New IT system imminent.

[Riocca]

The transition to Azamara’s new IT system is starting, could be an interesting few months ahead.

 

https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2022/12/azamara-launches-new-azamara-alliance-program/

[uktog]

Much needed.

 

Onboard staff can’t cope with the new IT for meal ordering so hope it improves all round. 
But I fear the technology is bumping the old fashioned service standards onboard 
On Onward drinks ordering is so impersonal gone are the days you show them your card once and they remember you. Three times in the last 90

minutes sitting on the same lounger we’ve had to give our room number to the same guy for San Pellegrino. There are a few disengaged staff like that onboard now who hide behind the technology 

 

 

Edited December 10, 2022 by uktog

[Riocca]

20 minutes ago, uktog said:

Much needed.

 

Onboard staff can’t cope with the new IT for meal ordering so hope it improves all round. 
But I fear the technology is bumping the old fashioned service standards onboard 
On Onward drinks ordering is so impersonal gone are the days you show them your card once and they remember you. Three times in the last 90

minutes sitting on the same lounger we’ve had to give our room number to the same guy for San Pellegrino. There are a few disengaged staff like that onboard now who hide behind the technology 

 

 

No problems like that when we were onboard at the beginning of November most staff were remembering room numbers after the first few days, I know that a number of staff were being changed because of US visa issues so that might be behind the problem.

Have they changed the restaurant servers pda’s? A lot of staff were struggling with the small screens and they were going to be changing to larger iPad style ones.

[uktog]

1 minute ago, Riocca said:

No problems like that when we were onboard at the beginning of November most staff were remembering room numbers after the first few days, I know that a number of staff were being changed because of US visa issues so that might be behind the problem.

Have they changed the restaurant servers pda’s? A lot of staff were struggling with the small screens and they were going to be changing to larger iPad style ones.

Restaurant still has the small ones for some servers and larger for others. I don’t think the size of the device would be the excuse as to why after asking us if anyone had allergies and appearing to record it on the device a meal containing nuts was delivered. Surely the waiter can use their eyes. This incident is being investigated as it wasn’t correctly reported to senior officers 
 

I’m glad your trip worked for you. We’ve tried oh so much to like Onward and yea we keep hearing about visas and stuff in containers but that  has worn thin for what we paid. 
 

Thank goodness the islands and entertainment were good. There are many from HO onboard going through the place like a dose of salts and finding things to sort so hopefully the up coming cruises are much better 

[Riocca]

20 minutes ago, uktog said:

Restaurant still has the small ones for some servers and larger for others. I don’t think the size of the device would be the excuse as to why after asking us if anyone had allergies and appearing to record it on the device a meal containing nuts was delivered. Surely the waiter can use their eyes. This incident is being investigated as it wasn’t correctly reported to senior officers 
 

I’m glad your trip worked for you. We’ve tried oh so much to like Onward and yea we keep hearing about visas and stuff in containers but that  has worn thin for what we paid. 
 

Thank goodness the islands and entertainment were good. There are many from HO onboard going through the place like a dose of salts and finding things to sort so hopefully the up coming cruises are much better 

 

20 minutes ago, uktog said:

Restaurant still has the small ones for some servers and larger for others. I don’t think the size of the device would be the excuse as to why after asking us if anyone had allergies and appearing to record it on the device a meal containing nuts was delivered. Surely the waiter can use their eyes. This incident is being investigated as it wasn’t correctly reported to senior officers 
 

I’m glad your trip worked for you. We’ve tried oh so much to like Onward and yea we keep hearing about visas and stuff in containers but that  has worn thin for what we paid. 
 

Thank goodness the islands and entertainment were good. There are many from HO onboard going through the place like a dose of salts and finding things to sort so hopefully the up coming cruises are much better 

Going to be interesting how the staff on the other ships deal with the introduction of the new system over the next few months, we were told that most of the technical problems have been resolved but it’s the human element that’s hardest to predict.

On Onwards maiden staff were initially using pen and paper then transferred the information to their device. That obviously took time but with only about 400 pax onboard it wasn’t too much of a problem however now ships are sailing almost full it probably would be.

[lisiamc]

We are back onboard Onward for Christmas and New Year, and a much fuller ship this time, so it will be interesting to see how things have changed. We had no problems on the TA with MDR orders, and only had to give cabin number to bartenders we hadn’t met before, but there were 228 passengers and 400+ crew, so obviously it will be more challenging for crew this time.

[Grandma Cruising]

2 hours ago, uktog said:

Much needed.

 

Onboard staff can’t cope with the new IT for meal ordering so hope it improves all round. 
But I fear the technology is bumping the old fashioned service standards onboard 
On Onward drinks ordering is so impersonal gone are the days you show them your card once and they remember you. Three times in the last 90

minutes sitting on the same lounger we’ve had to give our room number to the same guy for San Pellegrino. There are a few disengaged staff like that onboard now who hide behind the technology 

 

 

I wonder if they have been told they have to check room numbers for drinks packages. On Quest in October/November they checkevevery time, even staff who knew us very well.

[Riocca]

13 minutes ago, Grandma Cruising said:

I wonder if they have been told they have to check room numbers for drinks packages. On Quest in October/November they checkevevery time, even staff who knew us very well.

New system runs on cabin numbers, when they take a bar order for a non included drink they ask for your cabin number your picture comes up on their device and whether you have a drink package or not. A lot of the staff were very good at remembering names and cabin numbers, but I take Ann’s point that if they don’t have that skill you can continually be asked for your cabin number.

