If you could say something to the new CEO of Azamara

[fPetrarca]

Seabourn does "Shopping With The Chef"-very popular.

[MVPinBoynton]

My first Azamara cruise will be in February. Since I have previously been on the Tahitian Princess, I know I will love the Quest. I booked this cruise since I have very high expectations for the Azamara service and food. All I ask is that the product is one that is special enough to make me want to return to Azamara.

[Andy]

We agree. We want, need, and expect table service for lunch, whether the ship is in port or not. Even when we choose a port-intensive itinerary, we don't get off in every port and I think most of your passengers opt to stay onboard for some ports. There is no way a line can call itself premium or near-Luxe, let alone luxury, if a passenger has to settle for buffet food they must carry themselves for major meals. It's fine that there is buffet food ALSO, but not in place of service by waiters. If passengers don't get 3 meals a day service, then I fail to understand why passengers should be expected to tip as much as luxury lines which do offer that.

 

We would like to see bottled water (still and sparkling) included in prices.

 

The other thing that is important to us is to have some options for cruising from the West Coast in order for us to get to know your product. The first round-trip cruises from the West Coast that I see are two in January, 2011. Can we count on Azamara to increase cruises from the West Coast in the future?

 

Hi Gillianrose !

 

I agree with you and our other CC friends who would like to see the Dining Room open for lunch. I understand Jan's point about it being an expense, but if you want to offer yourself as a more upscale line, I feel the Dining Room should be open.

 

Your comment about West Coast Cruising, is a tough one. With only 2 ships in Azamara's fleet, and limited exposure to the USA overall, I'd be surprised if Azamara will have a larger presence on the West Coast anytime soon. I'm very curious to see how the 2 Panama Canal sailings perform in Late '09/Early '10. If the 2 Sea of Cortez sailings in January 2011 do not offer strong results, I would not expect to see Azamara repeat those itineraries in 2012. I believe it is a good idea to bring Journey to the West Coast for a few sailings, if nothing else than to bring Azamara closer to a new group of potential Cruisers. I hope it works out !

 

Of course, if Azamara had more ships, they would have greater flexibility, but it does not seem as if more ships are in their immediate future. Perhaps Mr. Pimentel will be able to convince Royal Caribbean's Management to add another ship or 2, to Azamara's fleet when the economy improves. I'm rooting for it to happen.

[Andy]

My first Azamara cruise will be in February. Since I have previously been on the Tahitian Princess, I know I will love the Quest. I booked this cruise since I have very high expectations for the Azamara service and food. All I ask is that the product is one that is special enough to make me want to return to Azamara.

 

Hi Mike !

 

How are you ? I hope all is well !

 

I hope you enjoy your Quest sailing, as much as we enjoyed ours. I see that you have several months to go before your sailing, but I look forward to your fantastic photos, and review.

[renny]

Water is crucial. I have not been on Azamara but "ship" water on other lines has led to upset stomachs! I do not relish the though of recycled water and wonder if the water on board is subject to any standards. I drink filtered water at home would certainly wish to be even more cautious on vacation.

Thanks!

[JennAngel9]

I agree with the people who agree with my own pro-dining room sentiment, and would just like to add that I do not believe it would necessarily be much of a cost increase for the dining room service. From what I understand, people tend to eat more courses, larger helpings and just generally a lot more when at a buffet vs. at a seated table service meal. You don't need the full dining room waitstaff- especially if you know that 50% of passengers are on shore excursions etc. Alternately,

a) as the line already offers room service, perhaps a proper lunch menu could be delivered to the stateroom the night before and passengers could order off it the next day

b) early on in the cruise (perhaps as part of check-in) guests could be asked which ports they might return to the ship for lunch, to get a (semi) accurate assesment of dining needs.

 

When one has been schlepping around on foot all day, especially the good contingent of cruisers who find walking/standing for long periods of time challenging, it is very nice to return to the relaxing atmosphere of a air conditioned dining room with proper service. Princess, HAL, and Cunard all manage to do this.

[VickyN]

GREAT IDEA TO START THIS STRING!

 

Improving Azamara;

 

1. Don’t pull our wine when we return from port! It is sophomoric and treats paying passengers, who are on vacation, like children.

