Recent Review of Azamara by Gary Bembridge

[les37b]

2 hours ago, uktraveller said:

People are happy to take comfort from reading positive experiences and dismiss the negative ones. 
We have just disembarked Journey’s first cruise back. 620 guests, crew at 65%.  No table service in the bars, 45 min wait for a table in Discoveries because not all tables being used. 
 

 

This is what concerns me... We sail tomorrow with even more guest than yours had.

 

I'll gladly give them a hand in the bar if it helps! lol

[excitedofharpenden]

35 minutes ago, les37b said:

 

This is what concerns me... We sail tomorrow with even more guest than yours had.

 

I'll gladly give them a hand in the bar if it helps! lol

Whadda guy!😁

 

Phil 

[roberts2005]

If the reviewer was an experienced Azamara traveler, why did he not know about the noise from moving furniture on deck 8?

[uktog]

I always view reviews by vloggers with a little bit of caution.  The cruise line know who these people are so will be doing all they can to make sure everything works for them.  Its the same with those travel agents who report on shake down or freebie cruises.... their judgement is influenced by their situation.

 

I like the reviews by independents eg there's a hotel reviewer in our national press calls The Inspector Calls.  He never reveals his identity to hotels and always pays his way in full.  Thats the kind of professional judgement I like, otherwise the reviews of cruisers who are using their hard earned savings work for me, albeit you do have to apply your own filters when reading

[travelberlin]

13 minutes ago, uktog said:

I always view reviews by vloggers with a little bit of caution.  The cruise line know who these people are so will be doing all they can to make sure everything works for them.  Its the same with those travel agents who report on shake down or freebie cruises.... their judgement is influenced by their situation.

 

I like the reviews by independents eg there's a hotel reviewer in our national press calls The Inspector Calls.  He never reveals his identity to hotels and always pays his way in full.  Thats the kind of professional judgement I like, otherwise the reviews of cruisers who are using their hard earned savings work for me, albeit you do have to apply your own filters when reading

As an independent cruiser, paying full fare, not a travel agent, with more than 60 cruises with several cruise lines, I have written some reviews and done some  live threads. The live threads I think were one on a transatlantic on an MSC ship from Brasil to Europe, another one on an Oceania ship from San Diego to Rio, which included the Amazon river and my last one on the Azamara Pursuit last month from Athens to Barcelona. I have not received any type of benefit from those cruise lines for doing so. 
I follow with interest live threads and my integrity would not allow me to be bias because maybe the cruise line knows that I am writing a live blog. 
I take all reviews and comments, live or nor, with a pinch of salt because at the end, what counts is the own experience. 
 

Ivi

[Xcelsior]

1 hour ago, travelberlin said:

As an independent cruiser, paying full fare, not a travel agent, with more than 60 cruises with several cruise lines, I have written some reviews and done some  live threads. The live threads I think were one on a transatlantic on an MSC ship from Brasil to Europe, another one on an Oceania ship from San Diego to Rio, which included the Amazon river and my last one on the Azamara Pursuit last month from Athens to Barcelona. I have not received any type of benefit from those cruise lines for doing so. 
I follow with interest live threads and my integrity would not allow me to be bias because maybe the cruise line knows that I am writing a live blog. 
I take all reviews and comments, live or nor, with a pinch of salt because at the end, what counts is the own experience. 
 

Ivi

I only watch vlogger videos to see interior spaces of the ships.  They are usually getting a free cruise or trying to sell a cruise, so I can't take their opinion very seriously.

[Host Jazzbeau]

One thing I like about the Cruise Critic boards is that you get to know the personality of people, which helps in interpreting their reactions to things.  [This is missing from the Reviews section of Cruise Critic.]  Some people are naturally pessimistic, others naturally optimistic.  That can lead to two reports from the very same cruise that don't even sound like the same ship!

[les37b]

4 hours ago, uktog said:

I always view reviews by vloggers with a little bit of caution.  The cruise line know who these people are so will be doing all they can to make sure everything works for them.  Its the same with those travel agents who report on shake down or freebie cruises.... their judgement is influenced by their situation.

 

I like the reviews by independents eg there's a hotel reviewer in our national press calls The Inspector Calls.  He never reveals his identity to hotels and always pays his way in full.  Thats the kind of professional judgement I like, otherwise the reviews of cruisers who are using their hard earned savings work for me, albeit you do have to apply your own filters when reading

 

I agree with your thoughts, but Gary actually pays his own way and turns down freebies to remain impartial. Well that's what he says. Met him last year on Scarlet Lady. Nice guy to chat to.

 

Several YouTubers I completely agree they feel obliged .. especially when they got a surprise upgrade to the owner's suite. lol

 

One pair did a review on MSC last year singing praises and I just thought that's not my experience .... They've since revised their listing. I guess there were a few challenges!

