gowilk

Just got back from nautica and the following is true:

1. Speed is almost acceptable between midnight and 5 am.

2. Internet is unusable and at times won’t connect in the back of the ship ( buffet for example)

3. There are frequent outages with poor response by technicians

4. Email and simple internet is all that’s reliable for most of the day and even worse on sea days.

They need to buy more satellite speed and their tech people even agree with that if u ask them quietly. Wavenet as currently deployed is a failure.

My thoughts exactly! Apparently what they meant by “guarantee” is actually waitlisted, and they should state that without the flimflam. I understand the need for corporations to make a profit, but they have to remember that without customers there’s no money at all... and no business. That seems to be a lost concept these days.

 

I am, as my Australian friend would say, gobsmacked reading this thread. I had only heard of cruise lines doing this in the case of charters, and with a decent amount of notice - not 2 days before. Neither is right.

 

A contract should afford both sides equal treatment, but sadly that’s not the reality these days, either. They should just make it plain and simple. Just come right out and say, “we hold all the cards, and you’re screwed. Take it or leave it.” That’s the gist of most of them anyway.

 

I don’t think Azamara “stepped up” to do the right thing. They were dragged kicking and screaming by the power of social media, and we would do well to keep that in mind when we hear talk of Net Neutrality. Corporations would love to hobble sites like this where the power of people in large numbers can be marshaled against them.

 

We haven’t cruised Azamara. We are currently booked on 2 Viking cruises, but my TA is telling me we would like Azamara, and some friends enjoyed a recent cruise, so I’ve been checking things out. I’m thinking - at least for now - we will stick with Viking.

 

 

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I gotta say this is the “JOKE of the century” when Viking pulled the same identical crap on us 6 years ago, two differences, 1 it was 7 days before not 2. And they didn’t resolve and had no intention of resolving until we hired an attorney to enforce “our” right to be made whole....I live by two rules both of which come from dealing with companies who put their interests way ahead of yours and as such I never do business with Viking or United (another long sad story).

i just got off the constellation a month ago and was in aqua and toward the front of the line on evening chic day were two guys dressed??? in sandals and sleeveless shirts... amazingly the maitre'd was going to seat them until several including me protested... so now their wives whined and said they get a seat and wait for them.... point is that even the relaxed standards of the last couple of years are not enforced or begrudgingly so... i guess the mighty dollar rules over all standards.

Try asking your questions here.

Many seasoned O cruisers here know the correct answer better than many (but not all) agents answering phones

Ok....which visas are provided (paid for by me of course) on a Thailand to India route??? Myanmar? Sri Lanka? India (certainly not), Singapore ( not required), Thailand (not required).

Which excursions are eligible under the o-life prepaid excursions?

Can you use onboard credits like under some cruise lines?

What if any, are the deadline for overland excursions in Myanmar.

Like I said, these should be easy just read it off the chart like any good monkey, my problem is that they put me on hold twice before I even asked one of these simple questions and if I’d cruised this line before I would have phrased the question more specifically and then when I tried email , I got a “not my job” response.

As I said and maintain” their initial customer non-service sucks” but I’ll get through it and remember it.

only one word works...WOW.

I’ve been on 7 different cruise lines, some of which by reputation, have some of the worst customer service. Yet my initial impression here, can only rate one word....WOW.

1st attempt, 6 minutes till answer, I have a question,they ask reservation number? I respond with “PAID” reservation number and say I have a question about shore excursions, interrupt andput me on hold, 10 minutes later I give up and quit listening to the annoying music

2nd attempt, same as first except I start to ask about visas before being interrupted for another 10 minutes hold and give up.

Next I attempt an email to which a smart ass answer saying I emailed the wrong person even though yet again they know my reservation number and home phone number.

I just want to scream, I have a couple of relatively simple and mostly:mad: conformational questions that virtually any monkey should be able to answer and this is what I deal with....NOT even close to acceptable for a cruise line that wants $1500 a day per room.

