Q&A With Jacques Van Staden, VP Food & Beverage Op for Azamara Cruises

[LauraS]

Please join us in welcoming Jacques Van Staden, Vice President of Food & Beverage for both Celebrity and Azamara Cruise lines, to our little corner of cyberspace!

Jacques will be joining us beginning June 1st to answer questions directly from YOU, our members. Begin posting your questions now in our forum dedicated to this special guest appearance:

Go to: ----> Q&A Forum: Special Guest Jacques Van Staden, VP Food & Beverage Op for Celebrity/Azamara Cruises (http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=584) to ask a question NOW.

We hope you will take this opportunity to share your experiences regarding the dining experiences on board your recent cruise and we KNOW you'll "cook up" with some "delicious" questions to ask! (Sorry, couldn't resist some food puns!)

Remember, if you cannot come up with a question right away, Jacques will begin answering questions on June 1, so you have some time to think about it. Please feel free to invite your friends and family to this special event.

Don't have question? That's ok, we welcome everyone to just stop by and say "hi" in our welcome thread on the Q&A forum (http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=584).

We'd like to thank the wonderful people at Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Cruises for allowing the special event to take place. Kudos to them for opening up the direct line of communication between Cruise Critic members -- their passengers -- and Jacques Van Staden!

Laura

[joelmomma]

LauraS,

I have enjoyed following the threads with Mr. Van Staden. The question I have is that many of his responses seem to only apply to Celebrity ships, not necessarily Azamara. As the site is no longer accepting new threads, I was wondering if you have heard if the wine packages that he mentioned in the "wine questions" thread will also be offered on Azamara ships? We are sailing on the Quest next month, and are hoping that this feature would be available for us.

[feje]

I, too, am interested in the answer since I will be sailing on Azamara in August.

[Placerville]

Being fortunate to enjoy the Azamara suites more than once, one thing puzzles me.....?? We are offered free soft drinks and free espresso in our rooms, but not if we go to the bars?? Why not avoid this pety issue by creating a distinctive room key that alerts the baristers and bartenders that we can get these free?

[piscean]

Being fortunate to enjoy the Azamara suites more than once, one thing puzzles me.....?? We are offered free soft drinks and free espresso in our rooms, but not if we go to the bars?? Why not avoid this pety issue by creating a distinctive room key that alerts the baristers and bartenders that we can get these free?

I agree! We will be taking our third Azamara SS grade in October lets hope they read this and take it on board! :)

[Redtravel]

We were on the Horizon on a cruise that coincided with Passover. We enjoyed a separate seder with the staff. It was superb. We also requested matzoh on our table. Not a problem. Since we will be on the Journey in April during Passover, will there be Matzoh on board? I hope so.

[Host Andy]

We were on the Horizon on a cruise that coincided with Passover. We enjoyed a separate seder with the staff. It was superb. We also requested matzoh on our table. Not a problem. Since we will be on the Journey in April during Passover, will there be Matzoh on board? I hope so.

Hi Redtravel !

I think the odds are excellent, Azamara will have Matzoh on board, as well as other Passover items. Enjoy your Cruise.