Azamara Onward

[Grandma Cruising]

As I've seen a few previous fairly critical posts about the Onward I thought I'd post about our current cruise on Onward.

Food in the MDR has been excellent so far and piping hot, with hot plates too. 
We have the Ultimate package and on other ships it has not been easy to get the wines we wanted served fairly quickly & easily. On Journey last year we were told that we had to order them from a Sommelier and it was often quite a wait for them. On Onward it's been very straightforward in the MDR, Patio & Aqualina - our waiters have served us with what we have asked for with no delay!

One thing that is excellent is that in our cabin there was a pack with detailed information and a map for each port - never seen that before.

We had a nice extra treat yesterday - we were in Ferrol, a new port for Azamara. When we left at 10pm the town's mayor put on a firework display for us.

 

[manc]

We got off Onward just before you boarded. We found the good great. We thought the officers were farvless visible than on our previous 15 + trips. The ultimate package was great and sparkling water and the right wine sourced instantly. Wait staff etc were the usual high standard. 

[excitedofharpenden]

2 hours ago, manc said:

We thought the officers were farvless visible

That was exactly my feeling from the same cruise. And I have never come across a more aloof or unfriendly captain before. It will be going on my post cruise survey. The wait staff, bar servers, baristas etc were their usual friendly and cheerful selves. Food was excellent I thought. From every venue. 

 

Phil 

[uktog]

6 hours ago, Grandma Cruising said:

As I've seen a few previous fairly critical posts about the Onward I thought I'd post about our current cruise on Onward.

Food in the MDR has been excellent so far and piping hot, with hot plates too. 
We have the Ultimate package and on other ships it has not been easy to get the wines we wanted served fairly quickly & easily. On Journey last year we were told that we had to order them from a Sommelier and it was often quite a wait for them. On Onward it's been very straightforward in the MDR, Patio & Aqualina - our waiters have served us with what we have asked for with no delay!

One thing that is excellent is that in our cabin there was a pack with detailed information and a map for each port - never seen that before.

We had a nice extra treat yesterday - we were in Ferrol, a new port for Azamara. When we left at 10pm the town's mayor put on a firework display for us.

 

We’ve had the information pack since Covid. It saves the scramble to get port information the night before and allows forward planning - a very good idea

 

We are currently on Explora there is zero information given - today in Thessaloniki many struggled. They did not even tell us about a port shuttle or where it left you (still a walk from town) . We’ve been before so were ok. Sent several to the HOHO which given where the port gates were was their best option or they’d have seen nothing. 
Azamara certainly takes care of good port information 

[crzrr]

2 hours ago, excitedofharpenden said:

That was exactly my feeling from the same cruise. And I have never come across a more aloof or unfriendly captain before. It will be going on my post cruise survey. The wait staff, bar servers, baristas etc were their usual friendly and cheerful selves. Food was excellent I thought. From every venue. 

 

Phil 

Visibility definitely seems to flow from the top.  If the Captain and/or the Hotel Director don't make an effort, nobody else does.  That was our experience on our Journey cruise in February.  A new hotel director came on in March and things changed dramatically.  Thank goodness for the wonderful crew on all of the ships!

[candkd]

I was on the Onward for the July Norway Intensive Cruise. We had Capt. G and the few times he spoke he said he was not good with speaking and intermingling with the passengers. But the cruise was fabulous.

[excitedofharpenden]

11 minutes ago, candkd said:

I was on the Onward for the July Norway Intensive Cruise. We had Capt. G and the few times he spoke he said he was not good with speaking and intermingling with the passengers. But the cruise was fabulous.

Frankly that's a really bad admission and not Azamara at all. Quite surprised he'd say that. 

 

Phil 

[JK300]

1 hour ago, excitedofharpenden said:

Frankly that's a really bad admission and not Azamara at all. Quite surprised he'd say that. 

 

Phil 

He is a little bit shy, that's what he said but otherwise he's a friendly & fine Master.

[hamrag]

TBH, we really don't worry about senior staff interaction, albeit it's nice, no big deal for us! What's really encouraging is GCs report about MDR, on our previous cruises we weren't impressed at all with MDR.

 

All being well, we board Onward in just over a week and it cannot come soon enough! 

[Dynacruiser]

4 hours ago, candkd said:

I was on the Onward for the July Norway Intensive Cruise. We had Capt. G and the few times he spoke he said he was not good with speaking and intermingling with the passengers. But the cruise was fabulous.

 

4 hours ago, excitedofharpenden said:

Frankly that's a really bad admission and not Azamara at all. Quite surprised he'd say that. 

 

Phil 

 

Some of us are shy, Phil.  

 

I think life has moved on and now it is OK to speak openly about those traits that others may see as "deficiencies".  

 

We even used to have to hide it if we were dyslexic also.

[LuAnn]

8 hours ago, uktog said:

We’ve had the information pack since Covid. It saves the scramble to get port information the night before and allows forward planning - a very good idea

 

We are currently on Explora there is zero information given - today in Thessaloniki many struggled. They did not even tell us about a port shuttle or where it left you (still a walk from town) . We’ve been before so were ok. Sent several to the HOHO which given where the port gates were was their best option or they’d have seen nothing. 
Azamara certainly takes care of good port information 

Would appreciate you telling us if you liked Explora when you get back!! Friends and I are considering. Thanks!! 

