The good, the bad, the ugly, the excellent

[Emdee]

The following is a short recap of personal opinions of our Azamara quest cruise

 

The Good

The food is nearly always good. Buffets have a good variety. For example the stir fry buffet had about 10 items for passengers to pick and choose from. Dinner in the MDR was good as well.

Décor on the whole was pleasing. I prefer muted tones and understated elegance. Aqualina’s colours were quite soothing. The exception was the cabins which could do with bit of updating.

Attempts at Asian food – Nasi Goreng , some of the food in the Indian buffet.

Senior staff are at the gangplank at every port and at the end of the cruise.

Only once did we have stairs to exit the ship mostly a gently sloping and easy walking gangplank. Captain advised that he tilted the ship slightly on purpose so that guests would have this.

Pool chairs were lovely and toweling covers were changed daily. Plus towels were placed on each chair.

Senior staff always asked for comments and suggestions – however I don’t think they always liked our opinions

 

The Bad

No mat to place luggage on in cabin when packing/unpacking

Champagne delivered to cabin warm and without ice bucket or glasses

Bar drinks were disappointing and tasteless– bartenders were not innovative. Selection was commonplace.

Rice pudding tasted like hospital food.

Accounting system: We have always been able to charge my daughters cabin bills to our card. However on Azamara this had to be done manually. Added to this the charges would sometimes bounce around from person to person so it was hard to fathom the where and why.

Senior staff seemed intent on providing us with a special order but when they couldn’t provide what we asked for they didn’t come back to us to close the loop.

 

 

The Ugly

The linens are terrible. When I walked in what I thought was the usual map for placement of luggage was actually the bed cover.

The bathrooms are small and ugly mine had a smidgeon of mold as well.

Crepe suzettes were more pancake suzettes

Onion rings and Chicken wings from pool barbecue

Some of the employees lack initiative and common sense.

Communication pre cruise very poor:

We should have been told that there was a black and white party so we could dress accordingly.

Since we were on the Presidents cruise there was a special event – dinner in a castle on the Livorno overnight. Although we called Miami and asked which night it was so we could make plans accordingly we did not get any information from them. Consequently a number of us were not able to attend. On arrival we received a letter in our cabin that if we were unable to attend we would get 50% of two excursions but when we went to the excursion desk we were first fobbed off and told that it was a mistake. Later however persistence paid off for us and we were given two credits for two excursions. Others who were not persistent were not so fortunate. Finally at the cruise critic final briefing we were told that they only had space for 400 persons …. So was Miami’s lack of communication intentional???

 

The Excellent

Outdoor buffet – wonderful ambiance(James Bond theme as was in Monte Carlo), excellent food and fantastic selection including soft shell crab, a whole stuffed halibut, frogs legs, truffled scalloped potatoes and so on and so on.

Entertainers like Jim Badger, Class Action and the Guitarist German in the Buffet area.

Service on the whole good to excellent. Special mention of Miroslav, George assistant Maitre and the Hotel Director Ryzaard (aka Richard) also Alwin in PrimeC and Veronika in the pursers desk who tried so hard to reconcile our account

Plating was truly excellent and uniformly so

The cauliflower panacotta with crab sabayon in the MDR and the crayfish Panacotta were sublime

Cheese board in Aqualina – best we have had on 36 cruises

 

 

Miriam

[Paulchili]

Miriam,

Thank you for taking the time to write this review.

You say it like you see it - that's the way it should be.

Paul

[MightyQuinn]

Thanks for the summary Emdee. It appears that the Good & the Excellent outweigh the Bad & the Ugly. So I'm thinking that Azamara is a keeper for you. But I must say that I'm glad that PG is still your fave - my anticipation grows! :):)

[Emdee]

Mighty,

Per Mr Pimentel a lot of the bads will change.

I think that Azamara is a keeper .

Shall continue to do PG every other year if possible.

Will do one Regent cruise a year instead of two

And, will put in an Azamara cruise when the deal is good.

