Negligible basis for Azamara reputation

[bigbenboys]

...I believe this is called 'humour'.....:rolleyes:

 

As this so call humor is going out to 1000 people on a ship. Might some of the 1000 people not understand, like or perceive it as humor. My training at work has said. It is not what you say, it is how it is perceive. Richard

[bottomfeeder]

As this so call humor is going out to 1000 people on a ship. Might some of the 1000 people not understand, like or perceive it as humor. My training at work has said. It is not what you say, it is how it is perceive. Richard

 

Of course that's true. Different people like different things, find different things funny and different things offensive. It's just one of the many reasons quoted by the OP for why Azamara is not for him/her.

 

Whereas most all of things listed as problems in the OP's post are things that I find extremely minor annoyances if they'd bother me at all. I'm much more bothered, for example, by lots of smoking on cruises. So I'm not likely to want to take cruises based on the OP's recommendations and he or she is not likely to want to take cruises based on mine.

 

I do think the point of the captain's jokes on the sextants is that the younger officers are wizzes at (and have been well-trained on) all the new computerized, highly technical equipment that replaces the old-fashioned sextant...but are not wizzes at the sextant. I don't think the intent was to in any way impugn their training or professionalism. That said, I can see how if I was in a terrible mood one day because my herring fork hadn't been changed out to a fresh fork before I got my plate of eggs, I might find it offensive! :)

[HudandPug]

Of course that's true. Different people like different things, find different things funny and different things offensive. It's just one of the many reasons quoted by the OP for why Azamara is not for him/her.

 

Whereas most all of things listed as problems in the OP's post are things that I find extremely minor annoyances if they'd bother me at all. I'm much more bothered, for example, by lots of smoking on cruises. So I'm not likely to want to take cruises based on the OP's recommendations and he or she is not likely to want to take cruises based on mine.

 

I do think the point of the captain's jokes on the sextants is that the younger officers are wizzes at (and have been well-trained on) all the new computerized, highly technical equipment that replaces the old-fashioned sextant...but are not wizzes at the sextant. I don't think the intent was to in any way impugn their training or professionalism. That said, I can see how if I was in a terrible mood one day because my herring fork hadn't been changed out to a fresh fork before I got my plate of eggs, I might find it offensive! :)

 

:cool:

[gacruisergal]

We have been on 38 worldwide cruises over the years on Carnival, Celebrity, Cunard and Cunard Royal Viking, HAL. MSC Norwegian, Paquet, Princess and Royal Caribbean. We are taking our first Azamara cruise on Journey next February. After comparing the base fare plus Gov. costs and fees with our upcoming Princess cruise this June, both in balcony cabins, the Azamara per day cost is $6 less than Princess and includes drinks and gratuities. I hardly think that Azamara overcharges, it is simply a thought process of where do you want to go and what do you want to spend. Both cruises are to destinations we have not visited totally. Princess is to the North Cape of Norway for the Midnight Sun and Azamara is from Rio to Miami up the east coast of SA. (we have cruised the rest of SA). These two cruises will cover almost every place we've not traveled except Africa and we are really looking forward to Azamara for a change. We look forward to something new and different rather than the same thing over and over.

[little britain]

As this so call humor is going out to 1000 people on a ship. Might some of the 1000 people not understand, like or perceive it as humor. My training at work has said. It is not what you say, it is how it is perceive. Richard

There are actually just 694 guests on board Azamara at maximum occupancy; and I would dare to suggest that the OP deliberately chose to have a 'sense of humour bypass' as he appeared to be determined to find fault in everything.

I wish him well on Cunard or HAL. I know I will enjoy my forthcoming Azamara cruise and will look forward to the midday announcements about sextants or socks....

Edited April 19, 2014 by little britain

[Dylandude]

There are actually just 694 guests on board Azamara at maximum occupancy; and I would dare to suggest that the OP deliberately chose to have a 'sense of humour bypass' as he appeared to be determined to find fault in everything.

I wish him well on Cunard or HAL. I know I will enjoy my forthcoming Azamara cruise and will look forward to the midday announcements about sextants or socks....

