Tell Me About the"Shipboard Experience"

[ignatz]

The only time I've experienced chicken wings on Azamara was as a passed savory at a special event. Have I misses some place on the ships where I can get chicken wings - preferably Buffalo style?

 

Hot from the pool grill at any time, along with the spring rolls. It is on the menu. (Not buffalo style) Only order the burgers in the dining room or from room service.

 

Many of you have seemed to miss the point. No one will choose a cruise line by the quality of their onion rings or hash brown potatoes.

 

The fact that Azamara's chefs are unable to serve simple dishes that any bar or waffle house can churn out consistently is pathetic.

[Willow1686]

LottieA

 

The problem is that Azamara has put it's prices up so much that it is now trying to charge as much as Hapag-Lloyd. The 14 night gourmet cruise on the Europa next June starts at €5680 per person, which is remarkable given the quality of the Michelin starred chefs who will be aboard.

 

Once a company starts charging at those levels it does have to accept that it will be judged alongside its competitors in similar price brackets...

[Travel2Learn]

This thread has degenerated to the point of absurdity.

It's just food.

Find something to eat on the ship that you like -- if you cannot find anything on a ship that you like you should not be cruising.

Don't eat what you don't like and move on.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

I take lots of cruises and enjoy the food. I eat cooked vegetables and protein, all kinds, except red and green peppers. Many days at the lunch buffet ALL hot dishes - meats, fish, veggies, starches - except the carving, had peppers either cooked into the dish or spread on top. MDR had some choices, but the waiters had to ask the chefs the ingredients to be sure. At least twice I was told the food came onboard prepared and the kitchen did not have the ingredients. Once I had a pasta dish with very finely chopped red peppers hidden in the spinach filling. I was told there were no peppers in the dish. The uncomfortable effects lasted 36 hours. Standard recipes for these dishes do not include peppers. Pool grill veggies also had peppers. Fortunately this cruise was only 13 nights. It's pretty difficult to "move on" on a trans-Atlantic cruise.

Edited December 5, 2013 by Travel2Learn

[Kellie Poodle]

I'm the OP.

 

The shipboard experience sounds very nice if one avoids onion rings, but the land experience is one of the most frustrating travel experiences I have ever had in my many, many years of travel.

 

I am blown away by the lack of customer care, the lack of a resolution department or even a supervisor to speak to.

 

I am probably going to need one of those free cocktails the moment I board as the frustration continues to build.:mad:

[dln929]

LottieA

 

The problem is that Azamara has put it's prices up so much that it is now trying to charge as much as Hapag-Lloyd. The 14 night gourmet cruise on the Europa next June starts at €5680 per person, which is remarkable given the quality of the Michelin starred chefs who will be aboard.

 

Once a company starts charging at those levels it does have to accept that it will be judged alongside its competitors in similar price brackets...

 

You said exactly the same thing in another post and I was interested enough to look up Hapag-Lloyd. It looks wonderful but it's not necessarily true that their prices are on par with Azamara's, because they're not. Apples to apples, please.

[SeaBunny]

I'm the OP.

 

The shipboard experience sounds very nice if one avoids onion rings, but the land experience is one of the most frustrating travel experiences I have ever had in my many, many years of travel.

 

I am blown away by the lack of customer care, the lack of a resolution department or even a supervisor to speak to.

 

I am probably going to need one of those free cocktails the moment I board as the frustration continues to build.:mad:

 

I'd like details, please, as I haven't used Azamara for anything land yet.

 

Thanks!

[marinaro44]

I'd like details, please, as I haven't used Azamara for anything land yet.

 

Thanks!

I think she was referring to the trials and tribulations of dealing with Azamara HQ (the staff on land, not the crew on the ships;)), not any kind of land travel arrangements.

[Kellie Poodle]

I'd like details, please, as I haven't used Azamara for anything land yet.

 

Thanks!

 

The web site has locked out several people's reservation. We can't see our reservation, we can't book our shore excursions and, worst of all, we can't do on line check in. If it's not fixed before we sail, we will have to stand in a line at the boarding terminal and provide the information that we could have entered onto the web site while sitting in my home office.

 

I have cruised many, many times and never have I achieved the level of frustration that this web site problem has provided.

[SeaBunny]

The web site has locked out several people's reservation. We can't see our reservation, we can't book our shore excursions and, worst of all, we can't do on line check in. If it's not fixed before we sail, we will have to stand in a line at the boarding terminal and provide the information that we could have entered onto the web site while sitting in my home office.

