Vineyard View

Respectfully, regardless of when it began, inconsistency in product and services is not a good thing for any brand.

No doubt that chefs and crew management can make a significant difference….either direction. It sounds like this is a consistent inconsistency with Az, between their ships, and even on a B2B. ‘thank you utog and crzrr for your insight. This is not a good trend for any line. Yes, I did read that all 4 ships are scheduled for dry dock this year. Only Quest is blocked for a length of time that might suggest some refurbishment (or serious repairs). The others are only 3 days. I appreciate the take aways from this thread. The larger one being inconsistency. Having inconsistent food quality and overall experience. I don’t know if new management requests or cares for feedback, but this is not a good trait for any brand. Reading Oceania, and it is skipped ports and shortened port days being a predominant complaint. That too is not good for a (cruise) brand. All limes have significantly increased prices. I don’t know the percentage price increase with Azamara, but I do know that the current sale on Seabourn was a huge price increase. I do know that we do not want to sail on large ships ever again! I have and am learning quite a bit in this thread. I appreciate all the feedback. I don’t know where our adventures will take us next year after healing, but the honesty in feedback helps set expectations. Cruise, with whom…..or land? IDK.

From what I read on this board, The new owners put a whole lot of money into Onward during a difficult time (Covid), and as a result maybe there were supply issues, cost cutting, whatever. The results still appear to be present, without any further plans to finalize what may not have been able to be finished at the time. IDK. I also just read that several Azamara ships are due to go into dry dock this year….yet there is question as to whether these will be for mechanical or for actual refurbishment due to amount of time scheduled. IDK. The mice - thank you for your review between Az and O. It is yet another insight of experiences between the two, so I sincerely appreciate your taking the time. You have valuable feedback.

This is mostly all sounding pretty darned positive Hiltner! Really glad to hear this. I hope the rest of your voyage stays this way! Enjoy!

If I understand all the posts, the fact that you have booked tours/excursions via Oceania, and your SM excursion gets cancelled, then they will credit your cc. If all of yours are backloaded in your itinerary, but you still have $1k on your cc, it sounds from other reports that you should be okay. It’s those of us who don’t book ship excursions and do not have extra excursions booked on cc that end up with “simply less”.

The simply more excursion piece sure seems to be quite a big miss. Someone didn’t think this ‘enhanced benefit’ through well. It easily turns into a big frustration, leaving customers less than happy, rather than feeling like they received ‘simply more’. This almost punishes those who do not book additional excursions with them, in that there are few ways with which to use their excursion credit once one is cancelled on board during a cruise. Those who really don’t normally book excursions get hit the most…..maybe that was part of the unspoken strategy.

Bonus is having both options! HA! It sincerely is a lovely gesture to have when you board, and kick off your journey…not a deal breaker, but lovely.

I am definitely paying attention. I will note that I started this thread, in part for all the issues occurring with Oceania. I am not sure that any line is without issues…..when I read the prevailing ones on O they may be more concerning for our travel style that I am reading here so far. For instance, there are two sailings discussed here with pretty significant itinerary changes. One was handled with complete class by the captain, the other quite clearly was not. On O boards, missed ports and changed port times seem to be more SOP, and rarely, of ever handled with any class. Those situations would impact me greater than some of the disappointments so far on this thread. For others, the opposite could be true. Maybe not ever having Reistafel is a case where I don’t know what I am missing, so do not understand the lack of! I guess that could be a good or bad thing, depending upon the lens viewed.

Hiltner has a good amount of time on SB, and with our one cruise last year, there was a champagne greeting (Viking always did that too) as well as an earlier cabin availability. I want to say it was ready at 1:00 or 2:00 and we had a standard verandah. Viking was always ready way earlier than 4:00 too.

Thank you basor. I was not clear, but was referring to the SM excursions being booked. There are issues with what happens if they are cancelled by O. If you are not a ship excursion traveler, and they are cancelled, with nothing available, and you haven’t booked paid for excursions for the credit to go back to, there are reported issues.

Nu#1, what is your opinion on the MDR experience and food? How have the excursions been that were part of the package?

Good hearing from you Hiltner. I hope you truly enjoy your first O journey. I trust that your review will be fair and balanced. I do agree that the whole excursion situation is pretty unacceptable. It’s surprising to me that they have that many misses still. I look forward to following along with you! Thank you for taking the time to do this!

