Azamazing evening question for Bill

[shedridt]

I am sorry to burden you with this, but awfully glad you are there to bring our concerns to Azamara's Shore Excursion Team. Thank you for all you do.

 

Hello Shedridt -

 

It's not an issue for me to address your question about the AzAmazing Evening planned for the January 6, 2014 Thailand/Vietnam voyage. Since this is our inaugural year of launching these events it's expected that adjustments ("tweaking") might be necessary. Your questions and opinions and those from others on this forum will ensure that we fine-tune not only the event content itself but also how it is scheduled within the menu of available Land Discoveries offered on that specific day.

 

Your point about the Angkor Wat overnight being in conflict with the AzAmazing Evening on the forthcoming Journey's November voyage is well taken. I will bring this issue to the attention of our shore excursion management team and then get back to you with their response.

 

Thank you for your valuable feedback and taking the time to bring this to our attention.

 

Sincerely,

 

Bill Leiber

_____________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

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

[Bill Leiber]

Bill

 

Did you ever get a response on the question of the application of the discount for the Taj Mahal trip as it is still showing as no discount, though the price has gone up for us Brits quite significantly I think because of a £/$ reprice :(

 

Thanks

 

Ann

 

Hello Ann -

 

First, I'm sorry for such a long turn-around time in getting an answer to your question and I'm grateful for your endurance during the process.

 

Yes, we will be offering the 25% savings on the Taj Mahal Land Discoveries and learned that there is another system's glitch that prevented the savings from being applied. The IT department is still at work clearing up the systems problem and once that has been completed all incorrect bookings will be readjusted.

 

To reiterate, the 25% Land Discoveries Savings (LDS) can be used with tours that include a flight and/or hotel such as the overland to Angkor Wat, Taj Mahal, etc. if pre-booked online at least four (4) days prior to your voyage (or until the tour is sold-out). This 25% savings excludes special ticketed events such as the Monaco Grand Prix, Rio Carnival, concerts and other ticketed performances.

 

Thank you again for your patience.

 

Best regards,

 

Bill Leiber

_____________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

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

[uktog]

Thanks a lot for checking up on this Bill, you have so much to check up on with all the IT glitches, so I fully understand the time delays

Following your post, I have just gone on line and seen the revised price is posted, thanks a lot, certainly means at this price we will make the side trip

A

[Bill Leiber]

 

Hello Welland -

 

Thank you for your suggestion to create an "AzAmazing Evening-like" special event at a discounted price on the night of embarkation in Seville and to offer it as an alternative to not providing an AzAmazing Evening on the Transatlantic. Further, as Marinaro44 points out, there is an evening optional tour already being offered in Seville with dinner and a flamenco show.

 

As I reported earlier in the forum, our decision was driven by a lack of viable options. We had considered Seville as the alternate choice which would require operating the program on the evening of embarkation, which is something our hotel operations team determined would not be well attended because of the guests' onboard acclimation process associated with the day of sailing. The only reasonable choice was Bermuda; however, our Bermuda contractors were unable to develop a meaningful program that would deliver a satisfying experience for our guests.

 

I will forward to our management team for their consideration your suggestion to offer a discounted evening event as a means to validate the assumption that attendance would be low on the night of embarkation. I reiterate that the absence of an AzAmazing Evening on this specific voyage was reviewed by Azamara's senior management who agreed that it would be the only exception in our 2013 offerings. I will get back to you with their response.

Bill Leiber

 

------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello Welland -

 

I'm very aware that my response to you is long-overdue and I appreciate your patience during this protracted decision making process from our management team about your compromise suggestion to offer a discounted evening event on the evening of embarkation day in Seville on November 13, 2014.

 

As you know there is an existing 3-hour Flamenco Evening with Dinner Land Discovery night tour priced at US$ 126.75 per person. Our management team made the business decision to continue with this tour, priced as it is, and not to subsidize the cost. This means that in the end, this particular Transatlantic voyage will continue to be the only exception in our 2013 AzAmazing Evening operating line-up that will not offer an Azamazing Evening.

