oliveau

That's made me think. So what attracted me to Az in the first place?

It all started some years ago when we took a Xmas/New year cruise on Saga Rose. We enjoyed it so a couple of years laterwe booked a similar cruise on the pre-Carnival Cunarder ' Caronia'. As this was a real uplift from Saga we then booked to do a Xmas cruise on the Queen Elizabeth, by which time Cunard was firmly in the hands of Carnival.

Suffice it to say I swore 'NEVER again a big ship' and NEVER again on a Carnival operated ship'. I was put off cruising for quite a while!

Fast Forward to summer 2012, by which time we had been living in France for 7 years. My brother in law was over from Cape Town and we met up in London, and did a river trip down to Greenwich. As we approached Greenwich I could see what appeared to be quite a large white ship tied up. As we got closer I read the name 'Azamara Journey'. 'Hmm, never heard of them, but it looks like a nice ship.'

When I got home I googled Azamara and liked what I saw. Then I looked at the forthcoming cruises and found a repositioning cruise from Athens to Mumbai and the price for a midships deck 7 balcony was so cheap that I booked it there and then!

We had Captain Jason on this first trip with Heiki and Tony as CD. It was fantastic, but if you are reading this you already know about Az.. One passenger told me "if you think Tony's good, wait until you experience Eric."

Well we had to wait a year to do the next repositioning on Journey which was Athens  to Dubai, but once you've experiened Eric's roller skate entry during the 'Abba Show' youv'e seen it all.

In 2014 we did Barcelona to Rio on Journey, this time with the 'Dream Team' of Johannes, Heki & Eric.

Finally in 2105 we did Malaga to Miami again on Journey. We docked in Spain and I wanted to go the Seville, so I asked on this forum if there were any takers for a coach. Well, I filled a 48 seater coach with no trouble! I was a bit worried about what Az would say about 'private enterprise' so I cleared it with Captain Johannes - "No problem" Typical of the man and the wonderful approach that Az have to customer service.

From the second trip onwards, it was as so many of you say, like coming home again. How the staff remember so many faces I don't know!

We absolutely love Az, but haven't been back since Pursuit was added. This I fear is because we now can't afford AZ as the prices have risen steeply over the last few years.

We swapped to Sea Dream - I can't compare it with Az because this really is ''small ship". On one TA we were 46 passengers! But the TA's are very good value and we've done 2 trips with them plus one aborted trip when the ship broke down 3 or 4 days after emerging from dry dock [we could have stayed on and extended the trip for a couple of weeks, but had to be back in UK by a certain date.]

One day I hope to do Az again and meet up with the many friends that we made - Hello Phil!

 It of a shock to the system, but I’m with Phil on this one, so hopefully we’ll meet up again on AZ one day. We haven’t done AZ for a year or four due to health issues, so looking forward to getting back.

Unfortunately we had to disembark in Gran Canaria as we had to be back in UK on 2 December. The whole thing was complete stress & hassle, mitigated by the wonderful crew.

I'd now like to add that SD have acted very honourably, not only reimbursing the complete cost of the holiday [cruise, hotel, flights] but also our incidental expenses - [transport to & from airports, additional hotels etc]. No quibble from them whatever.

So well done SD for stepping up to the mark. You'll see us again.

Looks as though she's tramping on on both engines -14 knots plus.

I'd love to know what the problem was - Maybe the suggestion of the seal round the propellor shaft was spot on.

She doesn't appear to have moved since going into dry dock. Not looking good for getting to Barbados.

Very sad

In answer to an earlier question:

45 pax on the TA

AFAIK 11 got off and I intending to join, so potentially 36 for revised TA, but I know others would also have to leave if they couldn't be in Barbados by 8 December.

We were told "There is a technical problem in the engine room. I am not happy to proceed on a TA crossing". The fact that she has to be dry docked points to a problem below the water line. There was also an unsubstantiated rumour that she was letting in water. Clearly the Lloyd's engineer from Cadiz wasn't happy.

Now I'm not a marine engineeer, but could it be a problem with the sea water inlet for the engine cooling ? We know she will happily run on one engine, [as we did in 2016 after the fire, when we left Malaga on one engine, picked up spares in Madeira and were finally two engined some 5 days out of Barbados] but on a TA with one engine out of action, what do you do if t'other goes kaput in mid-Atlantic.............?

