Live from Azamara Journey: Hits and Misses from its Refurb

[excitedofharpenden]

I don't believe it !!

 

What a load of chunter about a clothes line - For Gawd's sake lighten up; Its hardly a deal breaker is it; "Ooh I'm NEVER going on Azamara again 'cos there's no clothes line in the bathroom."

 

There was an early comment in this thread about the crew:

If you had just spent 2 weeks working 7 days a week to do a refit and feed 1000 contractors AND clean up ready for another cruise, you'd be tired and a bit teasy wouldn't you?

 

+1.

 

Phil

[uktog]

+2

 

Ann

[Derby Street]

+3 Can't believe it.

[Jb-lhr]

+ 4 ... shakes head!

[Grandma Cruising]

+5

 

 

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[uktog]

+ 4 ... shakes head!

 

On the TA I intend to bring a ball of rubberised string (yes they have it in the markets by the hutons if I'm brave enough to go down in Beijing.) I think at$5 a length I can fund a good few onboard extras ;)

Edited March 8, 2016 by uktog

[Lottie A]

+6. OMG! :rolleyes:

[marymar]

+7 :)

[chromered7]

I don't believe it !!

 

 

 

What a load of chunter about a clothes line - For Gawd's sake lighten up; Its hardly a deal breaker is it; "Ooh I'm NEVER going on Azamara again 'cos there's no clothes line in the bathroom."

 

 

 

There was an early comment in this thread about the crew:

 

If you had just spent 2 weeks working 7 days a week to do a refit and feed 1000 contractors AND clean up ready for another cruise, you'd be tired and a bit teasy wouldn't you?

 

 

If you work in an industry that requires that you are customer friendly/ focused/24/7 then you should be. It should be more so in difficult times, refit, because the"customer" who has paid good money and travelled a significant distance expects it. The refit fiasco on Journey put the pressure on staff but the customers are the real victims of poor planning. The compensation, in most cases, appears to adequate but greed by the owners dictated that the ship sailed when it was not finished. Even now there are still issues with some facilities on Journey weeks post refit. It was easy for RCI to take the hit with the compensation rather cancelling the first cruise post refit.

 

 

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[Spursgirl]

If you work in an industry that requires that you are customer friendly/ focused/24/7 then you should be. It should be more so in difficult times, refit, because the"customer" who has paid good money and travelled a significant distance expects it. The refit fiasco on Journey put the pressure on staff but the customers are the real victims of poor planning. The compensation, in most cases, appears to adequate but greed by the owners dictated that the ship sailed when it was not finished. Even now there are still issues with some facilities on Journey weeks post refit. It was easy for RCI to take the hit with the compensation rather cancelling the first cruise post refit.

 

 

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I find your post rather harsh. Were you on the first cruise post refit? Apologies if I am wrong but none of those who were and who have posted here described things as a fiasco although obviously there were some disappointments which have been compensated for.

 

Management have learnt some lessons as they have elongated Quest's refit by a few days in the hope that everything will be completed before passengers board.

 

Host Andy sailed on that first Journey cruise post refit and reading his Live From thread it was clear he and his family were having a wonderful time. I cannot imagine his feelings and that of many other pax if that cruise had been cancelled virtually at sailing date.

 

Most of the recent comments on this thread relate to a clothes line in the bathroom and hooks in the stateroom being no longer amenities in the cabin. I find this faintly ridiculous but if this amenity is an integral part of ones cruise choice it may be time to look elsewhere.

 

In my opinion that issue and some of the other things that were not available for passengers post refit were not a fiasco.

Edited March 9, 2016 by Spursgirl

[Riocca]

As one who was on the post refit cruise I have to agree with Spursgirl's comments, yes there were lessons to be learned but it was far from a fiasco. The compensation that we got far outweighed any problems that we encountered, in fact there were many positives that contributed to an enjoyable and memorable (for the right reasons) cruise.

