federalexpress

On 11/18/2023 at 9:35 PM, Host Jazzbeau said:

My analysis of the N2 suites on non-Onward ships (based on cutting up the deck plans and overlaying decks 8 and 9) is as follows:

•  8056 is at the entrance to Windows, and I believe that area is a quiet island

•  8060 is the next best, starting to get into the Windows traffic

•  8062-8068 are under Windows

•  8070 is under the door between Windows and the Sunset Bar (could be very noisy)

•  all the odd numbered N2s have bathtubs, so NG for me

 

I've been in 8062 on Pursuit.

I don't recall any significant problems with noise from above. My hunch is it might be worse under the pool deck in warm weather, the fitness centre and maybe the Patio. The only problem our cabin had was that is was bang opposite the service door and that did make some noise, but nothing too terrible and often it was propped open anyway. At least it meant my glass of wine got to me quicker.

On 10/3/2023 at 3:19 PM, LoveChops said:

Hi everyone,

 

We are looking to book a CC Suite on Azamara Quest next year to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary. We've cruised a few times with Regent Seven Seas and I'm curious to see how this cruise compares (other than the included shore excursions).

 

Hoping someone can help with a few queries:-

1) The website says the suite comes with speciality dining - is this unlimited reservations or are we restricted to one visit per restaurant?

2) Is the mini-bar in the suite free or is this payable?

3) If you have experience in this suite category could you advise of any other inclusions that make this special?

4) Can your Butler deliver drinks to the suite free of charge if we have a drinks package?

 

Thank you everyone for you help!

 

 

My cruise was back in January but assuming things haven't changed, here's some responses on the  questions you ask (speciality restaurants is, I think clear from other comments).

1) Other than the spirits you are given as part of being a suite guest, any other alcohol in the room or mini bar will be chargeable. Soft drinks and water are not. You can however bring wine (and I'm guessing spirits) to drink in your cabin free of charge.

2) Not sure but on my cruise, I don't think you get free entry to the spa deck and pool, unless you're in the big suites. What I did get with my suite was a big allocation of on board credit, $1000, which I used towards buying the Indulgence package (I had to pay the $499 difference with my own money). In addition to an excursions and spa credit (totalling just under $1000 alone), this package also includes free wifi for 2 for the whole voyage, ultimate drinks package for 2, a chef's table for 2 and many bags (7?) of laundry, plenty enough for a 17 night cruise. For a long cruise, this package was a bargain, if like me you only have a smallish amount extra to pay. It meant my final bill was minimal- about $50. It's possible they have increased the price- or give less OBC- because it was such exceptional value.

3) The butler is a big bonus, maybe you have them anyway on Regent. It may have been just ours being very good, but instead of wondering what I'd use him for, he was invaluable. The answer was, pretty much anything you ask for. I had a veranda dinner, served course by course, proper table set up etc. We chose from the MDR menu- I think only the big suites can have the speciality restaurants. Your butler should bring drinks as you wish to the cabin if you are on the Ultimate package. We used this a lot because the cabin is pleasant to relax in pre dinner and some dessert wine after. Never any problem, sometimes the Whispering Angel Rose came so quick, I was wondering if he had already pre-empted us!

Other than that, they do come around every day with afternoon tea, which is nice, if only for the cup of tea- tried not to eat too much of the scones etc.

I've not been on Regent but my perception is, it would be more luxurious and 'posher' than Azamara. The latter is quite informal, with a vibe of a slightly ageing country house hotel. I loved it but be aware that it might be different.

3 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

What a nice gesture!  Something I would never have thought of doing. 

Ah well, that is because I am a bit of a wine bore!

Actually it was a lovely evening, superb company- and my wife and I are not generally all that sociable so were were a bit wary- and all were into the wines. The unusual bit about my wine is that I had picked up on a visit earlier in the cruise to Deicas winery in Uruguay, not a country renowned for this style, but it was superb. I seem to recall it was the last night at sea and I wasn't going to get through it all without some help....

