Staffing of Pursuit

[Belfastman]

I have been talking to staff on Quest at the moment and have been told that 10% of wait staff from Quest and 10% of wait staff from Journey will be going to Pursuit. The numbers on Pursuit will then be made up of new recruits not sure if the 10% from the other two ships will be replaced or staff numbers reduced!!

[rallydave]

I have been talking to staff on Quest at the moment and have been told that 10% of wait staff from Quest and 10% of wait staff from Journey will be going to Pursuit. The numbers on Pursuit will then be made up of new recruits not sure if the 10% from the other two ships will be replaced or staff numbers reduced!!

 

Assuming this is true, a good way to cut staffing and costs across the board while not getting rid of any people

[Cowboy Ranger]

Currently on Journey and can say that staffing levels need adjustment upward, not down.

 

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[uktog]

I’m going to judge Journey staffing now they are not on code red. It’s always hard to see if something is a service issue or staffing or what when so many had to be diverted to extra sanitation tasks.

 

 

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[Cowboy Ranger]

Reasonable point but haven't seen improvement in F&B department yet. In any event a reduction in service, as compared to my previous 5 azamara voyages, the last 3 years ago, is not welcome.

 

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[rallydave]

Currently on Journey and can say that staffing levels need adjustment upward, not down.

 

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• Simply another part of Larry's consistent current approach to increase profits at the cost of the customers! Posting complaints on CC and moving away from Azamara seems to have no effect on these seeming continuing to ignore the the customer and waiving by by to customers who understand Azamara needs to be profitable but, not push the envelope of too many dumb decisions.
  

[ellbon]

I was on both ships this year and felt that the specialities were fine. Staff was asking people at the pool if they wanted drinks. Cabin was spotless. Living Room was good. So where was rhe problem if staff cutting? There should be about 420 crew on board,

 

Right now on another line and rhe bar I am in at night has one bartender but two ladies serving drinks at all times.

[Cowboy Ranger]

I was on both ships this year and felt that the specialities were fine. Staff was asking people at the pool if they wanted drinks. Cabin was spotless. Living Room was good. So where was rhe problem if staff cutting? There should be about 420 crew on board,

 

Right now on another line and rhe bar I am in at night has one bartender but two ladies serving drinks at all times.

Living Room really bad, Patio bad, Mosaic spotty. All of those due to lack of wait staff and motivation. MDR slow but improving now that code red has stood down, stateroom no issues. YMMV.

 

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[marinaro44]

• Simply another part of Larry's consistent current approach to increase profits at the cost of the customers! Posting complaints on CC and moving away from Azamara seems to have no effect on these seeming continuing to ignore the the customer and waiving by by to customers who understand Azamara needs to be profitable but, not push the envelope of too many dumb decisions.
  

This bit of uninformed nonsense above from someone who has never set foot on an Azamara ship.

 

There has been no lack of good service on Quest in the 22 days we've been on-board this month. And there is no basis for OP's rank speculation that Azamara is cutting back on staff because they are moving experienced staff to Pursuit to ensure a smooth start-up. Instead we should be pleased that Pursuit will maiden with experienced leadership in Carl, Ryszard, Tony, Thomas, Laze, and so on, plus a cadre of experienced wait staff in the dining rooms.

[rallydave]

This bit of uninformed nonsense above from someone who has never set foot on an Azamara ship.

 

There has been no lack of good service on Quest in the 22 days we've been on-board this month. And there is no basis for OP's rank speculation that Azamara is cutting back on staff because they are moving experienced staff to Pursuit to ensure a smooth start-up. Instead we should be pleased that Pursuit will maiden with experienced leadership in Carl, Ryszard, Tony, Thomas, Laze, and so on, plus a cadre of experienced wait staff in the dining rooms.

 

Absolutely not true marinaro44. Cruised on Quest last year to the North Cape and loved it so much booked another cruise on board until corporate greed caused the booked cruise to be cancelled in the name of increased profits and to prove that we were offered in replacement a cruise 3 weeks earlier with 3 fewer days, 4 fewer ports yet we were expected to pay the same price.

 

The writing has been on the wall the past few years about azamara lowering their costs while raising the fares and trying to take advantage of loyal cruisers with bogus sales and less for more money. It has become such a win/win for azamara and lose/lose for the customers that many people on this board are going elsewhere and refusing to go along with being taken advantage of.

