Buenos Aires to Rio de Janeiro

[procter]

Just to be clear at the start of this review.

I AM AN AZAMARA LOYALIST so the fact that there are some criticisms should be seen as hopefully constructive criticism.

I have been critical of H Office actions such as laundry /internet access but would go to the stake supporting the on board experience.

 

In summary for those who may not wish to read further.

Good cruise not great.

Tango evening in Buenos Aries very good.

Ship entertainment good although English female magician was a cross between Jo Brand and Tommy Cooper but good in the end..

I think some allusions may have passed the USA /Canadian audience by.

Eric is as Eric does and was good as usual.

White night party better than usual but not surprising as it was New years Eve with fantastic fireworks display (20 minutes long) from prime position in front line off Copacabana beach.

Food fair

Morale on ship appeared to be poor with little leadership shown by Captain.

Passenger mix good with no predominant group.

I was surprised to see so many Jewish people on board but maybe they want to escape Christmas as a festival although Christmas decorations were confined to 1 Christmas tree and fake snow on band area in cabaret lounge.

We were led astray by bad group in casino lounge most nights so had good time.

Now to review/comments

Flew down from Newcastle and spent pleasant 3 hours in Exec lounge with a glass or 4 of Champagne before boarding flight to Buenos Aries.

Good meal and lie flat bed made the journey faultless.

We then emerged into chaos of arrivals at BA .

Found rep eventually with one of the smallest arrivals signs I have seen for a long time.

Simple transfer to hotel and met people on bus who we had sailed with previously.

Hotel fine and had lazy day around pool.

Tried to organise taxi for next morning and knowing state of Argentinean peso offered to pay in dollars.

Evening concierge was quoting $35/40 plus tip for what appeared to be only a 10 minute journey on Google but was quite insistent we should book now through him.

We had transfers booked through hotel so did not make decision.

Next morning approached day concierge and was quoted $10 which we took.

Advised rep so that bus was not waiting for us.

We prefer taxi as it enables us to go when we want and no scrum re bus and baggage.

We had a friend who lost hand baggage case which was placed in bus hold but was removed by a thief before bus set off.

We always wait now until baggage doors are shut before one of us boards bus.

Straight on board at 11.00 to be greeted by Heike and proceeded to make our Prime C reservations.

Rather than do a blow by blow account I intend to split review into sep sections.

I am fully aware that a lot of people may not like what I write and will say I am nitpicking but how many coincidences/ failures create a trend,

All I would ask is read and consider if these were your experiences what would you think?

 

Safety.

At one port we were advised of a 30 minute tender journey so therefore a probable 1 Hour 20 turn round.

Of the first tender boats the first had an engine failure on the water.

Life happens BUT the second ran out of fuel and also had to be recovered with consequent chaos to tender times.

Far more serious was if there had actually been an emergency we would have had only half the number of boats available.

Totally unacceptable.

 

 

Comfort.

Aircon

We commented on cabin air con and despite curtains closed all day and running on maximum cooling it was practically impossible to tell difference between corridors/outside and room.

Complained for 4 days but no differences made.

Accepted it in the end even though other parts of ship were kept cool.

Toilets.

Had blockages /overflows on at least 5 days in both toilets as well as elsewhere in public toilets in deck 9.

I realise that these are probably client inflicted but not by us as we are scrupulous about items.

I can tell you that one of the worst experiences is when (as you do) you get up in the dark to go to the toilet at 3am you most definitely wake up when you enter toilet and your feet get wet.

Fortunately clean water but still a horrible moment.

I do not consider that a pot plant in dressing area is equivalent to “fresh cut flowers in suite” but probably a Larry cutback.

 

Morale on board

Having sailed at least 10 times with Azamara we look forward to returning and seeing regular staff and had even brought Christmas presents for people like Heike, Alex and other favourite waiters etc.

It appears that unlike previous times staff are now rotated between Journey and Quest and we therefore saw far fewer staff that we knew.

Missing staff included Adel restaurant manager and Dale and Victor head barmen.

It was alleged problems with visas was the reason for this but efficiency suffered because of lack of experienced staff.

We also had new F & B manager as well as executive chef Iwan.

Staff were certainly not as happy or smiling as on previous trips and officers were hardly ever seen on deck or as previous eating in the Windows Cafe.

Food

We are early risers 7.45 a.m. and were able to dine in Windows outside deck every morning.

At no time did we see the fresh orange machine working and after a few days it had disappeared completely.

On asking I was informed “Brazilian authorities do not like you to see it”

Hey, I am on Azamaras finest not one of Mr Fyffe’s boats.

