If delta changed your flight time, you should be able to change your flight to one that works with no charge to you. Look up flights that will work for you and give Delta a call. We tend to book our flights quite a ways out and have had to do this many times with AA, as flight times can be changed often.
Please don’t let one person’s experience one time dampen your excitement for your own cruise. The people on your cruise won’t be the same as on that cruise. Go and have fun, join trivia if you want and enjoy the den. And burn up that dance floor!
If you have the ultimate package, you can order drinks to be delivered to your stateroom, so you could order wine to be delivered. You could purchase a bottle of wine through the sommelier and have in your room. You could also order at one of the bars and carry it to your room. We bring our own wine onboard; there would not be a corkage fee if you drink it in your stateroom.
I think it may come down to who assists you. the older employees seem to be willing to do things that aren't "by the book" so to speak, as the newer employees follow instructions to a tee.
welcome to Azamara!
You'll find the ships basically the same.
It's really difficult to recommend when the two choices are so different. If you can, look through the excursions for both cruises just to get an idea of what is commonly done in the ports that each cruise visits. You might get an idea of which itinerary is going to give you more opportunities for the hiking and exploring you like to do. That being said, I could never get too much Italy!