We’re currently on constellation so I checked around a little and found that can order gluten-free pizza and they have 2 or 3 gluten-free desserts. Plus one super delish gluten free coconut macaroon (I eat 3 or 4 per day). As for menu items, they refer to mAitre d handling it....hope that helps...message me for a specific as we’re here till11/12.

Ur making me nervous...I have an 1135 flight scheduled through celebrity air with celebrity transportation.... if I miss it does celebrity cover my costs???

Anyone check out this new variety of the worst website in the cruise industry. I’m leaving next week for the constellation and I’ve learned from past frustrations to expect problems from the website but their new revamp has apparently taken things to new lows.

1. Website speed??? Probably great with a cable modem otherwise yuck!!!

2. Print luggage tags? Ahhh not so much

3. Review air travel??? It has me leaving before the ships get there. Outgoing it was off 7 hours, coming back off by 8 hours ...maybe the time the programmers live in???

4. Print travel docs....don’t know as I can’t find it.

At some point Miami should realize that this costs them business...I’ve never skipped a cruise because of this but it certainly makes people think that they are less than a premium cruise line as it always takes an hour or more to make certain that things are correct.. is this revamp 9 or 10...inquiring minds need to know

Oh well...since Lutoff thinks everyplace needs to be monetized, we'll fix her ...in October rather pay her outrageous 10 dollars for food we already paid for we'll just drink a couple more drinks everyday since they agree we prepaid for liquor...sounds dumb to me and more likely to make my mood worse rather than better but what do I know.

We did it post cruise 2 years ago, flew from Jorge newbery to Igr (a side)[25 minute taxi from cruise port] , taxi to belmond on b side(visa required), u can do an awful lot between 5pm and 9 am from the hotel, for extra charge you can get a view of the falls with an open window gives you an awesome visual and audio view.

Book trips thru the hotel or on your own and when u leave fly, go from the b side or igu, by doing the flights this way, we saved about 4 hours and about 500 dollars apiece as flight arrangements to the states are almost always cheaper and we booked the flights except the newbery to Igr using choice air.

As you can tell, we were very happy with the choices we made, btw you can also see paraguay on this route as well if u have the time.:cool:

Stay in luminae, reduce the wait times in blu....sometimes rich people are just TOO damn insensitive.

I have good and bad news for some...I am currently on solstice and he announced this morning that he is leaving tomorrow 2/5 and returning 5/7 in Honolulu. His simple announcement should resolve the question.

Of course it would have been less disruptive for some if the order had taken effect a few days later but only truly naive people didn't see this coming since november 8. My sympathies are with Kate steinles family not whiners.

I can heartily agree with most of the observations relative to availability and quality in just the last year or so.

First, Tuscan grill has always overpriced and overrated for quality or lack of it, just a basic $15 steak at home with sub standard service.

Second, the buffet has been even worse than princess on our last two cruises and I Did complain to the chef who blamed it all on Miami and where they are allowed to source and budget items especially beef. He claimed that while nothing could be done now it would be better next year...we're on solstice next month so we shall see.

In blu, you can order off the mdr menu but they are not happy about it as it generally makes them work harder and fall behind on their service...simple solution expand the menu rotation or change the pattern more frequently.

We've been diehard celebrity customers but our next two cruises are do or die with them and food is one of the biggest complaints, i will suffer in semi-silence only for a short period, then I will spend my time and money elsewhere:D

That's my considered opinion....I was on infinity, another m-class ship in February and it was great..and on3 other celebrity cruises in the last 2 years and several facts are clear:

1. Millenium is NOT in good shape, things falling apart, areas are shabbily maintained.

2. Food on Asia Cruises is barely edible, food quality is not up to the standards elsewhere.

3. Staff is very good as always but I think it wears on them with the poor support.

I would take millenium to Alaska but in Asia ...NEVER again.

I sure hope celebrity's security is keeping up with issue and bans/confiscates Samsung note....last thing I need is some moron who's charging his stupid Samsung phone setting the ship on fire. bound to happen sooner rather than later.

