takemewithyou

1 hour ago, molemaui said:

Do all the veranda sized cabins on AZ have shower curtains instead of shower doors? Would also like to verify if you book a larger Club Continent cabin that it has shower doors instead of a curtain. Not a first world issue so appreciate your responses.  

Yes, all veranda cabins have shower curtains……no doors.

There are CC cabins with tub/ shower combinations…..there is partial glass wall.

we prefer CC cabins that do not have the tub…..only the shower. 
There is a glass enclosure with plenty of space.

3 hours ago, Medeba said:

I cannot be 100% sure but I think the Perry Golfers on the Aug/Sept Intensive Ireland cruise went to Adare Manor from Foynes (even better than Portrush in Country Antrim).  We met a couple of golfers and they said it was the best course on the whole trip (the other courses were also very good).  

Adare Manor….site of 2027 Ryder Cup!

2 hours ago, Mackdogmolly said:

Are these still being scheduled automatically? Can anyone who has been on a recent cruise report?

It was in the Insider for 5 pm on embarkation day on my cruise mid June on Pursuit.  Hopefully cruisers with more recent experience will respond.

This is the last I can find about a loyalty ambassador……is she still with Azamara?

https://www.azamara.com/blog/2021/04/interview-new-loyalty-ambassador
 

2021.

Looking at her LinkedIn account, it looks like she is currently with RCCL, not Azamara.  ???????

27 minutes ago, peyroutous said:

I called Azamara UK ref my missing Discoverer Plus points + number “review status.”etc.

I confirmed what I had long suspected that Azamara UK is US based…not a problem. However they were unable to help regarding loyalty matters but suggested that I email Az loyalty whom I had already emailed on Loyalty@Azamara.com but my email bounced back! (No longer in service). They then advised me to email loyaltyintl@azamara.com I emailed them it has not bounced back yet but has not been responded to either🙁.  

Now I know why it’s called Azamara Circle..(going around in one😡).

And that is another example of the degradation of Azamara.  People used to be able to contact loyalty department and get a response.  Nothing seems to work anymore there, either!  

Is there even a Loyalty Ambassador at Azamara anymore?  Has the position been eliminated?  Can anyone name who the Loyalty Ambassador is?

We used to get regular quarterly newsletter from the Loyalty Ambassador at Azamara.  I am trying to remember when the last time  was that I received one!  I think it has been a couple of years!  

3 hours ago, lisiamc said:

If I were going to choose a cruise line to worry about their financial health, I’d worry more about companies RCCL or Carnival. They took on a HUGE amounts of debt during Covid to keep things ticking over. As in 2.2 billion USD for RCCL. (And yes I looked this up.)
 

I wouldn’t worry so much about a canny venture capital company like Sycamore with a sturdy financial background and a history of backing the right horses (like Chateau St Michelle winery.) They fell into a pothole with the IT debacle, because there are not that many out-of-the-box software packages available for cruise lines the size of Azamara that don’t already belong to a huge parent corporation, and there was not enough time to develop a bespoke system. The system they chose is already in use for smaller companies, but of course it came with a load of sloppy legacy data (300,000+ records that Azamara had with RCCL) that had been patched, jigged and tweaked through the decades.
 

Also, have a look at which ports are being cancelled. Are they everyone’s dream port? There might be a few, but the ones I’ve seen have been “interesting” choices like Côte D’Ivoire, where I think I would have happily paid a premium NOT to call there. Have they cancelled Seville for intensive Spain itineraries, where they sail up the river to dock in the town? No, not so far. 

 

In 2022, they had to cancel Bermuda on the Onward transatlantic because of weather, and substituted Nassau in the Bahamas (not a favourite port of mine, but at least a viable substitute.) This resulted in extra fees, extra fuel and all sorts of other costs. Azamara obviously didn’t ask the passengers to pick up the considerable extra costs of re-routing. 
 

All the more reasons that Azamara should be flourishing at this point.  They were set free by RCCL due to the huge debt situation that RCCL had taken on……something had to go and it was Azamara.  Sycamore took them on and invested in the fleet.  Everything was going quite well until the IT disaster.  Azamara did have time to try to get things in order before the data transfer occurred.  There possibly was only so much they could do, due to corrupt data from RCCL.  I don’t know….

But what I do know is that the CEO was attempting to communicate through the IT disaster at a minimal level….not very well.  And then she has stopped even trying to communicate.  Why?  Not much improvement in weeks and months.  And now there are very frequent “sales” e-mails and emails going out to customers with bookings about discounted beverage packages that lead to more IT disasters.  Right now, I can’t defend any of their actions,

I do worry about Azamara’s financial situation because of the bungled IT disaster and the frustration of so many customers and their travel agents.  If TA’s don’t want to deal with this mess, they will redirect their customers to companies that have functional web sites and decent customer service. 

