I may rock the boat here!

[BillC]

My experience is that although Azamara has obviously cut back on on board entertainment, the ship's orchestra, singers and dancers, and the very talented and involved cruise directors continue to deliver excellent shows, usually starting at 9:45 PM and ending around 11, when the DJ in the Looking Glass kicks in.:)

[Mrs Miggins]

You seem to have missed the point, Every night there is live entertainment in the Cabaret Lounge with some great shows, the resident singers and dancers on some nights , then guest entertainers on other nights.

 

Have fun on your cruise. My good friend English Tim was also very dubious about Azamara before he got on board on our June cruise. He has since rather changed his tune and has already been on a second cruise. We can all find something to moan about but the onboard experience is very good and much better than on the other lines I have tried.

 

Will be very interested to read your cruise review.

[liverpoollad]

One again thank you for all your replies it is appreciated.

 

 

BillC.

 

Good point, the usual ship shows last about 45 min & you say the Quest lasts 75 min. I feel better now about the evening, dinner at 8pm then to the Cabaret & the to the Looking glass & Led Zed, Nirvana;)

 

With this said I am still unhappy about no live music, I am not the sun lounger type(not forgetting the weather & possibly no sun lounging) I did enjoy the one hour live music on deck which every other cruise I have done did, even the QE, this show broke up the day.

 

Mrs Miggins. Even I am looking forward to my review.

 

p.s. I am a classical music fan...not" fine".

[excitedofharpenden]

I'll add my thoughts which may not mirror what others have said here, but it's how I feel. First and foremost to me Azamara isn't about a lively and buzzing nightlife. If you go to Looking Glass after the show lured by "Abba Night", "Disco Night" or "80s Night" don't be disappointed if it's you and five others on the dance floor. It all very much depends on the group of passengers that are on your cruise and of course you can't control that. It's been duller than dull on some trips and we closed Looking Glass at 3am on another with a great group of fellow passengers (a large group of Australian travel agents helped).

 

Azamara seems to attract an active older crowd who choose their cruise for exploring the ports of call and longer stays there. This might be the reason that I have found the ship to be very quiet later on in the evening. You might hit a lively crowd and be up until the small hours, but it's more likely to be pretty quiet after showtime (which I have found to be surprisingly enjoyable for someone who doesn't normally do shows) and I wanted to manage your expectations. I love Azamara because the style works well for me and it will be interesting to read your thoughts when you are back.

 

Oh, I've not seen Led Zepp or Nirvana on the DJ playlist, but you can always ask the question!

 

Phil

[2irisheyes]

liverpoollad - ooh I think you like to stir. Perhaps you will be one of the criers. Did you post a review on the Cunard boards about your QE cruise, sorry voyage!

[fortworther]

oh, my. i read all this stuff about lack of live music. one of our favorite things is after dinner drinks in the Mosaic with the pianist/guitarist. on our last cruise we closed the place down dancing and singing along every night. is the live piano bar stuff gone now??

[Bill Leiber]

oh, my. i read all this stuff about lack of live music. one of our favorite things is after dinner drinks in the Mosaic with the pianist/guitarist. on our last cruise we closed the place down dancing and singing along every night. is the live piano bar stuff gone now??

 

Hello Fortworther -

 

I'm asking for an update from each vessel.

 

Please stay tuned.

 

Best regards,

 

Bill Leiber

__________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

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

[liverpoollad]

2irisheyes.

 

Yes I did a review of my ferry trip on the QE. I gave an honest review which I always do. I gave everything top marks, but the entertainment was poor & I was so disappointed I will not sail on them again.

 

 

Down our road is an old folks home, every week they get some entertainment which is usually is a guitarist or more likely a pianist, they usually fall asleep, Why not give them a bit of Led Zed surely that would keep them awake;););););).

[liverpoollad]

I have been in touch with Amazara UK & I have had super quick replies, they have been in touch with the ship who have also responded quickly.

Top marks for this.

 

I mentioned the duo going & that it seemed the only live music apart from the Cabaret was the guitarist & pianist.

 

The reply(part of).

 

"We still retain our 7 piece Orchestra, our pianist & guitarist, lost our duo & harpist but have replaced the time slots with other events & increased live music elsewhere".

 

I responded.

 

"I trust that the "live music elsewhere" doesn't just mean the pianist & guitarist".

 

With Amazing customer relationship I had a reply within hours.

 

The reply(part of).

 

" We can use the Orchestra for jazz events, if the artiste doesn't use the Orchestra we use them in the casino, they also play pre show music most nights.

We are a small ship & have neither the venues or staff to have more musicians available so most of our SOLO live music is still based around our guitarist ( Looking Glass Lounge) & our piano entertainment(Casino Bar Lounge)".

 

So really it is back to square one, the duo have gone & it appears that the increased music elsewhere will be the piano/guitar.

[liverpoollad]

excitedofharpenden.

 

Good reply. I fully expected that the Quest would be more of what you state than what I wanted.

