Everyone needs to take a deep breath and exhale

[kk99]

Hi everyone,

I have read all sorts of attacks on posters and their opinions since the first reviews of the Quest have been posted. I for one appreciate everyone's viewpoint, and I can make up my own mind about what is or is not important to me re cruising again with Azamara. In the big scheme of things, all of us are luckier than 90% of the world's population in being able to take vacations and having disposable income to travel with. I do believe that everyone wants the best use of their vacation dollars and should have reasonable expectations about any trip. I do not view myself as a cheerleader for Azamara/Celebrity nor am I on a witchhunt for problems. I did point out in my review what I thought was the major problem with the first sailings which was all service oriented. The computer problems, lack of sanitizer, key problems, short wine pours, are all things that it appears are being addressed on the third sailing of the Quest. Service changes will take longer to see a real difference in training and staff.

I personally know after having talked with Captain's Club representatives, managers in customer service for Azamara, that they have read the boards and all of the comments, and will make some adjustments in the future. Posting on the boards without following through in writing to a company allows any company not to respond as there is no record.

The reason to book Azamara is if you like the itineraries, the size of the ship and service, and the price is reasonable for your pocketbook.

 

For those posters who stated people were nitpickers or disgruntled, perhaps that was directed at me. I have a thick skin and I'll take it with a grain of salt. I don't believe that my review was unbalanced, but again that is a personal opinion. I paid full price for the inaugural in a suite so I definitely had some expectations on the service level which was the area I found lacking. I did truly enjoy meeting everyone on the inaugural, and hope to run into them again on a future sailing.

 

As I stated in my review, while on board I did put a deposit down on a future sailing with Azamara Quest as I believe that the product vis a vis service can be refined and brought in line with the brochure claims. If anyone else still wants the pdf scans I have of the spa services, initial dailies, and internet rates, please post back.

Thanks for reading and have a wonderful time on your upcoming cruises,

kk

[Andy]

Hi KK !

 

Thanks for your excellent post. I totally agree with you, that the bulk of the concerns were service related, and (IMHO), mostly in the Main Dining Room. I strongly feel that the major majority of the problems we encountered on the 5 night sailing could easily be corrected in a very short period of time, if they havent already been corrected.

 

Again, thanks for your post, and I hope we meet again on a future sailing !

[Jancruz]

Hi everyone,

I have read all sorts of attacks on posters and their opinions since the first reviews of the Quest have been posted. I for one appreciate everyone's viewpoint, and I can make up my own mind about what is or is not important to me re cruising again with Azamara. In the big scheme of things, all of us are luckier than 90% of the world's population in being able to take vacations and having disposable income to travel with. I do believe that everyone wants the best use of their vacation dollars and should have reasonable expectations about any trip. I do not view myself as a cheerleader for Azamara/Celebrity nor am I on a witchhunt for problems. I did point out in my review what I thought was the major problem with the first sailings which was all service oriented. The computer problems, lack of sanitizer, key problems, short wine pours, are all things that it appears are being addressed on the third sailing of the Quest. Service changes will take longer to see a real difference in training and staff.

I personally know after having talked with Captain's Club representatives, managers in customer service for Azamara, that they have read the boards and all of the comments, and will make some adjustments in the future. Posting on the boards without following through in writing to a company allows any company not to respond as there is no record.

The reason to book Azamara is if you like the itineraries, the size of the ship and service, and the price is reasonable for your pocketbook.

 

For those posters who stated people were nitpickers or disgruntled, perhaps that was directed at me. I have a thick skin and I'll take it with a grain of salt. I don't believe that my review was unbalanced, but again that is a personal opinion. I paid full price for the inaugural in a suite so I definitely had some expectations on the service level which was the area I found lacking. I did truly enjoy meeting everyone on the inaugural, and hope to run into them again on a future sailing.

 

As I stated in my review, while on board I did put a deposit down on a future sailing with Azamara Quest as I believe that the product vis a vis service can be refined and brought in line with the brochure claims. If anyone else still wants the pdf scans I have of the spa services, initial dailies, and internet rates, please post back.