In all my years of cruising on Azamara, I have never seen one of these Bev packages sales.  I have seen it on Celebrity, however!  But Azamara is now “divorced” from RCCL.  
It’s all very interesting, but to offer this sale and then make it unbookable……..it’s ridiculous to the extreme!  Does anybody test to make sure the sale can be booked before sending out the offer?! 

17 minutes ago, babykay said:

I said a few so I owe you two more.  The turnover in staff is a good indicator of the health of a company.  And the lack of an interest in "making things right" - either by way of OBC or an extra bottle of wine.  On my last voyage, there were so many things that went wrong but no one even was willing to apologize.  AND the home office - nothing like I have even seen before. 

I think that Guest Relations and other onboard staff must be exhausted trying to reassure passengers and correct many items that should have been taken care of pre-cruise by customer service.  It must be hard for them to maintain a positive attitude with passengers and do their job every day!   I know people on my roll call this summer were very frustrated and upset and were  just waiting to get onboard to try to get all their issues resolved.  Much frustration and outright anger to deal with constantly.

3 hours ago, JaneStarr said:

Just back from the 8/22/23 INCREDIBLE Italy-Intensive cruise onboard Onward.

No time to review if current officer info has been shared, so please forgive it this is a duplicate.

Every last staff member on the ship was present and personable! We had especially great interactions with Capt Carl Smith, F & B mgr Iwan, CD Martin and Asst CD Roy Ryan (and his adorable little girl, Mathilda, & lovely wife). In addition to the highlighted officers, we had most amazing dealings with Allan in Guest Relations (untangling shoreside messes and helping credit canceled ShorEx for refundable OBC). We also had the best butler we’ve ever experienced: Allan and a wonderful stateroom attendant, WiWik.

 

Of course it helped that our sailing only had 486 guests with staff of near 400 aboard,

 

Can’t wait until Sycamore partners gets it’s act together by hiring competent folks to untangle the absolutely inexcusable pre-cruise experience. We’d love to make Azamara our cruiseline of choice, but I will not subject myself nor my cruise agent to another round of unacceptable major shoreside  issues anbd communications.

 

We are currently shopping around. Our next two cruises are booked with Viking (1st time) and an old booking on Celebrity in their Retreat.

 

Jane 

Allan is the best butler we have ever had, also!  Agree also about Iwan and CD Martin.  Happy you had a great cruise.

3 minutes ago, babykay said:

Having previously worked for several cruise lines, I see all kinds of red flags. So much so that I decided not to book my next voyage onboard but to wait to see how everything shakes out. 

Me, too.  I do have one future booking  made before all the website woes, so I am monitoring…..

Care to elaborate on what red flags you are seeing?  

So…..as to the elephant in the room, I guess…….is all this incompetence due to the CEO and her staff at corporate office in Miami or is it due to lack of financial support from Sycamore Partners?  I am concerned that the train is coming off the rails! 

10 minutes ago, excitedofharpenden said:

This was my decision after trying direct. My ta is very good. She is getting involved in a matter I mentioned above that was for a direct booking as it will involve my next one with her. It's not going well. Azamara Customer Services in the UK are both clueless and hopeless. It's such a pity it's come to this. 

 

Phil 

Agree, Phil, and it is getting to be very concerning!   It seems to be getting worse….or is that my imagination? Even the TA’s are having to spend so much time now trying to get things straightened out.  

Thankful to my travel agent for getting me through my last cruise this summer on Pursuit.  None of my OBC showed and I was stressed about that but I was assured that my OBC would be correct and that my loyalty level was correct.  Couldn’t check in but she did that way ahead for me and sent my docs and my luggage tags by email.  

32 minutes ago, crusinbanjo said:

 OK today I received an email from Azamara, (the first since I made this booking in March of 2023), providing me a link to make my final payment.......  So good, right?   (Guess they didn't loose my email address after all).  So, I click on the link and it takes me to an error message saying that I am not authorized to access customer information!   

 

So, Just how does AZA think this will help me make a final payment? MY WORD this is very sloppy IT work! 

This kind of stuff is why you need a travel agent to take care of this for you!  And NO, I am not a travel agent.  I just wouldn’t book a cruise on Azamara without one right now.  The frustrations are constant right now with that web site! 
Have you called Azamara for help?

6 hours ago, uktog said:

As we rock into a misty Greenland - fingers crossed we get ashore - some pictures from last night. 
The food continues to be excellent, the service is “amateur” - if only they could crack that it would be five star. They graciously thank you for feedback I think often what you say is no surprise! 
Stupid issues last night were we ordered white wine with the starter and red with the main. They brought one glass for white and one for red. Couldn’t get them to understand we were doing a simple switch. Fixed that, then had to chase and chase the red wine so we we’re almost finished our main before it comes!