We have over the years been on a number of post refit cruises with another cruise line and there have always been problems, sometimes just minor ones but occasionally major ones that have seriously impacted the cruise experience. However there reaction was always to say what do you expect and never any mention or offer of compensation, we no longer cruise with this line but for other reasons I hasten to add.

[Grandma Gilly]

I too agree with Spursgirl and having read Carol and Johns (Riocca) latest post think so even more. I have met Riocca and think they are an excellent voice. They are veterans of many cruises and would know if things were greatly amiss.

The compensation package was good. In life things happen beyond our control. Personally I would much prefer to go on a ship where things are mostly ok than have my cruise cancelled.

Gill

Edited March 9, 2016 by Grandma Gilly

[Riocca]

Hi Gill

 

Thank you for your kind words, we booked that cruise way before the refit was announced and had built a holiday around it, so with flights booked and paid for, a Princess cruise booked that we would have lost the deposit on and a hotel in SoBe booked and paid for cancellation would have been the worst scenario for us. We could no doubt have found an alternative cruise but it wouldn't have included the small out of the way ports that we specifically booked that cruise for.

If anything the cruise was better for having a few teething problems, it got people talking and not in a bad way, so in that respect was probably more sociable a cruise than normal.

Big up side for us is that with the extra 25% discount we were able to book Journey's 2018 Monaco GP cruise at a reasonable price, another big tick off the bucket list[emoji2]

[oliveau]

The refit fiasco on Journey put the pressure on staff but the customers are the real victims of poor planning. The compensation, in most cases, appears to adequate

 

 

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I rather read into your comment that you were not actually on the ship - therefore your use of the word 'Fiasco' is not appropriate. In any case any experienced traveller will expect some sort of Snafu following a refit. From what I have seen there was nothing earth shatteringly wrong and Azamara treated the pax extremely well.

[sollan]

Just a question: What was the major compensation Azamara offered on the post dry dock cruise? Was it given as an opportunity to get a lesser price for the next cruise with Azamara or was it a partial refund on the current cruise?

Edited March 9, 2016 by sollan

[margbem]

Just a question: What was the major compensation Azamara offered on the post dry dock cruise? Was it given as an opportunity to get a lesser price for the next cruise with Azamara or was it a partial refund on the current cruise?

 

 

We were given 25% off a future cruise if booked whilst on board and a further 30% refund of the cost of the post refit cruise in the form of a future cruise credit. We gladly took them up on their offer as we had no problems at all in our cabin although many people did. One couple in particular had lots of problems but just laughed it off and didn't let it spoil their cruise. They were given quite a lot of onboard credit to say sorry. Other people said they would never cruise Azamaraagain. We still had a damned good cruise with excellent food and wine and very good service from a very tired staff and crew.

[Riocca]

Just to clarify it was 25% off of any cruise booked onboard in addition to any LCV discount due, we booked three cruises in total, one was already in progress when the announcement was made and this was included.

The way it was worked was cruise price minus 25% the LCV discount was then taken off after the 25%. There appeared to be no restrictions if you wanted to book the full World Cruise I am sure that would have been OK.

Forgot to say it was fully combinable with all offers, we received the onboard booking OBC with all the cruises, a Like package with one and the early booking OBC with the others.

Edited March 9, 2016 by Riocca

[sollan]

A good gesture from Azamara to those that CAN cruise again.

 

But -if you of any reason haven't the possibiliy to cruise again - it was no compensation if I understand it right. Or did they get any kind of refund for the current cruise?

[Riocca]

A good gesture from Azamara to those that CAN cruise again.

 

 

 

But -if you of any reason haven't the possibiliy to cruise again - it was no compensation if I understand it right. Or did they get any kind of refund for the current cruise?

 

 

A good point and only those who chose not to sail again with Azamara can answer it, but as in that case they might not view this forum, one to which we might never know the answer.

However judging by the number of people at the future cruise desk, the extended hours they worked, and the fact Azamara extended the offer for 7 days post cruise I think the package was well received by most. We only spoke to one couple who said they would not be making a future booking and their reason for not wanting to book had nothing to do with any problems they may have encountered.