22 hours ago, sofietucker said:

So I'm appealing to the collected expertise here for some questions re: wine etiquette at dinner on board ship. This is especially in regard to the wine we may bring aboard, and the complimentary wine in our stateroom:

We have already been informed that it's "not done" to bring a glass of wine with us to dinner--unless we purchased it (as part of our package or not) at a bar. But not from our room.

 

1. What about taking our bottle away with us, whether from the dining room (where we either bought the bottle on the spot or paid the corkage fee, albeit a screw top Molly Dooker,  or whatever)? Maybe we want to savor a glass later "at home" without having them chase down the bottle in storage. (Oceania was forever losing our bottles.) We have taken away partially-full glasses from time to time, which they transfer to regular bar ware to save their Riedel, lol. Fine. But no bottles so far.

 

2. Much is made in the world of wine about letting it breathe after opening. There's an endless array of decanters, pour tops, etc. We use some of those methods at home--including those titanium "breathable" glasses--depending on the wine, and find they can make a considerable difference. But at virtually any restaurant, and at the Chef's Tables/wine tastings we've attended over the years on a variety of cruise lines, the pattern is: present the wine at the table, open it, pour a sip, pour glasses. The expectation is to drink it pretty much immediately: vigorous swirling is the only option for aerating the wine. (Examining the cork is no longer done--and at least on Az Quest, it's placed right back in the bottle. So no breathing by letting it sit either.) In our stateroom, we may use one of our aerating pourers, and then when we're finished, we'll use one of our vacuum stoppers to stop it from oxidizing until next time. Has anyone every brought, along with the bottle you bring or order, one of these tools? We've not seen such--but on O last winter, we sat next to a guy who regaled his table with a lengthy description of his home aeration system...

Thoughts?

I don't think I'd take a glass of wine with me from the cabin, even from a bottle I'd paid corkage on, and certainly not on a sea day, given spillage risks. I'd have no problem taking the bottle though, full or part empty, assuming corkage had been paid. I tended to be 'by the glass' in restaurants because I was on the Ultimate package so never needed to take a glass back. Just ask the butler to bring me another one.

Now I think about it, I did take a bottle that I hadn't paid corkage to the speciality restaurant. But that was for chef's table for which all wine (and fairly decent stuff) is included. The sommelier was fine with this and was happy to have my fellow diners have a taste of what was an unusual dessert wine, versus the one he selected.

6 hours ago, dccruisin said:

Hi Grandma Cruising,  Thanks for sending.  I had seen this on the site.  I just couldn't believe Azamara would charge the same price for 25 days as for 8.  Glad they are doing that.  Now to lock this in.  I went to our booking and only the essential package was listed and did not have a price.   I guess this whole website update has things messed up.  I guess I will have to call.   Linda 

I can concur with Grandma Cruising that I could not (and I assume this is still the case) buy the Indulgence package until I got on board, unless I paid with my own money. Given. like you I wanted to use my OBC for the package, that meant I had to wait until getting onboard.

The only problem this causes is on excursions. There was one I wanted to use the excursion credit for, but supply was limited. The work around for this is apparently to book the excursion on your card before your cruise, then buy the package at Guest Services, then go along to the excursion desk to cancel your original excursion booking, then re-book with the excursion credit form your package. Most excursions can be cancelled with I think 48 hours notice and you should insist the money is refunded to your card.

I had an additional problem, the excursion I wanted to book wasn't cancellable. It was for a private driver and these don't tend to be cancellable for understandable reasons and are of course limited supply. I was told they tend to hold back a small number of these tours for those averse to online booking- catering for the older, non tech savvy. So we had a bit of a first hour to organise, my wife to the speciality restaurant booking table to book our reservations for those and the chef's table, me to Guest Services to book the package, then on to the Excursion desk to book the private driver, excursion and then up to the Spa to ensure my wife could make her spa booking with the package credit.