Smoothies were as good as ever and made as you waited.

I was not impressed when waiting for smoothie when Captain walked in, was served before me and did not even say “Good Morning, are you enjoying your cruise?”

Maybe he thought the vote of thanks I gave at the Captains dinner in the library 2 days before was not fulsome enough.

Rest of food fine with fresh eggs made as requested but there did not appear to be as many staff to carry food to your table if required or requested. I do npt expect for myself as able bodied.

2 days running they ran out of English muffins?

It appeared they were on ration as on third day it was like Cpl Jones in Dads Army.

If you asked for them they were produced from a cloth covered basket behind the counter!!!!

It was great if you liked peach yogurt as this was the only flavoured offered.

Surely somewhere in Argentina sells other flavours.

Lunch

Not great lunchers but soups were fine although the hot dishes could surely have looked better and maybe fresher if they only used half the hot area.

Mainly ate freshly made sandwiches and it is the first time I have had an egg mayonnaise toastie as it was whipped into toaster before I could say thank you.

Also has on 3 occasions the “room service burger “which according to folk lore is made from tail end of fillets from Prime C.

In no way was it the same as on previous cruises.

On cutting into it it simply split into pieces rather like mince. Not good.

 

Burger bar at pool area

Changes here in that now instead of burgers/hot dogs being prepared as required they are cooked en masse and placed in chafing dishes for self selection.

Result is you get a Mcdonalds type bun instead of toasted bun fresh from grill also French fries are kept in same dishes resulting in cool fries.

Answer: Cook less per fry and they will be fresh and hot.

I would rather wait a minute than have cold/luke warm fries. No extra cost but customer satisfaction.

Afternoon tea

Had served in suite and I notice now only 5 prawns instead of 6 for 2 people (17 per cent saving)

I think they could do away with bits on sticks as they are rarely fresh

Whilst on subject the English tea bags are useless and I am NOT a strong teas drinker.

Dinner

Mainly ate in Prime C and again there is no doubt that the quality of steak has changed dramatically as well as general food standards.

It was obvious that they do a good job with pre prepared items i.e. soups, salads, crab cakes and desserts but the fresh items like steaks were often poor.

This may be my fault but initially ordered well done fillet steak (major mistake for Americans) but It was like shoe leather.

Next time ordered medium which was indeed pink in middle but still completely dry with no juices.

Had it sat too long under the lamps?

Moved onto halibut which was great but unbelievably they ran out of later in the cruise.

How can that happen?

They know their passenger load and it must come frozen.

Later on they also ran out of Dover sole and one night they ran out between ordering and service.

I reordered their daily special of pork steak which was great and came hot and juicy so it is possible.

Lamb was not much better and they had no mint sauce except that provided from a bottle which you shook like vinegar over your meal.

Mint jelly was so fluorescent it should be in Doctor Who.

They provide Marmite and Vegemite for us foreigners surely they could get some Colmans proper stuff?

 

Captains dinner was completely unremarkable as I cannot even remember what we had apart from a Margarita Sorbet which had melted and had to be drunk from the glass.

I remember being advised by Chef Iwan whose first Captains dinner this was that we would be served with “Lettuce emulsion “ also “potato spaghetti” .

The descriptions were better than the reality as most hot courses were warm/cold.

I did not spot the truffels although they were on the printed menu

Drinks

As previous cruisers we were aware that they normally carry 2 Rieslings which are our preferred choice.

Usually a discreet request to restaurant manager would enable us to have this from day 1.

This time was advised you could only have the 2 on offer.

After 5 days one waiter was bold or stupid enough to comment that there was a Riesling on menu in Discoveries restaurant that night so they then provided the Chilean Riesling.

It appeared that the German Diennhard one was no longer stocked although a far better quality.

The following comments are from other passengers so cannot vouch for absolute veracity but no reason to doubt them.

One couple had friends on previous cruise that raved about a particular daily wine and emailed them about it.

They asked if they could have this wine but were advised that it was not possible as it was a free daily wine and not until it was on daily list.

No problem they said “Can we pay for it?.

Answer “We cannot sell it as it is an inclusive wine.”

 

Also suite members get 4 half bottles of spirits but are not allowed to drink them other than in your room.

I understand that Azamara may not want you to drink your own shop bought alcohol but it seems bizarre that if you are sitting in a bar with the provided bottles and using Azamara mixers.

You would actually be saving them money as you would not be using their alcohol.

