uktog

The Arabian Dinner, although advertised on the interactive TV was never offered. The reason the Explorers dinner was cancelled was evidently they could not source the ingredients. I suspect the reasons the tables were very popular was that so many people were struggling to use OBC (weren't the shops terrible) that some were opting for the French menu even though they had had it before. Not sure how much revenue they actually made

Yes it is. Has been since early October

Yes it needs sorting out and a consistent naming convention used. I’m not a fan of early evening on day 1 particularly with later boarding and sail away times. I would rather have it that time on Day 2. I missed both events on my recent b2b. First one because I was still tracking down a missing case (it arrived, it was the first of many subsequent indicators of a less than switched on attendant. Second one due to misinformation at the b2b meeting (the GRM really struggled to get most things right at that!). Both were on Day 1, the trouble with the second cruise was we didn’t sail until day 2 and we were advised it was always on the evening we sailed.

Riocca has it right as always- a word of warning check what weight allowance you now have with vueling as it’s less than KLM/BA. Another thing although Azamara booked your flights you may be entitled to EU261 delay compensation from BA. Check their website, flyertalk orCAA for details though I think strike action may be outside the parameters but always worth a check (261 applies to all guests not just those from the EU)

Good luck, at least you have your flights in a package, wonder how others are coping who booked themselves

Patio was open until 6 on embarkation day on journey

French chefs table. A fabulous wine pairing on journey

Agree, we loved on 6 October Journey cruise. We didn’t do the Italian (too many substitutes needed to remove nuts) and had the Explorers Dinner would happen on the 13th but it was cancelled due to low demand

Time to close this thread Host?

I think the issue is some cannot accept that the operation uses two time slots 1800-1845 and 2000-2045 which is as we’ve experienced elsewhere. This allows the very small speciality galley serving two restaurants to effectively manage the workflow with chefs concentrating on appetisers etc at two time slots, these chefs leave the limited space to the main meal guys. Maybe if guests saw pictures of how small the deck 10 galley is they’d better understand this workflow.

Which ones give you unlimited time choices? My experience on Celebrity, Viking and all river cruises is it’s the two sitting model for specialities but it doesn’t bother us

Exactly. Using the feedback mid cruise form is an excellent way to communicate with management as the feedback on these forms is channeled to the department heads. The responses are even quicker if you use the electronic QR code in the Insider or get it from guest relations. On the electronic form you select which department(s) you want to comment about (housekeeping restaurant entertainment etc) - you can select more than one. It opens up commentary boxes for each department you select. These forms go straight to the inbox of the relevant department head. Believe me the response is almost instant (though I accept the comments I was giving for 2/3 departments was praise, the third one was a little slower but to be fair investigation had been done before the call back was made) If you’re so unhappy you need to persevere but also accept the answers if you’ve had them from the ultimate decision makers

And us every show on both legs

Agree and do you really really notice the impact of dining a little earlier or a little later? Sounds like it’s just making a nippy point as we would say.

We will do that itinerary in 2024 so I will be very interested to hear how it goes for you.

Totally agree - a breath of fresh air and as you say it’s not about him and it’s lovely to have an ego free CD. He’s loving the job and it shows and unlike my experiences post pandemic elsewhere on Azamara he’s visible everywhere (he’s been to the Heike school of walk about) but keeps his voice off the announcements system. What I loved having been with him b2b he doesn’t trot out the same show/sets each time, he mixes it up. And he’s spontaneous- jumping up on stage to sing with the Band poolside at lunchtime for one number because he was passing by…. Grace is also excellent lovely nature full of energy and a lovely smile, she does the Aussies proud Dont change Darren and Grace, keep doing it as you are. PS agree about the last night set - you leave the cruise on a high after it.

