mcomd508

13 minutes ago, Got2Cruise said:

Hi. I’ve done both Uniworld and Amawaterways. I’ll try to help. 
 

First, is there a specific itinerary you are looking at?  Once you have it narrowed down look very closely at the INCLUDED excursions. They are not exactly the same. 
 

Next, understand that Uniworld is all inclusive. So, any alcoholic beverage you wish is included all day. Also almost all gratuities are included with Uniworld. Amawaterways is additional. So crunch the numbers. 
 

The food and wine in the restaurants similar. Amawaterways also includes a Chef’s Tasting Restaurant. 
 

We have found the service basically the same with both brands. 
 

Is there a reason you have not considered Tauck? They are considered top notch and the pricing reflects that. 
 

If one wants to save some money look for flash sales for the weeks that are not selling as quickly as other weeks. 

Thank you so much. Uniworld seems a little plushier to me and AMA has more of a basic look. I may be wrong .

right now I’m considering the Ada I’ve from Vilshofen to Budapest.

not really looking at a cheaper deal. I was just surprised that they would ask 900 nt pp for the cheapest cabin when that price on Regent would warrant you a nice suite with air travel in business class.

Riverside appeals to me, but I’m not sure how the derived is now that’s being managed by another company.

I’ll look at Tauck as well.

I’m very grateful for all the tips and input.

18 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

No personal experience with Uniworld or Riverside, but I would put all three lines you mention in the top five (along with Scenic and Tauck, which you might also want to consider).  Riverside does have the ex-Crystal Mozart, which is the other double-wide ship on the Danube (like AmaMagna).  Scenic in particular has lots of larger cabin types and I would rank it's food and excursions a little above AMA (which is already very good).

 

Whichever line you are looking at, pay attention to the western end of the itinerary.  AMA is very smart to stop at Vilshofen because that avoids the notorious low-water choke point on the Danube.  Itineraries that plan to go further west (e.g. to Regensburg) may not be able to make it and end up as long bus rides.

Thank you very much! At the moment, I’m finding it hard to justify paying 900 usd a night pp for a fixed window room.

All your comments are much appreciated.

Thank you everyone for your wonderful inputs.

Would anyone have any experience regarding how AmaWaterways stacks against Uniworld or Crystal River cruises ( currently Riverside) ? 
Thanks again! 

Thanks again @CastleCritic. I appreciate your kindness and all of your valuable input.

Thank you so much for your insight.

I wonder if you were both upgraded because you’re repeat cruisers with AMA. I’m not sure this would happen to a first timer like me.

The cruise I’m looking into is around 900 usd per person per day for a fixed window room ( I realize it’s kind of a last minute booking). However, it seems a lot to be in the entry level category. Maybe I’d have to book way in advance to get one of the better rooms with a better rate.

Thank you so much for your prompt response and valuable information.

need to decide if it’s worth going for the first time in a fixed window room. We’re you upgraded from a fixed window to the SA cabin?

I would appreciate if anyone else has any feedback regarding Amazon x Uniworld . Thanks again

Hello, everyone.

Going a bit off topic here.I am a seasoned luxury cruiser in oceans (RSSC, Silversea, Ritz Carlton yacht,Crystal cruises…)  but I’m considering my first river cruise in the AmaMagna in the same itinerary.

Some basic questions I have (any input would be greatly appreciated):

1- I am finding hard to justify paying around 1000 usd a night pp in a river cruise. I understand that it’s a very limited number of passengers, but most of the advertised perks don’t seem to justify that price. Most of the shore excursions seem to be a walk in the city center or a bus ride to some monument that frankly I could do by myself for a fraction of the price. Am I missing something here?

2- Regarding meals on board, unlike ocean cruise lines, river cruise lines seem to limit the amount of food, times and options you have when onboard. Frankly, when I look at the videos, the quality doesn’t seem that great; Any thoughts?

3- Some friends have told me they feel like river cruisers are almost like a guided excursion experience and they came back more tired than before they left. Does anyone feel the same way?

