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uktog

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  1. I think everyone understands that. The problem arises when the reasons given are incorrect and inconsistent. It’s the same as answers on wines in packages- discontinued, not available, still in the stockroom, will be here tomorrow- had all of these within 4 hours on the same cruise!
  2. And there will be others using the floor who may not despite what is being played pre dinner will not be ballroom dancing so if you’re such a purist this is not the venue for you. This can on some voyages include young children. I believe the Cunard Queens are often chosen by dancers for their cruises. Meant to say Cruise Director will have no impact on dancing and they like the bands are rotating all the time so impossible to say
  3. Honestly the difference in size is marginal. I’ve never heard anyone complain that the type of floor is not good to dance on. It’s usually that they don’t like the music or the timing or that the ship is rocking too much as the Living Room does experience movement. It’s not like it’s competition dancing. If it was me I would concentrate on the itinerary not other things when making my choice.
  4. Onward must be on a different food budget to the other three ships. That’s an amazing spread of food - enjoy!
  5. Thanks we go to that port before Busan but have noted that we might experience delays in Kitaykashu (sp)
  6. I am glad to hear you are enjoying the food, as we found Quest last month average but an improvement on Onward we look forward to experiencing Journey. I do get so annoyed with Azamara staff who push back questions with “rubbish”. These rice tables have not been disbanded- Onward and Pursuit have offered them in the last month. Why can’t staff be more honest - maybe they can’t do one on Journey for other reasons, if so tell the customer that, don’t give them patently incorrect waffle. Im afraid this “brush off with waffle” culture has crept into the hotel side of operations in recent years. You never saw it a few years ago albeit the onboard and Miami hotel leadership was in different hands. I saw it first hand on Quest last month where a very senior manager answered a query with an absolute untruth. If the leaders are doing it, the crew will follow as indeed they now are. To me it’s insulting the guests intelligence!
  7. Our experience of Azamara is post pandemic they were still cracking it but since last year they are struggling to deliver consistency across the four ships. They remain a good deal if you can spot the right offer - before the next offer bus comes along. I suppose we got very jaded after a poor cruise on Onward that had zero attempt to recognise what was bad (we are very easy on food but had to send back at least one dish in most evening meals either for being undercooked or cold; it took 4 days to repair furniture that had doors literally falling off etc). EJ was a breath of fresh air in the catering department both in terms of quality and service. We are just back from an Azamara cruise where I’d say the food was 60% acceptable so that’s an improvement from Onward though the lunch time offerings were dire and the specialities nothing special. Due to having to move things around we board a different Azamara ship a week today so another immediate comparison - as last time an itinerary driven decision - this will be a defining cruise for Azamara dining experience vs future bookings. As food is more important than entertainment and pools for us EJ stays in the booking frame. Add to that the per day price for our September cruise in an OT1 will be less than Azamara equivalent in a club continental and that shocked us. We are under 1000 passenger cruisers so intend to look at O and other options for 2025. We can’t though consider EJ sadly until they sort their back office and itinerary reliability out. Yes I don’t want the complimentary waterfall (or aft rollercoaster) on a TA I want my original room or one close by back!
  8. Thank you Adrian, you sum up why we booked again spot on - there were elements of the onboard experience that were spot on perfect for us. My enthusiasm for Azamara has waned - the limitations of older boats and lower quality (though still broadly acceptable) have impacted on how happy we are onboard. Azamara certainly wins on their itineraries particularly their country intensive ones. Both are plagued by back office issues and neither seem to be cracking it. The room issue is not resolved, they are still not accepting the owed the customer any duty to put them in a room in a broadly similar location on the move. Their updated offer is a room on the original deck but not near midships and on the different side (and yes a jacuzzi risk one). We have declined! Based on the current experience, I can't see us booking EJ again unless they really sort out their back office
  9. My poor travel agent is tearing her hair out - and she is a very competent well informed agent. We reached a resolution (or so we thought) on the shortening of the cruise which did involve modest reduction in price (not the per day equivalent) and an agreement to cover the two hotel nights bed and breakfast which we though was fair. Then they came back and said sorry we are only able to book room not b and b in the hotel. My agent pushed back (as she had independently booked us two other nights in the hotel as we were arriving a few days early on a b and b basis no problem). Eventually although not ideal we accepted a small additional amount of OBC (not sure having been onboard and experienced their rate of cancellation of excursions what we will use it for!). But now we have this allocation of a different less good location room for the shortened version cruise - EJ did not give everyone the rooms they previously had. They cannot give her any logical reason why we were given a different room in the same category but on a different side, floor and moved to the back from midships. They are now trying to get a "fix" - its disgraceful that the response to my agent was not an :oh goodness yes we need to sort that but rather a feeble set of excuses all of which my agent has had to push back on and now is waiting to hear back on a "possible resolution". Its not that the cruise was one that was already open for bookings, it is one that they created as a result of changing the original one, so all guests should automatically have been allocated their existing rooms on the new voyage. To add to her woes, our other EJ cruise which is a b2b has had one leg drop off the system - though EJ are assuring her the other leg is there, neither she or I can see it. They are looking to get a IT fix....... Obviously, we will not be booking any more with EJ. Their systems are not to be trusted and their "ambassadors" seem to give experienced travel agents answers that cannot be correct in the hope they do not realise that and go away. Its a shame because despite some limitations (is there actually a perfect line out there? - I doubt it) we did feel EJ had a place in our vacation plans.
  10. Quest had two designated dancers who supported the 4 singers in the show last month. They were fine in that role but didn’t seem skilled (precise) enough to do a show on their own. They weren’t ballroom dancers more show and beat dancers
  11. Great to hear that the ports continue to deliver so much. Azamara (and other lines) are hugely helped by the port authorities in each stop. This pamphlet that they prepare shows how much will be set up if you ask. I have also found it a useful resource for planning. Other countries should prepare a similar one stop summary! https://partners-pamph.jnto.go.jp/simg/pamph/2349.pdf
  12. Sometimes pre show the band play for dancing. You can ask the cruise director and if it’s possible most will do it. At non show times the lounge is closed for rehearsals etc so no guest access.
  13. My travel agent has worked hard to get an acceptable resolution and we thought we had it yesterday! However we have now found that in moving us to the cruuse two days later, they have changed our cabin. They have not upgraded us. It’s the same category but they have moved us from our carefully selected mid ships to one at the aft on a higher deck, which is a no go for us on a transatlantic. We feel sorry for our agent she’s going to have to do even more work tomorrow. Can’t understand given it was a “new cruise” why bookings weren’t lifted wholesale to their existing rooms
  14. Thank you so much. Really good to read this. I think we are only going to DIY 3 times. Like you we bottled out on too much independence. I know people chastise us for our cautious approach and you always meet someone who gives you the maths of how they’ve done better- in Europe or the Americas I’m happy to DIY but as soon as I cannot read a street sign I panic. No point in being over stressed as this is a one and done bucket list for us. I might investigate the Port Ambassador for stops we were DIY as maybe there are options we could consider. Do keep enjoying your wonderful experience
  15. The basic package is so slow it should be included at no charge as lines like Viking and Explora do. That would probably be fast enough for many guests leaving the faster speed for those who want to stream or access work systems and will be happy to pay. It’s sad to see this criticism of Azamaras wifi speed and cost has been talked about since 2014. Every time management acknowledges the issue and hints better is coming. 10 years on, they lag their competitors really badly on this one.
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