Unless my memory is failing I thought that pool bar served draught beer but no longer and the “International selection of beers” is Becks, Bud and Heineken

Surely with Inbev reach Azamara could take on board a limited amount of local bottled beer at each replenishment point and use as limited edition.

 

Perhaps our final room service breakfast was a useful metaphor for Azamara on board service.

Bacon good, potatoes good, muffin were no bigger than thumb/forefinger circle with an extra inch in circumference, poached eggs bigger than muffins and the weakest orange juice I have ever drunk.

Final conclusions

The peer of the realm with a party of 16 most certainly will not return and Francis a German lady we have met on 2 previous cruises who received the LCV award on ship for most cruises at 25 will not be returning either.

Disembarkation the usual shambles with 3 ships at the same time and 1 hour to check in at Windsor atlantica hotel on Copacabana beach.

We were finally dumped at airport 4 hours before departure time with checkout not due to open for another hour.

We were all flying on same flight so why was it not possible to delay departure by at least 1 hour.

 

Thanks for reading and look forward to comments.

Bonny if you wish to pursue personnally we werte in cabin 6088 and I am sure you can retrieve details etc

[Grandma Gilly]

An interesting review as we were on the sailing immediately before yours. It was my 5th time on Àzamara.

I certainly agree about the burgers and fries on deck. We would much prefer to wait for 10 minutes and have freshly cooked food. We saw Captain Jason and/or senior staff in Windows at most mealtimes.

Can't comment on breakfast as we either ate in our suite or in Discoveries.

Food in Prime C was good and nothing was off the menu.

We too had the lady comedienne/magician and I'm sure non-British folks were totally lost!!

Again, didn't notice a lack of morale but maybe I was in an alcoholic stupor.

I am a red wine drinker and had no problem getting the wine I enjoyed. One night in Prime C I was told it might be a 30 minute wait, that didn't impress me too much, but it arrived within a few minutes. Obviously trying to discourage me.

I think most cruise lines are cutting down. Let's hope these cuts don't Impact too much on our overall experience.

 

As a side, I was on a Princess ship in May with grandchildren. I have sailed with Princess a few times although some years ago. Food was almost inedible but the kids had a good time.

[BBMacLaird]

Just to be clear at the start of this review.

I AM AN AZAMARA LOYALIST so the fact that there are some criticisms should be seen as hopefully constructive criticism. ....

/QUOTE]

 

Hello Proctor, I'm truly sorry you were unhappy on the Christmas cruise. I will forward this thread to our hotel management, although I assume they've already read the end of voyage questionnaires.

We acknowledge that sometimes the pieces don't click together in a voyage. It can be caused by something simple, such as some crucial crew member(s) not making it through immigration. And it can also be the result of a human dynamic, such as sadness due to the holidays. I've seen that over my many years cruising...people (obviously guests but also ship personnel) miss their absent loved ones over the holidays. When you get the mix of big happy families traveling together and many couples or singles who've lost loved ones, it's a hard dynamic to manage. In fairness the holidays are hard on land for many as well.

Of course none of that has anything to do with provisions running low. I couldn't speculate on that; in fact I shouldn't speculate on any of the factors having not been there. I'm just giving a bit of insights I've had.

In closing please accept our apologies. As said, I'll pass your comments along. And I hope you'll sail with Azamara again in the future.

Sincerely,

Bonnie

 

P.s. On a lighter note, your comment that Larry had put a 'pot plant' in your room took me by surprise! Here in California (where I'm based) there's a huge difference between 'potted plant' and 'pot plant'!

[Sanatee]

We also were on the cruise just prior (TA from Malaga to Rio). We ate in Prime C and Aqualina most nights. Food was generally good, especially in Prime C. But we also ran out of halibut and the bone-in ribeye steak in Prime C. The French Chef's Table was very good; not so for the California dinner. The steak was badly overcooked (even after returning the first one) and tasteless (we did report that to Guest Relations). We really liked the lighter lunches in Discoveries. Indian buffet (or as Eric quipped, true English food) was excellent as usual. Pool grill not as good as previous cruises.

 

Heike and Eric were super as usual. Entertainment was excellent...especially Eric's productions and the flutist. I even got most of the magician's humor!

 

Didn't notice any morale issues, but think cruises with Johannes and Carl were a little more friendly.