 

I still have other places to see ( Non cruises) but not too many. We do Cambodia and Vietnam in Feb.

Miriam

[Andy]

Hi Emdee !

 

Thanks for sharing your comments. They were most informative. Welcome Home !

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Thanks Miriam, very informative!

[judibrown7]

Pardon my innocence, which cruise line is PG?

[spanglycruisegirl]

Pardon my innocence, which cruise line is PG?

 

Hi

I,too,wondered about this at first but,I think,probably Paul Gauguin.

[Emdee]

Judibrown7 & Spanglycruisegirl,

PG is indeed PG cruises my absolute favourite of every cruise I have taken though I have to admit the 5 I have taken under PG have all been under Regent and only next year will I go on the new line.

 

Sorry, I didnt mean to speak obscurely but everyone who responded to my report has either been on PG or plans to go on it.

 

Miriam

[MightyQuinn]

Sorry, I didnt mean to speak obscurely but everyone who responded to my report has either been on PG or plans to go on it.

Mea culpa, Emdee. :o:o

 

I am the culprit who mentioned PG on your thread without fully describing that it's Paul Gauguin. For others reading this, Emdee has been super helpful to those of us who are newbies to PG in getting the lay of the land of French Polynesia.

[Bill Leiber]

The following is a short recap of personal opinions of our Azamara quest cruise

 

The Good

The food is nearly always good. Buffets have a good variety. For example the stir fry buffet had about 10 items for passengers to pick and choose from. Dinner in the MDR was good as well.

Décor on the whole was pleasing. I prefer muted tones and understated elegance. Aqualina’s colours were quite soothing. The exception was the cabins which could do with bit of updating.

Attempts at Asian food – Nasi Goreng , some of the food in the Indian buffet.

Senior staff are at the gangplank at every port and at the end of the cruise.

Only once did we have stairs to exit the ship mostly a gently sloping and easy walking gangplank. Captain advised that he tilted the ship slightly on purpose so that guests would have this.

Pool chairs were lovely and toweling covers were changed daily. Plus towels were placed on each chair.

Senior staff always asked for comments and suggestions – however I don’t think they always liked our opinions

 

The Bad

No mat to place luggage on in cabin when packing/unpacking

Champagne delivered to cabin warm and without ice bucket or glasses

Bar drinks were disappointing and tasteless– bartenders were not innovative. Selection was commonplace.

Rice pudding tasted like hospital food.

Accounting system: We have always been able to charge my daughters cabin bills to our card. However on Azamara this had to be done manually. Added to this the charges would sometimes bounce around from person to person so it was hard to fathom the where and why.

Senior staff seemed intent on providing us with a special order but when they couldn’t provide what we asked for they didn’t come back to us to close the loop.

 

 

The Ugly

The linens are terrible. When I walked in what I thought was the usual map for placement of luggage was actually the bed cover.

The bathrooms are small and ugly mine had a smidgeon of mold as well.

Crepe suzettes were more pancake suzettes

Onion rings and Chicken wings from pool barbecue

Some of the employees lack initiative and common sense.

Communication pre cruise very poor:

We should have been told that there was a black and white party so we could dress accordingly.

Since we were on the Presidents cruise there was a special event – dinner in a castle on the Livorno overnight. Although we called Miami and asked which night it was so we could make plans accordingly we did not get any information from them. Consequently a number of us were not able to attend. On arrival we received a letter in our cabin that if we were unable to attend we would get 50% of two excursions but when we went to the excursion desk we were first fobbed off and told that it was a mistake. Later however persistence paid off for us and we were given two credits for two excursions. Others who were not persistent were not so fortunate. Finally at the cruise critic final briefing we were told that they only had space for 400 persons …. So was Miami’s lack of communication intentional???

 

The Excellent

Outdoor buffet – wonderful ambiance(James Bond theme as was in Monte Carlo), excellent food and fantastic selection including soft shell crab, a whole stuffed halibut, frogs legs, truffled scalloped potatoes and so on and so on.

