cruisefam38

The cruiseline stocks are taking significant hits this past week. Recently, Arnold Donald, the CEO of Carnival, stepped aside. Indicating even those at the top are tired, and possibly exhausted. Cruise line leadership continues to assure investors that cruising will soon return to profitability. When? Soon, real soon. As you noted, long term, it would be smart to keep a couple of ships idle, even sell them off, thereby releasing that staff to work on other ships. That would most likely sustain customer satisfaction, while simultaneously taking care to not overwork staff and crew. If this crop of employees are used up and burned out, from where will the replacements come?

I'm sorry to say, that is not safe. There can be no drinking and reading while onboard sea-going vessels. People might get comfortable, doze off, and have interesting and adventurous dreams.

Celebrity Beyond has the good fortune to have a godmother who is a world champion that had success and disappointment on a very public stage. Simone Biles has faced and overcome obstacles and adversity. She knows how to soar through the air, and how to pick herself up when she falls on the floor. She has been dedicated, strong, agile, and graceful in the gym and in most every part of her life. I think it is good for Ms. Biles to have received this honor.

I appreciate that you took the time to share your travel experience, and the lingering aggravations you are dealing with post-travel. Your cruise did not go as planned, as dreamed about, and instead you were stuck with multiple, ongoing challenges. As we consider another foray into international travel this year, yours is a cautionary tale which teaches that sometimes, life goes badly awry. Harrietq, you shared an important perspective with us.

As an active Cruise Critic member, I looked on the Azamara board before we booked our first cruise with this company a few years ago. On each cruise line board, certain names recur, and that was true here. CC members like yourself, uktog, along with others such as nordski, takemewithyou and excitedofharpenden, have actively provided helpful and useful information and guidance to other cruisers over the few years I've been paying attention. Your observations, reports and concerns are taken seriously. If I read you correctly, you think some of the problems that are being reported are not just temporary and localized, but symptomatic of deeper, broader issues. You have written you want to get the attention of those in positions to enact corrective measures. While there is still time. To that end, I hope you are successful. My wife and I have skin in this game, we have deposits on future cruises with Azamara and two other cruise lines. Because our March cruise on the Quest was so enjoyable, we booked a Panama Canal cruise next year. A twice extended final payment dead line is fast approaching for an Azamara cruise itinerary that had to be extensively modified because the original was to the Black Sea. The news from Ukraine is discouraging, some days it is dire. Not surprisingly, our CC Roll Call for that cruise is moribund. That region of the world feels even less secure that usual. So, one thinks, we need to explore other travel options. Yet, when I explore these options, land based included, I see reviews and discussions not unlike the topics addressed on this board. I see frustration, confusion, displeasure. Inflation is aggravating the whole travel industry. I heard a man curse out loud in the grocery store last night when he saw the price of a dozen eggs. I wonder what that man would say if he saw the price tag for one week's worth of eggs on the Royal Caribbean Wonder of the Seas?! Yet. I also see reviews that are very positive. Some travelers are reporting good cruises, enjoyable resort stays, memorable outdoor adverntures. I and we want to ocean cruise again. I would like to cruise again with Azamara, if possible.

yes. blessed.

I was grocery shopping last night, and was disappointed, and somewhat worried, to see bare areas on the shelves of most aisles. This was particularly clear when I went to get a specific item, a beverage created and produced here in our home state of North Carolina, a product that has always been available since it's introduction, and there was no diet version. Not the end of the world, we wait a day or three, and the product will probably be back on the shelf. My shopping instructions were clear, no substitutes, so I left without the item. Was it a mere 26 months ago the shelves were always full with product, and the shoppers relatively flush with money to spend? Service jobs are going unfilled here, and businesses are reducing hours and cutting back services. As someone with a chronic illness, and having just visited a relative who was in a hospital ICU in a nearby state, one has seen firsthand the reduction in staff that is ongoing and the pressures on the current staff to carry the load in the very important world of medical care. What if the cruiselines, including Azamara, discovered it was more difficult to hire and retain good staff in the current business climate? Are the cruise industry leaders and veteran cruise staff frustrated, anxious, even dismayed the situation is so difficult? Corona-19 can, and does cause lingering after effects in the individuals who got the virus and became ill. Our societies, our world, is coping with the still lingering aftereffects in a similar way. Add to that a war on the doorstep of Europe, which is occurring concurrently with other conflicts around the globe. These are uneasy times, and we appreciate the times that were easier, a time and a world that allowed for easier pleasures. Will those times return? The reality is, probably not in the same way, if ever.

In some cases, one wonders if the royally entitled behaviors are consistent wherever they may be? Perhaps taking advantage of situations and other people, is a way of life?