Came off for a flight home last Sunday as we had to be back for 2nd December. It took a while for SD to finally accept that she had to go into dry dock again. We were in limbo from the first news on Wednesday evening until 19.30 on Friday. Back to backers get a good deal I understand, but TA pax have been offerd a refund of voyage fare + flight home [economy] which sucks if the original return flight was Premium, Business or First, and moeover on a travel agents non-refundable basis.

The crew as usual were brilliant, but the whole thing has been exhausting, especially trying to re-arrange travel plans over a weekend.

I'm afraid the old girl is tired, and now showing her age.

Those of us who know and love Azamara would I'm sure make 3 points:

1. Clearly someone seriously goofed and the original foul-up is not typical of Azamara.

2. Once Bonnie got involved there was the sort of resolution that one would expect from Azamara. [i suspect Larry P. said "I don't care what it takes - Sort it!]

3. To those potential Az cruisers who are now hesitating - Please don't be put off. There isn't a person born who hasn't ever made a mistake.

Lahore, enjoy your cruise

Presumably, when you left home Azamara / your TA had already sent you your tickets...........? If so, to me that implies a contract.

 

Headquarters is slow to respond.........., The ships themselves, on the other hand, are fantastic. Don't know if the headquarters attitude is lack of competence by employees.........

Well of course you are talking about something relocated to somewhere outlandish like Guatamala.

I myself lost a booking last year because the 'Customer Services' agent sat on my enquiry for 4 days without doing anything. It was a good offer for a Deck 8 suite on a TA which I 'booked' there and then, but the agent sat on his/her hands, and the booking was sold to another lucky soul. Not happy, but we had a wonderful TA on SeaDream instead.

I would raise hell with your original TA and Larry Pimental. Az don't want bad publicity like this.

Nigella of course - she is already a goddess!:')

SD have advised that the westbound 2018 TA is now leaving later, but will be Lisbon - Marigot (arriving 1 December) rather than Malaga - Barbados.

I'm quite happy about that, but as I'd already booked on-board, SD have offered an extra 10% off. Nice deal !

My only concern is getting back to UK without going via Trump-land. Looking at local to Antigua or KLM / Air France to Europe then to London.

Any ideas ?

Apart from your sea sickness, nothing was as you report.Sea conditions were quite usual for a passage across to Funchal. Don't forget that SD is a small narrow beam ship so will roll more than the monster floating holiday parks. Sea certainly wasn't as high as you claim.

Food was fine. We lunched on the same table on Tuesday and I noted that your OH had a hot dog with lots of tomato sauce - hardly gourmet choice.

Ship condition was fine with the crew taking advantage of a quiet TA to do maintenance. Lots of varnishing and painting. Sure, some decking being replaced, but always guarded,so hardly a trip hazard!

Your comments are jaundiced,no doubt due to an unfortunate bout of mal de mer, or more likely a case of pre-boarding food poisoning?

Well, I'm delighted. The 3rd ship is well overdue, and I personally love the R class ships. once Adonia has had the AZ makeover she will be a fine addition [i know AZ considered her several years ago and at the time it was felt she needed a lot of work to get her up to AZ standard.]

I certainly don't want a 1000 pax+ new build. The charm of AZ is low pax numbers.

Having said that we are soon off on our second SeaDream transatlantic - last year there were 77 pax - bliss.

We are on the TA this fall but on SD I this year. We usually are partial to SD II but due to schedule and itinerary (have been to Lisbon, want to see Barcelona), we opted for SD I this time..

Erm, yes - Barcelona is fantastic, but I rather think the departure port is Malaga. I hope so, otherwise I'm flying to the wrong place!

Especially when they have their film crew entourage.

Ah, now I know who they are! - The reason that we discoverd SeaDream in the first place.

I'm very pleased to say that our recent TA was perfect. Perhaps one or two who 'enjoyed' their drinks, but nothing unseemly.

We have already booked a TA on SD 2 for next autumn

Tres interresant mon ami, merci.

How on earth did you discover this cher Oliveau.

Very impressed with your discovery.

'Cos I was on board at the time!

We have just done a TA with SeaDream so I thought I'd post some comparisons.

Cost:

SD tends to be dearer than Az, but for a TA the price we paid was similar to an Az TA with a midships deck 7 balcony.

Ship size:

SD 1/2 are tiny compared with the R class ships - something that was really noticeable when we docked next to Oceania Sirena. BUT there were 77 passengers (capacity is 112), with 93 crew and the ship was very easy to move about as everything is on only 5 decks. The ships are much narrower in beam so tend to roll more, but it's not unbearable. We had a deck 3 forward cabin, but found that there was very little pitching.

