Bloodaxe

I know not everyone has access to a suite but if you do there are two USB chargers on the underside of the bedside lights. Many folks miss them. They are ideal for overnight phone charging.

Not just in the suites, balcony cabins definitely also have them & I suspect all cabins with the new bedside lights

Each cruise will have its own feel, dependent upon the mix of guests onboard, but posts above make it sound like the dress code is going downhill generally. From my observations this just isn't the case. A small minority on some cruises maybe, but overall the ambience is casual and smart. I take five or six Azamara cruises throughout the year so feel I have a good feel of how things are. I will watch to see how it develops with the new policy that allows jeans. Hopefully the standards and that ambience don't drop.

 

Phil

I certainly hope that you are correct but the signs are not good.

We do not cruise has often has you but have been with Azamara since they started & have seen the changes

I was on the Miami to Nice transatlantic too. I'll admit I only ate in the MDR once, but thought the ambience around the ship as far as dress and behaviour was very good as always, except some less than respectful individuals in the shows who made noise. This however isn't the first time I noted that and maybe partly because a lot of the shows weren't well attended you could hear it more. I managed to avoid the black service dog, but understand it was a pain.

 

Phil

If you had spent more time in the MDR you would have seen that Keffys observations were spot on.

We took around half our evening meals in Discoveries

There were several dogs on board, he was not talking about the noisy black service dog but one of the others.

It was a lovely cruise despite some choppy seas.

We had the pleasure of sharing the Chief Engineers table with you & your Husband.

Journey has always been our favourite ship mainly because of the wonderful crew.

I just returned from the Miami Nice cruise.

Standards are getting worse.

Lots of Jeans, T shirts, men with hats on, drinking beer from bottles.

Even a dog sitting on a chair eating chicken off a saucer.l

 

I mentioned the dog frequently. There was one man with a hat on backwards scruffy shirt and blue jeans who was fawned over by themaitre d.every night.

I totally agree with you Keefy, we had noticed a gradual decline in dress standards in the dining rooms on recent cruses

On this Miami to Nice cruise the standards had really plummeted.

I know that Azamaras code is casual but some people should not have been allowed in the room.

Many people have reported that there is a complimentary bottled water available.

Bottled still water is always left in the rooms, not premium brand but it is fine, it is also available has you leave the ship in port.

Apparently, luggage tags are no longer being sent to UK residents. If I were affected by this, I'd just check the bags at the dock and have luggage tags affixed by the luggage handlers there.

You can easily do as suggested above

We live in the UK & for my last 2 cruises I have printed off the tag copy sent with my e docs & laminated them with sellotape.

I then fixed then to the cases with small staples on the morning of embarkation, I know you can buy purpose made tag holders from Amazon if you so wish.

In Livorno & in Palma we were taken by bus most of the way but had to walk from the bus to the theatre (in Livorno) & to the Cathedral (in Palma} do to the locations.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say the wi-fi is not working.

They are sailing through the Bermuda Triangle

Hello Eric,

 

Yes we had a wonderful cruise didn't we and it was lovely to spend some time with you and your DW.

 

I believe you may be doing the Journey Transatlantic in April. If so, you will be sailing with my lovely friend, Phil (Excited of Harpenden). Would love to be joining you but imminent knee surgery won't allow that. However Lottie and I hope to be back on Azamara asap.

You are correct we are on the transatlantic. Looking forward to meeting Phil.

We are pleased that you decided to have your surgery & hope that all goes well

Give our regards to Lottie,

Best wishes for a speedy recovery,

Eric & Christine

Proctor, I read your comments with interest. As someone who has cruised on Azamara since 2008 agree that there have been many changes including some cutbacks in common with most other cruise lines.

 

From your post think it is possible that you are looking for a different cruise experience than me and possibly Azamara may no longer suit you.

 

This does not mean that I have not had concerns but have found that unlike other lines Azamara listens which is why we are fortunate to have Bonnie to intercede for us. For a long time I have felt that the MDR menus needed refreshing. Many posters agreed. Host Andy on another thread reports that the beautiful, refurbished Journey sails today with 14 new menus being offered. Thank you for listening Azamara.

 

Yes, I think it is possible that the complimentary wines are not quite as good as they were at introduction. But I still have my favourites and invariably have been able to have them whenever I have asked. On the odd occasion this hasn't been possible I have something else.

 

I generally travel in Verandah staterooms but have not had problems in securing reservations in the speciality restaurants. In November we called Aqualina on the spur of the moment and were given a table for 45 minutes later. On every occasion the food in Aqualina and Prime C was gorgeous and the service exemplary.

 

Think I can honestly say that any reasonable request I have made on an Az cruise has been fulfilled with a smile and if I have had a minor niggle on board it has been similarly sorted in very short order.

 

For me, Azamara continues to serve my travel needs very well and I look forward to many more happy sailings.

 

I hope when you are next on board all of your concerns will have been addressed

I totally agree with you Spursgirl

We were on your cruise in November & although the MDR & included wines were below par we had a lovely time & are booked again for April.

We found things very similar on Journey in November, Azamara say they are listening, I really do hope that is the case.

We will also find out on the April Transatlantic

The included cocktails have always been only those on the list, as far as I was aware

 

 

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That is true but a kind barman would use the included drinks to mix something else to your requirements, that seems to have changed

No luck on Quest for that red. The brand Friends on Quest is a Sonoma Blended wine. They were not really keen to show us the bottle- remember how in the early days wine bottles were proudly displayed and staff could describe what they were serving. No longer the case.