[Grandma Cruising]

At the risk of again being told that I’m using rose tinted glasses, I have to say that we had no problems with service on the Journey in October/November.

 

 

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[Bloodaxe]

At the risk of again being told that I’m using rose tinted glasses, I have to say that we had no problems with service on the Journey in October/November.

 

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No argument from me on that one Grandma.

Never had any problem with the staff onboard the Ships.

Edited December 29, 2017 by Bloodaxe

[Lottie A]

We were on Journey in October and generally the service was excellent, as usual.

 

However, there were problems with service at The Patio, it was slow, erratic and some of our orders were wrong. It seems that for some reason, The Patio was very busy on this cruise.

 

Laze was sent down there to sort it out. I'm sure he did! 😄

[Belfastman]

This bit of uninformed nonsense above from someone who has never set foot on an Azamara ship.

 

There has been no lack of good service on Quest in the 22 days we've been on-board this month. And there is no basis for OP's rank speculation that Azamara is cutting back on staff because they are moving experienced staff to Pursuit to ensure a smooth start-up. Instead we should be pleased that Pursuit will maiden with experienced leadership in Carl, Ryszard, Tony, Thomas, Laze, and so on, plus a cadre of experienced wait staff in the dining rooms.

As someone who is currently on Quest for 13 days I can assure you that some of the service has been lacking. For several days at lunch in Windows there not enough waiters to cater for the limited people at lunch. Several people including ourselves had to go looking for a waiter in order to get either wine or water. Numerous passengers have been commenting on the lack of engagement with officers and some have spoken of feeling not valued. When we arrived in our CC suite I noticed quite a lot of masking tape hanging down from around the two AC vents which I spoke to the cabin steward about, but they said they couldn't do anything about it and it and to stay. I then asked the butler about it and he said he would sort it out and sure enough during lifeboat drill the tape disappeared.

To Azamara's credit I should add that the Windows issues are being dealt with by Daniel and have spoken to Thomaz HD who is sorting out other issues.

Edited December 29, 2017 by Belfastman

[marinaro44]

As someone who is currently on Quest for 13 days I can assure you that some of the service has been lacking. For several days at lunch in Windows there not enough waiters to cater for the limited people at lunch. Several people including ourselves had to go looking for a waiter in order to get either wine or water. Numerous passengers have been commenting on the lack of engagement with officers and some have spoken of feeling not valued. When we arrived in our CC suite I noticed quite a lot of masking tape hanging down from around the two AC vents which I spoke to the cabin steward about, but they said they couldn't do anything about it and it and to stay. I then asked the butler about it and he said he would sort it out and sure enough during lifeboat drill the tape disappeared.

To Azamara's credit I should add that the Windows issues are being dealt with by Daniel and have spoken to Thomaz HD who is sorting out other issues.

I would just say I am on Quest for those same 13 days and for the 12/1 and 12/16 cruises before this one and have had no issues in Windows, where we eat breakfast and lunch every day. And it sounds like the masking tape issue was handled by 6pm on embarkation day. Stuff happens on something as complex as a cruise ship and if it's resolved in a matter of hours what more would you expect?

[uktog]

My current take on Journey yes there are times service is dipping a little but it’s either minor things or it’s a result of the behaviour of other guests.

As ever some monopolise a server - do they really need to find out what each of the servers children eat.... kid you not that was one yesterday.

The Patio has had challenges but they’ve worked so hard on it. Again guests taking over large numbers of tables for their group then drip feeding their orders in one at a time course by course totally knackers the system. So one waiter gets permanently tied up there - same in Mosaic.

I think the OP having not cruised for a while will see less servers that cannot be denied.

We are onboard a lot, we never have 30x days of perfect service - never ever things happen people have off days etc etc so it’s unfair to raise expectations of others that no issues will happen.

As others have said raise your issues at the time it happens it’s the only way they will know what’s happening is not right for you. You don’t need to demand to see the HD straight away. We often find a simple “gosh that took you a long time to come and serve me are you too busy tonight” alerts a server to the fact it’s not currently right for you. If it’s down to server performance he knows he needs to be better and 99% will do so. If it’s due to lack of staff I know they will want to use your comment as evidence to managers it’s not right.

Only if it doesn’t get better would we escalate it.