In our regular haunts we were usually greeted by name and served without needing to give our cabin number, although that probably says more about us and our drinking habits 😊

[kool kruiser]

Having been on Onward twice, I believe that the efficient use oi the new systems by bar and dining room staff really depends on the skill of individual staff. Maybe we were fortunate, but we had no issues at all with any of our orders throughout our cruises. Incidentally, we are Crystal refugees and the hand-held devices were used by that line really efficiently, perhaps due to their relatively low staff churn. I am sure any problems will diminish once staff are more familiar with the processes.

[Riocca]

1 minute ago, kool kruiser said:

Having been on Onward twice, I believe that the efficient use oi the new systems by bar and dining room staff really depends on the skill of individual staff. Maybe we were fortunate, but we had no issues at all with any of our orders throughout our cruises. Incidentally, we are Crystal refugees and the hand-held devices were used by that line really efficiently, perhaps due to their relatively low staff churn. I am sure any problems will diminish once staff are more familiar with the processes.

The system and software is produced by the same company and I’m sure you’re right it’s a matter of familiarity. 
Because the new system is being used by a number of cruise lines potentially some of the new staff will already be familiar with it whilst the old staff who have been working with the old RC Micross system for the past 15 years at least might struggle a bit.

[aussie travel bird]

It will be great to experience the new IT System on the Pursuit in January and February.  I'm spending my last working week before retirement from IT and my experience says 'Believe it when I see it'.  I'm not overly confident but I sure hope I'm wrong.

[aussie travel bird]

On 12/11/2022 at 3:15 AM, Riocca said:

The transition to Azamara’s new IT system is starting, could be an interesting few months ahead.

 

https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2022/12/azamara-launches-new-azamara-alliance-program/

Doesn't mention the onboard updated WiFi experience, it will be interesting. Hope you're well! Jenny

[lisiamc]

1 hour ago, aussie travel bird said:

Doesn't mention the onboard updated WiFi experience, it will be interesting. Hope you're well! Jenny

I am hoping it will be Onward’s turn soon. I had a series of Speedtest ratings, and I never did achieve one whole Mbps. There were many days when there was no internet at all. I know a transatlantic is not the best cruise for having great internet. I look forward to seeing the same upgrade that’s being rolled out for the other ships. (First column is download speed, second column is upload for those not familiar with Speedtest.)

 

Edited December 11, 2022 by lisiamc

[uktog]

It’s no better in the Caribbean that’s approximately what I’ve had all trip 

[Benthayer Gonbak]

Affer a few days the host to the main dining room always knew our room number. It’s been 2 weeks and much of the staff was calling us by our names at worst 3 days in.. it doesn’t much matter to me it just seems “different” to not bercognized when one of the sitters even remembered us from a Baltic sea trip about 5 years ago.    

[john1970]

Does that mean they will change the TV system so you can look up your bill online and order food etc.

[Riocca]

4 minutes ago, john1970 said:

Does that mean they will change the TV system so you can look up your bill online and order food etc.

Onwards TV system allows you to look at your onboard account in real time, only delay was bringing in any OBC from shoreside which was done as usual overnight on the first night.

Sorry didn’t look at the possibility of ordering from the room service menu.

[Benthayer Gonbak]

On 12/14/2022 at 12:24 PM, Riocca said:

Onwards TV system allows you to look at your onboard account in real time, only delay was bringing in any OBC from shoreside which was done as usual overnight on the first night.

Sorry didn’t look at the possibility of ordering from the room service menu.

We have access to our account on the TV system too.  I haven’t checked for room service ordering on there though. 

[Snow day]

Has anyone tried to do a booking with the new system. After multiple attempts does not seem to be anyway to see available rooms in any category. Once you choose a room category goes straight to guest info. Am I missing something?

[Grandma Cruising]

3 hours ago, Snow day said:

Has anyone tried to do a booking with the new system. After multiple attempts does not seem to be anyway to see available rooms in any category. Once you choose a room category goes straight to guest info. Am I missing something?

Just tried both using Book Now and View Details on the UK site. No problem, went through the cabin list as usual so you coul see what spare cabins there are.

[Chot50s]

The original article seems to be about the systems travel professionals use, not the systems guests use. I assure the latter will be introduced in February 2023 when the reciprocal program with Royal Caribbean and Celebrity end.

Edited December 18, 2022 by Chot50s

[Chot50s]

11 hours ago, Snow day said:

Has anyone tried to do a booking with the new system. After multiple attempts does not seem to be anyway to see available rooms in any category. Once you choose a room category goes straight to guest info. Am I missing something?

I’m relatively new to the Azamara website (I only booked my first voyage with them in mid-September). However, as far as I can tell, they have not changed their booking system yet. Everything still looks the same from the US and has not been updated.

[Benthayer Gonbak]

Today on the Journey, in a Q&A with senior staff we were told the Jan 15 would be when IT would be onboard to install Starlink.  Apparently that will include a 24 hour downtime for the final switching.  The question was then Raised about the Quest which we were told would be last☹️ To be upgraded. 

[Riocca]

20 minutes ago, Benthayer Gonbak said:

Today on the Journey, in a Q&A with senior staff we were told the Jan 15 would be when IT would be onboard to install Starlink.  Apparently that will include a 24 hour downtime for the final switching.  The question was then Raised about the Quest which we were told would be last☹️ To be upgraded. 

Quite surprised Azamara haven’t made more of having Starlink installed on the ships, maybe they’re waiting until it’s all up and running.  However just knowing it’s going to happen would possibly answer some of the recent criticisms.

[Benthayer Gonbak]

3 hours ago, Riocca said:

Quite surprised Azamara haven’t made more of having Starlink installed on the ships, maybe they’re waiting until it’s all up and running.  However just knowing it’s going to happen would possibly answer some of the recent criticisms.

 

Apparently there is a deal with Royal Caribbean to handle the IT.  No idea what all that contract is but it’s nice to know things are happening.