 

Well said :)

[Texed]

We enjoyed our B2B on Azamara. We want to cruise Azamara again. :)

Edited April 19, 2014 by Texed

[marinaro44]

That said, I can see how if I was in a terrible mood one day because my herring fork hadn't been changed out to a fresh fork before I got my plate of eggs, I might find it offensive! :)

Nail hit squarely on head.;)

Edited April 20, 2014 by marinaro44

[LuAnn]

and for us...it is an apple and an orange. And that is why there are so many choices of cruise lines to sail. This was our 2nd time with Captain Carl...and we were eager to see him and enjoy his humor again!!! And WE were not disappointed! His noon announcements were such fun...regarding when is it REALLY NOON:::: and his help in training junior officers with the use of the Sextant...thich is no longer required but he wanted them to learn how to use it...and he WAS NEVER putting them down in ANY WAY...to say that he was is just misguided I think! And the night Captain Carl took us out on the deck to see Spica...a star only seen very rarely was just so special. He went back to his cabin to get a lazer and pointed out many of the constellations etc. we felt like we were given a very special treat. Can´t think a very proper Cunard Captain would do that....do you??? :confused: ( and yes...I have sailed Cunard!)

 

I guess it is time...as the OP said...for him to not go back to AZ. I am really kinda glad...as it will save a cabin for us!! :cool: OH...and those singers and dancers??? I thought for a small ship they were great...and went out of there way for good production shows! And Russ...the CD...a peach of a guy....as I said...an apple and an orange...we will take the apple as in AZ!!!! LuAnn

Edited April 20, 2014 by LuAnn

[LuAnn]

Of course that's true. Different people like different things, find different things funny and different things offensive. It's just one of the many reasons quoted by the OP for why Azamara is not for him/her.

 

Whereas most all of things listed as problems in the OP's post are things that I find extremely minor annoyances if they'd bother me at all. I'm much more bothered, for example, by lots of smoking on cruises. So I'm not likely to want to take cruises based on the OP's recommendations and he or she is not likely to want to take cruises based on mine.

 

I do think the point of the captain's jokes on the sextants is that the younger officers are wizzes at (and have been well-trained on) all the new computerized, highly technical equipment that replaces the old-fashioned sextant...but are not wizzes at the sextant. I don't think the intent was to in any way impugn their training or professionalism. That said, I can see how if I was in a terrible mood one day because my herring fork hadn't been changed out to a fresh fork before I got my plate of eggs, I might find it offensive! :)

 

I had a herring folk???? Totally missed that!!!!:cool::eek::D Next time I will double check to be sure it is the right one!! LuAnn

[geocruiser]

and for us...it is an apple and an orange. And that is why there are so many choices of cruise lines to sail. This was our 2nd time with Captain Carl...and we were eager to see him and enjoy his humor again!!! And WE were not disappointed! His noon announcements were such fun...regarding when is it REALLY NOON:::: and his help in training junior officers with the use of the Sextant...thich is no longer required but he wanted them to learn how to use it...and he WAS NEVER putting them down in ANY WAY...to say that he was is just misguided I think! And the night Captain Carl took us out on the deck to see Spica...a star only seen very rarely was just so special. He went back to his cabin to get a lazer and pointed out many of the constellations etc. we felt like we were given a very special treat. Can´t think a very proper Cunard Captain would do that....do you??? :confused: ( and yes...I have sailed Cunard!)

 

I guess it is time...as the OP said...for him to not go back to AZ. I am really kinda glad...as it will save a cabin for us!! :cool: OH...and those singers and dancers??? I thought for a small ship they were great...and went out of there way for good production shows! And Russ...the CD...a peach of a guy....as I said...an apple and an orange...we will take the apple as in AZ!!!! LuAnn

 

Are you sure that it was a lazer pointer? They are not good to air traffic. Maybe just a light he used.

 

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?id=9428230

Edited April 20, 2014 by geocruiser

[bottomfeeder]

Are you sure that it was a lazer pointer? They are not good to air traffic. Maybe just a light he used.

 

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?id=9428230

 

Chances are pretty small that out in the middle of the ocean there will be a low-flying plane whose pilot would be disturbed by a laser pointer. :)

[marinaro44]

Are you sure that it was a lazer pointer? They are not good to air traffic. Maybe just a light he used.

 

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?id=9428230

We did a trans-Atlantic with an enrichment speaker from the Harvard Astrophysics Lab and he led stargazing sessions using one like this:

 

http://www.telescope.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=5673&type=product

 

I'd guess the one Captain Carl uses is pretty much the same.

