kaz

Just off the Royal yesterday. I was told Happy hour was discontinued .

Did you only book through Celebrity? Are you elite or higher? Usually they ask those who have paid closer to the regular price and they get an up sell; I have never heard of such a fantastic deal...how many days and to...?

Congratulations...you won the lottery!

 

 

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Yes booked thru Celebrity and we are elite+. It was the deal of a lifetime,could not pass it up. Booked thru Xciting deals.

How many days was that cruise? If it was 7 days, isn't that $471pp/pd? I guess that's a good price for a suite.

Yes 7 days, unlimited internet, premium bev pkg, prepaid grats,$300 OBC, Free specialty restaraunts, free alcove for the week. And the suite is 1636 sqft + 195 Balc. Paid $413pp/pd

But was it the Tuesday/Wednesday "xciting deals" or just one of those amazing deals where they jack the price to lower it?

Just returned from a Reflection Cruise ,we booked a Suite Guarantee for $1549pp were upgraded free to a celebrity suite and ended up in the Relection suite for an additional 1000pp. All booked thru xciting deals. Great deal , no jack up in price. It all depends on timing. Nov and Dec & some Jan are best times. Feb ,Mar and April are high demand.

We received a "Certificate of Reimagination" in recognition of those who love travel! The certificate commemorates those onboard for the inaugural voyage of the newly reimagined Azamara Journey on January 27 - February 7, 2016 and was signed by Captain Johannes Tysse! Enclosed was a letter of thanks and gratitude from Larry Pimentel, President and CEO of Azamara Club Cruises! The certificate is displayed in a beautiful dark blue padded album and is such a nice gesture and wonderful keepsake of a wonderful "never to be forgotten" cruise!

alwayslookforthebrightside.blogspot.com

We also received one. WOW a certificate for a Re imagined ship that had so many problems. We could not have reimagined that this cruise would have been so bad. While I am commenting, everyone that was not on this cruise commented on the fantastic compensation we were given. Well you could only use the 30% if you take the cruise by 3-1 2017. We book way in advance to get the best price and cannot use it as we are booked beyond that date. Besides I doubt we would book another Azamara as it did not live up to what everyone raves about. Maybe taking the first cruise after drydock was the not the thing to do but we were locked in.

Wow, laundry still not working. Has anyone reported - is this new machines that were installed as part of the dry dock, or the old machines. Trying to figure out what might be the issues after all this time.....

 

(at least they gave you a letter about the laundry though, so you didn't have to figure it out yourself by going to guest services to ask...)

The machines are new ones. We were on the first cruise post drydock. We looked in a few times and saw the machines disassembled and tools strewn about. We were a couple of cabins from the laundry and heard metal being ground and cut and could smell burning metal. We heard them working only a couple of days. One had to ask for the free bag as it wasn't announced.

We arrived in Cartegenga today at 1PM, it was hot and humid, but there were trade winds to keep us comfortable! We did a tour with Dora, who I found on trip Advisor. She was wonderful, but the city is so big and had so much to offer, we could only get a taste in 4 hours!

 

This evening was the Azamazing Evening, a very modern piano concert with dance, lights and techno by Ivann, a very charming young Columbian musician. Logisitically, it s incredible what they pull off to get 700 people to experience this wondrous evening in the beautiful and historical Teatro Heredia!

 

To follow up on the cycles, our Hotel Director let me know today that for the duration of the cruise the spin cycles will be open to passengers. I was very pleased with the follow up and with the fact that he recognized us everywhere he saw us and followed up with us.

 

Just to report back on laundry- the guest laundry is still "out of service" ...I see the most incredibly handsome young lads working on it each day, but so far the "closed sign" remains. No announcements about complimentary laundry have been made, but I know some folks without a "free bag" have requested a dress bag and been given a coupon.

 

Tonight the captain explained we will have some swells again, and this time to our rear. So he's picking up speed so the stabilizers might work better and to get to Panama in the early evening where he will dock so we have a still evening for dinner and shows and be anchored overnight and ready to start the canal first thing in the morning after a full day at sea tomorrow.

 

Chuck Richardssons talk today on the canal has us ready to do that!

 

We are meeting the most incredible folks, having a great time! Thank you all for following, sorry I don't have so much time to respond, but k is I do appreciate it!

There were no announcements concerning the self service laundry on our cruise. We went to guest relations to ask when it would be open and were told to ask our attendant for a free bag. We had packed expecting to use the laundry. We also had a free bag coupon for being discoverer plus, and made due with the two bags. We were only a couple of cabins away from the laundry and heard metal cutting and grinding going on for a couple of days and could also smell burning metal. Seems like a long time to replace washers and dryers.

Just made my husband look at the photo and he commented about the lack of usable space with this love seat being curved. Only one person can sit, really, AND you lose the space behind it...

