Azamara seem to be scaling back Azamazing Evenings

[manc]

Our intensive France 3rd Sept departure is going to.be on board.

 

In Charleston some years ago we had s similar act on a USS ship and it was great. Not sure what it will be like on land.

 

CEO is sending out more mixed messages

The Sunday Times last weekend talked about on land Azamazing evenings as one of the reasons for selecting Azamata

Edited May 23 by manc
Typo

[Sail Girl]

Received an email today that the Azamazing evening on our July 1st Iceland Intensive Voyage has been switched to an on board event. Same program will be presented. 

[luv2travel90266]

Just received an email:

"Your scheduled AzAmazing Evening for your sailing on Azamara Pursuit, September 26^th, 2024, in Thessaloniki has been changed to an AzAmazing Evening Onboard. We believe this change will provide you with a truly memorable, authentic experience that immerses you deeper into the local culture."

 

I suspect the cost of reserving the venue and transporting us is significantly higher then bringing the entertainment onboard. This is under the new watch of Dondra Ritzenthaler, the new CEO. 

[luv2travel90266]

As a correction I just looked back at pages I printed months ago and the Amazing evening was always to have been on the ship with two separate shows. I do recall in the past off ship Amazing evenings. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

She's been the CEO for how many days now?  She's the CEO, not a Wizard who can wave a magic wand!  Give her a break!

[DS]

 We received an email today that said the Azamazing Evening  for Journey 10 August sailing would now be held onboard, instead  of at an onshore venue in THESSALONIKA.   Still the Opera, but on board.  

      I think the great thing about real Azamazing Evenings is three-fold:   one is the location/venue, often a magnificent concert hall or venue,  a 12th century church, or a natural venue like Wadi Rum; the second is the performance itself; the third is the "special treat" for the passengers, usually food or drink of the location, prepared and served by locals.

       By doing these onboard, the first and third are eliminated.   We do get a performance, perhaps the same as previously planned, but the spectacular  location and the local "treat" are eliminated-- get dinner in the dining room instead!

       Azamara often brings local talent onboard for special shows to emphasize their support of local  culture.   Turning Azamazing Evenings into on onboard event diminishes them to the status of the usual  "bring the locals aboard."

     WE are disappointed...

[luv2travel90266]

3 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

She's been the CEO for how many days now?  She's the CEO, not a Wizard who can wave a magic wand!  Give her a break!

My reason for the correction.was it wasn’t a change under Dondra’s watch and hoping for improvements in the future with her at the helm. 

[Grandma Cruising]

In 13 cruises with Azamara we’ve never had anything other than a glass or two of wine or a cocktail plus canapés or small snacks in our Azamazing evenings ashore. We’ve had one truly memorable evening in Bangkok, one in a lovely setting (theatre in Ravenna where we had no food or drink), one in Wadi Rum (lovely setting but very repetitive performance) & one in a beautiful mountain village (had to be finished early as it got very cold after sunset). The rest were OK, but mostly in tents at the back of hotels.

One of the best shows we’ve had was the recent onboard event in Walvis Bay where the show was outstanding!

[uktog]

4 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

She's been the CEO for how many days now?  She's the CEO, not a Wizard who can wave a magic wand!  Give her a break!

That’s as maybe however it’s not the best way of giving out a message when the CEO is actively giving a very different picture. Why was this old canned text (we’ve seen it before) not prefaced by “we are committed to holding as many off ship as possible but for your cruise we have not been able to secure an appropriate venue.”
Everyone is watching what she’s saying and hearing a possible new better time ahead but it seems like others in the organisation are ploughing on with their old ways regardless. 
Dondra has a lot of back office heads she needs to bang together! 

[ChucktownSteve]

18 hours ago, manc said:

In Charleston some years ago we had s similar act on a USS ship and it was great. Not sure what it will be like on land.

 

That was the WWII aircraft carrier USS Yorktown, CV-10, at Patriots Point on Charleston Harbor. She also served in the Vietnam War. 

 

It was a fun place to work for 7 years. My office was one deck below the flight deck under the center of the island.  Air Conditioned!  😁

[marinaro44]

The 12/20/24 Panama Canal cruise will have the Azamazing Evening, with a Carnival theme, in a theater in Cartagena, Colombia.

[crzrr]

21 minutes ago, marinaro44 said:

The 12/20/24 Panama Canal cruise will have the Azamazing Evening, with a Carnival theme, in a theater in Cartagena, Colombia.

That's a fun one - but the logistics are incredible!

[MVPinBoynton]

I just saw this thread and checked what our June 19 cruise is doing.  It is being done both on ship or off ship in Kotor.  With it being a tender port, we were surprised they were having an off ship AzAmazing evening.  It will be interesting to see how they do it. 

[uktog]

1 minute ago, MVPinBoynton said:

I just saw this thread and checked what our June 19 cruise is doing.  It is being done both on ship or off ship in Kotor.  With it being a tender port, we were surprised they were having an off ship AzAmazing evening.  It will be interesting to see how they do it. 

