Jim in OR

14 hours ago, uktog said:

Thanks my point is it should not be special order.  There is too much these days that used to be available to all that is now special order.  Many people do not want to go on a holiday where they have to ask to be made special - make everyone special which is what Azamara was so well known for

Making everything available to everyone at all times comes at a cost and I’d rather not pay extra to make that happen. I certainly don’t feel any less special by making a special request that they are happy to accommodate. 
 

On 6/8/2022 at 2:35 PM, uktog said:

There is indeed a sales pitch. Best to say before the start, you are not interested in any sales pitch as you will not be buying 

Or, say nothing at the outset and just say no thank you when you get the pitch. 

12 hours ago, uktraveller said:

People are happy to take comfort from reading positive experiences and dismiss the negative ones. 
.

This is true. Although it seems there are at least an equal number that dismiss the positive reviews while maintaining their confirmation bias in the negative ones. 

On 5/4/2022 at 2:50 PM, wrtmlt said:

Also if you dine late the show schedule usually does not work . We dine at 8 every night and have not been to a show on our cruises. 

 

Bill

You could always go to the early show… that is, unless you travel with others who have “off the charts” charming personalities.  In that event, I’m sure you would rather meet with them for pre-dinner drinks and sparkling conversation. 

On 4/16/2022 at 9:39 AM, uktog said:

I think the style of the Best of the Best as it used to be would not transfer well to the end of Aqualina. It would also be quite off putting for any guests along the side. It would also be pretty noisy 

 

On 4/16/2022 at 10:48 AM, marinaro44 said:

B of B is a big step beyond a Chef's Table.  Seats 24, including four officers.  Served by four or six butlers.  

Would there be challenges?  Yes.

Would it be the same?  No.

Would it necessarily require the closing of Aqualina to the rest of the passengers?  No.

On 4/9/2022 at 5:26 PM, marinaro44 said:

That would mean closing Aqualina to other passengers.  I hope that never happens.

Not necessarily. They’ve held Chef’s Tables in one end of Aqualina without closing the rest of the restaurant. 

OK, I get that I’m in the minority among this small subset but I love the idea.  To me, the only true downside is that it takes away the venue for Friends of Bill W.  I hope there are plans for a suitable alternative. Oh, and I guess the other downside to me is that it eliminates the possibility of converting it to a French specialty restaurant… another idea that was met with disapproval by posters here but that I still kind of like.

Let the downvoting commence!

It was a feeble attempt at a joke Denise. It’s a paraphrase of an old Yogi Berra quote. 

Nobody goes to Venice any more. It’s too crowded. 

3 hours ago, mapleleaves said:

If you look on the MSC web site, it states that all excursions in Europe must be done thru the cruiseline.

MSC Health & Safety - Europe Cruises| MSC Cruises (msccruisesusa.com)

Thanks.  Sounds like it’s an MSC requirement and not a French requirement. 

3 hours ago, steamboats said:

Yes, it is a regulation by the Italian government and it´s up since cruising restarted in Italy last year in August. And no, it´s no rule of a single port or the cruise line.

 

 I just returned from the MSC Seashore and I couldn´t go ashore on my own in Marseille/France or Genova/Italy. We decided to stay onboard anyway as we only had 3 nights to explore the ship.

 

Was the restriction in Marseille limited to Marseille?  Or was it across the entire country of France?  I can’t see anything that shows that France has a countrywide ban on independent touring from cruise ships similar to Italy. 
 

18 minutes ago, LT Hambone said:

Quick question for the group at large -

 

Has anybody called Azamara yet and asked them why the web page is saying two different things?

My guess is, it’s because the web pages are created by humans and humans sometimes make mistakes. 
 

For my part, I’ll be preparing for the more restrictive and hoping it doesn’t come to pass. 

Yes.

Could there possibly be a more “first world problem” than this?

1 hour ago, norn iron said:

I didn't know any of the other eight participants until we met on the first tasting, so I can't quote their wine knowledge. 

From my own perspective I have a moderate cellar of a round 800+ bottles including some very fine French vintages, so I would rate my knowledge as above average, so I stand by my original posting.

 

 

One of the first things you learn in debate is that the appeal to authority, or argumentum ad verecundiam is a form of fallacy that looks good on the surface, but fails as evidence to support an argument.

I stand by my original post. There are good and inexpensive wines out there, but Azamara hasn’t found them yet. 

I guess I’d have to challenge the conclusion that because nine people couldn’t identify the wines they were tasting it follows that no one would be able to identify them. You don’t specify the depth of the wine experience in those tasters, but I’m guessing it probably wasn’t very deep. 
 

In fact, many of us do know wine and can identify good wines from not so good wines regardless of price. Count me among those who would like to see an upgrade in the wines that Azamara offers. In fact, I would be OK with Azamara making no changes whatsoever to the daily included pours but to at least offer something mildly palatable with the beverage upgrade packages. In my opinion, the wines currently offered in the upgrade packages are no less dismal than the included wines.  
 

And to your broader point, while I do enjoy the better known expensive wines, I am more excited about finding something less expensive and less well known that punches above its weight class.  The current “house red” that my wife and I are drinking retails for around $10 and is head and shoulders above anything Azamara offers in the included wines or the upgrade wines. 
 

Good but inexpensive wines are out there. Azamara simply hasn’t found them yet. 

On 8/23/2021 at 3:09 PM, uktog said:

Kind of messes up transfer arrangements.  They did that on our recent MSC cruise and it was chaotic.  Many couldn’t rearrange their arrival times and felt they’d lost out on time aboard

The alternative is 690 people all trying to embark at the same time. That would be chaos squared. 

2 hours ago, norn iron said:

I think your approach to this is bordering on naive.

 

Many years ago I was new to the board of directors of a business, and having a conversation with the CEO one morning he expressed to me how much he respected the wisdom of one board member, who only only spoke when necessary, but when he spoke it was impactful and meaningful.

In this current crisis Azamara are playing the the same game as that board member. 

I worked with someone with the same approach. He always said, “No one ever learned anything while they were talking.”

4 hours ago, manc said:

The speciailty menus must be changed more often. 

As cruisers,wh in 10 years have sailed more than 20 times we need more changes. We prefer those restaurants as the noise levels suit my husband who has 2 hearing aids better. I have requested items off the MDR menu or only had a couple of courses. More changes and daily specials would be GREAT

+ 1

48 minutes ago, wrtmlt said:

So if they call it Discovery and change the name of dining room what other name changes should be made? Maybe the bars or events. How about changing white night to something?

That sounds intriguing. Do you have any suggestions for what they should call white night?

5 hours ago, excitedofharpenden said:

 I must say I quite like Forth. 

 

 

Hands down my least favorite of the three.  I'd be just fine with either of the others.

We had an aft cabin a few cruises back.  It was nice to stand and watch the wake, but neither of us are tall enough to see it while seated. The other issue that I haven’t seen mentioned yet was the soot from the stacks that accumulated each evening.  The furniture had to be wiped down every morning before using it.

Would I turn the cabin down if available? No.  Would I pay the premium if others were available?  Again, no. 

4 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

I disagree on that one.

Different strokes...

41 minutes ago, Rabo said:

Don,

According to RCL, The Jones Act and the Passenger Services Act are the same thing.

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/jones-act

Jerry

They are actually not the same. The Jones act (1920) regulates cargo vessels and the PVSA (1886) regulates passenger vessels. 

If they could solve the issues with the tight galley, I’d like to see the library converted to a French specialty restaurant.