But it all worked. Then back to the cabin to sit on the veranda with a nice glass of vino to reward yourself. All good....

6 hours ago, dccruisin said:

Hi federalexpress,    So was the cost $1,499 for your Indulgence package on your 17 night cruise?   We are on a 25 night cruise in February 2025.  And if we can get the indulgence package for the $1,499 price that would be great. Linda 

Yes that is correct and it appears Grandma Cruising suggests it is the same even for a 25 night cruise. Given I already had $1000 in OBC, the extra $499 was a no brainer, given what you get. We made extensive use of the wi fi (which on our ship was Starlink and much better than we expected) and the drinks package, especially for the somewhat better wine offered. We were in a CC suite so got the premium restaurants anyway, but the chef's table, offered as an alternative was fab. The free laundry (I think 5 bags worth) was also great. The excursions and spa we used with the credit provided were heinously expensive for what they were, but not so bad if effectively free!

For 25 days it would be one of the few bargains you will find these days. It meant our bill was otherwise pretty much zero.

Interesting and it is indeed worrying, if not for me, then for sure AZ senior management. And their owners. These are not easy times for private equity though unless they are trying to offload pension liabilities, it doesn't really make sense for PE forms to see their acquisitions go bankrupt. Though they may be transactioned in a fire sale.

As an aside, I wonder if the strains are widespread among the industry. As I say, I have very limited cruising experience but a relative recently went on a family cruise with MSC out of Southampton. I could have advised the risks of sailing with that particular line, especially in summer holidays- I may not cruise much myself but I've worked with some cruise lines so know the brands. The ship was actually overbooked, not just full, and the experience so appalling, they disembarked on the second stop and spent over £1000 flying home. It must have been bad because I believe they got their money back, so MSC must have realised the shortcomings. 

There were a lot of accumulated losses during Covid. Maybe some cruise lines are trying a bit too much to make that money back, to their long term detriment.

1 hour ago, uktog said:

Larry Pimintel is a cruise industry veteran and the previous CEO of Azamara. @babykayis absolutely correct it’s very  hard to imagine the current situation re communications happening under his watch.  He managed to maintain that open channel sometimes in pretty challenging situations despite the big parental handcuffs. 
 

Some of the entertainment changes were started when he was in charge but the speed of change as is happening everywhere has hastened. Some of the changes have led to good new hires, some of the legacy staff are out of their depth and I think Larry would have addressed that (or not made the deployment decisions in the first place). 

I have seen all the onboard behaviours @babykaymentions including being directed to the clipboard but never all on the same ship. - the imperfect storm

 

We do have to recognise English is not the first language of all the entertainers and even when it is, some have accents and use dialects others not unreasonably cannot follow. However I do think in the case of trivia new materials are needed, staff should prepare better for the quiz (eg make sure they can read the questions in advance!!) and stop playing the dummy clown when acting as question master. Some staff get that, others lack or have forgotten the professionalism of old. 

 

The foot soldiers do try hard, many are very tired they are being asked to do more and more but keep trying to respond because they want to keep their jobs. The quality of supervision and support they receive from middle management in particular is not up to scratch - it lets the hard working front line serving staff down from what we observed. It’s only going to take one or two of the long serving junior staff to jump ship to another line and many will follow - they are a big family many came en bloc to Azamara and could equally leave that way. So far inertia has saved this from happening. 
 

I hope someone wakes up and smells the coffee at Azamara very soon!!

Thanks for explaining who Larry is/was. It remains the case that I don't recognise the issues raised in relation to my own cruise. I have a pretty high quality threshold on holidays but it was easily matched, even surpassed on my cruise. 