Azamara often docks in Kotor. They might be moving to dock once another vessel leaves in the evening if they are tendering in the day. 
But my guess if the website is showing both it’s in transition to being an on ship event- but anything is possible! 

[MVPinBoynton]

23 minutes ago, uktog said:

Azamara often docks in Kotor. They might be moving to dock once another vessel leaves in the evening if they are tendering in the day. 
But my guess if the website is showing both it’s in transition to being an on ship event- but anything is possible! 

That makes sense on moving to the dock, in the evening, since we are there until 10:00 PM.  I sure hope it is off ship, since it does make the event more amazing. 

[ECCruise]

33 minutes ago, MVPinBoynton said:

I just saw this thread and checked what our June 19 cruise is doing.  It is being done both on ship or off ship in Kotor.  With it being a tender port, we were surprised they were having an off ship AzAmazing evening.  It will be interesting to see how they do it. 

This is the way that all of ours that were moved onboard (and there were 5 like that).  First designated as Azamazing, then both Azamazing and Destination Celebration (onboard) and then just onboard.

 

We've reached the point that unless we feel strongly that they have signed a contract for the entire season (e.g. Montevideo, which is spectacular and would not be even a close approximation onboard) we assume that it will be a Destination Celebration.

[MVPinBoynton]

Just now, ECCruise said:

This is the way that all of ours that were moved onboard (and there were 5 like that).  First designated as Azamazing, then both Azamazing and Destination Celebration (onboard) and then just onboard.

 

We've reached the point that unless we feel strongly that they have signed a contract for the entire season (e.g. Montevideo, which is spectacular and would not be even a close approximation onboard) we assume that it will be a Destination Celebration.

That’s a bummer!   The only AzAmazing we have done was in Montevideo.   Just an outstanding show.  I was hopeing the one in Kotor would be special too. It probably will be onboard like you say. 😕

[avw]

10 hours ago, MVPinBoynton said:

That makes sense on moving to the dock, in the evening, since we are there until 10:00 PM.  I sure hope it is off ship, since it does make the event more amazing. 

 

10 hours ago, uktog said:

Azamara often docks in Kotor. They might be moving to dock once another vessel leaves in the evening if they are tendering in the day. 
But my guess if the website is showing both it’s in transition to being an on ship event- but anything is possible! 

I was on a cruise last year with the Azamazing event originally scheduled to be on shore and then moved onboard. When I went on an excursion that afternoon, which took the same route that was intended for the Azamazing event, it was clear why they moved it to the ship. There is a two lane road to get to the originally intended shoreside venue and the traffic on it was just awful. Bumper to bumper traffic for an hour. Obviously, it would be impossible to move 700 passengers to the shore venue in a timely manner. Kotor is a small place and there aren't multiple venues to accommodate that size group. I was very glad that they moved that event to the ship. 

[royallondon]

With the new CEO stating events will be shoreside when they are not, the reason why should be communicated to manage potential frustrations.

 

Equally when events have to be onboard, some imagination has to be given to make them “special”.

 

In March we had the event onboard (Flamingo dancing) and whilst enjoyable for the 30 minute duration was not “special” in anyway.

 

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

9 hours ago, royallondon said:

With the new CEO stating events will be shoreside when they are not, the reason why should be communicated to manage potential frustrations.

The tenses give some explanation.  They will be – that takes time.

[aussie travel bird]

I have 5 cruises yet to go this year alone, 4 evenings are planned onboard and one onshore, I'm fully expecting that will be it will be changed/converted once onboard which has happened more often than not to us recentley.  Of our last 6 cruises with Azamara only 1 was onshore (and 1 was a transalantice crossing).  They we less than 'special' evenings onboard.

[Silver Claire]

Ours looks to be off the ship in Tallinn

 

AzAmazing Evening - Estonian National Male Choir Live at the Opera

At the Estonian National Opera, be captivated by the Estonian National Male Choir, an extraordinary ensemble of 50 men - the world's only large professional male concert choir. Their repertoire, spanning from Gregorian to contemporary and folk to pop, showcases the remarkable depth and versatility of their harmonious voices, promising an enchanting and unforgettable musical experience.

[Grandma Cruising]

7 hours ago, Silver Claire said:

Ours looks to be off the ship in Tallinn

 

AzAmazing Evening - Estonian National Male Choir Live at the Opera

At the Estonian National Opera, be captivated by the Estonian National Male Choir, an extraordinary ensemble of 50 men - the world's only large professional male concert choir. Their repertoire, spanning from Gregorian to contemporary and folk to pop, showcases the remarkable depth and versatility of their harmonious voices, promising an enchanting and unforgettable musical experience.

That sounds truly Azamazing

[Mackdogmolly]

We have an off ship one in Gibraltar 

[Mrs.Dukes]

We are currently scheduled off the ship in Koper in July - Viennese Waltz and White Horses.