Thanks for reading and have a wonderful time on your upcoming cruises,

kk

 

Andy,

You are so right!! First of all everyone is entitiled to the way they feel..and should not be called nit picker or negative..a psychologist once told me you cant argue with a persons feelings!!

The problems on board are for the most part service problems and NO new cruise line starts out with a perfect record does anyone think Azamara is going to keep sailing with TV's that dont work and phones that dont work, of course not....I remember being on Oceania's first cruise..it was so bad..Stu and I stayed in our cabin for a few days..LOL

This will all be straightened out eventually, give Azamara a chance..the ships are beautiful and I know the crew is working full time to correct all the problems..in a few months no one will remember all this hullabaloo

Regards,

Jan

*****

[Andy]

Andy,

You are so right!! First of all everyone is entitiled to the way they feel..and should not be called nit picker or negative..a psychologist once told me you cant argue with a persons feelings!!

The problems on board are for the most part service problems and NO new cruise line starts out with a perfect record does anyone think Azamara is going to keep sailing with TV's that dont work and phones that dont work, of course not....I remember being on Oceania's first cruise..it was so bad..Stu and I stayed in our cabin for a few days..LOL

This will all be straightened out eventually, give Azamara a chance..the ships are beautiful and I know the crew is working full time to correct all the problems..in a few months no one will remember all this hullabaloo

Regards,

Jan

*****

 

Hi Jan !

 

How are you ? I hope all is well.

 

The interesting part of all of this.... is that much of the hullabaloo shouldnt have been hullabaloo to begin with. Of course, that is strictly my opinion. Everyone is entitled to their thoughts, and we should always want to hear the good and the not so good. Do I wish a handful of things went somewhat better on our sailings ? Sure. With that said, I totally understood these were the first couple of Azamara sailings, and issues were to be expected. I continue to feel the good far outweighed the not so good. As I am sure you will agree, to expect perfection on ANY Cruise, is not a wise decision.

 

I met some very interesting (and wonderful) Crew onboard, many of whom were supervisors. I spent a great deal of time expressing my thoughts, and hearing their comments. What I gathered from the conversations was that they were very dedicated, and relentless about improving things each day. I am confident they will resolve the concerns going forward. I would not hesitate to book again, and I hope we will sail with Azamara again in the future.

[bububr]

I think your review was fair and balanced.

 

However, IMHO there is a lot of nit-picking in these threads that I consider unnesessary, and Unfortunately it is not only destroying the nice memories of our mini-vacation, but making future travellers prematurely cancelling their vacations based on the negative " It was the WORSE vacation of our lives" comments. Sorry but I have had much worse experiences on RCL and Carnival, regarding both food and service on ESTABLISHED ships.

 

Personally I can't help to wonder if many booked this cruise looking for the problems that Journey had just so they could recieve a comped cruise and future cruise credit.

 

I agree that the 'important people' read this and are aware, as many of the little things seem to have been taken care of, or are in the works.

 

Dave:eek:

[kk99]

Hi Dave,

I hope you are feeling better, and you and John are looking forward to your next cruise on Century.(we're on Century a couple of weeks after you in January). Don't let the posts ruin your memories, as everyone has a different experience some more positive and some less positive than yours and mine. I've never received a free anything from Celebrity nor do I expect one, unless they cancel my cruise, then I would like to get my money back! I'm hopeful that Azamara will quickly iron out the service issues, and that Celebrity/Azamara will work on customer service. I'm still waiting for you to post pictures as I finally saw the "flamingo" picture on a previous post. Your pictures have to be more interesting than mine.

Take care,

Kelcie

[happycat Bainbridge Is]

Hi KK,

 

I thought your review was very balanced and helpful, and thank you for writing it. I'm afraid people will be less inclined to spend the time providing thoughtful and balanced reports like yours if people insist on getting after the poster if he/she has anything critical to say, even in a constructive way and conversely, if he/she is satisfied, knowing that the words sugar-coat and cheerleader are almost sure to follow.

 

I have gotten a ton of good information from these board and reviews, and have tried to return the favor by sharing my experiences and opinions as well.