Embarkation:

Very easy with so few pax. We embarked at Malaga and there was a bag drop at the drop off point - something that was sadly lacking with our Az 2013 embarkation. Embarkation does not commence until 2.00. On board we were greeted by the Norwegian captain (he knows Captain Johannes) and by the Thai Spa girls in traditional dress who gave us a glass of champagne and escorted us to the Salon. Main reception is through from the salon where we were quickly issued with our passes. Our cabin stewardess met us and took us to our cabin, and baggage arrived shortly thereafter

Cabins:

Deck 2 cabins have portholes only, whereas deck 3 & 4 have windows. There are no balconies on SD, But we really didn't miss that as you actually spend all day on deck.

The cabins are about the same size as an AZ V3 stateroom. They are finished in a very attractive light oak. There is more storage than AZ, but other than that the staterooms are very similar. However, the bed and bedding are better on AZ since the SD beds are a bit smaller and there are individual quilts but no top sheet, and less cushions for daytime relaxing and TV watching.

The SD bathroom has little storage space, no clothes line, BUT a glass shower screen.

Overall it's just a win for AZ.

Eating:

Breakfast and lunch were served on the outside upper decks, 5&6, with dinner being served in the deck 2 restaurant (although as the weather improved there was the option to eat outside).

Although there were breakfast and lunch buffets, in practice the waiters would bring whatever you chose to the table. There was proper tea in Bodum filter pots!

There were always plenty of tables on the outside decks and you can choose to eat under cover or outside.

Dinner was open seating like AZ, but because there were so many repeat customers who formed groups it was often not easy to find a table to share and we often dined 'a deux' which some other couples chose to do anyway.

Food all round was exquisite with a wide choice.

Definitely a healthy home win for SD.

Drink:

All inclusive, so unlimited wine at lunch and dinner, including champagne -indeed, some had champagne for breakfast! However, the wine was not the quality of the AZ offerings.

Beer at the 4 bars was Heineken, with some other bottled beers - but who wants beer. when you an drink champagne all day?

Complimentary spirits were good quality including Glennfiddich, Courvoisier, Grand Marnier and a lovely Calvados. There really was no need to pay for top shelf drinks.

Nearly a good win for SD but AZ score a late equaliser with wine quality.

Deck space:

No need to fight for chairs as there are plenty of chairs on the deck 3 aft pool deck as well as decks 5&6. There are also Balinese Beds on deck 6 where one can arrange to spend the night under the stars.

AZ sun beds score well ahead of the SD ones for comfort.

Activities:

SD has a Spa and a gym but we used neither, although the Spa seemed to be expensive. There is an indoor golg range, and under normal Carribean/Med cruises water sorts are available off the deck 2 platform.

There were 2 very good guest speakers and a trivia quiz, which didn't quite match the intensity of Eric's!

After dinner activities revolved around the Casino (just 1 Blackjack table)' the piano bar and the deck 6 Top of the Yacht bar, although there were games such as Charades into Salon on some evenings.

Yes, we missed Eric, but were never bored in the evenings.

Crew and service:

On a par with AZ. Some Filipino waiters but quite a few E. Europeans - Very good, but they don't have the happy Filipino smiles!

Fellow pax:

Well heeled Brits and Americans, Norwegians, Belgians, Germans, Canadians and Australians.

Overall:

We misses Heike, Johannes, Eric, Dale and so many others, so we'll be back one day, but it's SD for next autumn's TA.

SD1 had a slight docking contretemps with P&O Britannia this morning. Paint scrape to Britannia just aft of starboard anchor. SD has a dink at top of the bow and some broken woodwork. Under Pilot and trying to 'park' at right angles to Britannia at the time.

False alarm! What I glimpsed in Malaga,although the right colour turned out to be a mega super yacht called "Octopus". My guess is that it's a multi-billionaires brand new toy.

Well, we arrived in Malaga today ready to board on Saturday. I,rather think I saw her already alongside here, so I'll mosey on down later & see what's going on

We liked the Grand Central. HoHo stop is just up the road

You might like to think about stringing together some back to back cruises with Azamara. R class ships with recent refurbs. Wonderful crew/service. C. 600 pax and get into places that the bigger 'ships' can't. Inverted commas for ships because they look more like floating multi-story car parks.

We tried Cunard and QE a few years ago and it was AWFUL!

We are due to sail on 5 November. my TA says that SD have sent them the E-tickets, so hopefully all will be well.