Rough Ride on Onward

[tgg]

It was overcast as we left Port Everglades on December 12 2023 for this 10 Caribbean cruise.
The winds and waves started as soon as we got outside the port. It's now Dec. 14. All the outside decks have been closed since we left. Anyone who has wanted to walk around the track or anywhere outside has been using a treadmill, which rises and falls with the ship. The pool has just reopened.
The winds have been 25 knots and there have been huge waves and whitecaps. The boat creaks and rolls. 
Barf bags are on all floor landings and ginger is available at the reception desk.
Salt from the spray has covered our balcony chairs and tables, and this is all the way on deck 7.
All this being said, most people seem to be having a great time. We reach dry land (otherwise knows as Puerto Rico) in the morning. For those few who've been holed up in their cabins, it will be a relief.

[takemewithyou]

Sorry about the rough ride, @tgg.  So different from last year!

We did a transatlantic recently and the sea was so flat and calm!

You just never know!

How did your CC meet and greet go?

[tgg]

2 hours ago, takemewithyou said:

Sorry about the rough ride, @tgg.  So different from last year!

We did a transatlantic recently and the sea was so flat and calm!

You just never know!

How did your CC meet and greet go?

Azamara is no longer supporting CC meet & greets. Our roll call get together wasn't listed in the Insider. It spoke to Eric, our Cruise Director, shortly after boarding and he was kind enough to make an announcement about the time and place. Those who came had a good time getting to meet fellow posters and we've been happy to spent time with many of them during the past few days.

 

Very different from last year in so many ways.

[takemewithyou]

24 minutes ago, tgg said:

Azamara is no longer supporting CC meet & greets. Our roll call get together wasn't listed in the Insider. It spoke to Eric, our Cruise Director, shortly after boarding and he was kind enough to make an announcement about the time and place. Those who came had a good time getting to meet fellow posters and we've been happy to spent time with many of them during the past few days.

 

Very different from last year in so many ways.

So sorry to hear that.  So it seems they are not even bothering to list it in the Insider now?!  I wonder if that is across the fleet?  It may be new policy as it was listed on Pursuit in June or just not consistent amongst all the ships.

[wjfan417]

We were on the Pursuit in September and October-both had Meet & Mingles on boarding day that were listed in the Insider.

[Grandma Cruising]

We had our M & M listed in Insider on 20 November on Journey. I spoke to the F & B Manager who made sure we had drinks & canapés and the Cruise Director, Darren Lyndon popped in to see us too.

[uktog]

2 hours ago, Grandma Cruising said:

We had our M & M listed in Insider on 20 November on Journey. I spoke to the F & B Manager who made sure we had drinks & canapés and the Cruise Director, Darren Lyndon popped in to see us too.

This may be controversial but I wonder if Azamara have decided that Cruise Critic Socials as they called them are part of a "budget cut" or a plan to "move on to recognise times have changed".  There are also issues on one ship (Onward) re finding a venue and with some itineraries its hard to find a convenient time to have the event if there are no sea days.  The socials were more popular when it was an opportunity to get a drink without paying which does not apply on Azamara.  It used to allow interaction with officers - that no longer happens and in any event, on Azamara there is plenty of opportunity anyway The roll calls for my forthcoming cruises are very quiet but some facebook groups are busier.  However when it was a large group, you could not connect with many people in any event.

 

Cruise Critic predates Facebook and maybe the "need" for organised socials today is so much less less.

I have been on two cruise lines recently that do not provide events but do have roll calls.  Each line's ships are slightly above the capacity of Azamara.  In both cases, we connected with roll call members no problem without a get together - and we also connected with many other non cruise critic guests.  There was no problem re excursions as we had exchanged names and room numbers anyway so could leave messages if needed.

 

Maybe its time to look after ourselves, privately set up get small togethers if we want, go with the flow and stop looking for Azamara to provide anything.

