Captain Johannes to Viking Venus??

[excitedofharpenden]

There are evidently people who hate Azamara. They never stop here and have been warned about it. 

 

And personally speaking, running Azamara under the same leadership as Celebrity is what has been going wrong with the marque for some time. The current health situation just makes this worse I'm afraid and has me worried. Especially now that Larry Pimentel has gone. 

 

Phil 

[MakingUpForLostTime]

8 hours ago, excitedofharpenden said:

There are evidently people who hate Azamara. They never stop here and have been warned about it. 

 

And personally speaking, running Azamara under the same leadership as Celebrity is what has been going wrong with the marque for some time. The current health situation just makes this worse I'm afraid and has me worried. Especially now that Larry Pimentel has gone. 

 

Phil 

I have never seen anyone on the Azamara threads use the word hate. I believe pointing out facts that support a point of view should create interesting conversation. To mentioned that something has been going wrong with a marque under a Cruise line is a negative comment in itself and should be against CC policy. Should it not? Hate is such a strong word.

 

I love Azamara. I however dislike very much how a parent company has treated its loyal customers. I do not know how you regain the level of support you once had. It seems lost forever. That to me is the nail in the coffin. Not hateful.

[excitedofharpenden]

28 minutes ago, MakingUpForLostTime said:

I have never seen anyone on the Azamara threads use the word hate. I believe pointing out facts that support a point of view should create interesting conversation. To mentioned that something has been going wrong with a marque under a Cruise line is a negative comment in itself and should be against CC policy. Should it not? Hate is such a strong word.

 

I love Azamara. I however dislike very much how a parent company has treated its loyal customers. I do not know how you regain the level of support you once had. It seems lost forever. That to me is the nail in the coffin. Not hateful.

Ok. Point taken. Hate is a very strong word and I try to avoid it in real life. Apologies for linking you with it. 

 

Phil 

 

[Jimmycruiser]

Recent posts have gotten off topic. I was hoping to learn more about captain Johannes and not more gripes about Azamara. I can tell you from first hand experience that Azamara refunded me in less than 30 days for a cruise I cancelled so no complaints with AZ. Crystal and Seabourn are going on 90 plus days with no refund or communication. When you are in survival mode With your nose just above water, you do what you have to do to survive even if you recognize you will loose customers because of it. The execs are well aware of the dissatisfaction but are in a catch 22 and are having to make very difficult decisions in a no win situation that nobody could have predicted.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Sorry that this thread hasn't gone the way you wanted.  I suspect that the reason there hasn't been any more information about Captain Johannes is that nobody here knows any more about his future plans than was shared in post #1.

[laurieb]

On 6/15/2020 at 1:05 PM, oddjob16 said:

All things considered I think it would be premature to rule out any outcome when we return to normality. With Larry gone and the bean counters having their way with Azamara, who knows what Azamara is in a year from now. As long as Larry is not replaced "properly" I tend to get more worried

😳

[Lottie A]

The first ship’s casualties have arrived. It’s Carnival but it can only be the beginning.  
 

https://cruisemarsh.wordpress.com/2020/06/18/carnival-corporation-have-principle-agreements-for-disposal-of-6-ships/

[nordski]

1 hour ago, Lottie A said:

The first ship’s casualties have arrived. It’s Carnival but it can only be the beginning.  
 

https://cruisemarsh.wordpress.com/2020/06/18/carnival-corporation-have-principle-agreements-for-disposal-of-6-ships/

Thanks for the link.

 

It would be interesting if, eventually, there are details about the number of jobs lost. Very sad for those affected.

[Grandma Cruising]

2 hours ago, Lottie A said:

The first ship’s casualties have arrived. It’s Carnival but it can only be the beginning.  
 

https://cruisemarsh.wordpress.com/2020/06/18/carnival-corporation-have-principle-agreements-for-disposal-of-6-ships/

I wonder who’s likely to buy them - China? - or will they just be mothballed, or go for scrap!

[tgg]

1 hour ago, Grandma Cruising said:

I wonder who’s likely to buy them - China? - or will they just be mothballed, or go for scrap!

 

My guess is that they will be scrapped.  

[excitedofharpenden]

I think so too. 

 

Phil 

[uktog]

I read that one of the redundant shipyards in Scotland was developing infrastructure as cruiseship decommissioning was likely to be a lucrative market in the future and this was before covid.  I remember as a child watching the Mauretania being broken up in Wards Shipyard at Inverkeithing - it was ironic because it was the same time as the QE2 was being built at the other side of the country,

[excitedofharpenden]

I remember seeing the SS Norway end up in Alang India after many plans to save her failed and the usual chopping off of the nose as the start of scrapping.   Always sad to see any ship face demise, but all part of the circle of life I guess.