Entertainers like Jim Badger, Class Action and the Guitarist German in the Buffet area.

Service on the whole good to excellent. Special mention of Miroslav, George assistant Maitre and the Hotel Director Ryzaard (aka Richard) also Alwin in PrimeC and Veronika in the pursers desk who tried so hard to reconcile our account

Plating was truly excellent and uniformly so

The cauliflower panacotta with crab sabayon in the MDR and the crayfish Panacotta were sublime

Cheese board in Aqualina – best we have had on 36 cruises

 

 

Miriam

Hello Emdee,

 

I thank you very much for taking your valuable time to prepare such a very comprehensive assessment about the October 23, 2010 Azamara Quest voyage (President’s cruise) from Barcelona to Rome and for caring enough to share it with us and other Azamara cruise followers. I found your opinions about the “good, bad, ugly and excellent” to be very fair and objective. Your input will be extremely valuable to our ongoing benchmarking across the various areas in our guest service delivery. We’ve just begun our product reformulation and we are constantly refining our shipboard and shoreside operations to achieve total quality service.

 

It was rewarding to read your list of the many “good” and “excellent” features of your experience and we’re proud of these accomplishments. However, the “bad” and “ugly” are the challenges we must master since our reason for being is to fulfill our guest’s vacation expectations by consistently exceeding each guest’s service expectations. Our training focuses on delivering our product with flair and style tempered with respect for the intangibles: feelings, perceptions, and attitudes. We’re fortunate that you are so perceptive and articulate in pointing out where you believe we fell short.

 

As a point of reference, the guest satisfaction scores on the October 23rd sailing were truly “Azamazing” since they reflected the opinions of guests who have traveled on fine quality lines and were able to discern the difference.

The Overall Cruise Experience was 286.6 or 95.5% - a perfect score is 300!

Other ratings:

 Staff Friendliness 294.9 / 98.3%

 Butlers (suites) 290.0 / 96.7%

 Ship Condition 287.1 / 95.7%

 Stateroom Attendants 286.4 / 95.5%

 Restaurant Service 282.5 / 94.2%

 

Nevertheless, it seems that “consistency” and “seamless communication” are two of your critical issues: the ability of our officers and staff to consistently and flawlessly perform on board along with our customer contact staff in Miami to do likewise and finally, to link each operation in a seamless manner. By doing that, only then we can expect to drive all of our guest ratings closer to 300.

 

I noticed in your separate thread, “Live from the Quest, Oct 24,” that Larry Pimentel stated that “a lot of the bad’s will change.” Also, you said that “Azamara is a keeper.” But I was disappointed that Azamara would not be your first-choice when you decide to cruise again. Instead, you would only revisit “Azamara cruise when the deal is good.” I want you and other Azamara followers to know that all of the Azamara team, on land and sea, is committed to achieving 300 ratings in all categories by creating a consistently high quality experience so that we can earn your long-term loyalty rather than “buying” your loyalty with our pricing promotions.

 

We’re an experience first and foremost and a cruise line second. The journey to excellence is never ended – it is evolutionary.

 

Bill Leiber

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

(*CBO is an authorized and compensated representative of ACC)

[xplrcrzn]

Bill-Very good scores, indeed. Azamara has come a long way since its inception and I'm sure many more good things are planned

[Holly2]

Emdee, do you know if he used to be the restaurant manager on Journey? If so, he would be an excellent choice for hotel manager -- "richard" on Journey really made our trip special which is why I still remember him fondly years later.

[Emdee]

Holly,

I think he was restaurant manager on Journey Iknow he was a recent promotion.

[Emdee]

Hi Bill,

 

While I definitely enjoyed the Azamara experience and it is a keeper. It will have to remain a second string.

 

Firstly, I prefer the all inclusive experience - including air and excursions.

Secondly I prefer the all suite concept and large rooms.