 

[les37b]

5 hours ago, excitedofharpenden said:

Whadda guy!😁

 

Phil 

 

Hey ... I hear that often! lol

 

Sitting at the hotel rooftop bar in Lisbon currently. Life is good. Ive not volunteered to pour here. lol

 

 

 

[les37b]

19 hours ago, laurieb said:

Do you know how many passengers "full" is on your cruise?  Up until now there have been less than all staterooms available to be booked.

 

I did say "almost full" so not sure what the problem is. 630 is almost full. Are you saying it isn't?

[Jim in OR]

12 hours ago, uktraveller said:

People are happy to take comfort from reading positive experiences and dismiss the negative ones. 
.

This is true. Although it seems there are at least an equal number that dismiss the positive reviews while maintaining their confirmation bias in the negative ones. 

[ChucktownSteve]

Well I for one was on the verge of changing our Greek intensive next year to a much lesser cost Caribbean cruise to use the deposit.  However after hearing a lot of good reasoning, watching the video and seeing comments here, I decided to keep the booking as is.

 

Hopefully AZ will keep improving and growing by the time we embark.

 

Thankx

[yogagal47]

19 hours ago, uktraveller said:

People are happy to take comfort from reading positive experiences and dismiss the negative ones. 
We have just disembarked Journey’s first cruise back. 620 guests, crew at 65%.  No table service in the bars, 45 min wait for a table in Discoveries because not all tables being used. 
The following cruise will have 180 guests and the extra 65 crew members who joined at Kusadasi just before the end of our cruise. They will have a completely different, hopefully much better,  experience than we did. And will no doubt report back that everything on the Journey is just like “Azamara of old”. 
 

Despite going in with realistic expectations we came away disappointed.

Wow! That is a huge discrepancy in passenger numbers! I wonder how many will be on the June 17 Journey Sailing??? 45 Minute wait for a table is just not ok.

[takemewithyou]

2 hours ago, ChucktownSteve said:

Well I for one was on the verge of changing our Greek intensive next year to a much lesser cost Caribbean cruise to use the deposit.  However after hearing a lot of good reasoning, watching the video and seeing comments here, I decided to keep the booking as is.

 

Hopefully AZ will keep improving and growing by the time we embark.

 

Thankx

I hope you are still keeping that fabulous cabin you originally booked!

[ChucktownSteve]

5 hours ago, takemewithyou said:

I hope you are still keeping that fabulous cabin you originally booked!

 

Absolutely.  Looking forward to the view!

[MouseBerry]

Hi,

just of the Pursuit. We had 604 passengers and 360+ crew. Never had long waiting time in the main dining room. Service in Windows and Patio was always quite quick. In bars it was not too quick but reasonable. At the pool deck, if most loungers are occupied, service was not really good. Just to few service people on patrol. Mosaic and Livng Room, if full, was as well a bit delayed service. 

 

Overall we had a good service experience. Some crew in service need a bit more training, but not that this would be a real problem. 

 

cheers

MouseBerry

 

 

 

[boxman52]

These days you have to be very careful with social media or site based reviews on anything. Some people are professional influencers or some have a financial interest in the industry. Go on the RCI boards and make any adverse comment and there is a total pile on from people forcefully disagreeing. When you probe you find lots are agents or in someway have self interest in talking up the line.

I also think some vloggers, not all, are in it for what they can get from the cruise line. I don't think Gary is as he has the following to want to protect his credibility as he makes I suspect a fair income from his activities.  

In the "old" days before the internet it was more a step into the unknown when you went on holiday. Maybe these days we can stress a little too much about one persons view or experience that might not be wholly representative. But here I am looking at a social media board so what do I know!

[cruisefam38]

For me, you have highlighted a good point, boxman2.  In this era of rapid, nearly instantaneous information sharing, one has had to learn how use the stream and flood of communication.  One has had to learn how to consume the positive and the negatives, especially when the new information seems at odds with what I 'know' to be true.  Then it behooves me to pay attention and try to parse out the meaning.  As Jim in OR pointed out, our perspectives and biases can get in the way of good communication and improved understanding.

[lisiamc]

I know that I have some confirmation bias because I’ve loved Azamara from the very beginning, warts and all. And although I am a fan, I freely acknowledge that they’ve had, and still have, plenty of warts.  Some new ones now, to go with the new owners, as I would expect. Gary Bembridge has my interest because I feel that he speaks as he finds, and he entertains me. He will speak freely about the things he doesn’t like, and find good points in places I wouldn’t think to look.