[themoon]

Thank you for your review. We had some of the same issues on our last cruise. I found it especially funny when your mentioned having to ask for certain foods that were then produced from under a napkin, or in our case from under the counter. Food quality on our cruise was also lacking. I'm sorry to hear that getting a preferred included wine on a different night is now becoming an issue, I have always appreciated the fact that in the past the waiters and bartenders would happily supply the wine on any night. We also did not feel the that the staff clicked in the usual manner, but in our case Heike, Eric, and the captain were on holiday. Though the replacements are not on board nearly as long, captain Jason had his family on board for the first half of the cruise keeping him busy, and seemed to be missing them for the second half. Ryzard was fine. Tony had two college age nieces on board for the whole two weeks, so he was always occupied elsewhere and rarely seen. Though I find it commendable of Azamara to let officer's family members travel with them, it might be a little depressing for the regular staff that never receive such a privilege to observe, and it can become a detriment to the passengers traveling during these family visits as in our experience they are a definite distraction. In your case the Christmas holidays and Brazilian visas seemed to be causing the disconnect. We have booked again and hope our next experience will not leave us regretting our decision.

[oddjob16]

Thanks, Procter, for a descriptive review and what would be our biggest fear for our upcoming cruise in May.

First of all:

Captain: There should not be any difference who is the driver. However there seems to be some, and the Master of the Wessel should be keeping the organization in "ship-shape" no matter what. Your troubles with the tenders is unheard of and should be reported to a safety organization. I work within Air Traffic Control and any discrepancy is reported,- even if it is your own fault. Safety is first.

Food and beverage.

Well this would not have happened if Jonathan was on board. The F&B manager on your cruise must have had a bad watch.

If they have cancelled the draught Becks from the included package they might as well stop serving beer. The rest is undrinkable.

Other problems: Aircon, steaks, halibuts and burgers: as it seems: Everything is slipping slowly and certain this line is getting more and more like the cheap ones and cannot call themselves "club cruises" for any reason.

We are sailing with Jason in May and for Gods sake I hope Jonathan will be on as F&B manager. IMHO that might be the most important person on any ship. I don't care about the Captain, as long as it is a safe and reliable one - but it sure doesn't sound safe with any ship that doesn't have enough fuel in their lifeboats.:eek:

[excitedofharpenden]

Jonathan is no longer with Azamara. As I understand it his contract was terminated.

 

Phil

[oddjob16]

Jonathan is no longer with Azamara. As I understand it his contract was terminated.

 

Phil

Sad. I liked him. Hope he has moved to a satisfying job, be it on land or the seven seas:)

[Wacktle]

Burger bar at pool area; Changes here in that now instead of burgers/hot dogs being prepared as required they are cooked en masse and placed in chafing dishes for self selection. Result is you get a Mcdonalds type bun instead of toasted bun fresh from grill also French fries are kept in same dishes resulting in cool fries.

Answer: Cook less per fry and they will be fresh and hot.

I would rather wait a minute than have cold/luke warm fries. No extra cost but customer satisfaction.

 

Thanks for your comprehensive review.

 

It was the "burger bar" part that upset me most (aside from the lifeboat issue). Having them cooked to order is one of the plusses for me. My initial reaction is that there must be more waste if batches are pre-cooked? Or are the left-overs dished up to the crew?

 

We've recommended Azamara to friends, so I sincerely hope that the line doesn't deteriorate, or that our friends disregard our suggestion to cruise with us next year.

[mare s.]

Thanks for your comprehensive review.

 

It was the "burger bar" part that upset me most (aside from the lifeboat issue). Having them cooked to order is one of the plusses for me. My initial reaction is that there must be more waste if batches are pre-cooked? Or are the left-overs dished up to the crew?

 

We've recommended Azamara to friends, so I sincerely hope that the line doesn't deteriorate, or that our friends disregard our suggestion to cruise with us next year.

 

Me too. I did notice that last year there were burgers in chafing dishers but we still could order fresh from the grill (and did) I would hate to think that would no longer be possible.

[TxnAquarian]

Wow, we were on the cruise prior to this one and we thought it was fabulous! It seems as if this person might have been looking for things to pick apart. Granted, it was our first AZ cruise and can't compare it to how AZ might have been in the past, but we can compare it to Crystal and prefer AZ. We found the service to be top-notch and food was overall great. The only two points I can agree on are that, yes, the captain wasn't the most personable guy - but we're not there to hang out with him. Also, the burgers were pre-cooked, but they were happy to make ours to order.

 

We have two more cruises booked on the Journey, so obviously we were very happy customers. Food, service, ship and atmosphere were lovely !

 

Michael

[excitedofharpenden]

Thanks for your comprehensive review.

 

It was the "burger bar" part that upset me most (aside from the lifeboat issue). Having them cooked to order is one of the plusses for me. My initial reaction is that there must be more waste if batches are pre-cooked? Or are the left-overs dished up to the crew?