 

Since Azamara does not have either I will have to look elsewhere. If booked in advance Azamara pricing is very close to Regent without the above. Also, Azamara does not offer the Biz air for $999 like Regent does. However, if Azamara offers a deal I am willing to live with the smaller rooms and the lack of inclusions.

 

While I found Azamara to have a lot of pizazz .... Regent gives me a sense of coming home.

 

I spent some time comparing the Regent 2011 Holy land trip 16 days plus three days pre cruise with the Azamara Holy Land trip and Regent won hands down. Pricing, inclusions itinerary etc.

 

I have also done a comparison on the Regent board in case you are interested.

 

Miriam

[tango9]

I was also on the President's hosted cruise on Quest October 23-31. I agree with many points from Emdee but not all. I did not think that the linens were bad at all, but would have appreciated a mat the first day for the bed so I could put my suitcase on it to unpack.

I have not sailed on Regent before but I have considered it. Their prices seem much higher and I am not sure I really want to have all the excursions included in the price. Sometimes I have my own ideas . On this particular cruise I very much enjoyed just walking around St. Tropez ( especially since they had the wonderful end of season sidewalk sale!) and also walking around Monte Carlo/Monaco. Tony Markey the cruise director led a wonderful walk up to the palace ; which was entirely free!

The food on the ship was wonderful everywhere. One point was that the Prime C could use table cloths. I did have the crepes at the poolside lunch, cooked by Rudy, the officer, and maybe he could learn to make them thinner, but that is a talent to learn! The whipped cream and chocolate on those crepes made it for me.

On the whole, I LOVE Azamara and this is the line I would always choose, BUT I do have a busy job and cannot always take off for the longer cruises, so I would like to see more of those 7-10 day sailings. I think I may be in the minority on that thought.

The caring attitude from everyone from Mr. Pimentel down to housekeeping was the icing on the cake of a wonderful cruise.

I must mention that I did go to the President's hosted shore event; the dinner at the Tuscany castle and it was marvelous. From stopping in Greve to walk around ; to the beautiful countryside of Tuscany, the castle; the many courses of wonderul Tuscan food , wines and grappa; and ending with the tenors singing opera to us. What a wonderful gift to give the guests. I am sorry that Emdee did not make it . I think I did read something on these boards that someone found out that the event would be in our Livorno stop but nothing else. It would have helped to know more.

[Emdee]

Hi merkelcg,

Life would be very boring if we agreed on everything so its good we agree to disagree.

 

I was responding to Bill's comment that he would like Azamara to be my first choice. I took the cruise to try out Azamara and enjoyed it a lot. In fact I enjoyed it enough to want to return. (I hated Oceania)However, while on board I priced two of Azamara's cruises against similar cruises I have booked with Regent. Azamara just did not provide me with the same value. I compared a deck 6 balcony with the base cabin on Regent. When all the additions were toted up the prices on Regent was better. I felt Azamara did some things very well and had some charming touches but for those alone it was not worth my while to book at the higher prices. I do find the overall quality of Regent to be better.

 

I had my doubts about the included excursions when Regent first decided to include them. I really enjoyed them both in Europe and in Alaska earlier this year. Some days we just didnt take an excursion and walked into town but they were there if we wanted them.

 

 

I guess the linens are a matter of personal taste. My daughter's sheet had a black stain 1 inch x 2 inches long and when she asked the cabin attendant to change it he merely took the sheet out and left it folded on her sofa. My cabin linens were very well used( almost shabby) though not soiled. I particularly brought up the subject of linens for two reasons - it is a subject that already came up on the boards and because Mr Pimentel mentioned that he wanted to run the ship like a boutique hotel. Those were definitely not boutique hotel linens by any stretch of the imagination.

 

Regarding the crepes - its very easy to thin the batter - I was almost tempted to show Rudi how to make them after he bombed the first time!

 

I appreciate that Azamara is a work in progress and would be happy to revisit if the itinerary and the price is right. Although we travel frequently and cruise several times a year we work hard for our money so always want to obtain value for what we pay. Value is a very subjective concept and totally rests in the eye of the beholder so what is a value to one person may not be valuable to another at all!

