Azamara seem to be scaling back Azamazing Evenings

[laurieb]

Just looking through our upcoming cruises this May/ June; we are scheduled for an on shore Azamazing Evening in Lisbon.

[ECCruise]

I think that it is important to remember that having an Azamazing Evenings scheduled does not mean they will occur. We've had 4 scheduled in the last year that were ultimately changed to onboard events.  Notification of the changes occurred anywhere between 3 months and 3 weeks prior to sailing.

Edited February 10 by ECCruise

[laurieb]

Oh, I'm aware.

[nonrev1]

I remember when Azamara started the Azamazing evenings and the fares of the cruises went up at the same time.  The fares have continued to go up but we are not getting any type of credit by not having an azamazing evening.  They had originally put a price on the evening saying if you did not cancel, you would be charged 200.00 per person.  The onboard events clearly don’t have a value of 200.00 per person.  Our Japan intensive cruise last year had the Azamazing evening onboard the ship and it was in our one non Japan port.  While in Norway we had our event off the ship….but, it was not of the caliber of the previous Azamazing evenings.  No wine at the event, no gift in the room when we returned.  We went to a theater, saw a musical group and returned to the ship.  This was as quite a few of you said - it set Azamara apart from the others.  Now it is a hit or miss.  It was something that made Azamara a more upscale brand …..can’t really say that anymore. 

[curmudgeon98]

I have to say I'm a bit of mixed mind on this one.  A few years ago on our first Azamara cruise, we had the evening in Valencia.  A good setting, at the Hemisphere, and a decent show with acrobatics, music, and dancing.  But the logistics of getting 600 or 700 people from the ship to the show, and back afterwards, left me not that excited (not that it was badly handled, but standing around in parking lots waiting to load that many people on buses just takes time).  I'm sure in some cases the setting can make it worthwhile, but it's hard to get settings that are interesting, have workable transportation, and are reliable for weather.  Our most recent Azamara cruises had the onboard destination celebration (Greek fiddler and band), and while the pool deck was less impressive than an ancient amphitheater, it was still quite enjoyable and much more convenient.    

[Grandma Gilly]

I have just noticed that our scheduled Azamazing evening in Malaga is now on the ship. A flamenco show. Not what I expect from Azamara.

[hamrag]

16 hours ago, Grandma Gilly said:

I have just noticed that our scheduled Azamazing evening in Malaga is now on the ship. A flamenco show. Not what I expect from Azamara.

Welcome to Sycamore Partners! 😉

[harrodsfan]

We did the Ephesus amazing evening and it was not great. Another long bus ride after we had already visited Ephesus that day. Poor restroom situation not near venue. Uncomfortable seats. Getting to the seats on uneven steps was pretty scary. Worse getting out when it was over, very very boring and long concert by a choir. Long bus ride back. Long walk to the boat. Would never go again. It sounded cool.. but it wasn’t in actuality.

[Wander58]

39 minutes ago, harrodsfan said:

We did the Ephesus amazing evening and it was not great. Another long bus ride after we had already visited Ephesus that day. Poor restroom situation not near venue. Uncomfortable seats. Getting to the seats on uneven steps was pretty scary. Worse getting out when it was over, very very boring and long concert by a choir. Long bus ride back. Long walk to the boat. Would never go again. It sounded cool.. but it wasn’t in actuality.

I 100% disagree!  Going to the small Greek Theater in Ephesus was fantastic!  When would you ever get to do that?  They had cushions on the stone seats that made it very comfortable.  The acoustics and concert in that outstanding venue was something we'll never forget...and we definitely felt it was Amazing Evening.  The only negative was the weird Turkish wine that was really bad.

[Dynacruiser]

Some Azamazing events are fantastic, others are not so much.  It usually comes down to a personal preference.

 

 I remember Azamara taking over the main townsquare in Dubrovnik providing us lovely live music, wine and snacks, unforgettable night!  On the other hand, some other events were less-than-memorable.

 

My view is that I like having the option of deciding whether to go or not.  I hope Azamara doesn't get rid of them.  This is one of the many things that IN MY PERSONAL VIEW makes Azamara so special.

Edited February 14 by Dynacruiser

[cruisefam38]

18 hours ago, Wander58 said:

Going to the small Greek Theater in Ephesus was fantastic!  When would you ever get to do that? 

This bears repeating.  I will remember the performance and the theater at Ephesus as long as I live.

Another example was the Azamazing Evening last Feb. 1 in Cartagena :  Carnaval De Barranquilla at Teatro Adolfo Mejia.  The theater was a stellar setting for the performance, such that the same performance could not have been as wonderful had it been aboard the Onward.

 

[excitedofharpenden]

19 hours ago, Dynacruiser said:

Some Azamazing events are fantastic, others are not so much.  It usually comes down to a personal preference.

 

 I remember Azamara taking over the main townsquare in Dubrovnik providing us lovely live music, wine and snacks, unforgettable night!  On the other hand, some other events were less-than-memorable.

 

My view is that I like having the option of deciding whether to go or not.  I hope Azamara doesn't get rid of them.  This is one of the many things that IN MY PERSONAL VIEW makes Azamara so special.

I've had a mixture too. From memorable to forgettable. I'd say 75% of them have been memorable. If they don't offer one at all then that falls to 0%.  It's just another performance on the ship. 

 

It's evident from this thread that it's happening more and more. As I said in my first post, not the way I want to have it go. 