We just returned from the first cruise post dry dock, we both were able to sit on the love seat. It is cozy, I guess it is why they call it a love seat.

Kaz you should continue cruising on Celebrity and not cruise on Azamara just as I would never cruise again on Celebrity and will stick with Azamara who we always enjoy cruising on.

That is what I intend to do.:D

I have cruised many times on Celebrity and Royal Caribbean. Is Azamara anyway connected to Celebrity? Can I book Azamara cruise while on Celebrity? Is my Elite status on Celebrity carried over to Azamara? If it is, do I benefit from this status on Azamara?

Your Captains Club number is the same as Le Voyage Club number. If you are Elite on Celebrity you will be Discoverer on Azamara. You can check it out on Azamara's site.

We did an Oceania cruise on the Riviera last year, very nice ship, good food, no complaints, but it wasn't Azamara. The crew were nice, but the officers were not very visible or involved with the passengers as they are on AZ. We got the cruise on a good offer which included drinks and gratuities.

 

Would we do another one? Yes if the price and itinerary was right, but our home will always be Azamara.

We just returned from our first Azamara cruise. I personally do not think it is worth the premium cost to chat with the officers.We had a nice talk with the ships doctor on white night but other than that the officers just said Hi when passing.Maybe Drydock problems kept them busy. We cruise mostly Celebrity and the Officers are very visible and do stop and chat. I will say that the food was outstanding on the Journey as it was on our Oceana cruise. We had a great cruise but there were just too many problems post drydock. To be honest the crews on our Celebrity cruises were just as good as this Azamara cruise. Maybe the drydock really ran them down. We had some fantastic waiters and some not so,forgetting to bring coffee,soft drinks at dinner on more than one occasion. And since the self service laundry was still out of service and still was today, never did they offer any free laundry service. Only those who asked at guest relations got it. We packed for half the cruise knowing we could use the washers. I talked to people the last night of the cruise and they were washing items in their sink,because they were not informed of a free bag. So Azamara did not impress me.

They docked in the dark - Captain Johannes posted docking pics on Facebook and it was still very dark - I would say about 5am so if that was the case they were ahead of schedule

We were supposed to dock at 5 AM but it was 6 Am give or take a few minutes. We were awakened at 2 AM with howling winds and rough seas, maybe that delayed our docking. Also at 8:30 AM it was announced that we could disembark. They did not call numbers as listed on our disembarkation letter and it was a mob scene getting off. I am happy that we were not 3000 passengers getting off. But customs moved along fairly quick.

+1

 

We've all been on cruises, regardless of the line, that things weren't 100%. I for one have appreciated the large effort Andy has gone through to share his thoughts and solid info which took a wealth of time. I feel Andy has a good attitude enjoying the revitalized Journey despite the hiccups.

 

I wish I were there and have been impressed how AZ has handled the inconveniences. I understand Andy doesn't need my support. But I did want to thank you, Andy.

 

There were several hiccups on my previous Celebrity cruise but overall it was a good cruise. To me, being on a ship is certainly better than a day on land. I so look forward to my booked Azamara cruise because I believe if there are problems, AZ will step up to try to make it right. That's all I ask. BTW, I'm not referring to compensation.

The hiccups continue,we are now delayed disembarking. It is 8:15 ,it was supposed to start at 7:30. No problem for us as we are driving,but some with early flights are not happy.

Hi Kaz,

 

Could you tell us if the self-service laundry machines are operational yet?

 

Thanks and enjoy your last days on the ship.

The self service laundry is still not working. And something I have not reported as some probably think it is not important. The TV's freeze every minute or so and this has been from day 3 when ours starred working. Does not matter what channel. I try to watch the news once in a while and it is annoying.

Kaz,

we have booked a veranda cabin for our cruise at the end of march. Did theiy change the shower curtains in the bathroom to shower walls? I didn't find any information about veranda cabins only about suites.

Thank you!

anfri

No, there are still shower curtains.

Kaz,

we have booked a veranda cabin for our cruise at the end of march. Did theiy change the shower curtains in the bathroom to shower walls? I didn't find any information about veranda cabins only about suites.

Thank you!

anfri

No, there are still shower curtains.

I, like you am not on the ship at this time so our information is only coming from those posting here.

 

But apart from those people who booked top suites and had to be accommodated elsewhere which is very upsetting the issues do appear to be of a fairly minor nature.

 

The self service laundry is not operational so they are doing people's laundry free of charge. The slots pay out coupons rather than coins - hardly a reason for a cruise to be spoilt.

 

Yes I am sure there are some more niggles as there always are when a ship comes out of dry dock. However, the ship is in the beautiful Caribbean sunshine and I am sure the wonderful crew are doing everything to ensure guests enjoy the best cruise experience possible.

 

30% off a future cruise is generous IMO, so surely it's time to make lemonade out of lemons.