We took a cab that we found in Vodice. It was pretty easy. We spent the day in Sibenik exploring on our own. We likely missed some of the history in doing so, but we thoroughly enjoyed our day in spite of the rain! We walked up to one of the fortresses and enjoyed the history. Found a great little local place for lunch and beer in an alley, and just enjoyed the city. It was really very enjoyable. When we felt it was time to give ourselves cushion for our return, (I think the drive time was 15-20 min), we walked out to the central part outside of the old town (it will make sense when you arrive), we grabbed another taxi back. We dinked around Vodice for a bit, but honestly not a lot there to be honest. It was a throughly enjoyable day. Go for it!

I agree that individual chefs can have a big impact on any cruise line. How much of the food experience was from cost cutting or the chef, is pretty difficult to discern. Dated/worn furniture is cost cutting if the ships aren’t going into dry dock with the new ownership. That does not sound like building up a brand. Reading Riocca’s telling of the impressive communication from the captain is, IMO, how it should be when sailings change. On any line. Without That, it leaves too much room for speculation and dissatisfaction. Reading Ethel6666 experience, it sounds as if the opposite occurred with respect to communication. It truly sounds like a very disappointing and honestly, quite an unacceptable response from Azamara (10% credit for a future cruise), after all that occurred throughout that sailing. That would not entice me to sail on that line again. It would be reassuring to hear more about what the new ownership is doing to either keep the reputation at the level Azamara was when they purchased the line, or what they are doing to bring it up (other than the purchase from Princess). That said, my Thanks for all who are sharing their stories on this thread. They are helpful.

Wow. That would not have left us with a positive attitude, and 10% would not have produced a satisfactory outcome. Might I ask where your itinerary took place? Not that it should make a difference, but I am curious. I am truly sorry that you experienced this.

Curious as well.

That would not be the only reason we would look to book concierge class. Other benefits may be worth it, with this being an added bonus - but it sure wouldn’t be my only reason for booking.

The trip we had booked to sail next month, and had to cancel due to medical, is 28% higher than we booked it for if we were to sail it next year at the same time. In my mind, that is not a small increase. The other itineraries we are looking at for next year are not small % increases either, just since pricing offered in February this year. I guess cheers to SB if they keep filling the ships with these increases.

Simply worthless is sounding like a significant and justified concern. It certainly cements the simply more aka price increase argument. These threads truly give pause for a potential first time customer……and sounds like potentially to those experienced O travelers.

Excellent advice host Jazzbeau! Thank you very much for this information! Makes perfect sense!

Thanks for this further detail. Pretty sure having more comfortable seating would be a bonus, but all things equal, itinerary wins out. Absolutely your extensive O experience, and now recent A journey is valuable. I appreciated that part as well!

Thank you harrodsfan for your perspective. I appreciate that you are not necessarily brand specific. We’ve sailed on the larger ships in the past, and HAL back when they had smaller ships. Large ships are not what we care to experience now (grandkids might impact that claim!). We like the opportunity to get into smaller ports with fewer people. When on SB we found ourselves several times as the only ship, and their tendering process was so smooth it was a non issue. It is encouraging to read the stand out qualities you called out with Azamara…servers can make your meals great memories!

Thank you for your responses. I know that A is a favorite line of yours, and that you have a lot of experiences with many trips on Azamara. You make some valid points. The times in port and overnights are part of what is attracting us to the itineraries we are looking at. (Viking does not, and never has, posted port times, where O seems to be missing on hitting those posted times too frequently). We will likely upgrade the drinks package. The only time we did not need to was on SB last year. We enjoy nice wines, so hopefully that opens up the selection on A, or offers discounts on bottles. I haven’t yet looked into that piece. We very much enjoyed the all included (except excursions) on SB. The food, service, the itinerary, the officers presence, the layout of the stateroom (superb) - so we will keep our search within their options (only depending on future sales in the next few months), as well as Azamara and Oceania. All three have itineraries I have written down and am looking at. It’s good to know that you feel Sycamore is not degrading the brand. I did read that speculation at the time.

Thank you for sharing this. We too steered clear from sailing, until last Spring. Like you, I am finding some very attractive itineraries on A…..which is what prompted these questions. I am sure you would not have re-booked on A of your past experiences did not warrant it. I hope you enjoy your Eastern Seaboard trip….that is one we have not yet done.

Thank you for this comparison. I’ve ’talked with you” over on the O board. I genuinely appreciate this comparison. I wondered about the layout on the two different cabins/lines as it seemed to be less inviting on A with that big chair and a desk chair, rather than couch. Strange choices IMO. Not a deal breaker by any means, but good to know. I am glad to hear about the overall experience being, as an Oceania go to person, one that you would come back to the brand. That speaks volumes. Thank you for the bullet point comparisons in this response.