[hamrag]

9 hours ago, takemewithyou said:

So sorry to hear that.  So it seems they are not even bothering to list it in the Insider now?!  I wonder if that is across the fleet?  It may be new policy as it was listed on Pursuit in June or just not consistent amongst all the ships.

On our Quest Lisbon to Barbados last month it was listed, we didn't attend. I guess, like many other things of marginal importance, the meet & greet is old hat now post-Covid. The last time we bothered going to one, which was very good, was with Az December 2019....even then the only reason we did so was to meet Anne (uktog) who had been most helpful on cc prior to what was our first Az experience. 

Edited December 15, 2023 by hamrag

[hamrag]

1 hour ago, uktog said:

Maybe its time to look after ourselves, privately set up get small togethers if we want, go with the flow and stop looking for Azamara to provide anything.

 

Indeed, roll calls are generally much quieter than pre-Covid. As an aside we sailed Windstar last month also and all rollcalls have low response levels, some even zero posts in response to a rollcall being created!

[Mackdogmolly]

39 minutes ago, hamrag said:

even then the only reason we did so was to meet Anne (uktog) who had been most helpful on cc prior to what was our first Az experience. 

I’m looking forward to meeting Ann too - on our upcoming Antarctica cruise!

[Dr H]

Sorry the Carib was rough. We had been on Onward from Rome into Lisbon and then on to Ft Lauderdale. Roughest transatlantic we've ever been on, but really, that wasn't Sycamore Partners', Capt. Carl's, nor Azamara's fault. God and Neptune had it in for us. Carl told us there wasn't a warm, smooth patch across the entire ocean. I missed our M & M on the first leg, we went looking for the 2nd and never found it. It was a bit of a disappointment, but ultimately, I/we bumped into a lot of the folks who signed up, as well as others who hadn't! It's a small ship. The good news, even with the 20 foot seas and the white caps, is that with the exception of one waiter in the MDR who was completely incompetent, service was the typical Azamara superb, food up to par (which means superb), and the new Atlas bar was actually very good - if you avoided their fancy $20 cocktails that were either invented by an angry, failing college student or came to you smoking almost as much as certain passengers on the pool deck, they made some really good classical cocktails. Anyway, hope you at least had a decent time on board. I just sent in my passport renewal yesterday, hopefully it will arrive before we have to fly off to Rio for our March transatlantic to Lisbon on Quest. Anyone else joining us?  David

[Mackdogmolly]

9 minutes ago, Dr H said:

hopefully it will arrive before we have to fly off to Rio for our March transatlantic to Lisbon on Quest. Anyone else joining us?  David

I wish. We had a great time on that cruise last year, although embarkation in Rio was a bear.

[Dr H]

Thanks a million for sharing that piece of info! Oh, for the record, I actually JUST received my "cruise booklet" for the Rio trip. Never got one for our November hajaira, so things are getting brighter over at Azamara. I also called my travel agent around 6PM yesterday, got through immediately (he had a very strong Indian accent, I suspect I might have been the first client of his day) and he got through to Azamara within two rings. They may be doing a lousy job controlling the Atlantic weather in November and December, but their phone service actually seems to be back to normal.

[nordski]

The reality may well be that CC gatherings may no longer serve an important role. But we will miss the possibility of a serendipitous encounter with someone we have never met, either online or in person.

[Mackdogmolly]

3 hours ago, nordski said:

The reality may well be that CC gatherings may no longer serve an important role. But we will miss the possibility of a serendipitous encounter with someone we have never met, either online or in person.

It’s nice when people attach a photo to their CC handle. I had no trouble picking @Grandma Cruisingout of the crowd at the Rio terminal last March!

[Hulagirl]

Was so sorry to miss the M&G on this cruise on the Onward.  I look at people as we walk by and wonder if they were on the roll call.  Never heard the announcement from Eric about it since we didn't have our TV on whenever he announced it.  Wish we could have set up a time and a place at least before we got on the ship since we knew it would not be sponsored with Azamara.  This was disappointing. 