 

2. If you are going to promise canapés in each cabin in the afternoon, deliver them without requiring the person to fill out an order each day and then be in the cabin when the canapés are delivered.

 

3. Yes!!! Provide shore excursions to restaurants or cooking schools for demonstrations or classes in local cuisine!

 

4. Yes!!! Provide cooking classes and demonstrations in local cuisine on board!

 

5. Provide greater shore excursion options to local growers or manufacturers with samplings and pairings of regional food and beverages.

 

6. Provide phone and internet support, separate from Celebrity, with employees who know the Azamara brand and are efficient in servicing your clients.

 

7. Have exquisite mattresses and bedding! Us baby-boomers need it!

 

8. Provide greater loyalty program advantages!

 

Thanks!

Vicky

[MVPinBoynton]

Hi Mike !

 

How are you ? I hope all is well !

 

I hope you enjoy your Quest sailing, as much as we enjoyed ours. I see that you have several months to go before your sailing, but I look forward to your fantastic photos, and review.

 

Hi Andy,

Life is wonderful. I am looking forward to doing a review on SE Asia as well as Azamara. I would assume that by February, Larry will have put his touch on the line and it should be an even better experience than I am anticipating.

[VickyN]

Please consider inclusive bottled water & soft drinks for all passengers (not just suites) or complimentary "house" red or white wine at dinner.

 

The complimentary house wine at dinner is an excellent idea!

[Spursgirl]

Hi,

 

I agree with all of the suggestions posted by fellow CC friends, particularly opening the dining room at lunchtime - this should be a pre-requisite for a line marketing itself as a premium product.

 

The other thing I'd like them to look at is offering us more imaginative itineraries which take us to ports that other cruise lines don't. Many of us are experienced travellers and would welcome the chance to visit less well-known and crowded spots particularly in the med where it would be blissful to be the only ship in port.

 

I have no doubt though that the new CEO in time will make an already very fine product even better.

 

Ciao

 

Hazel

[Literary Lynne]

:) Oh yes - those afternoon canapes. I totally agree that once you have pre-ordered them, you should not have to be in your stateroom to take delivery of them.

 

Really good lecturers would be a huge selling point for us. I remember one Celebrity cruise when there were lectures on the artists and classical music of Spain when we were sailing there and similarly French ones when in France, Italy etc. Either on sea days or late afternoon when people have returned from excursions would be good.

 

Great topic!:) Lynne

[weimluvr]

Nope not me, but your pooch is gorgeous.

 

Look at my (now late) girl long enough and she will wink at you.

 

I love her wink--so cute. I'm sure she is having a fun time with my (late) girl, Simone. Bounding about, as funny Weims do. ;)

We have not sailed with Azamara, next month to the British Isles will be our first time. Next year we're "trying" Oceania. Doing a little "shop & compare" you might say. I will hold any questions I would have with the new CEO until after my cruise, although I'm wondering why there are so many negative comments about the coffee. I am so looking forward to a smaller ship with a great port intensive itinerary. 28 days and counting....

Lori

[VickyN]

I am doing a shop and compare also as am on Azamara in 9-09 and 4-10 and Oceania in 11-09. I can't wait to see the difference.

 

Indeed! On the new ports of call! Azamara definitely needs to do that! Oceania is doing some great new Med ports, which I have to wait until 2011 to do as am doing Regent to the Black Sea in the summer of 2010. Yes, this seasoned cruiser would love more of those nice small ports where the big ships can't go. That is why I booked Oceania in November doing the small ports of the Caribbean and the Amazon. I have sailed the Caribbean a number of times and on this cruise, there is not one I have been to before in the entire 25 days. Exciting! :D

[gillianrose]

:) Oh yes - those afternoon canapes. I totally agree that once you have pre-ordered them, you should not have to be in your stateroom to take delivery of them.

 

There may be something perishable atop the canapes. There has been, like a fishy-cheesy spread used on Celebrity canapes. I can understand why Azamara would not want to leave something that could go bad at room temperature.

 

They could solve that by not using anything perishable, if you request it, I suppose.

[gillianrose]

I agree with all of the suggestions posted by fellow CC friends, particularly opening the dining room at lunchtime - this should be a pre-requisite for a line marketing itself as a premium product.l

 

I'm glad to see there is so much agreement on this. We recently cancelled a cruise on Celebrity for two reasons, and the main thing was the closing of the dining room every day the ship is in port.

