Azamazing dud on St. Maarten 12/30

[gregeol]

The only thing amazing about the Azamazing evening on St. Maarten on 12/30 was how badly executed it was. The venue was changed due to heavy rains and standing water at the original site, which is understandable. The other problem with the original site was transporting 700 people on an island that has limited large transportation and pretty much shuts down at 6. The event was moved to the cruise pier so the passengers could walk. Chairs were set up along the sides of the walkway and the entertainment was supposed to occur between the seats. About the time the entertainment was to start the late arrivers came and stood in the walkway in front of the seated guests. Despite repeated requests they refused to move so that those seated could not see. No one moved, in fact more people continued to come and stand. One of the people was Larry Pimental who stood pretty much in front of my chair. The people in charge of the event made several announcments for everyone to clear the middle, but no one including Mr. Pimental paid any attention. My wife finally commented loud enough so he could hear that she got there early to get a good seat and now she couldn't see anything. He just looked at her and never moved. The ship's officers left when the performance started so there was no one left to talk to from Azamara. Finally the ladies in charge of the venue brought more chairs from the back and told the people to sit down. Many people started leaving at that time, about half way through the performance. The entertainment itself were local dancers and children playing steel drums. The kids were cute and played fairly well, but that was early in the show and we only heard it, we couldn't see. The dancers were fairly amateurish. The rest of the evening was taken up with line dancing and exhorting the crowd to make noise. The only drinks provided were rum punch and fruit punch. Food consisted of a few desert items. Also because of the evening only a buffet was offered in the main dining room. All-in-all the whole evening was poorly planned and executed and pretty disappointing. If this is the best Azamara can do they should just forget it and not hype it up so much.

[Granny DI]

Sounds a lot like St Kitts, except we all took busses to the venue...20 minutes each way and 15 to a buss! Took over an hour and a half for everyone to arrive. The suites were the last to arrive so no views because it was dark, no seats, entertainment sounded the same as yours, rum punch tasted like a bottle of rum had been passed over a punch bowl for just a whiff of rum, and I personally had nothing to eat. We did however have a gorgeous evening for the event. The pirate evening on the ship in St Thomas looked like great fun...perhaps that should be the model.

[kiawahdon]

Once again the infrastructure of the port, coupled with impossible logistics have killed an AZamazing evening. I wonder how long it will take AZ to rethink the impossible dream: moving 600+ people, dealing with people in the ports who clearly can't deliver, but promise, a great passenger experience.

Yes, some ports have the facilities to make it work, but many do not- and never will. I predict in spite of Larry's stubbornness, AZamazing evenings will slowly morph into an onboard experience, or quietly disappear completely. The corporate over-hype and PR just make failures like this even worse for AZ's image.

[travelwide]

We had our event in Charleston, SC on the Yorktown. The transportation worked out with no problem - about a 15 min. bus ride. There were several bars and wonderful food. The event was spectacular.

 

Perhaps AZ needs to rethink how they are going to handle the event for the few months that they are in the Caribbean. That appears to be where the infrastructure of the islands causes the problems.

 

Sorry to hear of the poor experience and shame on Larry P. for not being more sensitive to the passengers who pay his salary.

[dln929]

And to think someone complained that our event the week before was "cancelled" because it was brought on board for us to enjoy. :rolleyes:

 

I am sorry that your event didn't go well. The more I read, the more I think that when the Azamazing Evening succeeds, there's nothing like it, and when it fails, it fails miserably. I hope they learn from all these difficult circumstances and work towards making ALL the Evenings Azamazing. They certainly deserve to be.

[tv24]

There now appears to be a lot of evidence that the Azamazing evenings have been hit-and-miss. What I find interesting about this is the history of how AZ pumped up their prices about 9 months ago with the rationale that customers would get their money's worth due to the added Azamazing evenings and the new modified all-inclusive alcohol program. I've also read on CC the stories of how the all-inclusive alcohol is actually somewhat limited (not many beer or wine offerings, limited spirits labels, etc.). I've enjoyed my trans-Atlantic cruises on AZ, where the pricing has not yet been pumped up. But I remain skeptical as to whether the customers are getting their money's worth on the other cruises. Perhaps AZ can continue supported by their super-loyal customer base, but how much longer will they remain so loyal?