4- My partner wants to take Amawaterways since it’s advertised as a more active line. However, I feel like Uniworld and Riverside ( former Crystal river cruises) seem to provide a more luxurious experience. Would you compare them?

5- I understand I would get more space in the AmaMagna, but does it justify that there’s a major premium to pay if sailing on her instead of the others? My partner feels like the other ships would be too cramped.

6- For the dates I was looking up, there are only fixed window rooms available( which look terrible to stay in a river cruise where you want to admire the scenery).Has anyone had any experience staying in those?

I don’t mean to be controversial or rub anyone off the wrong way. I’m just trying to decide whether a river cruise, AmaWaterways and the Magna would be appropriate for my next trip.

I appreciate everyone’s opinions in advance.

While itinerary is obviously important, picking the right cruise line is absolutely fundamental and will determine whether you will become a regular cruiser or just give up on your first one.

Without getting into the merit of what pleases whom, I have several friends who thought they absolutely did not mind about the ship and ended up hating cruising and never went back due to their experience.

Consider your budget and what kind of demographics you are looking for.

If you like party cruises, you will probably enjoy Carnival/RCCL. However, if you like more upscale, you may want to go for Celebrity or above. The most luxurious ones are not very suitable for kids.

If you want something directed towards kids, you can't go wrong with Disney. Their product is really amazing and most parents/grandparents enjoy it as much as kids do.

Drive from port to airport is about 15 min or less.

Problems may arise depending on how fast immigration is working.

If you are a US citizen/resident, it's pretty fast.

I believe that if you do early walk-off, anything after 10 am is fine.

However, if you don't want to worry about it, just book your flight around noon as others have previously suggested.

Yes I do call you a whiner!!!

 

Verstuurd vanaf mijn Nexus 6 met Tapatalk

I'm sure you are not paying over 40K to go on a cruise and stay in a cabin category you do not want. Maybe that's why it's easier to point the finger and call me names.

Azamara should have contacted their customers and offered full refunds if they couldn't place us in the cabins we paid for.

I keep my point: Azamara screwed up with the dry dock time. Considering the ship is not ready 10 days past the official end date for the dry dock, just proves my point.

Hi Everyone,

 

Here's the latest information on the questions asked :

 

Laundry : Unfortunately, still not working yet, but they are hoping to have it working by Miami, or shortly thereafter.

 

Club Ocean Suites (the forward suites) : 2 are now ready, the other 2 should be ready by Miami. BTW, I saw one of the suites this morning, and it's absolutely gorgeous. If you are booked in them, I'm confident you will be very pleased. If not ? I highly recommend considering them for your next sailing. I have about 10 photos, and will post them on this thread, on Sunday.

 

Spa Suites : The plan is to have them ready by Miami, or shortly thereafter.

 

Club World Ocean Suites : None of the 6 are currently ready. It does not sound as if they will be ready by Miami, but they are working very hard, and I'm hearing that additional workers will be boarding in Miami, solely to work on the CW suites. I think part of the problem is that some of the items did not make the ship when it was in Drydock. If I hear anything further, I will post on this thread.

 

Casino : A team from Royal Caribbean will be onboard Sunday AM, and should have the ticket issue resolved by departure time.

 

Hope this is helpful !

Thank you for posting, Andy.

To me, this is a HUGE disappointment. Despite Azamara's weather excuse and the compensation offered to the guests on board, this just proves that they were really too ambitious with the dry dock schedule. Even after a 10 day cruise, they have not been able to finish the suites. Also, what seems to be the problem to get the laundry machines working? If they have just replaced the old ones, the hook-up should be a no-brainer, right?

I personally do not care about free laundry bags, since I find that most cruise lines ruin your clothes either with harsh soaps or by putting all the clothes in the drier when you may choose not to.

Booking and paying for a CWO suite (+ all the expenses with air fare) and arriving to a ship which will not offer me what I have chosen is a huge let down.

