Azamara seem to be scaling back Azamazing Evenings

[malcliz]

I wonder if that’s why we have just received a survey which included our opinion on Azamazing evenings?

[takemewithyou]

On 2/16/2024 at 4:22 PM, malcliz said:

I wonder if that’s why we have just received a survey which included our opinion on Azamazing evenings?

We also received that survey.  It certainly does ask a lot of questions about how much we value the Azamazing Evening.  It almost seemed like the response that they wanted to receive was that loyal cruisers don’t value  it very much so they could do away with it.

Edited February 18 by takemewithyou

[DS]

              We have been on more than 30 Azamara cruises and have had the opportunity to attend many “Azamazing Evenings.”  Some have been fantastic and fascinating, some, not so much…   I’ve found that the good ones contain three ingredients. 

 

       The first is the Destination. We have had classical and historical opera houses and concert halls, 12^th century churches, natural sites like Wadi Rum.   We have also had a pier side, folding chairs set up, with a minimal stage so only the first three rows could see the magician (comment: not so good…).  Once, a court yard between two building of a shopping center…yuck.  In short, the Destination is important.

 

       The second is the involvement of the passengers – US!  The best ones have had something special for us, either activities or food or something.  We’ve had great “fair like” experiences of local activities, and others that merge with the performance (see Wadi Rum).  We’ve had many that provide local food, etc. (including the bad location of the shopping center…).  If that something is “dinner in the main dining room before/after the performance,” well…not a positive grade. Neither does a “whatever-area-buffet” in Windows or on deck.

 

       The third is the actual performance.  It should be over and above what is normally available.  In many ports Azamara brings on “local entertainment,” often of a folkloric nature—local songs and/or dances.   That is good and appreciated—but it is not “azamazing.”  The Azamazing Evening performance should be something that cannot be accomplished any old night in the Cabaret Theater—it should be something Azamazing.

 

        So… I really appreciate traditional “Azamazing Evenings” (even though we may not attend every one for any of a variety of reasons).  “Destination Celebrations,” a wholly acceptable product of the pandemic, is not a substitute for “real’ Azamazing Evenings.”  These, and “Onboard Azamazing Evenings” tend to violate all three of our essential characteristics.

[debcip]

On 2/14/2024 at 3:24 PM, Wander58 said:

I 100% disagree!  Going to the small Greek Theater in Ephesus was fantastic!  When would you ever get to do that?  They had cushions on the stone seats that made it very comfortable.  The acoustics and concert in that outstanding venue was something we'll never forget...and we definitely felt it was Amazing Evening.  The only negative was the weird Turkish wine that was really bad.

We did this in ‘18 and loved the experience as well— but for some reason they were not permitted to serve food or drink at the event-that was a little disappointing as a a glass of wine would have been lovely! I found it to be a very special night!

[excitedofharpenden]

7 hours ago, DS said:

              We have been on more than 30 Azamara cruises and have had the opportunity to attend many “Azamazing Evenings.”  Some have been fantastic and fascinating, some, not so much…   I’ve found that the good ones contain three ingredients. 

 

       The first is the Destination. We have had classical and historical opera houses and concert halls, 12^th century churches, natural sites like Wadi Rum.   We have also had a pier side, folding chairs set up, with a minimal stage so only the first three rows could see the magician (comment: not so good…).  Once, a court yard between two building of a shopping center…yuck.  In short, the Destination is important.

 

       The second is the involvement of the passengers – US!  The best ones have had something special for us, either activities or food or something.  We’ve had great “fair like” experiences of local activities, and others that merge with the performance (see Wadi Rum).  We’ve had many that provide local food, etc. (including the bad location of the shopping center…).  If that something is “dinner in the main dining room before/after the performance,” well…not a positive grade. Neither does a “whatever-area-buffet” in Windows or on deck.

 

       The third is the actual performance.  It should be over and above what is normally available.  In many ports Azamara brings on “local entertainment,” often of a folkloric nature—local songs and/or dances.   That is good and appreciated—but it is not “azamazing.”  The Azamazing Evening performance should be something that cannot be accomplished any old night in the Cabaret Theater—it should be something Azamazing.

