Chris86

I missed seeing the Regatta. However on my walk home I walked past the Pacific Princess docked at Circular Quay. The condition was disappointing but still exciting to see an R ship,

 

On the two occasions when that has happened to us, once in Venice, once in St. Petersburg, the restriction came about because the local authorities were not willing to man the gangplank 24/7.

I suspected that may have been the case. That is quite disappointing since local authorities shouldn't allow overnight bookings if they aren't willing to provide the appropriate man power to facilitate it.

I agree, if the ship is overnight in a port its entirely up to you when you join the ship before departure. If you are leaving the ship and re-joining at another port then that is a different story.

Mind you my parents were recently on a cruise that spent overnight in Korea. The cruise line enforced a curfew (around dinner time). If you weren't home you couldn't board until morning. It kind of defeated the purpose of an overnight stop. So there are some silly rules out there

Sounds a lot like Oceania with their concierge cabins

 

 

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I think oceanias model of concierge sits well. Dosn't create a 2 class ship. Talk of roped off areas for exclusive use is what concerns me.

The current ship as Adonia had the shops extended and I heard Azamara felt it wasn't worth knocking down the walls to bring it back to what is now on the other ships, so they decided to leave as is and I guess make more use of the area in Spirits without the gaming tables. Will wait and see!

 

Phil

hmmm. no gaming tables in favour of a larger shop. Is there to be no casino at all then?

Chris-

 

Certainly on a Cruise Line which has several ships meandering around a specific geographic area, the Caribbean say, or Alaska, swapping out Entertainers makes good sense all around.

 

On Oceania, however, the ships roam the entire Planet and it is something of an occasion when two of the ships are in port together.

Another kettle of fish, entirely

My understanding is the Oceania entertainment is acually under the norweigian umbrella. As the entertainment staff made mention they were employed by Norweigian. So I assumed the guest are also employed by Norwegian (i might have this wrong). We were docked in burmuda for 2 nights and so was a Norweigian ship. Halifax we also met another NCL ship. I guess this is why I assumed guests would be switched out. I would be more forgiving if it was a longer more exotic sailing such as this amazon cruise.

Chris,

I am sure you realize that it is more expensive to fly entertainers back and forth from ship to ship for 2 -3 day contracts or single shows (depending on ship’s location). Things like this have a cumulative effect - it effects more than just “your” cruise.

Are you willing to pay for this expense with higher rates?

Speaking for myself - I am not.

Mr Paul

To be honest I don't feel the guest entertainers are on a contract for each specific sailing and ship. They are most likely on contracts with the cruise group for several weeks. During other cruises (with other lines) the guest entertainment has always switched out mid cruise and usually to other ships that are from the same group and port we visted on the day. So the nessesity of flights would rarly be required and if they were most likely in a domestic capacity.

My suggestion/observation is really just that a suggestion/observation. It would really only mean another employee in head office responsible for sorting out the logistics and the cost of a flight here and there. Do I really think this would hit our wallets. Absolutely not.

As for entertainment, we knew it wasn’t one of O’s strong points, and OP could have known it as well with just a little research. We are often too tired from a day of touring to stay up for a show anyway.

I agree. We always book port intensive sailings and usually satisfied with the entertainment offered.

I do feel Oceania can improve entertainment in the capacity of variety and a couple more guest entertainers per cruise. For example on our recent 10 night cruise we had the typical musicals by the onboard singers and dancers which was great. Another two guest entertainers who also sang. Now this was fine if you like singing and dancing. We did come home very satisfied with the sailing however couldn't help realise a few simple changes could have improved the on board entertainment offerings.

Perhaps the odd comedian or magician would be nice. We also found it odd having the guest entertainers on for the entire 10day sailing and only performing 1 show with a second shorter show (mediocre) thrown in later. It would make more logistical sense to have them on for half the sailing then flown to another ship and receive a new guest in return. Now I'm sure the guest entertainers may disagree since they are currently enjoying a full cruise and only performing 1.5 shows. However if they performed 1 show on each ship it would only equate to an extra 0.5 show and provide double the amount of guest entertainment per sailing. We also felt more of a poolside band in the afternoon would have been welcome.

Every other aspect of our cruise was to our liking an expectation.

 

Our guides told us Regatta was the last cruise ship for 2017 but that they hoped for 30 P&O ships next year. Evidently it was Oceania and P&O this year.