 

And how many think that Celebrity and Azamara are really using the dining room closings to give time off to their staff? They know we like the employees and want to guilt us into accepting that, but I don't believe a word of it.

 

Staffing may indeed be involved, but only in the sense that they are employing fewer people.

[Susan-M]

I agree with all of you but each one that you suggested would have to raise the price of the cruise..as they have to make money somewhere and their bottom line right now wont support your suggestions..as far as the dining room being open on port days, there are too many people off the ship to make two dining venues worth while to open..

Jancruz1

 

I agree with your thoughts on both counts ... whatever services and/or products Azamara adds, it's going to cost them to do it.

 

Are people willing to pay more for their cruise fare to include bottled water, complimentary wine at dinner, better loyalty programs, free shuttles (not mentioned yet on this thread, but a frequent suggestion on other threads), or having butlers take care of your laundry?

 

I also think that the number of people wanting to eat in the MDR on port days would be too few to warrant having it open along with the buffet restaurant.

[BurBunny]

I'm someone who sometimes has to take a day off touring and spend a port day onboard the ship. While I dislike buffets (on some ships intensely and actively avoid them), and prefer the MDRs, it just simply doesn't make sense on a ship this side to have 2 kitchens staffed and active not to mention two dining areas operating. On a high number of Azamara's itineraries, the overwhelming majority of passengers are going to be ashore most of the day and not coming back and forth between port and the ship. It simply just doesn't make sense, and to me isn't about being a "deluxe" line to do that, it's about using resources in the most efficient way to serve the majority the best way possible.

 

Not to mention that Azamara's buffet, along with Regent's (and to an extent Crystal) is one of the few I actually don't mind and will dine in without much complaint at all. I'm sure if you want your tray carried for you, they'd be more than happy to oblige.

[JennAngel9]

Given that Oceania and Princess manage to keep their MDRs open on port days, I can't imagine its as difficult or inefficient as its being described on this thread.

[topcop]

WE are Hal regulars and look forward to our 2010 Caribbean Azamar Cruise.

 

But, from ready the various posts we too would like to see reasonably priced drinks and reasonable laundry service.

 

We like to have a few drinks while on board. Not to the point of intoxication, but we like to relax and have a good time. Especially sitting at a bar with friendly bartenders and cruise mates.

 

We also like to pack light by using a reasonably priced laundry service. HAL offers such a service.

 

You need to copy, or improve upon what the other "classier" lines are offering.

[Nutrioso]

I agree -- better organized and less expensive laundry service. I would like an all you want laundry service for one price depending on the length of the cruise. I don't like paying by the piece or by the small bag. ----Penny

[fPetrarca]

I assumed this discussion centered around the belief that the new CEO is being charged with, among other things, increasing Azamara's revenue. That would mean higher prices (I don't think cut backs are on the table). It then becomes a question of how to justify higher prices, since higher prices with nothing added could simply cause customers to book Oceania instead of Azamara. So, yes, some of these suggestions (bottled water, dinner wine, etc.) will cost the line some money (although relatively minimal, in my opinion) but they can also help justify a price increase. Like most everyone, I think Azamara now is a great deal and don't want to see prices go up but if they do, I want to see some value added with the increase. And I personally wouldn't mind paying more for some of these suggested enhancements, especially the dinner wine and more personalized excursion services. Both would add greatly to the overall quality of the cruise experience.

[macruise]

I too, would like to see a sit-down service dining room open for lunch. Maybe one of the specialty restaurants could substitute for the MDR during lunch as fewer people seem to take advantage of this option anyway. There were never that many folks for sit down lunch on sea days. We were glad when we arrived at a port after lunch time that the MDR was opened for us.

 

When we are in port, we sometimes come back to the ship to freshen up, eat lunch and head out again.

 

We drank far less than we have on any other cruise because of the costs of drinks. Like others, I think that the ship would make up in volume by reducing the costs of drinks.

 

As far as canapes in the room, we never quite figured that one out. It does make sense to order them so that they don't go wasted. We returned once from shore only to find some fishy ones awaiting us. This isn't good for people who don't enjoy fish. We never, ever ordered them, but a few times, they were awaiting us. Seems like a waste of food.