 

        So… I really appreciate traditional “Azamazing Evenings” (even though we may not attend every one for any of a variety of reasons).  “Destination Celebrations,” a wholly acceptable product of the pandemic, is not a substitute for “real’ Azamazing Evenings.”  These, and “Onboard Azamazing Evenings” tend to violate all three of our essential characteristics.

Totally agree with all of this. Couldn't have said it better. 

 

Phil 

[jcruizer]

We just did our first Azamara cruise to Egypt Oct'23 with an Azamazing evening in Jorden. We were blown away that a cruise line would do such a great event. Was it perfect? No, but it made us book again. It was this bonus that made Azamara stand out for us and we loved it. We have Italy Intensive coming up in Oct and its changed from Opera at the Fort (which would have been fabulous) to onboard. Not my fav. music even though I have been to lots of them, but the setting, OMG would have been great. So now we may not go.

 

It becomes like other ships where they bring entertainers on... no difference...

[Grandma Cruising]

7 hours ago, jcruizer said:

We just did our first Azamara cruise to Egypt Oct'23 with an Azamazing evening in Jorden. We were blown away that a cruise line would do such a great event. Was it perfect? No, but it made us book again. It was this bonus that made Azamara stand out for us and we loved it. We have Italy Intensive coming up in Oct and its changed from Opera at the Fort (which would have been fabulous) to onboard. Not my fav. music even though I have been to lots of them, but the setting, OMG would have been great. So now we may not go.

 

It becomes like other ships where they bring entertainers on... no difference...

Was your Azamazing evening in Jordan a show of local music and dancing outside a large hotel in Aqaba? That’s what our last Jordan one was and we were completely underwhelmed - lots of standing in queues, no food, a glass of wine and a mediocre show! Our previous Jordan one was at an amphitheatre at Wadi Rum which was a lovely setting, but was men dancing, doing what looked like the same dance over and over, and it got very cold!

[jomf]

Our upcoming cruise in November has an off ship evening listed. I’m hoping it won’t be replaced by an onboard evening as they did on our last cruise! 
 

The evening isn’t the only reason for booking Azamara ( small ships, port times, central docking, customer base and food) but does add an extra je nais se quois to the trip!

[aussie travel bird]

10 hours ago, jcruizer said:

We just did our first Azamara cruise to Egypt Oct'23 with an Azamazing evening in Jorden. We were blown away that a cruise line would do such a great event. Was it perfect? No, but it made us book again. It was this bonus that made Azamara stand out for us and we loved it. We have Italy Intensive coming up in Oct and its changed from Opera at the Fort (which would have been fabulous) to onboard. Not my fav. music even though I have been to lots of them, but the setting, OMG would have been great. So now we may not go.

 

It becomes like other ships where they bring entertainers on... no difference...

We had the Onward Inaugural cruise AzAmazing evening at the Opera at the Fort at the end of the pier in Livorno. It was (and this is from a non opera lover) fantastic. I am bitterly disappointed that Azamara’s intentions are to discontinue on shore evenings in favour of those onboard. It’s doesn’t sit right with their ‘change the way we sea’ or ‘destination immersion’ voyages. We cannot understand why our Japanese intensive we got off recently had its Destination Celebration onboard in the only Korean port of call. In fact all 3 B2B2B were onboard. To me there may be onshore restrictions but it looks very much like cost cutting. Incidentally our next 3 are onboard too. We’ve mentioned it our feedback but expect it’s unlikely to change. 

[excitedofharpenden]

32 minutes ago, aussie travel bird said:

We had the Onward Inaugural cruise AzAmazing evening at the Opera at the Fort at the end of the pier in Livorno. It was (and this is from a non opera lover) fantastic. I am bitterly disappointed that Azamara’s intentions are to discontinue on shore evenings in favour of those onboard. It’s doesn’t sit right with their ‘change the way we sea’ or ‘destination immersion’ voyages. We cannot understand why our Japanese intensive we got off recently had its Destination Celebration onboard in the only Korean port of call. In fact all 3 B2B2B were onboard. To me there may be onshore restrictions but it looks very much like cost cutting. Incidentally our next 3 are onboard too. We’ve mentioned it our feedback but expect it’s unlikely to change. 

I'm with you and yes, it's cost cutting and more importantly putting less effort in. 