 

Phil 

Phil 

 

Phil 

[oddjob16]

20 hours ago, harrodsfan said:

We did the Ephesus amazing evening and it was not great. Another long bus ride after we had already visited Ephesus that day. Poor restroom situation not near venue. Uncomfortable seats. Getting to the seats on uneven steps was pretty scary. Worse getting out when it was over, very very boring and long concert by a choir. Long bus ride back. Long walk to the boat. Would never go again. It sounded cool.. but it wasn’t in actuality.

I really don’t know how to interpret your post. Everything you mention as being «bad» was posted in the descriprion of the event. I rate this venue and the performance as one of the most memorable and we have done it three times. 
It is a 2000 year old roman amfi and it is quite obvious that it will be no toilets in the venue itself, but at the entrance. It will be uneven paths,- and you will not be seated comfortably like in an opera. I accept your feelings about the long drive and walk back to the ship, but it doesn’t make the event itself any worse. 
Hopefully Azamara will continue to find and arrange events for the guests in special venues around the world.

[KevintheIrishDJ]

On the 11/30/24 Onward, the event was moved to the ship. I had to walk out because the sound was over 100Db.

[hamrag]

Having sailed four cruises on Azamara, we are yet to experience the Azamazing event off-ship, and fear that will be our Az future also! Our June Oceania cruise has been cancelled, and we most likely will book a last minute Az cruise as a replacement!

 

My DW, a year older than me, all being well will hit the big 70 at this time next year. Her lifelong ambition has been to visit Oz and Kiwi, and Az have most suitable cruises Feb 2025 which I am considering along with others....which, although less cost, are not as good in terms of itinerary....so it'll be more Az for us hopefully! 😊

[laurieb]

Well, two of three upcoming cruises are now destination celebrations.  May go to one, one is definitely a no.  Really hoping the third will continue to be onshore 

[Ithikan]

3 hours ago, hamrag said:

My DW, a year older than me, all being well will hit the big 70 at this time next year. Her lifelong ambition has been to visit Oz and Kiwi, and Az have most suitable cruises Feb 2025 which I am considering along with others....which, although less cost, are not as good in terms of itinerary....so it'll be more Az for us hopefully! 😊

We have enjoyed 3 cruises with Azamara to New Zealand & Australia.  Each offered an Azamazing Evening off the ship, and we loved them all.  (The event in Bali was beyond spectacular - I do hope you select an AZ cruise, and that your Azamazing event occurs offshore.)

Happy Planning!

[excitedofharpenden]

10 hours ago, KevintheIrishDJ said:

On the 11/30/24 Onward, the event was moved to the ship. I had to walk out because the sound was over 100Db.

You raise a good point. I really struggle with higher volume and shipboard entertainment suffers quite a bit from this. 

 

Phil 

[hamrag]

8 hours ago, laurieb said:

Well, two of three upcoming cruises are now destination celebrations.  May go to one, one is definitely a no.  Really hoping the third will continue to be onshore 

Reading these boards, that is part of the problem, they tell us the celebration is off ship and allow us to book such. But then it changes last minute to onboard, that's what happened to us last May in Dubrovnik!

[laurieb]

3 hours ago, hamrag said:

Reading these boards, that is part of the problem, they tell us the celebration is off ship and allow us to book such. But then it changes last minute to onboard, that's what happened to us last May in Dubrovnik!

thankfully not last minute for us as we don't sail until May/ June.

 

I will say, one of the best performances I've seen was onboard the ship, in Scotland, in 2022.  Blew me away!

[uktog]

35 minutes ago, laurieb said:

thankfully not last minute for us as we don't sail until May/ June.

 

I will say, one of the best performances I've seen was onboard the ship, in Scotland, in 2022.  Blew me away!

Yes you had a nationally recognised band as I recall - the Red Hot Chilli Pipers. We happily pay £25+ a ticket to see them. 
We had a fantastic band and singer onboard in Alesund.

 

On board doesn’t mean cheaper but they need to level with guests. Seems off ship is few and far between unless your on the world journey. There will come a point that the % of off ship events is so low the advertising standards in some countries will catch them out 

[laurieb]

Yes, that is who it was; absolutely the best entertainment!!

[Mike420]

I have mixed emotions about the Amazing Evening on board.  Some of those off ship excursions to a venue where tedious and time consuming.  Spend 1 hour getting everybody on busses, then trundle off to a venue for a 45-minute show and then back to the bus mess sometimes was sometimes unpleasant for me.  I had one exceptional venue in Montevideo that was absolutely the best.  But most of the shows on my 6 Azamara cruises would have been better on the boat.  Recently in Manaus on the Amazon Cruise in Nov/Dec 23 I was too worn out form the daytime excursion to go to the fantastic show put on in the Teatro Amazonas.  Plus, when it's on board I can get a no cost cocktail!

[wjfan417]

We were on that cruise too, and they were fantastic! A private guide that we had for a small group tour was amazed that they performed on our ship! We saw them last summer at an outdoor venue in Cleveland.

[java spot]

In regards to the World Journey and Azamazing evenings, the events during the first two segments were a real fail. In Cozumel, bizarrely, they bussed us to the venue which was a 7-minute walk away. Maybe that was their ploy to ensure that the suite passengers got the seats where they could see the show. For 2/3 of the attendees, it was very difficult to view. The stratification of passengers became an even bigger issue on the 2nd leg where the event was held in Fakarava. By the time the deck 4 passengers were allowed to tender, they had less than an hour to do whatever it was that was supposed to be done on the island. There were no staff from Azamara directing passengers and it was pretty much complete chaos.  It was sad, as both events had potential.  I liked the idea of an azamazing day, and the venue was beautiful.