 

Other than the rough weather and the rain today in San Juan it has been a good cruise.  Staff is exceptional and the food has been fine.  I've seen some people that have been disappointed with it, but what they didn't like I don't find to be an issue.  So far so good.

 

Susan

[tgg]

2 hours ago, Hulagirl said:

Was so sorry to miss the M&G on this cruise on the Onward.  I look at people as we walk by and wonder if they were on the roll call.  Never heard the announcement from Eric about it since we didn't have our TV on whenever he announced it.  Wish we could have set up a time and a place at least before we got on the ship since we knew it would not be sponsored with Azamara.  This was disappointing. 

 

 

 

Susan

We did set up a time and place on the roll call; 5:30 in the card room after sailaway. 

We're in 7049. Please call us or leave a note on the door. We'd love to get together.

Toni

[Traveling Fools]

8 hours ago, Dr H said:

I missed our M & M on the first leg, we went looking for the 2nd and never found it.

 Hi David,

 

What a ride that trip was!!! I think the ship must have sold all their OTC sea sick remedies. I saw more than a couple of shipmates wearing bands on each wrist.

 

They did post a CC meeting in the daily paper.  I think it was scheduled either the first or second day.  I didn't see the notice until the day after it was scheduled.

 

When in March will you be in Rio?

 

Joe

[Hulagirl]

1 hour ago, tgg said:

We did set up a time and place on the roll call; 5:30 in the card room after sailaway. 

We're in 7049. Please call us or leave a note on the door. We'd love to get together.

Toni

Must have totally missed that post. Was so busy before we left. Will contact you. Are you in the same cabin next cruise or do you move?

 

Susan

[Dr H]

Hey Joe, wonderful hearing from you. The ship sails on March 15th, we arrive in Rio in the morning of March 13th. There should be no jet lag, we are off by ½ time zone. 17 nights, very reasonable price, would love to see the two of you again and actually do the blue cheese/port thing. Air fare from Atlanta was $435 one way when I booked.  Come on - you're retired, putting food on the table, and last I looked, you don't need a new pair of shoes! I've got a very dear friend dying of acute leukemia following 15 years of multiple myeloma. He just turned 65, and his wife retired 6 months ago. You only go around once, and it's only money. Please, consider it.  David

[gsutiger2]

10 hours ago, Mackdogmolly said:

10 hours ago, Dr H said:

 

I wish. We had a great time on that cruise last year, although embarkation in Rio was a bear.

What happened in Rio? Wondering if we need to be prepared for anything. 

[gsutiger2]

10 hours ago, Dr H said:

cruise booklet" for the Rio trip

Excuse my ignorance,  but what is the cruise booklet? Thank you

[Dr H]

The cruise booklet is part of an e-mail that Azamara sends out to only its most favored, important, beautiful and witty customers. Only the most important get it, and obviously I have just arrived. My wife has not. Basically, it's an electronic "booklet" that has your confirmation, boarding passes, rules and regulations, and shore excursions listed. Several folks in the UK posted on CC about having received theirs prior to our last cruise, we, alas, did not. I take it that you will be on the Rio trip? If you get the email, congrats. You don't need it, but it did stoke my ego for a moment. If you didn't, please, don't fret! David

[Ithikan]

I will not be on the Rio trip ; )  ,but I did check for my cruise booklet after following this thread... and found that the Guest Confirmation email we'd received from our TA for our January cruise did not include a boarding pass.

Called Azamara today, and was emailed the legit "e-ticket," cruise contract, and boarding info.

Thanks, again, to these boards for all the sharing of vital, pre-cruise information!

[Grandma Cruising]

6 hours ago, gsutiger2 said:

What happened in Rio? Wondering if we need to be prepared for anything. 

Embarkation was horrendous. We arrived about 1:15 and found the terminal was full to bursting - found out later that all those with Azamara transfers had been picked up from their hotels at 11:30. There were very few check-in desks open, we finally got onboard at about 4:30.