Anybody onboard currently?

[norn iron]

4 hours ago, Belfastman said:

Yes unfortunately this is the case but presently it is only a trial.

Is the replacement system any good?

[excitedofharpenden]

10 hours ago, travelberlin said:

What? They got rid of Starlink? Why? Starlink used to work great.

 

At the back of my mind I remember it being said that Starlink had negotiated a rate with RCCL and were for a while unaware of the sale of Azamara to Sycamore. So I wonder if the renegotiation with the new owners was unsuccessful. 

 

Phil 

[travelberlin]

8 hours ago, Belfastman said:

Yes unfortunately this is the case but presently it is only a trial.

I hope that Azamara closes an Agreement with Starlink or a similar internet provider. It has already 4 ships and that might mean something when negotiating.

 

I was not really happy about Royal selling Azamara and about Larry Pimentel not any more in charge. But we do not have any voice in those type of decisions. I hope Azamara will listen to us in terms of Internet issues.

 

[Belfastman]

8 hours ago, norn iron said:

Is the replacement system any good?

Internet very slow now that everyone has it. The combined suite and loyality benefits don't count on this voyage except for the small discount so I have not purchased the upgrade. I understand that the upgrade is not much better anyway.

[norn iron]

49 minutes ago, Belfastman said:

Internet very slow now that everyone has it. The combined suite and loyality benefits don't count on this voyage except for the small discount so I have not purchased the upgrade. I understand that the upgrade is not much better anyway.

Thanks, Belfastman, I was going to try Starlink.  I might give the new one a miss.

[sczcardfan]

I know that I shouldn't judge this before I actually experience the internet onboard this trip. But my initial reaction is to be extremely disappointed with this "trial" (with the loss of Starlink availability) and particularly with springing the trial on people without informing them (it was only a few weeks ago that Azamara was emailing encouraging me to purchase an internet package).

[Belfastman]

One consequence of a full ship combined with cold weather are the queues for lunch. Windows opens at 12.30 for lunch and queues form at 12.20 with no seats available shortly after. I have seen people standing in a corner by the gelato with a bowl eating their food. Discoveries is also open but it also has long queues until about 13.30. The patio is also busy for lunch with lots of people sitting in heavy coats.

[hamrag]

12 minutes ago, Belfastman said:

One consequence of a full ship combined with cold weather are the queues for lunch. Windows opens at 12.30 for lunch and queues form at 12.20 with no seats available shortly after. I have seen people standing in a corner by the gelato with a bowl eating their food. Discoveries is also open but it also has long queues until about 13.30. The patio is also busy for lunch with lots of people sitting in heavy coats.

Even in warm weather, our recent experience was Windows Cafe is a total mess. We avoided it as far as was possible for lunch! Some took their food out to the pool area, which we do not believe is the right way to solve the conundrum. 

Edited Tuesday at 06:13 PM by hamrag

[aussie travel bird]

6 hours ago, hamrag said:

Even in warm weather, our recent experience was Windows Cafe is a total mess. We avoided it as far as was possible for lunch! Some took their food out to the pool area, which we do not believe is the right way to solve the conundrum. 

Disappointing, the Food and Beverage Manager and the Hotel Director should be across this. Please put it in your feedback. We join the journey next week for b2b. They should at least adjust the meal times to open lunch earlier. In my long experience with Azamara I’ve noticed on cooler cruises guests tend to ‘sit’ rather than eat and leave after a reasonable time not at all considering their fellow guests.

Edited Wednesday at 12:22 AM by aussie travel bird

[GoSeeDo2]

I don’t know what they have fixed on the internet, but on our laptop and IPad, the internet is working much better.  iPhone is still having trouble connecting and yes, my vpn is turned off.  

[DS]

8 hours ago, GoSeeDo2 said:

I don’t know what they have fixed on the internet, but on our laptop and IPad, the internet is working much better.  iPhone is still having trouble connecting and yes, my vpn is turned off.  

Which ship?

[Belfastman]

13 hours ago, aussie travel bird said:

Disappointing, the Food and Beverage Manager and the Hotel Director should be across this. Please put it in your feedback. We join the journey next week for b2b. They should at least adjust the meal times to open lunch earlier. In my long experience with Azamara I’ve noticed on cooler cruises guests tend to ‘sit’ rather than eat and leave after a reasonable time not at all considering their fellow guests.

Lunch does open earlier but makes no difference. Issues passed to management get ignored. Mosaic cafe is also bad and today when we asked for the only table to be cleared of the last person's cups etc we were told to get a different table.

[hamrag]

14 hours ago, aussie travel bird said:

Disappointing, the Food and Beverage Manager and the Hotel Director should be across this. Please put it in your feedback....

Do understand that the vast majority of contributors to Az threads do just that! 😉

[hamrag]

14 hours ago, aussie travel bird said:

....I’ve noticed on cooler cruises guests tend to ‘sit’ rather than eat and leave after a reasonable time not at all considering their fellow guests.