[chromered7]

Everyone's has an opinion except it seems on here. Unless you are endorsing AZ or praising them then you are not looked on favourably. The site is called Cruise Critic not everything is perfect all the time. Critic. AZ is a good cruise line but they cannot get it right all of the time no matter how hard they try. They learn from their mistakes like most businesses do that's why there is 3 extra days for the Quest refurb.

 

 

Let's have an honest debate .

 

 

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Edited March 9, 2016 by chromered7

[marinaro44]

Everyone's has an opinion except it seems on here. Unless you are endorsing AZ or praising them then you are not looked on favourably. The site is called Cruise Critic not everything is perfect all the time. Critic. AZ is a good cruise line but they cannot get it right all of the time no matter how hard they try. They learn from their mistakes like most businesses do that's why there is 3 extra days for the Quest refurb.

 

 

Let's have an honest debate .

 

 

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We are having an honest debate. You called the refit a"fiasco" having not experienced the aftermath. Those who were did disagreed strongly. We were on the second and third cruises after the refit, and both were excellent. Familygoboston was on the second and had a great time. Who do you think wins this "debate?" Those who were there? Or you who were not?

[chromered7]

Not everyone who has a comment about a particular cruise has to be actually on the ship. There were many comments from passengers who were on the cruise who gave an insight into how the ship was first cruise post refurb.. The fact they had issues resulted in the extra 3 days for the Quest refurb.. Just because you had a great cruise does not mean that everyone else felt the same.

 

 

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[Riocca]

Just because it's called "Cruise Critic" doesn't mean you have to criticise all the time, we can only speak as we find, I am sure there are passengers on every cruise who encounter problems we do not. If we do have a problem we always report it onboard usually in our experience it's dealt with to our satisfaction, that's an area where cruise lines usually excel. On the occasions where in our opinion the ship or cruise line have refuse to take a reported problem seriously we simply don't cruise with them again that's our prerogative.

No holiday can be 100% all the time, but if you go through life focusing on the negatives you are going to miss some great positive experiences.

Our glasses are definitely half full [emoji485][emoji485]

Edited March 10, 2016 by Riocca

[excitedofharpenden]

Not everyone who has a comment about a particular cruise has to be actually on the ship. There were many comments from passengers who were on the cruise who gave an insight into how the ship was first cruise post refurb.. The fact they had issues resulted in the extra 3 days for the Quest refurb.. Just because you had a great cruise does not mean that everyone else felt the same.

 

 

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So were you actually on Journey after the refurbishment and experienced the "fiasco"? Most of the sensible commentary here from people who were seems to have been OK with it. A friend was onboard for the first cruise and had a wonderful time. She said the worst part for her was seeing the way a small minority of her fellow guests behaved.

 

Phil

[Andy]

I don't believe it !!

 

What a load of chunter about a clothes line - For Gawd's sake lighten up; Its hardly a deal breaker is it; "Ooh I'm NEVER going on Azamara again 'cos there's no clothes line in the bathroom."

 

There was an early comment in this thread about the crew:

If you had just spent 2 weeks working 7 days a week to do a refit and feed 1000 contractors AND clean up ready for another cruise, you'd be tired and a bit teasy wouldn't you?

 

Hi Oliveau,

 

Agree with your comments. Personally, I have no interest in a clothes line debate, as it does not affect our cruise, and it's certainly not a deal breaker for us.

 

As for the officers & crew ? I'm sure they were exhausted... but as I said in my "Live From" thread, they had wonderful attitudes on the first sailing post dry-dock, and were absolutely fantastic. Frankly, I dont know how they did it, and deserve huge kudos and appreciation for their efforts.

 

Oh, and for anyone who called the cruise a "fiasco" ? From our viewpoint of 4 passengers on Journey, we couldn't disagree more. Overall, we all had a wonderful cruise, and hope to sail with Azamara in the future.

Edited March 11, 2016 by Host Andy