That said, it is my one and only cruise with AZ and only second ever so I am a rank amateur compared to some of you on here who seem to have sailed dozens of times over the years. You have a rather bigger sample size than me! Moreover I sailed before all this changeover nonsense happened (in fact the date might have actually been while we were onboard). It seems clear that has been an unmitigated disaster on the IT side. Moreover some of the criticisms raised would have passed me by. I had no interest in loyalty programs or the future cruises booth, I booked almost all my own excursions, I don't do trivia and was only an occasional participant in entertainment options, aside from the excellent Azamazing evening and a well run bridge group. Finally I was in a CC suite with a butler who became my main conduit for any issues arising and who was exceptional. In truth, I probably have relatively little to bring to this debate, though I note very many others on here who also seem a bit perplexed with the onboard criticisms.

Anyway, I wish you and babykay many years of happy cruising on whichever line you choose.

2 hours ago, babykay said:

Larry oversaw the entire operation.  If there was a problem onboard it was solved by Larry within hours.  He was reachable and reactive.  The other deficiet onboard from post Larry was abysmal entertainment and very detached entertainment crew. The new kids they had onboard didn't know how to say basic travel words like Cairo, or Reykjavik and they were just phoning in the trivia. The future booking guys were downright rude.  I walked past and saw that one of them was in his office without anyone there with him.  I popped my head in and asked if I could ask a quick question and without looking up, he pointed to a clipboard and said if you want to speak to me, you will need to sign up there.  Needless to say - I never found an occasion that I really wanted to speak with him after that. That would have absolutely never stand with Larry.  They crew seemed unhappy except for the service staff who looked exhausted from working very hard to please guests who came on feeling beat up by the home office. 

No idea who Larry is but all I will say is I simply don't recognise your experience from the cruise I took in January. The crew were excellent, some of the best service I've come across, with the exception of the shorex individual, and I've spent most of my career in the leisure and tourism sector so I know how hard it is to pull off.

Maybe it has got worse since January or maybe I was lucky in my experience but to be honest, when it comes to the onboard experience and what others have said on here, you look like the outlier, not me.

1 hour ago, babykay said:

Impeccable customer service.  Open lines of communication.  A builder of loyalty.  The ability to say "We are sorry".  

 I think most of the problems you cite are to do with offboard issues. I was asking about 'concepts' onboard the ship that are now not there. I can't see any evidence of that having changed much. Of the areas you quote,  customer service was overall v good onboard, other than the shorex, and even that was just one below par person without much empathy. Communication lines were very open for me- I had some issues with wine, and that was looked after and I got a sorry. Otherwise, all good. The crew were fantastic. The butler exceptional.

But I sailed early in the year and it seems apparent, if I am to believe others, that the pre cruise experience- and there's parts of that which will also affect onboard- has been shambolic at times, if not most of the time. The CEO has much to answer for from what I can see. It's possible RCCL also played their part in doing the minimum, or even less than that. A lot of issues seem to be connected with the loyalty program but as a seriously infrequent cruiser, that passes me by, though it's clear it is a major issue for many.

A few decades ago my since deceased parents who used to be more avid cruisers than I am, used to wait for very last minute offers. When I say last minute, I mean they kept bags packed because it could be next day or so, not just next week or month. They used to use Ceefax for this- there, that shows just how long ago.

They had a simple premise, if the cruise was £50 pppn, they were in. They figured it was pretty much similar cost to being at home or at least, very little more.

Now I'm retired, I'd be open to that too, but my impression is, cruise lines have gone more to airline type yield management, so the prices tend to go up, not down as the date approaches . I imagine they might also have been stung by people hearing how their expensive cruise had been bought by someone for a third or quarter the price, so the extra revenue might cause more grief and brand damage than it's worth.

11 hours ago, Grandma Cruising said:

Thought I’d post the ‘Tips’ spreadsheet link again to save searching for it.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15Deg-GaeZYLml8NN3PVwoh_jUkQ8QmYUe1wxnVAlODE/edit

 

Just one thing I noticed regarding drinks and suites, we stayed in a CC suite and the butler was perfectly happy to bring our wine to the suite, as and when we ordered. We did this both before and after dinner and of course they would also do it if you dined in the room. We had the Ultimate drinks package so it's possible you must have that too.