Then we’d ordered a cold starter each then soup So he brings one soup and one starter because….the crab would take a long time to cook (it was a cold crab starter!!!). 
So you can see why I say amateurism. Let’s hope for better tonight!  With all the chaos I forgot to photo the menu and the main. But the rest is here. The artichoke soufflé was lovely and I think the fruit plate is so pretty 

 

 

Have to say…..that type of service would drive me nuts and we also experienced that on our single Viking cruise! 

30 minutes ago, AllisonJames said:

Regarding Journey needing to be spruced up…it’s not as though you board and think “wow it’s a wreck!” overall it still looks decent. I am frankly amazed how well those carpets in those colors have held up. But let’s face it, it’s now been 7 years since the re-imagination so it’s time for some decor improvements. I thought our stateroom was looking a little worn…the wallpaper, the dark cabinets which seem a little dated…especially with all the other lines with new ships and others that have bright, shiny new stateroom decor—the “new” Crystal spent $150M upgrading those two ships. Also, furniture in the Living Room a little worn…this is normal wear and tear of all these years.  I well remember the WOW factor when the AZ re-imagination was unveiled (we sailed Quest when all of that was brand new, and we sailed Pursuit’s maiden voyage and experienced the same, so yes, to us Journey deserves an upgrade. Also, I found the mattress a little hard, which may be because we are used to pillow top mattresses now, at home and in many hotels.  My other niggle is that it always seems like the windows in Aqualina and 
Prime C are dirty…I know it is a ship so may be hard to keep them clean but I noticed it in 2019 and said to my husband this time “They still haven’t cleaned the windows!” 

Thanks.  I appreciated your honest review and I appreciate that you elaborated on Journey’s condition. Since that is our next booking on Azamara for late 2024, I am interested in when drydock is and what may be done. Hopefully others can comment if they have heard any specifics.

I agree with you about the ultimate beverage package.  I had it late 2021 on Quest and found that a lot of the wines mentioned on the web site that were supposed to be on the wine list weren’t there, either!  It was disappointing but at that time everything was being blamed on supply chain issues and that cruise started in Miami. Second cruise, late 2022 I smartened up and did not purchase the package and brought some wines onboard and the wine issues were the same. This June on Pursuit, I did the same thing…..brought my own wines onboard with me and did also have some of the included wines being poured, which were just ok.  I agree that the servers start to panic a bit when you go off script and want to order a bottle of wine and not have the wines automatically on offer.  It does take awhile for the wine you ordered to appear! 

I really like Azamara but some things have got to be done regarding customer service or lack there of currently.  It’s been months since the website fiasco and things are still a mess.  
 

It’s essential to be represented by a travel agent when dealing with them and as this story illustrates, sometimes the best agencies can’t get errors corrected, even by escalating to the head office.  

The article mentions how capable the CEO is or should be, but I feel like she should have more communication and updates with her loyal customers and she should have made more progress is getting things back online by now.

2 hours ago, commodoredave said:

People on this thread may be interested in the story linked below. Not only does it address the declining service at Azamara, but it provides a link to this thread.

 

https://gentlemansportion.com/2023/09/04/an-azamazingly-sad-decline/

Thank you for posting this.

Regarding the appearance of Journey……does anyone have any information on when the dry dock is scheduled and what work might be carried out?

@Bimmer09 I don’t know if HAL still features an Indonesian tea in the dining room (used to be offered one time on longer than 7 day voyages) but if they do, they are something very unique and special.  The servers are in their Indonesian dress and the offerings are special.  They used to offer a regular tea every afternoon that was also nice.

Noticing that the conversations here on this board have diminished significantly!  
 

Many people must have moved on to other cruiselines!  It’s pretty concerning, although we hear nothing from Azamara , other than frequent sales emails and mailings.  We are, however, reading here regularly about customers cancelling their cruises out of their frustrations dealing with Azamara’s management and web site issues.

 Sad !  

3 minutes ago, Bimmer09 said:

Hi, we had and aft verandah plus on the Onward. Without insurance it cost $12,004.

Vista suite aft on HAL including Have It All perks with the addition of Club Orange perks (see note to Jazzbeau above) came to $12,008 without insurance.

So, a difference of $4 and we save on water taxis from Fusina by missing Venice which we will revisit on a land tour at a later date. We will have 2 days to enjoy Athens, new to us.

 

 Before I went looking for an alternative Eastern Med adventure I had had some issues with the Azamara webs site and when I used the contact us link I got a reply 3 weeks later. The reply apologized (brownie points) but didn't answer my questions. Then I had a cruise consultant get in touch and start a relationship via email. When it came time to ask her about the charging of excursions and insurance I emailed and two weeks later still haven't heard back. An Omen?

The ships often sailing half full and ads offering 4 free days and $600 OBC give me an uneasy feeling as opposed to the warm fuzzy one I prefer.