I know some people will not agree and will call me a whiner, but when you are spending this kind of money, it's really disappointing.

Thanks for keeping us updated anyways. Enjoy your cruise.

Hi Andy,

I have posted this question on another thread, but I am not sure if the administrator is still responding.

Could you give us an update on the current status of the self-service laundry machines on board? Are they operational yet?

Also, are the CWO suites finished? I really hope so!:)

Thanks and enjoy your cruise.

We are in St. Bart's today and they are bringing local entertainment on board this evening for the Azamazing event. Last evening they brought on local lobster that was great. Slot machines still do not pay out and we were told it will not be repaired until we get back to Miami. The self service laundry is still not operational. I have talked to many people especially those from the UK that are not happy with the 30% discount on a future cruise as they do not plan on another Azamara cruise. They thought that there should be a monetary compensation as they did not receive what they payed for. We have only had a few minor problems and are having a good cruise. We still do not know what is missing in the cabin as everyday something else appears such as umbrella one day,bible the next, ship directory the next day and the trash can is still missing from the bathroom. All minor issues but still issues. Also we were told before embarking that they wanted the ship to be perfect for us and that we would be amazed. I do not know if it is true or not but was told the the cleaning personnel that were to board at 6 AM were delayed until 10AM due to immigration issues. If that was the case they should have been honest and told us that was reason for delayed boarding

Hi Kaz,

Could you tell us if the self-service laundry machines are operational yet?

Thanks and enjoy your last days on the ship.

Hi LEESRE,

Have you seen my post on the previous page yet?

Just making sure you get to see the photos you were interested in.

Here is the link again:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2016/01/29/azamara-journey-cruise-makeover/79520214/

I must be looking at the wrong posts as I cannot see where the link is to the photos that have been taken of the "New" decorations.

 

Can someone please add a link.

 

Thanks:confused::confused:

Here's the link that I had posted on the thread previously.

It's a story from USA today with tons of pictures of the Journey after the dry dock.

You can also see them in full screen.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2016/01/29/azamara-journey-cruise-makeover/79520214/

There's an older thread (but not too far down the page) of the Journey dry dock. It has lots of photos including those Azamara has posted in their social media.

 

I'm sure Host Andy will be posting more from his trip when he gets home - he mentioned some problems resizing and posting photos right now.

Here's a story from USA today which has lots of photos of the ship after the dry dock.

You can see them full screen as well:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2016/01/29/azamara-journey-cruise-makeover/79520214/

Sounds to me you should stick to Regent et al given your attitude. Having spent 49 days on Regent, I will tell you there is no "real luxury" there, only trappings of luxury. Lousy flight routings, arrogant and aloof senior officers, captains who avoid passengers...not my idea of "real luxury."

It seems to me that your experience with Regent was different from mine. Maybe I will change my mind once on board, but

However, I do think your snark comment was completely uncalled for.

There is no attitude on my part. I believe there are serious issues going on after the dry dock and trying to dismiss them is not the proper way to address the issue. I have been on over 50 cruises with different companies and I have to say that the reports coming from the cruisers posting here are not very encouraging.

That's all. I'm sorry you took it too personal and felt the need to offend me.

We are on the first cruise after drydock. We know that other people have posted but wanted to give our perspective. We have a veranda cabin on deck 7,and the new furniture is very nice along with the carpet. It took a full day to get the TV working. The only complaint is that the veranda is dirty with paint chips and pieces of carpet on the deck. The food has been great with a large selection. Service for the most part has been good with a few hiccups. They finally got one hot tub working today (Saturday). I used it and the jets worked for 15 minutes before breaking down. I along with another person noticed a lot of debris in the bottom and I pulled out pieces of sandpaper. As of last evening the self service laundry is still out of service until further notice . We packed a limited amount of clothing expecting to do some laundry and are now having to send it out. The slot machines are working but do not pay out,you have to contact an attendant to receive yor money and sign on two different sheets. So going from one machine to another is a pain. I guess we are lucky as talking to other passengers who's toilets did not work and suite passengers that were downgraded onboard because their suites were not ready. Others had soaking wet carpets. We had no knowledge of the drydock when we booked and this being our first Azamara cruise and you can imagine what our first impression is. The staff onboard is fantastic and I am sure that it has been a rough few weeks for them.

