Juts back from the Journey - May 30

[nonrev1]

We just returned from a 5 day cruise on the Journey. It was fantastic but there are a few areas of improvement needed. Would the issues stop us from going on Azamara again? Absolutely not! Azamara does a great job and we can’t wait until our next Azamara cruise.

It is very hard not to compare this ship with the Quest since we were on that ship only three months ago. The cruises were quite different - The Quest was a 14 day cruise with several sea days and this was a 5 day cruise with no sea days and in each port each day from 7:00 am – Midnight.

I will start with the areas of improvement.

Check in – the agents were all contract employees and did not understand the check in process. We were sent in the wrong direction, told to stand in a line that we did not need to and asked to fill out paperwork that was already completed. We had completed the express check-in several weeks before our departure but upon arrival in Nice we were told it did not matter and we had to fill out everything again including the form asking for the last 4 digits of the credit card we were planning to use even though they had just taken an imprint of the card one minute earlier.

Wait staff – the waiters were hit or miss. We had one that even scolded one of our travel companions for putting her knife on her plate when she was not finished eating. He tried to take away her plate after her first bite of food and he said that by putting her knife on the plate she was signaling that she was finished with her meal and she should not do that in the future and proceeded to tell her how she should place her silverware correctly.

This is where it is difficult not to compare the two ships. On the Quest, the captain was everywhere all the time. He took every opportunity to sell and promote Azamara. He walked around to every table at the outdoor BBQ, gave a great speech at the Discoverer cocktail party, was constantly visible and even took time during the lifeboat drill to promote Azamara. The captain and the crew seemed so proud of their ship. We rarely saw the captain on the Journey. At the BBQ he stood off to the side, his lifeboat drill announcement was 30 seconds and after he met everyone as we walked into the lounge for the cocktail party, he left. No rah-rah speech, no thank you for being loyal customers and no attempt to sell us on sailing with Azamara again. On the Quest, the officers were very visible, constantly out and about and asking if there was anything else they could do for you. On the Journey, you saw the officers, but as they walked by, they looked straight ahead with no acknowledgment. (Except Heike – she is the most visible officer on the ship and stopped to visit with us every time we saw her) We found that the crew was not as friendly. A waiter asked us what we thought about the two ships, and he said that on the Journey, they keep a low profile. The staff on the Journey missed many opportunities to promote a great product.

These things did not stop us from having a great cruise. But, if Azamara is trying to sell itself as an upscale cruise line, these are areas that need attention and improvement. There should be more consistency in the service and product that is being offered. Why is there such a difference between the two ships?

Everything else was positive – Our cabin steward was wonderful, the food was excellent, Heike is an absolute star for Azamara, the beds were great, the tenders were always available and there was never a long wait, Aqualina was yummy(and excellent service) and the Cruise Director/entertainment was excellent. We were very surprised (pleasantly) to see such a wide range of ages on this cruise. Again – we love Azamara and had a wonderful cruise. We just wish the pride and enthusiasm that we experienced on the Quest was the same on the Journey.

[tgg]

For those who don't know her, Heike is Heike Berdos and she's the Hotel Director. We've also always found her to be friendly and welcoming. Some of us wonder when Heike finds time to sleep because she is all over the ship from early morning to late at night. She also gets things done for people by making a quick phone call.

We love sailing with Heike and look forward to seeing her again in a few weeks.

[Andy]

Hi Nonrev !

 

Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us. We sailed on Journey in March, and found the Crew to be extremely friendly, visable and personable. We thought Heike was incredible as usual. We've known Heike for many years, dating back to her time with Celebrity.

 

I'm not convinced I buy the comment from the Crew Member who said Journey keeps a low profile. That was certainly not the case on Journey in March. While I cannot offer any insight on the current Master, I suspect much of what you discussed, has to do with the Captain's personality and how he leads the ship's Crew. We sailed with Captain Johannes Tysse, who was by far the best Captain we've ever met. He was extremely visable, genuinely eager to insure a great Cruise experience, and an absolute delight - like Heike, and the effects were felt by the Crew. I strongly believe it's all about leading by example... and Captain Tysse and Heike are the very best at it.

 

BTW - Captain Tysse returns to Journey later this week, on June 11th.

 

I'm happy to hear you had a great time on Journey. Welcome home !

[suec12]

Thank you for taking the time to report back Nonrev - I am thinking that the check-in snag may have mostly been due to the fact that the ship was departing from Nice, correct? where I think Azamara, and even other cruise lines have limited departures. True, Azamara should have either (well) trained the staff or at least had competent supervisors near by but if they were indeed contract workers, doing a one-time task, that may explain the problems.

 

I'm glad to hear that otherwise your experience was a good one! It does seem a shame that the crew / captain may have missed the opportunity the promote their brand, esp. on this short cruise which may have been for many passengers sort of a try-it-out experience.

