commodoredave

Trust pilot is also not very kind to Azamara. However, there are always more disappointed people leaving reviews than happy people. https://www.trustpilot.com/review/azamara.com

I agree it’s better to have more than one source about a cruise line. Here’s another source of comments about Oceania: https://www.trustpilot.com/review/oceaniacruises.com?page=2

A good indicator of the quality delivered on SB’s expedition ships might be the ratio of repeat cruisers. On our Amazon voyage in October aboard the Pursuit, the cruise consultant was very busy selling future cruises, including to us.

Agree 100%. Part of the reason for slow and inconsistent service is that the table staff are now responsible for things that were once done by the buffet waiters. This includes making toast, making soft boiled eggs, making non-crispy American bacon, etc. Now all these requests go into the kitchen which slows everything down. Maybe SS will figure this out in due course.

I put my comments in the mid-cruise survey but have yet to hear anything. While the pool grill will not make fresh burgers, I will try your suggestion in La Terrazza and Atlantide and report back. But if I choke on another burger, you will be hearing from my attorney!

I miss my toast in the morning on the Muse. On just about every cruise ship we’ve ever been on, we’ve been able to choose a slice of bread from the buffet and have it toasted in less than a minute right in front of us by the buffet waiter. And take it back to our table for buttering while still hot. Yum! But on the Muse, toast can only be ordered from a table waiter, which means a significant wait for it to arrive, lukewarm and if I wait for it after getting my breakfast it too is then cold. But after several days of frustration, I am now ordering my toast before going to the buffet, waiting for it to arrive, and then getting my breakfast. The toast is still cold, but not my breakfast. It’s just great when a cruise ship takes something that has worked well for decades, changes it for the worse, and can’t deliver on the new process. Let’s hope this change doesn’t spread to other SS ships.

You are correct, and therefore I offer my humble apologies to McDonalds!

More fun this morning in the over-engineered La Terrazza for breakfast: 1. DW asks table waiter if we order boiled eggs through him or get at the buffet 2. Waiter says at the buffet 3. We go to buffet and ask for 2 soft-boiled eggs each. 4. Buffet waiter says they only serve hard boiled eggs and we have to order soft from table waiter 5. Back to table and order 4 soft boiled eggs 6. 10 minutes later waiter arrives to inform us that only 2 soft-boiled eggs were sent from kitchen so he has sent them back 7. 2 minutes later 2 soft boiled eggs arrive from another waiter who is surprised we didn’t get the other two a few minutes ago 8. Don’t worry, we say, just give us 1 egg each 9. We both slice open the tops of our egg shells to discover they are completely raw and the yolk inside not even broken 10. We notify waiter who expresses frustration with kitchen and kindly offers to restart the whole ordering process 11. Having now been at our table for half an hour without food, we decline and instead go to Atlantide for a lovely and stress-free breakfast served promptly and correctly 12. If you are on the Muse and find 4 soft boiled eggs, they belong to us and are not part of last month’s Easter Egg hunt

I shared your experience with the publisher of GP, and here is his response: “I've looked at every comment since Aug 28, 2020! Every single one approved, and no sign of one from him either approved or not, so not at all sure what the problem is.” So, if you would still like to leave a comment, please try again and let me know how it goes. Thanks.

Glad to see you are demonstrating the class that a fellow passenger does not have. There is no excuse for treating any crew member in the manner you described and if I were Captain they would have received an official warning. I no longer travel long distances with tuxedos, but I do bring a navy blue suit that I can also mix and match with other items for the informal nights.