 

Phil 

[Riocca]

Over the years we’ve experienced some great AzAmazing Evenings and some not so great, after 10 years many passengers will have experienced the same evening a number of times and recently we’ve noticed more and more passengers remaining onboard. So maybe it was time for a shake up anyway.

However it’s possibly more fundamental than that, 10 years ago with two ships and the resources of Royal Caribbean the organisation of these events although complicated probably didn’t absorb too much of those resources.

Now Azamara is a small independent company with four ships and limited resources, so those resources have to be used as efficiently as possible. Finding locations and arranging transportation is probably the biggest problem, of course Azamara could employ a whole department to provide these events but it’s going to reflect directly in the cruise fare which many complain is rising too fast anyway. 
 

 

 

 

[uktog]

I was very disappointed with some of the onboard substitutes but I’m going to be honest on the Japan Intensive we will have an onboard in Korea and I wasn’t happy. But now onboard we are having so many lovely treats in each port, including an interaction with three Geisha girls tonight I’m ok if spreading lots of immersion activities across the cruise if that’s the way the line opts to go 

[Whitby100]

4 hours ago, Riocca said:

Over the years we’ve experienced some great AzAmazing Evenings and some not so great, after 10 years many passengers will have experienced the same evening a number of times and recently we’ve noticed more and more passengers remaining onboard. So maybe it was time for a shake up anyway.

However it’s possibly more fundamental than that, 10 years ago with two ships and the resources of Royal Caribbean the organisation of these events although complicated probably didn’t absorb too much of those resources.

Now Azamara is a small independent company with four ships and limited resources, so those resources have to be used as efficiently as possible. Finding locations and arranging transportation is probably the biggest problem, of course Azamara could employ a whole department to provide these events but it’s going to reflect directly in the cruise fare which many complain is rising too fast anyway. 
 

 

 

 

I agree that this is an efficiency/ cost issue.  We have enjoyed fabulous, dismal and everything in between in our experience with Azamazing evenings.  Guests certainly let AZ know when it isn’t going well.  This happened on our last cruise when we were taken into town by coach to see a Flamenco show (Malaga I believe) last autumn.  The bus hit a parked car on the way in as it tried to navigate the narrow streets.  The stairs in the hall were an issue for some.  It took too long for many guests for the bus to arrive for pickup after the show.  The poor young lady who had to keep us happy during this wait was at her wit’s end while the crowd expressed their displeasure.  I felt so sorry for her. I can see why AZ would discontinue them.  The really unfortunate thing is that this was a solid event - wine or beer served, lovely venue, excellent performance.  The issues were strictly logistics. Maybe AZ will do some events on shore and some on ship.  Communicating what each cruise would have would likely suffice, but there in lies another problem - communication (not their strongest suit).

[excitedofharpenden]

4 hours ago, Riocca said:

Over the years we’ve experienced some great AzAmazing Evenings and some not so great, after 10 years many passengers will have experienced the same evening a number of times and recently we’ve noticed more and more passengers remaining onboard. So maybe it was time for a shake up anyway.

However it’s possibly more fundamental than that, 10 years ago with two ships and the resources of Royal Caribbean the organisation of these events although complicated probably didn’t absorb too much of those resources.

Now Azamara is a small independent company with four ships and limited resources, so those resources have to be used as efficiently as possible. Finding locations and arranging transportation is probably the biggest problem, of course Azamara could employ a whole department to provide these events but it’s going to reflect directly in the cruise fare which many complain is rising too fast anyway. 
 

 

 

 

With regard to your first paragraph, I have to disagree. You know me. I've done quite a few Azamara cruises and have rarely repeated the same one. Examples of one's I have are the Teatro Goldini in Livorno (three times I think) and the Odeon in Ephesus twice.  Both of those Azamazing Evenings I was very happy to repeat. There have been subtle changes to others (Chania as an example) that I've enjoyed. I'll say that all the ones I've been to have been well attended.

 

As to your other points, you are probably right, but it doesn't change my viewpoint about them. It's a shame and Azamara cruisers, new or repeat are going to miss out. 