I will do a review - just off Quest after 24 days but the wines were a big disappointment (as was the fact that we highlighted the issue on our details form each cruise each time we were assured the bar manager would call us, we are still waiting)

Perhaps some people will now take off the rose tinted glasses & accept that things have changed with the wines & the food in the MDR

Currently on second leg of Quest sailings. Execution of cooking by Monica and the team is generally excellent (there can always be things that go wrong) but much less beef offered mostly lamb and pork. This needs a rethink to Increase beef in the MDR. Agree dh had a really bad New York strip so have decided that option is off. Just wonder as the maitre Ds answer was we do lovely steaks in Prime C ( yes agree been there a few times ) is this is s ploy to push meat eaters upstairs for a fee.

I also had a really poor NY Strip in November, it never used to be like that & it seems that the good Beef is now reserved for Prime C.

As a native of the North of England, I'd disagree about lobster - it has to be from the North Sea to be the best tasting lobster- preferably caught off Bridlington, Scarborough to Whitby!

 

 

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I am also from the North of England but I have to agree that Maine Lobster has the edge over any other that we have tried

We have never had good Lobster on any cruise ship

I think many agree with what I wrote. And the wine definitely has been changed from two years ago. I had several favorite included wines that are nowhere to be found. I will update as I can.:)

I agree that the wine selection is not what it once was, on our last 2 cruises we bought the wine lovers package for that very reason.

It is a shame but In my opinion it seems that we will now need to upgrade to the speciality restaurants & buy a wine package to really enjoy any future cruises.

I realize I'll be the minority voice or perhaps even the sole voice on this topic, but through 30+ Azamara cruises I've always understood that there is ONE white and ONE red each day, and that if I ask for a different wine from a previous day, if I'm lucky, the answer is "yes", but it might very well be "no". It never was a right, it never was a perk, it never was something that was marketed/sold, it was an extra that I highly appreciated. I therefore don't understand the sense of entitlement of the previous posters. I'll keep asking, be happy with a "yes", and respect a "no" for logistical reasons, or simply because the staff is too busy to run to another bar just to accommodate me.

I also agree with you, in my opinion this is a can of worms that would have been better left alone

Hi Everyone,

 

Thank you all for your comments, and to member LuAnn for her initial post and insights. It's always my sincere wish that members do not fear retaliation when posting negative comments, but I can understand why some feel that way. Thankfully, our forum is extremely friendly, and relatively calm.

 

I must say that I'm very surprised to read this, as food reviews have (for the most part) been quite positive. Of course, the topic of food is always subjective, though I also wonder if the sailing being a transatlantic, has anything to do with this. Inquiring minds would love to know !

 

I'm sure that Azamara is reading this thread, and will share the comments with the proper management and onboard teams. Hopefully, the appropriate changes will be made.

Andy, many of the comments about the MDR food are about previous recent cruises not just the transatlantic, I hate to say this but it does seem to be an on going problem

Luann, you have a perfectly valid opinion and I'm sure no-one will flame you for it. We may politely disagree with you though!

 

We were on Journey a month ago and had no problems at all with the food in the MDR or Windows. I would agree that it is more than time that the MDR menu's were revamped though. I can more or less recite the menu on any given day of the cruise now and that gets boring. We took the speciality Dining Package so had four meals in Aqualina or Prime C, which were superb. The Italian Night in Windows was also fantastic.

 

Maybe the variation in quality is due to different head chef's? Or perhaps because you were on a T/A there were no opportunities to load fresh produce?

We were on the same cruise has Lottie & I agree with her about the speciality & the Chefs table, we also had the dining package.

But we did find that the choice & quality of the food in the MDR was in our opinion disappointing compared to previous cruises.

I made that point in the mid cruise comment card & several senior officers did come & speak to us about it.

As do we!

 

Perhaps it's not the correct angle, but it looks like the rather horrid mural is gone from the MDR.

 

Thanks for the links Andy.

Just returned from Journey, I believe that the Mural is doomed

I must admit I always print out a set just in case. Never mind the vagaries of the cruise lines system our postal service is so unreliable we just never know

Has anyone received any tags by post in the UK recently ?, ours have been ordered almost 3 weeks & have not arrived, it is looking like we will be using the print outs for our cruise in under 2 weeks

Please can someone tell me How you cantell if your cabins are connecting.

We have booked balcony's midship deck 7.

Thank you

If you look at the deck plans the connecting cabins have a line shown between the cabin walls

I certainly found on my last Quest cruise there was significant pressure to buy a drinks package and a reluctance to mix cocktails with included drinks - Cosmos being the main problem. The previous month on Journey it had not been an issue.

 

Whilst a review might well be nice, it might be a case of be careful what you wish for - that well known share caveat, the value can go up as well as down. I am not saying that you would get less options after a review, but it is something to keep in mind.

 

My next cruises are over Christmas and New Year. My current analysis is I will not upgrade to a package but will pay as you go for any little extras I treat myself to - I do not have the capacity to drink the value of the daily additional charge, I am a lightweight in that area!!!!

I am of the same opinion, we usually just pay for the odd glass of champagne or a special bottle of wine if the fancy takes us.