crzrr

21 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

If the TA pays the full value of the OBC, it should be refundable. If it was a shared promotion between Azamara and the TA, it would be non-refundable. 

Thanks for clarifying!

13 minutes ago, takemewithyou said:

It goes back to you, if refundable.  On your account.

Hardly does that ever happen with me! 😀

I have no problem spending! 
Non refundable = use it or lose it

I understand that.  My question was if a TA's OBC is non-refundable, who gets it if it's not spent.  Would it go back to the TA or would AZ keep it.  OBC from your TA is purchased by your TA.  I've never heard of a TA's OBC being non-refundable - anytime that we got some, it was refundable.

1 hour ago, Mackdogmolly said:

It depends. The OBC that I get from my TA is a combination of refundable and non refundable.

That's interesting.  I've never heard of TA OBC being non-refundable.  Where does it go if you don't spend it - back to your TA?

Yes, TA OBC doesn’t typically show up until @24 hours after embarkation. My guess is that since TA’s have to buy the obc they want to be sure that you are onboard. 
TA onboard credit is refundable. 

Most excursions allow for a 48 hour cancellation.  

I'm sure that you will meet people who will happily share a table - AZ passengers generally are very friendly.  Our experience has been that it is not difficult to add one or two people to an existing reservation - the staff go out of their way to accommodate.  Eating at the bar is always an option as well if you want to go to Prime C and can't find anyone.  The staff at the bar love to chat!

Just now, excitedofharpenden said:

Read my post again. I said "negative". 

 

Phil 

"I make my own mind up about someone when I meet them, not rely on tittle tattle on an anonymous message board such as this."

I'm not going to belabor this point, but whether good or bad, you have still inserted your opinion.  Some of us have a different opinion and are entitled to express it as well.  And, to go further, you compared her to someone else - someone who is in a league of their own!

2 hours ago, excitedofharpenden said:

As far as I was concerned she went above and beyond for me.

Unless you are a full time job, there is a lot more to being a HD!

27 minutes ago, excitedofharpenden said:

Just by way of balance, I have experienced Tatiana and thought she was excellent. As far as I was concerned she went above and beyond for me.

 

I will also say that I really don't like naming and shaming on this message board. The crew member has no way to respond to criticism.  And it's unfair because of that. If I have something negative to say about someone I would never post their name, but address it through other channels. I make my own mind up about someone when I meet them, not rely on tittle tattle on an anonymous message board such as this. Bad form in my view. 

 

Phil 

"I think it's Captain Kresimir and Tatiana  Morello as HD (who is excellent by the way, if you haven't sailed with her. Another Heike Berdos)"  From one of your posts.

So, let me get this straight, you're allowed to offer your opinion and others are not  - got it!

22 hours ago, PirateWife said:

They tried to turn the music down, but it was being controlled somewhere else on the ship. I believed them because it was so loud, we couldn't hear what the wait staff was saying. I didn't complain to Guest Relations. I had already been to Guest Relations about another issue. This was the Journey in January when there were issues. Never saw the Hotel Director. Rarely saw any staff. Service in Windows was almost non-existent. A lot of the waiters just walked around with trays--looked busy but weren't. It was a very different experience from previous Azamara cruises.

We were on in February and completely agree about it being a very different experience.  The Hotel Director, Tatiana, should be demoted or fired in my opinion.  She should never have been put in that position as she obviously does not have the experience to handle the job.  And, it just flows down from there.  Because she was invisible, the rest of the officers felt that it was okay to be invisible as well.  Ryszard came on for our second cruise of our b2b and things changed dramatically.  He told me that the first thing that he told all of the officers was that they had to be out of their cabins by 7am and mingling with passengers.  You could tell that a few of them were not happy about it but complied.  

Hi Laurie - sorry to hear that you are having an issue.  Was your B2B on one reservation number or two?  

Just want to point out that you are in Japan in the spring and many people have springtime allergies.  I'm sure that there are quite a few people going who should be wearing a mask or should be staying on the ship because they are sick with a cold, etc.  However, there are many people, my DH for example, who suffer from springtime allergies.  We were on in March when things were just starting to bud and flower.  He had to take his meds as his allergies started when we hit our first Japanese port.

29 minutes ago, uktog said:

She’s the hostess in the Speciality restaurant if that’s who you’re thinking of 

Yes, that's Rumbi!  So nice and what a beautiful voice.

Thanks for your reviews.  Was the wonderful lady singer named Rumbi?  She is fabulous!

9 hours ago, uktog said:

Journey cruises were on the info I was sent from Azamara 

Hi - could you tell us what you are seeing for the Journey?  Thanks.