 

I was on a PNG cruise earlier this year so can confirm Crystal also visited. On my visit they mentioned many cruise lines that recently visited. I believe Costa was prior to our visit.

I assume P&O would be their biggest customer as they offer numerous 7 night sailings out of Cairns. Princess is another line offering PNG several times a year

PNG is a gorgeous destination. Our highlights were Rabaul and the smaller traditional islands, Amazing to see locals transporting between islands in traditional canoes/ boats

another on par event to a harbour cruise would be the Sydney Opera House. Its a full evening event

https://opera.org.au/sydney/new-years-eve?gclid=EAIaIQobChMItLmr2aac2AIVjB0rCh1QMwQLEAAYAiAAEgIZK_D_BwE

Wouldn't Watson's Bay be too far out from the CBD to get a good view of the fireworks?

It depends on the type of view you are after. As i mentioned the harbour cruise is the first choice if traveling from overseas and your first time seeing the fireworks.

However watsons bay offers a unique view as you are far enough away to see all the firework points in one view and the bridge.

Kurraba point is a lot closer and directly in front of the first pontoon with the bridge to your right and 3 more pontoons beyond the bridge.

I would suggest going to utube and typing in "NYE fireworks from kurraba point" or "NYE fireworks from watsons bay" to make a more informed decision on what suits you best

I'm not sure I quite understand the comment about hotels near Sydney harbour "not offering views" but perhaps I missed something when we spent several nights including NYE in Sydney a couple of years ago.

First of all: actually GETTING a hotel room with any harbor views such as the Park Hyatt is difficult to do even a year out so there has to be some reason why people book early.

Perhaps it is just to be close to the action and believe me, the area is mobbed on New Years Eve. The city seemed to more or less close down around noon on the 31st. Loads of people crowd into the harbor area and various venues with views will have parties, etc., you pay to attend.

 

Watching from a ship would be ideal especially when the big performance at midnight kicks off. The fireworks from the bridge are, in a word, spectacular and hope you find a good solution.

I was refering to the limited number of them (hotel rooms) that would provide a decent view of the fireworks. (Which would be sold out by now). Tbh I dont think having your face pressed against the glass of the four seasons would be a wild experience.

If you wanted to go down the accomodation path. I would consider hiring an air bnb in a local area such as kurraba point. The kurraba point park others excellent view of fireworks the only negative is the bridge is partitally obstructed. Because of this the park gets busy but you can still freely roam around.

They do provide ferry services after midnight however the quay would be where your finding the mass crowds.

Another less attended spot is watsons bay but further from the cbd than kurraba. Sure there are plenty more with a little research.

Ideally the harbour cruise would be first choice however these spots would be my second.

I am booked on the Quest for the 2018 Christmas cruise, with NYE in Sydney. The website makes it sound as if the ship will be docked in the center of the festivities, and after looking the Port of Sydney website, it looks as if the Quest will be docked at White Bay for all 3 days. I don’t know anything about White Bay. I’ve only ever docked at the Overseas Passenger Terminal.

 

Does anyone know if we can see the festivities from the White Bay location, or would it be better to get a hotel in the city for NYE?

 

 

Michael

Hi Michael. Im from Sydney and no ships utilize the overseas passenger terminal for new years eve. The space provides a good vantage point for the public. Azamara will be at white bay. You will not see much as mentioned from other posts. Last year Crystal were in a similar situation. I understand they hired harbour cruise vessels to transport the guests for viewing of the fireworks. Hopefully Azamara will use this idea as the azamazing offering.

I could suggest a few sites (public parks) which are not overcrowed and offer good vantage points. Accessable by sydney ferrys.

I think a hotel will be a mistake. They dont offer views and you already have accomodation.

[quote name= It is due to be refurbished April 2018 (I think).

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Has this been confirmed? I can't find anything online. Also will the refurbishment be extensive to bring it in line with the work done on Westerdam?

I'm looking into potential family vacations with my parents and sibilings (age group 20s/30s and mid 50s) for January 2019 and would consider Noordam in the Westerdam condition.

Additionally if I can go slightly off topic does Holland America attract a younger age group over the January break?