 

I appreciate that staff are working hard at improvements, and that people booked out a month or two can probably expect a much better experience. We are sailing next week, however, and were not happy to read (especially after Journey's rocky start) from Host Andy no less:

 

"The big issues were, that we were all quite unhappy with the food quality and service in Discoveries. I continue to feel that the open seating concept has potential, and we didnt have to wait long on most nights. The big problems were that I truly didnt enjoy any of my meals there. The tables are way too close to each other, and very noisy. It seemed as if the staff was extremely inexperienced, too much so for a ship that expects to be considered upscale .... The service was either too fast, or painfully slow. As we werent happy with the food at all in Discoveries, it really made Dinner a total non-event for us."

 

"As most of you know, I have been worried about the food quality on Celebrity for quite some time. If Azamara thinks the Discoveries food is upscale quality, I shudder to think what might be ahead for Celebrity's food. I hope I am worried about nothing, but I think this is a very bad sign. For those of you who were pleased when Michel Roux ended his relationship with Celebrity, I am very concerned that move will turn out to be a bad one."

 

Food and service are two of the ways that cruise lines can distinguish themselves. I'm sure improvements can be made and will be over time, but it is starting to irritate me to be told repeatedly that we should all just calm down (as though expressing any concern makes you hysterical or an irrational perfectionist) when in fact, early reports indicate that both food and service in the main dining room (as well as dining atmosphere due to crowding of tables) on Quest are not remotely up to par.

 

Andy, who has been erroneously slapped with the cheerleader label, says he truly didn't enjoy any of his meals in the dining room and that they were all quite unhappy with food and service in the DR, and said he shudders to think what it means if Azamara believes that the food served on Quest was upscale. I think that is a legitimate cause for reasonable concern.

 

Azamara is selling an deluxe experience with gourmet food and upscale service. I don't expect perfection (especially in early sailings) but I do expect consistently decent service and very good food.

 

I will be sure to follow KK's example and post to let you all know - in as balanced a way as I can - what we find next week. I expect to have a great vacation and fully appreciate my good fortune in being able to take this trip, but I also expect that the experience should reasonable match up with what is promised at this price point.

 

HCBI

[Andy]

Hi HCBI !

 

Thanks for your comments. I truly do not see myself as a cheerleader. I would say I am more of an optimist, and I try my best not to dwell on the negatives. As with most of us, I truly value my vacation time, and I work very hard for it. I do not care to spend my time being unhappy on a Cruise. When something is not working, I try to resolve it, or simply move on to do something else.

 

I felt that the Dining Room food was simply not as enjoyable as on Celebrity. I was wondering if it was only me, but everyone in our party felt the same way. I was especially unhappy with Desserts, as some of them were odd, and the ones I tried were nothing special. On the bright side, I thought breakfast and lunch at the buffet were very good, and the Chocolate Croissants were as good as ever (but not available at Dinner). However, I havent been on Celebrity in nearly 10 months, so I am not sure if their food has declined as well. The latest reports are good though. I will be on Constellation in 11 days, so I should be able to make a better comparison after that cruise. This is one area that I truly hope Azamara gets working on, and pronto.

 

FYI, the Dinner in both Prime C and Aqualina were fantastic.... some of the best I have ever had at sea. While it may not be an option for all, and can get costly... One could always pay extra, and dine in those venues more often.

 

As I have said before, I would sail with Azamara again, and I hope to try them again in the future. I hope you have a wonderful time onboard Quest. I look forward to your review !

[LuvCeleb]

Wife and myself were on the Quest 10/26 sailing and agree with the above. I did expect some phones not work, tv not working, some hiccups along the way, but was truely disappointed in the service and food. do I think Azamara will solve these problems, YES, I do. Until then we will return to Celebrity where after 12 cruises we will know what to expect. We wanted to try the small ship experience, and even if there had not been these issues, we have decided that we just like the larger ships better. I wish Celebrity and Azamara success in this venture.

[ikelmay]

If I could chime in here - what I find so useful about the boards and getting a cross-section of both positive and negative opinions, is that this establishes a base-line for the early sailings, and then it is possible to judge on subsequent cruises if things are improving.