Edited June 7, 2022 by lisiamc

[yogagal47]

6 minutes ago, lisiamc said:

I know that I have some confirmation bias because I’ve loved Azamara from the very beginning, warts and all. And although I am a fan, I freely acknowledge that they’ve had, and still have, plenty of warts.  Some new ones now, to go with the new owners, as I would expect. Gary Bembridge has my interest because I feel that he speaks as he finds, and he entertains me. He will speak freely about the things he doesn’t like, and find good points in places I wouldn’t think to look.

Gary's piece was fair and balanced although a "sausage instead of bacon" at breakfast does not rise to the level of going downhill fast IMHO. I've been looking at quite a few of the cruise YouTube vloggers lately and find that they use "clickbait" headlines to bring in more viewers/subscribers which is how they make their money. In the case of his Azamara review, the headline simply did not match the actual facts reported.

[marinaro44]

3 hours ago, yogagal47 said:

Gary's piece was fair and balanced although a "sausage instead of bacon" at breakfast does not rise to the level of going downhill fast IMHO. I've been looking at quite a few of the cruise YouTube vloggers lately and find that they use "clickbait" headlines to bring in more viewers/subscribers which is how they make their money. In the case of his Azamara review, the headline simply did not match the actual facts reported.

Yes, clickbait is becoming a plague and I will now ignore Gary as he has apparently succumbed to it.

[Moby Jones]

On 6/6/2022 at 11:30 AM, uktog said:

I always view reviews by vloggers with a little bit of caution.  The cruise line know who these people are so will be doing all they can to make sure everything works for them.  Its the same with those travel agents who report on shake down or freebie cruises.... their judgement is influenced by their situation.

 

I like the reviews by independents eg there's a hotel reviewer in our national press calls The Inspector Calls.  He never reveals his identity to hotels and always pays his way in full.  Thats the kind of professional judgement I like, otherwise the reviews of cruisers who are using their hard earned savings work for me, albeit you do have to apply your own filters when reading

I view them with a little bit of caution too. However I've watched a lot of this guys videos and have concluded that he's far more objective than many of the other vloggers I've seen. The ones to avoid are the US TA's who describe everything as 'awesome', 'unbelievable' and 'top notch'. They really do make my skin crawl. 

He does receive free cruises on occasion but is completely upfront about  that. As an example he mentions this when reviewing Virgin's Scarlet Lady within the first minute of this review. 

I'm glad Gary Bembridge does what he does. :) 

 

 

[les37b]

1 hour ago, Moby Jones said:

I view them with a little bit of caution too. However I've watched a lot of this guys videos and have concluded that he's far more objective than many of the other vloggers I've seen. The ones to avoid are the US TA's who describe everything as 'awesome', 'unbelievable' and 'top notch'. They really do make my skin crawl. 

He does receive free cruises on occasion but is completely upfront about  that. As an example he mentions this when reviewing Virgin's Scarlet Lady within the first minute of this review. 

I'm glad Gary Bembridge does what he does. 🙂

 

 

 

It was on Scarlet Lady that I met Gary and  have to admit from our chat, I was surprised he was more favourable that I expected in his video. In short he couldn't work out Branson's target audience, which I completely get. 

 

He never mentioned the half eaten pizza in his room on arrival and bars overcharging....  But guess that's because he don't drink and the pizza was found in my son's room.

 

Met 'Visit with us" on the same cruise. I love their videos but do wonder if the freebies and upgrades make the reviews genuine. Good entertainment nonetheless.

[Moby Jones]

On 6/7/2022 at 6:11 PM, les37b said:

 

It was on Scarlet Lady that I met Gary and  have to admit from our chat, I was surprised he was more favourable that I expected in his video. In short he couldn't work out Branson's target audience, which I completely get. 

 

He never mentioned the half eaten pizza in his room on arrival and bars overcharging....  But guess that's because he don't drink and the pizza was found in my son's room.

 

Met 'Visit with us" on the same cruise. I love their videos but do wonder if the freebies and upgrades make the reviews genuine. Good entertainment nonetheless.

Can anyone work out Branson's target demographic? 

I'm sure there are many 'reviewers' and influencers who are swayed by the perks they receive. To be fair to him though I have seen him talk about negative aspects of Virgin Voyages in his videos and he does raise legitimate concerns in the video I linked to. So he does strike me as a man of integrity. 

[audobon_tx]

35 minutes ago, Moby Jones said:

Can anyone work out Branson's target demographic? 

I'm sure there are many 'reviewers' and influencers who are swayed by the perks they receive. To be fair to him though I have seen him talk about negative aspects of Virgin Voyages in his videos and he does raise legitimate concerns in the video I linked to. So he does strike me as a man of integrity. 

 

Maybe going off topic but after watching Bembridge's review of Scarlet Lady, you couldn't pay me to go on that ship.  Calisthenics everywhere, sex therapist "shows", RED EVERYWHERE.  Heaven help us.