Currently on the Silver Muse in Japan. Today we decided to have lunch at the Pool Grill as we have always enjoyed their hamburgers as an occasional treat. Well, our burgers were a dissaster -- thin, over-cooked, and tastless. No, they weren't tastless -- they tasted of cardboard, cereal and ground paper towels mixed in with a smidgen of beef. Our waiter sent over a more senior person to opine on our complaint. Yes, he acknowledged that the current burgers were not even up to a McDonald's standard, but this was an outcome of the current provider of pre-formed, frozen burgers in Asia that the ship was buying from. "What happened to those nice plumb and juicy burgers formed right on the ship," I asked. "Oh, we have been buying frozen, pre-formed burgers for a long time," he said. Well, if I wanted frozen, thin, tasteless and pre-formed burgers I would get them from Publix or Loblaws, and not pay USD$25,000 for a two-week cruise. But not to worry. Our waiter substituted the burger with a dry, tasteless piece of lamb. Why was it dry and tasteless? The senior person explained that it wasn't at noon when first brought out, but since we were there at 1:30 that's the way it is. I'm thinking maybe it's time for McDonald's to start a cruise line as some people on Silversea have a McDonald's mindset already. Photos below of our burger and lamb for you to enjoy.

I’m sorry your attempt to post a comment on my GP story was not successful. I am not the publisher, and therefore do not control the comment section. However, I will email the publisher today and ask him to pay greater attention to people attempting to post comments, and to advise me of any issues. Please try again.

Thank you for your opinion. I disclose in my CC profile a link to the GP website. As a retired professional travel writer, I occasionally write stories for travel websites including GP. I also occasionally provide a link to a particular story if relevant to a CC thread. These stories sometimes contain the opinions of people who have contacted me, as this story did. It was their opinion, not mine. Anyone who disagrees with this or any other story is welcome to do so, either here or on the GP website.

I’m assuming you are asking because you are interested in me and my scribbles. Please click on the “about David” icon on the GP website to learn more. Thank you.

Perhaps a less convenient and more intensive way to do it, but your point is valid. Unfortunately may not work as well in some parts of the world such as the South Pacific, Arctic, Antarctic, et.

The story is based on the experience of an unhappy Azamara client, not my experience. By your measure, a journalist covering a fire would have to be in the burning house to report on it. By the way, despite the troubles and incompetence at Azamara shoreside, I might still consider sailing with them one day because the onboard experience appears to be good.

The price increases may have more to do with generating cash for RCL than improving service.

Fortunately, there are plenty of options out there for cruising. And given the growing number of lines and ships, I suspect there will continue to be plenty of sales and special discounts off the inflated new prices. All the big price increase at SS delivers is a less loyal client base that is now more likely to shop around.

I’ve never been concerned with what other people wear to the main dining room at night - only what they don’t wear. Frankly, if I want to dine with people who can’t put on a pair of trousers and collared shirt for dinner, I’ll go to McDonalds.

The facts are well established that Azamara had a terrible run of bad IT, poor communication and uncaring response to customers. The important thing going forward is to ask whether Azamara management recognizes these failures, and is working to improve outcomes for customers in future. Only Azamara management can answer this question, and to date the silence has been deafening.

We didn’t care about the reason for cancellation of our excursions either. But if one of our primary reasons for taking a cruise was to visit a specific destination or two (e.g. Easter Island, Casablanca for Marrakech, Sete for Carcasonne, etc), I would be disappointed enough to ask why it was canceled.

You are not alone in receiving inexplicable and disappointing service from Azamara as this story illustrates: https://gentlemansportion.com/2023/09/04/an-azamazingly-sad-decline/

I have smokers to thank for me giving up gambling on Princess cruise ships. Now, if Princess would only allow smoking again in dining rooms, maybe I could lose some weight!

We did Iles du Salut on the Pursuit in October. As excursions are included on expedition voyages, our visits to Ile Joseph and Ile Royale were free. We had a beautiful day and the excursions were very interesting.

We would never take our grandkids on a luxury cruise ship. Most have limited activities for kids, have a more subdued atmosphere, and don’t have many other kids aboard. Plus, why pay more for less from the kids’ perspective. We do, however, take multi-generational cruises on NCL and Celebrity. In fact, our next one is in January aboard NCL. The kids love it.