[Kellie Poodle]

Though we did not have any specific food issues, I do have to agree with the OP about the poor dining room service. The staff were not well trained and I do believe that many of them had too poor a command of English to comprehend specific requests of the diners. This was especially true at breakfast where they couldn't just check a box on their little pads. I did address this in my online comment form.

 

I also agree with the OP about all the hype about the "fabulous" ship board experience. I had a great cruise, met some interesting people saw some wonderful ports and had an overall good time. Having been led to believe that something magical was going to happen once I boarded, may have attributed to my opinion. I did not have a bad shipboard experience, just nothing to live up to the hype.

 

Perhaps the OP and I share the opinion that we are not cruising to interact with the staff and that is why we did not have an 'amazing' experience. Having met people on board who were very into who the captain and hotel director were and enjoyed talking with the help, I observed why some people are into Azamara.

 

As for a luxury experience, I certainly did not have one. It was a nice cruise but no where near "luxury"

 

If I got a great deal like I had on my last cruise and it was going to ports that interested me, I'd consider going back, but the next time I won't have my expectations set so high as they were from this board.

[pacheco18]

Perhaps the OP and I share the opinion that we are not cruising to interact with the staff and that is why we did not have an 'amazing' experience. Having met people on board who were very into who the captain and hotel director were and enjoyed talking with the help, I observed why some people are into Azamara.

 

 

This is really the key. Some cruisers do not care at all about interaction with the staff -- which IMO is the one thing that really sets Azamara apart from its competitors.

 

Veteran Azamara cruisers are so enamored this experience (and they have a right to be) that no other cruise line can live up to their expectations. They don't care that much about food, beds, ship amenities -- the measure of a great cruise for them is that "special something" that stems from the relationship with the crew. They return to the ship and know everyone by name and everyone knows their name. They send regards to ___ when they are not on board. There is nothing wrong with that. I understand it. I experienced it. It is however, NOT, why I booked 3 additional Azamara cruises. I love the R ships and the itineraries I picked were perfect. I do not care about interaction with the crew. It's nice -- really a lovely touch -- but not a reason for me to choose a particular cruise line.

 

For the OP, you and me and many others, the on board experience that involves interaction with staff and crew does nothing to make us Azamara loyalists. it is an aspect of cruising that we have little interest in.

 

It's really no different from loyalists for any other cruise line -- Oceania cruisers cannot imagine dining on other line; Regent cruisers cannot imagine staying in a tiny stateroom or having to take out their ship's card to get a beverage. Different things matter to different people. Nice to have choices.

Edited April 20, 2014 by pacheco18

[HudandPug]

This is my limited but very close together experience of staff interaction.

 

Its not the smoozing with officers that makes a cruise, its the friendly hello, how are you, nice day, smiling faces and a head nod, THAT makes a difference. That friendliness mixed with polite respect, non invasive chat and concern.

Azamara (x1 another next week) and NCL (x3) have provided that from the bottom to the top. This mixed with great adventures in ports, fabulous mix of passengers who are, mostly, as happy as the crew appear to be. Note, our experience of cabin crew on our last Azamara was not good (still interesting and made conversation develop into a right roaring good laugh, but everything was a little bit special, quirky, mad, interesting, different!

 

Costa (x1), really bad attitude of senior staff to everyone else, passengers and crew alike. Everyday staff, all absolutely lovely, pleasant and extremly professional with loads of personality, just peaking through.

 

Celebrity (x2), well, you could be sharing a table with a 'senior' member of crew (if you caught one who had not noticed passengers approaching) they will ignore you. They are abrupt and just not nice to anyone, but are professional unless they decide to change everything around from the daily news sheet, then passengers do not mean a jot! Most officers look like their faces would crack if they tried to smile and no eye contact ever. Everyday staff on the whole very nice, polite and friendly, cabin staff brill. Although nochatting, smiling officers, loved the cruise anyway because I don't need that smile, I do like that smile, it adds something sparkly.

 

I don't care about social interaction with officers, I do care about all the staff that look after me, who are all people and not 'hired help' which is derogatory and totaly inappropriate for those who choose a career in hospitality.

 

Yvonne:)

Edited April 20, 2014 by HudandPug

[Granny DI]

Some cruisers do not care at all about interaction with the staff --

 

For the OP, you and me and many others, the on board experience that involves interaction with staff and crew does nothing to make us Azamara loyalists. it is an aspect of cruising that we have little interest in.

