commodoredave

9 hours ago, laurieb said:

This is a story you wrote, correct?  You have a lot to say for someone who hasn't ever sailed with the line either, according to your signature

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.

7 hours ago, jjs217 said:

 

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

8 hours ago, ak1004 said:

 

True.

 

My issue is not with a pair of trousers and collared shirt for dinner. I think it is very reasonable. What is not reasonable is to ask men to put a jacket most of the nights. This has been removed, and it's a positive development. Too bad that at the same time they priced themselves out of the market.

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.

On 3/21/2024 at 7:09 AM, ak1004 said:

 

Completely agree. I could never understand why some people are so obsessed with what other people wear..

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. 

3 hours ago, skybluewaters said:

 

If an excursion is canceled, it's canceled, and knowing why doesn't help me or, in fact, even interest me. My only concern would be if there is an ongoing issue that may be due to a problem with the cruise line itself (and not the vendor) or if there is an issue with health or security that may recur. 

 

Otoh, if cancellations become frequent, my attitude would change.

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.

On 4/5/2024 at 10:20 AM, markandjie said:

 

We learned on our time aboard Venture that apparently they did not design the ship with sufficient crew cabins so they are constantly on the verge of being understaffed, even with a full crew complement. Sounds like this will be a perpetual nit on otherwise excellent ships. 

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

4 hours ago, SFTraveler53 said:

 But, for example, if you're skipping, a port, you expect to be informed as to why.  Same deal.

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. 

2 hours ago, Lois R said:

My next 2 trips are outside of Silversea too........;going on Celebrity at the end May to Bermuda and then.......doing a land trip with 6 other gals to Jackson Hole, WY and the Grand Tetons. for a week at the end of June. Talk about a change😮. I am getting my own room though, so that part is still solo😀

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.

53 minutes ago, machotspur said:

 

Thank you cruisinbanjo and turtlemichael before you, for posts that very much capture the feelings of Mrs machotspur and I.

We've been on 26 cruises, of which 12 or so have been with Silversea, and much of the remainder with Seabourn & Regent. 

Our most recent cruise on Silver Dawn last month was poor in so many ways and our feelings about the experience are accurately reflected in bold in your post above.

 

The reality is that the quality of the product of all of the cruise companies we have previously travelled with has declined significantly (IMHO), with the fares going through the roof. We do not believe that any of them are now (ultra) luxury. To us the term 'luxury' is now a misnomer when applied to Silversea et al.    

 

Like you we are not entirely 'throwing our toys out of the pram' and saying that we are done with cruising. However - there is no doubt going forward our travel plans will more likely be 75/25 land to sea, compared to recent years (COVID excluded) of 25/75.

 

Whilst we understand - albeit not fully support - the reason for travel companies 'balancing the books', our experience is that - worldwide - the quality of premium land based travel has not been reduced as dramatically as the 'luxury' cruise companies.

 

As always - "you pays your money and makes your choice" !

 

  

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.

10 hours ago, RetiredOnVacation said:

Agree with you, although other than the fact it is a vacation, I think that there is a difference between land based holidays and cruise holidays. The closest comparison of a land based holiday would be a resort-style property which has several f&b options and multiple facilities including stage artist entertainment, but such a resort doesn't move locations for varied visitor & cultural experiences. 

 

So cruising is unique in that respect and difficult to truly compare. 

But I think you are right about a cruise pricing readjustment (especially in the luxury all-inclusive market) catching up to the fare-point it perhaps needed to be at. 

 

I think SS will survive as it won't be an outlier in the cruise sector it's in! 

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.

On 4/5/2024 at 12:30 AM, PaulaJK said:

I do not consider SS equivalent to the Four Seasons or Ritz…... And certainly recent downgrades in cuisine and provision quality remove it from a high end restaurant group. After our recent experience on Spirit, we will avoid SS.

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

12 minutes ago, drron29 said:

Just a note @commodoredave the Muse voyage starting in Yokohama tomorrow is completely full. I have asked if getting extra staff but a lot of changing the subject going on.

At least they should be re provisioning as very little done since Bali if any.

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!!

2 hours ago, Tothesunset said:

At what point can Covid still be considered to blame for inadequacies of the current product?

 

Covid and the sellout to mothership occurred, to all intents and purposes, at the same time. I'd posit that current deficiencies owe more to the latter than the former. 

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

1 hour ago, Fletcher said:

Silversea's expedition vessels Cloud and Wind are really old by today's standards and do not comply with current or imminent environmental rules.  Lines line Seabourn, Ponant, Hapag-Lloyd, Scenic, Swan Hellenic have far better options for polar expeditions these days.  

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

12 hours ago, pavementends said:

You can't go home again (cf. Thomas Wolfe) and you can't step into the same river twice.

 

Fortunately I've only started to cruise Silversea so previous experiences haven't stopped me from having a good time. As for price, I have been able to book at what I consider to be reasonable prices (although this was during the recent sale, not afterwards. And for a couple, not single).

 

I can't help suspecting that the extremely high cabin price mentioned above for an Antarctic trip was either the last very high end cabin or a website error. Yes, the Antarctic costs a lot but it doesn't need to be that much.

 

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.

1 minute ago, wine-wine-wine said:

We will be on Sea Cloud Spirit in September for our 25th anniversary.  Will post a write up - probably cross posting on both the small ship and luxury categories. Spirit is a bit bigger than the other two at 136 passengers - but they also have verandas which is important to DW. 

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

1 minute ago, wine-wine-wine said:

I was thinking the same but about the very small Sea Cloud ships. 

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

20 hours ago, garysarah said:

The problem with those lists is that Seadream has so many fewer passengers than most of the other ships that they have many more people to vote for them. Having been on several of those lines, to me they don't compare favorably. I do recognize people are looking for different things and it's hard to compare old ships with new ones.  You clearly enjoy many different types of experiences. I admire your breadth of experience. 

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.

On 1/31/2024 at 9:44 AM, misztercruizer said:

MrDave,

  We sailed on Explora1 from Iceland To NYC last September had a fantastic trip all 1st class service and great food. Would like to book again soon.

  We will be on Seadream1 next week out of San Juan with a BtB for a 14 day trip. We are looking forward to the relaxed atmosphere. First time on SD1  I never see any roll calls for this line I guess people will get to know everyone on board because of the size.

  TA love EJ because of the upgrade they offer in commissions. It helps them fill the ship. I did notice the prices are getting a little high on Explora Journeys.  Enjoy!

 

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.

20 hours ago, garysarah said:

The problem with those lists is that Seadream has so many fewer passengers than most of the other ships that they have many more people to vote for them. Having been on several of those lines, to me they don't compare favorably. I do recognize people are looking for different things and it's hard to compare old ships with new ones.  You clearly enjoy many different types of experiences. I admire your breadth of experience. 

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!