On Pursuit in January '23, spa deck access was not offered for CC suites, just the bigger suites.

There were passes you could buy but I din't think they were worth it.

1 hour ago, mrobinson said:

This fall will be our first cruise on Azamara. What is the dress code for dinner in the dining room. Are short allowed for men. We are used to Princess and Celebrity where long pants are required for dinner.

 

we usually dress nice but are trying to minimize our packing so just wanted to know options.

thanks

If you wanted to dress casual/wear shorts, but still want a table service dinner rather than a buffet, Patio is a good choice. Simple but tasty grills, partly outside, but with heaters if needed, and while busy at lunchtime, tends to be pretty quiet in the evening. No extra charge either.

Shorts are fine, if you wear them in Jan in Miami, you should be OK here. Just check the weather cos we can see some pretty heavy downpours in July. As others have said, there's quite a bit of difference from north to south of the UK, so around north Scotland, likely to be somewhat cooler, especially evenings.

45 minutes ago, Mercruiser said:

In general, Starlink is launching a new group of 50-ish satellites every week or two, for a year-to-date total of 14 launches and 671 satellites. This is an impressive launch rate. The total number of operational satellites is 3988.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Starlink_and_Starshield_launches#Starlink_Launches

 

To discuss the effect of new satellites on cruise itineraries, I'll divide this into three topics.

 

1) The disparity between Onward (very good 95+ Mbps) and the other Azamara ships (much lower Mbps) will not be solved by more satellites. This is most likely a problem with the networking configuration on ship. The solution will only be found by putting some skilled IT professionals on board to do a root-cause analysis. All Azamara ships should be capable of 95+ Mbps with the existing satellite deployment.

 

2) The mid-ocean coverage will be improved with new satellites. All of the lunches since June 2021 have been the v1.5 satellites which include "Lasers for inter-satellite communication". These lasers are needed for mid-ocean communication far from a ground station. The v1.0 satellites do not have lasers.

 

3) Polar latitudes (> 60 degrees north or south in this discussion) are only improved by satellites placed in polar orbits. Polar orbits are the ones with an Orbital Inclination of 97.6 degrees. There are currently 230 satellites in polar orbits out of a total of 3988 operational satellites. The most recent polar launch (last month) was No. 80 (see chart below) with 46 satellites. 

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Starlink_and_Starshield_launches#Starlink_Launches

 

 

These 230 polar satellites are not enough to provide consistent coverage. This can be visualized on https://satellitemap.space/#

by looking at Fairbanks, AK. There are many times when there are no satellites in range of Fairbanks. Field reports on Youtube by Alaska residents indicate that the service is fast when it works, but will drop out completely for many minutes until another satellite is in range.

 

I don't think polar coverage will ever be as good as the lower latitudes, simply due to the fact that there are relatively few paying customers in polar regions. This will limit the number of polar launches.

 

 

My experience on Pursuit earlier this year supports that. We cruised to the Falklands and Chilean Fjords. Sometimes speed was astonishing, up to 90MB, other times nothing.

13 hours ago, wowzz said:

Sometimes, when discussing wine prices on a cruise, it is like entering a parallel universe, where normal pricing no longer exists.

Yes, I know that there will be an enormous mark up, as there is in a land based restaurant,  and that many cruisers will have a package.

But, take the case of the Silverado Cab Sauv. $18 a glass, or $21 with service charge. Lets assume a generous 4 pours to a bottle - so $84 a bottle. For a Brit like me,  that equates to almost £70 a bottle!

Silverado is perfectly pleasant,  but the markup  is getting on for over 650%, when compared to similar wines available in the UK, and I guess in the US as well. 

I just wonder if Princess have thrown the pricing manual out of the window,  now that so many of us have a package, and just slot wines into either a sub $15 or sub $20 category, regardless of the base cost  of  the wine.

To be fair, Silverado Cab Sauv would retail for £40-50 in the UK. It might not be worth that much, but that's a different story.