[Spursgirl]

I have enjoyed two Azamazing Evenings, both in Europe. The first in Cannes was good but the second The Three Tenors concert in Livorno was spectacular and I loved every minute.

 

It is clear that the Carribean islands are not geared up for this type of activity but why was this not flagged up at the planning stage?

 

I love Azamara and eagerly await my next cruise in June but as said before when will Larry P and his team learn to under promise and over deliver? The Azamara demographic recognises that marketing spin is often just hype.

 

Happy New Year to all.

[uktog]

As I have said before the issue from my perspective is the lack of attention to detail from the Land Discoveries team. Onboard hotel teams and the ships officers totally get ATD a culture change prog is needed shoreside and with the on board land discoveries team.

In the short term if that means pulling all the evenings and going back to the drawing board, the CEO having seen this experience in the Carribean should take that call. Longer term it would enhance not damage Azamara's reputation

[Lady golfer]

Could it be that the AE was Edie's baby and she knew what to do and how to plan?

[florisdekort]

Funny. I was the first to criticize Azamazing evenings on Cruise Critic (after the evening in Alesund/Norway in July) but had a blast in St Maarten on December 30! Yes, people were standing in front of us, but guess what, we just stood up and moved 2 inches to the side. Problem solved. :rolleyes:

 

Given the last minute venue change, I think the Quest team did a remarkable job. We enjoyed the punch and fresh fruit skewers, the child orchestra, the exotic dancers, the fire dancers, etc. etc. I also thought they did a good job decorating the site. As for the ship's officers, contrary to what gregol writes, they were standing next to the 'stage' the whole evening: Captain Jose, Ryszard, Russ, even the Chief Engineer. No one left.

 

On a different topic, the New Year's Eve celebrations, an 'extended' white night party, were even more spectacular. We had diverted to St Maarten due to difficulties with the tender operation in St Barts due to swell, so could enjoy both a great deck party with ice sculptures, balloons, live music and delicious food as well as the local fireworks above the bay. A night to remember!

 

The staff and crew on this ship are working exceptionally hard (beyond believe actually) to make this a memorable journey and I don't agree the above criticism is deserved. Just my opinion.

 

Greetings from Quest and a happy, healthy and very successful 2014 to all of you!

 

Floris

[geocruiser]

Did you have to stand during the whole show?

[marinaro44]

Could it be that the AE was Edie's baby and she knew what to do and how to plan?

Frankly, in my opinion it WAS Edie's baby and she did NOT know what to do and how to plan.

 

When Azamazing Evenings were announced (as a kind of bone thrown in to offset a substantial price increase in the November 2012 BIG announcement), it was hyped as being offered on "every" voyage. Then an obscure posting buried in an even more obscure terms and conditions page on the web site said "except on Quest's November trans-Atlantic." Then we were told it would not be offered on any trans-Atlantics.

 

Now they're finding there are certain itineraries where there are no ports that can really handle 600+ people for a gala off-ship evening. Did no one think this through and look at Azamara's itineraries to anticipate this potential issue before the BIG November 2012 announcement was made? Wasn't Edie in charge of marketing at that time? It just wasn't carefully and thoughtfully analyzed before the BIG announcement, and now it's fallen to the ship's officers and crew to scramble in an attempt to make silk purses out of sow's ears.

 

This is no different than the overhyped "included liquor and beer" announcement (again on Edie's watch) that also accompanied the BIG fare increase last November (where a "selection of international beers" turned out to be Bud, Bud Light, and Beck's and the liquor labels are undistinguished) and the recent "free land discoveries shore excursion in every port" announcement which turns out to be only on a small number of Mediterranean cruises that aren't selling well.

 

The latter is really just another promotion rather than a significant policy change that adds lasting value for the customer. It looks to me like this so-called "free excursion" business was simply cooked up as a sop to soften the blow of taking away the 25% discount for pre-booking excursions on-line. And the latter take-away came just twelve months after the pre-booking discount was cut to 25% from 50%.

