What new activities would you like to be added to your cruise

[geocruiser]

What new activities would you like to be added to your cruise? It could be something like a new game, lecture or a demonstration

 

I would like to have a suitcase packing demo done by one of Azamara’s trained butlers. Maybe they have a hint on how to get the most out of my packing.

 

Maria

[California Native]

I would like small hands on classes for

flower arranging

maybe plating/garnishing for food/drink ...turning a ho hum dinner plate or cocktail into a WOW for my guests

Wine and Cheese pairing from the ports you are visiting.

Beer tastings from the ports you are visiting

Also, say you are going to Sorrento...Maybe a couple of recipe ideas on the buffet for how to use your Limoncello (besides just drinking) when you get home.

from the spa..a massage course..

we actually asked about this..my husband was wondering what the best way for him to massage the various knots in my back from a professionals opinion. We would have gladly paid $$$ for this type of personal/private class. Other cruiselines have done this, but I've never had my DH with me before.

I like the packing class by the butler idea

[Andy]

Hi Everyone !

 

I'm into everything about what makes the Cruise Ship function, so here's some things I would like to see :

 

Behind the scenes tours, such as the Engine Room, and a detailed tour of the Bridge. The few times I've been invited to the Bridge on Celebrity, the tour is usually conducted by a low ranking Officer, and it's fairly brief. I'd like to see the Captain or Staff Captain be a part of the Tour, and spend some time with the Guests.

 

I'd like Azamara to feature something offered on Celebrity... a Question & Answer session with the Captain and Senior Officers. It's always well attended, and the answers are very informative.

 

I'm a foodie, and anything involving behind the scenes and interaction with the Chefs would be interesting.

 

I'd also like to visit the Crew's quarters, and recreation areas.

[California Native]

Hi Everyone !

 

I'm into everything about what makes the Cruise Ship function, so here's some things I would like to see :

 

Behind the scenes tours, such as the Engine Room, and a detailed tour of the Bridge. The few times I've been invited to the Bridge on Celebrity, the tour is usually conducted by a low ranking Officer, and it's fairly brief. I'd like to see the Captain or Staff Captain be a part of the Tour, and spend some time with the Guests.

 

I'd like Azamara to feature something offered on Celebrity... a Question & Answer session with the Captain and Senior Officers. It's always well attended, and the answers are very informative.

 

I'm a foodie, and anything involving behind the scenes and interaction with the Chefs would be interesting.

 

I'd also like to visit the Crew's quarters, and recreation areas.

 

Hi Host Andy

On our B2B both segments offered and we partaked in

Bridge Tour with High Ranking Officer, Engine Room Tour, and Galley Tour with the Special Services Chef.

Each tour was in depth and over 30 minutes with Q and A during and at the end. All questions were answered in detail.

Pictures were allowed.

You just go to the Pursurs desk when you board and ask to sign up for them.

When you go to the Bridge you will need to present your Drivers License for id, it's for them to coordinate on their "cleared" security list they have of the passengers that signed up for it.

[sivia]

 

I'd like Azamara to feature something offered on Celebrity... a Question & Answer session with the Captain and Senior Officers. It's always well attended, and the answers are very informative.

 

Andy: Actually during our times onboard the Quest and Journey there have been a few occasions where the Captain, Staff Captain, Hotel Director and other various Senior Officers have done a Q & A session.

 

Perhaps if enough people are interested in this they will continue doing this.

[California Native]

 

I'd like Azamara to feature something offered on Celebrity... a Question & Answer session with the Captain and Senior Officers. It's always well attended, and the answers are very informative.

 

Andy: Actually during our times onboard the Quest and Journey there have been a few occasions where the Captain, Staff Captain, Hotel Director and other various Senior Officers have done a Q & A session.

 

Perhaps if enough people are interested in this they will continue doing this.

 

Thanks Sivia for reminding me of that.

On my Nov 3rd sailing I went to 3 cruisecritic gatherings. The CD, Heike and a few members from her staff, the Restaurant Manager, LeClubVoyage Rep and a couple of officers were there on the 1st and 2nd gatherings on the last gathering it was a HUGE feedback Q and A.

But all throughout the cruises, the officers, CD etc etc were all available for comments, concerns, critiscms and most importantly to also hear the compliments.

Sometimes many cruisers are so quick to criticize the smallest of things and don't really offer compliments.

On the 2nd function it was hosted by Natahlia our Le Club Voyage/FCC Hostess and about 20 people were invited from CruiseCritic of varying demographics..age, country of origin, past and/or new cruisers..it was a complete mix and she solicitied honest feedback from us!

K.

[Andy]

Hi Everyone !

 

When I sailed on Quest, they did not offer any of the activities I suggested. I'm happy to hear Azamara is offering most of them. Thanks for the update !