Cruise cal.com

I am not asking for him to interfere, I am asking for his interpretation as a citizen in his district whether this rule is as I read it.

 

And for your information Celebrity has said I do not need a visa.

So you SHOULD enjoy your endless communication with a political hack...

You SHOULD enjoy your 30 minute argument at check in while I'm at the bar on board...

And you SHOULD enjoy your argument in China while some low-paid bureaucrat tries their hand at their version of the rule as opposed to yours.

You get to be the trailblazer by choice, while I meekly go down and pay the $140 a head but get the privilege of briefly watching the drama go down assuming I don't get stuck in line behind you ( that would not be pretty).

I think this is like asking people "if price didn't matter, which would you prefer? A Toyota or a Mercedes?" :D It's pretty obvious that people will choose the Mercedes.

Actually a more appropriate comparison is would you rather have a junior suite on celebrity or an inside room on azamara....that about makes the price equal. Then we can all go back to the never-ending comparison of princess versus celebrity.

Only booked azamara once and it was fabulous but then so is seaborn....I need to join the 1 percent quick to be able to afford this extravegence....but then I'd probably just blow it on first-class air.

I'm between cruises having just left the horrors of using their incompetent website before my cruise a month ago and bracing for using it before my cruise in September. The horror stories are many and frankly all true even celebrity reps are ashamed of their it department. For a truly funny/sad experience try their iPad app which as i write says I have "1..." Points (actually should be 160).

We have been repeatedly promised that they would fix/redo their website for at least 5 years that I know of, at this point don't count it just call the 800 number and make them fix things manually including taking passport numbers. Their "wait 20 minutes" warning can take days or even weeks to clear...life is too short enjoy YOUR vacation don't let them add stress, once you get onboard it's worth it.

We watched a movie there yesterday and have to admit that it is not what the princess movie under the stars is....too windy with little protection from the elements and a long way from ocean view bar...no waiter service for us at all...maybe others got some. They quit about 10 and show a late movie in the gamma room on 3 for our quadriplegic friend, yes we know it ain't the same. Not a pleasant experience, we doubt a repeat will occur for us.

And they are changing the name to Bistro Nickle and Dime.

NO...that was old name, new name us bistro empty because that's what it is or maybe bistro officers because only ship officers eat there.

I wonder if anyone could me help regarding my future cruise booking made with a UK TA. When I go to make the booking in the UK a deposit is required of several hundreds of pounds and is non refundable at any point, also if I book a guarantee cabin this cannot be changed. However Americans booking the same cruise do not have this stipulation and can cancel with a full refund up to about the 90 day departure point. Also if they book a guarantee cabin they are allowed to change if other cabins are available. The situation now is that we are not booking on the same terms as our American friends, booking some of the best cabins knowing they can cancel and if they book a guarantee cabin then that can be changed .To make matters even worse is if the price drops then even that is matched. What chance have UK cruisers got we are always going to get the worst cabin as the cruise lines know we cannot change.-or do I have it all wrong and this is not the case

This is the MOST important post on this board as the most important in life is fairness, everything MUST be fair....politics 101

How they handle it if you "accidentally"??? Missed your flight to San Juan?

I would also be concerned that the rising tensions between Russia & Turkey could result in the country going up in a "double flash" in the near future.

 

Turkey seems like a beautiful country but given the current situation in the region I have ZERO interest visiting Turkey or any other Islamic country in the region. Nothing against Arabs/Muslims/etc but its really not worth the risk at this time.

This reflects my sentiments exactly...I've been to turkey several times as well as Egypt but that ship as they say has sailed....no more Arab/non-Jewish Middle East countries for me. The risk is not worth it when at least half the globe including many countries I haven't been to welcome American/European with open arms. This is not racist or bigoted, merely an evaluation of risk vs reward. Not every city in the world is safe at 11 at night but some risk is just flat crazy.