 

 

 

Totally agree.

 

I think people are missing out on different life experiences when they cruise the same ship year after year. My sister-in-law goes to the same beach every year because she likes the people...My sister and brother-in-law travel alot but to the same places year after year... My husband and I are always looking for the next great adventure. I have 3 cruises booked for the next 12 months...all different ships and itineraries...new adventures.

[Granny DI]

"Its not the smoozing with officers that makes a cruise, its the friendly hello, how are you, nice day, smiling faces and a head nod, THAT makes a difference. That friendliness mixed with polite respect, non invasive chat and concern."

 

 

You said it much better than I could...thank you!

[pacheco18]

 

I think people are missing out on different life experiences when they cruise the same ship year after year. .

 

I totally agree. Especially on a cruise line like Azamara that only has two identical ships.

 

I try to mix it up within boundaries, gravitating mostly between Oceania and Azamara because of ship size. I have sailed Celebrity but there are really no itineraries left there for me except Galapagos -- which I have booked. Moreover, some cruise lines are better suited to certain areas -- I would not sail to French Polynesia on Oceania (it's meant for the Paul Gauguin) or on any large cruise ship to China (which is why I chose Viking River Cruises). I am always looking at itineraries on other lines -- Seabourn, Crystal, the Princess R ships -- I'd even like to try one of the RCCL mega ships. I hear it's a lot of fun.

[bigbenboys]

We have been on 38 worldwide cruises over the years on Carnival, Celebrity, Cunard and Cunard Royal Viking, HAL. MSC Norwegian, Paquet, Princess and Royal Caribbean. We are taking our first Azamara cruise on Journey next February. After comparing the base fare plus Gov. costs and fees with our upcoming Princess cruise this June, both in balcony cabins, the Azamara per day cost is $6 less than Princess and includes drinks and gratuities. I hardly think that Azamara overcharges, it is simply a thought process of where do you want to go and what do you want to spend. Both cruises are to destinations we have not visited totally. Princess is to the North Cape of Norway for the Midnight Sun and Azamara is from Rio to Miami up the east coast of SA. (we have cruised the rest of SA). These two cruises will cover almost every place we've not traveled except Africa and we are really looking forward to Azamara for a change. We look forward to something new and different rather than the same thing over and over.

 

I'm looking at booking our 2nd cruise with Azamara. We are looking at a balcony room V2 on a 12 day cruise. The cost per person is $467 dollars per day. Richard

[Marmaduke]

"Its not the smoozing with officers that makes a cruise, its the friendly hello, how are you, nice day, smiling faces and a head nod, THAT makes a difference. That friendliness mixed with polite respect, non invasive chat and concern."

 

This is what I believe makes Azamara stand out from other cruise lines. By informal chats with passengers the Officers can learn far more about passenger likes/dislikes, expectations etc. Far more than any formal questionnaire will reveal.

Edited April 21, 2014 by Marmaduke

[gacruisergal]

bigbenboy, We booked last week with the Double Take offer...pay for an inside and get a balcony. We Paid $222 per day per person for a V2 balcony on an 18 day cruise. Think that is a terrific price.

[ed1aa]

We thoroughly enjoyed our cruise on the Azamara Quest over the new year.:) Now we are trying to figure out our next trip on them.

 

Ed

[Andy]

Hi Everyone,

 

I'm back from my cruise - which was very enjoyable. I'm sorry to say this, and it only applies to the offenders... but I'm very disappointed in how a very few continue to derail threads, and insist on making comments about our valued community members. It's all nonsense, and has absolutely nothing to do with the discussion.

 

As I've said in the past.... as long as I'm your moderator, I'm not going to tolerate any of it. If you wish to visit this forum, with the intent of inciting & fighting with others... please do us all a favor, and take it to another website. FWIW, I'm reporting a handful of members to CC management for their actions.

 

My sincere apologies for things getting a bit out of hand in recent weeks. We had a family emergency, which reduced my time on the boards, and then I was away for 2 weeks. I tried my very best to monitor my forums while away (@.75 cents per minute - out of my own pocket), but you know how slow the internet can be on a cruise ship. I will do everything possible, to return this forum to the excellence we've enjoyed over the years.

 

Thank You very much for your understanding & support. This thread is now closed.