Riocca

New system runs on cabin numbers, when they take a bar order for a non included drink they ask for your cabin number your picture comes up on their device and whether you have a drink package or not. A lot of the staff were very good at remembering names and cabin numbers, but I take Ann’s point that if they don’t have that skill you can continually be asked for your cabin number. In our regular haunts we were usually greeted by name and served without needing to give our cabin number, although that probably says more about us and our drinking habits 😊

Going to be interesting how the staff on the other ships deal with the introduction of the new system over the next few months, we were told that most of the technical problems have been resolved but it’s the human element that’s hardest to predict. On Onwards maiden staff were initially using pen and paper then transferred the information to their device. That obviously took time but with only about 400 pax onboard it wasn’t too much of a problem however now ships are sailing almost full it probably would be.

No problems like that when we were onboard at the beginning of November most staff were remembering room numbers after the first few days, I know that a number of staff were being changed because of US visa issues so that might be behind the problem. Have they changed the restaurant servers pda’s? A lot of staff were struggling with the small screens and they were going to be changing to larger iPad style ones.

The transition to Azamara’s new IT system is starting, could be an interesting few months ahead. https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2022/12/azamara-launches-new-azamara-alliance-program/

We are booked for Onwards 4th October 2023 cruise departing Venice and received notification on the 17th October 2022 that the ship would be docking in Fusina just across the lagoon from Venice. I saw reports that Quest also due to be in Venice that day would be docking in Chioggia a little further away. From the email it looks like Azamara will be using both locations in 2023 so should be able to provide information on docking locations for every sailing.

When we were on Quest in September we were told that it was the last ship to be dry docked, looking at the 2024 schedule there’s a two week window at the beginning of April 2024 after the Rio to Lisbon Trans-Atlantic.

I think they are struggling with FCC’s on the current system, we used the Onward refund FCC to book a cruise, funnily enough the 25th March cruise, initially it used all of the credit except £68. Then it was repriced after a big price drop and Azamara agreed this could be used against another 2023 booking, this was back in September. I’ve spoken to a number of Azamara agents and it’s taking some time to sort out, initially only the £68 was showing and this has been applied to the other cruise. Problem seems to be that the system “loses” the credit after the initial cruise and needs manual intervention to retrieve it. I’m dealing directly with Azamara and there’s never been a question of the residual credit being applied to another cruise. In fact they are happy to apply it to another cruise before we’ve taken the cruise it was originally applied too even though I know it’s in the t&c’s. I’ve been lucky in that the agents I’ve spoken to have been some of the original Azamara staff so know the problem, I can imagine some of the newer staff will possibly have seen all the FCC used and assume that’s it. Hope this helps a bit.

Same for me no details required and I can see what cabins are available in each category, just the same old RC booking engine. I’ve come across this on Oceania’s website where I had to create an account before I could get pricing and I’ve then been bombarded with emails afterwards.

I’ve had a look at other cruise lines using Versonix Seaware who are producing Azamara’s new systems and quite a few have chat functions so it’s something that could be coming 🤞

What time you have to get up depends on how close you are to the departure airport, there are two Saturday departures to Barcelona from Gatwick one arriving at 9.55am the other 12.30pm. I assume any cruise line would choose the earlier flight on a “just in case basis “ as most people would if booking their own flight. She would have done her own online check in for the ship as we did and would have known her boarding time, therefore should have known about the time gap. The terminal opened at 12.30pm for physical check in and there was plenty of seating and refreshments available.

Regards to the internet upgrade, someone currently onboard Pursuit has just posted this on another forum, not verified but if this is correct then wow!

Not an optical illusion here’s a picture of Onward in the Amsterdam shipyard showing that the anti-fouling paint is in fact blue.

Wasn’t using it much a few weeks ago on Onward but when I did it was quite useable for everyday browsing much better than on Quest in September. Checked in for flights and downloaded boarding passes without any delays, ship was almost full at 640 pax so I assume it was being well used.

U.K. system is different in that the travel agent processes the payment into their own account and usually ask for payment from the customer 4 weeks before it’s due to the cruise line. The cruise lines then take the money from the travel agent when payment is due, this is why they ask for the money early as they will cancel the booking if payment isn’t made before the cruise lines due date. Could these automated payments made by travel agents explain why direct bookers have been forgotten about as they probably are a small proportion of overall bookings.