Edited January 1, 2014 by marinaro44

[Spursgirl]

Funny. I was the first to criticize Azamazing evenings on Cruise Critic (after the evening in Alesund/Norway in July) but had a blast in St Maarten on December 30! Yes, people were standing in front of us, but guess what, we just stood up and moved 2 inches to the side. Problem solved. :rolleyes:

 

Given the last minute venue change, I think the Quest team did a remarkable job. We enjoyed the punch and fresh fruit skewers, the child orchestra, the exotic dancers, the fire dancers, etc. etc. I also thought they did a good job decorating the site. As for the ship's officers, contrary to what gregol writes, they were standing next to the 'stage' the whole evening: Captain Jose, Ryszard, Russ, even the Chief Engineer. No one left.

 

On a different topic, the New Year's Eve celebrations, an 'extended' white night party, were even more spectacular. We had diverted to St Maarten due to difficulties with the tender operation in St Barts due to swell, so could enjoy both a great deck party with ice sculptures, balloons, live music and delicious food as well as the local fireworks above the bay. A night to remember!

 

The staff and crew on this ship are working exceptionally hard (beyond believe actually) to make this a memorable journey and I don't agree the above criticism is deserved. Just my opinion.

 

Greetings from Quest and a happy, healthy and very successful 2014 to all of you!

 

Floris

 

Having been fortunate enough to cruise on the Quest many times, I have no doubt that the ship's officers went above and beyond as they always do.

 

My criticism related to the infrastructure on the islands which appear not to be able to cope as well as facilities in Europe.

 

It sounds like you're having a wonderful cruise and I hope you continue to enjoy it.

 

As it hasn't stopped raining in London for days and the wind is howling I know where I would rather be!

[wripro]

Here is an axiom I live by: NEVER take any tour or excursion or free event where the whole ship has to be transported someplace, or even gathered together. IN fact, those are the times it's nicest on the ship when you practically have it all to yourself.

[Jade13]

Could it be that the AE was Edie's baby and she knew what to do and how to plan?

 

No, I don't think she knew how to plan.

Edited January 1, 2014 by Jade13

[Jade13]

It looks to me like this so-called "free excursion" business was simply cooked up as a sop to soften the blow of taking away the 25% discount for pre-booking excursions on-line. And the latter take-away came just twelve months after the pre-booking discount was cut to 25% from 50%.

 

And now no pre-booking discount.

[Jade13]

Frankly, in my opinion it WAS Edie's baby and she did NOT know what to do and how to plan.

 

When Azamazing Evenings were announced (as a kind of bone thrown in to offset a substantial price increase in the November 2012 BIG announcement), it was hyped as being offered on "every" voyage. Then an obscure posting buried in an even more obscure terms and conditions page on the web site said "except on Quest's November trans-Atlantic." Then we were told it would not be offered on any trans-Atlantics.

 

If the events in the future are just going to be onboard (no wow factor), and even part of the white nights party, there won't be any excuse not to have an event on the transatlantic cruises.

Edited January 1, 2014 by Jade13

[Sanatee]

If the events in the future are just going to be onboard (no wow factor), and even part of the white nights party, there won't be any excuse not to have an event on the transatlantic cruises.

 

Agree, but you know they'll produce one!! We had the same level of a great time on Journey in Bangkok with a combined Valentines and White Nights with super entertainment by Eric and the production team along with local Thai dancers and musicians. The difference is now we get to pay a higher fare to have it called Azamazing!

 

The bottom line is that some venues work and some don't. Unfortunately it seems this is sometimes being discovered on the fly, instead of having the proper due diligence by the Shorex folks ahead of time. At least if its on-board, we have the easy option of walking away if its a dud.

[capegranny]

The bottom line is that some venues work and some don't. Unfortunately it seems this is sometimes being discovered on the fly, instead of having the proper due diligence by the Shorex folks ahead of time. At least if its on-board, we have the easy option of walking away if its a dud.

 

Couldn't agree more! We were on-board for the event at the Titanic Museum in Belfast, which was simply spectacular (although not so great for those folks who were in the golfing groups that had limited time to get to the museum and, consequently, limited access to the museum and to decent seats for the dinner/entertainment). We also were on-board in Alesund, which just didn't work, in spite of a very imaginative 'stroll' through the town with entertainment every few blocks. In that case, the venue for food and beverages was much too small for the crowd, there was no fire exit access - with candles as our light! - and we never got any food at our table. Isn't anyone checking out these things in advance? Hard to imagine that when someone's job is event planning they can't figure out transportation, ability of the passengers to walk up hills and a half-mile or so on cobblestone streets, stand for performances, food and drink distribution, etc. As someone else said, one of the most troublesome parts of this is that the officers and crew are, generally speaking, knocking themselves out to provide a memorable and enjoyable cruise. They're being undercut by these inexcusable examples of poor planning. My guess is that if they'd keep the specialty restaurants open and Discoveries, too, the crowd going ashore would be quite small and those staying on-board would be much happier.