[KirkNC]

We spent 155 days on the Onward for the 2024 world cruise.  We found the crew, including the officers to be first rate.  Given our lengthy trip we had two different captains, Captain G and Captain Carl.  They were very different personalities but we found both friendly and engaging.  At the time Captain G was struggling with a bum hip (which has now been fixed) but he was great.  English is not his first language and I think he is not super outgoing but we actually found him to be quite funny.  

[cruisermsoon]

Joined part of the Onward World Cruise this year and found the ship and the whole experience to be top class, so much so that we have booked another two cruises on Onward, including a portion of next year's World cruise.

[wjfan417]

8 hours ago, candkd said:

I was on the Onward for the July Norway Intensive Cruise. We had Capt. G and the few times he spoke he said he was not good with speaking and intermingling with the passengers. But the cruise was fabulous.

Probably the same cruise we were on -missed having a Captain’s Q and A session, but figured it was because he was not comfortable speaking.

[Melissaghoti]

I’ve been on several cruises with Capt.G and liked him. English is not his first language, so perhaps that is an issue, but chatted with him quite often and had several dances with him on White Nights. His English proficiency may be slightly greater than his dancing skills, but still enjoyed getting to know him and his delightful wife.

  Melissa

 

 

[aliaschief]

5 hours ago, KirkNC said:

We spent 155 days on the Onward for the 2024 world cruise.  We found the crew, including the officers to be first rate.  Given our lengthy trip we had two different captains, Captain G and Captain Carl.  They were very different personalities but we found both friendly and engaging.  At the time Captain G was struggling with a bum hip (which has now been fixed) but he was great.  English is not his first language and I think he is not super outgoing but we actually found him to be quite funny.  

Same cruise and totally agree. Really enjoyed both Captains and there fantastic crews.

[uktog]

7 hours ago, LuAnn said:

Would appreciate you telling us if you liked Explora when you get back!! Friends and I are considering. Thanks!! 

This is our second Explora we have one more booked. It’s nice, very good food but very impersonal. Crew are over eager but to a set pattern, no attempt to remember your wishes unlike on Azamara. Beautiful spacious ship. 
 

And as for the captain (given the comments on this thread) we have a Trappist monk who wears a Harry Potter invisibility cloak. No noon announcements, no welcome to announcements, no pre departure announcements first and last time we heard him was over the PA at the safety briefing. 
 

Our first cruise had a better atmosphere this one is soulless. 

[uktog]

I meant to say the captain on Explora is Italian with limited language skills so the lack of interaction may be a cultural thing but it does impact on the overall atmosphere- given how many Italians are onboard this Explora captain could an effort for them. They’ve commented he even avoids conversation with them when they see them. 
For me, it’s ok to be shy but if you are the “face/master” of an operation whatever it is - you have to overcome this or you’re not the best fit for the role. Alternatively rely on your No2 to be that public face. 

[royallondon]

We were on a cruise with Captain G last year.  He was sitting with his wife in the Mosaic cafe.  An elderly gentleman struggling with a walking stick went from the restaurant to the washroom which was closed for repairs.  Captain G saw him, went to him, linked his arm and walked him to what we suspected was the washroom between the Den and show lounge.  A few minutes later he walked him back, arms still linked back to the restaurant.

 

Sometimes actions speak louder then words.

[manc]

My comments above were about the lack of communication between ALL officers and guests. They just were invisible. It was not a comment about the captain who we have sailed with previously but the WHOLE team. 

[Laganlady02]

4 hours ago, uktog said:

I meant to say the captain on Explora is Italian with limited language skills so the lack of interaction may be a cultural thing but it does impact on the overall atmosphere- given how many Italians are onboard this Explora captain could an effort for them. They’ve commented he even avoids conversation with them when they see them. 
For me, it’s ok to be shy but if you are the “face/master” of an operation whatever it is - you have to overcome this or you’re not the best fit for the role. Alternatively rely on your No2 to be that public face. 

We disembarked Quest last week and due to sick leave our captain joined a few days after our cruise started. We had not sailed with him before as I understand his career with Azamara had been spent on Journey. Within a few hours of him being onboard we had a chance encounter with him on Deck 5 as we chatted.

What a charming, genuine man who we got to know, Captain Dario a true Italian.

[uktog]

12 minutes ago, Laganlady02 said:

We disembarked Quest last week and due to sick leave our captain joined a few days after our cruise started. We had not sailed with him before as I understand his career with Azamara had been spent on Journey. Within a few hours of him being onboard we had a chance encounter with him on Deck 5 as we chatted.

What a charming, genuine man who we got to know, Captain Dario a true Italian.

Dario is indeed a true star one I was so happy when he was promoted as I posted here. He is blessed with very good language skills 

[LuAnn]

On 9/17/2024 at 9:31 PM, uktog said:

This is our second Explora we have one more booked. It’s nice, very good food but very impersonal. Crew are over eager but to a set pattern, no attempt to remember your wishes unlike on Azamara. Beautiful spacious ship. 
 

And as for the captain (given the comments on this thread) we have a Trappist monk who wears a Harry Potter invisibility cloak. No noon announcements, no welcome to announcements, no pre departure announcements first and last time we heard him was over the PA at the safety briefing. 
 

Our first cruise had a better atmosphere this one is soulless. 

I'm back on AZ for the first time since December '19. Will be great to be back. I have a friend coming as well who has only sailed on O so it will be interesting to see what she thinks. She is "disenchanted" with O's continuous changing of benefits!! And wants to check out Explora. Hopefully she'll love AZ!!! Thanks!!