Bloodaxe

There's something else I thought about and I don't think it's been mentioned on this thread, but I feel is an important factor when talking about Azamara going forward. It's the crew. I have only been sailing Azamara since 2011, but it' is amazing how many of the staff still on the ships have worked there since day 1, either from other cruise lines or Celebrity. Loyalty and depth of service are strengths of the line that have been discussed many times here.

 

Whilst in no way am I oblivious to the needs of the business as a whole this exhibition of loyalty and passion for the brand has to be a very positive thing.

 

Phil

Phil makes a very good point, many of the crew have been with the line since the very start in 2007.

We have seen some of them deservedly promoted through the ranks over the years & regard many has our friends.

Currently on board Journey and I thought I would just pop in to say hi. Will do a more detailed review when we get back but for anyone suffering pre cruise information/booking pains I can confirm these will all vanish when you come onboard.

 

Food this trip is the best we can remember, the ship is in great shape and the entertainment is very good. The staff are their usual unbelievable selfs and everyone is commenting how happy the staff are. Bar staff will mix any cocktail you want substituting ingredients for free ones if you need a free drink or you can just pay for the real deal and it's not that costly. Wines are lovely as ever, pours as generous. Poolside drinks service is so attentive.

 

The ship is full, many first time cruisers, every one we have met is saying we will be back, why have we not known about Azamara before now - that has to be good news for the brand

 

If anyone has questions I'll try and answer

We left the ship in Barcelona & totally agree with you.

The staff from the Captain down are just fantastic, we hope that Royal Carribean give then the credit that they deserve..

Azamara is a little Gem & should be treasured & supported into the future

Did anyone else watch the coverage...live on Sunday AM??? Several times the camera "panned out" to the harbor and I saw "Quest" anchored there!!!

 

We did the spring T/A and I know that she has stayed in the area...great to see here "resting" at sea!! Wouldn't that have been a great cruise to be on???When we disembarked in Nice in early April we did a tour to Monte Carlo and the guide "drove" us on the route...it was so exciting to see it Sunday...the "real deal"!!! Quite the thrill! And oh...those limos/chauffeurs parked and waiting outside the hotel and casino!!! AWESOME...never seen so many RRs, Ferraris, Jags, Bentleys etc. Such a high end town!!! Can't imagine how much a beverage even costs in those places!!! :eek: LuAnn

We returned home from the cruise yesterday having had a great time.

If fact both Journey & Quest were moored in the Bay having spent 2 days together.

We walked onto our Balcony on Journey at 07.00 in the morning & the first thing we saw was Quest with Monte Carlo has a backdrop, unforgetable.

Bloodaxe, there are many of us on this board whose time on Journey and Quest is measured in months onboard, rather than weeks, each year. We're very much aware of what's happening on the ships. We try to give people accurate information. So the next time you're tempted to tell us we're wrong, please check the accuracy of your statements first. :)

I have already said thank you to UKtog for correcting me nicely & I would also like to extend that to you even if you are not so polite

As others have said there were restrictions when I cruised in the earlier days but that restriction has been removed and all references deleted from the website. This happened at the time they moved to the $25 surcharge. I do not recall them directly notifying all of us at that time, but I do recall looking to book more than 2 on a cruise in 2011 and saying "I will book 2 now and if you can let me know when I book more that will be good" and being asked why and when I said "well the 2 booking rule" I was told not any more

 

Below is the extract from the website today - as you can see no restrictions where it used to clearly mention them

 

Azamara proudly features two specialty restaurants, Prime C and Aqualina. Specialty dining is complimentary for suite guests (Club World Owner’s Suites, Club Ocean Suites and Club Continent Suites). For others, there is a $25 per-person cover. Reservations are highly recommended.

Thank you UKtog, I was not aware of the change, you are a mine of information

Yvonne, to be sure you get the dates and times you want, book the reservations when you board. THERE ARE NO RESTRICTIONS ON THE NUMBER OF TIMES YOU CAN BOOK. period!

I am sorry but that is not the case, they may have changed the rules but if so I have never been told.

I stand by my above statement & anyone who has sailed Azamara from the start in 2007 would agree.

Right. Never heard of a limit, and never had a problem making a reservation, although at times it required flexibility in choosing a time.

There has always been a 2 night official limit for other than suites.

Has I said before they would always allow you to book more if they have space.

In the early days you could only book the 2 up front & had to check later if you wanted more.

Then it was only 5 dollars & it was much harder to book space. now it is much easier since the price has increased

What is the current policy for specialty restaurants. Do suites pay?Do other cabins get a freebie?

Club Continental suites & above get unlimited free access, all others pay $25 per head.

It is surposed to be 2 nights allowed per cabin but you can usually book more if space allows, no freebies as far as I am aware

As I understand it, in the UK, if we book a GTY, we have to accept the cabin given to us and cannot request a change. I once think I read that if I booked through a US agent I could ask for a change - am I dreaming or is this correct?

That is also my understanding

Hi Corinne,

 

Thanks for asking that question.

 

We're also on Quest in a few weeks and I was wondering the same. There's been a few responses here, but I'm still not clear what can be gained by booking on board. For our forthcoming cruise, booked via the Inside to Balcony offer last year, we also got a good discount from our travel agent.

 

I know P&O and Cunard transfer onboard bookings to an agent (although we've never done it), but do Azamara do the same?

 

Also, would the on board people have any knowedge of regional flights? I wouldn't book anything unless I knew the travel arrangements. That was the sticking point on Cunard. Their future bookings lady could not even tell me if there'd be flights from Manchester, but was happy to take the money! So I gave up.

 

Any more info from UK readers would be apreciated. Thanks.

