Azamara in the Antarctic - a live perspective

[Kitekat]

3 hours ago, uktog said:

And finally 72 hours late we are home 

 

Glad you are safely back!

 

Plenty of time for clearing the washing, having a brief rest before packing and heading out for the next one.

Looking forward to meeting on board Journey next month!

[oddjob16]

3 hours ago, uktog said:

Thanks

 

And finally 72 hours late we are home - Buenos Aires was getting very boring though fascinating as always.  We did see the impact of the hyper inflation first hand - ever morning when we went to the little "25 hour store" beside our hotel the price of water had gone up - we started at 650 pesos and ended our trip at 900.  The increased cost of a can of Heineken in the hotel was even more significant - we watched them print and replace bar menus every evening.

 

The car park excess was not cheap so that is certainly going to Lufthansa.

 

But in our final thoughts - we are so glad we did this cruise - was it perfect - well can you even define perfect.  Yes there were several things that could have been delivered better my Azamara but overall it was a great cruise.  Are there signs of corner cutting on Azamara -- yes there are and that plus inconsistency remains a concern but we were happy enough to make another booking on board.

 

Thanks to all the fellow passengers who made this voyage so memorable.

Glad you finally got yourself back to your island in the North Sea..🤭🤭Nothing like home. I am not sure your CD will get any new contracts, though...

[uktog]

1 hour ago, Kitekat said:

Glad you are safely back!

 

Plenty of time for clearing the washing, having a brief rest before packing and heading out for the next one.

Looking forward to meeting on board Journey next month!

Thanks. It was a bit stressful 

No rest though, I’ve got to pack 5 weeks work into 3! It’s going to get “interesting” 

[Homerody]

16 hours ago, uktog said:

 

But in our final thoughts - we are so glad we did this cruise - was it perfect - well can you even define perfect.  Yes there were several things that could have been delivered better my Azamara but overall it was a great cruise.  Are there signs of corner cutting on Azamara -- yes there are and that plus inconsistency remains a concern but we were happy enough to make another booking on board.

 

Thanks to all the fellow passengers who made this voyage so memorable.

@uktog I am glad you made it home... finally!

 

To answer your question about perfection - it is a utopian drean.  However, I the cruise experience using this equation:  Reality - Expectations = Satisfaction/Happiness

 

Sorry for the maths.

 

So interms of reality the cruise ticked all the boxes - killer price, I finally got to Antartica, met some fine people and had a good time - and no serious 50 foot waves on the Drake. And overall a very good cruise experience.

 

Expectations - formed on the basis of AZ efforts/information and stuff I found on CC and the interwebs. Based on the foregoing,  my expectations were admitedly set high. Especially when suites are involved. 

 

And Reality is the small things that chip away at expectations.  I do not expect a major fail on a luxurious cruise line.  And I did not really experience one.  But were there numerous small things that erroded some of my satisfaction with the cruise.  However, not to the point of saying it was not a very good experience. 

 

 Yet, part of the experience - our first with Azamara - was comapring it to how we felt after we disembarked from 2 other cruises  - also first time cruises.  We felt that these expereinces will inform our future cruising choices and more closely reflect what we are looking for.  And part of the less than ideal experiences are  woefully inadequate customer service and some website issues I encountered and - in my opinion - are hard to talk away.

 

As a cruiseline agnostic, I will not catagorical say no AZ.  But if all other things are equal (never are) AZ will lose out to other lines we've cruised on.  

 

But as I observed from you posts, you are always seeking common ground and a positive message - I relate to and appreciate that.  So I will sign off with this:  I am glad we tried AZ, elated we got to Antartica and wish all happy cruising on your line of choice.

 

Bon voyage  

[uktog]

@Homerody I totally get your post - there were indeed far too many chip away things than there should have been.  If I strip out the itinerary and the Captains focus on delivering memorable elements in the Antarctic, this was not really the Azamara even of immediately post pandemic never mind the joys of the pre pandemic experience - however, it was a memorable trip