 

My disappointment is the lack of live(popular) music especially since the duo have gone. Why haven't they replaced the duo? On one of our recent cruises there was a duo on board, a guitarist & female singer, they did the full range of popular music, Fleetwood Mac, Dire Straits,Free, solo artists etc., & for a bit of fun the guitarist would throw in a touch of Jimi Hendrix & Deep Purple between songs.

 

Maybe I will be wrong & the pianist will throw in a touch of Jerry Lee Lewis & the guitarist Jimi Hendrix:D

[mom&me_cruising]

excitedofharpenden.

 

Good reply. I fully expected that the Quest would be more of what you state than what I wanted.

 

My disappointment is the lack of live(popular) music especially since the duo have gone. Why haven't they replaced the duo? On one of our recent cruises there was a duo on board, a guitarist & female singer, they did the full range of popular music, Fleetwood Mac, Dire Straits,Free, solo artists etc., & for a bit of fun the guitarist would throw in a touch of Jimi Hendrix & Deep Purple between songs.

 

Maybe I will be wrong & the pianist will throw in a touch of Jerry Lee Lewis & the guitarist Jimi Hendrix:D

 

The duo you saw sounded like the one we liked: Bob and Robyn Duo. She was doing great covers on Stevie Nicks and Adele songs, and he was doing some great Hendrix cover. On that particular cruise their performance was poorly attended. Sometimes we would be the only 2 passengers there. I think it was the long port days and the time they performed were usually around dinner time or there was a performance at the Cabaret Lounge.

[ellbon]

The duo you saw sounded like the one we liked: Bob and Robyn Duo. She was doing great covers on Stevie Nicks and Adele songs, and he was doing some great Hendrix cover. On that particular cruise their performance was poorly attended. Sometimes we would be the only 2 passengers there. I think it was the long port days and the time they performed were usually around dinner time or there was a performance at the Cabaret Lounge.

 

if i went at all if was around 10 or 1030 before dance music.. before dinner if not excercising i was drinking on my balcony or in Prime C.

[Dylandude]

Liverpoollad, you should be on board tonight.

In the the Looking Glass lounge at 8:30pm - Led Zeppelin tribute for 30 mins with DJ Marco!

[Granny DI]

Liverpoollad....

I don't get the harpist or the captain either. I choose a cruise for ITINERARY, food and cabin. The Mega ships have the best entertainment so don't expect that on the small ships. We sailed on the Oasis of the Seas in May and then sailed Quest in July. We saw a couple of the shows on the Quest. They just couldn't compete with RCL, so we quit going. We enjoyed our cruise and are sailing on the Quest again in a few weeks, however not for the entertainment.

[Spursgirl]

Liverpoollad....

I don't get the harpist or the captain either. I choose a cruise for ITINERARY, food and cabin. The Mega ships have the best entertainment so don't expect that on the small ships. We sailed on the Oasis of the Seas in May and then sailed Quest in July. We saw a couple of the shows on the Quest. They just couldn't compete with RCL, so we quit going. We enjoyed our cruise and are sailing on the Quest again in a few weeks, however not for the entertainment.

 

I guess everyone chooses a cruise for different reasons. For me too the itinerary is the clincher. But the super Azamara crew does add to the enjoyment of my cruise

[Grandma Cruising]

Liverpoollad....

I don't get the harpist or the captain either. I choose a cruise for ITINERARY, food and cabin. The Mega ships have the best entertainment so don't expect that on the small ships. We sailed on the Oasis of the Seas in May and then sailed Quest in July. We saw a couple of the shows on the Quest. They just couldn't compete with RCL, so we quit going. We enjoyed our cruise and are sailing on the Quest again in a few weeks, however not for the entertainment.

 

We have been on Holland America a number of times, but their shows were not a patch on the shows we saw on the Journey a week ago. The singers and dancers were terrific, especially Eric (Cruise Director). Their Broadway medleys and their ABBA medley were fantastic. Eric was brilliant as the main character in Hairspray and as a roller skating ABBA member.

They also had a fantastic Scottish girl, Kaitlin, who played the Celtic flute, penny whistle, violin and had a beautiful singing voice.

[Redtravel]

I have taken many cruises. It is just luck that there is good entertainment on the cruise. You could be on the same ship on b to b cruises and see completely different performers. I enjoy good entertainment. However, i do not pick a cruise based on the shows. I pick it for ship, itinerary, and dates. Good food is expected. Great food is a plus. Good service is also expected. azamara usually satisfies my cruise requirements. I cruise other lines too. If a ship does not deliver, I do not return. The best entertainment on any cruise was on a NCL that I took many years ago. That ship was the pits...bad food, bad service, etc. good entertainment is not enough to get me back i never sailed on NCL again. If the ship has good entertainment, enjoy. If not, read a book, play a dvd, have a drink with some friends, or just sit back and enjoy the breeze.

[liverpoollad]

To all.

 

See my Part 2 I'm back thread.

[oliveau]

Eric was brilliant as a roller skating ABBA member.

 

Once seen, never forgotten - it brought the house down!