excitedofharpenden

They used to exist as guest cabins, but are now used for crew/guest entertainers only. Phil

That's great. Glad you got it all sorted. It does make a huge difference when you get someone who is diligent and obviously helping you as a guest to make it work. That's what loyalty is all about. Phil

Anyone working in the travel industry should not indicate they are getting interline rates. I have never met anyone on a cruise who does this because the are requested not to discuss it. Phil

I'm not going to stress about it. There's no point and I've probably "lost" more points than many here. It will sort itself out. Maybe by the time they take delivery of their new ship 😁 Phil

@Riocca that last photo is just pure ignorance. I'm afraid these sorts of people are everywhere, but they make my blood boil with their all about me attitude. I try to get over it, but sadly was brought up in a very different way to have respect for others. Phil

It's a conundrum for sure. I wouldn't like a ship that's too big and which can't get into the ports Azamara do now. Of course ship design has come on quite a bit since the R ships were built, not least the green credentials which I see as a big driver going forward. I'm not clued up on the other ships so am not sure what those luxury vessels were able to achieve. It's fun to speculate. Phil

The difference is that this is coming from the top of the tree. Q and As answered by those on the ships are purely speculative, in spite of what might have been intimated. We will just have see what pans out. It has always been said that they won't go larger. I can see that they may have to do that whilst keeping the intimacy and service as much as possible. I love the Azamara ships, but if there is one thing they don't do very well it's to accommodate when the weather is poor and people are kept indoors. The pool area is a big dud in the middle of the ship. They need a covered pool amongst a number of other things. Phil

You made me check mine! I'm now at zero points and an Adventurer. Azamara giveth and Azamara taketh away 😁 Phil

That's why I say wait. I've been on a number of cruises that are Perry Golf and have not paid this kind of price. Maybe when the Perry Golf spots have been well sold the price will come down. The ship isn't full of golfers. I'm not certain of the number because you'd never know they were there! Phil

My personal view? There's just no way I'd pay £3000 pp for an inside on a 12 night Med cruise. Much as I like the Azamara product, that to me is not worth it. I'd hang on and keep checking. Pricing of individual cruises is very fluid (and sometimes hard to fathom). If you are able to hang tight that is what I'd do. Phil

@govanguy thanks for posting. It's nice to see some positive speak hopefully coming to fruition. And I now know who the MD in the UK is. My recent interactions with staff based here would indicate he needs to focus a bit of time on this aspect too. Phil

My dad used to say exactly that. You can tell the true smartness of someone by their shoes. And he always used to make me polish mine properly when going to school. I think a lot of that came from him being in the air force. Phil

😃. Me too! And the 1998 film was pretty good. Gary Oldman as Dr Smith. Still not quite the original though. Phil

Not sure who you spoke to, but that doesn't sound right. I would contact Azamara Circle as it should be automatic, not something you do. Their email is Loyalty@azamara.com. Phil

It's difficult to judge in isolation. Each cruise has its own feel. I've done a few long stints on the ship before Covid. Sometimes five or six on the trot. It's always amazed me how much the guest mix can change. Time of year, length of cruise etc. All I can say is it's never been a problem for me. Except the occasional guy trying to get into the MDR in the evening in shorts. Always swiftly and politely dealt with. I have no desire to look at hairy knees when I'm going to eat dinner. 😆 Phil

Exactly. This sort of issue should never happen and indeed never would have in the days of Richard Twynam being in charge in the UK or at least an Azamara blogging officer available here. Phil

Sorry, I meant Quest. I'm going to try to use a monetary FCC on Journey! Phil

This one for me has come down to the very emotive subject of money and Azamara UK trying to get out of what has been promised. I guess I can't leave it hanging in the air like that. An FCC issued by an extremely diligent and helpful HD on Journey called Tatiana as the result of a three day norovirus cabin confinement in a CC suite haa been chased by me for non-action. Customer services in the UK have told me it's all been sorted (I've heard nothing) and a small OBC for nowhere near enough has been credited for use against shore excursions only. Not my understanding of how a future cruise credit works. It has a monetary value AFAIK. Beggars belief, but I'll be Googling and emailing the address I find for the CEO mentioned in the title of this thread if it's not sorted! I will report back here the result. Phil

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

Maybe you haven't come across him. I'd be surprised. Phil

Kresimir Korona has been with Azamara for ages. He was previously Staff Captain and was promoted. I'm surprised you have never come across him. He's a super guy. Phil

I'm very much a supporter of Azamara. I love the cruise experience, but this makes depressing reading because it's spot on. The issues surrounding back office Azamara should have been sorted out months ago and it seems as time goes on there is more chance of articles like this put out there that harm the brand. I'm still waiting for my cabin confinement FCC from my July cruise. It was dealt with so well and efficiently on the ship by the HD, but since then nothing. In spite of chasing it. I will now ask my new ta to deal with it if she is able as I want to apply to a booking that she now handles. It's such an effort and we are all busy people. There really is no excuse for this shambles continuing. Recent occupancy levels that I've read here are poor. They need to get a grip so as not to scare off new customers and aggravate existing ones. Phil

Silas was on Quest in July. He's a star. Phil

A very fair assessment I would say. Thanks for your thoughts. Phil

Apologies for the delay in replying. I missed your question. I am not an expert and tend to rely on websites like The Points Guy and One Mile at a Time for detailed information and the intricacies. I don't have experience of 2 for 1 vouchers, but am pretty sure that it has to be BA aircraft so that doesn't work for using Iberia in your itinerary. Your second question about the BA upgrade voucher I can answer as I have a couple of them. You can't combine them with any other promotions and they are like the 2 for 1 in that they have to be used on BA flights (no partner airlines) and these can be round trip if you are using one for yourself or two one ways if used for two people, but the flight itinerary has to originate in the UK. So booking return only from say Miami doesn't work. In addition there must be availability in the cabin you want. My example. I am flying to Hong Kong and back from Tokyo. I want business class for both, but could only get Premium Economy going out and economy coming back as that's all they had. This is how I booked them by phoning BA. Had to book the return otherwise I'm stuffed booking one way and waiting because that flight won't have originated in the UK. I'm registered with Reward Flight Finder and will hope that at least a Premium Economy will become available on the return. If they pop up I will need to phone BA again and upgrade. I've gone on a bit, but to use the cabin upgrade vouchers you have to be cute. Might be easier on more popular routes where cabin availability is better, but I really struggle with finding them. Hopefully my patience for next March will pay off. Good luck with yours. Phil