 

Azamara, like Celebrity, exaggerates the necessity for shuttles. In Varna, a shuttle was recommended so I asked at the shore excursion desk how far it was into town and the staff person said that it was 6k. Well, when we arrived, it was obvious that the town was very close to port. The center itself was only about 1k. Even worse was our stop in Yalta. The Potemkin Steps can be seen from the ship. It was only necessary to go through the terminal, walk across a plaze, take steps or an elevator to a lower level and reach either the Potemkin Steps or a FREE funicular. Saying that it is not a good idea to walk into town or that the town is too far away creates ill will.

At least, we learned of this scam from falling for it on the Infinity in Ecuador.

 

In general, I think that Azamara is a product that suits me well.

[critterchick]

In addition to the many excellent suggestions already posted, I would like to see better and more varied entertainment onboard. With all the talent in this world, there's no excuse for tired Borscht Belt comedy or a singer whose resume including performing with stars who long ago passed away.

 

Local culture: last year somebody reported Spanish lessons on the Best of ITALY cruise. How about Italian, since that was the entire itinerary? This year we had some enrichment lectures onboard and, although the professor was very knowledgeable, we snuck out in favor of free drinks at the Select/Elite party because it was all medieval history (and I was a Renaissance Italian major, mind you) and didn't really set the stage for what we were about to see. How about some culture classes - how to negotiate in the stores or the current socio-economic climate so we can converse knowledgeably with the locals, at least a tiny bit?

 

I find much of the wine list to be very good, but it's maddening to be in Italy, home of some of the greatest wines in the world, and not be able to bring any back to enjoy during the cruise. Taking it home is usually out of the question with luggage restrictions (I'm so not checking a Barolo in my luggage:eek:), so it's one shot and we're done, unless we can find an importer at home. Why not let us enjoy a new favorite wine one more time? I'd happily pay a MODEST (not your over the top $25) fee if it means keeping the price of the cruise down for those who don't wish to imbibe. But the blanket prohibition feels like RCI - talk to your legal department, your insurance carrier, or whomever is making you do that, and find a way to treat us like the adults we are (chronologically, anyway) - given that we've never seen more than a handful of people under 30, never mind under 18, onboard, it shouldn't be so difficult.

 

And in ports where other lines offer free shuttles (Venice being the most glaring example), you should follow suit. $15 daily to get to San Marco is an insult. Get onboard with the free bus to Piazzale Roma, and then people can go where they want. If it's San Marco they can take the Alilaguna shuttle at the pier.

 

I love your product. But I have degrees of loving, and you could get me to love it more...:)

[Ex-Airbalancer]

About the shows mmm

It would be better if they made up to atleast '70's or '80's

But they did yes it was a younger group of passangers on our only crusie

They mentioned that no one sign up for the on board activities they had on ship

Buffet lunch was great for me, no need to open up a dinning room for me:D

[VickyN]

It is great that this string has spurred such discussion. It would be wonderful to be on a ship with 700 happy travelers who all feel heard and appreciated!

Below is a recap of what I have read that we would like Larry Pimentel to consider. I am going to e-mail this list to him now and others might want to do the same. I apologize if I missed anything. We can either add to this list or start a new one to send him.

1. Sit down dining for lunch each day, even when the ship is in port.

2. The ability to bring on our preferred wine onboard when visiting a port.

3. Non-perishable canapés delivered to the room each day without filling out a form.

4. More and varied entertainment, possibly local talent.

5. Excursions featuring local cooking lessons and pairing classes or demonstrations with possible trips to the market.

6. On board local food and beverage cooking and pairing classes with market trips with the chef.

7. Area specific lectures and lessons to include language and socio- economics.

8. Reduced pricing for individual coctails, beer and wine.

9. Wine packages for purchase.

10. Complimentary “house” wine with dinner.

11. Free shuttles from the ship.

12. Complimentary bottled water and soft drinks.

13. Have butlers really be butlers.

14. Cocktail menus with prices.

15. Serve local beer, local wine and local cocktails and feature local menus.

16. Do longer cruises.

17. Feature new ports which the big cruise ships can’t go to.

18. Provide premium mattresses and bedding.

19. Have better organized laundry service with possible package rates.

20. Have unique and more loyalty program benefits.