TV Channels

[crikeys]

In December we are embarking on the Quest for 12days with 3 teenages.:confused:

Does anyone know which TV channels they can watch and if any movies are shown?

[Strangebreeze]

We were on the Quest 3 years ago and we were not impressed by the TV .

You get CNN,BBC and 1-2 movie channels which shows some old stuff over 12 months old mainly.

Depending on your cabin ie suite you get a video player and access to a video library with even older stuff !

We made friends on board with some one who bought with them about 100 movies on their PC .

[CKforensic]

I love Azamara and nearly everything about them except that their offerings on the TV are terrible. There is a very limited number of channels with some on-demand shows, but nothing special and certainly no where near enough to provide any real entertainment on a 12-night cruise. I have some movies loaded on my laptop and have ended up watching them repeatedly when on Azamara cruises with sea days (while staring out of the balcony with a glass of wine in hand...of course).

 

If anyone at Azamara is reading this...please try to improve the TV offerings (something like Celebrity Solstice Class offerings...).

[crikeys]

Is it possible to seek a fix on our behalf?:confused:

[suec12]

Having sailed the same ships of Azamara and Oceania, O has much better video / TV offerings. I think all staterooms had a DVD player with a pretty decent selection of movies available for free at the front desk. Also the TV channels and in-room movies were much more extensive on Oceania. It seems like this would be an area that Azamara could improve upon fairly easily - it didn't make much difference to me as I like to read in my down time but honestly, for your teenagers, it will be disappointing.

[maryann ns]

Heaven forbid that teenagers should read!

[Spursgirl]

Hi Crikeys.

 

We sailed on Azamara last month and I am sorry to say that the only downside was the very poor quality of TV offered (hope you're reading this Bill!!!)

 

It would be so easy and relatively inexpensive to offer the same choice that is available on Solstice class Celebrity ships and I hope that this is something that will be rectified very soon.

 

Sadly I think your teenagers will be distinctly unimpressed.

 

However, everything else on the ship is wonderful so I am sure they will still have a great time.

 

Ciao

 

Hazel

[crikeys]

Hello Bill

The TV channels on the Quest are causing alot of static on this forum.

Can this be fixed?

Its odd that the "Premium Band" is of a lessor standard to Solstice!

[Andy]

Is it possible to seek a fix on our behalf?:confused:

 

Hi Crikeys,

 

I doubt I will have any voice on this issue, but I'm sure Bill Leiber will be reading this. I must be in the minority, but I didnt think the TV programming was that bad. While Azamara does not offer the range that Celebrity currently offers.... it's fair to say that Celebrity's TV programming was horrible, until the debut of the Solstice Class ships. They've clearly made great improvements.

 

As Bill has previously discussed "shared areas" within the RCCL family - we can hope that Azamara will be able to take advantage of improvements in RCCL's other brands, and upgraded programing will be forthcoming.

 

I'm also putting on my "wish list", improved internet service. While I was onboard, the service was quite good during the first half of the Cruise, but the second half was almost non-existant. I realize that outages may be out of Azamara's control, but I hope they can find a way to improve what they have.

[Bill Leiber]

Hello Bill

The TV channels on the Quest are causing alot of static on this forum.

Can this be fixed?

Its odd that the "Premium Band" is of a lessor standard to Solstice!

Hello Crikeys –

 

Please give me some time to check-out the operation of our TV programming.

 

In the interim, please don’t even consider, changing the channel!

 

Regards,

 

Bill Leiber

________________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

(*CBO is an authorized and compensated representative of ACC)

[360Guy]

Hi-

We just returned from a FANTASTIC (cruise review posted) Quest cruise to Croatia. We did use the TV and thought it was perfectly fine---we don't spend that much time in the room OR watching TV. But the channels included BBC and CNBC and Fox. We also liked that there were a number of on demand TV shows including Law and Order, The Office, etc. Plus a great interactive that allowed you to see the menus for all restaurants including the entire cruise MDR menu--I thought this was great for planning a night at Aqualina or Prime C since you had the menus for the week.

I think TV is an entirely personal thing and many have homeside cable with 900+ channels--so perhaps we get a bit spoiled imho?

So here's an alternative comment on TV Channels! Looking forward to another AZ Cruise!!!:)

[zennor]

Hi-

We just returned from a FANTASTIC (cruise review posted) Quest cruise to Croatia.

 

Apologies if this is off-topic but as Search is disabled I can't see if you've posted any more info about your cruise as I think it is a similar itinerary to our coming one. I've looked at your review which is great info on the ship. Have you posted anywhere else about the Ports? Thanks, Zelda.

