleasure it used to be and I have no issue with trying to fill the dining but the performance to beat the first day rush is a farce.
When we checked in the Maitre'd was sitting at a table for us to make reservations on a first come first serve basis so we made some.
We no longer dine on chefs night as the room is not staffed up to account for the extra numbers and it is no pleasure to watch the waiters running around and if chef is preparing 20+ dishes to go out together then the rest of us take second fiddle
I was not on the same ship you were on.
I could go on about the slicing including the no grapes memo but the final insults for us was the down grading of in room liquor in Owners suite and at our last Captains dinner where traditionally the men are given 3 miniature bottles of Whisky we were offered 3 miniatures of Sangria for which I would not have paid $10.
I guess I didn't get the no grapes memo. Don't know what that means. Maybe you mean "sour grapes". I certainly did not get any downgrading of liquor in my suite. In fact the butler said he would get me some more, but we couldn't drink what was there.
May I recommend you actually look again at ALL the cost savings you have made and ask yourself whether they have improved the brand equity in the eyes of your customers.
Not sure about cost savings being done. I guess runaway cost need to be controlled, but I certainly have had excellent service on all the Celebrity cruises and that Penthouse on the Millennium is fantastic, just too big.
We have a major Indian cruise booked for next year but no plans to cruise Azamara this year as it really appears that it is becoming not the Azamara that we love.
I probably won't be cruising this year, but if the wife said go I would be on that 16 day out of New Orleans in October if cabin 7005 would be available
Again, I really didn't take any of your comments personally or as a personal attack on Azamara, but a sincere effort to maybe help Azamara improve. I just don't know in my book where they could improve. OH Yes, get that beautiful harp lady out of Ephesus and put her on the ship.
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FAO Mr Richard D Fain and Larry Pimental
Gentleman
You have the once in a generation opportunity to relaunch Azamara.
You will soon have 2 newly refurbished ships and a probably once in a lifetime reduction in your major operating cost (Fuel Oil).
Maybe it is time to stop the “salami slicing”
You may guess from my name that I worked for a major FMCG company based in the USA and I hope I learned one or two things which may be of use to new markeeters.
1: Never dilute the quality of your brand.
Even Coca Cola can get it wrong (New Flavour) but at least they recognised and changed
I doubt if VW will recover in US after Dieselgate.
Do Apple or Rolls Royce reduce the quality of their brand.
Even Tide / Ariel or Kellogg’s cornflakes do not reduce the quality.
Do not fall into short term mentality.
2: Do not upset/insult your regular customers.
I believe Azamara has approx 70% returnees and we indeed are within 1 cruise of top membership solely on Azamara so have invested time and money in the brand.
We CCritic members are probably your most effective cheer leaders and we notice changes but if you continue to slice i.e. wine downgrading /fruit etc. then we will simply vote with our feet.
You will NOT get people downgrading from Seabourn /Crystal etc so you must rely on people upgrading from midscale lines and including recommendations from us as brand recognition in most countries is minimal.
I recognise the costs of advertising may be prohibitive for a line that can only offer 700 rooms a week worldwide.
All the more reason to keep customers happy.
3: It costs approx 7 times as much to attract new customers as to retain an existing customer so keep them happy.
4: It is your staff that is your absolute USP.
Right from Captain Carl /Johannes through Heike and Philip/Fabio /Wayne /Adel/Mr Harry/Dale /Victor through to waiters like Jose and Shenappa right down through Butlers like Ravin and down to pool staff.
I am not sure if you are aware of all the “slicing” that has been going on but we all know the changes started with the Harpist which was a great USP but despite all our pleas out she went but the Harp remains as a silent kick in the teeth for us loyalists and merely an adornment for selfies now.
What was the real COST OF THIS SAVING Probably 50p per guest per week.
The furore re Nespresso has died down but no doubt catches out new customers who do not realise that they can get better fresher coffee by simply asking for it.
Equally the drinks menu is confusing for newer guests as is the pressure to upgrade on boarding to a premium package.
It appears from a uktog post that they are even trying to refuse club soda to upgrade to a water package.
The change from B2B discount to OBC has gone down like a lead balloon with those of us lucky enough to be able to do so.
The performance to get the shareholders discount is harder than drawing teeth with it taking 5 emails and 3 broker statements last time.
I thought the purpose of the RCI discount was to offer to RCI shareholders an EXTRA incentive OVER and above that which is offered to the man in the street.
I doubt if at $85 per share that you are getting many new people shelling out $8500 to save $100 or so.
It also appears that even the “free” nights are not what they appear and it is sometimes cheaper to book including promotions.
What a way to treat your best /loyal guests.
Speciality dining is no longer the pleasure it used to be and I have no issue with trying to fill the dining but the performance to beat the first day rush is a farce.
Far better to have a 24 hour period for suite guests to make their reservations and then open up free for all.
We no longer dine on chefs night as the room is not staffed up to account for the extra numbers and it is no pleasure to watch the waiters running around and if chef is preparing 20+ dishes to go out together then the rest of us take second fiddle
I could go on about the slicing including the no grapes memo but the final insults for us was the down grading of in room liquor in Owners suite and at our last Captains dinner where traditionally the men are given 3 miniature bottles of Whisky we were offered 3 miniatures of Sangria for which I would not have paid $10.
