commodoredave

I’m sorry your attempt to post a comment on my GP story was not successful. I am not the publisher, and therefore do not control the comment section. However, I will email the publisher today and ask him to pay greater attention to people attempting to post comments, and to advise me of any issues. Please try again.

Thank you for your opinion. I disclose in my CC profile a link to the GP website. As a retired professional travel writer, I occasionally write stories for travel websites including GP. I also occasionally provide a link to a particular story if relevant to a CC thread. These stories sometimes contain the opinions of people who have contacted me, as this story did. It was their opinion, not mine. Anyone who disagrees with this or any other story is welcome to do so, either here or on the GP website.

I’m assuming you are asking because you are interested in me and my scribbles. Please click on the “about David” icon on the GP website to learn more. Thank you.

Perhaps a less convenient and more intensive way to do it, but your point is valid. Unfortunately may not work as well in some parts of the world such as the South Pacific, Arctic, Antarctic, et.

The story is based on the experience of an unhappy Azamara client, not my experience. By your measure, a journalist covering a fire would have to be in the burning house to report on it. By the way, despite the troubles and incompetence at Azamara shoreside, I might still consider sailing with them one day because the onboard experience appears to be good.

The price increases may have more to do with generating cash for RCL than improving service.

Fortunately, there are plenty of options out there for cruising. And given the growing number of lines and ships, I suspect there will continue to be plenty of sales and special discounts off the inflated new prices. All the big price increase at SS delivers is a less loyal client base that is now more likely to shop around.

I’ve never been concerned with what other people wear to the main dining room at night - only what they don’t wear. Frankly, if I want to dine with people who can’t put on a pair of trousers and collared shirt for dinner, I’ll go to McDonalds.

The facts are well established that Azamara had a terrible run of bad IT, poor communication and uncaring response to customers. The important thing going forward is to ask whether Azamara management recognizes these failures, and is working to improve outcomes for customers in future. Only Azamara management can answer this question, and to date the silence has been deafening.

We didn’t care about the reason for cancellation of our excursions either. But if one of our primary reasons for taking a cruise was to visit a specific destination or two (e.g. Easter Island, Casablanca for Marrakech, Sete for Carcasonne, etc), I would be disappointed enough to ask why it was canceled.

You are not alone in receiving inexplicable and disappointing service from Azamara as this story illustrates: https://gentlemansportion.com/2023/09/04/an-azamazingly-sad-decline/

I have smokers to thank for me giving up gambling on Princess cruise ships. Now, if Princess would only allow smoking again in dining rooms, maybe I could lose some weight!

We did Iles du Salut on the Pursuit in October. As excursions are included on expedition voyages, our visits to Ile Joseph and Ile Royale were free. We had a beautiful day and the excursions were very interesting.

We would never take our grandkids on a luxury cruise ship. Most have limited activities for kids, have a more subdued atmosphere, and don’t have many other kids aboard. Plus, why pay more for less from the kids’ perspective. We do, however, take multi-generational cruises on NCL and Celebrity. In fact, our next one is in January aboard NCL. The kids love it.

Maybe some crew can share cabins with solo sailors so they can avoid the single supplement.🤩

We are currently on the Silver Muse. Prior to departure, we had 3 booked excursions cancelled— all for “Operational reasons.” Our friends recently sailed with Seabourn from Cape Verde, and two ports in Africa were cancelled for “Operational reasons.” While we would all like to have more information about what type of operational issues are involved, saying less seems to be consistent across the cruise industry.

We are also going to Bermuda in mid-May with Celebrity. If SS offered a similar itinerary, I still would have chosen Celebrity for several reasons including value. For me, this is an itinerary that doesn’t benefit enough from an ultra-luxury product and price.

Well said. Like you, we have been moving towards more land based vacations and will continue to do so. Cruising will still be part of the mix in future, but a smaller percentage of it.

When I choose a land resort over a cruise (and I spend more time in land resorts each year than cruising), I avoid all-inclusive. On land, I like the ability to eat at different restaurants, drink at my favourite bars, and enjoy a variety of local entertainment venues. And I find the quality of all these to be superior to cruise ships. What I cruise for is the itinerary and the ability to see multiple places in one trip, without having to pack and unpack, and to do so in comfort. While this makes it difficult to do direct value comparisons, there is a limit to what I am willing to pay for a vacation, and some luxury cruises are beginning to stretch that limit.

I agree 100%. And I have almost always been able to book top resorts at prices below those referenced above.

Let me know if I should bring some strawberries aboard tomorrow for you! We arrived Yokohama yesterday and look forward to boarding Wednesday. Will you be staying onboard for the next leg, and if so, can I buy you a drink!!

True to a point. However, the financial losses caused by Covid are still being paid for by all cruise lines.

Agree. It’s one reason I have booked my Antarctic cruise with Seabourn.

Agree about pricing in Antarctic. It depends on itinerary. The longer 21-day or so voyages that include Elephant Island can be that expensive. But the shorter 10 - 12 day voyages are usually half the price.

I look forward to reading it. We are always interested in expanding our cruise horizons.