[360Guy]

Hi Zelda--Hope you have a wonderful cruise like we did--enjoy. I didn't post about the ports as others have done so in the past. We did walking tours at each and thought they were great-it was warm in the afternoon so glad we did them in the morning. Highlights were Split, Kotor, Korcula and Dubrovnik--

[Bill Leiber]

Hello Bill

The TV channels on the Quest are causing alot of static on this forum.

Can this be fixed?

Its odd that the "Premium Band" is of a lessor standard to Solstice!

Hello Crikeys –

 

When I read your comment that “It’s odd that the ‘Premium Brand’ is of a lesser standard to Solstice,” I took it as a challenge. I checked with Azamara’s vice-president of operation to see if your assumption was correct and I’m pleased to let you and others know that your guess was off the mark and Azamara’s TV programming is the same as Celebrity.

 

Yes, Celebrity has newer ships and their systems are a bit fancier, but their programming is the same as ours except for a few more sport channels. We can appreciate that some guests might expect the same programming as they get at home and of course we do not offer 150 channels of satellite feed.

 

Here is what we offer on a typical cruise:

 

Satellite Feed:

MSNBC

Fox news

CNBC

Sky News

BBC World News

E!

ESPN Caribbean

Discovery Channel

 

Ships Feed:

Bridge Cam

2 Free movie channels – showing a free different movie each day of the cruise

Cruise Director Info channel - showing activities going on the ship

Shore Excursion channel - showing what is going on ashore

Guest lecturer - repeat broadcast

 

Pay Per View:

Guests have a choice of 25 different movies at nominal fee

 

I hope that this information is helpful and will put your mind at ease about traveling with your three teenagers on the Azamara Quest.

 

Happy sailing and thank you for your decision to vacation with Azamara Club Cruises!

 

Regards,

 

Bill Leiber

________________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

(*CBO is an authorized and compensated representative of ACC)

[crikeys]

Thanks for your hard work Bill,

 

Whilst you still have the "ear" of the Vice -President, could you please ask if the TV has a

PC in port capable of taking a VGA type plug?. The idea is to project movies downloaded on my laptop onto the TV.

If this isn't possible, maybe we could borrow a DVD player and plug it in the TV?

Kind Regards

Crikeys

[CKforensic]

Hi Bill. Thanks for your help and for being such a great resource for those of us who love Azamara.

 

The difference between the TV offerings on the Solstice Class and Azamara has much to do with the on-demand system. The Solstice Class has a great selection of movies, TV shows, and music...many of which are complimentary. While such a system is nice to have on larger ships with many entertainment options like Celebrity, it would really be valuable on smaller ships like Azamara where the entertainment options are much more limited. This is even more important since many of the Azamara itineraries are longer than 7 days and often have multiple sea days, which are great for relaxing in the cabin or on the balcony.

 

We understand that upgrading the TV entertainment system would likely be a major project but perhaps it would be more feasible since Azamara's sister line already has the technology.

 

That being said, the overall Azamara experience is wonderful and the TV entertainment is only a minor issue.

 

Many thanks to you and the rest of the Azamara staff for all that you do to make our cruises so memorable!

 

 

Hello Crikeys –

 

When I read your comment that “It’s odd that the ‘Premium Brand’ is of a lesser standard to Solstice,” I took it as a challenge. I checked with Azamara’s vice-president of operation to see if your assumption was correct and I’m pleased to let you and others know that your guess was off the mark and Azamara’s TV programming is the same as Celebrity.

 

Yes, Celebrity has newer ships and their systems are a bit fancier, but their programming is the same as ours except for a few more sport channels.

[Spursgirl]

Good morning Bill,

 

Having just spent three weeks on Azamara Quest I can assure you that Sky News was not one of the channels offered. Had it been I would have spent less time on the internet catching up with UK news.

 

I appreciate that it's not your fault that I work in the media and am therefore a media junkie even when I am on holiday, but if it is easy to add Sky News to the TV roster on Azamara I am sure UK guests would be appreciative as BBC World is hopeless.

 

I am considering returning to the Quest in October - it would be wonderful if it could be available by then.

 

Thanks for your time.

 

Ciao

 

Hazel

[Bill Leiber]

Good morning Bill,

 

Having just spent three weeks on Azamara Quest I can assure you that Sky News was not one of the channels offered. Had it been I would have spent less time on the internet catching up with UK news.

 

I appreciate that it's not your fault that I work in the media and am therefore a media junkie even when I am on holiday, but if it is easy to add Sky News to the TV roster on Azamara I am sure UK guests would be appreciative as BBC World is hopeless.

 

I am considering returning to the Quest in October - it would be wonderful if it could be available by then.

 

Thanks for your time.

 

Ciao

 

Hazel

Hello Hazel -

 

Please give me some time as I check-out your comment about no Sky News on the Azamara Quest.