 

I have cruised many, many times and never have I achieved the level of frustration that this web site problem has provided.

 

I have faced that before on another line. I'm a Mac user and sometimes I have to try different browsers (I primarily use Safari) to get access. That might help. Maybe.

 

Good luck!

[Kellie Poodle]

I have faced that before on another line. I'm a Mac user and sometimes I have to try different browsers (I primarily use Safari) to get access. That might help. Maybe.

 

Good luck!

 

 

I tried 3 different browsers, dumped my cache and cookies. It is Azamara's problem. They admit it.

[shedridt]

I know that, whatever your anxieties might have been in booking shore excursions, that you will love your cruise, from the moment you are whisked on board to enjoy lunch & a glass of wine until you are ensconced in your cabin.

 

Bon voyage!

Edited December 8, 2013 by shedridt
changed perspective

[Barbwire Bunny]

What we didn't like about Azamara is that when you ask for a table for 2 in the dining room you are seated too close to your neighbor. There is very little space between tables and therefore no privacy.

[nordski]

What we didn't like about Azamara is that when you ask for a table for 2 in the dining room you are seated too close to your neighbor. There is very little space between tables and therefore no privacy.

 

We have a different assessment.

 

The tables for two are, indeed, close enough that with some effort we can socialize with an adjacent couple, but sufficiently apart if a couple wishes to dine alone.

 

We have encountered both situations but the distance seems to support the latter scenario.

 

Certainly, they seem to provide privacy than in Blu on Celebrity.

[marinaro44]

We have a different assessment.

 

The tables for two are, indeed, close enough that with some effort we can socialize with an adjacent couple, but sufficiently apart if a couple wishes to dine alone.

Right.

 

If they combined some two-tops into four-tops to increase the spacing, people would complain there weren't enough two-tops. And if they just removed some two-tops to increase the spacing, others would complain there wasn't enough capacity in Discoveries causing them to have to wait.

[Kellie Poodle]

What we didn't like about Azamara is that when you ask for a table for 2 in the dining room you are seated too close to your neighbor. There is very little space between tables and therefore no privacy.

 

Though this will be our first cruise on Azamara, we have done My Time dining on Royal and Select dining on Celebrity. We've been at two tops close to other people and if we didn't, or they didn't, want to socialize, it didn't happen.

 

On our last night of one cruise we had a full bottle of wine to finish from a wine package, so we shared it with the couples on either side of us.

 

I think the only way one would have total privacy on a ship would be to order room service and dine in the cabin.

[midwestchick]

What we didn't like about Azamara is that when you ask for a table for 2 in the dining room you are seated too close to your neighbor. There is very little space between tables and therefore no privacy.

 

It was the same way on Celebrity Silhouette...in fact I thought all the tables were too close. Still, it's better than sitting at a table with strangers if you choose to eat at a table for 2......what we chose to do on Azamara, as well as X. I'm not much of a conversationalist at dinner. There were times we shared a table with people we had met, otherwise we prefer to dine alone...when we choose.

Edited December 12, 2013 by midwestchick

[Kellie Poodle]

It was the same way on Celebrity Silhouette...in fact I thought all the tables were too close. Still, it's better than sitting at a table with strangers if you choose to eat at a table for 2......what we chose to do on Azamara, as well as X. I'm not much of a conversationalist at dinner. There were times we shared a table with people we had met, otherwise we prefer to dine alone...when we choose.

 

What is nice about non-traditional seating is when you meet some folks and you all get along well. You can have dinner together. Can't do that with traditional seating.

[audobon_tx]

We have a different assessment.

 

The tables for two are, indeed, close enough that with some effort we can socialize with an adjacent couple, but sufficiently apart if a couple wishes to dine alone.

 

We have encountered both situations but the distance seems to support the latter scenario.

 

Certainly, they seem to provide privacy than in Blu on Celebrity.

 

Agree. We are two toppers and often enjoy meeting our two top neighbors on Azamara if they want to be met. If they don't, the separation is only inches but seems sufficient to maintain their sense of privacy. I don't like forced socialization, being seated at a large table not of my choice. Most of the people we meet and hang with on Azamara cruises we meet in venues outside of the MDR evening meal.

Edited December 13, 2013 by flyingshoes