Totally agree that it’s not a good situation but remember pre covid and the sale of Azamara there were just as many complaints as the Royal Caribbean IT system and customer service set up was very bad. In those days we used a travel agent to avoid having to deal with them, now after being treated so badly by our travel agent we deal directly with Azamara so increasing the phone traffic. As others have said when Azamara was part of the RCG setup they were bottom of the pile when it came to investment especially after the acquisition of Silverseas. In an ideal world they would have been able to unplug from that system ages ago but no doubt post covid delays that we are all aware of have increased the timescale of being able to do this. I’ve looked at some of the other cruise lines that are using Versonix Seaware, who are producing Azamara’s new system, lines such as Virgin, MSC & Disney etc. and they have websites that have much better facilities for servicing bookings online including payments. So it’s coming and from experience the onboard system that’s being rolled out to all the ships over the next few months the future is going to be better. As frustrating as it is getting through I’ve received excellent support from Azamara Customer service.

Totally agree, Azamara has been left with a legacy system that’s not fit for purpose but writing a new IT system from scratch can’t be done quickly. I phoned Azamara yesterday selected the options recommended by Azamara staff, 3 for direct bookings and 2 for new bookings and got through to an agent in 15 minutes, however it was a complicated query involving FCC so it took the agent almost 45 minutes liaising with different departments to resolve. That in my opinion is the problem, because the current website is very limited in its capabilities the agents have to deal with too many things that could and should be done online like final payments. Yes things are not as they should be with Azamara’s customer service at the moment but the important thing is that they acknowledge this and hopefully will address the issues with the new system. It’s taken longer than any of us would probably like but the worst thing that could happen now is that when they unplug from RCI next year the new system presents serious issues, I expect teething problems but hopefully nothing serious.

One thing I would like to see is loyalty discounts not being linked to onboard bookings, most cruise lines we’ve dealt with offer some sort of loyalty discount or bonus whenever you book. Admittedly the discounts probably are more generous than some offer but linking it to onboard bookings is restrictive. Onboard credit and maybe a drinks package would make more sense for onboard bookings. Did talk to one of the loyalty managers on a recent cruise they’ve not been told what’s happening but didn’t think that initially there would be any major changes or reduction of perks.

We were also on this cruise and boarding started dead on 2 pm as was scheduled, we came from the hotel at 12 noon and there was already a number of people waiting outside but we knew we were going to have to wait. Check in opened at 12.30 pm and was very smooth those of us in suites were given priority numbers and seating was arranged appropriately, plenty of water was on offer along with tea & coffee. We were onboard within minutes once boarding started and from what I could see went very smoothly.

According to this article Azamara’s Black Friday sale will start tomorrow, doesn’t say if it will apply to all markets or not. https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/28742-azamara-offers-black-friday-deals.html

Memory plays tricks, our second Azamara cruise was 2011 with friends and our 3rd was in 2014 traveling with the same friends so 2013 could well be the year it changed.

Definitely on our first cruise on Azamara in 2010 it was only wine & beer at meal times, I can remember because we didn’t realise you could have the wine in bars during meal times not just the restaurants. I think it must have changed not long after as I’m sure drinks were included on our second Azamara cruise in 2011.

The email clearly shows the EBB as being included, the text even mentions the $300 OBC. I’ve experienced confusion from the Azamara reps especially the newer ones struggling to get their heads around the different offers in different markets.

Booked for Pursuits Athens to Dubai cruise in October 2024 when we were onboard Onward two weeks ago, that also showed the EBB as Europe 2023 online. The booking definitely has the EBB as the code EXMO ESS is showing on our confirmation invoice as is the $300 OBC, we also received a sheet of paper with the onboard confirmation showing the benefits. The booking code for Early Booking Benefit has remained the same since it was introduced for 2023 European bookings so I think it’s a problem that the code just pulls through text that’s not been updated since then.

Very strange just pulled up a random December 2024 cruise and I’m seeing the following, as usual it’s only on balcony cabins and above.

I’ve only looked at a few random cruises but when you get to the booking page they’ve all showed the following offer: Early Booking Bonus on Europe 2023 Sailings Save 20% + $300 Onboard Credit, Unlimited WiFi for one device, Premium Beverage Package for Two. Misleading that it’s headlined Europe 2023 but 2024 cruises were the same but we’ve booked two non European 2024 cruises and the offer definitely applies.