 

The lesson learned is that we should have been very specific in our initial introductory language about this program that there would be an exception and duly noted it at the outset.

 

I appreciate your persistence and hope that you can accept that your request was reviewed and considered and hope that the outcome does not disillusion you for the onboard experience that will be delivered by our officers and their staff and our shipboard team when you set sail in November.

 

Sincerely,

 

Bill Leiber

_____________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

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

[marinaro44]

------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello Welland -

 

I'm very aware that my response to you is long-overdue and I appreciate your patience during this protracted decision making process from our management team about your compromise suggestion to offer a discounted evening event on the evening of embarkation day in Seville on November 13, 2014.

 

As you know there is an existing 3-hour Flamenco Evening with Dinner Land Discovery night tour priced at US$ 126.75 per person. Our management team made the business decision to continue with this tour, priced as it is, and not to subsidize the cost. This means that in the end, this particular Transatlantic voyage will continue to be the only exception in our 2013 AzAmazing Evening operating line-up that will not offer an Azamazing Evening.

 

The lesson learned is that we should have been very specific in our initial introductory language about this program that there would be an exception and duly noted it at the outset.

 

I appreciate your persistence and hope that you can accept that your request was reviewed and considered and hope that the outcome does not disillusion you for the onboard experience that will be delivered by our officers and their staff and our shipboard team when you set sail in November.

 

Sincerely,

 

Bill Leiber

_____________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

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

Well, I'm not in the least surprised as this is clearly in line with the tone-deaf thinking of Azamara senior management since, and including, the much-hyped beforehand yet very disappointing in reality November announcement for "upmarket travelers."

 

Contrary to what you wrote, Bill, this outcome says clearly that management has learned little or nothing from this situation. It will be interesting to see what kind of "thud" greets the long-awaited standard spirits clarification and which on-board amenity gets to follow the harpists in walking the plank.

[Bill Leiber]

Bill, you must be sick to death of questions about the Azamazing Evenings but would you mind considering yet another?

 

We are booked on the Thailand/Vietnam cruise on Journey that leaves Singapore January 6, 2014. I don't expect Azamara to get their Azamazing act together that far in advance, but to get an idea of what to expect I peeked at the plans for a similar cruise in November 2013. The Azamazing Evening for that cruise is scheduled for Bangkok on Nov 29 - the middle of 3 overnights.

 

A VERY popular shore excursion option on this cruise is an overnight out of Bangkok to Angkor Wat, & this is the one we've selected for our January 2014 cruise at a tariff of ~ $1000/PP. As scheduled now for the November cruise, anyone electing to go to Angkor Wat will forfeit the great benefit of an Azamazing evening.

 

It seems odd to me that Azamara would choose a date on which a significant number of passengers would be unable to take advantage of the Azamazing Event.

 

Could you investigate/comment? Many thanks.

 

Hello Shedridt -

 

I've learned from our tour operations team that there are some instances where it will be unavoidable to prevent a scheduling conflict with overland tours and the AzAmazing Evening Event; therefore, guests will have to make a single choice.

 

Specifically, there were two situations that were reviewed in an attempt to avoid this situation. It seems, however, that suitable rescheduling options were not available:

1. Thailand/Vietnam - the 2 Day/1 Night Angkor Wat Overnight vs. the AzAmazing Evening Discovering Bangkok's Ancient City, and,

2. The Baltic - the 18 hour Moscow & the Mysterious Kremlin tour vs. the AzAmazing Evening Exclusive Ballet at Mikhailovsky Theater.

 

Again, thank you for your time and involvement in bringing this situation to our attention. I wish that I could provide you with a different outcome to this situation that will occur on the November 25, 2013 and January 6, 2014 Thailand and Vietnam voyages. Our Director of Destination Delivery and his team were not able to find a way to avoid this situation.