 

Phil 

[Riocca]

12 minutes ago, excitedofharpenden said:

With regard to your first paragraph, I have to disagree. You know me. I've done quite a few Azamara cruises and have rarely repeated the same one. Examples of one's I have are the Teatro Goldini in Livorno (three times I think) and the Odeon in Ephesus twice.  Both of those Azamazing Evenings I was very happy to repeat. There have been subtle changes to others (Chania as an example) that I've enjoyed. I'll say that all the ones I've been to have been well attended.

 

As to your other points, you are probably right, but it doesn't change my viewpoint about them. It's a shame and Azamara cruisers, new or repeat are going to miss out. 

 

Phil 

We’ve had a few repeats over the past few years some we were happy to repeat others not so. Last year on one cruise so many passengers stayed behind they had to hurriedly arrange some sort of entertainment, only a film in the Show Lounge but it was something.

 

We’re all going to have differing views but we have enjoyed the majority of the ones we’ve attended and are glad we were able to experience them, but as with all things life moves on and will try and enjoy the onboard experiences. 

 

[ChucktownSteve]

Look on the positive side, if you're on the ship and don't enjoy the performance, you don't need to wait for transportation to leave. 😁

 

I'm wondering if they'll continue Azamazing evenings off the ship where the logistics still work in conjunction with the venue?  Many resources may not still be available post pandemic at some of the destinations.

[laurieb]

4 hours ago, ChucktownSteve said:

Look on the positive side, if you're on the ship and don't enjoy the performance, you don't need to wait for transportation to leave. 😁

 

I'm wondering if they'll continue Azamazing evenings off the ship where the logistics still work in conjunction with the venue?  Many resources may not still be available post pandemic at some of the destinations.

I think that many resources went away after 2020.  I hope those that are disappointed will still enjoy their cruises

[ChucktownSteve]

1 minute ago, laurieb said:

I think that many resources went away after 2020.  I hope those that are disappointed will still enjoy their cruises

Small businesses all over the world which didn't have the financial ability to wait out the governmental induced storm, unfortunately went under.

 

Small businesses were the most vulnerable. You know the decisions made by people who probably never had to earn a real paycheck adversely affected them?

[jcruizer]

I would consider paying for the evening ashore if it was in a historical or interesting location. Its just a shame that we only just discovered Azamara...

 

Grandma cruising that was our first Azamazing evening, so from our perspective we thought it was such a special event to put on for passengers. We have only ever experienced cultural events onboard which has been like a show... We didn't feel cold...obviously the Wadi Rum would have been amazing...

[Grandma Cruising]

48 minutes ago, jcruizer said:

I would consider paying for the evening ashore if it was in a historical or interesting location. Its just a shame that we only just discovered Azamara...

 

Grandma cruising that was our first Azamazing evening, so from our perspective we thought it was such a special event to put on for passengers. We have only ever experienced cultural events onboard which has been like a show... We didn't feel cold...obviously the Wadi Rum would have been amazing...

No it wasn’t cold in Aqaba, but because Wadi Rum is the desert, it does get cold at night.

The best Azamazing evening we’ve been to was in Bangkok where we were taken to a park called the Ancient City which is full of one third size replicas of the famous old Bangkok buildings. We went on a little land train through the park to an area where they had set up a stage. There were cocktails and snacks to greet us as we got off the train. The show was great, traditional dancing and a kick boxing display. After that there were fireworks, then we were all given a little floating disk with greenery and a lit candle which we were invited to float off down a stream. We were then taken back to the buses on the land train through the park where the buildings were all beautifully floodlit, a really magical evening which couldn’t have been replicated on the ship.

[jcruizer]

2 hours ago, Grandma Cruising said:

No it wasn’t cold in Aqaba, but because Wadi Rum is the desert, it does get cold at night.

The best Azamazing evening we’ve been to was in Bangkok where we were taken to a park called the Ancient City which is full of one third size replicas of the famous old Bangkok buildings. We went on a little land train through the park to an area where they had set up a stage. There were cocktails and snacks to greet us as we got off the train. The show was great, traditional dancing and a kick boxing display. After that there were fireworks, then we were all given a little floating disk with greenery and a lit candle which we were invited to float off down a stream. We were then taken back to the buses on the land train through the park where the buildings were all beautifully floodlit, a really magical evening which couldn’t have been replicated on the ship.

That sounds wonderful... 🙂 I guess we see what the future holds....