Thank you for your honest review. Is Azamara doing anything about his all these issues?

Are they compensating the guests somehow?

What a major disappointment of a cruise!

Hope you find a way to enjoy yourself regardless of the unfinished product the company has put out in the market.

Welcome to Cruise Critic, mcomd508. I don't know how much you have been reading before your first post, but the first voyage after a major drydock (like a maiden voyage) will more often than not have lots of work that didn't get finished plus the usual "punch list" process at the end of any construction project. People who book such cruises usually know this, but book anyway because they love that "new car smell" and being the first butt in every seat. Early in our cruising history we ended up on a ship straight out of drydock (Celebrity Summit post-"Solsticization") and luckily we weren't inconvenienced that much. But that was before I learned about Cruise Critic. Since then I have learned to find the dry-dock schedules and make sure to avoid the first cruise. I'm sensing that you are like me in that regard, and should do the same. :)

Thank you for your nice words. What really got me upset was receiving a dismisse answer saying that I was aggregating small complaints. If these are small in Azamara's book, I don't even want to know what they consider big.

Saying that most reviews posted here are positive, are far from reality.

The company should just take ownership of all these issues and not try to sweep it under the rug.

It seems I will be heading back to Regent/Seabourn and the real luxury lines.

PS: I'm not even mentioning the fact that Azamara canceled one overnight stay in one of the ports and chopped 2 hours of another port day.

I am sorry you are anticipating being disappointed. I truly hope you are not.

When will these issues be addressed and corrected?

no jacuzzis, no thalassotherapy pool, no self service laundry, unavailable suites, floods in carpets, bath tubs that can't be used, toilets that do not work?

how can one not be disappointed? you are making it sound like I am seeing issues that do not exist when these are direct reports from cruisers currently on board the ship.

Hi mcomd508,

I'm afraid you've aggregated the relatively few issues reported so far and are surmising the ship is not ready for guests. That is not the reality. The Journey by all accounts is beautiful! The reviews coming off the ship via this forum and others are far and away positive.

As for my reporting that the new tables for the Sunset Bar area of the Windows Cafe are enroute - this does not mean there are no tables out there. It simply means new ones are coming.

As for your last few sentences, I am not privy to any plans regarding compensation but I'm confident we will take care of any complaints. We always do!

Dear Bonnie,

Thank you for your answer. However, I don't think that I am aggregating all the bad aspects. I am gathering the information form the reviews posted on Cc.

Please see post below from another thread started by a cruiser who is currently on board the Journey:

We are on the first cruise after drydock. We know that other people have posted but wanted to give our perspective. We have a veranda cabin on deck 7,and the new furniture is very nice along with the carpet. It took a full day to get the TV working. The only complaint is that the veranda is dirty with paint chips and pieces of carpet on the deck. The food has been great with a large selection. Service for the most part has been good with a few hiccups. They finally got one hot tub working today (Saturday). I used it and the jets worked for 15 minutes before breaking down. I along with another person noticed a lot of debris in the bottom and I pulled out pieces of sandpaper. As of last evening the self service laundry is still out of service until further notice . We packed a limited amount of clothing expecting to do some laundry and are now having to send it out. The slot machines are working but do not pay out,you have to contact an attendant to receive yor money and sign on two different sheets. So going from one machine to another is a pain. I guess we are lucky as talking to other passengers who's toilets did not work and suite passengers that were downgraded onboard because their suites were not ready. Others had soaking wet carpets. We had no knowledge of the drydock when we booked and this being our first Azamara cruise and you can imagine what our first impression is. The staff onboard is fantastic and I am sure that it has been a rough few weeks for them.