 

Sincerely,

 

Bill Leiber

_____________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

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

[shedridt]

Thanks for your research, Bill. I must say that the response is not to my liking & wish that there had been another outcome.

 

Surely by this time Azamara must have been inundated with more negative than positive reaction to its Azamazing Evening Program that is touted as a superior alternative to the 50% reduction on pre-booked land excursions we previously enjoyed. In the case of our January 6 2014 Journey cruise, we get NEITHER a 50% reduction on a quite expensive overnight shore excursion to Angkor Wat NOR the Azamazing Evening. Annoyed is not the word that describes my feelings about this, but it's the only one that comes to mind.

 

Azamara will have to do something absolutely azamazing to convince me that there is any benefit to me, as a consumer, in all of this. AND it will have to do something even more azamazing to make me sail with them again after our January 6 trip. We feel that Azamara is a shoe that fits us very well & as savvy, well-traveled clients, we dislike a poor product being presented to us as an improvement over prior excellence.

 

I appreciate your response very much & hope that you will pass this along to management.

[taxjam]

Bill,

 

On the Azamara Quest July 24 Norwegian Fjords cruise, Alesund Port, July 28, 2013, 11AM Arrival, is it planned that passengers can do both the 8 hour Path of the Trolls Land discovery which is 8 hours and the AzAmazing evening apparently scheduled for 7PM?

 

Thanks

[Bill Leiber]

Surely by this time Azamara must have been inundated with more negative than positive reaction to its Azamazing Evening Program that is touted as a superior alternative to the 50% reduction on pre-booked land excursions we previously enjoyed. In the case of our January 6 2014 Journey cruise, we get NEITHER a 50% reduction on a quite expensive overnight shore excursion to Angkor Wat NOR the Azamazing Evening. Annoyed is not the word that describes my feelings about this, but it's the only one that comes to mind. ....

We feel that Azamara is a shoe that fits us very well & as savvy, well-traveled clients, we dislike a poor product being presented to us as an improvement over prior excellence.

 

 

Hello Shedridt -

 

Your point of view is well taken and I've passed on your opinion about the importance of solving the scheduling of standard Land Discovery Tours so that they return in time to permit all customers to take advantage of the complimentary AzAmazing Evening Event in order to avoid this type of customer conflict.

 

At the same time, I want to let you know (and other readers) that the overland Angkor Wat Land Discovery Tour will be eligible for a 25% savings in 2013 and 2014. I've learned that there is a system's glitch that prevented the 25% savings from being applied and that the IT department is still at work clearing up the systems problem. To reiterate, the 25% Land Discoveries Savings (LDS) can be used with tours that include a flight and/or hotel such as the overland to Angkor Wat, Taj Mahal, etc. if pre-booked online at least four (4) days prior to your voyage (or until the tour is sold-out). This 25% savings excludes special ticketed events such as the Monaco Grand Prix, Rio Carnival, concerts and other ticketed performances.

 

Please stay tuned for further updates about the operation of the AzAmazing Evening program throughout the year.

 

Sincerely,

 

Bill Leiber

_____________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

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

[Bill Leiber]

Bill,

 

On the Azamara Quest July 24 Norwegian Fjords cruise, Alesund Port, July 28, 2013, 11AM Arrival, is it planned that passengers can do both the 8 hour Path of the Trolls Land discovery which is 8 hours and the AzAmazing evening apparently scheduled for 7PM?

 

Thanks

 

Hello Taxjam -

 

The way it looks now, the 8-hour Tour (AE12), "The Path of the Trolls" would return after the AzAmazing Evening event departs. I'll check with our tour operations team to determine if the timing of tour can be tweaked so that it can be enjoyed along with the AzAmazing Evening scheduled to depart at 7 PM.

 

I'll get back to you with their response about the level of flexibility in the schedule as soon as I can.

