commodoredave

The story is based on the experience of an unhappy Azamara client, not my experience. By your measure, a journalist covering a fire would have to be in the burning house to report on it. By the way, despite the troubles and incompetence at Azamara shoreside, I might still consider sailing with them one day because the onboard experience appears to be good.

The price increases may have more to do with generating cash for RCL than improving service.

Fortunately, there are plenty of options out there for cruising. And given the growing number of lines and ships, I suspect there will continue to be plenty of sales and special discounts off the inflated new prices. All the big price increase at SS delivers is a less loyal client base that is now more likely to shop around.

I’ve never been concerned with what other people wear to the main dining room at night - only what they don’t wear. Frankly, if I want to dine with people who can’t put on a pair of trousers and collared shirt for dinner, I’ll go to McDonalds.

The facts are well established that Azamara had a terrible run of bad IT, poor communication and uncaring response to customers. The important thing going forward is to ask whether Azamara management recognizes these failures, and is working to improve outcomes for customers in future. Only Azamara management can answer this question, and to date the silence has been deafening.

We didn’t care about the reason for cancellation of our excursions either. But if one of our primary reasons for taking a cruise was to visit a specific destination or two (e.g. Easter Island, Casablanca for Marrakech, Sete for Carcasonne, etc), I would be disappointed enough to ask why it was canceled.

You are not alone in receiving inexplicable and disappointing service from Azamara as this story illustrates: https://gentlemansportion.com/2023/09/04/an-azamazingly-sad-decline/

I have smokers to thank for me giving up gambling on Princess cruise ships. Now, if Princess would only allow smoking again in dining rooms, maybe I could lose some weight!

We did Iles du Salut on the Pursuit in October. As excursions are included on expedition voyages, our visits to Ile Joseph and Ile Royale were free. We had a beautiful day and the excursions were very interesting.

We would never take our grandkids on a luxury cruise ship. Most have limited activities for kids, have a more subdued atmosphere, and don’t have many other kids aboard. Plus, why pay more for less from the kids’ perspective. We do, however, take multi-generational cruises on NCL and Celebrity. In fact, our next one is in January aboard NCL. The kids love it.

Maybe some crew can share cabins with solo sailors so they can avoid the single supplement.🤩

We are currently on the Silver Muse. Prior to departure, we had 3 booked excursions cancelled— all for “Operational reasons.” Our friends recently sailed with Seabourn from Cape Verde, and two ports in Africa were cancelled for “Operational reasons.” While we would all like to have more information about what type of operational issues are involved, saying less seems to be consistent across the cruise industry.

We are also going to Bermuda in mid-May with Celebrity. If SS offered a similar itinerary, I still would have chosen Celebrity for several reasons including value. For me, this is an itinerary that doesn’t benefit enough from an ultra-luxury product and price.

Well said. Like you, we have been moving towards more land based vacations and will continue to do so. Cruising will still be part of the mix in future, but a smaller percentage of it.

When I choose a land resort over a cruise (and I spend more time in land resorts each year than cruising), I avoid all-inclusive. On land, I like the ability to eat at different restaurants, drink at my favourite bars, and enjoy a variety of local entertainment venues. And I find the quality of all these to be superior to cruise ships. What I cruise for is the itinerary and the ability to see multiple places in one trip, without having to pack and unpack, and to do so in comfort. While this makes it difficult to do direct value comparisons, there is a limit to what I am willing to pay for a vacation, and some luxury cruises are beginning to stretch that limit.

I agree 100%. And I have almost always been able to book top resorts at prices below those referenced above.

Let me know if I should bring some strawberries aboard tomorrow for you! We arrived Yokohama yesterday and look forward to boarding Wednesday. Will you be staying onboard for the next leg, and if so, can I buy you a drink!!

True to a point. However, the financial losses caused by Covid are still being paid for by all cruise lines.

Agree. It’s one reason I have booked my Antarctic cruise with Seabourn.

Agree about pricing in Antarctic. It depends on itinerary. The longer 21-day or so voyages that include Elephant Island can be that expensive. But the shorter 10 - 12 day voyages are usually half the price.

I look forward to reading it. We are always interested in expanding our cruise horizons.

Good point. And that’s one ship I plan to try soon.

While your point is valid about some of the ships carrying more pax than SD and therefore having more voters, it doesn’t explain why Emerald, which carries the same number of pax is ranked so much higher than SD.

PS- Emerald carries the same number of pax as SeaDream, yet ranks 1st versus 9th best for SD. So while your point is valid for the larger ships on the list, it doesn’t explain why Emerald ranks better.

The secret to enjoying different types of experiences is to have an open mind, ample curiosity and a desire to get outside one’s comfort zone. We do have a handful of favourite cruise lines, but we like to complement them with a new experience every year or so. This year was Explora. Next year is Emerald. And I hope more to come!