[nonrev1]

Andy - thank you very much for the information on Capt. Tysse. We are looking at a cruise on the Journey next May and I hope he will be on the ship when we cruise again.

You said exactly what we were thinking - it is how the captain leads the ship. We experienced fantastic leadership with Captain Carl Smith on the Quest and the crew was the same.

 

Heike was fantastic and I swear she never sleeps. She was everywhere.

 

It was still a great cruise!

 

And yes - Suec12 - it was a one-off. The contract staff was not well trained and when we arrived, there was no Azamara personnel in sight. We knew it was their first time checking people in - but it is still a poor first impression.

[SoBe2010]

Hi everyone,

 

We were on this cruise as well and I can say that check-in was smooth and easy going. Everything went well. Just our experience.

[Bill Leiber]

Hello Nonrev,

 

Thank you for sharing your observations about your 5-day cruise on the Azamara Journey in the French Riviera and your suggestions for improvement especially in how those areas compared with your Azamara Quest voyage about 3 months ago. I will share your comments about those inconsistencies with our executive team.

 

Also, thanks to the other community members for jumping in and sharing their points of view.

 

In the meantime, I’m glad you “love Azamara and had a wonderful time” and hope that we’ll have the opportunity to welcome you onboard again.

 

 

Sincerely,

 

Bill Leiber

_______________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

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

[alcpa1]

Nonrev1,

I had to read down a couple of posts before I realized Capt. Tysse was not at the helm. I just couldn't believe what I was reading. He surely didn't sleep on our cruise. Not only did he visit every table on our bar b que days he cleared the tables too!

 

The check in issues must have been frustrating, just consider, you were in France...enough said.

 

We look forward to sailing with Capt. Smith. From everything we hear he is a jewel too.

[tabatha1]

We recently returned from an 11 night trip on The Journey and had another wonderful cruise with Azamara. We have been on voyages with Captains Jason, Leif and Carl and all have been very visible, interested and attentive. On our latest trip we found Captain Jason charming and very friendly. He spent time socializing with us at the Le Club Voyage Party and he was a great ambassador for Azamara. So thank you to Capt Jason and everyone on-board for another great holiday. One of the outstanding things about Azamara for us is that no-one has made us feel quite as valued on-board as Azamara-and we have been on a lot of cruises now including luxury ships. Each of trips has had a "different feel" depending on number of ports, weather, whose on board etc and this all adds to the experience. We are now looking forward to The Fjords in August with Capt Johannes.

[nonrev1]

Thank you Bill.

We will definitely return to Azamara. We loved the cruise and are looking forward to the next.

 

 

Lauri

[California Native]

Hmm...We were on the Journey for 24 days with Captain Jason. I would say he kept a lower profile than most Captains, but he was still out and about and he hosted us to a Captains dinner and was outgoing with those of us at the table.

However the officers, mgrs. and CD were EVERYWHERE and very engaging. onboard was Alex in the Buffet (heard he was promoted), Mario, Eric de Gray, to name a few. We also had Niki Sepsas as our port and history lecturer and he was VERY engaging to everyone..Along with Dan Hodges.

Heike is one of those employees that a company should consider themselves lucky to have.

AZ Executives should do whatever it takes to keep her and to make sure no one ever makes a move to poach her.

and I would like to add to that list Guy and Liesl in Guest Relations...they are 2 of the finest that I've ever had the pleasure of sailing with!!!!

Just our 2 cents.

[General's Lady]

We recently returned from an 11 night trip on The Journey and had another wonderful cruise with Azamara. We have been on voyages with Captains Jason, Leif and Carl and all have been very visible, interested and attentive. On our latest trip we found Captain Jason charming and very friendly. He spent time socializing with us at the Le Club Voyage Party and he was a great ambassador for Azamara. So thank you to Capt Jason and everyone on-board for another great holiday. One of the outstanding things about Azamara for us is that no-one has made us feel quite as valued on-board as Azamara-and we have been on a lot of cruises now including luxury ships. Each of trips has had a "different feel" depending on number of ports, weather, whose on board etc and this all adds to the experience. We are now looking forward to The Fjords in August with Capt Johannes.

 

You are in for a real treat. We took this cruise last June when Captain Johannes first joined Azamara. He shows you his "Norway". You will love the beauty and majesty. Lucky you.

[pjpeek]

I agree that the officers onboard both Azamara ships are great. They are visible and friendly and even remember your name! It makes you feel like you're among friends and adds much to the cruise experience.

 

I cannot say enough great things about Heike. Her personality, beauty and intelligence light up a room. Her high-visibility amazes me. It seems like everywhere I go on the ship, there's Heike. She obviously cares a great deal for the guests and crew.

 

PJ