 

We have the good fortune to be taking the 11/12 cruise at the last minute, so I am well prepared for any unexpected eventuality. I will also be able to judge if things are on the 'up' thanks to the initial reviews. I suspect we will have a wonderful cruise

 

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time and trouble to evaluate Azamara so far.

[Ms. J.]

Hi, Kelcie... and all....

 

I found your review and a few others well-balanced and very informative. I appreciated have the files you sent - thanks, again.

 

If any of you have been to a retail or restaurant grand opening, you know there will always be problems - some worse than others. A cruise line is no different, regardless of what their pre-advertising says or promises. I belive they will make good on those promises. I do not take inaugural cruises, but I will tell you I am booked for January 19th, and I have always had good experiences on any Celebrity cruise. Thanks to all for posting! Jini

[Playful Mermaid]

Hi everyone,

I have read all sorts of attacks on posters and their opinions since the first reviews of the Quest have been posted. I for one appreciate everyone's viewpoint, and I can make up my own mind about what is or is not important to me re cruising again with Azamara. In the big scheme of things, all of us are luckier than 90% of the world's population in being able to take vacations and having disposable income to travel with. I do believe that everyone wants the best use of their vacation dollars and should have reasonable expectations about any trip. I do not view myself as a cheerleader for Azamara/Celebrity nor am I on a witchhunt for problems. I did point out in my review what I thought was the major problem with the first sailings which was all service oriented. The computer problems, lack of sanitizer, key problems, short wine pours, are all things that it appears are being addressed on the third sailing of the Quest. Service changes will take longer to see a real difference in training and staff.

I personally know after having talked with Captain's Club representatives, managers in customer service for Azamara, that they have read the boards and all of the comments, and will make some adjustments in the future. Posting on the boards without following through in writing to a company allows any company not to respond as there is no record.

The reason to book Azamara is if you like the itineraries, the size of the ship and service, and the price is reasonable for your pocketbook.

 

For those posters who stated people were nitpickers or disgruntled, perhaps that was directed at me. I have a thick skin and I'll take it with a grain of salt. I don't believe that my review was unbalanced, but again that is a personal opinion. I paid full price for the inaugural in a suite so I definitely had some expectations on the service level which was the area I found lacking. I did truly enjoy meeting everyone on the inaugural, and hope to run into them again on a future sailing.

 

As I stated in my review, while on board I did put a deposit down on a future sailing with Azamara Quest as I believe that the product vis a vis service can be refined and brought in line with the brochure claims. If anyone else still wants the pdf scans I have of the spa services, initial dailies, and internet rates, please post back.

Thanks for reading and have a wonderful time on your upcoming cruises,

kk

 

KK99:

 

Thanks for a great informing and unbiased review of your Quest cruise. I don't think you were nitpicking at all but just reporting what you observed.

As one poster seemed to elude too, I also don't think you spent all of that money to hope for some kind of a future cruise credit on Azamara if you could find problems!

 

I am sure that most readers agree that as you said "you are not a cheerleader nor are you on some kind of a witch hunt" and

I agree with you and also appreciate everyone's opinion.

[chefgarden]

Jimmy G, I totally agree with your comments. Whether people like it or not constructive criticism (that some call knit picking) has paid off ...

 

Apparently they are installing hand sanitizer stations and today the

Sr. VP for Marketing for Celebrity & Azamara resigned ! I'm not sure if that means their advertising will be different or they are going to make the

appropriate changes in SERVICE ... food safety, actual butlers, dining room staff presenting correct bills, better dining service, cabin cards that

actually work, and express billing actually taking place ... I hope it's the lst step that they recognize there are multiple problems and correct them.

 

For those of you who don't think these problems are serious, take off your

rose color glasses !

[Andy]

today the Sr. VP for Marketing for Celebrity & Azamara resigned ! I'm not sure if that means their advertising will be different or they are going to make the

appropriate changes in SERVICE ... food safety, actual butlers, dining room staff presenting correct bills, better dining service, cabin cards that

actually work, and express billing actually taking place ... I hope it's the lst step that they recognize there are multiple problems and correct them.

 

 

Hi Chefgarden !