 

Best regards,

 

Bill Leiber

_____________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

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

[shedridt]

It seems to me, Bill, that 25% off the Angkor Wat excursion is not adequate compensation for missing the Azamazing Evening, although it's a step in the right direction.

 

The Azamazing Evening is being touted as being better than the previous 50% discount we all enjoyed on pre-booked tours, including the Angkor Wat tour.

 

I would very much like to press Azamara for something like the 50% off that would have applied prior to the Azamazing Evening offering that we forego in favor of a pricier option.

[uktog]

I understand your frustration, we may or may not have a similar issue with our Taj Mahal trip

 

However, as trips like Angkor Wat and Taj Mahal have flight and accommodation elements, they were not eligible previously for any discounts so the 25% discount is a welcome change.

 

Unlike Shredit, we are taking a different view, in the scheme of things our overnight away is the most important thing for us and whilst we will be disappointed if we are not back for the evening, we will see that as an example of a lack of attention to detail by the shore based land teams and hope that lessons are learned for the future

 

What does frustrate is this lack of attention to detail which Azamara prides itself in elsewhere. Accepted launching the evenings concept was a big thing but part of the diligence should have been cross checking overlaps with other land discoveries. Bill is getting many questions on these now, and from the delay he has in responding you sense (maybe wrongly) that each time this is the first someone has noticed. It would not have taken long to check against the days plans for each cruise and would have avoided the view that these evenings were rushed out as part of a big bespoke spin but how it looked for the actual customer got lost in some cases in the hype.

 

I am a broken record on this I know but be it special evenings, drinks included, harpists or whatever, please Azamara will you stop, plan, think how it looks to your average customer and tailor your message, good news or bad, accordingly and with the same attention to detail as we enjoy on the ships

 

I will climb off my soap box now and again thank Bill for all his efforts at the jumbled confused time.

[shedridt]

I'm going to pass this along to my TA & I know s'he'll have our best interests at heart.

[berkshireboy]

We are booked on the Greek Isles & Cyprus, Suez Canal to Oman & Dubai cruise on Azamara Journey in November. The AzAmazing evening for this cruise was featured in the Blog posted yesterday.

 

However, should you be on this cruise you will find that ALL five of the tours from Limassol that day arrive back at the ship between two and three hours AFTER the departure time for the AzAmazing evening. So, you are faced with the choice of either taking a ships excursion or partaking in the AzAmazing evening - you cannot do both.

 

I suspect that what will happen is that enough people will chose the Azamazing evening to make the excursions unviable and lead to their cancellation.

 

Considering that at least two checks are already supposed to have been made to prevent these sorts of clashes how could this happen? And, more to the point how can this be resolved?

[taxjam]

Hello Taxjam -

 

The way it looks now, the 8-hour Tour (AE12), "The Path of the Trolls" would return after the AzAmazing Evening event departs. I'll check with our tour operations team to determine if the timing of tour can be tweaked so that it can be enjoyed along with the AzAmazing Evening scheduled to depart at 7 PM.

 

I'll get back to you with their response about the level of flexibility in the schedule as soon as I can.

 

Best regards,

 

Bill Leiber

_____________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

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

 

Bill,

 

Thanks for looking into this logistical issue.

 

Taxjam

[Jade13]

Bill,

 

We are on the November 9, 2013 Spices, Tea & Rubber Trees cruise onboard Journey, and the AzAmazing Evening in Cochin on Sunday November 17, "The Culture and Traditions of Kerala" (which sounds great) is scheduled to depart at 5:30pm. It is listed as 3 hours which would mean we would return to the ship at 8:30pm.

 

While that works out fine and there appears to be no conflicts with any of the ships tours, please note that Journey is scheduled to depart Cochin at 7:00pm that evening.