[alcpa1]

We were on a Journey cruise jammed packed with activities on our two sea days. We absolutely spent both days running from one lecture, wine tasting, bridge tour, engine room tour,galley tour to another. On one of those "relaxing" sea days my DH and I saw each other for brunch with the Captain and our CC cocktail party before dinner. I can't remember where we found time to pack, and we never found a minute to drop a dime in a slot. There was almost too much going on.

Between our Azamara status (gifted by virtue of our X status) and our CC group we were hosted by every officer and Nathalie several times. We were amazed that they spent so much time truly listening to everyone. The only other time that had happened in 30 years of cruising was a Diamond cocktail hour on a plagued cruise right after 9/11. I will always think that the Captain needed to vent too and we turned out to be good sympathetic listeners.

Even after so many years of cruising there is still much to learn. I'd love to know how to disembark more sanely in Venice for example. There have got to be easier ways to prepare Visa applications or anticipate quirky taxes ala Argentina (or is it Brazil?) I know all of these questions and more are answered here on Cruise Critic, but it would make a fascinating lecture onboard for both experienced cruisers and newbies.

I'm a food demo junkie and my DH is always ready to do a wine or single malt tasting so keep those on the list too.

I guess we will have to book another Azamara cruise with more sea days to see how little time we can stay in our cabin!

[Project_gal]

On our Quest cruise everyone had the opportunity to take a Bridge tour. Our, at least, was hosted by the Captain and very detailed [unlike the one on Constellation last November] and our Cruise Critic party included a detailed Q&A session with the Captain and most of the senior officers.

 

I, too, would enjoy a packing demonstration. A really good idea and I suggest that it takes place on the final day in my suite. I would happily provide the materials for a number of demonstrations!!!!

 

I like to attend lectures on board but am always disappointed with the lecturers who seem lightweight and often inaccurate. Perhaps I have been unlucky with the lectures I have attended but a higher quality of lecturer would be wonderful.

 

On our last cruise on Constellation they offered "Lunch with the Executive Chef" for a small group. This was by far the best event we have ever attended at sea and we would love to see it on our next cruise.

 

Finally, on our Millennium TA in 2007, there was an informal discussion group organised on the subject of family history. Anyone interested in the subject was invited to Michael's Club at a certain time. A member of the activities team was there to explain that this was an opportunity for guests with a shared interest to get together and discuss whatever they wanted. He then left. It was a really good session which went on just as long as we wanted. I am sure that there are many interests shared on board any cruise for which the activities staff could facilitate similar groups. All they would need to do is provide a form at the beginning of the cruise asking for suggestions and organise a place and time for any with sufficient numbers.

 

Sue

[Goldygolfer]

Massage classes were available (no charge) on the Quest during the repositioning cruise late Nov/early December.

[insidecabin]

A small UK line, Island cruises had(may still have) a program called

 

Navigate with the captain.

 

On each cruise a small group went to the bridge for the arrival and departure from each port.

 

Snacks and champane were provided and a picture with the captain you at in the big chair.

 

The captain would (when he could) explain what was going on during the manouvers and once clear of the port a Q&A session.

 

One of the best bridge tours we have done things were actualy happening.

 

Leaving barelona inner harbour on the bridge was a great experience.

[Host Dan]

Is team trivia offered?

 

Host Dan

[Jade13]

Is team trivia offered?

 

Host Dan

 

Yes!

[ddcruiser]

We are team trivia addicts. We love it and try never to miss. Please keep it as a highlight for many cruisers and try offering points to be collected and exchanged at the end of the cruise toward better prizes (like Oceania does). Thanks, ddcruiser

[California Native]

We are team trivia addicts. We love it and try never to miss. Please keep it as a highlight for many cruisers and try offering points to be collected and exchanged at the end of the cruise toward better prizes (like Oceania does). Thanks, ddcruiser

 

 

On my Oct 22 and Nov 3rd cruise there were A LOT trivia games with various themes

In addition....

Each activity that you participated in an activity card was initialed by the cruise staff. At the end of the cruiseyou could turn it in for prizes...

the more points you had the bigger the prizes...

You could combine your activity cards of your traveling party to get even bigger prizes

All sorts of cool logo stuff!!!!

[Andy]

All sorts of cool logo stuff!!!!

 

Hi Where2Next !

 

Has Azamara improved their Logo items ? Last time I was onboard Quest, there was very little offered. I'd love to get my hands on some cool Azamara gear. Thanks !

[Andy]

A small UK line, Island cruises had(may still have) a program called

 

Navigate with the captain.

 

On each cruise a small group went to the bridge for the arrival and departure from each port.

 

Snacks and champane were provided and a picture with the captain you at in the big chair.

 

The captain would (when he could) explain what was going on during the manouvers and once clear of the port a Q&A session.