 

In the meantime, I hope that we have the opportunity to welcome you back on board again in October!

 

Regards,

 

Bill Leiber

________________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

(*CBO is an authorized and compensated representative of ACC)

[Bill Leiber]

Thanks for your hard work Bill,

 

Whilst you still have the "ear" of the Vice -President, could you please ask if the TV has a

PC in port capable of taking a VGA type plug?. The idea is to project movies downloaded on my laptop onto the TV.

If this isn't possible, maybe we could borrow a DVD player and plug it in the TV?

Kind Regards

Crikeys

Hello Crikeys –

 

I have just learned that the VGA port cannot be used to connect with the PC. This port interferes with the IP-TV system; however, you may borrow a DVD player. I hope this information is helpful.

 

Thanks for your patience.

 

Regards,

 

Bill Leiber

________________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

(*CBO is an authorized and compensated representative of ACC)

[Bill Leiber]

Good morning Bill,

 

Having just spent three weeks on Azamara Quest I can assure you that Sky News was not one of the channels offered. Had it been I would have spent less time on the internet catching up with UK news.

 

I appreciate that it's not your fault that I work in the media and am therefore a media junkie even when I am on holiday, but if it is easy to add Sky News to the TV roster on Azamara I am sure UK guests would be appreciative as BBC World is hopeless.

 

I am considering returning to the Quest in October - it would be wonderful if it could be available by then.

 

Thanks for your time.

 

Ciao

 

Hazel

Hello Hazel -

 

Here is some late-breaking news about Azamara’s relationship with Sky News …

 

Interestingly, I learned that because of negative guest feedback we made the decision to drop Sky News in favor of BBC World Wide News!

 

Thank you for sharing your negative feedback about BBC World News. By doing so, our onboard team now will on the look-out for additional negative guest comments as they monitor our guest surveys.

 

I hope that you’ll be able to return to the Azamara Quest in October and we look forward to the opportunity of welcoming you onboard again.

 

Regards,

 

Bill Leiber

________________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

(*CBO is an authorized and compensated representative of ACC)

[KarenR_UK]

Hello Hazel -

 

Here is some late-breaking news about Azamara’s relationship with Sky News …

 

Interestingly, I learned that because of negative guest feedback we made the decision to drop Sky News in favor of BBC World Wide News!

 

Thank you for sharing your negative feedback about BBC World News. By doing so, our onboard team now will on the look-out for additional negative guest comments as they monitor our guest surveys.

 

I hope that you’ll be able to return to the Azamara Quest in October and we look forward to the opportunity of welcoming you onboard again.

 

Regards,

 

Bill Leiber

________________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

(*CBO is an authorized and compensated representative of ACC)

 

Hi Bill

 

I try not to watch the news too much when on holiday, & the following comment is therefore based on a vague memory :D;

 

On our last P&O cruise (which was transatlantic, EX UK), I think we had both sky news & BBC WorldWideNews : Sky News was pretty much UK oriented , but BBC WWN was not the same as BBC 24 hour news as we get it in the UK and seemed, to me, (& as its title indicates) to cover more international news and much less UK news, so was of less relevance to us individually.

 

I guess any decisions really depend on if this particular channel is targeted at a particular group and if so, who, the UK or US/international passengers.

[Balloon Man]

I'll take BBC News over Sky's output any day. And I'm also an ex-journalist news junkie. Alan.

[Bill Leiber]

Hi Bill

 

I try not to watch the news too much when on holiday, & the following comment is therefore based on a vague memory :D;

 

On our last P&O cruise (which was transatlantic, EX UK), I think we had both sky news & BBC WorldWideNews : Sky News was pretty much UK oriented , but BBC WWN was not the same as BBC 24 hour news as we get it in the UK and seemed, to me, (& as its title indicates) to cover more international news and much less UK news, so was of less relevance to us individually.

 

I guess any decisions really depend on if this particular channel is targeted at a particular group and if so, who, the UK or US/international passengers.

Hello KarenR_UK –

 

Thanks for taking your time to explain the difference between the two UK networks. Now I have a better understanding of the different points of view.

 

Enjoy your forthcoming Azamara Quest vacation in November.

 

Happy Sailing!

 

Bill Leiber

________________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

(*CBO is an authorized and compensated representative of ACC)

[little britain]

The channels this week are:

Msnbc

BBC world news

Expn

Fox news

 

The movies are:

Wildest dream conquest of everest

Rabbit hole

Stone

When in Rome

Mamma Mia

Roman holiday

Burlesque

Due date

Harry potter and deathly hallows

Hereafter

How do you know

Little fockers

Only you

Morning glory

Torn legacy

Paranormal activity 2

The tourist

True grit