 

FYI....the person you mentioned above (in Marketing) would have nothing to do with the above issues. To connect this person's departure to the above issues almost assuredly has nothing to do with why this person is leaving the company. From what I read, this person is leaving to join another company. It happens all the time in the business world.

 

I hope the next person in the position, recognizes that Captains Club needs a major overhaul. It is one of the weakest loyalty programs around. I have countless ideas on how to make it a great program. I sincerely wish I could share my thoughts with them.

[Ms. J.]

Hi, Andy....

 

Why not share your ideas in some sort of a proposal sent directly to them?

Not posible? Not allowed? Thanks, Jini

[Cruising Carol]

We will be on the November sailing of Quest. We were also on Infinity on one of the early sailings -- even got a discount because our reserved sailing was cancelled. There weren't service problems on Infinity -- they had overstaffed to take care of that. There were other problems. We didn't get to port in Kauai and our friends who were meeting us didn't get our e-mail because of internet problems. And the food -- we finally just laughed at it. We had a small squash mousse, or a carrot mousse, or a squash and carrot mousse as the garnish on EVERY dinner on the 10 night cruise. The rest of the food was not horrible and certainly not great. Although it wasn't our best cruise, we still enjoyed Hawaii and the sea days. And we are still cruising with Celebrity.

So I expect there may still be some problems, but they will be corrected.

[qe2]

We will be on the November sailing of Quest. We were also on Infinity on one of the early sailings -- even got a discount because our reserved sailing was cancelled. There weren't service problems on Infinity -- they had overstaffed to take care of that. There were other problems. We didn't get to port in Kauai and our friends who were meeting us didn't get our e-mail because of internet problems. And the food -- we finally just laughed at it. We had a small squash mousse, or a carrot mousse, or a squash and carrot mousse as the garnish on EVERY dinner on the 10 night cruise. The rest of the food was not horrible and certainly not great. Although it wasn't our best cruise, we still enjoyed Hawaii and the sea days. And we are still cruising with Celebrity.

So I expect there may still be some problems, but they will be corrected.

 

I was also in the first sailing of the Infinity to Hawaii. It was her second sailing ,the first being through the Panamal Canal.

The problems on that cruise were very minor, infact the only thing that I noticed was a lack of entertainment on the 5 sea days. I chalked that up to the change in the sailing date.

However, my experience on the Oct 24-26th sailing of the Quest was much different. There were very few people who had a clue what they were doing. It was a major fiasco.

I'm sure that they will correct the problems , If Celebrity ( Azamara) had spent some time and money on training, many of the problems wouldn't have happened. The crew was trying but either didn't know what to do or how to do it. It was a bad situation for everyone.

[fog1]

I have been away from this board for awhile. However, I a somewhat surprised that those sailing on the Quest experienced some of the same service issues as we experienced on the 3rd sailing of the Journey. One would think a business would do everything in its power to prevent a repeat of errors.

 

Like some, I do not plan to sail again with Azamara, but this is not due to my experiences. Instead, it is due to the ship size and the passenger demographic. By sailing on the Journey, I learned that I am not a small ship sailor, even though I loved my 33' sailboat. So, I'm back on the larger 1000 plus passenger ships.

[qe2]

I think your review was fair and balanced.

 

However, IMHO there is a lot of nit-picking in these threads that I consider unnesessary, and Unfortunately it is not only destroying the nice memories of our mini-vacation, but making future travellers prematurely cancelling their vacations based on the negative " It was the WORSE vacation of our lives" comments. Sorry but I have had much worse experiences on RCL and Carnival, regarding both food and service on ESTABLISHED ships.

 

Personally I can't help to wonder if many booked this cruise looking for the problems that Journey had just so they could recieve a comped cruise and future cruise credit.

 

I agree that the 'important people' read this and are aware, as many of the little things seem to have been taken care of, or are in the works.

 

Dave:eek:

 

This is not about a comped cruise. If I got one, I would probably not even take it. I have better things to do with my time. I do think, however that there are some people who sailed free on the first few Quest sailings that feel that they need to say that all is well. It is a lovely ship.The itineraries are the best. If you don't have expectations above that, you will love Azamara.