 

 

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[Cowboy Ranger]

On a positive note, the ship is well maintained and spotless. Stateroom well cared for and room service breakfast and coffee service at 0630 everyday has been flawless. Wait staff issues improving with the exception of Living Room and Patio.

 

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[Belfastman]

I would just say I am on Quest for those same 13 days and for the 12/1 and 12/16 cruises before this one and have had no issues in Windows, where we eat breakfast and lunch every day. And it sounds like the masking tape issue was handled by 6pm on embarkation day. Stuff happens on something as complex as a cruise ship and if it's resolved in a matter of hours what more would you expect?

I think that perhaps my standards are higher than yours - I pay a lot of money for these cruises and expect a high level of service. As someone who also cruises on Oceania as well I have become used to a consistent high level of service. I hope that you can accept my experience and expectations are different to yours.

[tazza_0712]

If service in the Patio is hampered by guests ordering inconsistently, then the appropriate protocol needs to be established by the wait staff.

 

It’s not an excuse to cite guest behaviour for poor service standards. If the shipboard management allow that situation, in this case specific to the Patio, to transpire then it’s their responsibility to ensure it’s resolved so as not to impact other paying guests in future.

 

 

 

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[marinaro44]

I think that perhaps my standards are higher than yours - I pay a lot of money for these cruises and expect a high level of service. As someone who also cruises on Oceania as well I have become used to a consistent high level of service. I hope that you can accept my experience and expectations are different to yours.

I can accept your experiences differ but you have zero basis for assuming your standards are higher than mine (something I doubt, by the way), and the fact that you've cruised Oceania iimpresses me not at all. I've cruised Oceania's big brother, Regent, and was not impressed one bit by what I found.

 

My point was that not everyone feels as you do about the service level on Quest's current cruise, and readers of this thread should understand that. Too often here people take one person's opinion, speculation (for example, yours about cutting staff in your opening posting), or hearsay (for example, the Muzak hysteria), and take it as gospel.

[uktog]

If service in the Patio is hampered by guests ordering inconsistently, then the appropriate protocol needs to be established by the wait staff.

 

It’s not an excuse to cite guest behaviour for poor service standards. If the shipboard management allow that situation, in this case specific to the Patio, to transpire then it’s their responsibility to ensure it’s resolved so as not to impact other paying guests in future.

 

 

 

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I believe the ship’s staff have done their best but when neither party uses English as their first language and there is no common language it’s a big big problem. That’s why it’s important any other guest adversely affected has to speak up at the time so it’s easier for the managers to use this as leverage to make a change.

 

 

 

 

 

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[tazza_0712]

I believe the ship’s staff have done their best but when neither party uses English as their first language and there is no common language it’s a big big problem. That’s why it’s important any other guest adversely affected has to speak up at the time so it’s easier for the managers to use this as leverage to make a change.

 

 

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I agree wholeheartedly regarding speaking up. Provided it’s done so with courtesy, as I’m sure most would.

 

The important thing that I’m learning from these boards is that onboard staff take feedback (pardon the pun) on board, and work on issues. This is great to hear.

 

 

 

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[florisdekort]

Larry Pimentel is currently on board Quest so if something is truly amiss at least it’ll be visible all the way at the top. Unless things are amiss because the Officers are focussed on him.

 

 

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[marinaro44]

Larry Pimentel is currently on board Quest so if something is truly amiss at least it’ll be visible all the way at the top. Unless things are amiss because the Officers are focussed on him.

Larry is on-board with his wife, their children, and children's significant others, enjoying a family vacation. As far as I can tell their presence has not been disruptive at all. Most passengers, I suspect, have no idea that he's here or even wno he is. He's done no public events and has managed to stay completely out of the limelight, making this all about a family vacation, just like a number of other families (including Captain Carl's) spending their holidays on-board.

[excitedofharpenden]

I can only speak from personal experience and say that I have always received excellent service on the ships. An occasional lapse (The Patio was one of them) had always been addressed satisfactorily when it's been mentioned. Never had much to complain about.

 

On the subject of general staffing across the ships, I'm sure there is a lot of uncertainty amongst crew and that has to be managed by the cruiseline and to a certain extent the guests. I'm a great believer that those that embrace the change do better. It certainly has been my observation in life. Hopefully we will see some truly deserving getting promoted.

 

Phil