It's exactly the same for the aft outside area at Windows Cafe in warm weather. We had glorious sunny skies across almost all of our recent cruise, and some sit there having a post lunch drink or five. It's a beautiful spot, no doubt, but we only managed to get a table there a very few times across our 11 days.

Edited Wednesday at 02:37 PM by hamrag

[uktog]

5 hours ago, Belfastman said:

when we asked for the only table to be cleared of the last person's cups etc we were told to get a different table.

I would be having a serious discussion with the HD if that is the attitude of staff onboard

[Belfastman]

30 minutes ago, uktog said:

I would be having a serious discussion with the HD if that is the attitude of staff onboard

Unfortunately it is not easy to talk to senior staff except the captain in fact the Concierge told us he would deal with any complaints and get back to us. Two days later nothing.

[uktog]

8 minutes ago, Belfastman said:

Unfortunately it is not easy to talk to senior staff except the captain in fact the Concierge told us he would deal with any complaints and get back to us. Two days later nothing.

Goodness that is not like oldco Azamara.  Hope they havent purchased the Explora Journeys Harry Potter Invisibility cloaks for senior hotel staff.

[Ithikan]

It's true that staff seem, well, weary.

We boarded in Boston along with many, many others, and I'll assume that it's somewhat jarring to transition from a rough, relatively sparse TA to this full-ship experience.  And, I do believe that the colder, often wet weather is having its impact -  specifically in terms of which public areas are accessible.

Add to that the dockside 'sea day' and you can almost understand the fraying civilities.

Re. seeing the officers, as we left the ship yesterday at the port of Halifax there were several lined up to wish us a nice day ashore (HD, CD + 2 others) and I'd say their smiles as they waved us off were nearly as wide as our own...

[ExArkie]

27 minutes ago, Ithikan said:

It's true that staff seem, well, weary.

We boarded in Boston along with many, many others, and I'll assume that it's somewhat jarring to transition from a rough, relatively sparse TA to this full-ship experience.  And, I do believe that the colder, often wet weather is having its impact -  specifically in terms of which public areas are accessible.

Add to that the dockside 'sea day' and you can almost understand the fraying civilities.

Re. seeing the officers, as we left the ship yesterday at the port of Halifax there were several lined up to wish us a nice day ashore (HD, CD + 2 others) and I'd say their smiles as they waved us off were nearly as wide as our own...

The transatlantic coming into Boston (we were on it) was stressful for all involved, what with dodging a hurricane or two and rougher than normal seas. The quality of service suffered somewhat on board during that trip, so there could be a crew “hangover” effect. Not an excuse, though. 

[Whitby100]

Thanks for the updates on the Wi-Fi onboard.  I’ll inform my sister-in-law that the service isn’t likely to be great and could get expensive.  Sorry to all onboard on the weather on the eastern seaboard.  Welcome to our autumn.  Can be beautiful, but can also be miserable weather.  I believe the next few days are forecast to be warmer and sunnier.  Happy Sailings!

[excitedofharpenden]

17 hours ago, Belfastman said:

Unfortunately it is not easy to talk to senior staff except the captain in fact the Concierge told us he would deal with any complaints and get back to us. Two days later nothing.

Very poor and not what Azamara is about at all.  With what has gone on over the past couple of days I'm sure their hands are full, but no excuse. I'd not be happy at all with that. 

 

Phil 

[crzrr]

Currently on the Quest where they are testing out the free basic WiFi. The cost to upgrade was $10/day and we received our loyalty discount. Service is still provided by starlink and we have had decent service. Ran a speed check (which said that it was Starlink) and it’s showing downloads of 3.5Mbps and uploads at .96Mbps. So not strong enough for streaming or video chats as they are promoting. 

[aussie travel bird]

On 10/17/2024 at 12:33 AM, hamrag said:

Do understand that the vast majority of contributors to Az threads do just that! 😉

Guess we’ll find out next week when we board in Montreal. Thankyou, Yes we’ve  been around Azamara long enough to know that and know also that our feedback is usually acted on. 😀

Edited 18 hours ago by aussie travel bird

[Belfastman]

31 minutes ago, aussie travel bird said:

Guess we’ll find out next week when we board in Montreal. Thankyou, Yes we’ve  been around Azamara long enough to know that and know also that our feedback is usually acted on. 😀

Good luck with that some feedback gets acted on but not all now.🤔

[travelberlin]

2 hours ago, crzrr said:

Currently on the Quest where they are testing out the free basic WiFi. The cost to upgrade was $10/day and we received our loyalty discount. Service is still provided by starlink and we have had decent service. Ran a speed check (which said that it was Starlink) and it’s showing downloads of 3.5Mbps and uploads at .96Mbps. So not strong enough for streaming or video chats as they are promoting. 

With those speeds you can hardly do anything. I didn’t know that you could get such low speeds using starlink 🤨