When I have enquired onboard they have never been able to give details of flights, just prices

A future cruise open passage would be your best bet then you would be able to chose flights that suited you at the time of booking

I agree totally with your comments. I am also tired of hearing comments about the size of the showers .

I also agree with everything Marinaro44 said

I haven't read back over this long thread, but seem to remember that the announcement of the new benefits for the Discoverer Plus and Discoverer Platinum was to coincide with Azamara Club Cruises fourth birthday. Anyone know when that will be? Bonnie, do you have any news on this one? It's gone a bit quiet. Just interested to know with my three upcoming cruises.

 

Phil

I do not know anything about the birthday but they did say that the announcement was to be made in April

Hey, ho and a Happy April Fools' Day to you Tim! :D

Azamara are April Fooling all of us, what happed to the new Captains Club information they promised?

After looking at this promotion on the Azamara website, I'm a little confused. Does this apply only to the fall 2014 sailings listed or to the 2015 sailings listed as well?

 

http://www.azamaraclubcruises.com/special-offers/double-upgrade

The infomation I have just received says that it also applies to the sailings listed in 2015

I think some of this retrograde step is the new MD bowing to travel agents pressure as several took higher deposits and all asked for money much earlier than Azamara did

 

How does this fit in with the policies in the US, is it aligned or another example of UK downgraded experience?

 

Hey, I've just thought they probably need us to start the payment process sooner because remember we cannot do it online and the one winged dodo had to get to and from Guatemala

 

Whatever, another change I am not impressed by, too many nails going into the old coffin for my liking these days

 

Ps I am assuming they are not applying a retrospective change to existing 2015 bookings

I agree but Azamara must really be in trouble when people like Uktog start talking about nails in the coffin

We've seen tortured reasoning - mostly posted from cruisers who have never been on an Az ship - why posters will not cruise on Azamara again....but here's the real reason....

 

I got a brochure from Seabourn today, & the per person per day rates are lower than Azamara.

 

For many years the great thing about Azamara was that it was a bargain. It is not a bargain any longer. I don't see a great deal of difference these days in the quality of the Az vs Seabourn experience, esp on Seabourn's newer ships.

 

So there it is......IF I 'break' with Azamara (& I won't 'break' - I'll decide to go on this or that itinerary) it won't be for emotional reasons - it will be for practical reasons - itinerary & price.

I totally agree with this post, we have sailed with Azamara twice a year since 2008 but have nothing booked at the moment.

If the price & itinerary suited I would certainly book again

We booked our Nov Reflection sailing last year in Feb just before the 123 special expired. The price WITHOUT any perk climbed to $480 pp more thru out the summer. Final was due in Sept, and just after the price dropped some but was still over $200 pp higher, again without any perks.

 

We booked our next cruise the first of Jan. The web site shows all OV's are Sold Out :eek: We booked a reg 1A veranda, all are now higher than what we booked at, with over 9 months till sailing. If you find the date that works with your time off, book it. You can get 100% of the deposit refunded until the day final is due! and if you are a Captain Club member, the deposit is 50%.

Sorry but in the UK you DO NOT get your deposit refunded unlike in the US.

We have to be sure that our booking is for the cruise that we really want or else face loss of our deposit or a substantial rebooking fee.

I have now decided to book the Equinox for August 2014...Med cruise.

Does anyone know how long the 123 Go offer usually lasts?

Do cruise prices fluctuate much?

please bear in mind that in the UK we lose our deposit/or pay a fee if we change bookings, so room hopping to upgrade is not really an option.

On a 14 night cruise the offer will save me quite a bit of money but if prices drop after offer ends it may make a big difference...or not.

I know that no one can predict these things but any advice would be helpful.

Your question does not have a definitive answer, prices & offers change all the time.

It depends on how well a particular cruise is booking. a classic case of supply & demand.

If you see a cruise that you like at the time that suits & the price is one you can live with you may as well go for it.

If you wait things may change but your cabin choice could also be restricted.

I'm on the last day of a Quest cruise. I was told that the new benefits will not be implemented until April 1.:(

Are they fooling with us

Just a bit of perspective. Personally I think the daily wine selection is very good. Never had a problem. If you have read this board for a while you will see that most posts about the subject are very complimentary about the free wine. It's good quality stuff and very drinkable. The servers are also very generous at pouring it. My travelling companion is a great wine drinker and she has never had an issue. If you really aren't happy with an offering for a particular day have a friendly and polite word with the server and see if there is anything he or she can do. In my mind you are making WAY more of it than is deserved.

 

Phil

I totally agree, we have never had a problem getting a alternative to the wine of the day

Staterooms m'dear, staterooms! ;)

Call them what you like. They will always be CABINS to me.

Just as we are Passengers & not Guests

Does anyone know who the Captain,Hotel Director and Cruise Director will be for the June 3 sailing?

We are also on this cruise, have you signed up for the meet & mingle?.

There is a roll call for the cruise but up until now it is very quite & not many people seem to have signed up.

Sorry ignore this, we are on Journey not Quest

It was a real pleasure sailing with Captain Leif Karlsson earlier this year. We will be forever grateful that we were under his capable command when there was a fire on Quest and emergency protocols had to be put in place. His calm professionalism and expert judgement is permanently etched in our memories. Best wishes to him for a long, healthy and happy retirement.

Captain Leif was the Captain on Journey for our first Azamara cruise to South America & Antarctica in Feb 2008..

The Captain seemed to be as excited as the passengers, we can never top that trip almost everyone on board said this was their best cruise ever.

It set the tone for all our following Azamara cruises & we had the pleasure of sailing & dining with Captain Leif on a later Quest cruise in the Med.

If anyone asked about Antarctica cruises he always told them to come & talk with us.

We had hoped to sail with him again but would like wish him a long & happy retirement, he will be able to spend more time with his little Red Tractor