I went looking and found HAL, with open arms and beautiful Pinnacle Class ships.

 

Our last cruise was the stunning Celebrity Apex to Iceland but X is overpricing themselves and the new CEO is instituting a wave of cutbacks so it's not all sunshine and lollipops there.

I'll be reporting on Princess on January 1. The food was weak and the ship understaffed last December so I hope it has improved. Azamara back of house has stepped on a rake and is in disarray so perhaps HAL will be a new go-to line for us? We are already looking at a 14 day June 2025 to the Arctic Circle...

 

Thanks for the question!

Norris

 

Hi Norris, thanks for the reply and I appreciate your honest answer!  

We have sailed HAL quite a bit as well as X (last on in 2015) We were last on HAL in 2018.  We always liked HAL.  They have interesting itineraries.  We found their food to be fine.  Their Neptune Suites are large and very comfortable.  

We have not been on HAL post Covid.  I did read their CC board intermittently post Covid and there were a lot of concerns over food quality.  I haven’t keep up with their boards recently.  I hope the food has improved.  Again, it was always good Pre Covid.  I would say the Pinnacle Grill was always better than Prime C on Azamara,  The crew was always great and very friendly……similar to the crew on Azamara.

Sounds like you have found a good replacement for your Azamara cruise.  I will try to remember to read your review!   have a great cruise!  

1 hour ago, Bimmer09 said:

Update.....

I cancelled our Azamara cruise yesterday if favor of a more appealing itinerary on a line that will be new to us (we've sailed Princess, X and Az).

Holland America's Nieuw Statendam, aft suite incl Gratuities, Elite drink package,$400 excursions OBC, $200 Specialty restaurant OBC, Premium wi-fi. 14 nights vs Az 13.

 

 Preferred itinerary 

Sept 21 Rome after 2 day hotel stay

             Sea Day

             Katakolon

             Chania

             Sea Day

             Alexandria Egypt

             Port Said   Egypt

             Limassol    Cyprus

             Rhodes

             Kusadasi until 11 pm

             Sea Day

             Istanbul (Overnight)

             Istanbul

             Mykonos until 11pm

 Oct 5    Athens    disembark for Electra hotel stay 2 days

 

Holland America's website, phone customer service and email responses have been reassuring.

 

Norris

             

How does the price compare?  Just curious…..

Aft suite on HAL compared to the accommodations that you had on Azamara?

Agree with @uktog.  We saw the same show last year the cruise right after @uktog”s……we just missed each other 😀.  We really enjoyed it and always  liked Harry Belafonte’s music.   We had seats pretty close to all the action.  It was an easy, relaxing and fun Azamazing Evening.  

Note:  If you didn’t want to leave the ship, you could just sit on the sunset veranda off of Windows Cafe and see and hear all the action from afar.

2 hours ago, aliaschief said:

We have cruised from Montreal/Quebec City to Port Everglades on repositioning cruises 5 times. Has always been a favorite. We are doing it again this October on the Seabourn Quest from Montreal to Miami. Fourteen days with overnight in NYC and a late night departure after a stop in Charleston along with regular stops along St. Lawrence and Bar Harbor. Only smaller cruise ships can sail from Montreal as larger ships cannot pass under the Jacques Cartier bridge. Larger ships depart from Quebec City.

The Seabourn cruise is probably going to be past peak foliage and on previous cruises we have experienced great weather, snow and some affected from hurricanes. We enjoy the feasting on seafood and ports of call. We have done most of the highlighted excursions so this cruise it’s the ship and walks in ports. We also have done a May repo cruise from Florida to Montreal.

Our TA told us about this October cruise and it was a great deal so we jumped on it. Our experience is repositioning cruises do have some attractive prices.

Will be our first time on Seabourn and last cruise of the year before our Azamara Onward World Voyage.

 

 

Let us know how it goes…..do you have dress in formal attire for Seabourn?

10 hours ago, QueenP said:

I totally agree, every time Azamara ask where we'd like their itineraries to go, we say Canada New England, but I can't understand why they won't go there. I'll be going with my niece, she really wants to see Boston and New York, we'd both love to see PEI, and I'd love anywhere in New England! Plus Quebec of course.

 

Viking don't go to PEI or Maine, but most of their destinations are what we are looking for.

 

I'm worried that Seabourn is too formal? Although I've had them on my radar for a while too, and they do go to PEI.

 

I haven't actually seen Oceania itineraries, I'll have to check them out too.  We are looking at Sept/Oct 2025, as my niece has to save up 😄

We have done those itineraries on Celebrity and Holland America and they were great cruises.
I think Oceania has some nice itineraries with both Maine and PEI, but pricey.

Azamara is the one I wanted to return on to this area.

Boston is a great city.  Great history.

New York?  Well, I could care less to go there. Sorry Host Jazzbeau. 😀