I've taken hundreds of showers in those "tiny showers" and have never felt a need for finding an alternative (and I'm not a little person). Just shake my head at people making big deals out of nothing.
Gratuities are included in the cruise fare. We show our appreciation by putting money into the Crew Welfare Fund. That benefits all the crew, not just the ones you interact with.
Reservations are first-come, first-served, regardless of stateroom category. The fact that there are more suites on Onward and that suite passengers do not pay additional for the specialties may result in increased demand for specialties and that can make it harder to get reservations for everyone, not just non-suite passengers.
If there is not enough wait staff to open Amphora for breakfast and lunch on cold weather cruises, Veranda will not have sufficient seating and people will stand waiting for a table. Yacht Club was not expanded and is too small for full ships.
June 4 is changeover day in Edinburgh and cruise lines often have no excursions on changeover day. We, like you, have booked the 5/25 cruise (not 5/23) as one 20-day Star Collector cruise, but many will be leaving the ship on June 4 after a 10-day cruise and a new set of passengers will be boarding on the 4th for the next 10-day cruise.
24 days on Onward during the holidays and saw no deterioration in the onboard experience. Others here have said the same. So I don't know what is meant by "Larry's brilliant Azamara concepts." If these concepts involve the onboard experience, there is nothing "dumbed down" or "bland mass market" or "deteriorated" about them.
Not clear to me why anyone here thinks Azamara is about to fail. Our 24 days on Onward during the holidays were as good as ever. We have one side of a story about someone's flight being canceled and people think the sky is falling? Nonsense.