 

One of the best bridge tours we have done things were actualy happening.

 

Leaving barelona inner harbour on the bridge was a great experience.

 

Hi Inside Cabin !

 

What you described, sounds wonderful, and what I had in mind in my earlier post. On Celebrity, it's such a quick tour, that very little is learned. It's more of a "here's this, and here's that, and thanks for coming". I'm hoping for something more in depth. From what Where2Next mentioned, it seems Azamara offers a more informative tour.

[alidor]

Shopping with the chef in local ports.

[tgg]

Hi Where2Next !

 

Has Azamara improved their Logo items ? Last time I was onboard Quest, there was very little offered. I'd love to get my hands on some cool Azamara gear. Thanks !

 

Perhaps we just hit the right cruise last fall on the Quest. Maybe Azamara was trying to get rid of all the stuff that had the old logo. Just a guess. But every time we played trivia, we won hats and shirts and other really nice prizes. No need to collect points or have tickets stamped. We had so much stuff that we started to give it away. My husband now has 4 really nice Azamara hats with the "sewn" logo. Very high quality. He wears them all the time. I wore one of my shirts ( I got them in white and blue) to the gym this morning. So easy to be walking Azamara billboards. But of course that's the idea, isn't it?

[NayaSabrina]

Good topic! How about some hands on arts/crafts classes -- not the crepe paper/pipe cleaner variety --- for at sea days? I'd love to do a relaxed beginning drawing class or learn how to take better pictures with your digital camera or how to capture the best scenic images or or or.. And lectures/discussions not necessarily directly port related; probably not political but of general interest. We met so many interesting people on the Journey last October; it would be great to interact with them in settings other than cocktail parties (though they were lots of fun).

 

I understand and appreciate that Azamara feels that its passengers are adults who can amuse themselves. A few more planned opportunities to meet and play would be welcome. however. Just not the best cannonball or newlywed game variety..

 

Just my opinion...

 

Dolores

[alcpa1]

I too love the trivia contests, just wish there had been conflict free time on our sailing.

A note about the bridge tour as explained by our guide. Certain areas of the bridge were off limits to us. The area involved ship security. We were also told that passengers could not be on the bridge during departures and arrivals. We were discussing everything from pilots to SOLAS and I don't recall under whose authority this is mandated.

I am preparing a segment for our Armchair Travel class for the Lifelong Learning program on our Baltic Cruise and trimming my photos down to a reasonable number and believe it or not we took zero pictures of the ship. I think that's a first. Dumb us because the ship was beautiful. So I propose an onboard photo expedition as another activity.

[insidecabin]

We were also told that passengers could not be on the bridge during departures and arrivals. We were discussing everything from pilots to SOLAS and I don't recall under whose authority this is mandated.

 

I am convinced that the cruise lines use, Security, Health and safety as an excuse to justify why they can't allow certain activities because other ships do allow the same things.

 

They could just say company/ship/US* policy but hide behind generic regs to avoid conflicts.

 

Examples where we have been told no and other ships yes.

 

Back stage tours

Bridge tours

Bridge tours during arrival/departure(might be a US waters restriction).

Galley tours

engine room tours(these are very rare from what I can gather but not outright baned because people have done them)

 

Never had Solas used directly as a "can't do" beacuse

 

NCL have in the past give similar reasons but recently introduced a 2hr behind the scenes tour for $50+ and free those on the highest rewards level so things that were a no-no for security or H&S are suddenly now possible.

They also do a $150 all day more comprehensive tour with speciality dinner and cocktails with senior officers.

 

 

* There are definately some things that are unique to US like having to disembark/embark on changeover day even on a B2B.

[California Native]

Engine Room Tours and beng told no

I just wanted to comment about the above posts

We had an Engine Room Tour ...

However, the 1st one was cancelled at literally the very last second as we were about ready to enter.

We were told that the ship was about to enter the Dardenellesand the Engine room decided that for the safety of ship and passengers no passenger could enter the Engine Room.

It was reschedule and was a fascinating tour.

Here's a link with a map of the Dardenelles, I totally believed them and if you look at the map I can see why they wouldnt want us in there

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dardanelles

Regarding Tours

I've been on ships within the same cruise line where every tour you can imagine was available and other ships where nothing was available

So this leads me to believe that it is the location AND/OR the Captain of the ship that is calling the shots on where

passengers are allowed to go.

[Shipshape99]

We had a Wii activity challenge (virtual bowling, golf, baseball etc.) on one ship which seemed really well received, and could be enjoyed by all age groups, and was an excellent way to meet new people whilst having fun.

 

Maybe. Azamara could go one better and demo the new XBox Kinnect?

[Jade13]

I would like to see an outdoor BBQ, as we did not have the opportunity to go to one last February.