 

So, will the evening event depart earlier or will Journey depart later at 9:00pm after everyone has returned to the ship? I am surprised after months this has not been caught by anyone in Miami. The hotel being used for the function is not far from where the ship is scheduled to dock so we have made plans for a private tour that could drop us at the hotel should the AzAmazing Evening event start earlier, specifically so we have no conflict.

 

The goods news for Azamara is that this itinerary was sold out 9 months in advance, so your planners made a good choice on the itinerary, routing, and ports.

[uktog]

Bill,

 

We are on the November 9, 2013 Spices, Tea & Rubber Trees cruise onboard Journey, and the AzAmazing Evening in Cochin on Sunday November 17, "The Culture and Traditions of Kerala" (which sounds great) is scheduled to depart at 5:30pm. It is listed as 3 hours which would mean we would return to the ship at 8:30pm.

 

While that works out fine and there appears to be no conflicts with any of the ships tours, please note that Journey is scheduled to depart Cochin at 7:00pm that evening.

 

So, will the evening event depart earlier or will Journey depart later at 9:00pm after everyone has returned to the ship? I am surprised after months this has not been caught by anyone in Miami. The hotel being used for the function is not far from where the ship is scheduled to dock so we have made plans for a private tour that could drop us at the hotel should the AzAmazing Evening event start earlier, specifically so we have no conflict.

 

The goods news for Azamara is that this itinerary was sold out 9 months in advance, so your planners made a good choice on the itinerary, routing, and ports.

 

Jade

 

We were advised on 27th November by Azamara via an email that the departure had been changed to accommodate the Azamazing evening - did you not get that notification from your TA? At that time they stated the ship would depart at 2100 I see it will in fact now leave at 2200 according to manage my reservation

If you log into managing your reservation you will see that timing change confirmed

[Jade13]

Jade

 

We were advised on 27th November by Azamara via an email that the departure had been changed to accommodate the Azamazing evening - did you not get that notification from your TA? At that time they stated the ship would depart at 2100 I see it will in fact now leave at 2200 according to manage my reservation

If you log into managing your reservation you will see that timing change confirmed

 

Hi Uktog, thank you for pointing that out and I see it now on the cruise calender once logged in that the departure time has been moved to 10:00pm. I assumed they would eventually realize the conflict and make a change. The last time I looked there there had been no change. My TA hasn't said anything.

 

Do you have any information on whether they intend to bring on any outside entertainment at some of the other ports? I am surprised we have an overnight in Mumbai and there are no night tours. We are OK with that since we are leaving the ship very early the next day for an overnight trip to see the Ajanta & Allora caves, meeting the ship in Goa. But I am surprised at the lack of night time touring since it has been so highly touted. There were no overnight tours on our trip on Quest in 2011 and we were told they were starting in 2012. In Goa we do not depart until 10:00pm and again no evening tours. There is nothing in Columbo, Sri Lanka and I am finding out how far it is to walk into town once we dock in the evening.

 

The only evening tours are in Singapore and they are the same old with Night Safari. We have been there and done that on Quest.

 

Looking forward to finally meeting you in November!

[uktog]

I suspect it is far too early to ask about evening entertainment. We might get some indication when the cruises between Singapore and Athens happen next month. However, it is often arranged much nearer the event and we have seen it be organised as our cruise progressed.

 

Whilst night activities were mentioned in the past that has been dropped in recent PR, I suspect Azamara has found that many customers either preferred to have a longer day ashore but not to go out at night (that certainly was what happened on our South America trip) or if they are going ashore in the evenings to work with private arrangements. They did struggle to get numbers for evening trips on our last two cruises. Certainly late departures allows us to explore ashore up to around 1900 and we prefer this approach - coming back on board after a long day and enjoying a later meal rather than coming back earlier and going back out.

 

It also cannot be easy when they are working with frequent travellers - in Singapore there are two evening offerings, we will do neither as we have done both on previous trips but I will not hold that against Azamara, they are very enjoyable outings for first/second time visitors.