[dln929]

If the events in the future are just going to be onboard (no wow factor), and even part of the white nights party, there won't be any excuse not to have an event on the transatlantic cruises.

 

I don't know why they aren't as TAs always stop in ports either at the beginning or the end. But they'd have to be OFF board because don't you think people who have been onboard for days and days on end wouldn't be twice as happy to get off the ship to enjoy an evening out?

[midwestchick]

I have enjoyed two Azamazing Evenings, both in Europe. The first in Cannes was good but the second The Three Tenors concert in Livorno was spectacular and I loved every minute.

 

It is clear that the Carribean islands are not geared up for this type of activity but why was this not flagged up at the planning stage?

 

I love Azamara and eagerly await my next cruise in June but as said before when will Larry P and his team learn to under promise and over deliver? The Azamara demographic recognises that marketing spin is often just hype.

 

Happy New Year to all.

 

I noticed this is what is also being offered on our cruise in Sept. Could you elaborate a little more? Food, etc.? I would appreciate knowing more about this event as I was debating if we should participate or not.

[CintiPam]

Also because of the evening only a buffet was offered in the main dining room.

 

The actual AzAmazing evening we had in September on Hvar Island (Croatian coast) was a lot of fun IMO, a lovely evening under the stars with a Croatian cellist who is promoted heavily by the Croatian tourist office. She played with lovely videos of her performing in various lovely venues around Croatia on the big screen behind her.

 

However, the only dinner offering onboard, that buffet in the main dining room, was by far the worst meal we had onboard, with few choices poorly prepared, and rates as the worst meal we ever have eaten while on a cruise. Fortunately the rest of the week was up to Azamar'as usual very good culinary standards.

 

It is a huge challenge to produce such an evening anywhere, but to have such a lovely one at a tender port in such a small town really impressed me.

Edited January 2, 2014 by CintiPam

[audobon_tx]

My guess is that if they'd keep the specialty restaurants open and Discoveries, too, the crowd going ashore would be quite small and those staying on-board would be much happier.

 

They kept the Discoveries open during the St. Kitts evening, and maybe the rest of the food venues as well. My wife and I enjoyed a lovely, quiet, meal with the full attention of the staff in Discoveries. We had no interest in the Azamazing evening and from what we heard from those who attended, the vast majority of the passengers, we made the correct decision.;)

[ellbon]

The actual AzAmazing evening we had in September on Hvar Island (Croatian coast) was a lot of fun IMO, a lovely evening under the stars with a Croatian cellist who is promoted heavily by the Croatian tourist office. She played with lovely videos of her performing in various lovely venues around Croatia on the big screen behind her.

 

However, the only dinner offering onboard, that buffet in the main dining room, was by far the worst meal we had onboard, with few choices poorly prepared, and rates as the worst meal we ever have eaten while on a cruise. Fortunately the rest of the week was up to Azamar'as usual very good culinary standards.

 

It is a huge challenge to produce such an evening anywhere, but to have such a lovely one at a tender port in such a small town really impressed me.

 

I was at the fab event ! Ana Rucner was mind blowing. I came home with her CD. Food on the ship.. Never notice.. I ate some good savory's at the event then went for local ice cream. Some of my CC friends had room service while they. Got dress. They enjoyed their meal very much.

 

if you do.not want buffet food go order room service..

[Andy]

Wasn't Edie in charge of marketing at that time?

 

Hi Marinaro,

 

Yes, Edie's title was SVP or Marketing & Sales. Her last promotion to SVP, was in March of 2012. However, there is another person in Miami who also handles Azamara's Marketing, and reported to Edie. This person is still with Azamara.

 

Here's the press release from March 2012 : http://www.azamaraclubcruises.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/press_release/03-02-2012_Edie_Bornstein_SVP.pdf