I don't feel Oceania are being left behind. Building new ships comes in cycles. Viking is obviously new, therefore building to create their market share. Oceania have existing ships, sure they will build new ones when the time is right for them. (I suspect after Regent receives their proposed new builds).

When O do build I suspect the R class will be nearing the end of their cycle life. So I hope they build somewhere in-between the size of an O and R class. (To access ports similar to the R class)

Oceania without a doubt!

you need to post your questions. he will respond next week

I would like to discuss the current pricing structure of Azamara. It seems the current model is to price high and then offer several promotions during the year. Such as double upgrade offer, BOGO, free nights etc. However reviewing the cruise critic boards, you will find many people are displeased with the current system. There seems to be an enormous amount of repetitive corporate nonsense occurring. I will refer to your recent launch of the Pursuit as one example

Azamara specified a launch date and time. However cruises became available to book 12 hours in advance. At prices one would find reasonable. Many clients began to make plans and allowances to accommodate a booking. By the time the sailings were due to be available prices increased astronomically. To levels similar to true luxury lines such as Seabourn and Silversea. This has left many customers disappointing who planed to book and now are not able.

My Question is. As a upper premium cruise line. Why does Azamara choose to meddle with clients in this manner. The excuse of a system glitch is unacceptable. As why would the system glitch a) allow people to book early b) offer pricing wildly different to the current pricing. c) not allow you to hold the booking overnight and d) conveniently switch pricing over 1 hour before the official launch. It appears the lower pricing was only offered to draw interest and speculation in the new ship. In the process disheartening many clients who wished to book reasonable prices.

If this pricing strategy goes unaddressed it will loose many current and potential clients.

Thank you Nordski for booking with us, and for the kind words. They're very appreciated at this moment :*.

I've just posted the following on another thread so I'll share it here too:

Just my two-cents, and I'm going off script here, but believe me, launching a new ship in a matter of weeks is no easy matter. I speak from experience from an almost identical scenario. I was Marketing Director decades ago when Seabourn suddenly acquired her third sister ship from a competitor with very little warning. We were thrilled to have another sister ship, but none of the employees had much sleep for weeks (and it should be noted we were not dealing with social media so glitches thankfully were unnoticed by the public before we could correct them!)

So I ask for a bit of understanding and patience; this all will work out, I promise!

The Azamara Pursuit is now launched with itineraries published. We are moving forward with the wind in our sails.

My advice is to book soon if you want the best availability on the Pursuit, or wait until all this shake-down period is in the rear view window. Either way Azamara Club Cruises, and specifically the Azamara Pursuit, will be here waiting for you!

Hi Bonnie I appreciate you posting. However I also disagree with your statement. You seem to be diverting the emphasis on a silly glitch. The argument by everyone seems to be more about the initial prices that were released being reasonable. By reasonable I refer to pricing that the market are willing to buy at. The prices are now insanly high. I do not agree with your statement that everything has been corrected and successful and we should all book now for the best price. We all know these arnt the best price.

I think Azamara need to realise these silly games they play over at royal and celebrity will not be tolerated by those cruising upper premium. We are willing to pay the premium to avoid the silly games and enjoy a better experience. Your clients want fair pricing for a fair product!

The statement from azamara is quite weak. You couldnt hold rooms overnight which proves it was planned as a way to get everyone excited abd secure a few initial bookings. All I can say is the pricing was comparable to Oceanias pricing (before the hike). So if you wanted to book Aze on the old pricing you still can find a similar itinerary on O

Good thing we still have Oceania!

yep ok... clock finished. sailings are back up. the room that I was quoted at $7,500 only a few hours ago is now $12,500.

I notice all the sailings have increased a couple of grand each.

Well I have totally lost interest with Azamara and these games. Seems if you booked on the spot you were one of the lucky few!

I suspect the Az website isn't fairing too well. I could see the Pursuit cruises and the book now function. I was interested in the 11 night 9th March Argentina to Brazil. The pricing looked promising @ $3,250AUDpp (free upgrade from interior to balcony). I was just about to see if my parents, brothers and fiance wanted to book it. I went back on and the pricing has since doubled. Now all cruises have vanished and the clock is back.

I’m impressed with pricing! If only they’d lower prices on the other ships to match.

 

 

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Does anyone have a link or able to share some of the pricing?

When Oceania docks in Boston, where does the shuttle terminate in town?

Quincy Market. Clinton or north street from memory.