 

Phil

[hubofhockey]

11 hours ago, Lottie A said:

The first ship’s casualties have arrived. It’s Carnival but it can only be the beginning.  
 

https://cruisemarsh.wordpress.com/2020/06/18/carnival-corporation-have-principle-agreements-for-disposal-of-6-ships/

 

In that article, Carnival says there is more to come.  It was only a matter of time.  The industry kept adding more and more ships and disposals were few and far between.  Royal Caribbean has some older ships that could could be scrapped, but Celebrity and Azamara really don't.  The Silver Galapagos is now retired.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Royal and Silversea have several ships built before 2000.  Celebrity and Azamara only go back to 2000, and have had a lot of upgrade work recently [2 of Celebrity M class finished, the other two scheduled but postponed because of the shutdowns]

 

I can see Royal retiring their six oldest ships [Empress (1990), Majesty (1992), Grandeur (1996), Rhapsody (1997), Enchantment (1997), Vision (1998) – the best could go to Pullmantur to replace their even older fleet, then everybody off to the breakers]

 

Silver Cloud (1994) and Silver Wind (1995) are being turned into expedition ships, where they will either supplement or replace Silver Explorer (1989 and much smaller than everything else in their fleet) [Silver Discoverer (1989) was sold to CroisiEurope; and Silver Galapagos (1990) seems likely to be sold (IMO) since it can no longer sail in the Galapagos – but as the original Renaissance III it will probably find a buyer (maybe Noble Caledonia, which already owns three of these yachts and is quite devoted to that class)]

[for those unfamiliar with the very early history of Renaissance Cruises, have a look here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance_Cruises]

 

But Celebrity seems committed to the M Class, and Azamara to the R class.  Those seven ships seem to have lots of value left, and I don't see any likely buyers [unless, say, Windstar wanted to take over Azamara: similar itinerary focus, similar upper-premium position].  So most likely a holding action at X and Azamara.

[Lottie A]

The Spanish government have just banned ALL cruise ships from their ports for an indefinable time.

 

Rightly or wrongly, the cruise industry seems to be taking the hit for Covid-19. CMV (small British based cruise line) have started urgently seeking a loan. Barclays have already denied them. 
Carnival is seeking to dispose of 6 ships.

 
It seems that anyone who has a “weakest link“ will be vulnerable in these desperate times.  

[snowglobe]

Are Azamara’s crew members and officers caught up in the same way as other Royal Caribbean International’s employees that are at risk with their earnings tied up in Wirecard?

 

With the announcement of the loss of a quarter of Wirecard’s assets to fraud, and its now likely demise, this could also shake up these employees’ trust in the parent company - and make rehires difficult for their experienced assets across the brands.

[excitedofharpenden]

11 hours ago, snowglobe said:

Are Azamara’s crew members and officers caught up in the same way as other Royal Caribbean International’s employees that are at risk with their earnings tied up in Wirecard?

 

With the announcement of the loss of a quarter of Wirecard’s assets to fraud, and its now likely demise, this could also shake up these employees’ trust in the parent company - and make rehires difficult for their experienced assets across the brands.

I don't understand what you are saying?

 

Phil 

[snowglobe]

2 hours ago, excitedofharpenden said:

I don't understand what you are saying?

 

Phil 

German-based Wirecard is not only a payment processor, but it also holds RCCL crew wages. Does RCI use Wirecard for Azamara crew and officers as well? Over a quarter of Wirecard’s assets are missing, and allegations of a cover-up and dodgy books have been going back to over a year ago. In 2018, RCI employees also fell victims to fraud due to a Wirecard hack fraud. Wirecard will likely sink (pardon the pun.)
 

Employees need to trust that they will be paid and that their earnings are safe.

Edited June 20, 2020 by snowglobe

[CA Oceanfront]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-wirecard-investigation-breakingviews/breakingviews-wirecard-scandal-turns-into-an-existential-crisis-idUSKBN23P24Q

[excitedofharpenden]

On 6/20/2020 at 4:38 PM, CA Oceanfront said:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-wirecard-investigation-breakingviews/breakingviews-wirecard-scandal-turns-into-an-existential-crisis-idUSKBN23P24Q

This is a link to a news story. There is nothing I've seen to suggest Azamara have any involvement.  Do you know anything?

 

Phil 

Edited June 21, 2020 by excitedofharpenden

[CA Oceanfront]

Phil, just a follow up on snowglobe’s post. No implication intended that Azamara has or had any involvement.

 

Marty

Edited June 21, 2020 by CA Oceanfront

[cruzluvers]

On 6/18/2020 at 4:03 PM, excitedofharpenden said:

I remember seeing the SS Norway end up in Alang India after many plans to save her failed and the usual chopping off of the nose as the start of scrapping.   Always sad to see any ship face demise, but all part of the circle of life I guess.

 

Phil

We loved the SS Norway and were planning a second cruise on her when her demise took place. Such a sad ending for a  beautiful ship.  

[donaldsc]

On 6/18/2020 at 12:30 PM, tgg said:

 

My guess is that they will be scrapped.  

 

The first of the disposed ships is being scrapped.

 

DON

[suzyluvs2cruise]

As an update to the article below Pullmantur ships will be scrapped. This statement concerns me "Royal Caribbean is also offering cruise credits for Pullmantur cancellations, which they can use in both cruiselines, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity. 

Azamara isn't mentioned and is part of the RCI family. Hope I'm not reading something into this that isn't there. 

 

Pullmantur Ships Returned to Royal Caribbean