Do you actually think that these are minor issues? dirty verandas, no self service laindry, no working dirty hot tubs, no thalassotherapy pool, toilets not working, unavailable suites?

Other than the post by host Andy, I haven't seen any other positive review posted.

I am really disappointed that Azamara charged the passengers top dollar for a cruise when the ship is not ready to offer the services advertised by the company.

Hi Mcomd508,

 

I certainly cannot or would not attempt to speak for Bonnie.... but I sincerely hope you will read my comments from a few moments ago, which I hope will temper your concerns. I'm in a Club Continent Suite, and have no issues, other than a television that did not work for one day. I do not believe that any other Suites, other than what I mentioned in my last post, are affected.

 

I've heard absolutely nothing about missing toilet seats, or bath plugs - but then again, we do not have a bathtub. We have a shower. All is well here. I will inquire about this in the morning.

 

In all honesty, I do not think things are at all concerning. What little is left to be done, I'd anticipate that much if not all of it will be completed by the end of this sailing. I will also try and obtain an update on the high end suites.

 

I hope this helps, and I wish you a wonderful cruise !

Dear Andy,

Thank you for your prompt response and your comforting words.

I have just quoted what other cc members posted before you. They made it sound like the ship was still under construction and unfinished.From Bonnie's own words, furniture was not delivered in time and there are temporary replacements for the time being.

Trying to know if things will be addressed before Feb 07 and the suites/outstanding items will have been fixed by then.

Let's see what Bonnie says.

QUOTE: "Likewise with Windows and the back deck which when we have wanted to use it has never been crowded, however we are not sure if the tables there are the proper ones as they look like the ones used for White Night but we will try to find out."

 

The new tables for the outdoor deck of the Windows Cafe, aka the Sunset Bar, have not yet arrived. The tables presently out there are temporary. We are very sorry for any inconvenience.

I have posted this, but had addressed it to the wrong recipient.

Please see below:

Dear Bonnie and Andy,

When are all the outstanding issues going to be addressed? I understand that difficulties may show up during a major makeover like this, but missing furniture, toilet seats and bath plugs? Unfinished suites? Maybe Azamara was too ambitious with the schedule for the dry dock.

I am booked for the upcoming Feb 07 cruise and am rather disappointed that I may be potentially sailing in an unfinished product.

Will Azamara offer any form of compensation for their guests who are currently on board or who will be boarding soon and may be facing the same problems?

There was certainly no discount on the pricing of the cruise to make up for all these inconveniences.

QUOTE: "Likewise with Windows and the back deck which when we have wanted to use it has never been crowded, however we are not sure if the tables there are the proper ones as they look like the ones used for White Night but we will try to find out."

 

The new tables for the outdoor deck of the Windows Cafe, aka the Sunset Bar, have not yet arrived. The tables presently out there are temporary. We are very sorry for any inconvenience.

Dear Connie and Andy,

When are all the outstanding issues going to be addressed? I understand that difficulties may show up during a major makeover like this, but missing furniture, toilet seats and bath plugs? Unfinished suites? Maybe Azamara was too ambitious with the schedule for the dry dock.

I am booked for the upcoming Feb 07 cruise and am rather disappointed that I may be potentially sailing in an unfinished product.

Will Azamara offer any form of compensation for their guests who are currently on board or who will be boarding soon and may be facing the same problems?

There was certainly no discount on the pricing of the cruise to make up for all these inconveniences.

Hi Andy,

 

Thank you very much for this thread and for keeping us updated with the wonderful redo of the Journey. I'm boarding in 10 days, so I'm pretty excited to experience the refreshed vessel.

Could we have some photos of the inside, oceanview and balcony cabins as well, including the bathrooms?

There seems to be posted photos only for the suites.

 

Thank you.

Hi Andy,

Any chance of you posting pictures of the other cabins? I believe most people will be sailing in regular cabins and not in suites. It would be nice to see how these have turned out, especially the bathrooms which have always been a complaint for a lot of Azamara cruisers.

Thank you.