I think you misunderstood me, the slots do not payout anything. One has to press the service button and wait for an attendant to come and pay. Thankfully the casino is very small and the wait is very short. Last night's Azamazing evening was not very good,lots of glitches. Talking to many people today I did not find anyone that thought is was good. In fact many thought is was very amateurish.

When we went to shower before dinner last evening we suddenly had no water.We called guest relations and within a couple of minutes 2 plumbers showed up.It took an hour but was finally fixed. Both hot tubs are now working.Last night was White Night and it was a blast ,we had a great time.

Self service laundry is not working but they are giving free bags to send out.

We are in St. Bart's today and they are bringing local entertainment on board this evening for the Azamazing event. Last evening they brought on local lobster that was great. Slot machines still do not pay out and we were told it will not be repaired until we get back to Miami. The self service laundry is still not operational. I have talked to many people especially those from the UK that are not happy with the 30% discount on a future cruise as they do not plan on another Azamara cruise. They thought that there should be a monetary compensation as they did not receive what they payed for. We have only had a few minor problems and are having a good cruise. We still do not know what is missing in the cabin as everyday something else appears such as umbrella one day,bible the next, ship directory the next day and the trash can is still missing from the bathroom. All minor issues but still issues. Also we were told before embarking that they wanted the ship to be perfect for us and that we would be amazed. I do not know if it is true or not but was told the the cleaning personnel that were to board at 6 AM were delayed until 10AM due to immigration issues. If that was the case they should have been honest and told us that was reason for delayed boarding

Every time someone goes on a cruise where a few minor problems occur, some of the passengers yell "compensation". As long as the crew work on the problem and try to fix it and as long as the problems do not totally destroy the cruise experience, I figure that all is OK. I do not need to have every problem settled by having someone write me a check for compensation. I would be happy to have them comp me a free bottle of wine as a good faith gesture.

 

DON

When we went to shower before dinner last evening we suddenly had no water.We called guest relations and within a couple of minutes 2 plumbers showed up.It took an hour but was finally fixed. Both hot tubs are now working.Last night was White Night and it was a blast ,we had a great time.

Self service laundry is not working but they are giving free bags to send out.

Hello Kaz, thanks for posting your experience. Glad to hear that the veranda cabins are nice. We have also booked a veranda cabin on the journey for March. Do you think you can post some pictures? Or tell us more about the MDR menus. Please don't feel pressure to do so, first of all enjoy your cruise! I think it's a matter of perspective but for me are a TV not working for one day on a cruise in the Caribbean and some inconvenience by using the slot machine minor issues that won't ruin my cruise. I hope that they will fix the hot tubs soon and probably you can get some free laundry (just my thoughts). Again, enjoy!

I will post some photos after the cruise as I do not have much Internet time left. I will try to remember to take some menu photos and post them post cruise. We are enjoying this cruise.

Thank you for your honest review. Is Azamara doing anything about his all these issues?

Are they compensating the guests somehow?

What a major disappointment of a cruise!

Hope you find a way to enjoy yourself regardless of the unfinished product the company has put out in the market.

The staff are trying their best to deal with all the problems. No compensation at least for us. We are enjoying this cruise as the food is excellent and the majority of the ship is also excellent.

We are on the first cruise after drydock. We know that other people have posted but wanted to give our perspective. We have a veranda cabin on deck 7,and the new furniture is very nice along with the carpet. It took a full day to get the TV working. The only complaint is that the veranda is dirty with paint chips and pieces of carpet on the deck. The food has been great with a large selection. Service for the most part has been good with a few hiccups. They finally got one hot tub working today (Saturday). I used it and the jets worked for 15 minutes before breaking down. I along with another person noticed a lot of debris in the bottom and I pulled out pieces of sandpaper. As of last evening the self service laundry is still out of service until further notice . We packed a limited amount of clothing expecting to do some laundry and are now having to send it out. The slot machines are working but do not pay out,you have to contact an attendant to receive yor money and sign on two different sheets. So going from one machine to another is a pain. I guess we are lucky as talking to other passengers who's toilets did not work and suite passengers that were downgraded onboard because their suites were not ready. Others had soaking wet carpets. We had no knowledge of the drydock when we booked and this being our first Azamara cruise and you can imagine what our first impression is. The staff onboard is fantastic and I am sure that it has been a rough few weeks for them.

We are considering booking one of these rooms on the Regal and I was just curious, since most of these posts were a year ago, if anyone has traveled since and has pictures. I did see links for pictures in a previous post but they were no longer accessible.

 

Thanks for the help!

Kathy

Just got off the Royal a few days ago. L108 was a fantastic cabin. Here is a link to a video I made.

Check out Squaremouth.

Does anyone know if the 3 day rule for sending out laundry pertains to a 5 day cruise. Does it make any difference on a B2B. I know that you can do express for a 50% surcharge but we get free laundry. Also can the Butler in a suite expedite it?