47 minutes ago, Anchor Light said:

Yes, he's amazing. It should be noted that he was trained by the 'old guard' who unfortunately have moved on.

Yes, it's very apparent that the "new" ones are not getting the training they so desperately need.

5 hours ago, oddjob16 said:

Sounds like the ship is now "working" under Ryzcard. He is the hardest working HD. A pleasure to sail with.

Sounds as though it is.  We had the tale of two cruises - one without him and one with him.  What a difference!   The first HD definitely needs more training.  Ryszard is the best!

The hotel director who was on for our first cruise, and I believe on Pirate Wife's cruise, was the worst one we have ever had.  Consequently, we found that other senior officers were very lax in their duties as well.  This attitude flowed from the top down.  We had never seen anything like it on an Azamara cruise.  When Ryszard came onboard things changed instantly.  He was sent to Journey for only 1 1/2 months and then is going back to Quest, so you can draw your own conclusions.

2 hours ago, takemewithyou said:

Hi Phil.  Thanks for your thoughts on your most recent cruise on Journey.  One question…..was Ryszard the Hotel Manager and Stephen the CD?

 

Your thoughts are a little concerning to me considering Journey is my next cruise. Inconsistency seems to be the trend.

We were on the same cruise as Phil as well as the previous one.  Ryszard was the new hotel manager on this one, Stephen was the CD on both.  The second cruise was much better than the first with Ryszard on board.  

I think that which officers you have also determines whether the onboard experience is more Azamara or not.  We are recently off b2b where we had two different Hotel Directors.  These were our 19th and 20th cruises with AZ.  The first cruise was nothing like we have ever experienced - zero to little officer visibility, passengers being allowed to physically assault crew members with no officer stepping in, lack of onboard festivities, and other weird occurrences.  I requested a meeting with the hotel director to discuss and I never received a response.  For the second cruise a more experienced hotel director came onboard.  What a difference!  Suddenly the officers were everywhere (including greeting us as we disembarked each day), there were multiple onboard experiences (including pop up events that seemingly were pulled together at the last minute but were wonderful), and the crew was much happier.  One crew member telling me that they now felt like someone had their back.  The vibe between the two cruises was completely different.  My feeling is that having lost some officers post-covid, Miami put people in positions when they aren't ready.  I think that this is one of the reasons that there seem to be inconsistencies between ships and sometimes between cruises on the same ship!

We were just on a b2b from Perth to Tokyo on the Journey.  We had two fabulous lecturers on both cruises - destination and enrichment.  All lectures very well attended.  

We paid this morning for our two cruises at the beginning of 2025.  We received 10% on the total cruise fare less the taxes.  Worked great and already in our account to spend! 

I'm not sure that the old leadership had the brains that they were born with as evidenced by the website fiasco.  The new leadership team has a great deal of experience and I'm guessing that they are leveraging that experience to come up with ways to increase the bottom line.  And, if I can benefit from that, all the better.  Seems like a win-win all of the way around.  We took advantage of the 5% for our October cruise (wish that I had waited) and I'll be calling my TA to take advantage of the 10% offer for my January/February cruises.

1 hour ago, debcip said:

We are currently on Day 5 of our 15 day sailing. The trip so far has been wonderful although the weather has been challenging (quite cold [40-44*F/5-7*C], with a bit of rain snow and hail). However I wanted to note a few things done thus far which are examples of what Azamara does best:

In Aomori, where allegedly the best apples of the world are grown, 60 kg of local apples were brought on board to make a special apple pie. I ate late that night, and it was all gone!  I was promised that the pastry chef would make more the next day for others like me, and sure enough, I had the best deep dish apple pie presented to me the following night!

In Aomori, local Namahage performers were brought on for a fantastic afternoon drum and dance performance in the Cabaret Lounge.

In Niigata, three geishas came aboard for a performance, a Q&A mediated by the local Port Ambassador, a sake ceremony and tasting, and an opportunity for photos with the geishas.

 

These wonderful touches remind me of why I continue love this line!

I am so glad that you are enjoying everything.  We got off in Tokyo after 28 days on the ship and we really wish that we had stayed on!  Rhysard (hotel director) was telling us about all of the fun surprises for you.  You are extremely lucky that he came onboard and arranged all of these wonderful events!

Received the offer and took advantage of it for our October cruise. 5% OBC was applied to our account for the October cruise immediately. Currently onboard and used it to book shore excursions for October. Worked very well. 

We thoroughly enjoyed the Asian Chefs Table on Journey last night. Great food and great dining companions. Kudos to the chef.