 

Curious what would you have expected Azamara to offer in Mumbai? Not sure an evening there appeals to me, but I am happy to be convinced otherwise. Maybe they have issues in getting the required standard of catering/security to run trips

[Jade13]

I suspect it is far too early to ask about evening entertainment. We might get some indication when the cruises between Singapore and Athens happen next month. However, it is often arranged much nearer the event and we have seen it be organised as our cruise progressed.

 

Whilst night activities were mentioned in the past that has been dropped in recent PR, I suspect Azamara has found that many customers either preferred to have a longer day ashore but not to go out at night (that certainly was what happened on our South America trip) or if they are going ashore in the evenings to work with private arrangements. They did struggle to get numbers for evening trips on our last two cruises. Certainly late departures allows us to explore ashore up to around 1900 and we prefer this approach - coming back on board after a long day and enjoying a later meal rather than coming back earlier and going back out.

 

It also cannot be easy when they are working with frequent travellers - in Singapore there are two evening offerings, we will do neither as we have done both on previous trips but I will not hold that against Azamara, they are very enjoyable outings for first/second time visitors.

 

Curious what would you have expected Azamara to offer in Mumbai? Not sure an evening there appeals to me, but I am happy to be convinced otherwise. Maybe they have issues in getting the required standard of catering/security to run trips

 

The only thing I can think of would be a "Mumbai by Night" driving tour with perhaps a stop somewhere. Apparantly there is a whole night life in the city. But you are right that the logistics are tricky, especially since the city is so crowded with traffic. They would also need a bus with facilities onboard or better advise clients that the only thing available are squat toilets. But they have the same issue during the day which is likely the reason almost every tour in Mumbai is 3 or 4 hours (maybe 5) and covers very little. They want to bring customers back to the ship for lunch.

 

But again, this goes against the promoting of longer stays and evening touring (which you have noticed is no longer being marketed). My idea of the benefit of longer stays is not a 3 or 4 hour tour one day and a 3 or 4 hour tour the next. To get the most out of our time we have planned a full day tour on the first day in Mumbai (with lunch, I will post on our roll call as we have 4 spaces left), and then we are flying somewhere else the second day.

 

Someone on our cruise is planning a night tour in Mumbai and I know this because they wanted to know if we wished to join. I doubt my DH will agree to go out in the evening since we have to leave so early the next day, plus it basically covers the same areas we will be covering by day.

 

However, if they brought on some local evening entertainment that could be really fun with Bollywood and/or traditional and various styles of dance.

 

I just hope the AzAmazing evening doesn't mean they won't have other events during the cruise.

[Bill Leiber]

We are booked on the Greek Isles & Cyprus, Suez Canal to Oman & Dubai cruise on Azamara Journey in November. The AzAmazing evening for this cruise was featured in the Blog posted yesterday.

 

However, should you be on this cruise you will find that ALL five of the tours from Limassol that day arrive back at the ship between two and three hours AFTER the departure time for the AzAmazing evening. So, you are faced with the choice of either taking a ships excursion or partaking in the AzAmazing evening - you cannot do both.

 

I suspect that what will happen is that enough people will chose the Azamazing evening to make the excursions unviable and lead to their cancellation.

 

Considering that at least two checks are already supposed to have been made to prevent these sorts of clashes how could this happen? And, more to the point how can this be resolved?

 

 

Hello Berkshireboy -

 

I want you to know that I had forwarded your comments about the situation in Limassol to our AzAmazing Evening planning team for their review and asked them to find a solution so that there is time between the end of a Land Discovery Tour and the start of the AzAmazing Evening event.

 

I will be following up with them on their progress and ability to find schedule flexibility. I ask for your patience and assure you that I'm committed to securing a response for you and will report it to you when I'm able.

 

Thank you deciding to vacation with Azamara.

 

Sincerely,

 

Bill Leiber

_____________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

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

[Bill Leiber]

Bill,

 

Thanks for looking into this logistical issue.