And for sure, is someone was offering me a Canyon Road Merlot, which is a pretty rubbish wine, in the Plus package and I can get Silverado for a few bucks more, as you suggested earlier, that to me looks like a no brainer. It's actually the implied mark up on the Canyon Road I'd have a problem with. That's a seven quid bottle which they appear to be selling for not far short of £40.

25 minutes ago, wowzz said:

To be honest,  you more or less have to take what is offered. 

If you ask for a Merlot, you get whatever Merlot there is behind that particular bar. You don't normally have any choice in the matter. 

Our "go to" choice was the Malbec or Pinot Noir - neither would win any prizes,  but were OK for session wines. We would then trade up in the evenings.  

How disappointing given what appeared to be the case before.

But I think your solution makes sense, trading up in the evening. There's some good stuff at the higher price level and as you say, only a few bucks extra.

12 minutes ago, wowzz said:

What we do is buy the more expensive wines, and then pay the difference. ie pay $3.54 for an $18 glass.

Yes I saw that option from the list. You're right, the Duckhorn Paraduxx and Silverado Cab Sauv are very good quality wines for not an awful lot more.

But I'm still interested in 'not an awful lot more' than what? There was another thread on here where someone posted a similar/same Plus list as above, but seems to have asked the barman to show the bottles he was offering. There was a very ropy Canyon Road. But then next to it, A Duckhorn Decoy Merlot. That's not too bad at all. Is one likely to get that onboard? Is it really pot luck and they just serve you a Canyon Road if you don't say, no thanks to that?

If the Plus package allows you drinks for up to $15, how come the only wines available are a lot less than that, $12 maximum?

Does anyone, maybe currently onboard, know what you get as a Merlot or a Cabernet Sauv? Is it just any old stuff they have to hand because it seems very sneaky not to specify what the wine is. I'm sure it used to be much more specific...

1 hour ago, brisalta said:

 

They are making a positive statement telling you what is allowed. Why should they also need to tell you what is not allowed?

No they are telling you what is not allowed too. Spirits and liquor. And beer. And so I ask, where do fortified wines fit in. If they are not allowed, why not specify that. Let's be honest, they just haven't thought it through in much detail, probably because these are likely not popular drinks onboard, in fact I doubt they sell white port or oloroso sherry. So it's understandable in a way but not much use to those who would like to know if it can be brought on, or not, even with a corkage fee. As you might have gleaned from the answers on here, it doesn't seem clear either way in practise.

4 hours ago, brisalta said:

 

Sherry is 18% alcohol and is a FORTIFED wine. Table wine has less alcohol. Wine is a product of fermentation of grapes. Fortified wine is based on wine but has additional alcohol added in addition to what is naturally produced by the fermentation process. 

Fortified wine and wine are too different categories of beverages.

Perhaps you are confusing table wine with Ripple?

Yes you could argue wine and fortified wine are two different categories but the question remains, given Princess do not reference the category 'fortified wine' in their rules, are they trying to place it as a liquor/spirit or a wine? You could make a case for either given it sits somewhere in between but if you regard liquor as something typically with an alcohol content of 40%, which would be my understanding of that category, then clearly 18% is a lot further from that than it is for wine which often is around 14%.

No idea what Ripple is but I do know the difference between a Banyuls and a Maury...

1 hour ago, donaldsc said:

Bottom line is that it is their ship, their cruise line and their rules.  Whether the rules make any sense to you or anyone else is irrelevant.  

 

DON

True but it would help if the rules were clear in that case. Sherry may not qualify as wine but it is sure not a spirit or liquor.

14 minutes ago, EDDY0827 said:

Answer: Not allowed.

Both Sherry and Port wines are FORTIFIED wines, meaning they have brandy or a neutral distilled spirit added.

 

So they are classing sherry as a liquor? That seems off given it is little more than a table wine in alcohol content.

Quick question: I gather you can bring a bottle on board to consume in your cabin. Can that be a bottle of sherry or port, rather than wine?