I think it’s very inconsistent the way things are handled onboard- some cruise again/circle managers are much more flexible than others

Oops that should read the crew on Journey are more settled- obviously a Quest hack 😂😂😂😂

So final thoughts (yes some very subjective) *based on our experience of Quest in April and July and Journey now, we would score Journey above Quest *The crew on Quest seem more settled and better trained though there are still a few not quite getting it right. *The big buffets - White Night and the Brunch - are not as good on Journey not sure if that’s budget cuts or individual ships decisions *There were none of the little extras we’ve had elsewhere. Eg no cannoli or equivalent brought on board and no local nibbles at the Destination Celebration although the event itself was excellent *The food is now much less to our taste than before. The focus is now on spice and Eastern not herbs and more Mediterranean. This doesn’t work for us (menus are imbalanced one night every dish was spiced or peppered) but probably does for others *The specialty restaurants need a revamp, the food is no longer worth the increased extra and at times the constant interruptions to service by waiters trying to emphasise how good they/the food are is downright annoying *The MDR restaurant managers respond the wrong way to feedback- we had an issue one night, every time we went thereafter seated in a different section the very competent and experienced waitresses were not allowed to serve our food, the gentleman took over in a way we did not appreciate. But in context 18/19 meals eaten there were fine. *The Chefs Tables are excellent and are worth the extra, but they need more than two menus *The sommelier in the main dining room and all the bar staff are spot on especially the team in The Den. Loved having the new cocktails in the Den it was a perfect place for them we felt *We had Ultimate packages after one tasting of the included wines (yuk) and whilst there were substitutes they were always wines to our taste *The dreaded club tonic is alive and well until you train a waiter to find the hidden Schweppes but you need to be on your guard especially at the Pool or you get “clubbed” *Its incredibly hard to spend obc - cancellations to excursions and a shop with nothing in it (worst Azamara shop range I’ve seen) you really struggle *The entertainment shows and specialist sets in the Living Room were excellent and with four singers and two dancers, a much better arrangement than on Quest. *The cruise director made the trip for us and many others. So yes there are niggles it’s not perfect but we did not expect it to be. There are easy hits for them to improve on if they want to Will we be booking more on Azamara- based on this experience you bet we will when the price is right!

The last evening ended on a high. Cruise Director Darren has introduced a 45 minute farewell set in the Den. It was the happiest event with guests and bar team saying goodbye and leaving to do their final packing on a high. Disembarkation was zero announcements stress free calm (maybe someone should tell Quest to do likewise the morning they were disembarking beside us in Ravenna we were woken up early by their cruise director’s dulcet tones repeating very regularly!). We’ve lucked out on Welcome Pickups we’ve had the same driver every time and indeed he will also take us to the airport at the end. Our hotel, Hotel Perianth part of the Mr and Mrs Smith chain is in a side pedestrian square and is lovely. (If only we could work out how to find it each time we come back - we always find it but never the same way, some routes more circular than others!) It’s very much a Greek rather than tourist part of town but we walked 10 minutes for this view (and a drink) and five minutes last night to revisit the Orthodox cathedral we loved it in the day so calming Today we’ve again taken it easy (a mere 11000 steps so far) and as we’ve seen all around the Acropolis before, we headed 15 minutes in the other direction from yesterday and after the obligatory view of the choreography (white outfits only on Sundays by the way) we have had a lovely time in the National Gardens by the Parliament.

I wonder if the problem is many of the butlers are ex speciality restaurant waiters promoted without butler training. They know it suits their former colleagues to use the set times only so don’t really act as your advocate. One of the challenges currently being faced is in many areas people have been promoted beyond their level of competence without proper training. Waiters becoming butlers, waiters becoming restaurant managers but not prepared to manage former peers and assistant stateroom attendants becoming stateroom attendants. We certainly experienced the impact of the latter two on our cruises we’ve just finished

If the event is onboard it is not supposed to be called Azamazing Evening it is supposed to be called destination celebration to clearly differentiate it is similar but not the same. Who called it Azamazing Evening? If it was in the printed material that’s a big boob

And as the CD reports to the HD top of the tree is best

I would also tell the hotel director

Sound levels on Journey were quite good overall. Some ships get it so wrong. Some go for canned music all day which drives me crazy. I’m glad journey didn’t