 

Hello Taxjam -

 

There will be a way for you to participate in "The Path of the Trolls" tour in Alesund on July 28.

 

Although our system does not allow guests to book tours back to back unless the first tour ends 45 minutes or more before the start of the second tour, I've learned that we can make an exception on a case-by-case basis. In Alesund, the tour will "officially" return about 30 minutes from the start of the AzAmazing Evening. Because not everyone can get off the ship at the same time to transfer to the event, we will dispatch guests in waves of 40-50, so those guests who arrive back to ship the latest will have time to freshen up before going out on the AzAmazing Evening.

 

I'm waiting for specific instructions on how to arrange to have this exception executed and will get back to you with that information.

 

Best regards,

 

Bill Leiber

_____________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

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

[taxjam]

Bill,

 

Thanks for your response.

 

Taxjam

[justhappytobehere]

Bill, it's been twelve days since I raised the issue of the missing Azamazing evening on Quest's November 13 cruise and the inconsistency between Quest's departure date and time from Seville and the scheduling of land discoveries hours after the departure time.

 

I'm puzzled why, if you "did learn" that there was no Azamazing evening on this cruise, I had to be told by Doug's posting above, and why you didn't tell me here directly. I'd also like to know why, when I booked this cruise last November while on Quest, I wasn't told there was no Azamazing evening. With all the hype and bluster we've been fed about it, you'd think the on board cruise consultants would have been told IN LARGE, BOLD LETTERS to make sure prospective passengers were made aware of this one and only exception before they committed to book. Instead, I was told the Azamazing evening hadn't been scheduled yet but it would be held in Bermuda as that is the only port where there would be an overnight.

 

I'm also puzzled why it's taken twelve days to figure out when Quest is really departing Seville. Surely someone at Azamara must know. There are likely people looking to book land discoveries in Seville and, as of now, anyone looking at Quest's scheduled departure and the scheduled times of those discoveries will be very confused. I would think whoever's in charge of this mess would want it fixed pronto.

 

Lastly, the prices listed for discoveries on the web site are contradictory. For example, in Bermuda on November 23, the discoveries summary page shows the glass bottom boat cruise priced at $49. Clicking on "Show Details" takes me to the page where I can book and the "Product Summary" box also shows $49. But when I scroll down to the "Times Available" section where I'd book, it says the price is $59.25. Now that I look at it again, I note that it also says the excursion leaves at 8:00pm. This might present a problem as Quest is scheduled to leave Bermuda at 3:15pm that day.

 

How do we get all of this fixed...and soon, not twelve more days from now? I'm at the point where I'm going to stop defending Azamara and start looking at alternatives.:mad:

 

 

Hello Marinaro. We met briefly on the Quest last November and this is the first time I've been on this forum since, and already reading this thread I feel myself getting more wound up by the minute. I had hoped all the disorganisation we experienced pre last years cruise was a one-off, due to the re-fit and Spanish Strike, but it looks as though the shoreside organisation is just as bad as ever. I'm sorry you're having all this aggravation yet again.

 

We decided not to chance Azamara this year and it looks as though we made the right decision, as the anticipation in the build up to our holiday is a big part of the experience. Last year, instead of being excited, we worried for weeks before we set off and it seems nothing's changed.

 

I hope it all works out well for you.

 

Regards to your wife.

 

Una

[berkshireboy]

Hello Berkshireboy -

 

I want you to know that I had forwarded your comments about the situation in Limassol to our AzAmazing Evening planning team for their review and asked them to find a solution so that there is time between the end of a Land Discovery Tour and the start of the AzAmazing Evening event.

 

I will be following up with them on their progress and ability to find schedule flexibility. I ask for your patience and assure you that I'm committed to securing a response for you and will report it to you when I'm able.

 

Thank you deciding to vacation with Azamara.

 

Sincerely,

 

Bill Leiber

_____________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

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

 

Many thanks for your help Bill