May I recommend you actually look again at ALL the cost savings you have made and ask yourself whether they have improved the brand equity in the eyes of your customers.
We have a major Indian cruise booked for next year but no plans to cruise Azamara this year as it really appears that it is becoming not the Azamara that we love.
Your in sorrow
Any personal reply can go to brianblessed98 at gmail dot com
Proctor,
I could not tell from your profile where you are from, but I would guess England. Probably a wrong guess. Put in your profile where you are from.
I thought you made some excellent points especially about Coca Cola trying something new and then going back to the old standbys.
I have done only two cruises with Azamara and one was in the Owners Suite because Mr. Pimental did not show up for the President’s cruise. I guess I got his cabin when I found the one I had was very small and I upgraded.
The second cabin was 7005 which I really enjoyed more than the aft cabin.
I thought the suite amenities were very adequate though I never use the internet even if it is free.
The butler takes care of making your arrangements for dining in the specialty restaurants and I’m sure gets some preference for the suite guest reservations. As we travel with friends that do not have a suite we eat in the MDR frequently. Yes I think the reservations are done on a first come first serve basis. One can’t be holding reservations for suite guest that don’t show up.
I think the Best of the Best is very nice and all participants showed up. I don’t remember a Best of the Best on our 2014 cruise. Maybe we didn’t know about it.
There was a silly rule for suite guest that I found out about. I ordered some Tequila to drink Tequila/ Sangrita because I found Sangrita in a Mexican port. The Tequila was a $1 as shot in the Mexican port, but they charged me $7 a shot in my suite because I had the butler bring it to me. If I would have gone to get it myself then it would have been complimentary. That I thought was a stupid move. Once I learned the trick I always asked if I would be charged for anything brought to my suite. Of course $7 is no big deal if you can afford a suite, but it is the principal of the thing. Don’t treat a suite guest like that. Besides my wife threw my second shot away because she thought someone had drank out of the glass. HA!
Even as a suite guest, I still bring my own liquor on board. The butler will exchange some bottles that are complimentary in the suite for others. Sometimes it may be a 2 for one thing, depending on what you want.
Being on only two cruises, I don’t know how much better the specialty dining could be since I thought it was perfect. I did comment that the Matre’d did not know what Cajun seasoning was and the menu described it incorrectly. I called attention to it twice but they never fixed it on board. Maybe they got it correct later. I hate to see a fine restaurant make such an error in knowledge. I think they had it described as Indian spices.
I don’t know what Chefs Night is, but if it is the Best of the Best, it can’t be beat in any restaurant anywhere. We had a waiter for each of us and courses of the meal were served all at the exact same time. There was no running around. It was held in the beautiful library and was exceptionally well done.
I don’t know about miniature bottles of liquor. I would suppose that would be a souvenir. I never saw any miniature bottles of liquor.
“May I recommend you actually look again at ALL the cost savings you have made and ask yourself whether they have improved the brand equity in the eyes of your customers?"
We have a major Indian cruise booked for next year but no plans to cruise Azamara this year as it really appears that it is becoming not the Azamara that we love.”
I agree with your comments here because if you have a product that is working and making a profit then stick with it. Better to increase cost than decrease delivery.
In my business if something is working we keep doing it. If it is not working we do something else.
Thank you for taking the time to post some very well done comments.
Dr.Joe
Betrayal?
in Azamara
Posted
Betrayal also got my interest just to see what it was. This was a very clever title to get people looking.
My favorite ship was Millennium since I sailed her second cruise and then a couple of times in cabin 6147. I had since found cabin 7005 on Azamara. That is now my favorite cabin. On the next Azamara cruise my wife was not going to go, but later changed her mind and I booked it immediately. Unfortunately too late to get 7005 so we are somewhere on 8. In 7005 I was worried about the ride in the forward section, but weather was good. I guess I would need to evaluate in more severe weather. Ride would be the same as on the bridge since 7005 is directly below it. BTW I think Azamara Quest and Journey were built the same year the Millennium was built. (2000)
BB said infidelity could be forgiven. She hasn’t met my wife who is of Cherokee Indian descent. Scalping would not be a pleasant experience.
I have often said that Azamara is Celebrity’s answer to Silversea and I think they have done quite well. Will be evaluating again October 26. I have been on only 3 Silversea cruises. I am very impressed with Azamara so far- (2 Cruises).
Betrayal—On Azamara Quest had a suite and had the cabin butler bring me a shot of Tequila. I had bought some Sangrita in Mexico and wanted to have Tequila/Sangrita in the Cabin. The Tequila is complimentary on Azamara’s menu, but not if you order it in the cabin. So instead of having a $1 Tequila ashore, I had a $7 Tequila in the Cabin. My friend ribbed me on that one. My wife threw some of the Tequila out because she thought it was just water. That woman will clean anything very quickly if left around.
Moral is that Azamara has compliment alcoholic beverages at the bars, but not in the cabins., other than the bottles in the suite cabins if they still do that.