Vineyard View

Thank you for your review of your most recent experience. Your vast amount of sailing experience with Azamara brings a lot of knowledge of product and expectation. I am sorry to hear that your recent sailing missed the mark on multiple levels. That is disappointing. Not having sailed in that part of the world, do you think supply availability had any impact on food? I haven’t read that before but I don’t follow those itineraries. The inconsistent service, and cutbacks mentioned, I believe, would be noticeable to most people who sail in this category. I hope that your Onward journey in September proves to be much better for you and your friends on such an important occasion.

Thank you Chucktownsteve for this analysis. We have not sailed on Regent, so I cannot compare. I agree that there are always complainers on the four boards that I mostly follow. When the same complaints become consistent (ie: inconsistency on Az, skipped/reduced ports on Oceania) some legitimacy tends to develop. That said, I agree that no line is perfect. I agree that first out itineraries aes generally the time to book. I missed that window for next Spring. I think it is a good thing to have a couple of lines that you are comfortable with and can enjoy. It opens up more itineraries and options. You finding that with Regent and Azamara provides that for you. Again, thanks for your comparisons.

But if that happens, who does a person call who uses flightease given the time/hour question OP is worried about during the connection, should things go sideways during off hours for SB customer service and TA with time differences.

Again, I thank you. I wasn’t completely clear on the party atmosphere statement. I honestly think that Azamara would be a fun line to cruise on. The R ship size of bathrooms and space prior to suites is my own, and DH, hesitation.. Yes, I clearly accept that this works for so many people. Not just with Azamara R ships.

Thank you Dynacruiser for taking the time to respond so thoroughly and honestly to my concerns and this originating this post. I sincerely appreciate you doing this so evenly, in the good and the not so good - but the overall high satisfaction in this product - Azamara. I will say that I never read anything to make me think that “Azamara is a party on board now”. What I had read was that the special event off ship in the evening is now a party on board. So no, I did not picture nor read that this is a party atmosphere type of line. Some people seem genuinely disappointed in this, and yet as you mention in your response, it seems that this is inconsistent as to whether it occurs or no. There is quite a bit of chatter about cost cutting and devaluing the brand….thank you for assessing your thoughts around these concerns. It is good to hear that most passengers that you are interacting with are very satisfied with their experience. As a couple who enjoy good wine, we often bring our own bottles on board from port, whether we are sailing on Viking or Seabourn, so thank you for that input. I commend you on your pointing out the times you have vented on the boards about various occurrences that you have been frustrated, so thank you for your honesty. I truly do not believe that any line is perfect. I am curious what other brands in the premium or luxury segment you have sailed on? Maybe Azamara has ticked enough boxes for you to have no desire to sail on another, and that’s really quite okay. Again, thank you for your thoughtful and honest input in your response to this thread. DH and I always have a great time when we travel, and starting this thread has provided a lot of meaningful input to Azamara. We are definitely looking at some interesting itineraries for our travels next Spring.

Under the wines list…..the included 4 are what is offered unless you buy the Ultimate? If you buy the ultimate then those listed are included by the glass? If you are in a suite, is there a package included?

Gotta get up and walk away! I could care less - nor will I waste my vacation time with that.

They are out there. Good ones. Don’t give up.

I just looked at one of three we are watching. May 2025, A3 went up $600 pp for a 10 day itinerary. I didn’t look any further.

Our TA provides discounts, not fees. I have never researched whether she is part of ‘the club’. She works hard for us and we have always been happy.

What a great pleasant surprise!

Good question. I hadn’t thought of that….someone will know! Thx for asking

That is what I thought, but wanted to make sure. Thank you both. I was looking at an itinerary and several categories showed one or the other. Given airfare, and all the other planning in advance on a long distance destination, I don’t know that my nervous system could handle Guaranteed, and it’s a hard no for waitlist! Thanks again.

I tried to find this on the search forum. Only thing that populated was around excursions. I would like to understand the difference between waitlisted, and guaranteed cabins? I would assume that guaranteed means you will sail, in at least that cabin category, vs waitlisted having no guarantee? Since assuming is not always wise. I would appreciate confirmation/clarification? Thank you!

I am so sorry that happened to you. All of it. Thank goodness for insurance.

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.