 

We've recommended Azamara to friends, so I sincerely hope that the line doesn't deteriorate, or that our friends disregard our suggestion to cruise with us next year.

 

As mare s. suggests you can still order a fresh burger. Just go to the counter and ask and they'll oblige if you say you really like the fresh ones. I would also mention that it is not all of the time they have the dishes, just the peak times. More often than not it's as it has always been. At least that was my experience over the past few cruises.

 

Phil

[mare s.]

As mare s. suggests you can still order a fresh burger. Just go to the counter and ask and they'll oblige if you say you really like the fresh ones. I would also mention that it is not all of the time they have the dishes, just the peak times. More often than not it's as it has always been. At least that was my experience over the past few cruises.

 

Phil

 

*sigh of relief* DH loves the burgers...I found a new favorite...the blackened fish sandwich!

[Texed]

We were on the same cruise. This was our third cruise on Azamara. Overall, we were very satisfied. :)

[workingtocruise-59]

Jonathan is no longer with Azamara. As I understand it his contract was terminated.

 

Phil

 

We're hoping that Tomasz is still around. We've promised him a tonic water taste challenge ....

And Paul was, we thought, excellent as F & B manager.

[excitedofharpenden]

We were on the same cruise. This was our third cruise on Azamara. Overall, we were very satisfied. :)

Ed, the only question I have for you is "waffles?".:)

 

Phil

[excitedofharpenden]

We're hoping that Tomasz is still around. We've promised him a tonic water taste challenge ....

And Paul was, we thought, excellent as F & B manager.

I think Exec Chef Fabio D'Agosta would make an *excellent* F & B Manager. Knowledge as well as having the respect of the team. The only trouble is we would lose him in the kitchens!

 

Phil

Edited January 13, 2015 by excitedofharpenden

[workingtocruise-59]

I think Exec Chef Fabio D'Agosta would make an *excellent* F & B Manager. Knowledge as well as having the respect of the team. The only trouble is we would lose him in the kitchens!

 

Phil

 

I concur. Fabio would be excellent. But would he want to abandon his kitchens ?

Edited January 13, 2015 by workingtocruise-59

[Texed]

Ed, the only question I have for you is "waffles?".:) Phil

 

Celebrity's are quite a bit better. ;)

[travelberlin]

We were also on this cruise. Overall we did not find the entertainment our piece of cake. We have mostly liked the food at the discoveries restaurant. Lunch food offerings were rather dissappointing specially the fish, which was mostly dry.

Although we were satisfied with the food at Prime C and Aqualina we found the Chefs Table absolutely low standards comparing to other Chefs Tables within the Royal Caribbean family. We choose the french menue and neither the food nor the pairing wines were the memorable experience that they were suppossed to be. Particularly bad was the french riesling, which no one on our table managed to drink. The place were the Chefs table takes place is also not very cozy.

 

We have enjoyed other things, for example the itinerary and the friendliness of the crew and most officers. We have not noticed any low moral on any of the personal on board. We have also liked the relaxed atmosphere on board.

Overall we had a good cruise and we would not hesitate to sail on board the Azamara Journey again. We certainly hope that the tender problems you mentioned do not happen again. Altough we could agree or disagree on terms of food and entertainment, to have tender boats not functioning or running out of fuel is a safety issue. This is of concern.

[Trend]

Sorry your cruise was a disappointment Proctor,but I am confused about your remark about how many Jewish people were on board. Not sure how this impacts on your cruise?

[ellbon]

I was on the ship in August and Jsson was captain. He does not hang out like other captains but his wit is there.

 

Plus I thought this cruise has Heike. She is great..

[shamansue]

We also were on the cruise just prior (TA from Malaga to Rio). We ate in Prime C and Aqualina most nights. Food was generally good, especially in Prime C. But we also ran out of halibut and the bone-in ribeye steak in Prime C. The French Chef's Table was very good; not so for the California dinner. The steak was badly overcooked (even after returning the first one) and tasteless (we did report that to Guest Relations). We really liked the lighter lunches in Discoveries. Indian buffet (or as Eric quipped, true English food) was excellent as usual. Pool grill not as good as previous cruises.

 

Heike and Eric were super as usual. Entertainment was excellent...especially Eric's productions and the flutist. I even got most of the magician's humor!

 

Didn't notice any morale issues, but think cruises with Johannes and Carl were a little more friendly.

 

I was on the cruise prior to yours & have to say the entertainment was without doubt,almost non existent.

Can only agree with everything Proctor has written!