[tango9]

Thanks for your thoughts, Emdee. It helps to know what people think of a cruise line in comparison to another Regent must be pretty wonderful. Are the ships small, like Azamara's? On another note, your comment on the cheese in the dining room made me realize that I missed it altogether. It was never offered and we enjoyed what we had to eat so much we forgot about the cheese. We love a quality cheese tray and I am sorry we missed it.

[dogster]

Hi Emdee, good to follow your latest travels. I'll be onboard Quest in a week - for 31 days. A special place in my reportage will be reserved for the search for the perfect crepes suzette. Like you, I want it thinnnnnn.

 

I believe all the linens on board have already been replaced since your post and three of the crew members executed for dereliction of duty. Larry listens.

 

But let's cut to the chase; there are some serious issues at play here, life and death matters that Azamara MUST attend to before they have a hope of achieving their boutique aim - I refer of course to the rice pudding.

 

You can be assured, Emdee, that Mr. Dogster will be on the pudding case.

It better be good. You know what happened the first time...

http://thedogster1.wordpress.com/1-death-by-azamara/

 

I do have to report, however, that since two back to back cruises earlier this year on Journey even the curmudgeonly Dogster has turned into a bit of an Azamara fan. Thanks for your report.

[westmount]

I've been reading many post over the last few weeks about the rise in prices and services at Azamara. My wife and I only started cruising about four years ago, and have been very lucky and spoiled to have done four great trips on Seabourn and one on Regent. I simply don't see how anyone beats Seabourn, but it cost a lot of money to staff a ship as they do, and frankly, Regent tried hard, but there something missing on that trip, and I'll call it soul for no other reason.

Since we're traveling with our young adult kids and wanted an vacation that the girls would enjoy given their schedules, Azamara seemed to be the perfect itinierary and the perfect ship. I for one prefer all inclusive, as getting nickle and dimed at every turn detracts from any vacation experience, especially one that the base price is pretty steep, so how about we let managment at Azamara figure out what they need to charge to fill a ship up while getting 300 points of satisfaction and we all chill out and enjoy the ride. Since I have my last Seabourn cruise still in memory from HK to Dubai, Azamara will be tested, but from what I've seen, it's never the cheese, pillows, carpets etc that make the cruise, its the staff and guest, and from what I've seen, I'm getting a bargain.

[Emdee]

Hi Dogster,

 

There is nothing that the dog likes better than the perfect bone of contention. I am so pleased to have provided you with that opportunity. After your response I have a clear picture in my mind of the dogster on the quest of the holy grail of rice pudding and thinnnnnn crepes.

 

Having just returned from a brief stay in hospital I can verify that the rice pudding comparison still holds!

 

I look forward to your posts on your new adventure I am sure they will help me recuperate faster.

 

Miriam

[Bill Leiber]

Hi Dogster,

 

There is nothing that the dog likes better than the perfect bone of contention. I am so pleased to have provided you with that opportunity. After your response I have a clear picture in my mind of the dogster on the quest of the holy grail of rice pudding and thinnnnnn crepes.

 

Having just returned from a brief stay in hospital I can verify that the rice pudding comparison still holds!

 

I look forward to your posts on your new adventure I am sure they will help me recuperate faster.

 

Miriam

Hello Emdee,

 

I hope that you’re feeling better after your brief hospital stay and thank you for doing your “rice pudding” taste test while you were there. I have already passed on your original assessment to our executive team and now I’ll let them know your disappointing finding that the hospital’s and Azamara’s rice puddings were similar. Even if Azamara is relegated to being your “second string” choice, we hope that when you sail with us again, that our improved rice pudding and thinner crepes achieve your top of the line rating!

Wishing you a full and speedy recovery –

 

Bill Leiber

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

(*CBO is an authorized and compensated representative of ACC)

[xplrcrzn]

Even being Emdee's second choice is quite an honor. Few make the grade.